Designed to invest in the national interest, sovereign wealth funds are typically funded by countries rich in natural resources and it is unclear how a US fund would operate or be financedDonald Trump has signed an executive order directing the US treasury and commerce departments to create a sovereign wealth fund. Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and Howard Lutnick, the nominee for commerce secretary, will lead the effort.We have tremendous potential," Trump said while signing the order from the Oval Office on Monday. I think in a short period of time, we'd have one of the biggest funds." Continue reading...
Plan sets aside $25m for legal battles against US government and $25m for legal groups to defend immigrantsCalifornia's Democratic-dominated assembly endorsed up to $50m in funding Monday to defend the state's progressive policies against challenges by the Trump administration.The legislation sets aside $25m for the state department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another $25m for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation. Continue reading...
The US agency distributes tens of billions of dollars' worth of aid every year and is a key tool to promote soft power around the worldDonald Trump's administration has confirmed plans to merge the US international aid agency USAid into the state department in a major revamp that would shrink its workforce and align its spending with Trump's priorities.The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, declared himself the acting administrator of the agency and employees have been locked out of its Washington DC headquarters, while others have been suspended. Continue reading...
by Ramon Antonio Vargas and David Hammer of WWL Louis on (#6V1AA)
Roger Goodell speaks as emails detail how team helped to spin coverage of clergy sexual abuse scandalNFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the New Orleans Saints are great corporate citizens" despite revelations in unearthed emails detailing how the football team's owner and other top executives coordinated with the city's Roman Catholic archdiocese in a campaign to soften media coverage of a decades-old clergy-abuse scandal engulfing the church.Saints owner Gayle Benson and other key lieutenants are very involved in this community, and they are great corporate citizens", Goodell said after media outlets provided the most complete accounts yet detailing the team's decision to help the New Orleans church's messaging about a scandal that has prompted state police and federal agents to jointly open a child sex-trafficking investigation into the archdiocese. Continue reading...
Officials are discussing executive order as part of efforts by Musk's Doge team to seize control of federal spendingThe Trump administration is weighing executive actions to dismantle the US education department as part of efforts by Elon Musk's so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge) to seize control of federal spending and slash the size of the government workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported.US officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the education department that are not written explicitly into statute, or move certain functions to other departments, according to the paper, citing sources. Continue reading...
State's largest home insurer, which has paid customers over $1bn, claims fires put firm under increased financial strainState Farm General, California's largest home insurer, is seeking an emergency rate increase for homeowners following the Los Angeles wildfires last month. If approved, the hike would average a 22% increase for policyholders.The insurance giant claims that the fires have put the company under increased financial strain. The company has already received at least 8,700 claims and paid more than $1bn to customers and expects to pay out significantly more", according to a press release. Continue reading...
by Graeme Wearden in London and Callum Jones in New Y on (#6V0QS)
Markets recover some losses after Trump agreed to delay new duties on Mexico goods, sparking hopes of a reprieveGlobal stock markets came under pressure after Donald Trump signed off on new US tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, prompting fears of a trade war.Markets recovered some of their losses early on Monday after it emerged that the US president had agreed to delay new duties on goods from Mexico for a month, sparking hopes of a reprieve. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#6V15H)
The US president has threatened to target Europe after launching then pausing import tariffs on Canada and MexicoDonald Trump has threatened to target the EU next after announcing punishing import tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, while warning that the UK is out of line" but could still reach a deal. On Monday Trump announced a one-month pause" in the threatened tariffs after conversations with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, and the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau. But much uncertainty remains.Here are five charts outlining what is at stake for the EU and the UK. Continue reading...
French president and other leaders call for cooperation with Washington but vow a robust response if neededThe EU will stand up for itself if its interests are targeted, Emmanuel Macron has said, as the bloc's leaders urged talks - but a firm response if needed - in response to Donald Trump's weekend threat to impose punishing tariffs.If our commercial interests are attacked, Europe, as a true power, will have to make itself respected and therefore react," the French president said as he arrived for an informal defence meeting with other leaders in Brussels on Monday. Continue reading...
The US president is testing the limits of executive authority, sidelining Congress and enriching allies while destabilising the global economyDonald Trump is provoking a US constitutional crisis, claiming sweeping powers to override or bypass Congress's control over spending in a brazen attempt to centralise financial power in the executive branch. If he succeeds, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warns, it would be a 21st-century coup - with power slipping from elected officials' hands. The real story hidden behind the president's trade war, he says, is the hijacking of government. And Mr Krugman's right.By usurping the authority to shut down government programmes at will - even those funded by Congress - Mr Trump could slash federal spending and taxes while pretending to balance the books. In reality, he'd be robbing the poor to enrich the wealthy. In a world where economic jargon has been corrupted to depict exploitation as wealth creation", the audacity of Mr Trump - and his lackeys - to personally profit is breathtaking. Mr Trump's philosophy is simple: let the uber-rich do whatever they want, with little or no oversight. The result will be vast wealth for a select few while life grows nastier and shorter for the many. Continue reading...
Describing a 'good conversation' between herself and her US counterpart, Donald Trump, Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced their agreement to hold off imposing tariffs for one month. Trump had previously signed an executive order placing tariffs of 25% on all goods from Mexico, which was scheduled to come into force on Tuesday.Mexico had agreed to send 10,000 members of its national guard 'to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the US, in particular of fentanyl'. In return, the US had agreed to work to prevent high-powered weapons crossing the border into Mexico
Britain is less vulnerable to US tariffs than other nations, but shares a historic responsibility. A recession would mean dark days for everyoneCan a country ever be too big to fail? Waiting for global stock markets to open this morning felt grimly reminiscent of the beginnings of the sub-prime lending crash, the moment many finally understood the old cliche that when the US sneezes, everyone catches a cold. But when it threatens to hack its nose off with a chainsaw, before changing its mind at 10 minutes to midnight, then nobody knows where they stand.The world's biggest economy is now experiencing what looks like its very own Liz Truss moment, only this time in a country powerful enough to take everyone else down with it. If the US really is prepared to keep playing this mad game of chicken - threatening ruinous tariffs against Mexico then postponing them, sowing fear and discord constantly among its allies - that risks creating the kind of all-American supernova that sucks everyone into a black hole.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Organization, which promotes religious diversity within the diplomatic corps, was ordered to pause operationsA Christian employee organization at the US state department has been unexpectedly suspended, with leadership instructed to immediately cease all programmatic activities.Grace, an employee resource group founded during the first Trump administration to promote religious diversity within the diplomatic corps, has been directed to pause its operations by Global Talent Management, according to an internal email obtained by the Guardian. Continue reading...
The Star-Spangled Banner has been heartily jeered north of the border after Donald Trump announced tariffs. Similar protests have happened beforeIt's not as if national anthems are the only way of telling that many pro sports leagues straddle the border between Canada and the US. The line can't be ignored. There's an exchange rate, for one thing, as well as different tax rates. There are cultural differences, too, if slight, but present enough that in some cases, pro players eschew Canadian teams in favour of American ones (it's rarely the other way around). The border is always there. Still, on any given game day, it could be ignored. It could just be about the sport. If it weren't for the anthems.To be clear, they don't always play both anthems, except in places like Buffalo, where hockey fans listen to O Canada even when the city's NHL team, the Sabres, are facing another American team. Generally, it's only if a US team are facing a Canadian team that they play both anthems. And you have to stand there and listen. And you are meant to reflect, not on the team you've come to watch, but on that other one, Canada and the United States. That's where the trouble starts. Continue reading...
by Robin Buller in Oakland, California on (#6V0W6)
As rumored raids fuel anxiety about mass deportations, outlets are offering resources and debunking falsehoodsAfter immigration authorities targeted agricultural laborers in a surprise raid in California's Kern county this year, fear-induced rumors circulated in communities around the state.In San Francisco, a middle school student mistakenly reported seeing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agent board a transit bus, prompting the city's school board to broadcast - and later retract - a warning to parents. In Oakland, an attorney published a post on Instagram alleging raids were occurring around the Bay Area. And in the Central valley, a medical clinic serving migrant farm workers saw patient numbers drop after rumors claimed Ice agents were targeting its patients. Continue reading...
She worried about her drinking, smoking and weight - but there was never any doubt she would have a job and be able to pay her rent. It's a very different world for gen ZIt is 29 years since the book Bridget Jones's Diary was published, but the column itself, which ran in the Independent (without a byline for Helen Fielding, although everyone knew it was her) and the Daily Telegraph, is 30 years old this year. That's two years younger than our heroine when she first appears, a patchwork wreck of singleton-anxiety, professional disaster, chardonnay, Silk Cut and weighing scales. And maybe being old enough to remember with clarity anything from 30 years ago predisposes you to think of it affectionately. But, actually, no: some things were better for women, better for young people, better for everyone, in 1995. And some things were worse. To coincide with the fourth film, out on Valentine's Day, here's the audit.The startling thing about the comic creation was how completely she lacked any kind of self-discipline - always drinking more than she meant to, always weighing more than she intended, always determined not to smoke yet somehow also smoking. At the time, this had long been a staple for male self-fashioning: lad-mag culture was focused (ironically) on birds, but fuelled by benders. If you woke up somewhere and couldn't remember how you got there, that was social nirvana, the ultimate night out. Ladette culture was in many ways built as a mirror to that, though a distorted one, in the sense that you had to be off your head but you couldn't look sloppy or ill-kempt. You were meant to drink like Johnny Vegas but look like Kate Moss. Continue reading...
It was heartening - if no surprise - to see Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Charli xcx and Chappell Roan all grab gongs, while an award for the Beatles suggests confidence in AI News: Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar lead Grammy awards in aftermath of LA fires
by Philip Wen, Léonie Chao-Fong and Jennifer Rankin on (#6V0G8)
Trump takes softer line on UK, while Mexico and Canada vow levies and to strengthen ties with each otherDonald Trump has threatened to widen the scope of his trade tariffs, repeating his warning that the European Union - and potentially the UK - will face levies, even as he conceded that Americans could bear some of the economic brunt of a nascent global trade war.It comes as Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, announced on Saturday, sparked retaliation from all three countries. Mexico and Canada have vowed levies of their own while China and Canada are seeking legal challenges. Continue reading...
Fortune plays a larger part than we like to think in sporting success. But luck means nothing if teams don't have the ability to exploit itThe Roman philosopher Seneca is credited with saying, Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."In sports, some teams prepare better than others. But some also get more opportunities than others. Continue reading...
No wonder the American public thinks of Democrats as out of touch, opportunistic, and cowardly. That is because they areWhat does the Democratic party believe in? It's difficult to tell. In 2024, Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris ran a campaign of moderation, reconciliation, and emphasis on restoring institutional norms. This failed to capture much public attention when compared with the Trump campaign's carnival of grievance. In the months since their defeat, the Democrats have been confused, conflicted, and internally contentious over how to best proceed.The results have been contradictory and ineffectual. The Democrats have alternated between declaring Trump a fascist and a would-be dictator, and congratulating themselves on peacefully handing over the reins of power to him; they have railed against his corruption and his subordination to the unelected South African billionaire Elon Musk, but have also made themselves available to cooperate with Musk's project to gut the federal bureaucracy and reshape it in his own interests, the initiative that has been moronically termed Doge". Continue reading...
Some say it's embarrassing. But as a Swiftie dad' attending the Eras tour, I felt the same rush as seeing Oasis in 1994This year, assuming I can get a ticket, I will be seeing Oasis on their reunion tour. I will be surrounded, I expect, by thousands of fellow middle-aged men lustily singing You and I are gonna live forever" - while knowing some of us won't even make it through the decade.Lately I have noticed that much of the music I listen to and the gigs I attend now have their roots in the past. I first saw Oasis when I was 23, and my greatest hope for this summer's concert is that it might briefly transport me back to the 1990s. I saw Pulp in 2023 and it was incredible - but mostly because it brought back memories of seeing the band decades ago. The same goes for Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, who I saw last year. For my generation, gigs seem to function as temporary time machines that give you a chance to revisit the glory days.Sarfraz Manzoor is an author, broadcaster and screenwriterDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
After standoff, Doge members gained control over access system, letting them lock out workers and read emailsTwo senior security officials at the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have been put on administrative leave after they blocked efforts by members of Elon Musk's department of government efficiency (Doge) to access sensitive data from the agency, five current and former USAid officials have told the Guardian.The demands led to a tense standoff during which a senior deputy to Musk threatened to call the US marshals in to grant access to the building. The officials said John Voorhees, USAid's director of security, and a deputy blocked efforts by Doge members to physically access restricted areas. Continue reading...
The CDU's Friedrich Merz has shattered the taboo that had underpinned German politics since the war. The unthinkable is now more possibleThe tectonic plates are shifting in German politics. A momentous past week has plunged the country into uncertainty - and not just about the outcome of the snap general election on 23 February. The mainstream parties are at each other's throats, while the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) is jubilant.The firewall (Brandmauer") against the extreme right, which has held since the end of the second world war, is showing big cracks. Europe's most powerful country may be entering a phase of democratic instability. Continue reading...
Billionaire says in social media discussion that Donald Trump agrees the world's largest single donor should be shut downElon Musk, who is heading Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal government, has said they are working to shut down the foreign aid agency USAid, in a social media discussion on X early on Monday.The conversation, which included former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican senator Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, began with Musk saying they were working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAid). Continue reading...
Guantanamo Bay? Imperialism? Alliances with billionaires? Those shocked at the president's early moves have forgotten what came beforeThe dust briefly settled, only for it to be kicked up once again. Donald Trump's flurry of executive orders - causing chaos on everything from foreign aid to world trade - is rapidly rocking and reshaping domestic and foreign policy. And the temptation is, yet again, to think of Donald Trump as an exogenous shock to US democracy. But look closer, and you will see not a rogue president taking a hammer to a hitherto stable political order, but a history of the erosion of norms that paved the way for him.Political norms are the scaffolding of democracy, enforced not by the law, but by a sort of social consensus. They are not codified, strict mechanisms for regulating political facts - such as the separation of powers - but the agreement that such things should be respected and observed. A clear case in point is the president's ability to issue pardons. And Joe Biden's pardoning of his family members was as much an injury to norms as Trump's pardoning of those convicted after 6 January.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
by Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Yohannes Lowe and Vicky G on (#6V068)
This blog has now closed. You can read all our coverage of the Trump administration hereAfter Donald Trump's return to the White House, Volkswagen, Germany's largest carmaker, said that tariffs would have a harmful economic impact" on American consumers, as well as the international automotive industry.German automakers say the tariffs will cause inflation for consumers. Continue reading...
Federal investigators are still working to piece together the events that led to the crash that killed 67 peopleFamilies of victims of the deadliest US air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site on Sunday amid a swirl of ongoing questions on what caused the mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter at an airport just outside Washington DC.Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National airport, close to where an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into each other on Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard. Continue reading...
Some US business leaders reacted neutrally, while JP Morgan CEO says tariff threats can be used effectivelyUS business leaders are offering a mixed reaction to the steep trade tariffs that Donald Trump's administration has imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, as the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal called it the dumbest trade war in history".Donald Trump hit Canada and Mexico with a 25% tariff on imports, and China with 10%, on Saturday in a move that launched a new era of trade wars between the US and three of its largest trading partners. The tariffs against Canada tax oil and energy products at 10%. Continue reading...
by Mat Youkee in Panama City and agencies on (#6V0CC)
Secretary of state's visit to Central American state greeted with protests at Trump's demand to take back the waterwayThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has held talks in Panama with its president, Jose Raul Mulino, as protesters marched in opposition to Donald Trump's demand for ownership of the Panama canal to be returned to the US.The US's top diplomat told Mulino in the talks that the US president has determined China's influence threatens the Panama canal and that immediate changes were needed or the US would act. Continue reading...
Move comes as one-two punch for group already reeling from last week's decision to rescind 18-month extensionThe Trump administration has stepped up its attack on Venezuelans living in the US under temporary deportation protections, revoking the right to stay of more than 300,000 people.The move, first reported by the New York Times, comes as a one-two punch for Venezuelans who were already reeling from last week's decision to rescind an 18-month extension of temporary protected status (TPS) that had been introduced in the final days of the out-going Biden administration. Reversing the extension was a blow that affected more than 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US. Continue reading...
Political leaders clash over Trump linking diversity, equity and inclusion practices with collision that killed 67 peopleUS political leaders clashed on Sunday over Donald Trump's controversial comments on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs following last week's aircraft collision over the Potomac river in Washington DC.The president weighing in while bodies were still being recovered, blaming this on DEI, and, when pressed, he has no evidence to suggest it, was absolutely stomach-turning," Virginia senator Tim Kaine told CNN's State of the Union. Continue reading...
Negotiations on second phase of ceasefire likely to be put back until after two leaders meet on TuesdayBenjamin Netanyahu has flown to Washington for Donald Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since his return to office.The pair are due to meet on Tuesday, amid widespread uncertainty about the parameters of the encounter. Continue reading...
Two of the best players in the NBA are reportedly swapping teams. The Mavericks could benefit this year but the Lakers look winners in the long-termEvery lifetime, you get to experience a few where were you when?" moments. Finding out Michael Jackson died. The American presidency being called for Donald Trump in 2016. And any true NBA fan will remember where they were on the evening of 1 February 2025. I was waiting in line for a drink at a bar in Los Angeles when a friend tapped me on the shoulder and asked: Have you seen this fake Shams tweet?"The tweet, as it turns out, was real, as unbelievable as it still may be. The Dallas Mavericks have, indeed, traded Luka Doni, the 25-year-old who was supposed to be the face of the franchise for years to come, to the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, they will get the man who was supposed to lead the Lakers for the next five years or so, 31-year-old Anthony Davis. There are a few more players involved in the trade (who will be discussed below), and even a third team in the Utah Jazz to help facilitate the deal. But for all intents and purposes, this was the most dramatic case possible of bona fide Top 10-superstar musical chairs. Continue reading...
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