Category Archives: US News

China attacks US diplomatic boycott of Winter Games as ‘travesty’ of Olympic spirit

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Beijing dismisses no-show and says American officials had not been invited in the first place, as other countries consider their positions

China has reacted angrily to the US government’s diplomatic boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics, as more countries said they would consider joining the protest over Beijing’s human rights record and New Zealand announced it would not send representatives to the Games.

Chinese officials dismissed Washington’s boycott as a “posturing and political manipulation” and tried to discredit the decision by claiming that US diplomats had not even been invited to Beijing in the first place.

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San Francisco restaurant apologizes for denying service to armed police

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Owners of Hilda and Jesse Restaurant say they ‘made a mistake’ after saying weapons made people uncomfortable

The owners of a San Francisco restaurant have apologized for denying service to three police officers over the weekend because their weapons made their staff “uncomfortable”.

The owners of Hilda and Jesse Restaurant apologized in a social media post published on Sunday following an outcry and calls to boycott the eatery because the officers were asked to leave shortly after they sat down Friday.

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‘We suffered for 66 years’: US ends latest Emmett Till murder investigation without charges

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The inquiry was reopened after a 2017 book claimed the white woman at the center of the case lied about Till whistling at her

The US justice department is ending its latest investigation into the death of Emmett Till, a Black teenager who was brutally abducted, tortured and killed in 1955, without filing any charges after failing to prove that a key witness lied.

Till’s family said it was disappointed by the news that there will continue to be no accountability for the infamous lynching.

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California officials determine cause of city’s ‘stench of death’

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Fire at warehouse storing beauty products caused large quantities of chemicals to enter canal, killing plants

Since early October, residents of Carson, California, have been sickened by a noxious smell coming from the Dominguez Channel that has been likened to “a rotten egg” or “the stench of death”. Now, officials have pinpointed a cause: a fire at a warehouse that stored beauty and wellness products.

South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency tasked with investigating the foul stench, said on Friday that the large warehouse fire, which began on 30 September and took several days to extinguish, caused vast amounts of chemicals to flow into the 15-mile canal. That spurred a die-off of plants living in the waterway, which in turn produced huge amounts of hydrogen sulfide, a flammable and colorless gas that can be harmful to human health.

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Drake withdraws his two 2022 Grammy nominations

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The star pulled his nominations for best rap album and best rap performance after consultation with his management

Drake has decided to withdraw his two Grammy nominations.

Though his motive remained unclear, Variety reported the 35-year-old artist withdrew his two nominations – best rap album for Certified Lover Boy and best rap performance for his song Way 2 Sexy, featuring Future and Young Thug – after consultation with his management.

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Viagra could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, study finds

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US scientists say users of sildenafil – the generic name for Viagra – are 69% less likely to develop the form of dementia than non-users

Viagra could be a useful treatment against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a US study.

Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of age-related dementia, affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Despite mounting numbers of cases, however, there is currently no effective treatment.

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‘It’s who they are’: gun-fetish photo a symbol of Republican abasement under Trump

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Thomas Massie’s incendiary picture, days after a deadly school shooting in Michigan, seemed carefully calibrated to provoke

It is a festive family photo with seven broad smiles and a Christmas tree. But one other detail sets it apart: each member of the Massie family is brandishing a machine gun or military-style rifle.

The photo was tweeted last week by Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, with the caption: “Merry Christmas! PS: Santa, please bring ammo.”

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US says it will send troops to eastern Europe if Russia invades Ukraine

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Official says Washington would also impose economic measures in warning to Moscow on eve of talks between Biden and Putin

The US has said it would send reinforcements to Nato’s eastern flank in response to a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as imposing severe new economic measures, in a warning to Moscow on the eve of talks between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

Biden will also make clear to Putin that the US will not rule out future Ukrainian membership of Nato, as the Russian leader has demanded, a senior US official said.

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Massie’s gun collection: ‘They shouldn’t be in the hands of civilians’

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Analysis: furore continues over ‘Christmas card’ by US Congressman of group holding military weapons

It is the Christmas card that has sent shockwaves across the world – and provided a chilling reminder of the size and type of weapons that are perfectly legal to own and carry in large parts of the US.

An analysis by the Guardian indicates the guns in the photograph published by the Republican congressman Thomas Massie are military grade and – in some cases – similar to those used in recent notorious deadly incidents.

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Joni Mitchell: ‘I’m hobbling along but I’m doing all right’

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Singer discusses health difficulties in rare public speech as she accepts Kennedy Center award

Joni Mitchell addressed her health difficulties in a rare public speech as she accepted her Kennedy Center Honor, one of the most prestigious awards in American cultural life.

At a ceremony attended by Joe Biden – in a show of support for the arts after the awards were snubbed by Donald Trump – Mitchell discussed the issues she’s faced in the wake of an aneurysm in 2015 that left her temporarily unable to walk or talk.

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Covid news live: Nigeria likens Omicron border closures to ‘travel apartheid’; Russia and Argentina report first cases

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High commissioner says Omicron is mild variant and travel ban not necessary; fully vaccinated traveller to Argentina had tested negative on departure and arrival

The Johnson & Johnson booster shot may work well for those who originally had a Pfizer vaccine, a recent study has found.

Researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston studied 65 people who had received two shots of the Pfizer vaccine. Six months after the second dose, the researchers gave 24 of the volunteers a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine and gave 41 the Johnson & Johnson shot.

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Fauci cautiously optimistic about Omicron variant severity | First Thing

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Fauci says Republican ‘overhyping’ claim on Covid is ‘preposterous’. Plus, Trump attacks the media again

Good morning.

Dismissing as “preposterous” a Republican senator’s claim he is “overhyping” Covid-19 as he did HIV and Aids, Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday the threat to the US from the Omicron variant remained to be determined – but that signs were encouraging.

What did Fauci say about Johnson? “Overhyping Aids? It’s killed over 750,000 Americans and 36 million people worldwide. How do you overhype Covid? It’s already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide. So, I don’t have any clue of what he’s talking about.”

How bad is the spread of Omicron? The variant has been detected in 15 US states. Fauci was cautiously optimistic current vaccines might work against it.

What do Americans think about overturning Roe v Wade? According to recent polling, seven in 10 are opposed to overturning the landmark ruling while 59% believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances.

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Exclusive: oil companies’ profits soared to $174bn this year as US gas prices rose

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Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP among group of 24 who resisted calls to increase production but doled out shareholder dividends

The largest oil and gas companies made a combined $174bn in profits in the first nine months of the year as gasoline prices climbed in the US, according to a new report.

The bumper profit totals, provided exclusively to the Guardian, show that in the third quarter of 2021 alone, 24 top oil and gas companies made more than $74bn in net income. From January to September, the net income of the group, which includes Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP, was $174bn.

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Joe Biden restores tradition with return to Kennedy Center Honors

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President given standing ovations at performing arts awards snubbed by Donald Trump

“Tonight it is quite nice, very nice to see the presidential box once again being occupied,” David Letterman said to knowing applause. “And the same with the Oval Office.”

The comedian was introducing the 44th Kennedy Center Honors, where Joe Biden restored tradition merely with his presence after four years in which the annual gala was snubbed by then president Donald Trump and upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Omicron brings fresh concern for US mental heath after ‘grim two years’

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Many Americans’ mental health has suffered during the pandemic, and anxiety and depression persists

Sarah Isaacs, a therapist in Raleigh, North Carolina, sees mostly clients between the ages of 22 and 30, many of whom missed out on the usual dating and networking because of the Covid pandemic.

“They literally haven’t been able to do anything for two years,” said Isaacs, who specializes in working with people with eating disorders and people who identify as LGBTQ+.

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Chris Noth on feuds, family and Mr Big: ‘I never saw him as an alpha male’

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The Sex and the City star is back for the reboot, And Just Like That … He talks about bereavement, rebellion, the fun of acting – and the absence of Kim Cattrall

“I’m not supposed to talk for this long. I told my publicist beforehand: ‘I need to keep this short so I don’t give quotes I’ll regret,’” chuckles Chris Noth.

Too late for that. Ahead of our interview, I had expected Noth – best known as Mr Big from Sex and the City – to be a reluctant interviewee, because that’s how he came across in past articles, especially when he was talking about the TV show that turned him from a jobbing actor into, well, Mr Big. But those were from back in the day, when he bridled at his sudden celebrity. Noth had been in hit TV shows before, most famously when he played Detective Mike Logan for five years on Law & Order. But nothing could have prepared him for Sex and the City.

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‘Crooked bastards’: Trump attacks US media in foul-mouthed speech

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Insults to press and chairman of joint chiefs of staff recall barbs while Trump was in power

In remarks to diners at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday night, Donald Trump called the American media “crooked bastards” and Gen Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a “fucking idiot”.

The meandering, foul-mouthed speech to Turning Point USA, a group for young conservatives, was streamed by Jack Posobiec, a rightwing blogger and provocateur.

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Chris Cuomo accused of sexual harassment days before CNN fired him

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Lawyer says accuser came forward after New York’s AG office showed Cuomo took much more active role in helping brother

Chris Cuomo was hit with a new allegation of sexual harassment days before CNN announced it was firing him amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from similar harassment allegations.

An attorney, Debra Katz, said on Sunday her client alleged “serious sexual misconduct” by Cuomo and had contacted CNN about the allegation on Wednesday.

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Bob Dole, giant of Republican politics and presidential nominee, dies aged 98

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  • Long-time power-broker lost 1996 election to Bill Clinton
  • Biden: ‘An American statesman like few in our history’
  • Obituary: Bob Dole, 1923-2021

Bob Dole, the long-time Kansas senator who was the Republican nominee for president in 1996, has died. He was 98.

In a statement, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation – founded by Dole’s wife, a former North Carolina senator and cabinet official – said: “It is with heavy hearts we announced that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died earlier this morning in his sleep. At his death at age 98 he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.”

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US seeks Russian and Chinese support to salvage Iran nuclear deal

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Iran’s natural allies are said to have been surprised by how much it had gone back on its own compromises

The US is hoping pressure from Russia, China and some Arab Gulf states may yet persuade Iran to moderate its negotiating stance in regards to the steps the Biden administration must take before both sides return to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Talks in Vienna faltered badly last week, when the new hardline Iranian administration increased its levels of uranium enrichment and tabled proposals that US officials said at the weekend were “not serious”since they had gone back on all the progress made in the previous round of talks.

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