Category Archives: US News

‘We expect them to act’: Biden presses Putin on ransomware groups, hints at retaliation

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Joe Biden’s hour-long phone call with the Russian leader suggests growing impatience over attacks disrupting US sectors

Joe Biden has increased pressure on Vladimir Putin to move against ransomware groups operating from Russia, warning the United States is prepared to respond if cyberhacks are not stopped.

The two leaders held an hour-long phone call on Friday, their first since they discussed ransomware attacks at a summit in Geneva on 16 June. Biden’s message to Putin in the call was direct, suggesting a growing impatience over attacks that have disrupted key US sectors.

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US west heatwave: 31m people brace for record-breaking temperatures

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Las Vegas could surpass its record-high of 117F as residents of US west face very high risk of heat-related illness

More than 31 million people across the US west and south-west are bracing for a brutal heatwave that could bring triple-digit temperatures this weekend, with authorities warning that records could be broken in many regions of California and Nevada. Officials have said that Las Vegas could even surpass its record-high temperature of 117F.

The “heat risk” is classified as “very high” across much of this area, meaning all residents there face “very high risk of heat-related illness due to both the long duration heat, and the lack of overnight relief”, the National Weather Service (NWS) has said.

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Haiti requests US troops to protect infrastructure after assassination

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• Elections minister calls for US help amid political instability

• Previous foreign interventions have proved controversial

Haiti’s government has requested that the United States send troops to protect key infrastructure following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse this week, the elections minister, Mathias Pierre, said on Friday.

Related: Why were Colombian guns for hire allegedly key to Haiti assassination plot?

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Haiti requests US send troops after president’s assassination – live

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Haiti’s ambassador to the US has requested that the US State Department issue sanctions against the killers of Jovenel Moïse, the country’s president.

The Haitian government had also asked the FBI to intervene, saying it could “can play a critical role in rendering justice,” and called for sanctions on those who “are directly responsible or aided and abetted in the execution of the assassination of the president,” according to a letter from Haitian ambassador Bocchit Edmond to US secretary of state Antony Blinken, ABC News reports.

Related: Haiti requests US troops to protect infrastructure after assassination

Joe Biden has fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, the Washington Post reported. Advocates for the elderly and the disabled had urged Biden to remove him due to his policies restricting benefits.

The Post reports:

Saul was fired after refusing a request to resign, White House officials said. His deputy, David Black, who was also appointed by former president Donald Trump, resigned Friday upon request.

Biden named Kilolo Kijakazi, the current deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy, to serve as acting commissioner until a permanent nominee is selected.

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Florida entrepreneur accused by Haiti of taking part in Jovenel Moïse killing

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James Solages is one of two Haitian Americans the government said it arrested in connection with the killing at the presidential residence

The Haitian government has accused a Florida entrepreneur and former security guard of being involved in the assassination of Jovenel Moïse.

James Solages is one of two Haitian Americans the government said it arrested in Port-au-Prince in connection with Wednesday’s killing at the presidential residence. The other was named as Joseph Vincent, but there is little known about him.

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Zaila Avant-garde wins Scripps National Spelling Bee – video

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Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, has taken out the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming the first African American winner in the tournament's 96-year history. Avant-garde correctly spelled “murraya”, a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees, to take out the title ahead of Chaitra Thummala, a 12-year-old from Frisco, Texas.

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Scripps National Spelling Bee 2021: Zaila Avant-garde becomes first African American winner

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Avant-garde, a basketball prodigy, also holds three Guinness world records for ball dribbling

Whether dribbling a basketball or identifying obscure Latin or Greek roots, Zaila Avant-garde doesn’t show much stress.

The 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, breezed to the championship at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, becoming the first African American winner and only the second Black champion in the bee’s 96-year history.

Zaila has described spelling as a side hobby, although she routinely practised for seven hours a day. She is a basketball prodigy who hopes to play some day in the WNBA and holds three Guinness world records for dribbling multiple balls simultaneously.

Related: ‘N-O-R-M-A-L-C-Y’: Why the National Spelling Bee means more now than ever

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Hail, tornadoes and flooded New York subways as stormy weather hits east coast

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Rainstorms drenched New York while Tropical Storm Elsa sparked tornadoes in North Carolina and Virginia

The US east coast was battered by extreme weather on Thursday as heavy thunderstorms brought flooding and travel disruption to the New York City area, while Tropical Storm Elsa dumped heavy rainfall and even sparked tornadoes in North Carolina and Georgia.

Some subway system ya got there. This is the 157th St. 1 line right now. @NYCMayor @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/xyfTAUPPNu

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Pfizer to ask US to authorize third Covid vaccine shot as booster

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Evidence shows a greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation as Israel reports a drop in vaccine effectiveness

Pfizer plans to ask US regulators to authorize a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine within the next month, the drugmaker’s top scientist said on Thursday.

The announcement was based on evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus.

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Record-breaking US Pacific north-west heatwave killed almost 200 people

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Officials reported 116 deaths in Oregon and 78 in Washington after extreme temperatures in normally moderate region

The death toll from the record-breaking heatwave that struck the US Pacific north-west last week has risen to nearly 200, with health authorities reporting 116 deaths in Oregon and 78 in Washington state.

The data in Washington state are particularly striking given historical context. There were seven heat-related deaths in Washington between mid-June and the end of August in 2020. Between 2015 and 2020, the state saw just 39 deaths in the late spring and summer months.

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Biden says ‘I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan’ – live

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Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer to Stormy Daniels who repeatedly clashed with Donald Trump during his presidency, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for trying to extort Nike.

Reuters reports:

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan said Avenatti, 50, ‘had become drunk on the power of his platform’ in betraying his client, a youth basketball coach, in order to obtain riches for himself.

The sentencing caps a precipitous downfall for a once-obscure lawyer who in 2018 became a cable news fixture, disparaging then-President Trump and even flirting with a White House run himself.

Joe Biden rejected comparisons between the end of the Vietnam War and the conclusion of the war in Afghanistan, insisting the two events are nothing alike.

However, some American veterans have said they feel the US military is leaving a job undone in Afghanistan, just as it did in Vietnam. Some also fear that Kabul will soon fall to the Taliban, as Saigon fell after US troops departed Vietnam.

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Delta variant fears send shares down sharply in London and Europe

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Investors worry resurgence of Covid-19 cases will slow economic growth and stall global recovery

Fears that the fast-spreading Delta variant of Covid-19 will hurt the global recovery sent stocks sliding on Thursday, as investors worried that economic growth could be slowing.

Shares fell sharply in London and across other European exchanges, after losses in Asia-Pacific markets, on concerns that the economic rebound from the shock of the pandemic may have peaked, and on signs of a slowdown in China.

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Miami condo collapse death toll hits 60 as rescue efforts end

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Six victims were recovered Thursday morning, with 80 still unaccounted for as officials say no chance of life in rubble

Rescue efforts at the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, officially ended late on Wednesday night as officials have said there is no chance of life in the rubble.

Six victims were recovered on Thursday morning, bringing the death toll to 60 and the number of unaccounted to 80. Of those who were recovered, 35 have been identified.

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Trump golf club charged Secret Service $10,000 for rooms in May, records show

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  • Bedminster club charged agency for 18-day stay in May
  • Completely legal for Secret Service to be billed for rooms

Donald Trump charged the Secret Service nearly $10,200 for its use of guest rooms at his New Jersey golf club in May, newly released records indicate.

The May charges at the Trump National golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey totaled $10,199.52 for an 18-day stay – about $566 per night at the resort.

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Conservative justices make it clear: they won’t stop anti-democratic voting laws | Fight to vote

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The court’s majority opinion unequivocally narrows the law and gives politicians ammunition to pass more restrictive voting laws

Happy Thursday,

In a hugely consequential ruling last week, the US supreme court upheld two Arizona voting restrictions and, in the process, significantly curtailed one of the most powerful provisions that remain of the Voting Rights Act.

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Assange fiancee rejects US proposals over possible extradition

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Stella Moris says measures intended to keep her partner ‘in prison effectively for the rest of his life’

US assurances that Julian Assange would not be held under the strictest maximum-security conditions if extradited from the UK have been rejected by his fiancee, who described them as a formula to keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

Details of the proposals made to British authorities emerged after permission was granted this week to appeal against January’s ruling that the Wikileaks co-founder cannot be extradited on mental health grounds.

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‘Tragic’: Justice Elena Kagan’s scorching dissent on US voter suppression

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The supreme court’s conservative wing considerably weakened section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and Kagan didn’t hold back

There may have been no supreme court decision this year more important this year than the one in Brnovich v Democratic National Committee.

In a 6-3 ruling that broke down along ideological lines, the court’s conservative justices upheld two Arizona voting restrictions and considerably weakened section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 civil rights law.

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99.2% of US Covid deaths in June were unvaccinated, says Fauci

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Cases rise in nearly half of states as low vaccination rates met with more transmissible and severe Delta variant

More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci – a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant.

Maryland reported this week that 100% of those who died from coronavirus there in June had not been vaccinated, while more than 93% of those with new cases or who were hospitalized were similarly unprotected.

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‘A world problem’: immigrant families hit by Covid jab gap

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Families spread across rich and poor countries are acutely aware of relatives’ lack of access to vaccine

For months she had been dreaming of it and finally Susheela Moonsamy was able to do it: get together with her relatives and give them a big hug. Throughout the pandemic she had only seen her siblings, nieces and nephews fully “masked up” at socially distanced gatherings. But a few weeks ago, as their home state of California pressed on with its efficient vaccination rollout, they could have a proper reunion.

“It was such an emotional experience, we all hugged each other; and with tears in our eyes, we thanked God for being with us and giving us the opportunity to see each other close up again and actually touch each other,” she says. “We never valued a hug from our family members that much before.”

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