Category Archives: US News

‘Our silence is complicity’: Biden and Harris condemn anti-Asian violence during Atlanta visit

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President and vice-president address nation reckoning with ‘heinous act’ that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have condemned a “heinous act of violence” during a trip to Atlanta, hoping to console a city and Asian American communities rocked by the attack this week that left eight people dead and one injured.

Delivering remarks on Friday evening at Emory University after a day spent meeting with Asian American community leaders and politicians, the president and vice-president spoke out forcefully against the shooting, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent, as well as the rise in anti-Asian violence.

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Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort partially closed by Covid-19 outbreak

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  • Receptionist says club closed until further notice
  • Trump moved to Florida property after leaving White House

Donald Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, has been partially closed because of a Covid outbreak.

Several people familiar with the situation, including a club member who received a phone call about the closure on Friday, confirmed the partial closure to the Associated Press.

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Biden ‘doing fine’ after stumbling once, twice, thrice on steps of Air Force One

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White House spokesperson blames windy weather after Biden loses his footing three times boarding presidential plane

Supporters of Joe Biden were tempting fate when they claimed he had not put a foot wrong during his first two months in office.

Related: US reaches 100m Covid vaccine milestone six weeks early as Fauci urges vigilance – live

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Trudeau condemns closed-door espionage trial of Canadian in China

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Michael Spavor has been detained in China since 2018 in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive

Justin Trudeau has reacted angrily to the closed-door trial of a Canadian man detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges, dismissing it as “completely unacceptable”.

Businessman Michael Spavor, whose hearing finished after less than three hours on Friday, is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest on a US extradition warrant of the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and formally charged last June with spying.

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Joe Biden stumbles on steps of Air Force One – video

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The US president stumbled while boarding Air Force One on his way to visit to Atlanta, Georgia, to meet with Asian American community leaders. Biden tripped on the steps up to the plane, before recovering and carrying on unaided, turning to salute at the top. The 78-year-old fractured his right foot in November 2020 while playing with his dog Major

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‘It’s the way she owns her body’: how Megan Thee Stallion rode to Grammys glory

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Last week’s triple triumph capped the glorious rise of a rapper who has inspired a generation of women with her confidence and sublime talent

In 2014, a then-unknown Megan Thee Stallion tweeted: “I need a team [because] I promise this rap shit gone take off for me.”

That promise has been fulfilled in quite spectacular fashion. The 26-year-old, born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, is now one of the world’s most famous and respected rap stars, with her three Grammy awards at last weekend’s ceremony marking the peak of her career thus far.

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FBI releases new video in hunt for dangerous suspects from Capitol attack – video

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Warning: some viewers may find the following footage distressing

The FBI has released new footage of the deadly 6 January US Capitol insurrection as it seeks to identify 10 suspects involved in what the agency says were 'some of the most violent attacks on officers'. Law enforcement are still pursuing more than 100 suspects from the attack, and the 10 suspects highlighted this week are considered among the most dangerous still at large

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‘We are in pain’: Asian American lawmaker Grace Meng makes powerful speech – video

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The Asian American lawmaker Grace Meng called out the violence and discrimination against her community at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday. 'Our community is bleeding. We are in pain. And for the last year, we’ve been screaming out for help,' she  said. She told a panel the rising tide of anti-Asian bigotry was fuelled in part by rhetoric from Donald Trump and his allies, who have referred to Covid-19 as the 'China virus' and 'kung flu' 

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Digested week: I’m taking tentative, post-vaccine first steps in a changed New York | Emma Brockes

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A first trip to a restaurant is bliss. But reopening has brought new tensions too

It’s a weird time in the life of the pandemic as the vaccinated, half-vaccinated and yet to be vaccinated venture out and tentatively try to co-mingle. I’m half done, shortly to be full, on the basis of which, in a moment of rashness, I promised to take my children to a water park in New Jersey on spring break. Too late now, but it’s something which, on reflection, it might have been worth living without antibodies for a few more months to avoid.

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Surge in gun violence is stress test for Oakland’s defund the police campaign

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Homicides in the city have risen 314% and while some back shifting resources to prevention and healing, others want alternatives in place to keep Black and brown people safe

Since the visceral video of George Floyd pinned beneath a police officer’s knee sparked massive uprisings in US cities last summer, movements to defund police departments have grown from siloed local campaigns into a national movement. But in multiple cities, this work is being done amid a disturbing rise in gun violence that is affecting the same Black and Latino communities most affected by police misconduct.

While some crime survivors support shifting resources from police and into prevention and healing services, others who have lost loved ones to shootings and live in high-crime areas worry that depleting police budgets without proven alternatives to fill any gaps will make Black and brown communities less safe.

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Is there a crisis at the border? Advocates in Texas say it’s ‘political manipulation’

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The Texas governor has sent troops to fortify the border while advocates say the immigration numbers are being politicized

Along the winding road which follows the Rio Grande west from Mission, Texas, dozens of armed border patrol agents, state troopers, soldiers and state and local police are dotted about to catch undocumented migrants entering the country from Mexico.

This is a so-called hotspot for irregular migration – folks crossing the border river without permission to enter the US – in what the Republican party and anti-immigrant activists are calling a crisis at the border. During one afternoon this week, there were more law enforcement vehicles cruising along this dusty 15-mile stretch towards Los Ebanos, a tiny border community connected to Mexico by a hand-operated cable ferry, than there was local traffic.

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US and China publicly rebuke each other in first major talks of Biden era

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Antony Blinken criticises China over Hong Kong and Xinjiang while his counterpart says US can no longer ‘speak to China from a position of strength’

The United States and China have publicly clashed during their first face-to-face high-level talks since Joe Biden took office, with one senior Chinese official urging the US to address “deep-seated” issues such as racism, and accusing his American counterparts of “condescension”.

Any hopes that the meeting, in Anchorage, would reset bilateral ties after years of tensions over trade, human rights and cybersecurity during Donald Trump’s presidency evaporated when the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, opened their meeting with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and the state councillor Wang Yi.

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Oscars 2021 ceremony will be in-person and Zoom-free, producers say

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Academy Awards producers have insisted video-link will ‘not be an option’ for attendees in the wake of ratings slumps for other recent major awards shows

The Oscars ceremony in April will be an intimate, in-person gathering, held without Zoom and limited to nominees, presenters and their guests, the producers said on Thursday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, events to hand out the highest honours in the film industry will held at both the Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and the traditional home of the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

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Actor Armie Hammer under investigation for 2017 sexual assault allegation

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The accuser, known as Effie, was 20 at the time and claims she briefly dated the Call Me by Your Name star while he was married

The actor Armie Hammer is under investigation for sexual assault, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

Hammer is the main suspect in a sexual assault that was reported to police on 3 February, an LAPD spokesperson said. Police did not give further details.

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Joe Biden says US will hit 100m vaccines ‘weeks ahead of schedule’ – video

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Joe Biden said the US will have successfully administered 100m vaccine doses by 19 March – his 58th day in office. ‘That’s weeks ahead of schedule, and even with the setbacks we faced during the winter storms,’ he said. Upon taking office, Biden set his administration the target of reaching the number in his first 100 days.

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Biden says US to meet goal of vaccinating 100m Americans by Friday – live

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Illinois and Maryland recently announced that within the next two months, all adults will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, joining at least seven other states who said they can open up eligibility in March and April.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said today that all residents 16 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting 12 April. Meanwhile, Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan, said on Tuesday that all adults should be eligible by 27 April.

The Senate just confirmed William Burns to be director of the CIA. Burns is the former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration and has held multiple roles within the State Department.

While Burns’ nomination received widespread support from Democrats and Republicans, senator Ted Cruz had temporarily blocked what would have been a quick confirmation as Cruz was hoping to send a message to Biden over the Russia-Germany natural gas Nord Stream 2 pipelines, a controversial energy project that critics fear will give more political power to Russia.

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Atlanta shootings: Democrats warn violence against Asian Americans at ‘crisis point’ – live

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The Georgia sheriff’s captain who said Robert Aaron Long was “having a really bad day” when he allegedly killed eight people has been removed as a spokesperson on the case, according to the WSB-TV news channel.

Nicole Carr, a journalist at WSB-TV, reported that Capt Jay Baker “will no longer be spokesperson” on the shootings case. According to Carr, the Cherokee County Sheriff department is also “evaluating what [Baker’s] future at the Sheriff’s Office looks like”.

NEW:Confirmed w Cherokee Sheriff that Cpt.Baker will no longer be spokesperson on spa shootings case,they’re evaluating what his future at the Sheriff’s Office looks like and consulting the D.A.’s office to see if they should hand their portion of case to GBI See you at 6 @wsbtv https://t.co/cI1sQHcrRV

Charles Hampton, deputy chief of Atlanta police, said officers are “working diligently to ascertain all the facts” in the spa shootings.

“We had four Asian females that were killed, and so we are looking at everything to make sure we discover and determine what the motive of our homicides were,” Hampton said during a press conference.

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‘Takes one to know one’: Putin-Biden spat escalates over ‘killer’ accusation

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Officials in Moscow go on offensive after Biden says Russian president will pay price for election meddling

Russian relations with the US have entered a new post-Trump period of smouldering hostility after Vladimir Putin shrugged off accusations from Joe Biden that he was a “killer”, saying: “It takes one to know one.”

The Russian president responded in characteristically icy fashion to Biden’s remark, which followed an assessment by US intelligence agencies that Moscow was continuing to meddle in American democracy and had tried to help Donald Trump win last year’s US election.

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Derek Chauvin trial: jury grows after $27m settlement to Floyd family

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Concerns appear to fade that settlement will derail trial of ex-officer as two jurors seated

Concern appears to be fading that a massive settlement for George Floyd’s family will derail the trial of a former police officer accused in his death, with most potential jurors saying they avoided news of the settlement or could set it aside.

Related: Minneapolis to pay George Floyd's family $27m in police custody death lawsuit

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The woman seeking to unseat Republican extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene

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Democrat Holly McCormack is ready to take on the Trump devotee in 2022 – but it’s no easy task in a deep-red Georgia district

“I’m taking on the queen of Qanon: Marjorie Taylor Greene,” reads one tweet from Holly McCormack. “Retweet if you think Marjorie Taylor Greene is an embarrassment to our country,” says another.

America’s midterm elections may be 20 months in the future, but a campaign is already under way to unseat the extremist Republican congresswoman and Donald Trump devotee. In a rural district of Georgia that Taylor Greene won last November with three-quarters of the vote, effectively unopposed after her Democratic opponent quit the race, no one thinks it is going to be easy.

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