Documents obtained by media show concern and frustration after engineer warned of structural damage
New reports have detailed long debate among condo board members at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, over extensive and costly repairs the building was expected to undergo before it collapsed on 24 June.
Related: Miami condo death toll rises to 24 amid plans to demolish remaining structure
Continue reading...Storm kills one person in St Lucia and a 15-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman in the Dominican Republic
Cuba prepared to evacuate people along the island’s southern region on Sunday amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.
The government on Sunday opened shelters and moved to protect sugarcane and cocoa crops ahead of the storm, whose next target was Florida, where governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties, including in Miami-Dade County where the high-rise condominium building collapsed last week.
Continue reading...The US will soon see surges in cases of the highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 in areas where vaccination rates are low, Anthony Fauci has predicted, calling resistance to vaccination “sad” and “tragic”.
Related: ‘The benefits outweigh the negatives’: US college students return to class
Continue reading...Fireworks, a Trump impersonator and undying belief in the former president at his second rally after leaving office
Their trust in Trump remains unshaken.
Supporters of Donald Trump, the former US president, gathered in their thousands at a rain-soaked rally in Florida on Saturday unmoved by criminal charges against his business.
Continue reading...President addresses hack of Kaseya software that has affected hundreds of US businesses and shut down Swedish shops
Joe Biden said on Saturday he had directed US intelligence agencies to investigate a sophisticated ransomware attack that hit hundreds of American businesses as the Fourth of July holiday weekend began and aroused suspicions of Russian gang involvement.
Related: Joe Biden cherry-picks audience to promote bipartisan infrastructure deal
Continue reading...Joe Biden has warned that although America has Covid-19 'on the run' the latest variant is of particular concern among those who remain unvaccinated – as the president’s goal of 70% of US adults receiving at least one shot of vaccine by the Fourth of July holiday looks set to fall short.
'I’m not concerned there’s going to be a major outbreak … another epidemic nationwide. But I am concerned lives will be lost,' he said.
Governor announces intent to make Rolf Kaestel, who robbed a Fort Smith shop of $264 in 1981, eligible for parole
The governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, has said he intends to commute the sentence of a man serving life in prison for robbing a taco shop in 1981 with a water pistol.
Hutchinson announced he intended to make Rolf Kaestel immediately eligible for parole. There is a 30-day waiting period to receive public feedback before the governor’s decision can become final.
Continue reading...President says America has Covid-19 ‘on the run’ but new cases jumped 10% amid patchy take-up of vaccines across country
Joe Biden has warned that although America has Covid-19 “on the run” the latest variant is of particular concern among those who remain unvaccinated – as the president’s goal of 70% of US adults receiving at least one shot of vaccine by the Fourth of July holiday was set to fall short.
New US cases of coronavirus jumped by 10% in the past week as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, especially where vaccination rates are low.
Continue reading...Left-leaning states had focused on how global heating would affect others. Then the ‘heat dome’ arrived
The record heatwave in the Pacific north-west is forcing a reckoning on the climate crisis, as many living in the typically mild region consider what rising temperatures mean for the future.
A “heat dome” without parallel trapped hot air over much of the states of Oregon and Washington in the United States, and southern British Columbia in Canada, in past days, shattering weather records in the usually temperate region.
Continue reading...Ravil Mingazov, who spent 15 years in the US prison camp, could be sent to Russia where ‘he will not be free for the rest of his life,’ experts warn
A former Guantánamo detainee is facing forced repatriation from the United Arab Emirates to Russia where he faces a “substantial risk of torture” according to UN human rights experts.
Ravil Mingazov is a Muslim Tartar who spent 15 years without charge in the US prison camp on Guantánamo Bay before being transferred to the UAE in January 2017. The conditions of the transfer were kept secret, but his family and legal team were given assurances that he would be freed after a few months. Those assurances were not kept.
Continue reading...British Columbia reports jump in number of ‘sudden and unexpected deaths’ and links them to extreme weather
Nearly 500 people may have been killed by record-breaking temperatures in Canada’s westernmost province, as officials warn the grim toll from “heat dome” could rise again as more deaths are reported.
On Friday, British Columbia’s chief coroner said that 719 “sudden and unexpected deaths” had been reported over the past week – triple the number during a similar period in a typical year.
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Two-thirds of Americans believe democracy is under threat, polls finds
This is Lois Beckett, picking up our live US politics coverage from Los Angeles.
NEW: Two-thirds of U.S. adults believe that American democracy is under threat according to the latest @NewsHour/@NPR/@maristpoll. https://t.co/TnYS66pXqA
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Lois Beckett, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Pilots who were rescued off Hawaii coast reported engine trouble, FAA says in statement
The pilots of a cargo plane made a desperate and daring nighttime emergency landing on water early Friday and miraculously survived. They were plucked from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii by first responders.
One of the two pilots was found clinging to the tail of the wrecked aircraft while the other was rescued clutching a floating package amid the debris scattered across the waves.
Continue reading...Two bodies recovered overnight, including the young girl, with 128 still unaccounted for
The seven-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter was found dead in the rubble of a collapsed condominium, officials said on Friday as they announced the official death toll in Miami had risen to 20 people.
The Miami-Dade county mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, said the rescue mission overnight was difficult as operations stretched into their ninth day.
Continue reading...Scientists fear heat domes in North America and Siberia indicate a new dimension to the global crisis
If you were drawing up a list of possible locations for hell on Earth before this week, the small mountain village of Lytton in Canada would probably not have entered your mind.
Few people outside British Columbia had heard of this community of 250 people. Those who had were more likely to think of it as bucolic. Nestled by a confluence of rivers in the forested foothills of the Lillooet and Botanie mountain ranges, the municipal website boasts: “Lytton is the ideal location for nature lovers to connect with incredible natural beauty and fresh air freedom.”
Continue reading...Bessemer Trust, approved last year to be added as co-conservator, wants out after singer’s testimony that she opposed arrangement
A wealth management firm that had been tapped as co-conservator of singer Britney Spears’ estate, has asked a Los Angeles court to withdraw from the case after the pop superstar’s testimony that she opposed the arrangement.
Related: Trump legal troubles escalate after company charged with tax crimes – live
Continue reading...Joe Biden spoke of his admiration for grieving relatives at the site of last week’s deadly Miami condo collapse, as many continue to wait for news of their loved ones.
'What amazed me about this group of people was their resilience, their absolute commitment and willingness to do whatever it took to find the answer. I walked away amazed by their strength,' the president said after the three-hour meeting with the relatives at the St Regis Bal Harbor hotel, about a mile from the site of the collapse
Departure marred by poor liaison with local forces and comes just before 20th anniversary of start of US operations to topple Taliban
US troops have left Bagram, the sprawling airbase north of Kabul that was the symbolic and operational heart of the American military operation in Afghanistan.
With that hub handed over to Afghan security forces, it sets the scene for the final departure of American forces from the country only months before the 20th anniversary of the start of US operations to topple the Taliban, launched in response to the 9/11 attacks.
Continue reading...Disability rights activists say proposed reforms don’t go far enough and that flaws in the system trap people in abusive arrangements
Last week, Britney Spears testified in court about the conservatorship that has long controlled her life, and noted there were a thousand people stuck in “abusive” arrangements like hers.
In California, lawmakers have responded to the international outcry about the singer’s peculiar legal arrangement with proposed reforms that aim to expand the rights and due process of people in conservatorships.
Continue reading...Attorney general orders temporary pause following historic use of death penalty under Trump administration
The US attorney general has imposed a moratorium on all federal executions while the justice department reviews its policies and procedures on capital punishment. Civil rights and criminal justice advocates have been pushing for a halt following a wave of controversial executions under the Trump administration.
Citing the disproportionate impact of capital punishment on people of color, and deep controversy over the drugs used to put people to death, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, ordered a temporary pause on scheduling executions.
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