Category Archives: US News

‘No deadline’ on evacuating Americans from Kabul, says Blinken – live

Posted on by
  • US military will help evacuate US citizens beyond 31 August
  • Blinken: as many as 1,500 Americans remain in Afghanistan
  • Eight government agencies receive letters requesting documents
  • Capitol officer who shot Ashli Babbitt to give TV interview
  • Committee also seeks communications from Trump children
  • Johnson & Johnson touts coronavirus booster shot
  • Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh and Aubrey Allegretti report:

Afghans who want to flee to Britain may be better off “trying to get to the border” than awaiting RAF evacuation, the defence secretary has said as British troops made last-ditch attempts to airlift at least 1,500 remaining interpreters and others who have supported the UK.

Related: Fleeing Afghans should try to get to border, says UK defence secretary

Continue reading...

Lake Tahoe shrouded in smoke from surging Caldor fire – in pictures

Posted on by

The pristine setting of Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, was obscured by thick plumes of smoke as thousands of firefighters worked to contain the nearby Caldor fire, which has burned more than 120,000 acres. Tourists wore masks outdoors and ducked into cafes and casinos to escape the haze and the smell

Continue reading...

‘I saw children falling down’: panic and despair in Kabul as time runs out

Posted on by

Faced with crowd stampedes and Taliban reprisals, even those eligible for travel to UK have begun to give up hope

For the past four days, Nangyalai, a 42-year-old minicab driver from south London, has been queueing with his wife and 11-month-old baby outside the Baron hotel on the edge of Kabul airport, trying to get close enough to the entrance gate to show guards his British passport.

There is a sign by the gate stating “British passport holders only”. Inside the hotel, officials are working to grant evacuation visas for thousands of UK nationals and Afghan citizens who have worked for British organisations. Diplomatic staff say they are “processing hundreds every hour”, but there is a growing sense of despair among the crowds who have been waiting outside since the start of the week – and tensions are rising.

Continue reading...

All theories on origins of Covid-19 outbreak still ‘on the table’, says WHO

Posted on by

Remarks follow reports US intelligence study unable to conclude if virus came from animals or a Wuhan lab

The World Health Organization has said all theories on the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak, including the possibility of laboratory leak, are “on the table” and urged Chinese scientists to carry out their own investigations.

WHO officials were answering questions from the press after a classified US intelligence report delivered to the White House on Tuesday was reported to be inconclusive on the question of the origins of the pandemic, in part due to a lack of information from China.

Continue reading...

Milk crate challenge has doctors warning it’s ‘worse than falling from a ladder’

Posted on by

Experts say dangerous injuries can occur as videos of people falling off precariously stacked crates go viral on social media

The latest challenge to take the internet by storm involves milk crates, balance and some painful falls.

In the milk crate challenge, which recently started on TikTok, participants take on a set of milk crates precariously stacked in the shape of a pyramid, attempt to climb to the top and then back down again without toppling over.

Continue reading...

Evacuating Afghanistan: a visual guide to flights in and out of Kabul

Posted on by

Flights stopped as the Taliban seized control, but numbers are back up and the vast majority of aircraft are now military

Kabul airport’s air traffic rebounded earlier this week due to an increase in military aircraft evacuating people, Guardian analysis has revealed.

Fewer than 15 aircraft arrived or departed each day between 16 and 19 August, according to data from Flightradar24.

Continue reading...

OnlyFans scraps plans to ban sexually explicit material

Posted on by

U-turn comes after resolution of issues with payment processors, says chief executive of user-generated adult content site

OnlyFans, the user-generated adult content site, is reversing course on plans to ban “sexually explicit” content after securing agreement with its payment processors, it has announced.

Last week, OnlyFans said it would ban adult material from 1 October, to the dismay of its users and creators, who argued that doing so risked driving such work underground.

Continue reading...

Baby on Nevermind cover sues Nirvana over child sexual exploitation

Posted on by

Spencer Elden, who appeared at four months old on iconic album design, claims the image is child pornography

Spencer Elden, who appeared as a naked baby on one of rock music’s most iconic album covers – Nevermind by Nirvana – is suing the band, claiming he was sexually exploited as a child.

In a lawsuit filed in a Californian district court against numerous parties, including the surviving members of the band, Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, and the record labels that released or distributed the album in the last three decades, Elden alleges the defendants produced child pornography with the image, which features him swimming naked towards a dollar bill with his genitalia visible.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden says US ‘on pace’ to leave Afghanistan on 31 August – video

Posted on by

Joe Biden says the US is 'on pace' to finish its Afghanistan evacuation efforts by 31 August, despite pleas of domestic and international allies to keep troops on the ground. The president cited a growing terrorist threat as a reason to continue its mass evacuation. 'The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops,' he said

Continue reading...

Supreme court orders Biden to revive Trump’s ‘remain in Mexico’ policy

Posted on by
  • Justices deny president’s effort to rescind Trump program
  • Blow to Biden as trio of liberal justices dissent in 6-3 ruling

The US supreme court on Tuesday denied Joe Biden’s bid to rescind an immigration policy implemented by his predecessor, Donald Trump, that forced thousands of asylum seekers to stay in Mexico awaiting US hearings.

Related: Breathing wildfire smoke during pregnancy raises risk of premature birth, study finds

Continue reading...

US House passes voting rights bill, restoring critical provision of landmark law

Posted on by

Bill that requires places with history of discrimination to be under federal supervision passes 219-212 – but could fail in the Senate

The US House of Representatives has passed an update to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, restoring a critical provision of the landmark civil rights law that requires places with a history of voting discrimination to be under federal supervision.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed 219-212 on a party-line vote.

Continue reading...

US Capitol police didn’t properly respond to officers’ calls for help in attack – report

Posted on by

Inspector general’s report offers new details into shortcomings by law enforcement during 6 January insurrection

US Capitol police (USCP) didn’t adequately respond to frantic calls for help from officers when they pressed panic buttons on their radios seeking immediate backup as scores of pro-Trump rioters beat officers with bats, poles and other weapons, an inspector general’s report found.

Related: US Capitol police clear officer who shot dead 6 January rioter Ashli Babbitt

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris Vietnam trip delayed after two US officials report Havana syndrome

Posted on by

Press secretary says assessment of safety of vice-president was carried out and she continued her journey

US vice-president Kamala Harris’ trip from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed by several hours on Tuesday by an investigation into two possible cases of the so-called Havana syndrome in Hanoi, administration officials said.

The investigation was in its early stages and officials deemed it safe for Harris to make her scheduled stop in Vietnam, which is part of her trip across Asia meant to reassure allies about American foreign policy amid the tumultuous evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan.

Continue reading...

Biden rejects allies’ pleas to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond end of August

Posted on by

US president acknowledges that completing airlift by 31 August depends on Taliban continuing to cooperate

Joe Biden has rejected the pleas of domestic and international allies to keep troops in Afghanistan for evacuation efforts beyond the end of the month, citing the growing threat of a terrorist attack.

In a move likely to fuel criticism that America is abandoning Afghan partners to the Taliban, the US president made clear that he is resolved to withdraw forces from Kabul airport by next Tuesday’s deadline.

Continue reading...

Biden pours salt into wounds of relations with Europe at G7 meeting

Posted on by

Analysis: US president dashes hopes he might acknowledge damage done by handling of Afghan withdrawal

In the end it took only seven minutes for Joe Biden to pour salt into the wounds of his fractured relationship with European leaders, telling them firmly on a video call that he would not extend the 31 August deadline for US troops to stay in Kabul, as he had been asked by the French, Italians and most of all the British. The rebuff follows Biden’s earlier decision in July to insist on the August deadline previously set in 2020 by Donald Trump for the withdrawal, a decision the US president relayed to his EU colleagues as a fait accompli.

For Europe the episode has been a rude awakening, and a moment of sober reassessment. Only on 25 March Charles Michel had afforded Biden the chance to address a meeting of the European Council, the first foreign leader given the honour since Barack Obama 11 years earlier. Biden after all had said his foreign policy would only be as strong as his system of alliances, the true shield of the republic, and Europe would be at the heart of that system.

Continue reading...

Fauci says US could be back to normal by spring 2022 – if vaccinations take off

Posted on by

‘It’s up to us,’ Fauci says as infectious Delta variant feeds surge in cases, with a majority of hospitalisations and deaths are among unvaccinated people

The US could have the Covid pandemic under control and achieve a return to “normality” by next spring, Dr Anthony Fauci said, if the “overwhelming majority” of the population is vaccinated.

Related: Biden hails announcement as FDA gives full approval to Pfizer’s Covid vaccine

Continue reading...

Taliban will take ‘different stance’ if US troops remain beyond 31 August – video

Posted on by

A Taliban spokesman has said in a press conference that the 31 August deadline for US evacuations from the country will remain, adding the Taliban are 'not in favour' of allowing skilled Afghans to leave the country and would regard a delay in US withdrawal as contrary to the US agreement with the Taliban.

Zabihullah Mujahid also made clear that the Taliban would take 'a different stance' regarding the presence of US troops beyond 31 August

Continue reading...

Tennessee woman drowns seconds after filming rising floodwaters

Posted on by

Linda Almond posted a 70-second live clip while trapped in her house as a torrent of murky brown water rushed by outside

A harrowing video posted to Facebook captured the terrifying moments a woman filmed as the floodwaters surged past her house, seconds before she herself was swept to her death.

Related: ‘It’s just unbelievable’: Tennessee surveys wreckage after floods kill 22

Continue reading...

Masks off: how US school boards became ‘perfect battlegrounds’ for vicious culture wars

Posted on by

School boards are used to local grievances. But amid fury over mask mandates, members face an unprecedented onslaught

Rina Gallien doesn’t consider herself political, but when the 41-year-old mother of four heard that parents who oppose mask mandates in schools were organizing to attend the 12 August meeting of the St Tammany Parish School Board in Slidell, Louisiana, she took time off work to attend.

“I didn’t want them to think that they are the only people who care about their kids,” said Gallien, who has three children still in school and strongly supports the mask mandate reinstated by the state’s governor amid soaring Covid-19 cases in early August. “I care about my kids too, and I want them to come home safe.”

Continue reading...

California Caldor fire burns thousands of hectares in weekend surge – video

Posted on by

The owner of a cabin which became surrounded by flames near Kyburz, California, managed to escape the Caldor fire after shooting the first part of this footage. The fire has burned more than 40,500 hectares (100,000 acres) in the north of the state since it started on 14 August, and more than 12,000 in just two days.

More than 500 structures were destroyed over the weekend by wildfire fuelled by warm winds and drought-stricken vegetation

Continue reading...