List of All Articles with Tag 'americas'

The House of Representatives has voted to raise the debt limit, thereby ensuring the United States will avoid defaulting on its debt, despite vocal opposition from many Republicans in the House majority. The legislation had resulted from negotiations between lieutenants of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House. The passage of the legislation is the first major hurdle to be cleared for Mr McCarthy, who made a series of concessions on how to negotiate the debt limit during the marathon 15 votes it took for him to become speaker in January. The Senate will take up the legislation for a vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged it will pass before 5 June, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States will run out of options to maintain its debt obligations. Multiple Republicans vehemently criticised the bill, saying it did not go far enough in its spending cuts as well as highlighting the fact it raised the debt limit until January 2025, rather than raising it a certain dollar amount. Rep Garret Graves (R-LA), one of the chief negotiators with the White House, said that conservative criticism ignored the fact that had it not been for the agreement, the White House would have likely raised the debt limit unilaterally or Democrats would have teamed up with moderate Republicans to raise the debt limit without spending cuts. “So by doing so all you're doing is playing into the hands of the White House,” he told The Independent. “Because if you keep going down this road, if you keep trying to sew this line, that's simply not true that there's some other option out there to save a gazillion dollars, all you're doing is you're moving towards default.” But several House conservatives criticised the bill for multiple provisions, including the fact it did not put in place work requirements for Medicaid. The agreement increases the age for work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, for able-bodied adults without dependent children from 50 to 54. That earned the criticism of many progressive Democrats and led to them opposing the bill. At the same time, the agreement would exempt youth in the foster care system, veterans and people experiencing homelessness from work requirements for SNAP and the Congressional Budget Office estimated that approximately 78,000 would gain benefits in an average month as a result of the deal. But Rep Byron Donalds (R-FL) criticised the legislation for not going far enough in work requirements such as including them for Medicaid. “And I think that's just a smart and prudent thing to do,” he told The Independent. “But when you expand eligibility for the program, at least the way CBO is putting it we're actually taking a step backwards.” Read More What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit? Anti-poverty groups and progressives blast work requirements for aid to poor Americans in debt ceiling deal

Five teenagers were arrested in connection with the beating of three US Marines by a crowd of young people they had asked to stop lighting fireworks. The violent incident, which was captured on video, took place at Southern California‘s San Clemente Pier over Memorial Day weekend. The suspects, four of whom are boys and one girl, face felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The city also says that four other local students were identified and have been citied with misdemeanour assault charges. First responders gave medical aid to two Marines, who refused to go to the hospital, and investigators later found a third Marine who had also been attacked. The video seemingly shows that the incident started when a teenage male punched a man in the back of the head. The man then charged the teenager before being surrounded by a group of people who hit him until the fight was broken up by a man and woman. One of the Marines, Hunter Antonino, told KCAL that he and his two friends were at the pier when 30 teenagers arrived and began to set off fireworks He said that when he was hit in the face by debris he asked the group to leave. “They were lighting off fireworks, they were being belligerent, they were being obnoxious and annoying other people, so I went up to them and told them to stop,” he said. San Clemente mayor Chris Duncan told The Los Angeles Times that the incident was unacceptable. “The barbaric assault on off-duty Marines at the San Clemente Pier goes against everything we stand for in San Clemente, and it’s no excuse that teenagers were involved,” he said. “I want to assure our community, especially our military and veteran community, that we take this matter with the utmost seriousness and will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our city. The fact that this incident occurred over Memorial Day weekend is particularly tragic.” Read More Video shows mob attack US marines who asked them to stop lighting fireworks Highly decorated Marine officer nominated to be next commandant Critics say Biden is lying about how his son Beau died in Iraq – they are ignoring the full story

Weeks before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year, Oklahoma’s Republican governor vowed to “outlaw” abortion in the state entirely, and pledged to sign any legislation that promised to do just that. Governor Kevin Stitt signed several anti-abortion bills into law, including a measure that outlaws abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, and another banning all abortions with exceptions only to save the patient’s life in a medical emergency or if the pregnancy is the result of rape, sexual assault or incest that has been reported to law enforcement. On 31 May, the highest court in the state struck down both of them. But abortion access remains out of reach for most patients in the state, after that same court upheld a far-reaching abortion ban from more than 100 years ago earlier this year. A state law from 1910 makes it a felony punishable up to five years in prison for anyone to perform or help someone seek an abortion unless to save the patient’s life. “This ruling, while providing clarity in emergency situations, does not change the landscape of care significantly,” Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said in a statement. Oklahoma was the first state in the US to successfully outlaw abortion despite a constitutional right to abortion care that was affirmed by Roe v Wade. But in March, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the state’s constitution “creates an inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life,” though the court declined to weigh in on whether the constitution protects abortion access in other circumstances. The court also ruled that doctors should be able to use their own medical judgment to determine whether to provide an abortion when a patient’s life is at risk “due to the pregnancy itself or due to a medical condition that the woman is either currently suffering from or likely to suffer from during the pregnancy.” But it also preserved the 1910 law, a 113-year-old ban on abortion care that threatens providers with prison. The court’s decision on 31 May reaffirmed its decision recognising a right to abortion care in life-threatening cases, and struck down two the overlapping bans. In the months after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down a constitutional right to abortion care, clinics in Oklahoma have been forced to close, and patients have traveled thousands of miles for legal abortion care in a region surrounded by states where abortion is severely restricted or effectively outlawed. Even in cases of emergencies, there appears to be no hospital in Oklahoma that provides “clear, consistent policies for emergency obstetric care to pregnant patients,” according to an April report from Physicians for Human Rights, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Oklahoma hospitals “offered opaque, contradictory, and incorrect information about abortion availability and approval processes in obstetric emergencies, as well as little reassurance that clinicians’ medical judgment and pregnant patients’ needs would be prioritized,” according to the report. Only two out of 24 hospitals described providing legal support for providers in such situations, and representatives for three hospitals claimed their facilities do not provide abortions at all, the report found. Abortion rights advocates welcomed the court’s decision on 31 May, which abortion rights advocates said will at least allow doctors to clearly rely on their own medical judgment to provide care when a patient’s life is in jeopardy. “After months of uncertainty and chaos, Oklahomans should finally be able to access the life-saving care they need in their home state,” according to Dr Alan Braid, an abortion provider and plaintiff in the case challenging the overlapping abortion bans. “Heartbreakingly, we were forced to close our Tulsa clinic due to Oklahoma’s abortion bans, but I will continue to serve patients in the region at clinics in Illinois and New Mexico,” he added. “While we are relieved the court upheld the right to abortion in medical emergencies, this does not diminish the fact that care remains out of reach for the majority of Oklahomans,” according to Ms Wales. Following the state Supreme Court decision on 31 May, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond clarified that “except for certain circumstances outlined in that statute, abortion is still unlawful in the state of Oklahoma” because of the 1910 law. Governor Stitt accused the court of using “activism to create a right to an abortion in Oklahoma.” “This court has once more over-involved itself in the state’s democratic process, and has interceded to undo legislation created by the will of the people,” he said in a statement. Within the last year, more than a dozen states – including most of the entire US South – have outlawed abortion care for most pregnancies. Read More ACLU sues Nebraska over combined law targeting abortion and gender-affirming care: ‘Egregious overreach’ South Carolina judge halts six-week abortion ban as state Supreme Court set to review new law Doctor who provided abortion care to 10-year-old rape survivor reprimanded in case that drew national scrutiny Anti-abortion laws harm patients facing dangerous and life-threatening complications, report finds

Donald Trump’s lawyers plan to request the judge presiding over a criminal trial into alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels be removed due to his campaign donations and family’s ties to the Democrat Party, according to a report. It’s the latest in a series of legal manoeuvres by the former president to move the Manhattan criminal trial slated to begin next March away from New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged payments to conceal negative stories about him prior to the 2016 presidential election. Mr Trump attorneys Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche noted in a statement to the New York Times that Justice Merchan’s daughter was the chief operating officer of Democratic consulting firm Authentic Campaigns. They also claimed that the judge had donated $15 to Joe Biden’s Act Blue online fundraising platform during the 2020 presidential campaign, and $10 to two other pro-Democrat groups. The lawyers also took issue with Justice Merchan’s oversight of a tax fraud trial which saw the Trump Organization found guilty and fined $1.6m in January. They claimed that Justice Merchan had encouraged former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to turn against his longtime boss. “President Trump, like all Americans, is entitled under the Constitution to an impartial judge and legal process,” lawyers Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, said in a statement to the Times. The attorneys have not yet filed a formal motion for recusal. Mr Blanche did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Independent. Mr Trump’s lawyers recently filed to have the criminal case shifted to federal court, which Manhattan District Attorney Melvin Bragg has opposed. Under New York laws, judges must recuse themselves if they or a relative has “an interest that would be substantially affected by the proceeding”. In April, Mr Trump became the first sitting or former president in US history to be criminally indicted. He is alleged to have directed his fixer Michael Cohen to pay Ms Daniels to suppress a planned story about an affair in 2006. Ms Daniels claimed she and Mr Trump had sex, and that she later accepted $130,000 in the days before the 2016 election. Mr Cohen also allegedly had the National Review pay for a story about an affair Mr Trump had with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, only to never publish her account. In 2018, Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations for his role in the hush money payments and was sentenced to three years in federal prison. Mr Trump’s trial is due to begin during the 2024 presidential campaign. Read More Trump news - live: Trump caught on tape revealing he kept classified papers after presidency, report says Trump caught on tape discussing classified documents he kept after leaving White House, reports say Prosecutors have recording of Trump speaking to witness in hush money criminal case Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Anti-LGBT+ laws put in place by Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis have triggered a “mass migration” out of the state, a Pride organiser has said. This comes as several transgender people are reportedly taking to GoFundMe to solicit donations to move out of the state. Several Pride groups in the Sunshine State have cancelled their celebrations that were set to take place during the month of June after the new laws have left the community worried about possible blowback. The President and CEO of Lake County Pride Danielle Olivani said on The Daily Beast’s The New Abnormal podcast that their events are going ahead. “It’s not exactly being welcomed by the community where we’re having it. In fact, yesterday I just got a cease-and-desist from them, telling me not to mention them at all. They don’t want this to take place, but we’re gonna persevere,” they said. “We’re gonna have this Pride, because we’re fully within our rights to do so. And you know, we’re just gonna deal with things as they go. But right now, it’s a mixture of apprehension, fear. Yet, I’m hopeful at the same time.” Speaking about what it’s like to be a part of the LGBT+ community in rural Florida, they said, “there’s no tolerance here”. They added that the new restrictions have especially affected younger members of the community. Olivani said that the legislation signed by Mr DeSantis has led to a “mass migration” out of Florida. “It’s too much,” Olivani said. The number of trans people asking for donations on GoFundMe to leave Florida could be in the dozens or hundreds, according to The Advocate. GoFundMe spokesperson Brian Hill said in a statement that “in the wake of more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills being introduced in state legislatures across the United States in 2023, families and trans individuals are looking to leave their respective state as they could face more obstacles when it comes to accessing essential services related to healthcare as well as education”. Floridian Sage Chelf is trying to finance their move to Illinois on the platform. Chelf, a trans woman living in Orlando, wrote on their fundraising page that “due to the new bill Desantis signed into law SB 254 I can no longer be provided medication from my doctor to continue my transition”. “At this point, I only have a week’s worth left of my medication. On top of that, the new bathroom ban bill HB 1521 could get me arrested for using a public restroom of the gender I identify with,” they added. “Due to fear for my own safety and human rights, I have decided to try and escape Florida as soon as I possibly can. I’m trying to move to Illinois to be with the love of my life and also to settle down in a state I consider to be an LGBTQ+ safe haven.” “I just wanna live in a place where I don’t live in fear. Thank you all so much any help is highly appreciated. I’ve never done this before so figured I’d set the goal at like $2,500,” they said. Trans woman Juliet, 20, wrote on GoFundMe that “Florida grows increasingly hostile toward trans folk and laws are expanding to prevent people like me from receiving life-saving gender-affirming health care, such as ones seen in FL SB 254. I’m asking for you to help me flee this state”. Violet Rin, a trans woman hoping to move to New Mexico, wrote that “Florida continues to get worse”. “SB254 along with a slew of other Anti-trans bills have passed, and SB254 affects me directly. My care provider for my HRT had to drop me, and so many trans people in Florida are being dropped by their care providers,” Rin added. Earlier this month, Mr DeSantis signed a number of bills aimed at transgender people. The bills limit gender-affirming care for minors, ban people from using restrooms matching their gender identity, and block people from using their preferred pronouns in schools. Restrictions on drag shows were also imposed. “We are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy, and kids should have an upbringing that reflects that,” Mr DeSantis said when signing the bills at an evangelical school in Tampa. The bills were swiftly criticised by advocates for LGBT+ rights. Former Florida state representative Carlos Guillermo Smith became the first openly LGBT+ Latino to be elected to the state legislature. On Twitter, he said that the bills are “revoking our freedoms and ruining people’s lives in his quest for political power”. “We will NOT be erased,” he said. “We will RESIST. We will FIGHT BACK. We will proudly RAISE OUR FLAGS. We will WIN.” State Representative Anna V Eskamani said Mr DeSantis is pushing “an extreme agenda that is fueled by disinformation, isolating already marginalised people”. “In Florida, diversity is our strength – not a weakness or something to demonize and be afraid of,” she added. LGBT+ advocacy group Lambda Legal said in a statement that the bills revealed a “callous disregard for LGBTQ+ Floridians and, in particular, trans youth by facilitating homophobia and transphobia and exposing this most vulnerable population to discrimination, harassment, and abuse”. The bills include limitations on gender-affirming treatments for minors, such as puberty blockers and sex reassignment surgery, The Independent previously reported. Part of the legislation states that that kind of care is child abuse and may lead to children being temporarily removed from their families, despite that it’s supported by medical officials. Democratic Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones, who is gay, told CNN that “they have cloaked themselves in being the party of less government and parental rights, and what we’re seeing now is the total opposite”. “Every other parent has the right to raise their child the way that they want to as long as your child is not gay, trans, bisexual. That’s freedom for some parents but not for all parents,” he added. Read More Trump loyalist floats ‘gross’ theory that Casey DeSantis is ‘exaggerating’ cancer story Ron DeSantis news – live: Florida governor vows to ‘destroy leftism’ as Disney governing board appointee quits Ted Cruz faces bipartisan fire for criticising Uganda’s new anti-LGBT+ law Why did Donald Trump turn on Kayleigh McEnany? Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin sends 100 National Guard soldiers to US-Mexican border AP News Digest 3:20 am

Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce his campaign for 2024 president next Wednesday, according to reports. Mr Pence, 63, will make the official announcement on 7 June just before his town hall with CNN in Des Moines, Iowa, a source told NBC News. For months, speculation has circulated that the former vice president was planning on joining the already-packed race for the White House. When Mr Pence announces, he will be joining his old boss, and the former president, Donald Trump along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and other GOP candidates. According to sources, Mr Pence will be spending much of his campaign in Iowa before the caucuses, spending time in all 99 counties. The former vice president will likely have a lot of explaining to do to voters who tried to re-elect Mr Trump and Mr Pence in 2020. Not only did Mr Pence allow for the certification of 2020 election results on 6 January 2021 but he denounced Mr Trump’s actions, driving a rift between the two. Mr Pence served as vice president under Mr Trump from 2017 until 2021. He was also governor of Indiana from 2013 until 2017 as well as a representative for Indiana from 2001 until 2013. More follows Read More Who is running for president in 2024? DeSantis looks to connect with voters during 1st full day of campaigning in Iowa Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him

The White House on Wednesday strongly denied that the US government posed any threat to an ex-Senate staffer who has claimed President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in a Senate office building hallway in the 1990s. The former staffer, Tara Reade, announced on Tuesday that she has moved to Russia, where she said during an interview with the state-owned Sputnik News website that she feels “surrounded by protection and safety” there. Asked about her claims in light of her announcement that she has moved to Russia and is seeking citizenship there, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby replied: “We'd be loath to comment on the on the musings of a potential Russian citizen.” Pressed further on whether the White House believes her allegations against Mr Biden could have been movtivated by an affinity for Russia, Mr Kirby said he “could not get inside her head and speak for her motivations and intentions”. But he did specifically address Ms Reade’s claim that she has moved to Russia because the US government was a risk to her life, calling those allegations “absolutely false” and “baseless”. “There’s nothing to that,” he added. Ms Reade, who worked for Mr Biden during a brief period in 1993, accused the then-former vice president of touching her inappropriately in 2019, when Mr Biden was contemplating entry into the 2020 presidential election. In mid-2020, when he was poised to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, she claimed he’d sexually assaulted her in a heavily-trafficked hallway in the Russell Senate Office Building. Mr Biden has strenuously denied the allegations. The former Senate staffer’s credibility took a hit after news outlets began scrutinizing her background after she made the assault allegations against Mr Biden. A university she attended, Antioch University, disputed her claim to have earned a Bachelor’s degree while studying there, and former associates came forward to recount instances in which they’d felt she’d been dishonest or deceitful in her dealings with them. A well known attorney, Douglas Wigdor, terminated an attorney-client relationship with her in May 2020 after it was revealed that she had not earned a degree from Antioch as she’d claimed publicly. Read More Tara Reade, who accused Biden of sexual assault, says she has ‘defected’ to Russia at event with Kremlin spy

Watch live as Hakim Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and other Democrats hold a news conference ahead of a vote on the US debt ceiling on Wednesday evening (31 May). The House is due to vote on a bill to lift the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilising default that could come early next week without congressional action. Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning the bipartisan deal - agreed days ago - will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans and Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass. Mr McCarthy has predicted that the vote will succeed. “It’s going to become law,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Mr Biden took to Twitter to outline what failure to pass the bill could mean for America. “Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost,” he wrote. Read More Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal expected to go to full House vote today – live Australian Parliament takes step toward holding a referendum on Indigenous Voice this year Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum has denounced a political spot by Poland's ruling party that uses the theme of the Nazi German extermination camp to discourage participation in an upcoming anti-government march. The state-run museum attacked “instrumentalization of the tragedy” of the 1.1 million people who were murdered at the site during World War II, arguing that it is an insult to their memory. “It is a sad, painful and unacceptable manifestation of the moral and intellectual corruption of the public debate,” the state museum said. The 14-second video published Wednesday by the Law and Justice party shows images of the former death camp, including the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei” gate, and the words: “Do you really want to walk under this slogan?” The reference is to a now-deleted tweet from journalist Tomasz Lis, who claimed that President Andrzej Duda and ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski deserve to go to prison. He published the tweet amid a heated debate over a law passed by the party lawmakers and signed by Duda that is viewed by the U.S., the European Union and many Polish critics as anti-democratic. “There will be a chamber for Duda and Kaczor,” the tweet said, using a nickname for Kaczynski. He used the Polish word ”komora,” which can be simply a dark cell or chamber but which many in Poland associate with the gas chambers used by Germans in mass murder during the war. Lis has since deleted the tweet and apologized. "It is obvious that I was thinking of a cell, but I should have foreseen that people of ill will would adopt an absurd interpretation. I hope that Mr. Duda and Mr. Kaczynski will pay for their crimes against democracy, but on a human level I wish them health and long life,” Lis said. “I never wished death on anyone.” President Duda weighed in with a tweet that implied criticism of the party that supports him. “The memory of the victims of German crimes in Auschwitz is sacred and inviolable; the tragedy of millions of victims cannot be used in political struggle; this is an unworthy act," he said. The purported aim of the new law is to create a commission to investigate Russian influences in Poland. But critics fear that it will be misused ahead of fall elections to target opponents, in particular opposition leader Donald Tusk. They say the commission could be used by the ruling party to eliminate its opponents from public life for a decade. The law was approved this week by Duda, to widespread criticism in Poland and by the EU and the United States. Critics in Poland have informally dubbed it “Lex Tusk,” and its passage has energized the political opposition. Tusk plans to lead a large anti-government march on Sunday in Warsaw, the capital. The march is to be held on the 34th anniversary of the first partly free elections in Poland after decades of communism, on June 4, 1989. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Poland's president approves law on Russia's influence that could target opposition Migrants with children stuck at Poland's border wall; activists say Belarus won't let them turn back Ukraine soccer league set for a title-deciding game in a remarkable, war-hit season

The gunman accused of murdering 11 in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 is now on trial in a federal courtroom in Pittsburgh. On 27 October 2018, Robert Bowers, then 46, entered the synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighbourhood armed with three handguns, an AR-15 rifle, and a trove of magazines and ammunition. Inside, he opened fire on congregants in what marks the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Eight men and three women – aged from 54 to 97 – died in the massacre. After numerous delays, the now-50-year-old is finally standing trial for more than 60 federal charges including obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and hate crimes resulting in death. During opening arguments on Tuesday, Mr Bowers’ attorneys admitted that he was responsible for the massacre but claimed that he acted on “an irrational motive” and had “misguided intent”. Prosecutors meanwhile pointed out that, in the months leading up the shooting, the suspect was spewing bigoted and antisemitic vitriol online. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Read More Who is Robert Bowers: Alleged antisemite on trial for Tree of Life synagogue shooting Police say Robert Bowers had an ‘unthinkable’ thought – then carried out America’s deadliest antisemitic attack

Ron DeSantis gave his first 2024 campaign rally at an Iowa megachurch on Tuesday - attacking a predictable list of foes, including the federal government and its bureaucracy, Dr Fauci and Disney. “No excuses, I will get the job done,” the Florida governor told the audience at Eternity Church on 30 May 30, in Clive, Iowa as he warned Republicans that they faced a Democratic sweep in 2024 if they did not learn to win elections again. Earlier Mr DeSantis attacked his rival Donald Trump by saying “he’s taking the side of Disney in our fight down here in Florida. I’m standing for parents, I’m standing for children.” Meanwhile, Florida attorney Michael Sasso, chosen by Mr DeSantis to be part of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District – given responsibility for Walt Disney World’s special tax district in legislation passed in February – has resigned just three months after taking the job. This comes with Mr DeSantis facing three new lawsuits after he signed a new law just hours before announcing his presidential campaign last week making it harder to vote in the Sunshine State. Read More Culture wars, parenting and tiptoeing around Trump: Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis’s 2024 launch Ron DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting: ‘He doesn’t care’ DeSantis hits familiar targets of Fauci, Disney and ‘wokeism’ in first rally as 2024 candidate

Tara Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, has defected to Russia. The former Senate aide appeared in a bombshell interview on Russian state TV on Tuesday alongside accused Kremlin spy Maria Butina and said she was feeling “at home” in Moscow. Ms Reade, 59, who worked in Mr Biden’s office decades ago, said she made the “very difficult” decision to move to the Russian capital because she no longer felt safe in the US. “I am still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good. I feel very surrounded by protection and safety,” she said. “And I just really so appreciate Maria [Butina] and everyone who’s been giving me that at a time when it’s been very difficult to know if I am safe or not.” “You have US and European citizens looking for safe haven here. And luckily, the Kremlin is accommodating. So we’re lucky,” she was quoted as saying by state-owned news agency Sputnik. Ms Reade previously accused Mr Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when she was a staff assistant and had called for him to drop out of the 2020 presidential race. She worked as Mr Biden’s aide in 1993. There have also been some media reports about inconsistencies in her allegations against Mr Biden. Ms Reade’s educational background had been called into question years ago. The president had previously denied the sexual assault allegations against him. “To my Russian brothers and sisters, I am sorry right now that American elites are choosing to have such an aggressive stance,” she said in the interview. “Just know that most American citizens do want to be friends and hope that we can have unity again.” “I am enjoying my time in Moscow, and I feel very at home,” she said. “I just didn’t want to walk home and walk into a cage or be killed, which is basically my two choices,” she added. She also said she took her time to decide for herself. “I’m not an impulsive person. I really take my time and sort of analyse data points. And from what I could see based on the cases and based on what was happening and sort of the push for them to not want me to testify, I felt that while [the 2024] election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off here and just being safe.” “My dream is to live in both places, but it may be that I only live in this place and that’s OK,” she added. In 2020, a high-profile lawyer of the #MeToo era, Douglas H Wigdor, had dropped Ms Reade as a client. Read More Ahead of House debt ceiling vote, Biden shores up Democrats and McCarthy scrambles for GOP support Debt limit agreement clears first hurdle despite Republican anger. Here’s what happens next UN court issuing appeal ruling in long-running trial of 2 Serbs accused of crimes in Balkan wars The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary