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A man has been found after spending 10 days lost in a California wood.

Lukas McClish, 34, was last seen on the morning of 11 June near Big Basin Redwood State Park, around 14 miles north of Santa Cruz.

He was reported missing on 16 June, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

Pic: San Mateo County Fire Department
Image:
Pic: San Mateo County Fire Department

The sheriff’s office said it received multiple reports of witnesses hearing someone yelling for help.

The force then used several drones to determine Mr McClish’s exact location.

State Parks rangers were the first to discover him and fire crews helped bring him to safety on Friday.

Mr McClish was only going for a three-hour hike before work when he got lost, he told local media.

“I didn’t bring anything because I thought I was doing a three-hour hike to go to work,” he said.

When Mr McClish got lost, he said he had only a flashlight and folding scissors.

“So, I kind of just hiked,” he added. “Each day, I go up a canyon, down a canyon to the next waterfall, sit down by the waterfall, drink water out of my boot.”

Pic: San Mateo County Fire Department
Image:
Pic: San Mateo County Fire Department

Mr McClish said he was “comfortable the whole time I was out there” and “wasn’t worried about it”.

“I had a mountain lion that was following me, but it was cool,” he added. “It kept its distances. I think it was just somebody watching over me.”

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Mr McClish drank water from creeks, ate wild berries and slept on a bed of wet leaves while yelling for help.

He said: “I want a burrito or a taco bowl. That’s what I thought about every day when I, after the first five days, when I started to kind of realise that I might be in over my head.”

Mr McClish had no major injuries and was reunited with his family.

“This truly was a team effort with the best outcome we could have hoped for,” the sheriff’s office said.

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Trump campaign co-manager calls Lord Mandelson an ‘absolute moron’ as peer is confirmed as Starmer’s new US ambassador

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Trump campaign co-manager calls Lord Mandelson an 'absolute moron' as peer is confirmed as Starmer's new US ambassador

The co-manager for Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign has called Lord Mandelson an “absolute moron” – as the peer was officially announced as the next UK ambassador to the US.

The Labour grandee, who served in Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s cabinets, will become the UK’s top diplomat in Washington as president-elect Trump returns to the White House in January.

In a post on X, Chris LaCivita linked to an article in The Daily Telegraph which reported on Lord Mandelson describing Mr Trump as “a danger to the world”.

The peer also described Mr Trump as “little short of a white nationalist and racist” during an interview with an Italian journalist in 2019, according to the newspaper.

In the post on X, Mr LaCivita said: “This UK govt is special replace a professional universally respected Ambo with an absolute moron – he should stay home! SAD!”

He added the headline of the piece in his post: “Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and ‘little short of a white nationalist’.”

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the post.

The 71-year-old said: “We face challenges in Britain but also big opportunities and it will be a privilege to work with the government to land those opportunities, both for our economy and our nation’s security, and to advance our historic alliance with the United States.”

The prime minister said: “The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.”

Analysis:
Lord Mandelson’s trade background key to pivotal role
Return of ‘Prince of Darkness’ will leave Labour lefties furious

Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Donald Trump's election campaign. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Donald Trump’s election campaign. Pic: Reuters

Sir Keir also thanked outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, who will leave the post at the beginning of next year.

“I would also like to thank Dame Karen Pierce for her invaluable service for the last four years, and in particular the wisdom and steadfast support she has given me personally since July,” he said.

“She made history as the first woman to serve as UK ambassador to the US and she has been an outstanding representative of our country abroad. I wish her all the very best in future.”

Lord Mandelson was one of the key architects of New Labour and helped the party return to power in the 1990s.

He served as Sir Tony’s trade secretary and Northern Ireland secretary before standing down as an MP in 2004 to become a European Commissioner.

After Mr Brown awarded him a peerage in 2008, Lord Mandelson returned to government as business secretary.

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US government avoids shutdown after funding bill clears Congress

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US government avoids shutdown after funding bill clears Congress

The US government has narrowly avoided a crippling shutdown after politicians agreed on a last-minute spending deal.

Failure to reach an agreement would have meant federal employees would have missed pay ahead of the festive season, impacting various public services.

Plans to approve the government’s budget were thrown into disarray this week after billionaire Elon Musk hit out at a bill put forward by Republicans and Democrats.

His opposition was backed by president-elect Donald Trump who wanted to increase the debt ceiling, which caps the amount the government can borrow.

But his revamped plan to suspend the cap for two years lost in a vote on Thursday, putting Congress in a race against time to agree a deal before midnight local time.

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In an 85-11 vote, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the funding bill 38 minutes after it expired at midnight.

Even though the midnight deadline was missed, the government did not invoke shutdown procedures.

The bill will now be sent it to White House where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.

The package had earlier cleared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with bipartisan support, passing overwhelmingly by 336-3 votes.

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Trump campaign co-manager calls Lord Peter Mandelson an ‘absolute moron’ as peer is confirmed as Starmer’s new US ambassador

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Trump campaign co-manager calls Lord Mandelson an 'absolute moron' as peer is confirmed as Starmer's new US ambassador

The co-manager for Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign has called Lord Mandelson an “absolute moron” – as the peer was officially announced as the next UK ambassador to the US.

The Labour grandee, who served in Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s cabinets, will become the UK’s top diplomat in Washington as president-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

In a post on X, Chris LaCivita linked to an article in The Daily Telegraph which reported on Lord Mandelson describing Mr Trump as “a danger to the world”.

The peer also described Mr Trump as “little short of a white nationalist and racist” during an interview with an Italian journalist in 2019, according to the newspaper.

In the post on X, Mr LaCivita said: “This UK govt is special replace a professional universally respected Ambo with an absolute moron – he should stay home! SAD!”

He added: “Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and ‘little short of a white nationalist’.”

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the appointment of Lord Mandelson to the post.

The 71-year-old said: “We face challenges in Britain but also big opportunities and it will be a privilege to work with the government to land those opportunities, both for our economy and our nation’s security, and to advance our historic alliance with the United States.”

The prime minister said: “The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.”

Analysis:
Lord Mandelson’s trade background key to pivotal role
Return of ‘Prince of Darkness’ will leave Labour lefties furious

Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Donald Trump's election campaign. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Donald Trump’s election campaign. Pic: Reuters

Sir Keir also thanked outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, who will leave the post at the beginning of next year.

“I would also like to thank Dame Karen Pierce for her invaluable service for the last four years, and in particular the wisdom and steadfast support she has given me personally since July,” he said.

“She made history as the first woman to serve as UK ambassador to the US and she has been an outstanding representative of our country abroad. I wish her all the very best in future.”

Lord Mandelson was one of the key architects of New Labour and helped the party return to power in the 1990s.

He served as Sir Tony’s trade secretary and Northern Ireland secretary before standing down as an MP in 2004 to become a European Commissioner.

After Mr Brown awarded him a peerage in 2008 Lord Mandelson returned to government as business secretary.

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