Category Archives: US News

Mitch McConnell lambasts Donald Trump but votes not guilty in impeachment trial – video

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The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Saturday that Donald Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January – minutes after voting to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial for that very same act.

The House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised McConnell’s remarks in a press conference on Saturday and said the issue of timing 'was not the reason that he voted the way he did; it was the excuse that he used'

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Trump’s acquittal shows paltry punch of impeachment process

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Critics say the impeachment process no longer presents a threat or deterrent to bad behavior by the most powerful figure in the land

Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly been called “Teflon Don” during his presidency – a moniker used for the late mob boss John Gotti to describe how consequences for his bad actions apparently don’t stick to him.

Related: Senate Republicans stand by their man and Trump wins his second acquittal | David Smith's sketch

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UK-US Brexit trade deal ‘could fill supermarkets with cancer-risk bacon’

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Fears of illness over nitrites used in US but currently banned in Britain and EU

British stores could be flooded with “dangerous” bacon and ham from the US, marketed under misleading labels, as the result of a transatlantic trade deal, says the author of a new book based on a decade of investigation into the food industry.

The meat has been cured with nitrites extracted from vegetables, a practice not permitted by the European Commission because of evidence that it increases the risk of bowel cancer. But it is allowed in the US, where the product is often labelled as “all natural”. The powerful US meat industry is likely to insist that the export of nitrite-cured meat is a condition of a post-Brexit UK-US trade deal, which the UK government is under intense pressure to deliver.

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China hits back after US expresses ‘deep concerns’ over WHO Covid-19 report

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  • Biden administration requests data from early days of outbreak
  • China’s Washington embassy rejects accusations of interference

China has fired back at the US over allegations from the White House that Beijing withheld some information about the coronavirus outbreak from World Health Organization investigators.

The White House on Saturday called on China to make data from the earliest days of the Covid-19 outbreak available, saying it had “deep concerns” about the way the findings of the WHO’s Covid-19 report were communicated.

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New York subway stabbings: two dead after series of attacks on homeless people

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Police believe four separate stabbings on the city’s A line are the work of one man

An unidentified man could be responsible for four separate stabbings that occurred within a few hours in the New York City subways, leaving two people dead, authorities said.

The assaults happened between Friday morning and early Saturday, New York police department officials said during a news conference. Authorities believe all four victims were homeless.

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Trump acquittal: Biden urges vigilance to defend ‘fragile’ democracy after impeachment trial

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President says the substance of the charge against Donald Trump over the January attack on US Capitol is not in dispute

US president Joe Biden has urged Americans to defend democracy following the acquittal of Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, saying: “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile.”

In a statement on Saturday night, Biden said the substance of the charge against his predecessor over the Capitol riot on 6 January in which five people died was not in dispute, and noted the seven Republicans who voted guilty.

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Biden press aide TJ Ducklo resigns over ‘abhorrent’ remarks to female journalist

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In first departure from Biden administration, Ducklo says he has ‘embarrassed and disappointed’ colleagues

White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo has resigned, the day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist inquiring about his relationship with another reporter.

In a statement on Saturday, Ducklo said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden”.

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Failure to convict Trump in impeachment trial will live as a ‘vote of infamy’, says Schumer – video

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The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, decried the decision to acquit Donald Trump of inciting a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January. House Democrats, who voted a month ago to charge Trump with ‘incitement of insurrection’, needed two thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to convict him. Only seven Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.

The Democrats argued in the short trial that Trump caused the violent attack by repeating for months the false claims that the election was stolen from him, and then telling his supporters gathered near the White House that morning to ‘fight like hell’ to overturn his defeat. Five people died when they then laid siege to the Capitol.

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Senate Republicans stand by their man and Trump wins his second acquittal | David Smith’s sketch

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Calls of ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ pinged back and forth in the chamber but once McConnell said no the die was cast

If the denouement of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial had been a Hollywood film, stirring music would have struck up around the time Congressman Joe Neguse explained why he thinks the floor of the US Senate is “sacred”.

Related: Trump’s acquittal seals his grasp on the Republican party

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Bachelor host Chris Harrison steps aside amid racism row

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Harrison, who defended contestant who attended ‘old south’ party, says he is ‘deeply remorseful … [for] excusing historical racism’

Chris Harrison, the host of the hit reality series The Bachelor, said on Saturday he was “stepping aside” from ABC’s hit franchise for a “period of time”, following comments in defense of a current contestant caught up in a racism storm.

The contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell, appears to have liked social media posts featuring the Confederate flag while photos have also emerged purportedly showing her at an “old south”-themed college party several years ago, according to reports.

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New York Trump investigation looks at $280m in loans – report

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Wall Street Journal says prosecutors interested in loans relating to four Manhattan properties

While there was good news for Donald Trump in Washington on Saturday, as his second impeachment trial ended in acquittal, troubling news came out of his native New York.

The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors in the city are investigating about $280m in loans to the Trump Organization, related to four buildings in Manhattan: Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue; a skyscraper at 40 Wall St; a hotel and residential building on Columbus Circle near Central Park; and an apartment building on the Upper East Side.

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Trump’s acquittal seals his grasp on the Republican party

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The former president and his supporters are likely to claim victory as they did after his first impeachment trial a year ago

Donald Trump’s highly anticipated acquittal at his US Senate impeachment trial is the least surprising twist in American politics since … well, his acquittal at his first US Senate impeachment trial a year ago.

Related: Democrats fail to secure enough votes to convict Trump in historic second impeachment trial - live

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Trump impeachment trial: deal ends move for witnesses and brings final vote near – live

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Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin has taken the floor again to push back against some of the comments from Michael Van der Veen.

Raskin noted that the arguments from Donald Trump’s team have been very inconsistent.

Michael Van der Veen, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, leveled a series of serious accusations (without evidence) against the House impeachment managers.

Van der Veen accused the managers of having “fabricated evidence” and committed “fraud” in its presentations during the impeachment trial.

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‘Closing a portal to the Creator’: fresh setback for attempt to prevent destruction of US holy land by miner

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A federal judge rejects Apache tribal members’ request to halt the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper mining company

Efforts to prevent a sacred Native American site from being destroyed by a copper mine received a setback yesterday, when a federal judge rejected Apache tribal members’ request to halt the site’s transfer to a a multi-national mining company.

While US district judge Steven Logan acknowledged that the mine would “close off a portal to the Creator forever and will completely devastate the Western Apaches’ lifeblood”, he said the activist group Apache Stronghold lacked legal standing in the case since it represented tribal individuals rather than a tribal government.

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Fire ravages Paul Newman’s western-style children’s camp in Connecticut

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  • Large section of Hole in the Wall Gang Camp destroyed
  • Camp set up by film star to support children with limitations

A fire on Friday evening destroyed a large section of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, a long-established haven for seriously ill children.

Officials in the nearby town of Ashford said they responded to an alarm and arrived to find a large fire in the main camp building, which resembles an old western town and was reportedly inspired by the late actor’s role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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Reprieve for Alabama death row inmate requesting pastor

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Willie B Smith III’s lethal injection was called off after the US supreme court says state cannot proceed without pastor present

An Alabama inmate won a reprieve from a planned lethal injection after the US supreme court said the state must allow his personal pastor in the death chamber.

Thursday’s scheduled execution of Willie B Smith III was called off by Alabama officials after the justices maintained an injunction issued by the 11th US circuit court of appeals, saying he could not be executed without his pastor present in chamber.

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Walmart selling beef from firm linked to Amazon deforestation

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Exclusive: US chains Walmart, Costco and Kroger selling Brazilian beef produced by JBS linked to destruction of Brazilian rainforest

Three of the biggest US grocery chains sell Brazilian beef produced by a controversial meat company linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, an investigation has revealed.

Food giants Walmart, Costco and Kroger – which together totalled net sales worth more than half a trillion dollars last year – are selling Brazilian beef products imported from JBS, the world’s largest meat company, which has been linked to deforestation.

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The Good American review: Bob Gersony and a better foreign policy

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Robert D Kaplan’s outstanding book makes a strong case for US engagement based on human rights and helping refugees

What adjective should describe “the American” active in foreign policy? Graham Greene chose “quiet”, as his character harmed a country he did not understand. Eugene Burdick and William Lederer used “ugly”.

Robert D Kaplan, one of America’s most thoughtful chroniclers of foreign affairs, proposes “good” to describe Bob Gersony, who in “a frugal monastic existence that has been both obscure and extraordinary” has devoted his life to using the power and treasure of the US to serve others through humanitarian action.

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Impeachment trial: defense lawyers argue Trump is victim of ‘cancel culture’

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Lawyers claim Trump’s ‘fight like hell’ rhetoric on 6 January was no different than the language politicians frequently use

Impeachment lawyers for Donald Trump accused the prosecution of waging a “politically motivated witch-hunt” against the former president, vehemently denying the charge that his words and actions incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they concluded their sharply partisan defense and prepared for a swift conclusion to the trial.

Confident that Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial would again result in acquittal, the defense lawyers channeled the former president’s bombastic style – and his loose relationship with the facts – to denounce the case against him as an “unconstitutional act of political vengeance” fueled by Democrats’ longstanding “hatred” of their client. They claimed the House managers had grievously mischaracterized Trump’s remarks to his followers at a rally on 6 January, when he exhorted them to “fight like hell” during a rally just before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol.

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White House suspends press aide who reportedly threatened Politico journalist

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TJ Ducklo is sorry for ‘heated conversation’, says White House press secretary, but punishment appears to fall short of Biden’s threat to fire uncivil aides

The White House has suspended a press aide over allegations he threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.

Vanity Fair alleged on Friday that White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo had made threats – including saying “I will destroy you” – to a Politico correspondent who was reporting on Ducklo’s recently disclosed relationship with an Axios reporter, Alexi McCammond.

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