Category Archives: US News

Global coronavirus deaths pass 1m with no sign rate is slowing

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Johns Hopkins University data points to rises in countries that seemed to have slowed spread

The number of people who have died from Covid-19 has exceeded 1 million, according to a tally of cases maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with no sign the global death rate is slowing and infections on the rise again in countries that were thought to be controlling their outbreaks months ago.

The milestone was reached early on Tuesday morning UK time, nine months since authorities in China first announced the detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The first recorded death, that of a 61-year-old man in a hospital in the city, came 12 days later.

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Iraqi PM rallies allies to stop US closing embassy after Pompeo threats

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US warned Mustafa al-Kadhimi it will withdraw diplomats if Baghdad fails to prevent rocket attacks

Iraq’s prime minister has rallied allies to help stop the US from closing its embassy in the country after the Trump administration threatened to withdraw its diplomats if Baghdad fails to stop persistent rocket attacks.

The ultimatum was delivered over the weekend by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and was followed by a small-scale evacuation from the fortified mission in what officials saw as a statement of intent.

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Democrats on the attack after Trump tax return revelations – live

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Trump said back in 2011 that even low-income Americans should have to pay some taxes and that he pays “a lot of tax,” a new CNN report reveals.

The tax information obtained by the New York Times indicates Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes the year that he won the presidency.

Related: Trump reels from taxes bombshell as he gets set for crunch debate with Biden

Florida police have released body camera footage from officers’ interaction with Brad Parscale, the president’s former campaign manager who was involuntarily hospitalized yesterday.

In the video, Parscale’s wife, Candice, can be heard saying he brandished a gun and has multiple firearms in the home.

New: Police just released body camera footage of the incident involving Brad Parscale https://t.co/QBpA7jIjEg

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Trump reels from taxes bombshell as he gets set for crunch debate with Biden

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  • President under pressure from New York Times revelations
  • First TV head-to-head takes place in Cleveland on Tuesday

Donald Trump heads into the first US presidential debate against Joe Biden on Tuesday night trailing in opinion polls and now reeling from dramatic newspaper revelations detailing his chronic financial losses and years of tax avoidance.

Related: Democrats on the attack after Trump tax return revelations – live

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How the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg could change America

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She was a pioneer of women’s rights and a liberal icon of the US supreme court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death last week may alter the course of American politics and lead to a seismic shift towards a more conservative court for years to come

This episode first aired on Today in Focus, the Guardian’s global daily news podcast.

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has rocked the US presidential election, just weeks before it is held. The liberal icon on the supreme court played a role in expanding women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and voting rights for African Americans, but her now vacant seat is likely to be filled by a far more conservative figure picked by Donald Trump.

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Trump ‘paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017’ – video report

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A New York Times report into Donald Trump's tax records has revealed he paid just $750 in federal income tax in his first year as president. Trump, who in 2016 suggested reports of tax avoidance showed he was 'smart', denounced the findings as 'completely fake news'. The New York Times said that of the 18 years its reporters examined, Trump had paid no income tax at all in 11 of them.

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Fred Perry withdraws polo shirt adopted by far-right Proud Boys

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Company distances itself from US fascist group as it halts sales of garment in North America

The fashion brand Fred Perry has pulled one of its famous polo shirt designs after it became associated with a far-right organisation.

The company has halted sales of the black and yellow top in the US and Canada, after it was adopted by the neo-fascist organisation the Proud Boys.

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Trump claims Joe Biden is on ‘performance-enhancing drugs’ – video

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After the New York Times' revelations about his tax returns, Donald Trump hit back with a series of baseless allegations, including that his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, had used 'performance-enhancing drugs' during appearances. In an unfocused White House briefing, the US president also accused Biden's son, Hunter, of corruption and speculated about non-existent Democrat policies of unattended open borders

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Coronavirus live news: global death toll nears one million as WHO warns number is likely an underestimate

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WHO says global toll is likely to be over one million already; travel in and out of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague may be banned

The percentage of Covid-19 tests taken in New York state that have come back positive has inched up to 1.5%, governor Andrew Cuomo said, a worrisome trend for the former centre of the US coronavirus epidemic.

The rise in positivity in New York above the 1% target comes as 27 other states recorded increases in the number of cases for two straight weeks.

MEPs won’t yet be returning to Strasbourg due to rising coronavirus infections in France, the European parliament speaker said, despite a plea by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The European parliament has its headquarters in Strasbourg in eastern France, where MEPs usually based in Brussels travel every month for 12 plenary sessions a year.

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Case to extradite Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to US resumes

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Telecoms group to claim abuse of process, saying US government has provided partial evidence

The legal battle between Washington and Huawei resumes this week when a Canada-based senior executive at the Chinese state-backed telecommunications firm reappears in a Vancouver court on Monday claiming the effort to extradite her to the US should be thrown out.

Huawei will claim an abuse of process, arguing the US government has provided Canadian authorities with partial and misleading evidence in an effort to show finance officer Meng Wanzhou tried to circumvent US sanctions on Iran 10 years ago.

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‘Fake news’: Trump denies tax claims from New York Times – video

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US president Donald Trump paid very little in income taxes in recent years as heavy losses from his business enterprises offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, the New York Times reported on Sunday citing tax-return data. Trump denied the report, calling it 'total fake news' at a White House news conference

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Brad Parscale, former Trump campaign manager, hospitalised after self-harm threats

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Police called to Fort Lauderdale home said Parscale, who had access to firearms, accompanied officers willingly

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has been hospitalised after he threatened to harm himself, according to Florida police and campaign officials.

Police were called to the home in Desota Drive in the Seven Isles community of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, late on Sunday afternoon. The home is owned by Bradley and Candice Parscale.

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Will the New York Times taxes report sink Donald Trump?

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His returns examined at last, the president stands exposed as a tax avoider and serial debtor. It raises serious questions – but also, most likely, the passions of his fervent supporters

From the moment he rode down an escalator in the marble-clad, gold-trimmed Trump Tower to declare his candidacy for US president, Donald Trump was selling himself as a successful businessman who could run a successful economy.

Related: New York Times publishes Donald Trump's tax returns in election bombshell

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US judge temporarily blocks Trump order banning TikTok app store downloads

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Judge grants injunction sought by video sharing app’s owner ByteDance to allow it to remain available at US app stores

A judge in Washington has temporarily blocked a Trump administration order banning Apple and Google from offering Chinese-owned app TikTok for download that was set to take effect at 11:59pm on Sunday.

US district judge Carl Nichols granted a preliminary injunction sought by TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to allow the app to remain available at US app stores, but declined “at this time” to block additional commerce department restrictions that are set to take effect on 12 November that TikTok has said would have the impact of making the app impossible to use in the United States.

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California wine country fire forces evacuation of hospital

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All 55 patients who were being treated at the Napa Valley hospital were safely evacuated

A wind-driven wildfire has forced the evacuation of several hundred homes and a hospital in the heart of northern California’s wine country.

The blaze, dubbed the Glass Fire, broke out before dawn on Sunday near in Calistoga in Napa Valley, and raced toward the adjacent towns of Deer Park and St Helena. The fire spread across more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares) and flames advanced within a mile of the Adventist Health St Helena hospital.

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New York Times publishes Donald Trump’s tax returns in election bombshell

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Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, paid only $750 in federal income taxes in the year he was elected US president, according to a stunning New York Times investigation that could shake up the presidential election.

Related: Trump says overturning Roe v Wade 'possible' with Barrett on supreme court

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NFL great Joe Montana and wife Jennifer save grandchild from kidnapping

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  • Police confirm incident on Saturday in Malibu home
  • Woman has been charged with kidnapping and burglary

It appears that NFL hall of famer Joe Montana is a crimefighter as well as the winner of four Super Bowls.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback foiled a kidnapping in his Malibu home on Saturday evening. Law enforcement confirmed on Sunday that a woman, named as Sodsai Dalzell, entered the house and snatched one of Montana’s grandchildren from a playpen. Montana and his wife Jennifer then tried to deescalate the situation before a tussle ensued, during which Jennifer grabbed the child.

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Biden’s team hopes for repeat of his 2012 performance as Trump debate nears

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The vice-presidential candidate who debated Paul Ryan helped turn the trajectory of Obama’s reelection campaign

For Democrats and supporters of former vice-president Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, the hope is that the version of Biden who faced then-congressman Paul Ryan back in 2012 shows up for the debate against Donald Trump on Tuesday in Ohio.

The Biden who showed up for the Ryan debate eight years ago helped turn around the trajectory of then-President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. Ask just about any former Obama campaign alumna or Democratic strategist and they will concede that Obama’s performance against Mitt Romney in the first debate was lacking.

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Recipe for chaos: 2020 election threatens to snap a US already pushed to the limit

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The November election will be plagued by voter suppression, foreign interference, disinformation and a contested supreme court vacancy

It has been dubbed “the election that could break America”. On 3 November voters decide whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden is their next president. But this time the stakes are even higher than the simple question of who resides in the White House.

There is a widespread sense that the fate of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy hangs in the balance. The US has already been shaken in 2020 by the deadly coronavirus pandemic, economic collapse and a society-wide reckoning over racism. Now comes an election in which voter suppression, foreign interference, online disinformation and a bitterly contested supreme court vacancy offer a recipe for chaos.

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