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Trump loyalists to consider purge of potentially thousands of agents as senior bureau executives also under threatDonald Trump's political appointees at the justice department will consider in the coming weeks whether to purge a large number of FBI agents who worked on the criminal cases against the president and cases against rioters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.The move comes as the justice department on Friday also told FBI leadership that eight senior executives at the bureau - including those overseeing national security, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism - needed to be fired, unless they retired beforehand. Continue reading...

Internal email says agency is reviewing' programs and contracts that promote or incubate gender ideology'Several federal government websites went dark while others were edited to remove mentions of gender on Friday evening as agencies scrambled to meet a deadline to scrub their websites, emails and contracts of gender ideology".The office of personnel management also directed agencies to disband employee resource groups, terminate grants and contracts related to the issue and replace the term gender" with sex" on government forms. Continue reading...

Mark Warner criticizes the Trump administration's decision to fire top FBI officials; Census and FAA websites appear to be down Friday evening. This blog is now closed.

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the DC plane crash, read our full report:

Flight data and cockpit voice recorder in good condition' despite collision with American Airlines jet, official saysThe National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the flight black box" from the US military Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday's deadly crash with a commercial airliner, and it appears to be undamaged, NTSB member Todd Inman said Friday.The black box - containing a flight data and cockpit voice recorder - was in good condition" despite its accident with an American Airlines jet in Washington DC, Inman said. But, he said, the NTSB would not be releasing information from the device immediately as investigations into the crash that killed 67 people aboard both aircraft continued. Continue reading...

Top bureau officials in five cities in line of fire with dozens of agents who worked on Trump investigations facing axeThe FBI launched a wide-ranging round of staff cuts on Friday as Donald Trump's administration moved to swiftly shake up the US's leading law enforcement agency, three sources familiar with the matter told the Reuters new agency.At least five top FBI officials in major US cities - Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, New Orleans and Las Vegas - were ordered to resign or be fired, one of the sources told Reuters. Continue reading...

US neighbors hit with 25% tariff and China with 10% as Trudeau pledges forceful but reasonable' responseDonald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China starting this weekend, potentially setting the stage for a damaging trade war between the US and three of its biggest trading partners. Trump also threatened to follow up with a further wave of tariffs against the European Union.Goods exported from Canada and Mexico to the US will be hit with a 25% tariff, while products from China face a 10% levy, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Friday. Continue reading...

An American Airlines passenger jet with 64 people onboard was coming in to land at Reagan National airport when it collided with a military helicopter. Here is a video timeline of the incident

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the US would be imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and a 10% tariff on China. Leavitt corrected a report by Reuters that the US wouldn't put sanctions in place against its northern and southern neighbours until March, saying they would be in place by Saturday

IRS handbook containing mentions of taxpayers' inequity' and inclusion' have been wiped, WSJ reportsAs the Trump administration continues to get rid of diversity programs throughout the government, it is deleting any mention of the words diversity," equity" and inclusion".That meant that in the Internal Revenue Service's procedural handbook for employees, the terms were wiped out when referring to finances and tax procedures rather than actual DEI programs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Continue reading...

Schools and universities must revert to Title IX guidance on sexual misconduct complaints from first Trump termSchools and universities responding to complaints of sexual misconduct must return to policies created during Donald Trump's first term, with requirements for live hearings and more protections for those students accused, according to new guidance issued on Friday by the education department.In a memo to education institutions across the nation, the agency clarified that Title IX, a 1972 law barring discrimination based on sex, will be enforced according to a set of rules created by the former education secretary Betsy DeVos. The rules govern how complaints of misconduct are investigated and how to settle cases where students present differing accounts. Continue reading...

Without Fews Net, recognised as a vital life-saving tool' for preventing food crises, people will die, experts warnThe system for monitoring global food crises appears to have been suspended after President Donald Trump's executive order froze US foreign aid.The website for the US-funded famine early warning systems network (Fews Net) was not accessible on Friday. A banner said reports and data were currently unavailable" without elaborating. Continue reading...

The American president's sabre-rattling over Greenland should alert member states to the need for solidarity and a resetEuropean leaders, Sir Keir Starmer among them, will gather on Monday in Brussels to informally discuss defence and security issues five years after Britain left the EU. When the meeting was set last year, few expected US aggression toward a European nation to be on the agenda. But initial incredulity at Donald Trump's bellicose claims on Greenland, a Danish territory, has been followed by shocked expressions of solidarity with Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. A bullying 45-minute phone call between Mr Trump and Ms Frederiksen was described as horrendous".So it begins. As Europe reacquaints itself with MrTrump's aggressive America First" brand of diplomacy, further such provocations can be guaranteed. Fighting talk emanating from the White House will sometimes be a prelude to eventual compromise. But there can beno doubt that the challenges raised by the president's second coming aresubstantial and wide-ranging.Do 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...

Journalist and ex-host of Meet the Press played a key role in pushing back on prominent Republican hire last yearChuck Todd, the NBC journalist and former host of Meet the Press who was a key figure in pushing the network not to hire a prominent Republican operative last year, said on Friday he is leaving NBC News.There's never a perfect time to leave a place that's been a professional home for so long, but I'm pretty excited about a few new projects that are on the cusp of going from pie in the sky' to near reality,'" Todd said in a memo to staffers. So I'm grateful for the chance to get a jump start on my next chapter during this important moment." Continue reading...

Richard Grenell's visit prompts fresh speculation of rapprochement between Washington and CaracasA Donald Trump special envoy has flown to Venezuela to hold talks with its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, fuelling fresh speculation of a possible deal between the two governments.Richard Grenell, a prominent Maga cheerleader and diplomat who was the US ambassador to Germany during Trump's first term, was set to land in Caracas on Friday, according to CNN. Continue reading...

Candidates seem to agree Democratic party needs to move in a new direction but have squabbled over best strategiesMembers of the Democratic National Committee will elect their next chairperson on Saturday, as the party grapples with how to rebuild itself after devastating losses in the November elections and reckons with the tumultuous return of Donald Trump to the White House.The winner of the DNC chair race will help shape the message and priorities of the Democratic party, giving them a crucial role in the party's efforts to win back the House of Representatives in 2026. The race has attracted a large field of candidates, but two state party chairs - Ken Martin of Minnesota and Ben Wikler of Wisconsin - have emerged as the frontrunners. Continue reading...

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels are seizing control of areas within the DRC. This will only escalate unless western governments actAs if this world needs more bloodshed, here comes another major war knocking on the door of the crumbling international order. This week's ferocious assault and capture of the largest city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by rebels backed by troops from its tiny neighbour, Rwanda, marks an escalation with far reaching consequences beyond Africa. It also exposes the complacency of western governments, who many Congolese accuse of paving the way for this crisis.The rebellion, known as the M23, has been snowballing since 2021. In recent months, M23 seized swathes of territory as it encircled Goma, a city nestled below a group of volcanoes facing the Rwandan border. This week, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, called for Rwanda to stop supporting M23 and to remove its troops from Congolese territory, adding that the conflict had inflicted a devastating toll" on civilians, millions of whom need aid. In DRC's capital, Kinshasa, angry protesters lit fires and attacked the Rwandan, French and US embassies.Dino Mahtani is an independent researcher and writer Continue reading...

Court papers seen by the Guardian mean Jes Staley's appeal against FCA ruling will demand answers on links to sex offenderThe former chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, is gearing up for an explosive trial next month, that will force him to address evidence suggesting he hid the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the sex offender he referred to as family".Court documents seen by the Guardian reveal myriad allegations made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), including that Epstein messaged Staley about sex, women and foreign holidays, while working behind the scenes to bolster Staley's career by liaising with government officials, business leaders and royalty. Continue reading...

As Florida's attorney general, Bondi had laws restricting firearm access, leaving some worried about their gun rightsAs Pam Bondi awaits Senate confirmation to be US attorney general, one part of Trump's coalition isn't happy about her nomination: second amendment activists.Bondi, a longtime Trump ally, was attorney general of Florida when 17 high school students and staff members were killed in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. After the shooting, she banned gun sales to people younger than 21 and enacted a red flag law, allowing law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily confiscate the guns of someone deemed to be a threat to themselves or someone else. Continue reading...

Cousin of prospective US health secretary shares disturbing tale involving blender for his Senate confirmation hearingTrying not to upset the French" could be a chapter in a Debrett's guide to etiquette and manners, one that may have been taken to heart by the government this week with its decision to change the name of a new submarine. The Astute-class attack vessel is still being built, but on Sunday night, the Royal Navy announced that what was to become HMS Agincourt would, instead, be given the more Franco-friendly name of HMS Achilles. Up pops Grant Shapps, the former Conservative defence secretary, to dust off his opportunism and accuse the navy of bending to Labourite woke nonsense". It's just like riding a bike! Continue reading...

News that the singer had done a slot in New York's Comedy Cellar was met with derision, but she has always walked a fine line between comedy character and over-the-top pop starNew York's famed Comedy Cellar has long been known as a testing ground for hot young talent. The Greenwich Village club hosted stand-ups like Ray Romano and Jon Stewart early in their careers, and although tourists now flock to the venue in the hope of seeing an A-lister do a surprise drop-in, young comics can still get their start there. Case in point: last weekend, Madonna did a set at the Comedy Cellar. You may be able to draw nearly 2 million people to Rio's Copacabana beach for a concert, but in the cutthroat world of comedy, you still have to start from the bottom.A report in the Sun said that Madonna tested out material for about 30 minutes, and that she was accompanied to the club by her friend Amy Schumer, who later went on Howard Stern to big up Madonna's act. She has something in her that's interested in standup and she knows that, like anything else, you have to work really hard on it. She is kind of working on her set and it's not cringey," Schumer told Stern. She's funny! She's got jokes. She's got things to say. She's got tea." Continue reading...

Trump's vision of governance reminds me of nothing so much as the declaration attributed to Louis XIV: L'Etat, c'est moi": I am the stateThe new Trump administration is busy. In a fury of executive orders, the restored president has frozen hiring at the federal government, cut off large amounts of science and research funding, ended or severely curtailed international programs in women's health and HIV treatment, attempted to unilaterally amend the constitution to deny citizenship to hundreds of thousands, cut off aid to Ukraine, provoked a diplomatic spat with Colombia, and renamed the Gulf of Mexico in official documents as the Gulf of America."Many of these moves are stunts and distractions, meant to appease Trump's base of aggrieved culture warriors. Others are meant to further Trump's personal power, and to make sure that no obstacles will be presented to his second term agenda of malice, retribution, and corrupt self-dealing.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

As Trump creates unprecedented chaos, Democrats have offered little more than platitudes - sparking comparisons to France's collaborationist second world war regimeAt the dawn of the second Trump presidency, defiance has given way to compliance.While Donald Trump has rapidly and ruthlessly thrown the federal government into unprecedented chaos, the leaders of the Democratic party have offered up little more than limp banalities and platitudes. Presidents come and presidents go. Through it all. God is still on the throne," tweeted the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, at the end of Trump's first week in office. Continue reading...

The World Series champions have been accused of becoming baseball's Manchester City, spending their way to success. But there are differencesDeferred contracts were once baseball's annual joke played on the New York Mets.They released veteran third baseman Bobby Bonilla after a dismal season in 1999. But rather than pay the $5.9m left on his contract as a lump sum, the club offered a 25-year deferred deal at a munificent 8% interest rate. Continue reading...

Betting companies are making huge amounts from the confidence of young, male customers who think they can beat the systemWatching televised sports in 2025 can feel a little like sitting through one long gambling commercial, interspersed by occasional flashes of actual games. Those sports, meanwhile, are played in venues and uniforms plastered with the logos of yet more betting houses, airing on broadcasts that sprinkle in mentions of gambling sponsors.The experience on sports podcasts and websites and apps is much the same. But why? As the biggest event on the US sports calendar - the Super Bowl - approaches, how did we get to a place where sports have been reduced to a kind of raw material to be refined and packaged into the real product: the no-sweat, profit-boosted, five-leg, in-game parlay bonus bet? Continue reading...

Crash called avoidable', with lawmakers and residents previously sounding alarm about region's crowded skiesAfter Wednesday's fatal crash which took down a commercial jet and a military helicopter on a training flight at Washington DC's Reagan National airport, public officials and aviation experts are resurfacing concerns about how uniquely congested the airspace is around the country's capital.As of Thursday night, authorities have said all 64 people on the American Airlines flight were presumed dead as well as three more on the army helicopter, making the incident the deadliest US air tragedy since 2001. Continue reading...

Cockpit voice and flight data recorders found from American Airlines flight that collided with military helicopter; 28 bodies recovered from Potomac River

This liveblog is now closed.Here's some more reaction to Donald Trump's executive order instructing the military to prepare to house 30,000 immigrants at the US naval base in Cuba.Guantanamo is a stain on our nation's honor," Jerry Nadler, a Democratic congressman from New York, said.For years, I have advocated for its closure, condemning the abuses and glaring lack of accountability that persist there. This massive expansion into a mass detention camp is morally indefensible & raises significant civil liberties concerns.We cannot allow this level of dehumanization to become normalized. We need to shut down Guantanamo once and for all. Continue reading...

Promising young skaters also among those onboard as well as passengers from Germany, the Philippines and Russia

This liveblog is closed - please follow our new liveblog hereMultiple media including the New York Times, Reuters and CNN are saying the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three soldiers. No senior army officials were onboard, they reported, citing US defence officials.Multiple sources are now saying that about 60 people were onboard the American Airlines plane that collided with the helicopter. Continue reading...

An American Airlines passenger jet with 64 onboard was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan National airport when it collided with a military helicopter

Recorders from plane are currently at National Transportation Safety Board labs for analysis, agency says

Bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese replaced members at church-affiliated non-profit over $16m disputeThe archbishop of New Orleans' bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese on Thursday abruptly fired and replaced top leaders at a church-affiliated food bank, with those dismissed saying it was because the non-profit refused to contribute to paying survivors of child sexual abuse by clergymen.The ousted members of Second Harvest's board of directors say the changes follow months of increasingly aggressive pressure placed on Second Harvest to contribute as much as $16m toward helping to resolve victims' claims related to the church's sexual abuse-related bankruptcy", which has been pending since May 2020. Continue reading...

Conservative New Orleans court ruling for people between 18 and 21 comes amid major shifts in firearm legal landscapeA conservative US appeals court on Thursday ruled that a ban on handgun sales to people between the ages of 18 and 21 violates the second amendment.The ruling, handed down by a panel of three judges on the fifth US circuit court of appeals in New Orleans, comes amid major shifts in the national firearm legal landscape following a landmark US supreme court decision that expanded gun rights in 2022. Continue reading...

Canada and Mexico draw plans to mitigate effect of duties Trump has threatened, possibly sparking a trade war

Former chief resigned 10 days ago, after Elon Musk, a close adviser to Donald Trump, called for him to quit

Hours after the Washington plane crash, the president's desire to politicise tragedy was breathtaking in its audacity

Skeptical senators ruthlessly questioned Trump's national intelligence director nominee ahead of confirmation vote

Key Trump ally strives to extricate himself from statements he had made earlier, claiming mischaracterization'Kash Patel sought to allay concerns about his fitness to serve as the FBI director at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, but declined to engage with questioning that explicitly asked whether he would use his position to investigate some of Donald Trump's top political opponents.The hearing revolved around Patel's provocative public remarks attacking the FBI and his ability to resist political pressure from the White House, a topic that has come to the fore with the justice department rocked by the ouster of prosecutors who worked on cases against Trump. Continue reading...

More flights, staffing shortages and mounting safety questions may have played a role in deadly air collision

Non-profit alleges Grants Pass shelters are inaccessible and that many have no legal option for their continued survival'The small Oregon city at the heart of a major US supreme court ruling last year that allowed cities across the country to fine and jail unhoused people sleeping outside is facing a fresh lawsuit over its anti-camping rules.Disability Rights Oregon sued Grants Pass on Thursday, accusing it of violating a state law requiring cities' camping regulations to be objectively reasonable". Continue reading...

Advocates report harassment and loss of gender-affirming care as trans women face transfers to men's prisonsTransgender women incarcerated in federal prisons have been placed in isolation, told they will be transferred to men's prisons and advised they will lose access to gender-affirming medical treatments in response to Donald Trump's executive order defending women from gender ideology extremism", according to civil rights advocates and people behind bars.LGBTQ+-rights lawyers say the moves will have major consequences for the health and safety of trans people in federal custody, and blatantly violate federal laws and a range of constitutional protections. Continue reading...

Three-week-old program to curb vehicle emissions received approval from Biden administration, which Trump may pullDonald Trump's administration is reportedly considering putting a stop to New York City's three-week-old congestion pricing program, which aims to curb emissions from auto vehicles.The program received crucial federal approval from the Biden administration last year. Trump's transportation department is weighing the possibility of pulling that authorization, the New York Times reported, which would probably incite a legal battle between state and federal officials and could put a stop to the program. Continue reading...

More than 60 people are believed to have died after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a US army helicopter

Trump's health secretary pick transferred ownership of Maha slogan application to anti-vaccine ally Del BigtreeRobert F Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist nominated for US health secretary by Donald Trump, recently applied to trademark his own Make America Healthy Again" slogan for use in marketing potential products including food supplements, vitamins, essential oils - and vaccines.Documentation filed with the Office of Government Ethics lists $100,000 earned from a licensing agreement to use Maha brand marks". Continue reading...

Two new bills could secure higher pay and add support, but advocates say they're only the beginning of reforms neededFirefighters from across the US fought side by side to quell the firestorm in Los Angeles this month, working tirelessly together in dangerous and chaotic conditions. But there was one glaring difference among them: federal firefighters are paid just a fraction of what state and local crews make doing the same work.It's a problem that's long plagued the federal crews who play a crucial role in protecting the country when catastrophes unfold. Continue reading...