Category Archives: US News

US voices concern with Israeli officials about Pegasus revelations

Posted on by

Top Biden administration official reportedly raised questions about spyware sold by NSO Group

The White House has raised concerns with top Israeli officials about allegations that spyware sold by Israeli surveillance company NSO Group has been used by governments around the world to monitor journalists and activists and – potentially – government officials with close ties to the US.

Brett McGurk, a top Biden administration adviser on the Middle East, raised questions privately about NSO in a meeting last week with Zohar Palti, a senior Israeli defence ministry official, according to reports by Axios and the Washington Post.

Continue reading...

Sheila Jackson Lee is third Black lawmaker to be arrested during voting rights protests

Posted on by

Congress members Joyce Beatty and Hank Johnson were previously arrested for participating in separate demonstrations

Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democratic representative of Texas, was arrested in Washington DC on Thursday while protesting lawmakers’ delay in passing legislation to protect voting rights, becoming the third member of the Congressional Black Caucus to be arrested for civil disobedience in recent weeks.

Related: Voting curbs enacted in 18 US states this year despite none finding widespread fraud

Continue reading...

Federal workers must be vaccinated or submit to Covid testing and distancing

Posted on by

Rule would affect more than 2m civilian employees, but Republicans continue to block preventive measures

Joe Biden has announced that all civilian federal workers must show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus or face regular testing and stringent physical distancing, masking and travel restrictions.

Facing a daunting political test as the Delta variant cuts a swath through unvaccinated Americans, the president outlined a more aggressive approach by the federal government and expressed hope that it would offer a model for corporate employers.

Continue reading...

Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over Black Widow streaming release

Posted on by

The actor claims that the studio breached her contract by releasing her standalone Marvel adventure on Disney+

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the recent release of Black Widow.

The actor is claiming that the studio’s decision to launch her first, and last, Marvel standalone film on Disney+ as well as cinemas is a breach of contract.

Continue reading...

Three US teachers who sued Monsanto over chemical exposure awarded $185m

Posted on by

Teachers, who worked in Monroe, Washington, said they suffered brain damage from exposure to PCBs in fluorescent lighting

Three schoolteachers in Washington state who sued the chemical company Monsanto over exposure to materials in fluorescent lights have been awarded $185m.

The law firm that represented the teachers, Friedman Rubin, said a jury returned the verdict on Tuesday in King county superior court. The teachers, who worked at the Sky Valley education center in Monroe, Washington, said they suffered brain damage from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the fluorescent lighting at the school.

Continue reading...

The activists sabotaging railways in solidarity with Indigenous people

Posted on by

People coming to the aid of the Wet’suwet’en nation to stop a pipeline are using direct action that is prompting terror charges

The night of 28 November, Samantha Brooks, 24, hunched over the railway tracks near Bellingham, Washington, about 32km (20 miles) south of the Canada-US border and installed a “shunt,” according to trial documents obtained by the Guardian.

Related: Dakota access pipeline: court strikes down permits in victory for Standing Rock Sioux

Continue reading...

Three Americans create enough carbon emissions to kill one person, study finds

Posted on by

The analysis draws on public health studies that conclude that for every 4,434 metric tons of CO2 produced, one person globally will die

The lifestyles of around three average Americans will create enough planet-heating emissions to kill one person, and the emissions from a single coal-fired power plant is likely to result in more than 900 deaths, according to the first analysis to calculate the mortal cost of carbon emissions.

The new research builds upon what is known as the “social cost of carbon”, a monetary figure placed upon the damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions, by assigning an expected death toll from the emissions that cause the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Arthur, children’s animated TV series, to end after 25 years

Posted on by

The final season of the longest running animated series in the US will air in 2022

Arthur, the longest running children’s animated series in the US, will soon come to an end.

PBS Kids plans to end the beloved television show after 25 seasons, said an original developer of the show during a podcast released on Wednesday. The final season will air in 2022.

Continue reading...

Facebook reports fastest quarterly growth in five years

Posted on by
  • Social media company beats forecasts and hits $29bn revenue
  • Network condemned for allowing vaccine misinformation

Facebook saw its fastest growth this quarter since 2016, the company revealed in its earnings report on Wednesday, despite regulatory concerns and criticisms surrounding misinformation on the platform.

Related: Remington offers $33m to settle lawsuit by families of Sandy Hook massacre

Continue reading...

Covid: what is changing for fully vaccinated travellers to England?

Posted on by

We examine the new regulations regarding quarantine, testing and proving inoculation after 2 August

Millions of people living outside the UK will be allowed quarantine-free entry following the most significant lifting of restrictions on international travel in months. Here’s what you need to know:

Continue reading...

‘Such a moron’: Pelosi heaps disdain on McCarthy for criticizing mask guidance

Posted on by
  • Kevin McCarthy: mask policy a political decision by Democrats
  • Capitol physician reimposes mask requirement for the House

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday heaped disdain on the Republican minority leader’s criticism of Congress’s new mask requirement – a reversal of policy that reflected growing number of cases and fears about the highly-transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant at the Capitol.

Related: Bipartisan group reaches agreement on ‘major issues’ of infrastructure bill, Republican says – live

Continue reading...

‘A nightmare scenario’: how an anti-trans Instagram post led to violence in the streets

Posted on by

Misinformation about Wi Spa, a Korean spa in Los Angeles, quickly spread around the world. Since then, trans women in LA have faced violence and online abuse

On 24 June, a woman claimed on Instagram that a Korean spa in Los Angeles had allowed a “man” to expose himself to women and girls in the women’s section.

The unsubstantiated allegations about Wi Spa in LA’s Koreatown neighborhood quickly spread from social media to rightwing forums to far-right news sites to Fox News, and were distorted by anti-transgender groups across multiple countries.

Continue reading...

‘We walked 18 hours, no food’: Taliban advance triggers exodus of Afghans

Posted on by

As the conflict intensifies amid the withdrawal of US-led forces, a new wave of families are being forced to flee via perilous routes to Iran and Turkey

A weary Zebah Gul and her eight children are gathered quietly in a small room at a transit centre in Herat, north-eastern Afghanistan. Their six-month attempt to escape the war and find safety has failed.

They have just spent a week in Iranian police detention after being caught trying to cross the border into Turkey, and are beginning to make their way back to their besieged home province of Takhar, on the opposite side of the sprawling country.

Continue reading...

‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli’s $2m Wu-Tang Clan album sold by US government

Posted on by

The album, purchased by Shkreli for $2m, was bought for an undisclosed sum

An unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album that “Pharma Bro” entrepreneur Martin Shkreli forfeited after his securities fraud conviction was sold Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, though prosecutors say it was enough to fully satisfy the rest of what he owed on a $7.4m forfeiture order he faced after his 2018 sentencing.

The entrepreneur once boasted that he paid $2m in 2015 at auction for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the 31-track double album the Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating.

Continue reading...

Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds

Posted on by

Carbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new records

A new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.

Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records.

Continue reading...

UK poised to end amber list quarantine for people vaccinated in US and EU

Posted on by

Ministers to discuss plans, with talks also to determine if they will apply to England only or all UK nations

Plans to significantly open up international travel are expected to be announced on Wednesday, with UK ministers poised to let people who have been fully vaccinated in the US and EU avoid quarantine if arriving from amber list countries.

The move would benefit millions of people by finally letting them be reunited with family and friends based in the UK, as well as businesses in the aviation and tourism sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Joey Jordison, Slipknot’s founding drummer, dies at age 46

Posted on by

Family announce that metal musician, who had transverse myelitis, a nerve disease, died ‘peacefully in his sleep’

Joey Jordison, the drummer whose dynamic playing helped to power the metal band Slipknot to global stardom, has died at age 46.

His family wrote in a statement: “We are heartbroken to share the news that Joey Jordison, prolific drummer, musician and artist passed away peacefully in his sleep … Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow. To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart and his love for all things family and music.”

Continue reading...

‘This is how I’m going to die’: officers recount Capitol attack ordeal – live

Posted on by
  • Police officer Aquilino Gonell describes violence at Capitol
  • Select committee hears witness testimony from 6 January

Jamie Raskin of Maryland is next. A law professor, his descriptions of his experiences during the attack and management of the impeachment of Donald Trump that followed brought him to particular national attention:

Related: 'The moral centre': how Jamie Raskin dominated the stage at Trump's trial

Related: ‘I need a drink’ after Republican talks, says officer beaten in Capitol attack

Now we have Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, and more video, this time from Officer Hodges’ body camera.

There are clouds of smoke, police in riot gear, shouting, pushing. Hodges curls his lip as he looks up at the screen. One burly police officer is seen dousing his eyes with water, walking back through the police line. Now we have Officer Hodges stuck in a door, screaming. It is tough to watch.

Continue reading...

Salmon nearly boiled alive in Pacific north-west heatwave captured on video

Posted on by

A conservation group recorded the video in the Columbia River on a day when water temperatures breached 70F

Salmon in the Columbia River were nearly boiled to death when water temperatures rose during the Pacific north-west’s record-shattering heatwave, according to a conservation group that has documented the disturbing sight.

In a video released on Tuesday by the non-profit organization Columbia Riverkeeper, a group of sockeye salmon swimming in a tributary of the river can be seen covered in angry red lesions and white fungus, the results of stress and exposure to extreme temperatures.

Continue reading...