Category Archives: Washington, DC

Zelenskiy to meet congressional leaders in Washington on Wednesday – reports

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Trip would be Ukrainian president’s first foreign visit since Russia invaded in February

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will travel to Washington on Wednesday where he is expected to visit the White House and the US Capitol, according several US media reports.

Zelenskiy is expected to meet congressional leadership and national security committee chiefs from the Republican and Democratic parties, and might address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, news outlets reported..

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‘It’s about ethics’: Nigeria urges British Museum to follow US and repatriate bronzes

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Culture minister says UK institution ‘should learn from what has happened’ as Smithsonian returns 29 Benin artefacts

The culture minister of Nigeria has urged the British Museum to follow the example of the Smithsonian Institution, which on Tuesday returned ownership of 29 Benin bronzes to Nigeria at a celebratory event in Washington.

Lai Mohammed praised the move by the US National Museum of African Art, which follows a recent restitution agreement with Germany that included the handover of two Benin bronzes. Last year, Mohammed’s ministry formally requested the return of Benin artefacts from the British Museum in London.

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Ben Sasse, Republican who voted to convict Trump, to depart Congress

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Nebraska senator, to take top post at University of Florida, is latest GOP legislator to leave Capitol Hill after voting to impeach in 2021

Another Republican who stood up to Donald Trump is on his way out of Congress, with the news that the Nebraska senator Ben Sasse is set to become president of the University of Florida.

Of the 10 House Republicans and seven senators who voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial, for inciting the January 6 Capitol attack, only two congressmen and four senators are on course to return after the midterm elections.

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Texas sends another busload of migrants to Kamala Harris’s home

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About 50 mainly Venezuelan migrants including a baby deposited unannounced at Naval Observatory in Washington

About 50 migrants, including a one-month-old baby, have been sent in a bus from Texas to the Washington DC residence of Vice-President Kamala Harris, in the latest move by Republican-led states to transfer migrants unannounced across the country.

The bus let off the migrants, who are believed to be mostly Venezuelan, outside the Naval Observatory, the traditional home of US vice-presidents, on Saturday morning.

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Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson shot multiple times

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  • Player was victim of apparent robbery or carjacking
  • Coaches and staff of NFL team are present at hospital

Washington Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson was shot during what police say was an attempted robbery or carjacking, the NFL team said on Sunday night.

The 23-year-old former Alabama player was taken to a hospital with what the team called non-life-threatening injuries. The Commanders said team co-owners Dan and Tanya Snyder, president Jason Wright, coach Ron Rivera, team physician Dr Anthony Casolaro and clinical psychologist Dr Barbara Roberts were with Robinson at the hospital.

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Man fatally shoots himself after driving car into barricade near US Capitol

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Police did not determine motive for the man’s actions, but no indication he was targeting Congress members, who are in recess

A man drove into a barricade near the US Capitol in Washington DC on early Sunday morning, fired several shots into the air after his vehicle ignited, and then shot himself to death, according to police.

Officials were quick to note they had not determined a motive for the man’s actions, though they did say there was no indication he was targeting any Congress members, who were in recess at the time.

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Three dead and one critically hurt after lightning strike near White House

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Victims included a husband and wife from Wisconsin after the lightning strike in Lafayette Park

Three people have died and one remains critically injured after being struck by lightning near the White House on Thursday night, including a husband and wife from Wisconsin celebrating more than five decades of marriage.

Dramatic images showed bolts streaking through the air on Thursday as a severe thunderstorm swept through the US capital. Scientists say that the climate crisis is increasing the likelihood of lightning strikes across the country.

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North-eastern US braces for record-breaking heat

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One heat-related death reported in New York while authorities in Philadelphia extend health emergency declaration

Residents in the north-east US braced for potentially record-breaking temperatures on Sunday as a near-week-long hot spell continued, prompting officials to warn of dangerous heat.

At least one heat-related death, in New York, was reported. Around the region, athletic events were shortened or postponed and cities opened cooling centers and even turned to buses to offer relief from the heat.

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Oil trumps human rights as Biden forced to compromise in Middle East

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US president’s attempts to ostracise Saudi crown prince were foiled by a fist bump

For all the careful choreography of Joe Biden’s Middle East tour, the White House made a major miscalculation when the president finally came face to face with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for the first time.

Before Air Force One left Washington, the administration said that Biden would be avoiding physical contact and not shaking hands owing to a rise in Covid cases, a move widely believed to allow him to avoid creating an uncomfortable photo op with the powerful heir to the throne.

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Abortion banned in multiple US states just hours after Roe v Wade overturned

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Utah among first states to outlaw almost all abortions, while mayor of Washington DC declares it ‘pro-choice city’

Abortion was already illegal in multiple US states on Saturday, with bans introduced within hours of Roe v Wade being overturned, as cities erupted in protest at the landmark ruling.

It came after the US supreme court on Friday abolished the constitutional right to abortion, more than 50 years after it was established, leaving individual states to decide. It is ultimately expected to lead to abortion bans in about half of the states.

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Stephen Colbert staff members arrested for trespassing on Capitol Hill

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Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, was among the employees detained by Capitol police

Seven staff members from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert were arrested for allegedly trespassing in a Capitol Hill building on Thursday night, authorities have said. All seven were each charged with unlawful entry.

The employees, including Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, were found by US Capitol police (USCP) officers inside the Longworth House Office Building, which houses offices for members of the House of Representatives.

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Proud Boys developed plans to take over government buildings in Washington DC

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Document reveals plans for entering buildings and blocking traffic to prevent law enforcement access

A document revealed in court on Wednesday has exposed a detailed plan by the Proud Boys to occupy government buildings in Washington DC, including the supreme court.

The document, titled “1776 Returns”, laid out the plans for which buildings to target, the number of members required for each building, and tactics, including instructions to use the pandemic as an excuse for wearing masks and face shields without raising suspicion.

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Protesters rally outside US supreme court justices’ homes ahead of pro-choice marches

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Protests have been occurring since the leak as organizations prepare for a nationwide day of marches on Saturday

Pro-choice demonstrators continue to turn up outside the homes of supreme court justices, with the latest target being conservative Amy Coney Barrett, who signed on to a majority draft opinion that was leaked to reveal an intention to overturn the constitutional right to seek an abortion in the US.

“The right to your own body – to do what you want with your own body – is the most personal freedom you can have,” one protester said from among a group wearing long red “handmaid” capes and white bonnets earlier this week to symbolize forced childbearing, as members of the Virginia state police watched nearby.

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US congressmen to fly to London as Northern Ireland protocol concerns grow

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Exclusive: Influential delegation likely to underline Biden’s commitment to defend Good Friday agreement

A delegation of influential US congressmen will fly to London within days amid growing concern in the White House about spiralling tensions over the Northern Ireland protocol, the Guardian can reveal.

With the UK government poised to table legislation next week which could revoke parts of the protocol, arrangements are being made for at least half a dozen representatives from the US Congress to fly to Europe for a series of meetings in Brussels, Dublin, London and Belfast.

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Liz Truss to hold talks with EU amid threats to tear up NI protocol

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Foreign minister will meet Maroš Šefčovič as attorney general said to approve overriding Brexit deal

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is to hold talks with the vice-president of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, in the first meeting since the UK threatened to remove parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.

The attorney general for England and Wales, Suella Braverman, is said to have approved the scrapping of large parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal, according to reports.

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Wild fox infiltrates flamingos’ pen at Washington’s National zoo and kills 25

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The birds’ wings are clipped to keep them from escaping their enclosure – leaving them unable to escape a predator

A wild fox in Washington DC, has chewed through a fence at the National zoo and killed 25 flamingos in the worst animal attack there in two decades.

On Tuesday, zoo officials announced that in addition to the 25 American flamingos that were killed early on Monday in their outdoor habitat, three more were injured. A northern pintail duck was also killed by the fox.

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‘Cheering section’ for violence: the attacks that show 4chan is still a threat

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The Washington DC shooting was the most recent to spawn out of the extremist culture of unregulated ‘chan’ message boards

When police in Washington DC burst into a fifth-floor apartment building on 22 April in search of a man who allegedly had shot four people at random, they found Raymond Spencer dead by his own hand, a cache of guns and ammunition, and a poster with an ironic white supremacist meme.

The poster invoking the meme, popular on the extremist online forum 4chan, was a stark reminder that this attack blamed on Spencer, 23, was only the most recent mass casualty attack to spawn out of the ugly extremist culture of unregulated internet message boards such as 4chan.

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Suspect in shooting that injured four near Washington school found dead, police say

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The man was identified from video he had posted on social media that appeared to show gunshots fired

A gunman opened fire on random victims from a sniper’s nest on the upper floor of an apartment building near an elite prep school in Washington, wounding four people before taking his own life as police burst into his dwelling.

Police said on Friday evening the suspect, Raymond Spencer, 23, of suburban Fairfax, Virginia, was initially identified from video he had posted on social media that appeared to show gunshots fired from the vantage point of an upper-floor window, with the misspelled label: “Shool shooting!”

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US Capitol evacuated as baseball parachute display seen as ‘probable threat’

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  • Army parachutists landed at home of Washington Nationals
  • Congressional staffers as police alert of possible threat

The US Capitol was briefly evacuated on Wednesday evening after police identified an aircraft that they said posed “a probable threat” to the heart of American government.

The plane turned out to be members of the US Army Golden Knights, who parachuted into Nationals Park for a pregame display. The stadium, home of the Washington Nationals baseball team, is a little more than a mile away from the Capitol.

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Covid cases rise in north-eastern US, driven by the BA.2 subvariant

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The subvariant of omicron that’s more transmissible than BA.1 was responsible for an estimated 86% of new US cases last week

Covid cases are on the rise in the north-eastern part of the US, as many Americans travel and gather together for spring break and religious holidays.

The rise is being driven by BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron which is more transmissible than its sibling BA.1, and was responsible for an estimated 86% of new Covid-19 cases nationwide last week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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