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- Trump delays Jay Clayton’s nomination as intelligence chief to press Congress on voter ID bill
- Women’s Aid highlights domestic abuse concerns during World Cup events
- Missing British girl found in Ecuador jungle with American man
- Germany prepares armed forces for potential Strait of Hormuz mission
- US lawmakers advance crucial budget negotiations amid looming deadline
- Iran warns of ‘harsh response’ as Israel violates ceasefire 84 times in Lebanon
- Saskatchewan health technology leaders urge province to adopt innovations
- Trump administration moves to dismiss air pollution lawsuit against xAI
Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
Get you up to speed: Trump puts Jay Clayton’s nomination for intel chief on hold
President Trump announced the delay of Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community during the Group of Seven summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. He will keep Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, amid bipartisan opposition to Pulte’s nomination.
President Trump is delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination amid attempts to secure support for a voter ID bill, with the Senate Intelligence Committee expected to vote on the matter soon. As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Clayton previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission before facing this unprecedented nomination delay influenced by bipartisan opposition.
President Trump announced the delay of Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community, linking it to the passage of a voter ID bill, which currently lacks sufficient support in Congress. Following this development, the Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on Clayton’s nomination as soon as Thursday, amidst bipartisan tensions concerning the expired surveillance program.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain when Congress will address the voter ID bill needed for President Trump’s approval of the surveillance program.
Trump delays Jay Clayton’s nomination as intelligence chief to press Congress on voter ID bill
Évian-les-Bains, France — President Trump said on Wednesday that he’s delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support for passage.
Mr. Trump said in a lengthy post on his social media site that he will keep Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence.
Lawmakers in both parties had opposed Mr. Trump’s nomination of Pulte, citing his apparent lack of experience in the intelligence field, which essentially forced the president to turn to Clayton.
Clayton had been set to appear on Wednesday for a Senate confirmation hearing that was fast-tracked because of the lapse of a crucial surveillance program due to bipartisan anger over Mr. Trump’s pick of Pulte. The Intelligence Committee was expected to vote on Clayton’s nomination as soon as Thursday.
Democrats had said they wouldn’t renew the expired surveillance programs until Mr. Trump withdrew Pulte’s nomination.
In the social media post, Mr. Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to renew the program after he nominated Clayton. Mr. Trump also said he doesn’t want to take Clayton out of the U.S. attorney’s office before his replacement, Jamie McDonald, is approved.
And he added another condition: linking his approval of the surveillance program to the passage of a bill requiring people to show ID in order to vote.
“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Mr. Trump said, using the acronym for the surveillance program and his name for the voter ID bill.
The Republican-controlled Congress hasn’t acted on the voting bill because it does not have enough support to pass in either chamber, particularly from Democrats.
A well-regarded lawyer, Clayton currently serves as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the highest-profile and most prestigious jurisdictions in the country. The office is known for its prosecution of white-collar cases and financial crimes. Clayton served as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the first Trump administration following a lengthy career at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.
Mr. Trump made the announcement in Evian-les-Bains, France, where he was participating in the final day of the Group of Seven summit of leading industrial economies.
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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