Category Archives: US News

China says Australia, UK and US will ‘pay price’ for Winter Olympics action

Posted on by

Beijing accuses nations of using Games ‘for political manipulation’ amid diplomatic boycotts

Australia, Britain and the US will pay a price for their “mistaken acts” after deciding not to send government delegations to February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, China’s foreign ministry has said.

The US was the first to announce a boycott, saying on Monday its government officials would not attend the February Games because of China’s human rights “atrocities”, weeks after talks aimed at easing tension between the world’s two largest economies.

Continue reading...

Can Biden’s ‘divisive’ democracy summit deliver?

Posted on by

Billed as a rallying call for human rights and liberties, the event has been lambasted by critics such as China and even invitees are critical

Much of the advance commentary about Joe Biden’s two-day Summit for Democracy has been a diplomat’s version of a Charity Ball: long discussions about the guest list and how the guests will show up, and very little about its supposedly noble purpose.

Potentially a rallying point for democracy, after the west’s crushing setback in Afghanistan, the summit has not been receiving rave advance notices even from those that have been invited.

Continue reading...

Helicopter lowers rescuer to car at top of Niagara Falls – video

Posted on by

A woman's body has been retrieved from a car that was washed close to the brink of Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border. A coast guard rescuer was lowered from a helicopter to the car and found the body. An investigation has been launched into how the car and its occupant ended up in the Niagara River.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce, Australia’s deputy PM, tests positive for Covid while visiting US

Posted on by

Nationals leader is experiencing mild symptoms and will remain in isolation until further advice

Australia’s deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has tested positive to Covid-19 while on a visit to the United States.

The government says Joyce – who was in London earlier this week and met with the British justice secretary, Dominic Raab, and the Australian high commissioner to the UK, George Brandis – will isolate in the US until it is safe for him to return to Australia.

Continue reading...

Biden’s carbon-neutral order praised for ‘aligning government power with climate goals’ – live

Posted on by

Joe Biden took a few questions from reporters this morning, as he left the White House to start his trip to Kansas City, Missouri.

Asked about his summit yesterday with Vladimir Putin, Biden said, “I was very straightforward. There were no minced words.”

Continue reading...

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: third accuser’s ex-boyfriend corroborates her account

Posted on by

‘Shawn’ says he drove Carolyn to Epstein’s house every few weeks, after she testified Maxwell scheduled sexualized massages with Epstein

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The former boyfriend of the third accuser to testify in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial in New York corroborated details of her account during his testimony Wednesday.

This accuser, Carolyn, had testified Tuesday that Maxwell scheduled sexualized massages with Jeffrey Epstein starting when Carloyn was 14, and that Maxwell groped her. Carolyn said that she had told Maxwell about having been sexually abused as a child.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Continue reading...

US accuses El Salvador of secretly negotiating truce with gang leaders

Posted on by

In 2020, Nayib Bukele’s administration ‘provided financial incentives’ to MS-13 and the Barrio 18 street gangs, US treasury says

The US has accused the government of El Salvador president Nayib Bukele of secretly negotiating a truce with leaders of the country’s feared MS-13 and Barrio 18 street gangs.

The explosive accusation on Wednesday cuts to the heart of one of Bukele’s most highly touted successes in office: a plunge in the country’s murder rate.

Continue reading...

Biden says he won’t send US troops to Ukraine to deter Russian threat

Posted on by

President’s comments come after he said the US would provide ‘defensive capabilities’ to Ukraine

Joe Biden has said that he is not considering sending US troops to defend Ukraine in response to a Russian military buildup on the country’s borders.

“That is not on the table,” he told reporters on Wednesday, one day after speaking directly with Vladimir Putin in an effort to avert a military crisis.

Continue reading...

Covid news: UK reports 51,342 new infections; vaccines protect against new variant – as it happened

Posted on by

Latest figures come amid concern over spread of Omicron variant; Pfizer says third jab increased antibodies by factor of 25

Germany reported 69,601 cases of Covid-19 and 527 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute, taking the total cases in the country to 6,291,621. There have been 104,047 deaths.

South Korean authorities are urging people to get vaccinated as case rise in the east Asian nation generally regarded as having dealth with the pandemic well.

Continue reading...

China accuses Australia of ‘political posturing’ over diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Posted on by

Scott Morrison says athletes will compete in next year’s Games because sport and politics should not mix

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has confirmed Australian officials will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, joining the United States in a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Games and prompting accusations from Beijing of political posturing.

Morrison told reporters in Sydney it was “not surprising”, given the deterioration in the diplomatic relationship between Australia and China, that officials would not attend next year’s winter Games.

Continue reading...

Kellogg to replace 1,400 strikers as deal is rejected

Posted on by

Strike, which began in October, expected to continue as workers seek significant raises, saying they work 80-hour weeks

Kellogg has said it is permanently replacing 1,400 workers who have been on strike since October, a decision that comes as the majority of its cereal plant workforce rejected a deal that would have provided 3% raises.

The Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union said an overwhelming majority of workers had voted down the five-year offer.

Continue reading...

Third accuser alleges Ghislaine Maxwell preyed on her when she was a minor

Posted on by

‘Carolyn’ testifies that Maxwell coordinated sexualized massages with Jeffrey Epstein, starting when she was 14

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

Prosecutors in Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday introduced a witness who was once the kind of minor teen on whom the Briton is alleged to have preyed.

At 14, Carolyn was vulnerable. She had an alcoholic mother and a 17-year-old boyfriend and had been raped and molested by her grandfather from the age of four. She needed money.

Continue reading...

Tim Cook reportedly signed five-year $275bn deal with Chinese officials

Posted on by

The Information reports Apple CEO’s agreement will placate threats that would have hobbled its devices and services in the country

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, signed an agreement with Chinese officials, estimated to be worth about $275bn, to placate threats that would have hobbled its devices and services in the country, The Information reported on Tuesday.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Continue reading...

Biden holds virtual summit with Putin amid fears of Ukraine invasion – live

Posted on by

Russian state television shared a clip of the start of Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden’s virtual summit this morning, which started about 45 minutes ago.

The clip shows the American and Russian leaders greeting each other before beginning their discussion about the situation in Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Mark Meadows stops cooperating with Capitol attack investigation

Posted on by

Attorney for former White House chief of staff cites House committee’s approach to negotiations and to other witnesses

The former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will now not cooperate with the House committee investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, an attorney for the former Trump aide told Fox News on Tuesday.

Meadows indicated last week that he would speak to the panel. But on the same day the Guardian broke news of Meadows’ memoir, The Chief’s Chief, in which he detailed Trump’s positive and negative Covid tests and their cover-up before his first debate with Joe Biden last year.

Continue reading...

Jussie Smollett to return to witness stand after calling claim he staged attack ‘100% false’

Posted on by

Empire actor faces charges he lied to Chicago police about an alleged anti-gay, racist attack in January 2019

Jussie Smollett will return to the witness stand on Tuesday at his trial in Chicago, where the former Empire actor said that claims he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself were “100% false”.

Prosecutors will continue cross-examining the 39-year-old, who appeared calm through several hours of testimony Monday. He told jurors “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.

Continue reading...

Andrew Neil threatens to sue Jennifer Arcuri after tweet about Epstein

Posted on by

Businesswoman had made claims about journalist’s inclusion in a contact book owned by Jeffrey Epstein

Andrew Neil says he has launched legal action against Jennifer Arcuri, the US businesswoman and former lover of Boris Johnson, after she made claims about the veteran journalist’s inclusion in a contact book owned by the deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In a public spat that started with a disagreement over the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, Arcuri tagged the former BBC presenter in a now-deleted tweet that read: “Citation for @afneil: Not only is he a paid for pharma puppet but here he is on the pedo elite train. Everyone knows what happened on that plane.” Alongside were the hashtags #itsOver and #ticktock, a picture of Neil arm in arm with a woman, and a screengrab from Epstein’s address book purportedly showing Neil’s name.

Continue reading...

Prepare a swift response to Russia invading Ukraine, Latvia tells west

Posted on by

Nato not sending a clear signal would mean ‘glue that keeps us together’ has failed, says foreign minister

A swift reprisal package against Russia – including US troops and Patriot missiles stationed in the Baltics, the cutting off of Russia from the Swift banking payments system and reinstated sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – must be prepared now in case it invades Ukraine, the Latvian foreign minister has said.

The warning from Edgars Rinkēvičs comes as Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin prepare to hold talks about the growing tensions.

Continue reading...

What sanctions could the US hit Russia with if it invades Ukraine?

Posted on by

Biden enters talks with Putin armed with a wide range of economic measures at his disposal – what are those options?

Joe Biden goes into Tuesday’s virtual summit with Vladimir Putin, after days of close consultation with European allies on a joint response to an invasion of Ukraine, armed with a wide range of punitive measures at his disposal.

There would be increased military support for Kyiv and a bolstering of Nato’s eastern flank, but the primary focus would be on sanctions. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said they would include “high-impact economic measures that we’ve refrained from taking in the past”.

Continue reading...