Category Archives: US News

Rubio in Israel for talks to limit diplomatic damage over Qatar strikes

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US secretary of state says Trump ‘not happy’ about Israeli attack that targeted Hamas officials in Doha for Gaza talks

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has held talks in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at limiting the diplomatic damage to both countries by Israel’s attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar, its continued demolition of Gaza, and the accelerated expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli prime minister took Rubio on a tour of the Western Wall, where both men placed written prayers between the stones, before taking his American visitor underground to view archeological excavations.

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Questions linger about alleged shooter’s motivation for killing Charlie Kirk

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Suspect’s background and politics are being pored over in aftermath of killing of far-right influencer

Though the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was revealed by authorities on Friday, questions surrounding his identity and motivations have exacerbated intense US political debates in the aftermath of the shooting.

Authorities revealed Kirk’s suspected killer to be Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who grew up in Washington, Utah, along the state’s south-western border.

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Leaked plans show Pentagon eyeing Louisiana to deploy national guard

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Documents show intent to deploy 1,000 troops to conduct law enforcement operations in urban centers

Donald Trump’s administration has drafted a proposal to deploy 1,000 Louisiana national guard troops to conduct law enforcement operations in the state’s urban centers, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing military planning documents it had obtained.

Trump has made crime a major focus of his administration even as violent crime rates have fallen in many US cities. His crackdown on Democratic-led municipalities has fueled legal concerns and spurred protests, including a recent demonstration by several thousand people in Washington DC.

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Rubio calls Russian drones over Poland ‘unacceptable’ but declines to say it was intentional

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Nato announces plans to beef up defense as Poland rejects Trump’s suggestion drones were sent by mistake

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Saturday said the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace this week was unacceptable but that it remained unclear whether Russia had deliberately sent the drones into Polish territory. Nato announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe’s eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down the drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We think it’s an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and Britain.

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Several people fired after clampdown on speech over Charlie Kirk shooting

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Teachers, firefighters and military personnel among those who lost jobs after posting their opinion on social media

Reactions on social media to the murder of far-right activist Charlie Kirk have cost multiple people their jobs as authorities in numerous states clamp down on critical commentary.

Among those to have been fired, suspended or censured in recent days for their opinions include teachers, firefighters, journalists, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team.

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President-elect of Oxford Union to face disciplinary proceedings for Charlie Kirk remarks

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Union makes announcement alongside condemnation of racial abuse George Abaraonye suffered after ‘inappropriate remarks’ celebrating shooting

• Charlie Kirk shooting – US politics live

The president-elect of the Oxford Union will face disciplinary proceedings for making “inappropriate remarks” celebrating the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the union has announced on social media.

George Abaraonye, a student at the University of Oxford who became president-elect of the debating society after a vote in June, posted several comments in a WhatsApp group appearing to celebrate what happened, according to the Telegraph.

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Widow of Charlie Kirk says her ‘cries will echo around the world like a battle cry’

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In statement Friday, Erika Kirk says ‘evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done’

Erika Kirk, the widow of rightwing activist and provocateur Charlie Kirk, said in a statement Friday evening that her late husband’s message and mission will be “stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever” and that her “cries will echo around the world like a battle cry”.

“I loved knowing one of his mottos was ‘never surrender’,” she said of her late husband. “We’ll never surrender.”

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Six great reads: rebels in Nazi Germany, how creativity works and Europe’s biggest pornography conference

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Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

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Trump declines to call for unity after Charlie Kirk killing in stunning move

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President tells Fox News ‘the radicals on the left are the problem’ and refuses to seek common way forward

Donald Trump has declined to call for the US to come together as a way of fixing the country’s divisions in the wake of the assassination of his close associate, the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, preferring to cast “vicious and horrible” radicals on the left of US politics as the sole problem.

In an interview on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, the US president was asked what he intended to do to heal the wounds of Kirk’s shooting in Utah. “How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?” he was asked by the show’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt, who commented that there were radicals operating on the left and right of US politics.

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Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar shatters Gulf’s faith in US protection

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The attack in Doha upended a decades-old assumption – and left Arab leaders questioning how much they can still rely on Washington

On Thursday, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, led a funeral at the state mosque. Flanked by officials in white thobes, he prayed over six caskets – one draped in a Qatari flag and five bearing Palestinian flags.

Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday, which also killed a Qatari officer, marked an unprecedented moment for the Gulf kingdom. The attack undercut the assumption that has underpinned Qatari foreign policy for three decades and reverberated across the Arab region: be useful to the United States, and it will protect you.

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Digested week: Marsupial brings cheer in dark and dysfunctional days | Emma Brockes

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It was left to a – albeit extinct – tiny relative of the kangaroo to offer some relief from the blizzard of major events

Where to start in a week so fraught with major events you could hardly draw breath for the news flashes? It started with Trump’s alleged contribution to Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book,” shared by the Democrats on social media on Monday and leading to the discovery of a name not widely recognised in the US but of intense interest in the UK – Peter Mandelson. The British ambassador to the US had proffered an undiplomatically warm birthday message to the late child sex offender financier, starting a press scramble that ended, on Thursday, with Keir Starmer firing him.

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Steven Spielberg reflects on Jaws at 50: ‘I thought my career was over’

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Director, marking new exhibition in LA, tells of chaotic filming – and says he’s ‘never seen so much vomit in my life’

Before Jaws became a cinematic classic, and the very first American “summer blockbuster”, director Steven Spielberg thought the 1975 film would be the last one he would be allowed to make.

Spielberg, who was just 26, had decided to shoot his second film, a thriller about a killer shark, on location on the east coast island of Martha’s Vineyard.

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Charlie Kirk shooting: new video of suspect released by FBI amid urgent appeal for help from the public

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FBI reward of $100,000 and direct appeals for public support appear to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles to identify the killer of Trump ally

US officials have issued an urgent appeal for help from the public as they continue to search for the shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack in Utah.

More than 24 hours after Kirk was shot while speaking in front of thousands of people at a Utah university, the state’s governor, appearing alongside FBI director Kash Patel and other officials, said “we need as much help as we can possibly get.”

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Venezuela says 11 killed in US boat strike were not gang members amid reports vessel was returning to shore

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Interior minister says ‘murder has been committed’ while US Congress demands justification for attack

None of the 11 people killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean last week were members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s interior minister has said, while US media reported the attack came after the vessel had turned around and was heading back to shore.

The administration of Donald Trump has said the boat was transporting illegal narcotics, but has provided little further information about the incident, even amid demands from members of the US Congress for a justification for the action.

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US government sues Uber, alleging discrimination against disabled passengers

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Justice department in lawsuit accuses company drivers of routinely refusing to serve people with disabilities

The US government sued Uber on Thursday, accusing the ride-sharing company of violating federal law by discriminating against passengers with disabilities.

In a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court, the US Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve riders with disabilities, including people who travel with service animals or stowable wheelchairs.

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UK should work with Nato on new missile defence system to counter Russia, experts say

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After Russian drones entered Polish airspace, two authors of the UK strategic defence review said Europe would need to build up its defences

Britain should work with Nato allies in developing an integrated air and missile defence system after the incursion of nearly 20 Russian drones into Poland, according to two authors of the UK strategic defence review.

Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser, said that Russia was “testing the limits” of Europe’s defences at a time when the military commitment of the US to Nato was uncertain.

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Trump blamed ‘radical left’ for Charlie Kirk’s death – even as shooter’s identity remains unknown

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In Oval Office address, president decried the demonization of political opponents, ignoring his own past rhetoric

In his Oval Office address on Wednesday, Donald Trump sought to blame the “radical left” for Charlie Kirk’s killing while the shooter’s identity and motivations remained unclear. Trump promised an unspecified crackdown that could also target “organizations” that he claimed contributed to political violence.

Trump’s speech underscored an aggressive effort to pin the attack on the left while ignoring his own role in fomenting politically motivated violence.

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Trump to award Charlie Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom

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During a 9/11 memorial address, the president honored the far-right activist who was fatally shot on Wednesday

Speaking at the Pentagon on Thursday morning for memorial services marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, Donald Trump said he would be awarding rightwing activist and close ally Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on Wednesday, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Kirk was a “giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people”, Trump said. “Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika and his beautiful children, fantastic people they are. We miss him greatly, yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”

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‘We are in a war’: rightwing media vow retribution for Charlie Kirk killing

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Furious reaction from media figures and Donald Trump blames left for shooting of conservative activist

The killing of Charlie Kirk prompted a furious reaction from rightwing media on Wednesday, with prominent figures claiming “we’re in a war” and vowing “retribution” for Kirk’s death.

It was a reaction that will heighten fears about political violence in the US, coming hours after Kirk, the rightwing activist and provocateur, was shot and killed during an event at Utah university.

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