Militia group ‘planning Capitol attack today’ – follow Trump and Biden news live

The bill, titled SB 127, prohibits Utah’s youth treatment centres from certain punishments of children, such as denying food or water, spanking, hitting, or other treatments “intended to frighten or humiliate”.

Paris Hilton testified on 8 February about the alleged abuse she dealt with while attending Provo Canyon School, which is based in Springville, Utah, saying that she experienced verbal, emotional, and physical abuse during the 11 months she attended in the 1990s.

The Independent’s Harriet Sinclair has explored the significance of today’s date to conspiracy group QAnon and why it has led to a bolstering of security in the US Capitol today.

She writes: “Today – 4 March – is, for those unfamiliar with QAnon vernacular, the date of what right-wing conspiracy theorists believe will be an alternative inauguration, returning Donald Trump to the White House. As such, there is naturally the potential for violence.”

The world’s hopes for curbing climate change hinge on action by two giant nations whose relations are deteriorating: China and the United States.

The two countries both say they are intent on retooling their economies to burn less climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas. But tensions between them threaten their ultimate success.

China and the United States are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, respectively, pumping out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere.

The fast cuts in carbon needed to stave off the worst of climate change are all but impossible unless these countries work together and basically trust each other’s pledges, as reported by Associated Press

Donald Trump’s comments about intervening in the case of a Huawei executive to get a better trade deal with China are being cited by lawyers as a reason to have her extradition case dismissed.

Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecoms giant, is accused of misleading HSBC about the company’s business dealings in Iran, which would put the bank in danger of violating US sanctions.

The former president’s alleged political interference and violation of her legal rights have now been presented as reasons by her lawyers that Ms Meng’s extradition case should be thrown out.

Oliver O’Connell has all the details

The US House of Representatives last night passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing nationwide.

The sweeping legislation, which was first approved last summer but stalled in the Senate, was named in honour of Floyd, whose killing by police in Minnesota last Memorial Day sparked protests nationwide.

The bill would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability.“

My city is not an outlier, but rather an example of the inequalities our country has struggled with for centuries,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who represents the Minneapolis area near where Floyd died.

Floyd‘s family watched the emotional debate from a nearby House office building.

Additional reporting by AP

The House of Representatives passed a sweeping voting rights and government ethics bill on Wednesday evening.

It would constitute the single-largest piece of election protection legislation since the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act, if adopted into law, writes The Independent’s Alex Woodward

The Proud Boys went undercover during the Capitol Riot so they could incite the “normies” to “smash some pigs to dust,” according to federal prosecutors.

Authorities say that a Washington state leader of the right-wing group was nominated to have “war powers” and take charge of the attack on the Capitol, court papers state.

Graeme Massie has all the details

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s blog on all things US politics. We’ll be bringing you the latest news from the White House and beyond.