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    Congress members demand answers on price disparities at dollar-store chains

    Guardian investigation sparks letter from 30 lawmakers questioning ‘how seriously’ Dollar General and Family Dollar prioritize ethics and affordabilityThirty members of Congress are demanding answers from Dollar General and Family Dollar, requesting internal documents about widespread disparities between shelf prices and register prices at the dollar-store chains’ 28,000 US stores.The demand for answers – detailed in a letter sent today to the CEOs of both companies – comes as the direct result of a 3 December Guardian investigation of the two behemoth dollar-store chains. The investigation found that Dollar General stores have failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states since January 2022. Family Dollar stores have failed more than 2,100 price inspections in 20 states over the same time span. Continue reading… More

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    US army lawyer fired as immigration judge after defying Trump deportation agenda

    Christopher Day was fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum to migrants at a high rate A US army reserve lawyer detailed as a federal immigration judge has been fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum at a high rate out of step with the Trump administration’s mass deportation goals, the Associated Press has learned.Christopher Day began hearing cases in late October as a temporary judge at the immigration court in Annandale, Virginia. He was fired around 2 December, the National Association of Immigration Judges confirmed. Continue reading… More

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    US legislators say justice department is violating law by not releasing all Epstein files

    Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, says release of files won’t include full set, prompting outrage from lawmakersUS politics live – latest updatesTodd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said that the Department of Justice will not release all its files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, despite the deadline stated in the law. Blanche’s comments drew sharp rebuke from Capitol Hill, where top legislators threatened legal action “in the face of this violation of federal law”.Speaking in an interview on Fox News on Friday morning, Blanche said: “I expect we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms, photographs and other materials associated with all of the investigations into Mr Epstein”. Continue reading… More

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    Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak

    Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, public health experts sayThe non-profit group that Robert F Kennedy Jr built into a giant of the anti-vaccine movement is defending its old boss even as the US health secretary presides over the worst year for measles in more than 30 years.Three people have died and 1,958 people have been reported infected with measles in the US this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In South Carolina, 224 people are in quarantine amid an outbreak that has sickened 144 people. Most are unvaccinated children. Continue reading… More

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    The long-awaited release of the Epstein files | The Latest

    The US Department of Justice is expected to release files relating to the disgraced late financier and sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, this evening. The Trump administration is obliged to publish a massive archive of documents that could shed further light on Epstein’s misdeeds and his connections with key public figures – including Donald Trump  Jonathan Freedland joins Lucy Hough to discuss why it is such a big moment Continue reading… More

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    It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced | Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn

    We need to remake the US high court so Americans don’t suffer future decades of oligarchy-facilitating ruleThe justices of the US supreme court – even its conservatives – have traditionally valued their institution’s own standing. John Roberts, the current US chief justice, has always been praised – even by liberals – as a staunch advocate of the court’s image as a neutral arbiter. For decades, Americans believed the court soared above the fray of partisan contestation.No more.Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn teach law at Harvard and Yale Continue reading… More

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    Noise machines installed by LA Home Depot ‘torture’ for day laborers, advocates say

    Advocates call for removal of machines and demand that company speak out against ICE raids in parking lotsA Home Depot in Los Angeles installed three high-pitch noise-emitting machines outside to deter day laborers from seeking work there, causing them to suffer headaches and nausea, advocates alleged at a press conference on Wednesday.The Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (Idepsca), an advocacy organization that helps day laborers, called for the removal of these machines from Home Depot’s Cypress Park location, according to the Los Angeles Times. Continue reading… More

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    TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to sell US entity to American investors

    Deal will allow app to continue operating in US as Elizabeth Warren condemns Trump and his ‘billionaire buddies’TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US business to three American investors – Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX – ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States.The deal is expected to close on 22 January, according to an internal memo seen by he Associated Press and Reuters. The TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, said in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors. Continue reading… More