Special counsel wants Trump election subversion case to begin on January 2, 2024
Federal prosecutors who've brought the 2020 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump are seeking to start to the trial on January 2, 2024, days before the anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol and the Iowa caucuses.
2023-08-11 02:20
Biden approves Hawaii disaster declaration
President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii and "ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires," according to the White House.
2023-08-11 00:52
Four Americans wrongfully detained in Iran released on house arrest, signaling a potential end to their imprisonment
Four Americans who have been wrongfully detained in Iran have been released from prison and are now under house arrest, a lawyer for one of the prisoners told CNN on Thursday, a sign that they may soon be freed from years of imprisonment.
2023-08-11 00:20
New Thomas revelations unlikely to result in congressional passage of Supreme Court ethics reform
Calls to implement tougher ethics standards on Supreme Court justices are likely to be stirred again following the publication of a new report about Clarence Thomas' lifestyle, though sources in both parties say there's no chance that Congress will pass new legislation.
2023-08-10 23:29
Michigan's fake GOP electors arraigned on state charges
Arraignments are underway Thursday for most of the 16 Michigan Republicans who served as fake electors in 2020 and are expected to plead not guilty to the first-of-their-kind felony charges.
2023-08-10 21:29
Pakistan leaders seek deal on caretaker PM ahead of election
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan's outgoing prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the leader of the opposition will meet again
2023-08-10 20:49
Trump's legal drama grows by the day
Donald Trump's already daunting legal predicament gets grimmer by the day as new details emerge of the depths to which he was prepared to stoop to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election.
2023-08-10 20:48
The broadest look yet at Clarence Thomas' luxury travel bankrolled by wealthy friends reveals private jet and helicopter rides and VIP sporting event tickets
The list of gifts and hospitality Justice Clarence Thomas has received from wealthy friends is more extensive than previously known, according to a new ProPublica report.
2023-08-10 17:53
Biden heads to Republican Utah to promote his bipartisan bonafides
President Joe Biden is turning to a reliably Republican state -- and its GOP governor -- to highlight one of his key bipartisan accomplishments he's trying to sell to voters heading into 2024.
2023-08-10 17:21
Trump's co-defendants set to enter pleas on new charges in classified documents case
A Mar-a-Lago property manager and former President Donald Trump's personal aide are set to be arraigned Thursday morning in Fort Pierce, Florida, on new charges brought by the special counsel in the case regarding the mishandling of classified documents.
2023-08-10 17:16
Biden punches back at Fox News reporter’s ‘lousy question’
Joe Biden dismissed a question posed by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy by calling it “a lousy question”. Doocy, who was reporting from New Mexico following Mr Biden’s address on green energy endeavours, inquired about the recent congressional testimony of Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Mr Archer’s testimony last week indicated that Hunter Biden had at times placed his father, who was then serving as vice president, on speakerphone during business discussions. Amid Republican assertions of potential corruption, allegations have arisen suggesting the president’s involvement in his son’s business activities. “We got a first of its kind of reaction to that testimony,” Doocy said on Wednesday. “Nobody has asked President Biden yet about these allegations from a former Hunter Biden business associate, that Hunter would call his dad – then the vice president – and put him on speakerphone to chat with his business associates. So, at the conclusion of this event, I had a chance at the president’s invitation – he waved us on over – to ask him.” Then Fox News cut to the exchange. Doocy asked the president, “There’s this testimony now where one of your son’s former business associates is claiming that you were on speakerphone a lot with them talking business. Is that what…” Mr Biden hit back, saying, “I never talked business anybody, and I knew you’d have a lousy question.” “Well, what, why is that a lousy question?” responded Doocy. The president said “because it’s not true”. Early last year, a hot microphone captured the president referring to Doocy as “a stupid son of a b****” following a question posed by the reporter about inflation. Towards the end of last year, Doocy again asked Mr Biden about the same topic that had led to the earlier insult. “Just hoping to clarify for midterm voters, top domestic issue: inflation or abortion?” Doocy had asked the president then. Mr Biden grinned on hearing the question and then answered, “All important! Unlike you, there’s no one thing. It crosses the board... domestic... ask me about foreign policy, too.” Mr Biden again clashed with Doocy earlier this year after he was asked why classified documents had been found stored next to his Corvette sports car. “Classified materials next to your Corvette? What were you thinking?” Doocy had asked the president at a White House event this January. “My Corvette’s in a locked garage so it’s not like it’s sitting on the street,” responded Mr Biden. “So the material was in a locked garage?” Doocy pressed. “Yes, as well as my Corvette,” Mr Biden said. Read More Trump 2020 electoral college plan outlined in memo as Twitter special counsel search warrant revealed - latest Indictment shows White House lawyers struggling for control as Trump fought to overturn election Biden welcoming Australian leader to White House for state dinner in October Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch: poll Wildfires take Maui by surprise, burning through a historic town and killing at least 6 people Trump ‘fake elector’ memo details 2020 plan as Twitter search warrant revealed - live
2023-08-10 15:50
Author John Green hits back as his novel The Fault in Our Stars is moved to adult section in library
When John Green’s book, The Fault in Our Stars, was first published in 2012 it rose to the top of bestseller lists. The love story about two cancer stricken teenagers won the hearts of teenagers globally and was soon turned into a movie starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Now the book, a favourite of older teenagers, has been moved to the adult section in a library in the suburbs of Indianapolis. Green took to X, formerly called Twitter, to voice his frustrations. “This is ludicrous. It is about teenagers and I wrote it for teenagers. Teenagers are not harmed by reading TFIOS. This is such an embarrassment to the city of Fishers,” he said. “I only have a small voice in these decisions, of course, but you won’t catch me alive or dead in Fishers, Indiana until these ridiculous policies are revoked,” he added. “Which I guess means no Top Golf or IKEA for a while.” At the local library, staff have spent hours rummaging through books and moving those that don’t comply with the board’s policy to the general section from the young adult section. Books have been targeted for language about sexuality and reproduction, profanity and criminal acts. This isn’t the first time one of Green’s books has irked administrators and parents. His book Looking for Alaska, also aimed at older teenagers, has become a regular feature on the American Library Association’s top 10 most challenged books, making the list in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2022, for being sexually explicit. In 2008, the author filmed a YouTube video titled “I Am Not A Pornographer” explaining that a school in Buffalo, New York was planning to teach Looking for Alaska to 11th graders. But some people, he said, found the book controversial so the school administrators gave parents the choice: their children could read the book or find an alternative. “But there were a few people who weren’t happy with this solution,” Green said in the clip. “These people didn’t actually have kids in the 11th grade, but no matter. They think that my book is pornographic, and that it will cause immoral thoughts and actions in children. These people believe that no one should be allowed to read the book, even those people whose parents signed the permission slip.” And now with book bans on the rise across America (2022 saw the highest number of attempted book bans), Green told The Independent earlier this year that these parent groups have rallied “to take over America’s school systems”. “There are attempts not just to ban books, but to ban entire subjects from high school curricula,” he said. “There are attempts to rewrite American history to better fit contemporary narratives around America’s purported greatness.” The book, a coming of age story with themes of loss and forgiveness, features a scene in which the main character Miles, receives oral sex from Lara, a friend. A few pages later, in a highly emotional scene, Miles kisses another character, Alaska. By juxtaposing the two scenes, Green said in the YouTube video, he attempts to show “that physical intimacy can never stand in for emotional closeness.” Yet, it’s these very scenes that have led to some seeking to ban the book. “It’s always a bummer to have your work read in bad faith,” Green told The Independent in an interview earlier this year. “It’s always a bummer when people read your work to find out what they hate about it, because that’s not, of course, why anyone writes.” Having this specific section read out of context, he adds, is “especially troubling,” because “removed from its context, it can’t do its work – which is to point out that the romantic encounter that Miles and Lara have is awkward and unfulfilling, precisely because they don’t have the emotional connection they need to have a fulfilling romantic encounter.” Read More John Green on book bans, bad faith, and the ‘history of folks trying to control what other folks can read’ Book bans in US schools increased by 28 per cent in the first half of the school year, says new report Texas county moves to restrict ‘explicit’ and ‘objectionable’ books at public libraries Tennessee educators file lawsuit challenging law limiting school lessons on race, sex and bias Jacqueline Wilson says censorship of children’s books is ‘a huge worry’ Biden reelection campaign offering joint meeting with Obama as ex-president enters 2024 fray early Biden wants to compensate New Mexico residents sickened by radiation during 1945 nuclear testing Trump campaign runs ad attacking Georgia DA who’s expected to indict him
2023-08-10 08:21