Category: US politics

Joe Biden spent roughly three of his four years in the White House trying to sell Americans his view of his presidency: An economy that was roaring back to normal after the Covid crash, and a country once again respected on the world stage, helmed by a president just as spry and fit for duty as his opponent.
In the end, voters did not believe him. A disastrous debate with Donald Trump blew the door open for speculation about his mental faculties, while consumers still felt squeezed by high prices on gasoline and Covid-era inflation and price hikes on other commodities that stretched their paychecks thinner than in years past. On the foreign policy side, his image was further marred by the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which involved one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. forces in the country in years as well as a retaliatory U.S. strike that caused significant civilian casualties.
Now, his predecessor faces a starkly similar scenario. One year into Trump’s second term, the president is b..

Changes at Elon Musk’s X may have unwittingly revealed that many MAGA accounts are actually foreign actors profiting from the sowing of division in the U.S.
On Friday, X introduced a feature called “About This Account,” which allows other users to see where an account was based when it joined the site, how often it's changed its username, and by what means they downloaded the X app.
Once the feature was live, political rivals began to dig into each other's accounts, and a trend began to emerge — many popular MAGA and right-wing influencer accounts were not based in the U.S.
The discovery led Democratic influencer Harry Sisson to call it “easily one of the greatest days on this platform,” the Daily Beast reports. “Seeing all of these MAGA accounts get exposed as foreign actors trying to destroy the United States is a complete vindication of Democrats, like myself and many on here, who have been warning about this”.
Dozens of right-wing accounts pushing U.S. political content..

Police officers hoofed it to a New Jersey neighborhood after reports that a loose horse was roaming the area.
The horse, dubbed Seabiscuit by police, was “canvassing” the Hunter Woods neighborhood in Gloucester County in search of hay bales on Friday, Monroe Township Police said.
Police found the horse at around 7.50 a.m., but the creature “quickly fled” when confronted.
open image in galleryMonroe Township Police were dispatched to a neighborhood after a horse was spotted (Monroe Township Police)A “brief foot pursuit” ensued, but officers were unsuccessful in reining in the horse.
Footage captured an officer running on the sidewalk after Seabiscuit, who galloped down the middle of the road, passing a parked car and a school bus.
open image in galleryFootage captured one of the officers racing after the horse, nicknamed Seabiscuit (Monroe Township Police)After some additional horsepower from other officers, the animal was safely secured and “returned without incident,” police said.
I..

An elderly couple was injured after a bear broke into their home near the California-Nevada border in search of food before hibernating for the winter.
At the Stateline, Nevada, property near Lake Tahoe, an 87-year-old man went into his garage at around 4:30 a.m. and unexpectedly came face to face with the bear as it searched for food, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
As the man backed away, the bear scratched his hand and followed him into the house. Inside, the creature also scratched the 87-year-old woman. The bear eventually left the home, the department said. It’s not immediately clear how long the animal was inside.
The pair sustained “minor hand injuries” and were treated at the hospital. They’ve since been released.
“We are grateful that these individuals sustained minor injuries and are okay,” Shawn Espinosa, Game Division Administrator for the department, said in a statement. “Bears are still experiencing hyperphagia, or a phase where they build up as many cal..

Abortion has been reinstated as illegal in North Dakota after the state's Supreme Court failed to secure the necessary majority to uphold a judge’s decision that had struck down the ban last year.
Performing an abortion is now a felony crime, though patients are specifically protected from prosecution. Doctors found in violation could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The court's five justices were divided, with three agreeing the ban was unconstitutionally vague under the state constitution, while two deemed the law constitutional. North Dakota's constitution mandates that at least four of the five justices must concur for a law to be declared unconstitutional – a stringent requirement that ultimately prevented the lower court's ruling from being affirmed.
The court's five justices were divided, with three agreeing the ban was unconstitutionally vague under the state constitution, while two deemed the law constitutional. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)..

A stranger shot New York Jets cornerback Kris Boyd in the abdomen after taunting him about his outfit, police say.
Boyd, two of his teammates and a third friend headed to Asian fusion hotspot Sei Less in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday to celebrate a friend’s birthday. As they were heading inside the restaurant, a group of men started “to chirp them” about their fashion choices, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told Pix11. The strangers then asked: “Do you think you’re better than us?”
The football player and his friends spent about 10 minutes inside the restaurant before deciding they didn’t like the vibe and left, Kenny said. That’s when, just after 2 a.m., the strangers confronted Boyd’s group again, once again taunting them about their outfits.
An argument quickly turned physical — and one of the strangers pulled out a gun, Kenny said. “Pretty chaotic scene. Probably about 50 to 60 people out there. People are running,” the chief of detectives added.
EMS responded and transporte..

The Trump administration has announced new oil drilling operations off the coasts of California and Florida, marking the first such expansion in these regions in decades. This move, intended to boost U.S. oil production, has drawn criticism from those who warn it could harm coastal communities and ecosystems.
The oil industry has actively pursued access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, arguing it would enhance U.S. energy security and create jobs. Federal regulations have prohibited drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and parts of Alabama, since 1995 due to concerns about oil spills. In California, despite existing offshore rigs, no new federal leasing has been permitted since the mid-1980s.
Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed policies aimed at slowing climate change, instead pursuing what he calls U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Trump, who..

There may be more leftovers this Thanksgiving as about one in eight American adults say they are taking Ozempic or a similar drug, known to curb appetites.
Morgan Williams, 29-year-old Nebraska mom, usually goes for the green bean casserole on Turkey Day. But since she began taking a GLP-1 drug to manage her Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, she noticed her appetite wasn’t what it used to be, she told USA Today.
“I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings,” Williams, 29, says. “So I will just grab the dish and not eat it. It will still be on my plate when I throw everything away.”
Since she began taking the medication in April, she has lost 70 pounds, she told the outlet. Her symptoms have subsided and a side effect has emerged.
“I get full a lot faster, and big holiday portions feel kind of overwhelming now,” Williams said. “I used to go back for seconds, but now I’m satisfied after just a few bites, so the holiday season will definitely be different than past years.”
open image in gal..

CloseSenate approves Jeffrey Epstein files bill after near-unanimous House voteThe bill to force the Justice Department to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is still awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature after clearing Congress.
The Senate sent the legislation to the president’s desk Wednesday morning, CNN reported, and Trump has promised to sign it. But it’s unclear when that will actually happen. There are no more public events expected Wednesday, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins wrote on X.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump delivered a rambling speech at a U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in which he blasted his political opponents, windmills and eggs.
The president suggested that his daughter Tiffany Trump's graduation was canceled not for Covid but her last name, and later professed to be “all for climate change.”
After the House voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Transparency Act Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly..

Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, has resigned from the board of OpenAI after a tranche of emails between him and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released.
Harvard University has launched an urgent investigation into the emails and his alleged ties with Epstein, whom he contacted as recently as 2019. Summers' resignation came after it was revealed that he repeatedly contacted Epstein from November 2018 to July 2019, asking the disgraced financier for relationship advice.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
A few days ago, Summers, who also served as former President Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary and former President Barack Obama’s director of the National Economic Council, stepped back from all upcoming public engagements.
“In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Summers said in a statement. “I am grateful for the ..