Category Archives: US News

Joan Didion, American journalist and author, dies at age 87

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Unsparing observer of national politics and her own life, she won enormous acclaim for her memoir of grief, The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion, the eminent journalist, author and anthropologist of contemporary American politics and culture – a singularly clear, precise voice across a multitude of subjects for more than 60 years – has died at her home in Manhattan, New York. She was 87 years old.

The cause of death was Parkinson’s disease, according to Paul Bogaards, an executive at Didion’s publisher Knopf.

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Harry and Meghan release first photo of Lilibet on Christmas card

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Image taken at home shows daughter held up by her mother, as prince sits with son Archie on his knee

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released the first picture of their daughter, Lilibet, with Meghan holding up the laughing child in an image on their Christmas card.

The photo, which also shows Prince Harry with curly haired Archie on his knee, was taken by Alexi Lubomirski this summer at the couple’s home in Santa Barbara, California.

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Putin accuses west of ‘coming with its missiles to our doorstep’

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Russian president again voices anger at Nato expansion and says he would be prepared to intervene in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has accused the west of “coming with its missiles to our doorstep” as he reiterated demands for no further Nato expansion in Europe.

The Russian president did little to reduce tensions over Ukraine as he spoke at a televised press conference, saying he would be prepared to launch an intervention if he felt Ukraine or its western allies were preparing an attack on Russia’s proxies in the country.

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Voices of Covid doctors: ‘It was always about trying to save you’ – video

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Healthcare workers around the world have been on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic for almost two years, which put them through the darkest days of their careers. Five doctors who have worked in hospitals in Uganda, New Zealand, the US, India, the UK and Brazil told the Guardian about how the pandemic had tested them personally and professionally, but how they continue to find hope and resolve to keep working.

Thanks to Dr Peter Kavuma, Dr Dalilah Restrepo, Dr Yogesh Kalkonde, Dr Anne Menezes and Dr Megan Smith, who is also a spokesperson at the campaigning organisation EveryDoctor

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Killed by a pill bought on Snapchat: the counterfeit drugs poisoning US teens

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Accidental deaths soar among young people amid a proliferation of fentanyl-filled pharmaceuticals

Fourteen-year-old Alondra Salinas had set out her new white sneakers and packed her backpack the night before the first day of in-person high school when police say she responded to an offer on Snapchat for blue pills, which turned out to be deadly fentanyl. Her mother couldn’t wake her the next morning.

Seventeen-year-old Zachary Didier was waiting to hear back on his college applications when a fake Percocet killed him. Sammy Berman Chapman, a 16-year-old straight-A student, died in his bedroom after taking what he thought was a single Xanax.

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‘Nothing’s been good enough’: Biden addresses US Covid testing shortage before holidays

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President tells ABC that country is in better position than last Christmas but is struggling with testing

Pressed about US testing shortages amid the omicron surge, Biden conceded in an interview that “nothing’s been good enough”.

In an interview with ABC’s David Muir on Wednesday, the president signaled that the country was in a better shape now than last Christmas but said he wished he had ordered free at-home tests earlier than this week. A surging demand for tests, driven by the new variant and the winter holidays, has led to long lines and shortages around the country.

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James Franco admits sleeping with students and says he had sex addiction

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Actor gives first extended comments about accusations that came nearly four years ago

James Franco has acknowledged sleeping with students of an acting school he previously ran, saying he struggled with a sex addiction and has been working to improve his behavior in recent years.

In excerpts from The Jess Cagle Podcast made public on Wednesday, Franco, 43, said that while teaching, he “did sleep with students, and that was wrong”. He said he had not started the school to lure women for sexual purposes.

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‘I heard a meow’: Kentucky man finds his cat unscathed in rubble nine days after tornado

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Sonny ‘Hoot’ Gibson thought his mind was playing tricks when the sound emerged from his demolished office building

Nine days after a tornado demolished his three-story office building in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky, Sonny “Hoot” Gibson was standing in the rubble when he thought he heard a faint meow.

It instantly gave him hope that his office cat, Madix, who hadn’t been seen since before the storms hit, was alive. Gibson said he had tried to find the black cat with yellow eyes who liked to greet customers of his rental business, but he had given up after a few days.

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Republicans woo Joe Manchin as senator clashes with Democrats

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Centrist senator has rejected the idea of joining GOP but has indicated openness to being an independent

For many Democrats, Joe Manchin has become an unshakeable problem. The centrist senator is at odds with other Democrats on everything from filibuster reform to climate policy, and he recently announced his opposition to the Build Back Better Act, the lynchpin of Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.

But Republicans think Manchin now represents an opportunity to boost their numbers.

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Green cards, cannabis and a strip club: JCB heir in US legal battle

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Exclusive: Civil case puts business dealings of Jo Bamford under spotlight as well as alleged family tensions

• Industrial scion with big money in green energy

The heir to the JCB digger empire, whose father Lord Bamford is one of Boris Johnson’s biggest financial backers, is locked in a legal battle with a former close friend that has shed fresh light on alleged tensions inside one of the UK’s most powerful industrial families.

The case has also raised questions over the conduct of Jo Bamford, a 43-year-old self-styled “green entrepreneur” who is a director at a key JCB holding company and has now set himself up as an investor in bus manufacturing and hydrogen.

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US investigates claim Tesla drivers can play video games while driving

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‘Passenger play’ feature has been available since December 2020 – before that, games could only be played in ‘park’ mode

The US has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving.

The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years 2017 through 2022.

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Why the collapse of Biden’s Build Back Better would be a major blow to the climate fight

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It would be almost impossible for the US to comply with its greenhouse gas reduction pledges without the $1.75tn package that Manchin refuses to support

The collapse of Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation would have disastrous consequences for the global climate crisis, making it almost impossible for the US to comply with its greenhouse gas reduction pledges made under the Paris accords.

The US president’s sweeping economic recovery and social welfare bill is in serious trouble after the Democratic senator Joe Manchin announced his opposition to the $1.75tn spending package that includes the country’s largest ever climate crisis investment.

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Michael Flynn sues Capitol attack committee in bid to block subpoena

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Lawsuit filed by longtime adviser to Donald Trump is the latest in a flood of litigation by targets of the committee

Michael Flynn, a longtime adviser to Donald Trump, has sued the congressional committee investigating the deadly 6 January attack on the US Capitol in hopes of blocking it from obtaining his phone records.

Flynn alleged in a lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, that a subpoena issued to him by the House of Representatives select committee was too broad in scope and punishes him for constitutionally protected speech as a private citizen.

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‘There’s a lot of anxiety’: US grapples with Covid test shortage amid surge

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The US continues to lag in testing, leading many people to wait in line for hours amid increased demand due to the emergence of Omicron

As a history professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Kevin Bruyneel had been tested for Covid-19 more than 100 times and typically waited less than 15 minutes for the free tests.

So Bruyneel was upset when he went to get a PCR test at a clinic Sunday in Brooklyn, New York, and waited more than an hour after his scheduled appointment and was billed at least $100 – though he could owe more depending on what his insurance covers.

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JonBenét Ramsey: DNA testing could be used to solve case, police say

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In 2008, newly discovered DNA pointed toward the involvement of an ‘unexplained third party’ in the six-year-old’s murder

Twenty-five years after JonBenét Ramsey was killed, police say DNA hasn’t been ruled out to help solve the case.

The six-year-old was found dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home on 26 December 1996, bludgeoned and strangled, several hours after her mother called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind. Her death was ruled a homicide, but nobody was ever charged in the case.

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Nasa to launch newest space telescope on Christmas Day

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The James Webb space telescope, considered the Hubble’s successor, will stay on the ground an extra day due to high winds

Dangerously high winds will keep Nasa’s newest space telescope on the ground for at least an extra day, with the launch now targeted for Saturday – Christmas Day – at the earliest.

Nasa announced the latest delay Tuesday. Upper-level high wind could force a rocket off-course or even damage or destroy it.

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Seconds before a 6.2 earthquake rattled California, phones got a vital warning

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Half a million phones received emergency alerts thanks to system offering a few seconds to take cover

In the moments before a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the northern California coast on Monday, roughly half a million phones began to buzz. An early-alert system managed by the US Geological Survey sent warnings out before the ground started to shake, giving residents in the sparsely populated area vital time to take cover.

The earthquake brought significant shaking but minimal damage in Humboldt county, about 210 miles north-west of San Francisco, and officials said it was an excellent test of the alert-system. It was the largest magnitude quake that’s occurred since the system, known as ShakeAlert, was officially rolled out across the west coast.

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Republican congressman refuses to cooperate with Capitol attack panel

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Scott Perry is first sitting member of Congress to get request for interview as Trump announces 6 January press conference

Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and the first sitting member of Congress to be requested to provide documents and sit for an interview with the committee investigating the Capitol riot, said on Tuesday he would not comply with the panel.

The news came shortly after Donald Trump provocatively announced that he will hold a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on 6 January, the first anniversary of the deadly attack on Congress.

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Ghislaine Maxwell trial: jury asks to review transcripts from three accusers

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Jurors requested transcripts of testimony on Tuesday morning after deliberations began late on Monday

  • This article contains depictions of sexual abuse

The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial asked on Tuesday to review transcripts of testimony from three accusers.

Jurors in Manhattan federal court sent the judge a note around 10.10am, saying: “We would like the transcripts, testimony of Jane, Annie and Carolyn.”

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

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Israel announces fourth jab for over-60s; hospital bosses in England brace for ‘dangerous situation’

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Portugal tells people to work from home from 26 December; Sweden announces working from home and tighter social distancing rules

Singapore has detected a cluster of three Covid-19 cases linked to a gym, its ministry of health said late on Monday.

The variant was found in two men, aged 24 and 21, and an 18-year-old woman.

On Monday morning, a mid-level staff member, who does not regularly have contact with the President, received a positive result for a Covid-19 test.

Three days earlier, on Friday, that staff member had spent approximately 30 minutes in proximity to the President on Air Force One, on the way from Orangeburg, South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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