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President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.

Its the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released.

Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. 5 President Joe Biden will commute the sentences of roughly 1,500 people Samuel Corum/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.

Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions.

The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.

America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances, Biden said in a statement. As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.

The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes.

Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January. 5 Biden is also pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. fotokitas – stock.adobe.com

Hes also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trumps effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.

Those pardoned Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said.

They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.

The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons.

Hes also broadly pardoned those convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and 34 other lawmakers are urging the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years because of a contempt of court charge related to his work representing Indigenous farmers in a lawsuit against Chevron. 5 Thursdays announcement is the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. Samuel Corum/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Others are advocating for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, paused federal executions.

Biden had said on the campaign trail in 2020 that he wanted to end the death penalty but he never did, and now, with Trump coming back into office, its likely executions will resume. During his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions, carried out during the height of the pandemic. 5 The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. Getty Images

More pardons are coming before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, but its not clear whether hell take action to guard against possible prosecution by Trump, an untested use of the power.

The president has been taking the idea seriously and has been thinking about it for as much as six months before the presidential election but has been concerned about the precedent it would set, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

But those who received the pardons would have to accept them. New California Sen. Adam Schiff, who was the chairman of the congressional committee that investigated the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, said such a pardon from Biden would be unnecessary, and that the president shouldnt be spending his waning days in office worrying about this. 5 Biden issued a blanket pardon for his son Hunter earlier this month. REUTERS

A president has the power to both pardon, in which a person is relieved of guilt and punishment, or commute a sentence, which reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesnt exonerate the wrongdoing. Its customary for a president to grant mercy at the end of his term, using the power of the office to wipe away records or end prison terms.

Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly pledged not to do so.

He said in a statement explaining his reversal that the prosecution had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put additional public pressure on the administration to use that same power for everyday Americans. It wasnt a very popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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Sports

Stars fire coach DeBoer after West final loss

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Stars fire coach DeBoer after West final loss

DALLAS — Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer was fired Friday after three seasons with the team, getting to the Western Conference final each time but never advancing past that for a shot at the Stanley Cup.

General manager Jim Nill made the move less than a week since the Stars ended their season in a 6-3 loss at home to Edmonton in Game 5 of the West final.

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Business

Trade war: US hiring slows but employment resilient

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Trade war: US hiring slows but employment resilient

The US economy saw a slowdown in hiring but no leap in unemployment last month as the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war continues to play out.

Official data, which strips out the effects of seasonal workers, showed 139,000 net new jobs were created during May.

Market analysts and economists had expected a figure of 130,000 – down on the 147,000 for April.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.2% and hourly pay rates rose.

Money latest: House price dip expected to be temporary

The figures were released as the health of the US economy continues to attract close scrutiny amid ongoing fears of a recession risk in the world’s largest economy due to the effects of the US president’s trade war.

Unlike most developed economies, such a downturn is not determined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth, but by a committee of respected economists.

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Can the UK avoid steel tariffs?

It’s known as the Business Cycle Dating Committee.

It uses employment data, as well as official growth figures, to rule on the status of the economy.

The threat of tariffs, and early salvoes of, the Trump administration’s protectionist agenda were blamed for a sharp slowdown in growth over the first three months of the year.

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Trump and Musk’s feud explained

Economists have found it hard to predict official data due to the on-off, and often chaotic, nature of tariff implementation.

As such, all official figures are keenly awaited for news of the trade war’s impact on the domestic economy.

Other data this week showed a record 20% plunge in US imports during April.

Next week sees the release of inflation figures – the best measure of whether import duty price increases are working their way through the supply chain and harming the spending power of businesses and consumers.

It’s a key piece of information for the US central bank.

It has paused interest rate cuts, to the fury of the president, over trade war uncertainty.

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A forecast by the Paris-based OECD this week highlighted the chance of consumer price inflation rising above 4% later in the year.

It currently stands at an annual rate of 2.3%.

Fears of a US recession and trade war uncertainty have combined most recently with increasing market concerns about the sustainability of US debt, given Mr Trump’s tax cut and spending plans.

US stock markets are largely flat on the year while the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other major currencies, is down 9% this year and on course for its worst annual performance since 2017.

European stocks entered positive territory in a small nod to the employment data, while US futures showed a similar trend.

The dollar rose slightly.

The reaction was likely muted because the data was well within expectations and seen as positive.

Commenting on the figures Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at Wealth Club, said: “The US labour market has shrugged off the tariff uncertainty that rocked global stock and bond markets in April and May.

“While the Federal government has continued to shed a small number of jobs, the wider economy has more than made up the difference, with the US adding slightly more jobs than expected in May. Wage growth also came in higher than expected – suggesting the economy is in rude health.

“That will be taken as vindication by the Trump administration – which has been clear that the tariffs are aimed squarely at supporting Main Street rather than pleasing Wall Street.

“Less positive from the White House’s point of view is that a strong economy and rising wages gives the Federal Reserve less reason to cut interest rates – pushing yields a touch higher and making the fiscal splurge built into Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that bit more expensive.

“With rate cuts looking less likely, Fed Chair Jay Powell can expect to remain firmly in the president’s firing line once the spat with Musk is over.”

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US

Trump and Musk’s extraordinary spat minute-by-minute

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Trump and Musk's extraordinary spat minute-by-minute

They were once the best of friends, but last night that came to an end – and it all unfolded online as people across the world looked on… and retweeted.

Tension between Elon Musk and Donald Trump had been building for several days after the SpaceX billionaire criticised the US president’s signature tax bill.

While initially it remained cordial, the president suggested his former backer and adviser missed being in government and suffered from “Trump derangement syndrome”, leading to a sudden and dramatic deterioration in relations between the pair.

They have two of the largest platforms in the world, and last night, they turned them on each other. While much of Europe slept through it, here is every insult and barb as it happened… so far.

6.39pm: ‘Big ugly spending bill’

Musk tells Trump his “big ugly spending bill” will make the economic situation worse.

Five minutes later he retweets a video in which he says the bill will increase the US’s deficit to $2.5 trillion (£1.85 trn).

AT 6.48pm he shares a post about the bill’s popularity, simply saying: “Kill bill”.

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‘Wheels come off’ Musk-Trump relationship

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6.49pm: Trump’s ‘body double’

Earlier in the evening, Musk reshares a series of posts (dating back to 2012) from Trump’s X account, including ones saying deficits should not be allowed.

He then reshares a post of someone praising him, adding: “Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?”

He then retweets a meme, making light of Trump’s plan, which links to a poll he had run the previous day.

7.23pm: Back to the bill

Musk starts tweeting about the “big ugly spending bill” again, saying members of Congress didn’t even have time to read it before it was passed.

He continues to tweet about this for most of the night, including accusing the government of “spending America into bankruptcy”.

7.30pm: Who is right?

Musk retweets a poll that shows 76% of 1.5 million voters think he is right in his spat with the president.

7.37pm: Elon was ‘wearing thin’

Trump shares a post on his Truth Social site that accuses Musk of going “crazy” after the president took away his EV mandate.

Trump says he asked Musk to leave his position within the White House
Image:
Trump says he asked Musk to leave his position within the White House. Pic: TruthSocial

Musk responds by sharing a number of former interviews, including a video from 2021 where he says the industry does not need EV tax credits.

Trump then shares a post in which he writes the “easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts”.

8.10pm: The Epstein ‘bomb’

Arguably the largest moment in their fight – Musk accuses Trump of being in the Epstein files.

He gives no evidence for the claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismisses the comment.

9.06pm: Musk ‘turning against me’

Trump says he doesn’t mind Musk turning against him, but adds that “he should have done so months ago”.

He then goes on to voice continued support for his bill, calling it “one of the greatest bills ever presented to Congress”.

Read more:
The big beautiful bust up that everyone knew was coming

In a post shared on his Truth Social account, the President says he doesn't mind Elon Musk 'turning against' him
Image:
In a post shared on his Truth Social account, the US president says he doesn’t mind Musk ‘turning against’ him. Pic: TruthSocial

9.09pm: Decommissioning Dragon

Following Trump’s statement about terminating his contracts, Musk tweets: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”

Dragon is the only US spacecraft available to deliver crew to and from the International Space Station.

Two minutes later he retweets a post calling on Trump to be impeached, adding simply: “Yes.”

Elon Musk, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show,
Image:
Musk and Trump in happier times, on the campaign trail in 2024. Pic: AP

9.29pm: Trump’s tariffs

Musk hits out at Trump’s tariffs, resharing a tweet from someone who called them “stupid”.

“The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” he adds.

For the rest of the evening, Musk reshares posts from other users, often adding a laughing face emoji, or the occasional comment, including the words: “If America goes broke, nothing else matters.”

2.20am: Musk says he won’t decommission spacecraft

Just after 2am, an account with a few hundred followers tweets Musk: “This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”

In response, Musk agrees he won’t decommission the Dragon spacecraft.

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