A sixth-grade girl shot two students and a custodian at a middle school in Rigby, Idaho, on Thursday before being disarmed by a teacher, local authorities said. The Jefferson county sheriff, Steve Anderson, said the girl had fired multiple rounds inside and outside the school. The three victims were shot in their extremities and are expected to survive
Continue reading...Category Archives: US News
US military has ‘no plan’ to shoot down debris from Chinese rocket
Defense secretary is hopeful the rocket will land in the ocean; Aerospace Corp said it expects the debris to hit the Pacific near the equator
The US military has no plan to shoot down the remnants of a large Chinese rocket expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend, the defense secretary said on Thursday.
Speaking with reporters, Lloyd Austin said the hope was the rocket would land in the ocean and that the latest estimate was that it would come down between Saturday and Sunday.
Continue reading...Florida ‘moving in wrong direction’ with voting restrictions, White House says – as it happened
- Florida governor signs into law bill to restrict mail-in voting
- House Republicans bid to oust Cheney from conference chair role
- Hillary Clinton: ‘There has to be a reckoning with disinformation’
Mike Jordan reports for the Guardian:
Idaho’s governor, Brad Little, has a bill signed into law that aims to restrict critical race theory from being taught as a subject in schools and universities.
The bill, H377, prevents teachers from “indoctrinating” students into belief systems that claim that members of any race, sex, religion, ethnicity or national origin are inferior or superior to other groups. Signed into law last week, H377 also makes it illegal to make students “affirm, adopt or adhere to” beliefs that members of these groups are today responsible for past actions of the groups to which they claim to belong.
Related: Idaho governor signs bill to ban critical race theory from being taught in schools
Continue reading...Sixth-grade girl shoots three at Idaho middle school
Victims expected to survive attack, which ended when teacher disarmed student, authorities say
A sixth-grade girl shot two students and a custodian at an Idaho middle school on Thursday before being disarmed by a teacher, authorities said.
The Jefferson county sheriff, Steve Anderson, said the girl had fired multiple rounds inside and outside Rigby middle school in the small city of Rigby, about 95 miles south-west of Yellowstone national park.
Continue reading...US-Germany rift as Berlin opposes plan to ditch Covid vaccine patents
- Germany says waiver would inhibit private sector research
- Opposition to Biden plan threatens to deadlock WTO talks
The US and Germany are at odds on the issue of waivers for patents on Covid-19 vaccines, as Berlin argued that a waiver would not increase production and would inhibit future private sector research.
The disagreement is the first major rift between the two economic powers since Joe Biden took office, and threatens to deadlock discussions at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and sour relations within the G7 group of major industrialised democracies.
Continue reading...‘They’re chilling’: endangered condors take up residence outside California woman’s home
More than 15 rare birds, whose population is at about 160 in the state, showed up at Cinda Mickol’s home – and they’ve made a mess
Giant California condors are rare – but not at Cinda Mickols’ home.
More than 15 condors, an endangered bird whose population hovers at around 160 in the state and under 500 in the US, have recently taken a liking to Mickol’s house in Tehachapi – and they’ve made quite a mess.
Continue reading...US support for Covid vaccine patent waivers puts pressure on EU and UK
Analysis: Joe Biden’s support for idea is vital but it won’t happen without backing of other rich nations
It was a “seismic decision” by Joe Biden, the US president, say campaigners who have fought for the demolition of patent protection on vaccines and drugs for decades. The US administration has amazed supporters and critics alike by throwing its considerable weight behind the pleas of South Africa, India and about 100 developing countries at the World Trade Organization to overturn patents on Covid vaccines in the interests of getting more of them, more cheaply and faster, to huge populations in need.
Patents preserve the profits of the multinational companies that make drugs and vaccines. They make it illegal for up to 20 years for manufacturers of generic medicines to turn out cheap copycat versions. In this pandemic where, as the World Health Organization says, no one is safe until everyone is safe, there is a powerful moral case for ditching them.
Continue reading...Hotlines ‘ring out’: China’s military crisis strategy needs rethink, says Biden Asia chief
Kurt Campbell says Beijing has been increasing military activities without taking measures to reduce the chance of miscalculation
The Biden administration’s top Asia official has warned about the absence of a crisis-communications channel between the US and China at a time of rising military tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Military and leadership hotlines have been established at various points in the fraught history of the relationship, but Kurt Campbell, the White House Asia “tsar” responsible for coordinating policy across the administration, said Beijing had shown no interest in using them, out of a preference for uncertainty. The hotline simply rings out in “empty rooms”, he said.
Continue reading...Hillary Clinton: ‘There has to be a global reckoning with disinformation’
The former secretary of state warns of the danger to democracy of lies flourishing online – and says big tech’s wings must be clipped
Her bid for the White House was engulfed by a tidal wave of fabricated news and false conspiracy theories. Now Hillary Clinton is calling for a “global reckoning” with disinformation that includes reining in the power of big tech.
The former secretary of state and first lady warns that the breakdown of a shared truth, and the divisiveness that surely follows, poses a danger to democracy at a moment when China is selling the conceit that autocracy works.
Continue reading...SpaceX finally launches and successfully lands its futuristic Starship
Previous test flights of the rocketship, which Elon Musk plans to use for future missions to the moon and mars, ended in explosions
SpaceX launched and successfully landed its futuristic Starship on Wednesday, finally nailing a test flight of the rocketship that Elon Musk intends to use to land astronauts on the moon and send people to Mars.
The previous four test flights ended in fiery explosions before, during or soon after touchdown at the south-eastern tip of Texas, near Brownsville.
Continue reading...Falling Chinese rocket to crash to Earth on weekend as US calls for ‘responsible space behaviours’
Communist party newspaper claims Long March 5B should easily burn up in atmosphere but expert warns pieces will reach Earth
The White House has called for “responsible space behaviours” as a Chinese rocket, thought to be out of control, looks set to crash back to Earth on Saturday, US time.
The US Space Command is tracking debris from the Long March 5B, which last week launched the main module of China’s first permanent space station into orbit. The roughly 30-metre (100ft) long stage would be among the biggest space debris to fall to Earth.
Continue reading...More than 45,000 vie for one of 12 spots to help thin Grand Canyon bison herd
Skilled shooters are needed to kill the 2,000-pound animals that have been trampling archaeological and other resources
More than 45,000 people are vying for one of a dozen spots to help thin a herd of bison at Grand Canyon national park.
The odds aren’t as good as drawing a state tag to hunt the massive animals beyond the boundaries of the Grand Canyon, but they’re far better than getting struck by lightning or winning the Powerball.
Continue reading...Joe Biden: Republicans are in the midst of a ‘mini-revolution’ – video
The president said he has never seen internal party conflict like the one Republicans are experiencing at the moment and was in a ‘mini-revolution’.
Earlier on Wednesday Biden said: ‘I don’t understand the Republicans’ in regards to House Republicans’ efforts to oust Liz Cheney from her leadership role over her criticism of Donald Trump
Continue reading...Blackfeet tribe gives surplus vaccines to First Nations relatives in Canada
Effort by illustrates the disparity with which the US and its northern neighbors are distributing doses
The Blackfeet tribe in northern Montana has provided about 1,000 surplus vaccines to its First Nations relatives and others in Canada, in an illustration of the disparity in speed at which the US and its northern neighbor are distributing doses. While more than 30% of adults in the US are fully vaccinated, in Canada that figure is about 3%.
Among those who received the vaccine at the Piegan-Carway border crossing were Sherry Cross Child and Shane Little Bear, of Stand Off, about 30 miles (50km ) north of the border.
Continue reading...Utah woman missing for five months found alive in tent in a canyon
- Woman, 47, reportedly survived winter on grass, moss and water
- Authorities found her during aerial search of canyon
A Utah woman who disappeared in November was discovered alive in a tent at a campsite, having reportedly subsisted off of grass, moss and water from a nearby river for more than five months.
The 47-year-old woman, who authorities did not identify, was first reported missing after US Forest Service employees preparing for seasonal canyon closures found her car abandoned in a trailhead parking lot about 50 miles (80km) south-east of Salt Lake City on 25 November.
Continue reading...Facebook fudge potentially lets Trump live to lie another day
Analysis: Trump will try to have it both ways over the verdict – decrying censorship but also eyeing an eventual return
It was not so much “Release the Kraken!” as “please tell the Kraken to pace around the room a few more times while we think about it”.
Facebook’s oversight board ruled that Donald Trump should remain banned from the platform for incendiary posts on the day of the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. But it also told the company that its “vague, standardless penalty” should be reviewed within six months.
Continue reading...Trump’s Facebook ban should not be lifted, network’s oversight board rules
- Trump’s account suspended in wake of Capitol attack
- Board says Facebook should make final decision in six months
Donald Trump’s Facebook account should not be reinstated, the social media giant’s oversight board said on Wednesday, barring an imminent return to the platform.
However, the board has punted the final decision over Trump’s account back to Facebook itself, suggesting the platform make a decision in six months regarding what to do with Trump’s account and whether it will be permanently deleted.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live: two members of India G7 team test positive; Tokyo Olympics ‘to go ahead’ after test event
Delegation self-isolating after members test positive for Covid; Seb Coe says Games in July will be ‘extremely good’ even without spectators
- Indian delegation forced to self-isolate in London for Covid
- UK pledges millions to bolster testing for coronavirus variants
- US won’t reach herd immunity this year. So how will it live with Covid?
- Analysis: Britain’s reasons for Covid optimism
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Staff at an Indonesian pharmaceutical company have been accused of washing and repackaging used Covid nasal swabs, which were then sold to thousands of unsuspecting travellers.
Five employees from the state-owned Kimia Farma have been arrested, while the company may also face a civil lawsuit over the claims.
Related: Workers at Indonesian pharma firm arrested over ‘re-used’ Covid swabs
Norway will introduce verifiable vaccine certificates from early June, allowing holders to use them for admittance to events held in Norway, prime minister Erna Solberg has said.
About a quarter of Norway’s population, as Reuters reports, has received a first dose of a Covid vaccine, while 6.8% has received two doses.
Continue reading...Biden administration backs waiving Covid vaccine patent protections – as it happened
- Administration will participate in conversations with WTO to help lift protections
- Republicans are in the midst of a ‘mini-revolution,’ Biden says
- Federal judge blocks CDC’s moratorium on evictions
- Trump’s ban should not be lifted, oversight board rules
- Facebook ruling on Trump: five key takeaways
- Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email
We’re wrapping up today’s live US politics coverage for the evening. It’s been a day of major developments with global reach here in the United States, as well as sustained infighting within the Republican party over Republicans’ allegiance to Donald Trump and his lies. Here’s an updated summary:
This time, Elon Musk’s SpaceX prototype did not explode
SpaceX’s Starship prototype SN15 sticks the landing! https://t.co/QX9P6d14mt #SpaceX #Starship pic.twitter.com/mO4N0fuzZK
SpaceX makes a statement with SN15 Starship landing, coming amid the bid protests on the NASA lunar lander contract. https://t.co/PQ4nrRtqU6
For Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship program more smoke, fire and shrapnel. But at least "the crater is in the right place." Next up: SN15. https://t.co/50DX5ONogF
Continue reading...‘You can be kicked out any time’: US immigrants’ lives upended by Covid
Many foreign-born workers have lost their jobs to the pandemic – and strict new visa rules have raised the threat of removal
When Swaraj lost his job amid the recession last year, it triggered a ticking time bomb. Suddenly, he had to either find a different employer to sponsor his visa or return to India, throwing away the life he had built during half a decade in the United States.
“It’s not right,” said Swaraj, who asked the Guardian to only use his first name to protect his career. “If I lose my work status, I have to leave this country within 60 days. I felt like … that’s not correct.”
Continue reading...