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Hazardous materials teams clear burned material from underneath Interstate 10 as crews assess damage

Republicans had accused the homeland security secretary of dereliction of duty in his management of the US-Mexico borderThe US House of Representatives voted on Monday to pause the effort to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, halting a Republican campaign that alleges he has been derelict in his duty in managing the US-Mexico border.The articles of impeachment, introduced by Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican representative, on Thursday, contend that Mayorkas, an appointee of Joe Biden, violated his oath of office by failing to constrain the record numbers of migrants arriving at the border. Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi's husband recounts publicly for the first time details of David DePape's reported assault in their San Francisco homePaul Pelosi has recounted publicly for the first time details of the harrowing night he was attacked by a hammer-wielding man in the San Francisco home he shares with his wife and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi.Testifying in the trial of David DePape, the man accused of attacking him last year, Paul Pelosi recalled his alarm at seeing a man standing in his bedroom. Continue reading...

Rich Moore, 71, failed to return home after a plan to scale a 12,500ft peak in August with a hunter finding his remains and the dogThe body of an elderly hiker missing since August in Colorado's San Juan mountains was discovered by a hunter who also found the man's dog alive at the scene, authorities said.Rich Moore, of Pagosa Springs, southern Colorado, and his Jack Russell terrier, Finney, failed to return from a trip to the mountains on 19 August. The 71-year-old outdoor enthusiast had planned to reach the 12,500ft summit of Blackhead Peak, about 20 miles from his hometown, according to family members. Continue reading...

City's mayor promoting beleaguered downtown as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is expected to draw nearly 20,000 peopleWith the world watching San Francisco this week as it hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, the California city has been making use of an opportunity to rehabilitate its reputation as a struggling metropolis in decline.Apec - San Francisco's largest international gathering since 1945 when dignitaries gathered to sign the charter creating the United Nations - is expected to draw 20,000 people to the city. The summit will bring together leaders from 21 member countries to promote trade and economic development in the Pacific region. Continue reading...

It is unclear if US House speaker's bill has support to pass while government's authorization to spend money expires on FridayThe House of Representatives will on Monday begin considering an unconventional proposal by the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to extend government funding into the new year and ward off a shutdown that would occur this weekend, but it is unclear if the measure has the support to pass.Johnson's bill is the latest attempt to resolve a complex standoff over Washington's spending that has pitted hardline Republicans against their moderate colleagues and the Democratic minority in Congress's lower chamber, and also contributed to the chain of events that led to Kevin McCarthy's overthrow as speaker of the House in October. Continue reading...

Code of conduct published following months of criticism of rightwing justices accepting undisclosed giftsThe US supreme court has finally responded to mounting pressure over a spate of ethics scandals engulfing some of its senior rightwing justices by publishing its first ever code that sets out the rules and principles that guide the conduct of members of the court".The 14-page document follows months of increasingly sharp criticism of the justices and their failure to apply to themselves basic ethical rules that bind all other judges in the US. Even as they released the code, however, the justices maintained their defensive posture, insisting in a brief statement that the furore of recent months had been a misunderstanding". Continue reading...

Complaint on behalf of Palestinian groups and individuals alleges Israel's actions amount to genocideA New York civil liberties group is suing Joe Biden for allegedly failing in his duty under international and US laws to prevent Israel committing genocide in Gaza.The Center for Constitutional Rights' (CCR) complaint on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals alleges that Israel's actions, including mass killings", the targeting of civilian infrastructure and forced expulsions, amount to genocide. The CCR said that the 1948 international convention against genocide requires the US and other countries to use their power and influence to stop the killing. Continue reading...

If you've had to find an alternate route, take public transportation or work from home, we'd like to hear about your experienceA section of highway in downtown Los Angeles may be closed indefinitely following a huge fire on Saturday.State governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday afternoon after a fire at a storage facility underneath an elevated section of Interstate 10, caught fire and spread across eight acres (three hectares) - - and burned for more than three hours causing damage to the infrastructure. At least 16 unhoused people living under underneath the highway were evacuated and brought to shelters. Continue reading...

Jonathan Lewis was attacked by about 15 teens for defending a smaller child outside his high school and died one week laterA grieving father in Nevada has paid tribute to his 17-year-old son's heart of a champion" and denounced the scourge of teenage violence after the boy was beaten to death by a mob outside his high school for defending a smaller child.Jonathan Lewis said his son - also named Jonathan - died at the University medical center in Las Vegas last Tuesday, one week after the attack involving about 15 others near the city's Rancho high school. Continue reading...

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Donald Trump's son showers praise on former president as he returns to the stand at $250m real estate fraud trial

Former president promised if re-elected to root out ... fascists and radical left thugs that live like vermin' in speech on Veterans' DayThe Biden White House condemned Donald Trump for promising, if re-elected president, to root out" opponents within US society he called communists, Marxists, fascists and radical left thugs that live like vermin".Employing words like vermin' to describe anyone who makes use of their basic right to criticise the government echoes dictators' like Hitler and Mussolini," the White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, quoting Washington Post coverage of Trump's remarks. Continue reading...

Barry and her younger brother, the 77-year-old former US president, were notably at oddsMaryanne Trump Barry, a retired US federal judge and older sister of the former president Donald Trump, has died. She was 86.Multiple news outlets said Barry died at her home on the Upper East Side in New York City. A person familiar with the matter told the New York Times that Barry was found early on Monday morning. Her cause of death was unknown. Continue reading...

From a superb Cole Palmer performance to Simon Adingra's brilliance, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the Premier League weekend

Anti-Jewish hate is rarely seen as part of a European racism that encompassed colonialism and slavery, with each distinct prejudice influencing the otherOn Saturday, hundreds of thousands took part in a history-making march for Gaza, while the hate mobs imagined by the now former home secretary Suella Braverman turned out to be the far right, who clashed with police. It's true that the Palestine solidarity march did contain a fringe of hateful messages, but to portray these as characteristic of the whole is absurd. Protesters called for a halt to the death, catastrophe and terror being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Demands for a ceasefire are accelerating globally, as about 11,000 people have been killed in the sealed Gaza Strip, including over 4,000 children - and with thousands more injured or orphaned. The Palestinian cause is close to the hearts of leftists, but polling shows it goes wider than that: most of the British public support a ceasefire.Saturday's demonstration contained a sizeable Jewish bloc, who marched despite alarmist warnings across our politics and media that the protests were hotbeds of antisemitism. Jewish people (me included) attend Gaza solidarity marches for many reasons. But I would bet that none include giving free passes on antisemitism to leftists - and neither should a Jewish presence be used to discount the existence of any such prejudice at these protests. More likely, we understand that while this ancient hatred can appear anywhere, it is not the fault of Palestinians that Christian Europe has a long, lingering and largely unacknowledged problem with antisemitism. Continue reading...

Jacob Chansley, who became one of the most recognizable symbols of the insurrection, hopes to run in Arizona as a libertarianThe man who donned face paint and a horned headdress to storm the US Capitol at the 6 January insurrection has filed paperwork for a potential congressional run in Arizona as a libertarian.Jacob Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman", became one of the most recognizable symbols of the insurrection, as media showed him walking the halls of the Capitol and standing at the dais in the US Senate. Continue reading...

It's not time for Pep Guardiola to panic, but Chelsea's unpredictable style removed what the manager covets most: control

Military said MH-60 Blackhawk was conducting aerial refueling and crashed due to unspecified emergencyThe US military has identified the five special operations troops who were killed when their helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean Sea during training on Friday.Officials identified the army operatives as Stephen R Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Shane M Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California; Tanner W Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire; Andrew Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona; and Cade M Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota. Continue reading...

In announcement, congresswoman cites rightwing threats to reproductive rights and efforts to clamp down on public schoolingThe Democrat Abigail Spanberger will quit Congress next year to run for governor of Virginia. Announcing her move a week after voters delivered a rebuke to the current Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, she cited rightwing threats to reproductive rights and attempts to clamp down on public schooling.Today, we find ourselves at a crossroads," Spanberger, 44, said in a video on Monday. Our country and our commonwealth are facing fundamental threats to our rights, our freedoms and to our democracy." Continue reading...

Memo gives glimpse of intense internal opposition to Biden's strategy in the war, in which he has maintained support for Israel

Agents for Naomi Biden opened fire after they saw saw trio breaking window of unmarked Secret Service SUV in WashingtonSecret Service agents protecting Joe Biden's granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation's capital, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press.The agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighborhood late Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on Monday on the condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Shooting happened after argument between two people who did not know each other, police sayOne child was killed and four other people were wounded in a shootout that erupted between two strangers at a Texas flea market on Sunday evening, according to police.Officers responded to a call of shots fired at Cole's Antique Village and Flea Market in Pearland - about 17 miles (27km) south of Houston - at 5.34pm, the local police department posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The victims were taken to hospitals, where one of them - a minor - died.The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

The Palestinian viewpoint is legitimate and vital as Israel continues to unleash carnage on GazaIn these past few sleepless weeks, I have seen images and videos that will haunt me forever. Palestinian parents carrying their children's charred and dismembered bodies in plastic bags to makeshift morgues; whole families, across three generations, crushed under the homes they built; exhausted doctors working desperately by torchlight and operating on patients without anaesthetic; one of the oldest churches in the world, sheltering the displaced, bombed. So far more than 10,000 Palestinians have been reported killed - more, after one month, than the number of civilians killed in Ukraine after two years of war.The Israeli war machine is always horrifically ruthless. But this time we are witnessing a level of violence not seen since the 1948 Nakba - during which about 70% of the Palestinian population was forcibly displaced and more than 500 communities were wiped out completely. Indeed, for nearly four weeks the Israeli regime has cut off power and limited access to the internet, reducing contact with the outside and meaning the full scale of its assault has been hidden from the world. Some Palestinians in Gaza are still managing to maintain some communication by charging phones in cars and using power from what solar panels are left. Among them are Palestinian journalists - at least 32 media workers have been killed since Hamas's offensive on 7 October - who are risking their lives to show us the devastation that is being wrought upon them.Yara Hawari is a senior policy fellow at Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network Continue reading...

Former UN ambassador's planned investment comes as she battles to emerge as the clear alternative to Donald TrumpNikki Haley's presidential campaign will reserve $10m in television, radio and digital advertising across Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in the first week of December, a massive investment designed to give the former UN ambassador an advantage over the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, at a critical moment in the GOP nomination fight.Details of the advertising plans, which represent the Haley campaign's first official advertising reservation, were obtained by The Associated Press ahead of a public announcement expected on Monday. Haley's planned investment, as of now, is more than five times larger than DeSantis's current advertising reserves for the same time period, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. Continue reading...

WHO confirms Gaza's largest hospital is without power, putting patients including infants at risk. Plus, the book club that spent 28 years reading Finnegans Wake

The former home secretary is a dangerous loudmouth, but she speaks for a party that has been marching rightwards for yearsThe home secretary, queen of the anti-woke, is gone, again. Her grandstanding infuriated many colleagues, yet most of them share the same sinking life-raft of current Tory thinking. I wouldn't use her words," each minister says, but they share her thoughts. Reshuffle from what to what?The tide is going out on the conservatism they were bred on, the last ripples of Thatcherism that nurtured them leaving them marooned. Suella Braverman's backers, such as the Daily Mail, Telegraph and Sun, which 20 years ago seemed to have a direct line to the beating heart of Tory middle England, are now adrift and floating out to sea with them. Continue reading...

The Harlem rap vets behind It Is What It Is are breathing fresh life into a hoary format with their chemistry, editorial freedom and unpredictabilityTV sports talk in America is a broken record. Every day brings the same warmed-over topics (Dallas Cowboys), the same personal triggers (LeBron James), the same stale mix of sportswriters (Skip Bayless) and ex-jocks (Michael Irvin) shouting over each other across the basic cable divide. Only one show manages to cut through the noise without really raising its voice.In late February an online-only production called It Is What It Is premiered on YouTube to little fanfare - a jarring setup for two hosts who are so far from understated. On one side of the dais, there's Ma$e (government name: Mason Betha), the shiny suit-wearing star who hijacked the pop charts in the mid-90s with the Notorious BIG. On the other there's Cam'ron (Cameron Giles), the neon-palette style icon who went platinum with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella team. The notion that two rap legends from Harlem could settle into fresh careers as hot-take artists is a twist few would've seen coming in 50 years of hip-hop. Continue reading...

Ex-employees at St Regis resort allege they were recruited under J-1 visa internship program and exploited to work for low wagesA class-action lawsuit filed by a former employee at a five-star hotel resort in Aspen, Colorado, alleges they and other workers were recruited under the J-1 visa internship program but exploited to work low-wage, menial duties rather than receive the internship training required under the visa program.Daniel Esteban Camas Lopez, a culinary arts student from Mexico, came to Aspen in autumn2020 under the J-1 visa internship program. He was transferred to the St Regis Aspen resort operated by Marriott International in May 2021 to complete his internship when the hotel he worked at initially had closed for renovations after the busy winter season. Continue reading...

Retired judge Michael Luttig is battling to stop a Trump victory - which he says would be catastrophic for America's democracy'Michael Luttig knows the eye of the storm. On the night of 4 January 2021, the retired federal judge advised Mike Pence, the vice-president, against trying to overturn the results of the presidential election. Last year on live television he delivered compelling testimony to the congressional panel investigating the January 6 insurrection.Now, with less than a year until the nation goes back to the polls, Luttig recognises that the battle to save the American republic from the demagoguery of Donald Trump is far from over - and he is more worried than ever before. Continue reading...

The online retail giant has terminated its contract with a California delivery contractor and denies it is the drivers' joint employerDrivers from an Amazon delivery station in California have been on strike since 24 June, and have taken their strike to picket lines at over 20 Amazon warehouses around the US, including Amazon facilities in New York, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut.The effort is aimed at highlighting the plight of drivers who were fired after successfully forming a union and negotiating a contract with Amazon's delivery partner. Continue reading...

Eldest son to answer questions from Trump's lawyers after saying earlier this month accountants were responsible for documentsDonald Trump Jr is expected to take the witness stand in New York for a second time as defense lawyers for the family firm make their case in the $250m fraud trial.Trump Jr is the first witness to testify from the defense's witness list, which also includes Donald Trump and Eric Trump as witnesses, though it is unclear whether they will end up being called. Continue reading...

Every Texas A&M donor helping to fund Jimbo Fisher's buyout could have put that check toward tablets or school lunches in a poor districtTexas A&M University fired football coach Jimbo Fisher on Sunday, amid his latest disappointing season. The axing is richly deserved. The money Fisher will get not to work is not. In late 2017, A&M poached Fisher - who had won a national championship at Florida State in 2013 - from FSU with a 10-year, $75m, fully guaranteed contract that broke the collegiate record with its total value. The school extended that deal and tacked on dollars in 2021, but Fisher's performance never got close to matching his paycheck, and the fully guaranteed" part of the contract would come back to haunt the Aggies. He lost at least four games every year but 2020, when pandemic interruptions created a zany season whose chaos included a 9-1 record and No 4 finish in the rankings for A&M. But even that team fell short of loftier goals like a Southeastern Conference title or College Football Playoff berth.The on-field failures belied not just his deal, but his advantages in the job. A&M signed some of the best recruiting classes in college football, including a 2022 class that scouting agencies considered one of the best ever. In assembling those classes, Fisher had the help of a rich and enthusiastic booster corps, buttressed by oil money who craved success. Nobody was better positioned to take advantage of a recent liberalization of limits on athlete compensation by third parties than A&M. In discussing the firing on Sunday, AD Ross Bjork decried a lack of consistency, positivity, and confidence" in Fisher's program. Continue reading...

The Texans were adrift after a series of bad trades and a fallout with their former star. Their new head coach and quarterback have been a revelationBefore this year's draft, most experts had CJ Stroud as the most NFL-ready quarterback available. That may have been a historic understatement. At the moment, Stroud is the clear-cut offensive rookie of the year favorite and has helped turn the Houston Texans into a playoff contender.The Texans had the second pick in the 2023 draft after going 3-13 the previous year. After the Carolina Panthers made the safe choice of selecting Bryce Young at No 1, Houston made the obvious move of selecting Stroud with the idea that he could start immediately. Oh boy, could he, it turns out! After Sunday's 30-27 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Texans are now 5-4 and in pole position for the final AFC wildcard spot. Continue reading...

The pro-Israel political consensus has shut out any dissenting voices - as I found in a TV debate with the vice-chancellorI've lived in Germany for nearly a decade now, but the only people with whom I've ever been able to discuss the conflict in the Middle East are Israelis and Palestinians. Germans tend to cut off any attempt at constructive conversation with the much-favoured phrase that topic is much too complicated. As a result, the understandings I've reached about the geopolitical developments of the past three decades are the result of private conversations, safely tucked away from the judgmental eyes of a German society eager to lecture us on how any criticism of Israel is antisemitic.I have also discovered that a transactional relationship defines the public representation of Jews in Germany - and it obscures the views of an unseen majority of Jewish people who don't belong to communities financially supported by the German state, and don't constantly emphasise the singular importance of unconditional loyalty to the state of Israel. Because of the enormous power the official institutions and communities wield, non-affiliated voices are often silenced or discredited, replaced by the louder ones of Germans whose Holocaust-guilt complexes cause them to fetishise Jewishness to the point of obsessive-compulsive embodiment. Continue reading...

Democratic congressman invokes strongmen Putin and Orban to characterize the threat posed by a second Trump presidencyIf Donald Trump wins a second presidency, the US would resemble the authoritarian regimes of Vladimir Putin's Russia and Viktor Orban's Hungary, a prominent Democratic congressman predicted Sunday.During an appearance on MSNBC's Inside with Jen Psaki, Jamie Raskin invoked the names of some of the globe's most powerful strongmen political leaders to characterize the threat posed by Trump's status as the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite the mound of legal problems with which he is grappling. Continue reading...

We dash to salvage gas cylinders, shout messages from building to building, make lukewarm coffee. And always, a missile could be only seconds away Atef Abu Saif is the Palestinian Authority's minister of cultureAtef Abu Saif has been Palestinian Authority's minister of culture since 2019 and is the author of six novels. He was visiting Gaza with his son, Yasser, when Israel started bombarding the strip in response to Hamas's 7 October attacks on Israel. He has been keeping a diary, which he has been sending via WhatsApp to his publisher, Comma Press, in Britain. This is an edited excerpt.Sunday 29 October Continue reading...

South Carolina senator launched campaign with the promise of offering a more optimistic vision about America's futureSenator Tim Scott of South Carolina has suspended his presidential campaign, conceding that he does not see any path to the Republican nomination as Donald Trump maintains a significant lead in primary polling.Scott told Fox News in an interview on Sunday evening that he had suspended his campaign. His exit may provide a modest boost for other candidates trying to dislodge frontrunner Donald Trump from the top spot. Continue reading...

Residents advised to use public transit as hazardous materials crews cleared burned matter and engineers examined damagesLos Angeles motorists should expect traffic snarls indefinitely as crews assess how much damage was caused by a raging fire that closed a major elevated interstate near downtown, officials said Sunday.Gavin Newsom, the state governor, declared a state of emergency Saturday afternoon and directed the state department of transportation to request assistance from the federal government. Continue reading...

US European command says cause of crash remained under investigation, but there was no indications of hostile activity'Five US military special operations troops were killed in a refueling accident during training that caused an aircraft carrying them to crash into the Mediterranean Sea, the American defense department said in a statement on Sunday.US European Command said search and rescue operations were launched immediately following the crash and an investigation into its cause is under way. The troops aboard the helicopter were US army special operations personnel, according to two US officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

Don Samuels says he will once again run after being narrowly defeated by the twice-elected congresswoman in 2022Ilhan Omar got a prominent Democratic primary challenger Sunday when former Minneapolis city council member Don Samuels announced he'll try once again to unseat the representative after coming close in 2022.Omar, a charter member of the squad" of progressive House Democrats, won re-election twice despite making comments in her first term that were widely criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes and suggesting Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. But Omar - a Somali American and Muslim - has come under renewed fire for condemning the Israeli government's war in Gaza. Continue reading...

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Nine Americans still missing as Hamas says it's suspending talks amid Israel's handling of besieged al-Shifa hospital in GazaNine Americans are still missing following the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel, the US national security adviser said on Sunday.Jake Sullivan, the White House's chief security adviser, said the US is involved in ongoing negotiations" for the release of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza. Continue reading...

Captor also killed, officials say, after Austin police responded to 911 call that reported someone had been stabbed in a homeAn attempt by police in Texas's capital city to rescue two people being held hostage ended in deadly bloodshed Saturday - both hostages died while their captor as well as a tactical officer were fatally shot, according to officials.Austin police responded to a 911 call at 3am Saturday that reported someone had been stabbed in a home. Officers forced their way into the home in question but were shot at, the Austin police department said in a press briefing attended by CBS News. Continue reading...

Amid concern over the president's poll ratings, Gavin Newsom appears to be running something of a shadow campaignOne of the strongest candidates for US president in 2024 may be one who's not yet in the race. There's growing evidence that Gavin Newsom, the charismatic and energetic Democratic governor of California, is running something of a shadow campaign to Joe Biden and ready to step up if, or when, the incumbent is out of the running.Several developments in recent days suggest Newsom, who romped to re-election a year ago without really campaigning, is ready to bring forward what was already expected to be a strong run for the presidency in 2028. Continue reading...

Generous investment in Seoul, Bogota and beyond has created local artists who can rip up the world stage. Meanwhile, the UK cuts its fundingThe dominance of English-language pop music appears to be waning. Before Psy's breakthrough K-pop single Gangnam Style hit the Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2012, the previous foreign-language hit to do so was Los Lobos' La Bamba in 1987. But so far in 2023 there have been seven foreign-language songs in the Billboard Top 10.Around the world, listeners are turning away from English-language popstars to embrace beats, rhymes and lyrics in their own languages. According to a 2021 analysis of Spotify data published in the journal Nature, this trend has been accelerating since 2017. Data from the London School of Economics exploring European listening habits shows that across the continent, more Italians are listening to Italian music, French to French music and so on. Continue reading...