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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on US politics, see full coverage hereIt's just past noon in Washington DC, meaning that one week from today, Joe Biden will no longer be president. The outgoing president is looking to make the most of his remaining time in office, and will at 2pm make a speech from the state department outlining his foreign policy accomplishments.When President Biden entered office, our alliances had been badly damaged. We had abandoned agreements that made America safer. We were falling behind in our competition with China. US troops were still engaged in America's longest war. Our adversaries were gaining strength. And the nation and the world were in the midst of a global pandemic," a senior administration official said, in previewing the speech.St John's Church Service

Death toll rises to at least 24 as first identifications emerge of Los Angeles residents killed in fires

Katherine Franke cited toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine'A tenured law professor at Columbia University who advocated for pro-Palestinian students on campus says she was in effect forced out of the university, citing a toxic and hostile environment for legitimate debate around the war in Israel and Palestine".Katherine Franke announced on Friday that she had reached an agreement with Columbia University that relieved her of her obligations to teach or participate in faculty governance" after serving on the Columbia law faculty for 25 years. Continue reading...

The American Idol winner and Grammy-winning country singer will perform America the Beautiful at the ceremonyThe country singer Carrie Underwood is scheduled to perform at Donald Trump's second inauguration this month.A spokesperson confirmed to Axios that the star will be on the lineup. Underwood, who rose to fame after winning the fourth season of American Idol, will perform America the Beautiful. Continue reading...

The judge who handled Trump's classified documents case allows the first part of Jack Smith's report to be publicJack Smith's report into Donald Trump's prosecution on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election could become public as soon as Tuesday after a federal judge denied a last-ditch attempt by the president-elect to stop it from being released.The second volume of the report into Trump's mishandling of classified documents will remain confidential unless the US district judge, Aileen Cannon, who oversaw that case in Florida, also allows that part to be released. Continue reading...

As national populist parties gain ground in the west, progressives must put social and climate priorities ahead of market interestsDifferent year, same direction of travel. The likely formation of the first far-right-led government in Austria's postwar history, after the breakdown this month of coalition talks between mainstream parties, is the latest confirmation of the illiberal drift in western democracies. Only a few years ago, Viktor Orban's Hungary remained a troublesome outlier in the European Union. These days, variations on Mr Orban's ethno-nationalist approach to 21st-century politics are flourishing across the continent. And in a week's time, Donald Trump will be back in the White House.In an era of stagnating living standards and rising inequality, the growing appeal of national populism should not come as a surprise. The targeting of immigration, liberal elites" and globalisation has channelled resentments felt in deindustrialised regions, where good jobs and a sense of identity were lost as capital and investment moved elsewhere. The migration of the less well-off towards parties of the far right is a symptom of times in which trust in mainstream politics has collapsed. Continue reading...

To date, US hedge fund has been able to lob insults at targets while escaping detailed scrutinyThe great advantage of hostile takeover battles for public companies is that you get a clean punch-up. The records of both parties - bidder and target - are put in the spotlight. Every claim is tested in open argument over many weeks. At the end of the process, shareholders make an informed choice. Voting turnout is usually high because only the most dozy investors fail to notice what's at stake.Unfortunately, the current scrap for control of seven UK investment trusts is not like that. That is most obviously the case because Saba, the US hedge fund led by Boaz Weinstein, is not making a takeover bid. Its proposal instead is to sack the boards of all seven trusts, install its own people, and, possibly, appoint itself as fund manager. So not a takeover - but very definitely an attempt by a minority shareholder (Saba has stakes in the seven trusts of between 19% and 29%) to seize control. Continue reading...

Victims of grooming gangs' have been badly let down, but children must be protected on social media as well as in the real worldTwo seemingly contradictory things are true. It was appalling for the UK's domestic policy agenda to be hijacked last week by Elon Musk's blaze of interest in child sexual exploitation gangs. And government action in response to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse was long overdue. As ministers look in more detail at plans announced in a panic, it is essential that the many anxieties surrounding group-based child sexual exploitation - euphemistically known as grooming gangs" because of the techniques used to ensnare vulnerable girls - do not distract from the seriousness of the issue.On Friday, Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, added his voice to those calling for a new inquiry into child sexual exploitation - a specific form of abuse carried out in exchange for money or other things that victims want or need; and often involving financial advantage for perpetrators, who traffic children under their control. A large majority of group-based child sex offences (83% in 2023) are committed by white men, although some areas have a problem with gangs of mainly Pakistani-heritage abusers. It is true that the inquiry's broad remit did not include a thorough investigation of child sexual exploitation specifically. There are many gaps in the data, as multiple reviews have noted.Susanna Rustin is a Guardian social affairs journalist Continue reading...

Drone footage shows the scale of devastation in southern California when compared with Google Earth images from before the wildfires. Footage from Altadena, Malibu and Pacific Palisades shows buildings razed to the ground along whole streets in Los Angeles county

Mikel Arteta's team have had a painful start to 2025 and are now facing challenges in three competitions

The online lender has thrived as it helped extend $400m in loans with its biggest individual investor, Don HankeyAs the dust started to settle after the deadly 6 January Capitol attack in 2021, Donald Trump found himself losing corporate allies.Shocked by the rampage that followed efforts to overturn the US presidential election, companies at home and abroad were suspending political donations and reviewing their ties with the outgoing leader. Even Deutsche Bank - which had propped up the Trump Organization for two decades - decided it would no longer do business with the disgraced politician. Continue reading...

Questions raised of whether Palisades fire is connected to earlier fire put out new year's day, with possible human origins

His easing of regulations could leave many unprotected from financial manipulation, misconduct and bursting bubblesAs the United States prepares for Donald Trump's inauguration on 20 January, all eyes are on the cryptocurrency markets. After Bitcoin's price reached $100,000 (81,917) for the first time in history in December 2024, the cryptocurrency community is eagerly anticipating Trump's fulfilment of his campaign promise to make the US the crypto capital of the planet". Some analysts predict that Bitcoin's price could range between $78,000 and $250,000 in 2025.Blockchain technology has numerous applications beyond crypto payments - for example, in supply chain and logistics. But it is the price surges of Bitcoin, Ethereum and meme coins" that capture the majority of public attention. Speculative demand and the potential for abnormal returns, which are rarely found in other financial markets, remain key drivers of their prices.Larisa Yarovaya is an associate professor of finance and director of the Centre for Digital Finance at Southampton Business School

We'd like to hear about the disaster's financial impact on people who have lost their home, business, or community - their mortgages, lost possessions, rents, insurances and investmentsCalifornia homeowners and business owners who lost everything in the devastating Los Angeles-area fires now have to tackle their insurance companies to recover the value of their homeowners' policies - if they are lucky enough to have insurance at all.With estimates of the economic damage from the fires now reaching $52bn-$57bn, we'd like to hear what financial consequences people face due to the fires. Continue reading...

Wildfires fuelled by intense Santa Ana winds are still burning across Los Angeles county despite some progress at containing them. At least 24 people have died and more than 100,000 are under evacuation orders, while at least 12,000 structures have been incinerated

Incoming vice-president makes comments on Fox News, but later says pardons still remain a possibility for some peopleDonald Trump supporters who carried out violence during the US Capitol attack in early January 2021 should not be pardoned by him after he begins his second presidency, JD Vance said Sunday.The incoming vice-president's remarks on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream slightly deviated from a prior promise by Trump to consider pardoning even those who acknowledged assaulting police officers, saying a very corrupt system" left them with no choice". Continue reading...

The Australian was beaten by the Scot as the 10-time champion dropped a set on his way through to the second roundAnother multi-deuce service game for Coco Gauff, but this time it goes Sofia Kenin's way. We're back on serve on RLA in a match already averaging seven minutes per game. Gauff has served five aces and four double faults in an erratic opening. Kenin is just keeping the ball in play and showing that resilience from the baseline that became her trademark five years ago.20-year-old American Alex Michelsen has taken the first set off 12th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, breaking the Greek's serve in the 12th game. It would be no surprise if the 2023 finalist became the first major casualty of the tournament. Continue reading...

Massachusetts-based company is working on new treatments for gastrointestinal cancers

From Washington to Connecticut, pharmacists and healthcare workers pioneer efforts to limit abortion barriersDemocratic states across the country are embarking on a pioneering effort to increase access to abortion by teaching people who are not doctors to offer and perform the procedure.In Washington state, a first-of-its-kind pilot program called the Pharmacist Abortion Access Project announced this week that it trained 10 pharmacists to prescribe abortion pills; so far, they have prescribed abortions to 43 people. Continue reading...

The former speaker, a close ally, says the president-elect should learn from his new PBS film on great migrantsNewt Gingrich has been a force on the right of the Republican party for close to 50 years. Elected to Congress in Georgia in 1979, he became House speaker in 1995, then spent four years pursuing all-out war against Democrats, including the impeachment of Bill Clinton.Undeterred, he ran for the presidential nomination in 2012 and remains influential: a prolific author, forcefully pro-Trump and an adviser during the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Continue reading...

At least 24 people confirmed as killed in the fires so far. Plus, Bjork on her Cornucopia tour

He wants to seize the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland. And now wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of AmericaDonald Trump's silly season has already caused irreparable damage to United States national security. Despite not yet holding office for a minute, Trump has made it plain that in his second term the U.S. will be an unreliable partner swayed by his personal whim, that he has no respect for historic alliances and that he has contempt for the rule-based international order that the U.S. has led since the end of World War II to prevent the reemergence of catastrophic great power collisions.Beginning with his Merry Christmas to all" tweet that he wanted to seize the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland, Trump has not relented in his absurd claims, extended to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. His disdain for the sovereignty of independent nations-two of them NATO allies and Panama a fellow member of the Organization of American States-has undermined the credibility of opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's ambition to grab Taiwan. The soft power of the U.S., ultimately based on its democratic example and respect for international order, has been tossed away by Trump's fantasy Manifest Destiny that is simply the latest wrinkle in his isolationism. Hardly the Rough Rider, if Trump were acting as Putin's or Xi's agent he could not have kowtowed more for their benefit.Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth

The quarterbacks are the NFL's puppet masters, manipulating defenses in a way that is borderline unprecedentedThree AFC playoff games. Three blowouts. It's a good job the league dropped the Super" part from their Wildcard Weekend sales pitch.But within those blowouts was something magical, the appetizer to what should be the tastiest main course of the season: Lamar Jackson and the Ravens against Josh Allen's Bills in a win-or-go-home, be-crowned-or-memed, MVP-off in the divisional round this coming weekend. Continue reading...

An unusual name can have a detrimental impact on your life and finances - but in my experience, it also has advantagesGrowing up, there was a wearying and familiar pattern for me on the first day of school, or whenever a substitute teacher took the register.Blake."Xaymaca Awoyungbo is a freelance football writer and film director Continue reading...

Rightwing leaders such as Meloni and Orban set themselves up as Trump whisperers - but they only want to preserve their own interestsA far-right wind is blowing across the Atlantic. While the rise of the populist right in Europe predated Donald Trump's re-election, far-right parties, leaders and governments across Europe are being bolstered by his imminent return to power, and by Elon Musk's rising political star. There is some hope that Trump's presidency could have a unifying effect on Europe - and on issues such as defence policy, I believe it might.Trump's apparent disregard for international law, sovereign borders and the US's Nato allies with his ludicrous threat, even before his second term begins, to annex Greenland by force, drew a swift and unified reaction from France, Germany and Spain, whose leaders made it clear that they are, as you would expect, appalled and standing with Denmark. Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Trump's remarks had triggered incomprehension" among European leaders.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Appointment of progressive Robert McElroy comes as rightwing Catholics wield significant influence in US capitalWhen the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, sought to shut down a Catholic charity that was was providing shelter and aid to undocumented migrants at the border, the San Diego cardinal, Robert McElroy, took a robust public stand against the attempt.The state of Texas is using governmental pressure to curtail the work of the Church in one of its most fundamental obligations: to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless, and to provide drink to the thirsty," McElroy said in a statement at the time. No government can morally tell us to abandon or limit this mission." Continue reading...

As wildfires burn through 40,000 acres, people return home for some belongings as they brace for new dangerWhen Aaron McNeil moved from Maryland to Los Angeles three years ago, his biggest worry was earthquakes.I had heard of a fire here and there in this area, but it wasn't anything to be really concerned about," McNeil saidon Sunday. Continue reading...

Almost two years into the war, Sudan is facing anarchy, famine, genocide - and ambivalence from the rest of the worldSudan's war, which began in April 2023, is closing in on its second year. No one expects or becomes accustomed to war, but it is striking that the most common sentiment I hear among Sudanese people - and even some outside observers - is that they still can't believe this is happening.Since the calamitous falling out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia that was previously the army's partner in power, the speed at which the country has unravelled, and the overlapping crises that the war has caused, have been hard to fathom. Millions are displaced, both within and outside the country. Famine is blighting hundreds of thousands. Sexual violence is taking place on a staggering" scale, according to the United Nations. In areas where RSF soldiers are reportedly raping women and girls, some victims have taken their own lives and potential victims contemplate taking them pre-emptively. In a part of Gezira state, a young woman told me that when they heard that the RSF was approaching, she and her female relatives forged a suicide pact.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

This blog has now closed but you can find all our coverage of the wildfires in California here.A video shows a fire tornado spotted in the Palisades blaze:As is noted in our news report on the California wildfires, at least 20 arrests have been made for looting. Officials have imposed a mandatory curfew in evacuation zones as well as in the city of Santa Monica, which is next to Pacific Palisades. Continue reading...

Global events can feel bigger and more intractable than ever, but there's still hope Continue reading...

The 1990 protest track has nothing to do with families losing everything they have' says the rapper, hitting out at TikTok and Instagram videos

More than 1,800 structures destroyed as Eaton and Palisades fires still less than 30% contained

Two planeloads of more than 70 firefighters, along with their equipment, landed at Los Angeles International Airport where they were greeted by California governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom expressed gratitude for Mexico's support, emphasising the importance of international cooperation and friendship. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says 150 firefighters are ready to be deployed, days after Donald Trump Jr accused LA's fire department of donating supplies to UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to assist those affected by the devastating wildfires in California, with 150 Ukrainian firefighters ready to go.The offer by the Ukrainian president comes three days after Donald Trump Jr, son of US president-elect Donald Trump, responded to the Los Angeles wildfires by appearing to blame Ukraine on social media. Oh look of course the LA fire department donated a bunch of their supplies to Ukraine," Trump Jr said in a post on X on 8 January. Continue reading...

County sheriff says anyone who tries to scam the thousands of people looking for accommodations will be prosecuted

Former top UK official believes intensifying economic pressure on Tehran would erode internal support for regimeThe UK should back Donald Trump's expected maximum economic sanctions against Iran as part of an effort to encourage nationals to end their support for the current regime in Tehran, Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, argues in a report published on Monday.He writes: It is not for the west, let alone the UK, to determine who rules Iran. That is for the Iranian people. But we can make clear that the right choice will bring benefits just as the wrong one will bring more of the same." Continue reading...

Governor calls for a version of Marshall Plan as investigators speculate power lines may have sparked dry vegetationGavin Newsom is scheduled to ease building restrictions for victims of the Los Angeles wildfires - part of a reconstruction effort that he said on Sunday would need a California version of the Marshall Plan, the US-led effort to rebuild western Europe after the second world war.The California governor ordered the state's tough environmental laws and permitting requirements to be suspended to help wildfire victims rebuild their homes and businesses, with costs so far placed at $135bn to $150bn over 10 years, according to AccuWeather. Continue reading...

Side-by-side footage of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles shows the extent of the destruction caused by the Palisades wildfire. The original video shows homes and businesses in the affluent Los Angeles neighbourhood and was filmed by a couple who create travel content for social media. Reporters then retraced their steps after the wildfire destroyed large swathes of the area, showing a devastating scene of homes reduced to rubble and burnt-out cars Continue reading...

Los Angeles sheriff Robert Luna said during a briefing that 16 people had been reported missing amid the deadly wildfires which are ravaging the southern California city. At least 16 people have been killed in the blazes and thousands of firefighters are battling the flames being swept across vast swathes of the city by the strong winds

The vast majority of countries have outlawed the death penalty. Yet the annual toll is growing - and Donald Trump wants to increase its useThe good news: Zimbabwe has just banned the death penalty. While it should remove an exemption clause, which might allow for capital punishment's return were a state of emergency to be declared, the decision is another welcome step in the global journey towards abolition: 113 states have now banned executions.The bad news is that fewer countries have been killing more people in the last few years. Last May, Amnesty International recorded 1,153 executions in 2023, a 31% increase from the previous year and the highest level for almost a decade. (The figure is an underestimate since countries including China, believed to be the world's largest executioner, do not publish data on the death penalty.) There was no letup in 2024. Iran reportedly executed more than 900people. Saudi Arabia is believed to have killed another 330, compared with 172 in 2023. Continue reading...

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Ex-Trump adviser denounces tech CEO's embrace of some forms of immigration and vows to take this guy down'In an escalation of discontent among the highest-profile far-right followers of Donald Trump, his former adviser Steve Bannon has called Trump's newest favorite, Elon Musk, racist" and a truly evil guy", pledging to take this guy down" and kick him out of the Maga movement.In an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper in Italy, excerpts of which were published this weekend by Breitbart, Bannon criticised Musk's embrace of some forms of immigration and vowed to ensure that Musk does not have top-level access to the White House. Continue reading...