Category Archives: US News

Hundreds clash in Portland as Proud Boys rally descends into violence

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Running street battle ends in gunfight after ‘Summer of love’ protest in a parking lot of a former Kmart store

A rightwing protest in Portland on Sunday has culminated in a gunfight, when antifascist demonstrators returned fire at a man who shot at them with a handgun in a downtown street.

The firefight took place in the heart of downtown Portland, soon after 6pm. As antifascists followed a man at a distance who they were trying to eject from the area, he took cover behind an electrical substation box, produced a handgun and opened fire. He fired at least two shots before an antifascist returned fire with their own handgun. At least seven shots were fired.

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Tennessee floods death toll rises to 22 as Biden offers help

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  • Record rainfall fueled flash floods in rural town of Waverly
  • Governor surveys devastation as families seek missing

At least 22 people were confirmed dead on Sunday as rescue crews searched desperately amid shattered homes for dozens still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through parts of Tennessee.

Related: A midwestern town moved uphill to survive climate crisis. Can others do the same?

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Biden: Afghanistan evacuations would always have been ‘hard and painful’

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President defends US exit but makes changes to airlift effort at Kabul airport after criticism over deaths and chaotic scenes

The evacuation of thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies from Kabul would have been “hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began”, Joe Biden insisted on Sunday, amid fierce criticism of his administration’s handling of the US withdrawal.

Related: Pentagon orders commercial airlines to help in Afghanistan evacuations

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Nosedive in UK-US relations is another casualty of Afghanistan’s fall

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Ministers are becoming openly critical of Joe Biden after being left in the dark about major decisions

So much for the special relationship. As the Afghanistan crisis has unfolded, it has precipitated a high-speed deterioration in Anglo-American relations.

What began as a muted disagreement on whether it was right for the US to withdraw militarily has reached the point where UK government sources are openly briefing against President Joe Biden as the situation in Kabul worsens.

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Henri makes landfall in Rhode Island, packing high winds and heavy rain

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  • Biden says storm has ‘potential for widespread consequences’
  • Inland rainfall seen as major threat in north-east states

Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in Rhode Island on Sunday, packing high winds and heavy rains that were projected to leave devastation from New Jersey and New York up to Massachusetts.

Related: The show did not go on: storm thwarts Central Park concert celebrating city’s Covid comeback

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Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine

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Former president held rally in Cullman, Alabama, a city struggling to cope with cases and hospitalisations

At his rally in Alabama on Saturday night, Donald Trump heard the unusual sound of booing and jeering aimed his way, after he told supporters: “I recommend taking the vaccines.”

Related: Tennessee radio host who criticised vaccine efforts dies of Covid-19

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Matt Gaetz, Republican in sex-trafficking investigation, marries in California

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  • Florida congressman denies paying for sex with 17-year-old
  • Former Rand Paul staffer presides over surprise ceremony

The Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz eloped to southern California on Saturday, in order to marry Ginger Luckey in a small ceremony on Catalina Island.

Related: Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine

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Afghan civil war ‘unavoidable’ if Taliban refuse talks, says opposition leader

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Ahmad Massoud issues warning as militant group seeks to assert control around Kabul airport

One of the main figures still leading Afghan opposition to the Taliban’s takeover of the country, Ahmad Massoud, has warned that a new civil war is inevitable without a comprehensive power-sharing agreement.

The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who opposed the Taliban in the 1990s and was assassinated two days before 9/11 in 2001, Massoud told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television channel that war was “unavoidable” if the Taliban refused dialogue.

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Full FDA approval of Pfizer Covid shot will enable vaccine requirements

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Full federal approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine will empower businesses and universities to require vaccinations and tip hesitant Americans toward getting the jab, the surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said on Sunday.

Related: Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know

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Josephine Baker to become first Black woman to enter France’s Pantheon

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Performer who became part of the French resistance will be moved to the mausoleum in November

The remains of Josephine Baker, a famed French-American dancer, singer and actor who also worked with the French resistance during the second world war, will be moved to the Panthéon mausoleum in November, according to an aide to President Emmanuel Macron.

It will make Baker, who was born in Missouri in 1906 and buried in Monaco in 1975, the first Black woman to be laid to rest in the hallowed Parisian monument.

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Nicole Ari Parker to join Sex and the City reboot in place of Kim Cattrall

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Boogie Nights star reportedly cast as Carrie Bradshaw’s best friend in HBO Max series And Just Like That …

Nicole Ari Parker has been billed to replace Kim Cattrall in the Sex and the City reboot, following the backlash that accompanied the news that the era-defining show’s most iconic character was done with the series.

Ari Parker, known for starring in the acclaimed series Empire as well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, will reportedly replace Cattrall as the fourth member of the New York friend group. According to the Mail on Sunday, Ari Parker, 50, will play Carrie Bradshaw’s new best friend, documentary-maker Lisa Todd Wexley.

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US music star Don Everly dies aged 84

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Singer and guitarist who formed one of pop’s greatest vocal partnerships, the Everly Brothers, dies in Nashville

Don Everly, one half of the rock’n’roll duo the Everly Brothers, has died at his home in Nashville at the age of 84.

A spokesperson for the family confirmed Everly’s death to the Los Angeles Times, but did not disclose a cause.

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‘A complete shock’: the rightwing contrarian leading the California recall race

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Larry Elder doesn’t believe in gun control or the gender pay gap. He has risen to the top of the Republican field in the recall election for governor

Larry Elder is a confounding frontrunner in the Republican race to replace Gavin Newsom as California governor.

Related: Grizzly Flats: the California town leveled by the Caldor fire – in pictures

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Henri becomes hurricane as it heads for Long Island and New England

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  • Forecasters predict landfall in New York or Connecticut
  • New England has not been hit by hurricane since 1991

Preparations for a monster storm forecast to hit parts of the US north-east were stepped up on Saturday after Henri was promoted to a hurricane as it moved closer to land.

In New York, Andrew Cuomo used his last hours as governor to direct the state response, declaring a state of emergency in some areas and telling residents: “If you have to get to higher ground, it has to be today.”

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Springsteen and LL Cool J to play New York comeback concert – as Covid surges

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Thousands will show proof of vaccination to attend star-studded Central Park extravaganza as city averages nearly 1,900 cases a day

As coronavirus cases continued to rise across the US, thousands were expected nonetheless to attend a concert in Central Park on Saturday night, staged to celebrate New York City’s recovery amid the pandemic.

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, LL Cool J and Andrea Bocelli were included in the lineup for We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert. Most tickets distributed by the city were free, with attendees required to show proof of vaccination.

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Trump to stage Alabama rally as state struggles with Covid surge

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Ex-president to support of Mo Brooks, who is running for Senate and sympathised with man who threatened to blow up US Capitol

Donald Trump was due to stage a rally in Alabama on Saturday night, in a city that has declared a Covid emergency and in support of a congressman who both backed Trump’s attempt to overturn the election and this week sympathised with a man who threatened to blow up the US Capitol.

Related: Capitol bomb claim suspect charged with weapon of mass destruction threat

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‘Racist and flat out wrong’: Texas Republican blames Black Americans for Covid surge

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Dan Patrick refuses to apologise for false claim while Texas experiences highest hospitalisation rates since January

Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor of Texas, has refused to apologise for blaming rising Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths on unvaccinated African Americans, comments one Black Houston official called “racist and flat out wrong”.

Related: Texas school district requires masks after finding dress code loophole to bypass ban

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R Kelly sex-trafficking trial: manager used bribe to get Aaliyah fake ID

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  • Demetrius Smith details moves to let singer marry 15-year-old
  • R Kelly denies charges in New York trial

A former tour manager for R Kelly testified on Friday that he paid a $500 bribe to a government worker to get the singer Aaliyah a fake identification card so Kelly could secretly marry her when she was 15 years old.

Related: Aaliyah: ‘Her sound is the R&B blueprint’

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‘Don’t go down without a fight’: Texas Democrats’ effort to block voting restrictions sputters

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Some Texas Democrats dismayed their colleagues returned to make a quorum, but others hope their protest has drawn attention to voting rights

A last-ditch effort to stall Texas Republicans from passing sweeping voting legislation effectively ended on Thursday evening after enough Democrats returned to the state capitol in Austin to allow lawmakers to proceed on legislation.

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Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know

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Vaccine efficacy against infection is waning slightly with time – but efficacy against severe symptoms remains strong

Federal health authorities have recommended booster shots for all adults who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with either the the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, citing evidence that suggests breakthrough infections could become more common over time.

The plan has faced scrutiny. Some US scientists have said data was insufficient to support the decision, and vaccines remain highly effective against severe disease requiring hospitalization and death. The World Health Organization harshly criticized US leaders for using vaccines to provide a third shot to people, even as most around the world haven’t had one.

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