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This live blog is now closed.Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the El Paso airport closure was to address a cartel drone incursion".The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region," Duffy said on social media. The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming." Continue reading...

Marc Benioff's remarks criticized as employees were reportedly planning to urge him to cancel business with agencyMarc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO and co-founder, is facing growing criticism over a joke he made about US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) monitoring international employees during an event for the company.Employees publicly expressed outrage about Benioff's comments in his keynote address at an internal conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, and leaders at Slack, which Salesforce owns, have said he should apologize. Continue reading...

Actually undoing Trump's tariff policy would ultimately require his approval, which was unlikely - key US politics stories from Wednesday 11 February at a glanceDonald Trump had a warning for congressional Republicans Wednesday: any of them who joined an effort to rescind his tariffs on Canada would seriously suffer the consequences come Election time".Despite that threat, six members of the president's party sided with Democrats in a largely symbolic resolution to disapprove of the national emergency Trump declared to impose tariffs on Canada. Continue reading...

Buddhist monks had walked 2,300 miles from Texas, braving snow and often barefoot - their arrival in the capital was greeted by thousandsBhante Saranapala gazed down at more than a hundred Buddhist monks wearing burnt-orange, saffron and maroon robes, most sporting woolly hats, a few clutching flowers.These monks are awesome!" roared Saranapala, who is known as the Urban Buddhist Monk", prompting a cheer from the big crowd. Their determination should be greatly appreciated. Walking from Texas to Washington DC, 2,300 miles; it requires strong determination!" Continue reading...

FAA initially cited security reasons' for shutting off skies around Texas airport in area along border with MexicoThe top US aviation agency has lifted a surprise 10-day closure of airspace above the US-Mexico border town of El Paso, Texas, just hours after it abruptly announced that it would close off the skies for special security reasons".While some officials claimed that Mexican cartel drones invaded US airspace, in recent days a balloon was reportedly mistaken for a drone. Continue reading...

Republicans join Democrats in objecting to national emergency US president declared to impose tariffsThe US House on Wednesday voted to rescind tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on Canada last year, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House's trade policy as the president threatened electoral retaliation against any Republican who defied him.The largely symbolic resolution to disapprove of the national emergency Trump declared to impose tariffs on Canada passed 219 to 211, with six Republicans - Don Bacon of Nebraska, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Kevin Kiley of California, Dan Newhouse of Washington and Jeff Hurd of Colorado - voting with all Democrats except Jared Golden of Maine, who voted against it. Continue reading...

The Dawson's Creek star, who died on Tuesday aged 48, had been open about struggling to meet the high expenses of his cancer treatmentA GoFundMe set up to support the widow and children of actor James Van Der Beek has passed its initial goal of $500,000 within hours of being created - and has now been updated to a goal of $1m.Van Der Beek, best known for his role as sensitive teen Dawson Leery on the TV series Dawson's Creek, died on Tuesday aged 48 after a battle with bowel cancer. Continue reading...

New evidence shows Gregory Bovino hailed agent who fired at Marimar Martinez five times in her carNewly released evidence has shown that Gregory Bovino, a border patrol chief who was the face of the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts until last month, praised a federal agent who shot a Chicago woman during an immigration crackdown last year.

Bill that requires proof of citizenship and would limit mail-in voting passes 218-213 but faces uphill battle in SenateThe House on Wednesday passed the Save America Act, which would dramatically change voting regulations by requiring proof of citizenship at voter registration and significantly curtail mail-in voting.The legislation, which passed 218 to 213, faces an uphill battle in the Senate, close observers say. Continue reading...

Order comes after seven people in California City facility allege they were denied medications, food and sanitationThe US government must provide detainees at a California immigration detention center with adequate medical care, access to attorneys, and temperature-appropriate clothing and blankets", a federal judge has ruled.The order came on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit filed by seven people detained at the California City detention facility in November, alleging they had been denied essential medications, sufficient food and sanitary housing conditions. Continue reading...

Officials in US border city say FAA decisions caused major disruption - and residents are still scrambling for answersOfficials in Texas were left scrambling for answers on Wednesday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a surprise order to shut down the airspace over El Paso for 10 days and then, as turmoil ensued in the city on the US-Mexico border, abruptly lifted it within hours.Local leaders in the west Texas city said that they received no prior warning or explanation and the stunning announcement had put lives at risk. Continue reading...

Public opinion polling agency says decision solely based on Gallup's research goals and priorities'Gallup, the public opinion polling agency, will stop tracking presidential approval ratings after almost nine decades, a spokesperson confirmed.As Donald Trump continues to closely scrutinize polling of his popularity, and publicly lambast media companies that report on unfavorable numbers, Gallup insisted its decision was solely based on Gallup's research goals and priorities". Continue reading...

Pretti, a VA nurse, was shot by federal agents in Minneapolis and was labeled a terrorist' by the administrationDemocratic lawmakers assailed Doug Collins, the Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary for repeating Trump administration's claims on the killing of Alex Pretti, a VA nurse shot 10 times by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis, during a congressional hearing Wednesday.Are you going to correct your cabinet colleagues when they called him a terrorist?" Mark Takano, a Democratic representative of California and the House Committee on Veterans Affairs' ranking member, asked Collins. The secretary declined to answer. Continue reading...

James Van Der Beek, who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in Dawson's Creek and in later years mocking his own persona, has died at the age of 48. The actor revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.

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Tribe, which was forcibly removed from its lands near Lake Tahoe, used $5.5m grant and private donations for purchaseThe Washoe Tribe has purchased more than 10,000 acres of land near Lake Tahoe for conservation in one of the largest tribal land returns in California history.The sprawling property, located 20 miles north of Reno, Nevada, stretches from the Great Basin through the Sierra Nevada and encompasses sagebrush scrublands and juniper and pine forests. Continue reading...

Andrew Paul Johnson was found guilty of five counts including molesting a child under 12 and another under 16A man who took part in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol and later pardoned by Donald Trump was found guilty on Tuesday of multiple child sexual abuse charges in Florida, officials said.Andrew Paul Johnson was arrested in Tennessee this August and extradited to Florida. He pleaded not guilty. Continue reading...

Israeli leader was expected to advocate for more forceful US intervention during sixth visit to current White HouseDonald Trump has said that he is still seeking a deal with Iran to prevent it from seeking a nuclear weapon following a three-hour meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in which the Israeli leader was expected to advocate for a more forceful intervention by the US military.Netanyahu's sixth visit to the White House since Trump returned to office ended without any public remarks between the two leaders. The results of the hastily arranged meeting were announced by Trump in an online post. Continue reading...

Tiffany Smyth is married to Seamus Culleton, who despite having a valid work permit was detained in SeptemberThe wife of an Irish man who has been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for five months - despite having a valid work permit - is pleading for help in instigating his release from the dire conditions" he is facing in detention.I just want him home where he belongs. I want us to be able to finish what we started," Tiffany Smyth, wife of Seamus Culleton, said during a Wednesday press conference. Continue reading...

US attorney general goes on attack during questioning by House judiciary committee over handling of filesThe US attorney general Pam Bondi attacked and insulted Democrats during a House judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday as she defended the justice department's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.Democrats pounded Bondi with questions about the way the department has complied with a law last year mandating the complete release of the files with specific and limited room for redactions. Since releasing the documents after the statutory deadline, the justice department has come under intense scrutiny both for releasing the names of survivors and redacting, without explanation, the names of people who may have committed crimes. Continue reading...

Whether it's the $1bn price tag or the US president's outsized power, key allies are steering clear of the board

Man who was detained released after several hours of questioning in connection to Guthrie's disappearanceThe FBI announced on Wednesday that it was conducting an extensive search" along multiple roadways close to the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie who has been missing for 10 days.The development came after authorities released a man earlier in the day who was detained in a traffic stop following several hours of questioning in connection to the investigation", according to reports. Continue reading...

Small opening cut into floor at Merchant's House Museum indicates site was probably used as safe house', experts sayA landmark house in Manhattan preserved as a museum to New York's 19th-century history has revealed an even more intriguing secret: its previously unknown status as a refuge for people who escaped slavery before and during the civil war.The Merchant's House Museum's link to the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists who secured the safe passage of enslaved people to freedom, was discovered when archaeologists looked beneath the drawers of a built-in dresser in the wall of a hallway leading to bedrooms on the building's second floor. Continue reading...

The racism was not new. What was new was the inability to look past it. For a moment, at least, the blinders were offJohn from New Mexico, a self-professed lifelong Republican, called into C-Span's Washington Journal earlier this month with penitence on his mind.I voted for the president and supported him," he began. But I really want to apologize."Jamil Smith is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The Grateful Dead and some other interesting influences define the best and worst of this year's crop of topsMajor League Soccer's 31st season is nearly upon us, and fans across the league are busy offering takes. Takes on roster building, on relevance, on playoff potential. And, of course, on kits.It at times feels like there is nothing soccer fans across the globe like more than discussing kits and kit culture. Supporters, even those entirely bereft of any fashion sense to speak of, start offering up terms normally reserved for the catwalk come release day. Continue reading...

Unemployment rate was 4.3% in January with gains 13,000 less than the 143,000 jobs added a year ago, report showsThe US jobs market added 130,000 jobs in January, according to a highly anticipated labor market report released on Wednesday, a surge of job growth after months of fatigue in the labor market.The unemployment rate was 4.3% in January, a slight cooling since the fall. Economists predicted 70,000 in job gains and an unchanged unemployment rate for January. Continue reading...

It's not virtue signaling. It's vitriol signaling about their own perceived persecutionCan someone explain to me why Megyn Kelly is so angry? In an interview with Piers Morgan, the political commentator began ranting so hard about Bad Bunny's Super Bowl half-time show that I was starting to worry about her health.I'm sorry Piers. To get up there and perform the whole show in Spanish is a middle finger to the rest of America!" she roared. We don't need a Spanish-speaking, non-English performing performer, and we don't need an ICE- or America-hater featured as our primetime entertainment."Moustafa Bayoumi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Nearly half (49%) of all American adults disapprove of handling of immigration, NBC poll finds, versus 34% in AprilSupport for Donald Trump's immigration efforts has dropped dramatically following a wave of public revulsion over violent scenes in Minneapolis involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, new poll figures show.The figures arrive as administration officials continue to double down on ICE enforcement, which has been getting increasingly more dangerous. Continue reading...

US vice-president's post marks first time Trump administration used the word to describe the massacresThe White House has deleted a social media post in which the vice-president, JD Vance, referred to the Armenian genocide, prompting anger from members of the Armenian diaspora as well as opposition politicians across the US.The post was made during Vance's two-day trip to Armenia to mark a visit by Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, to a memorial for the up to 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman troops more than a century ago. The now-deleted post on Vance's official X account said he was visiting the memorial to honour the victims of the Armenian genocide". Continue reading...

The archdiocese agreed to pay 600 abuse survivors a $305m settlement before the Vatican confirmed Aymond's exitPope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of the Roman Catholic archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Aymond, on Wednesday - one day after the archbishop concluded a series of meetings with survivors of a clergy molestation scandal that has embroiled the city's church leadership for years.Aymond had submitted his resignation to global Catholic church leaders at the Vatican, as he was required when he turned 75 in November 2024. But the Vatican didn't immediately accept it, plotting for Aymond to remain in position until the New Orleans archdiocese settled a federal bankruptcy protection case that it filed in the spring of 2020 amid the continuing fallout of the decades-old worldwide clerical abuse crisis. Continue reading...

Ex-CNN anchor brings on Joseph H Thompson to defend him from charges related to coverage of a church protestFormer CNN anchor Don Lemon has hired a federal prosecutor, who quit amid the White House's immigration blitz on Minneapolis, to defend him from charges related to his coverage of a church protest.Lemon officially brought Joseph H Thompson on to his legal team, according to a Tuesday court filing. Thompson, who Donald Trump had appointed acting US attorney for Minnesota in June, reportedly resigned in January over the justice department's treatment of immigration enforcement. Continue reading...

Both the number of workers participating in union elections and the success of elections dropped offThe number of union elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dropped 30% in 2025 after the Trump administration left the federal labor watchdog powerless, according to an analysis released on Wednesday.The number of workers participating in union elections dropped by 59,000, a 42% decline compared with the year prior, according to the report from the Center for American Progress. The total number of union elections fell from a 10-year high of 2,124 in 2024 to 1,498 in 2025. Continue reading...

Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie reveal names they say DoJ redacted for no apparent reason'. Plus, at least 10 dead, including suspect, after school shooting in Canada

US firm held talks with LSEG to push performance at time of reduced listings and AI concerns

Over the last 10 years, the terms of political debate have changed completely - and week by week they seem to get worseThe notion of virtue-signalling - the act of performing progressive stances that don't cost you anything in order to burnish your own moral credentials - has been around since at least the 00s. In a political sense, it meant always being the one who reminded others to say chairperson" not chairman"; always manning the barricades for signs of bigotry, always being on the right demo. If its values were sound - all we're talking about, really, is trying to systematise courtesy to others - it was often easy to lampoon, because it felt performative and had a hair-trigger.But what has risen in its wake - vice-signalling - cannot be seen as its mirror or answer, any more than dehumanisation could be seen as the equal and opposite of decency. They're not in the same rhetorical category. The term doesn't bring itself to life; for that you need the US president. Cast your mind back to 2015; although Donald Trump had said he might run for election to the highest office in every cycle this century, his speech in Trump Tower was his first campaign launch, and it was where he announced that he would build a wall between the US and Mexico. In seemingly unplanned remarks - the grammar was off, the structure meandered, the vocabulary was vague and repetitive - he said [Mexico] are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and they're rapists." Continue reading...

Drop comes as AI firm Altruist launches service that helps advisers create personalised tax strategies

Some Russians have dismissed the Games over the continued exclusion of their athletes. But the truth is international sport is still important to MoscowDuma member Vitaly Milonov didn't mince words when asked four years ago about the international ban against Russian athletes.There's no point in humiliating ourselves and begging to be let in," said the St Petersburg deputy, a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. We have our pride." International events had been corrupted by the United States, he claimed in a 2022 interview, just weeks after the International Olympic Committee and other governing bodies imposed the ban. Only Russia can say no. Other countries will accept whatever nonsense the Americans force on them - teams of vegans, queers and lesbians." Continue reading...

The 21-year-old has dominated speed skating for three years running. In the next 11 days, he could become not just an Olympic champion but the face of the Winter GamesEach Winter Olympics produces one or two figures who come to define it. The stars whose performances transcend result sheets and medal tables and settle into memory as shorthand for the event itself. For decades, America has waited for their next one: someone capable of cutting through the noise of the crowded sports landscape and centering themselves in the national conversation.Jordan Stolz may be him. Continue reading...

Proposed legislation, named after Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein's abuse, also tackles jurisdictionDemocrats in Congress were joined on Capitol Hill by survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse to introduce legislation to end the statute of limitations and restrictions on jurisdiction in civil sexual abuse cases.The move comes less than two weeks after the justice department released 3.5m pages of heavily redacted documents related to Epstein, as ordered by the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act. Continue reading...

Individual detained Tuesday south of Tucson, Arizona, in relation to case of mother of NBC's Savannah GuthrieA suspect in the abduction of US television host Savannah Guthrie's elderly mother, Nancy, was taken into custody in Arizona on Tuesday, nine days after the 84-year-old woman was reported missing, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case.The Pima County sheriff's department issued a separate statement online late on Tuesday saying deputies had detained a subject during a traffic stop" and that the individual was being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation". Continue reading...

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