Category Archives: US News

What does the Taliban’s return mean for al-Qaida in Afghanistan?

Posted on by

UK defence secretary is worried that ‘al-Qaida will probably come back’ – but it is already there

As the Taliban prepare to rule Afghanistan after sweeping across the country in less than a week, an obvious question is what does this mean for the future of al-Qaida and other extremist Islamist groups committed to waging a global jihad.

There is no doubt that the astonishing rapidity of the Taliban’s victory will deliver a tremendous boost to Islamist extremists everywhere – whether al-Qaida, Islamic State, fighters in Mozambique or Syria, or jihadi fanboys in bedsits in Birmingham or Manila.

Continue reading...

Life after terror: the children of 9/11

Posted on by
Twenty years after the World Trade Center attacks, four young people, then unborn, who lost their fathers, reveal how the events shaped their lives

Like for most young Americans growing up, 9/11 was a fairly constant presence, with online videos and TV documentaries, memorials and references to it on the news. I never wanted to ask Mum too much, instead putting the pieces together as I got older. I think I always knew my dad had died that day, but I’ve never felt a hugely emotional reaction. I know the basics of what happened, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Continue reading...

Afghanistan: Taliban close in on Kabul as last government stronghold in north falls – live updates

Posted on by

Capital hit by blackout as insurgent fighters reach outskirts and western nations race to evacuate citizens

We’ll have more from Jalalabad shortly. Reuters is reporting that the Taliban’s taking of the city has been confirmed by an official source.

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken has just tweeted that he has had a “wery productive conversation” with Canada’s foreign minister:

Very productive conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister @MarcGarneau about our efforts to reach a diplomatic solution in Afghanistan. I am grateful for Canada’s shared commitment to bring vulnerable Afghans to safety.

Continue reading...

Cybersleuths find men who allegedly attacked officer during US Capitol riot

Posted on by

David Walls-Kaufman and Taylor F Taranto appeared to target Jeffrey Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable, suit says

A group of cybersleuths have tracked down two men who allegedly attacked police officer Jeffrey Smith at the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, leaving him with injuries that have been linked to his death days later.

In a new complaint, attorney David P Weber – who represents Smith’s widow, Erin – wrote that David Walls-Kaufman and and Taylor F Taranto appeared to specifically target Smith because his eyes and face were vulnerable.

Continue reading...

‘I can’t do it’: Portland residents battle grueling heat in unprecedented summer

Posted on by

Streets go quiet and shops close early as temperatures pass 100F in latest Pacific north-west heatwave

“No, no, no,” Linda Longoria cried as she heard the weather forecast for Portland, Oregon on Friday: 100F (38C). “I can’t do it. Even in the shade it’s so humid.”

Longoria, 65, and her son are homeless and stay in hotels when they can but sometimes are forced to sleep outdoors. A lifelong resident of the city, she shook her head: “A heatwave in Portland. It’s not usually like this.”

Continue reading...

Wisconsin says hunters can kill 300 wolves this fall against biologists’ advice

Posted on by

• Hunters killed double limit during February breeding season

• State wildlife officials recommended a 130-kill limit

Wisconsin wildlife officials have authorized the killing of 300 wolves for the 2021 fall hunting season, more than doubling biologists’ recommendation of a 130-wolf kill limit.

Scientists with the state department of natural resources (DNR) recommended the 130 limit after the four-day hunting season in February saw hunters kill almost twice as many wolves as allotted during the wolves’ breeding season, raising concerns over potential long-term ramifications for the population.

Continue reading...

Republican leaders fiddle while Covid burns through their own supporters

Posted on by

Governors of states such as Florida and Texas, where the Delta variant is surging, have made masks and vaccines a partisan issue, in a lethal mix of ignorance, irrationality and nihilism

The crowd gathered under a tent at the water’s edge, their tables decorated with the Stars and Stripes and checked tablecloths. In their midst in Austin county, Texas, last Saturday was the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, laughing with delight and playing the fiddle.

With the coronavirus roaring through the state and hospitals near breaking point, comparisons with Nero fiddling while Rome burned were irresistible, although journalist Alisha Grauso pointed out on Twitter: “Nero actually enacted sweeping relief efforts to try to quell the fire and also offer his people aid in the aftermath, particularly the lower class, so Abbott is somehow worse than a Roman emperor known today as being a psychotic tyrant.”

Continue reading...

Biden in an impossible bind as Afghanistan blame game begins

Posted on by

The president has been condemned by Republicans as the Taliban advance – but the roots of the crisis date back years

The words of political leaders can come back to haunt them. “None whatsoever, zero,” Joe Biden said last month when asked if he saw any parallels between the US withdrawals from Vietnam and Afghanistan.

“The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”

Continue reading...

‘We can’t go back to normal’: The US had deep inequalities before Covid. These women are fighting to make the recovery equitable

Posted on by

The links between health access, income and race have never been so visible – these doctors, experts and activists see that as an opportunity for a revolution in care

Dr Ana Caskin treats underserved populations in Washington DC, in parts of the city where life expectancy is 20 years lower than it is in places that are a 20-minute train ride away. The last thing she wants when the Covid-19 pandemic finally recedes is for things to go back to “normal”.

Because for the people she treats that would mean limited access to doctors and therapists, healthy food and affordable, safe housing – the type of things that are now proven to help protect people from Covid-19.

Continue reading...

‘This is a public health issue’: can Covid-era music festivals ever be safe?

Posted on by

After backlash over the 100,000-plus crowd of mostly unmasked faces at Chicago’s Lollapalooza, festival organisers reckon with a safe way forward

It could have been an image from 2019 – a sea of mostly unmasked faces, shoulder to shoulder, singing to live music in Chicago’s Grant Park. The mass gathering of about 100,000 people daily for Lollapalooza 2021, one of the country’s most prominent music festivals, featuring Foo Fighters and Post Malone, on the last weekend of July was a welcome sight to music lovers – and a worrisome event for public health officials as cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 surge in the US.

The photos now appear like the last naive gasp of pandemic-free fantasy; in the two weeks since Lollapalooza, which required either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test to attend, the rapid spread of the Delta variant has forced a slate of upcoming music festivals to reassess health and safety plans at a pivotal moment for handling of the pandemic in the US.

Continue reading...

US troops start to arrive for Afghanistan evacuation as Taliban close in on Kabul

Posted on by

Thousands of western nationals and vulnerable Afghans to be airlifted out of Kabul as Taliban launch major assault on northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif

US troops have begun arriving in Afghanistan to help evacuate thousands of people, including embassy staff, and Afghans and their families who worked for them as a sweeping Taliban offensive draws ever nearer to Kabul.

Diplomats and nationals from a host of western countries are scrambling to leave the capital, with insurgent fighters now camped just 50km (30 miles) away after a campaign that has seen provincial capitals swiftly fall.

Continue reading...

Washington state confirms first live ‘murder hornet’ sighting of the year

Posted on by

Asian giant hornet spotted about two miles from where first US nest was found last year

Washington state has confirmed its second “murder hornet” sighting of 2021 – the first glimpse of a live one, officials reported.

A statement released by the Washington state department of agriculture (WSDA) confirms the first report of a live Asian giant hornet in the state this year.

Continue reading...

Former model Carré Sutton sues Gérald Marie over rape accusation

Posted on by

Lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, says Sutton was ‘trafficked’ by ex-Elite Model boss to ‘wealthy men across Europe’

Ex-model Carré Sutton has filed a lawsuit alleging that Gérald Marie, the French former modeling agency boss, repeatedly raped her at his Paris apartment when she was just 17 years old.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, also maintains that Sutton was “trafficked by Marie to other wealthy men around Europe”.

Continue reading...

Taliban seize four more provincial capitals in Afghanistan

Posted on by

Insurgents’ seemingly unstoppable advance continues as they close in on Kabul

The Taliban’s seemingly unstoppable advance across Afghanistan continued on Friday, as insurgents took control of four more provincial capitals after their seizure on Thursday of Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third biggest cities.

With Afghan government forces in disarray, and amid reports that the country’s vice-president has fled, the Taliban are heading inexorably towards Kabul. They control more than two-thirds of the country, just as the US plans to pull out its last remaining troops.

Continue reading...

Booster jabs for rich countries will cause more deaths worldwide, say experts

Posted on by

Oxford Vaccine Group and Gavi say western leaders must not ‘reject their responsibility to the rest of humanity’

Many more people around the world will die of Covid if western political leaders “reject their responsibility to the rest of humanity” by prioritising booster shots for their own populations instead of sharing doses, the head of the Oxford vaccine group has warned.

Writing for the Guardian, Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, and Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, say that the scientific and public health case for large-scale boosting has not been made and could have far-reaching consequences in other countries.

Continue reading...

North Korea military threats ‘intended to deflect from economic crisis’

Posted on by

Regime looking to shift focus from domestic problems with rhetoric around US-South Korea military drills, say analysts

North Korea’s threat to boost its military capacity to counter hostility from Washington before joint US-South Korea military drills is intended to divert attention from its economic crisis but could lead to a resumption of missile tests, according to analysts.

While there is nothing unusual about North Korean opposition to the summer exercises involving American and South Korean forces, its warning this week that Seoul and Washington faced “greater security threats” comes from a position of weakness not seen since Kim Jong-un came to power a decade ago.

Continue reading...

US’s white population declines for first time ever, 2020 census finds

Posted on by

White population falls below 60%, underscoring what’s at stake as lawmakers begin drawing political maps

America’s white population declined for the first time while US metro areas were responsible for almost all of the country’s population growth, according to groundbreaking new data released on Thursday by the US census bureau.

Continue reading...

Britney Spears’ father agrees to step down as conservator ‘when the time is right’

Posted on by

Court filings reveal that Jamie Spears had ‘already been working’ on transitioning to a new conservator

Jamie Spears has agreed to step down from his long time role as conservator of his daughter Britney Spears’ estate “when the time is right,” according to court filings.

Jamie Spears’ departure would mark a significant development in the singer’s long fight to be freed from her father’s control. The developments come nearly two months after the singer spoke in court and called for an end to the controversial arrangement that has controlled her life for 13 years, giving her father and others authority over her personal life and career.

Continue reading...

US deserves big share of blame for Afghanistan military disaster

Posted on by

Analysis: White House accused of unfairly pointing finger at Afghan military after decades of mismanaging war effort

As one provincial capital after another has fallen to the Taliban, the message from Washington to the Afghans facing the onslaught has been that their survival is in their own hands.

“They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Joe Biden said. Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, added: “They have what they need. What they need to determine is whether they have the political will to fight back.”

Continue reading...

‘We’re going to see a lot of deaths’: Covid leaves Mississippi hospitals at brink of failure

Posted on by

Only 35.6% of residents are fully vaccinated in the state, which is opening a field hospital as officials brace for climbing death toll

Health officials in Mississippi have warned the state’s hospital system is on the brink of failure due to a surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US south as the Delta variant rips through the country.

The deep south state, where only 35.6% of residents are fully vaccinated, is opening a 50-bed field hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) car park with the assistance of the federal government as officials brace for a climbing death toll and ICU units reach capacity.

Continue reading...