With more than 15,000 structures burned to the ground, experts say Angelenos of all income levels will be affectedHours after losing her house to the Palisades fire in Los Angeles, Charlotta La Via was looking out of her hotel window and half-wishing she'd booked the hotel across the street when she spotted a for lease" sign on a building nearby.It was advertising a luxury apartment complex in downtown Santa Monica, more like a five-star hotel than conventional living, with prices to match. But she and her husband didn't hesitate. They signed a lease on a three-bedroom apartment almost as soon as they'd finished touring it. Continue reading...
If criminal charges were meant to deter acts of violence, the pardons of over 1,500 people do the opposite, say expertsDonald Trump spent the four years after the January 6 insurrection attempting to rewrite the violence and chaos he inspired as his supporters stormed the US Capitol.On the first day of his second term as president, he took the rewriting to its final step by issuing pardons and reducing sentences for those involved in the insurrection, including the leaders of far-right militias and those who battled with police that day. Continue reading...
It's time to celebrate all the little things in life, according to an annoyingly upbeat Belgian campaigner. But what if whingeing is actually good for you?April may be the cruellest month - but January is easily the most depressing. The weather outside is frightful and, around this time, everyone's despondently giving up their new year resolutions. It's dreary and dark and, if you're the complaining sort (which, you may have noticed, I quite definitively am), there's - waves hands vaguely at our crumbling dumpster fire of a planet - a lot to complain about. Indeed, a new report has found that champagne sales are sinking. Not just because of dry January, but because people can't find much to celebrate.Enter Isabelle Gonnissen, a Belgian woman who seems to be annoyingly obsessed with positivity. She wants all the whingers and whiners out there to change their tune and celebrate the little things in life. Several years ago, Gonnissen launched a 30 Days Without Complaining challenge in Belgium; this year, she's reportedly bringing it to the Netherlands. According to the NL Times, the campaign launched on Blue Monday (the third Monday of January), which is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. It probably isn't, by the way. Rather, Blue Monday is a pseudoscientific PR stunt that entrenched itself into our consciousness because it feels kind of true - but I'm not going to grumble about that now. In fact, I'm going to try not to grumble at all. There's no way I can give up complaining for 30 days, but I'll heroically give it a go for the next few sentences. Continue reading...
With concern being voiced over TV ratings, we asked insiders what they would change to make the NBA more attractive to viewersWhen four-time champion Robert Parish played in the NBA, there was no such thing as load management. While the idea, which was born in San Antonio as the Spurs managed the twilight years of stars like Tim Duncan, has since become widespread, Parish, who played the most regular season games in NBA history, says he doesn't like it. Indeed, ridding the NBA of load management is one of the many tweaks a chorus of fans and former players have been suggesting lately. As conversations continue about why early season ratings have been down, fixes galore have been suggested. Below, we wanted to share some more ideas from five distinguished NBA vets.Robert Parish (four-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer): Availability. I think that would improve the fans' appetite for today's NBA. In my opinion, if today's generation of players would take better care of themselves, load management would not even be a concern. I know if I was a fan and I was buying a ticket and I waited a month for my favorite player to come to town and they're not playing because of load management, I would have an attitude. Continue reading...
US president reinstates Cuba on terror list despite Biden deal to release prisoners jailed over demonstrationsThe families of Cuban protesters jailed in anti-government demonstrations are waiting anxiously to see if the government will continue with a planned prisoner release after Donald Trump reneged on a deal made last week by Joe Biden.Activists from the human rights group Justicia 11J believe around 150 prisoners have been released so far of the 553 agreed with the Catholic church. Continue reading...
In the end, the best bet against oligarchy remains countervailing powerTwenty years ago, someone calling the United States an oligarchy would have been labelled a crazy commie or, at best, cuckoo. Now Biden made it central to his goodbye to the American people - and warned of a tech-industrial complex to boot.It is a salutary recognition that, especially since the US supreme court started to open the floodgates of dark money in politics, wealthy individuals face few obstacles in purchasing political power. But now oligarchs like Musk put themselves at the center of political campaigns and aspire to govern. That new visibility - evidenced by the tech leaders seated in front of Trump's cabinet at the inauguration - could also make oligarchs more politically vulnerable.Jan-Werner Muller is a professor of politics at Princeton University. Continue reading...
Right Rev Mariann Budde's appeal amounts to bold public criticism and prompts frosty response from US presidentThe Episcopal bishop of Washington has appealed directly to Donald Trump to have mercy upon" communities across the country targeted by the new administration's immigration and LGBTQ+ policies.There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives," the Right Rev Mariann Budde said from the pulpit at an inaugural prayer service sermon at the Washington National Cathedral, as Trump sat stone-faced in the front row, alongside Melania Trump and JD Vance. Continue reading...
Germany's capital was known for its affordable rents. Now furnished temporary' flats risk destroying the heart of the cityFrom London and other overpriced cities, we often look to Berlin as a beacon of progressive housing politics. Renting in the capital, as some 84% of households do, is associated with secure, unlimited, rent-controlled tenancies. Berliners have rallied behind moves to freeze rents and expropriate hundreds of thousands of apartments from corporate landlords. But in the last few years, Berlin's housing crisis has escalated to unprecedented proportions, with median asking rents across the city rising by 21.2% in 2023 alone. Far from poor but sexy", as it was once dubbed by its own mayor, Berlin now has one of the most overheated property markets in the world.The reasons for Berlin's housing crisis are complex, yet there is one simple and resolvable mechanism driving the stratospheric rent increases of recent years: the large-scale exploitation by landlords of a strange loophole in German federal law. If apartments are rented out as temporary" and furnished", owners can evade tenancy regulations and charge considerably higher rents.Tim White is a researcher and writer studying housing, cities and inequality. He is Alexander von Humboldt research fellow at the Free University of Berlin and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics Continue reading...
Difficult choices between alignment with Europe and the US are coming at the prime minister fast. He risks losing control of the debateWhen all eyes at Westminster are fixed on Washington, it is easy to forget how little attention is paid back in return.Unlike Mexico and Canada, Britain doesn't have a long border with the US. It doesn't rival America's superpower primacy on the planet, unlike China. And it doesn't export more goods across the Atlantic than it imports - a trait Donald Trump despises about the European Union. Continue reading...
New Jersey Democratic attorney general Matthew Platkin said that he's leading a group of states, the district of Columbia and the city of San Francisco, in filing a lawsuit blocking president Trump's executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. The coalition filed a lawsuit in a federal court arguing the Republican president's effort to end birthright citizenship is a violation of the US constitution
by Marina Dunbar in Washington and agencies on (#6TQ91)
Far-right figures Enrique Tarrio and Steward Rhodes set free after being imprisoned for helping plot Capitol attackExtremist supporters of Donald Trump who attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 or were involved in planning the insurrection began leaving prison on Tuesday, after the newly installed president issued sweeping pardons shortly after being sworn in on Monday.The Republican president's pardon of 1,500 defendants drew outrage from lawmakers who were endangered in the attack, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying his 2020 loss to Joe Biden. Continue reading...
New Orleans and Houston see record snow leading to closed highways and canceled schoolsA once in a lifetime" winter storm sweeping through the southern United States on Tuesday dumped snow at levels millions of residents had never seen before.The storm blanketed New Orleans and Houston with record snow that closed highways, grounded nearly all flights and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days. Continue reading...
Fielding questions from reporters in Washington, newly inaugurated president Donald Trump said it 'sounds likely' that the US would impose sanctions on Russia if they refuse to take part in negotiations on the war in Ukraine. Asked if the US would keep sending weapons to the Ukraine or 'turn off the tap soon', Trump said 'we're looking at that' before saying the European Union 'should be paying a lot more than they're paying'
President Donald Trump began his first full day in office attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral. The Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde, pleaded with Trump during the service, asking the newly elected president to protect immigrants and respect gay rights. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives,' she said as Trump and his family watched on. After the inauguration, Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown and promised mass deportations
Donald Trump has stated the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America. Residents of Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf of Mexico labelled the idea 'wrong' and 'absurd'
New York representative Elise Stefanik endorsed Israeli claims of biblical rights to the entire West Bank during a Senate confirmation hearing. Trump nominated Stefanik to be his UN ambassador. The confirmation hearing highlighted very real rifts between the US and UN over Israel policy. Stefanik's view is at odds with international consensus regarding Israeli settlements in occupied territories, although it remains in line with the Trump administration posturing Continue reading...
Elise Stefanik's comments at Senate hearing align her with Israeli far right and highlight US-UN rifts over Israel policyDonald Trump's nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations has endorsed Israeli claims of biblical rights to the entire West Bank during a Senate confirmation hearing, aligning herself with positions that could complicate diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.The New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a Republican, was confronted on Tuesday over her backing of a position that aligns her with the Israeli far right, including Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Continue reading...
The first arrest of a sitting president, over his declaration of martial law, shows the strength of the nation's safeguards - but also that more must be doneSouth Korean presidencies have often ended badly. Office holders have been assassinated, ousted and impeached. Former leaders have faced corruption investigations and sometimes lengthy prison terms.Yoon Suk Yeol has nonetheless set a precedent as the first president to be arrested in office. Accused of insurrection over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, the former prosecutor has swapped his suits for the standard khaki uniform of a detainee. In apiquant detail, the man who led his country's first impeachment of a president, ParkGeunhye, has alsobeen impeached himself. His powers are currentlysuspended. Continue reading...
Indian government said to be collaborating with US authorities to protect visas for workers and keep close ties with Trump administrationThe Indian government has identified 18,000 emigrants living in the US illegally that it intends to repatriate in a bid to ease pressures under Donald Trump, according to reports.Sources who spoke to Bloomberg said the Indian government was collaborating with the US authorities to identify undocumented Indian immigrants for deportation in order to demonstrate a willingness to work closely with the new Trump administration and protect legal immigration visas for Indian citizens. Continue reading...
A notable international contingent turned up for Trump's swearing-in as well as galas and parties surrounding the eventAside from the US tech billionaires and the Maga crowd, Trump's inauguration included a notable international contingent, from fringe far-right European politicians to an Irish cage fighter.Here are some key figures who flew overseas for Trump's swearing-in, as well as galas and parties surrounding the event. Continue reading...
Despite scandal after scandal, Koreans have shown their solidarity with one another, and the resilience of their institutionsCompared with other advanced industrialised countries, South Korea is still a young democracy, having only transitioned from authoritarian to democratic rule in 1987. However, the political freedoms and beliefs Koreans have come to take for granted were suddenly shattered on 3 December, when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, citing anti-state activities and collaboration with North Korea by some political actors as his reason for doing so.His actions utterly shocked the country, and MPs promptly gathered at the national assembly in a clear act of defiance of the ban on political activities that accompanied the imposition of martial law. All 190 members of parliament who were present that night (out of a total of 300) had made it through the cordons of special forces around the parliament building and voted to nullify the law within hours of its imposition. President Yoon quickly repealed the law. Tens of thousands of ordinary citizens filled the streets around the national assembly calling for presidential impeachment. It took two attempts before enough MPs would vote to impeach the president. Watching Yoon appear at his impeachment hearing today, these may appear to be very dark days for democracy. But in reality, these events should give Koreans hope.Youngmi Kim is senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and director of the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Continue reading...
The incoming president is ready to sign a slew of executive orders on day one of his second term. Here's what's plannedIn the grand theatre of American politics, presidential inaugurations typically follow a familiar script: the oath, the speech, a few carefully chosen executive orders to satisfy campaign promises. Franklin D Roosevelt used his first day to tackle the banking crisis. Barack Obama moved to close Guantanamo Bay (though it remains open). Donald Trump's first term began with a single executive order targeting Obamacare.But as Trump prepares to return to the White House for round two, he's promising to tear up the traditional presidential playbook entirely. With more than 100 executive orders reportedly prepared, his agenda represents a new attempt to reshape American governance through sheer executive will. It's a blueprint that, if enacted, would touch everything from international trade to immigration, from cryptocurrency to classroom curriculums. Continue reading...
Having done his best to shut down the social media platform, the new president is now being hailed as its saviour. And once again the Democrats have egg on their facesPolitics in the US has had its fair share of stupid moments, but the recent banning and (sort of) unbanning of TikTok may rank as one of the stupidest. At the same time, the episode neatly encapsulates the current moment: it's a perfect example of Donald Trump's showmanship, the Democrats' incompetence and the limits of bipartisanship. If I were a TikTok teen I'd come up with some sort of experimental dance to illustrate these themes but I'm old and completely devoid of rhythm, so words are going to have to suffice.Let's start with Trump, who, with his usual talent for self-promotion, has positioned himself as the guy who brought TikTok back from the dead, despite being responsible for signing its death warrant in the first place. To refresh everyone's memory, in 2020 Trump issued vaguely worded executive orders that described TikTok and WeChat as threats to national security. There doesn't seem to be much evidence, by the way, that TikTok is any more of a threat to national security than any of the other data-sucking apps we all have on our phones. The main argument from its critics seems to be that it has Chinese owners - and they're clearly not going to be responsible stewards of people's data in the way that Americans such as Mark Zuckerberg are. Continue reading...
The president can't fully eliminate the federal agency, but an overhaul could disrupt critical services for students who are of color, low-income or LGBTQ+For many students of color, access to an equitable education is dependent on the initiatives and programs provided by the Department of Education. Among its various functions, the department provides targeted funding for low-income students, collects data on educational outcomes and investigates potential bias - essential functions that help underserved students. But such services stand to be disrupted or ended entirely as Donald Trump plans to dismantle the department during his second tenure.In addition to nominating for education secretary the former WWE executive Linda McMahon, who served on Connecticut's state board of education for one year and has no other notable education experience, Trump has pledged to [close] up" the department and return" education rights to the states. Though Trump alone cannot eliminate the federal agency, as such an act requires congressional approval beyond a simple majority, experts have warned that any type of overhaul could disrupt the department's critical roles, especially for marginalized students. Continue reading...
President and first lady's business ventures show shameful conflicts of interest', says ex-government ethics officialDonald Trump was accused of corruption as he returned to the White House days after launching a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency meme coin. Former government ethics officials and presidential experts said the venture amounted to a shameful" conflict of interest.The president and his wife, Melania, each announced their own respective coins ahead of his inauguration. Both were valued at billions of dollars as Trump took the oath of office on Monday. Continue reading...
The new US president incorrectly said Spain is a member of the Brics grouping of nations, and that this was the reason it was not maintaining defence spending levels. When asked by a reporter about Spain's defence spending, Trump dismissively asked if he knew what Brics was, adding: 'You'll figure it out'. Brics is a bloc of 10 emerging economies, of which no EU state is currently a member
Among dozens of other actions, Trump pardons about 1,500 of the January 6 defendants, including many convicted of violent offenses. Plus, Elon Musk gives fascist-style salutes at rally
A reporter at the German TV channel Phoenix went off-script while he was on air during Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, asking colleagues: 'How long did you want to stay with this shit?'
Much remains uncertain about the path the next four years will take us down. But it's crystal clear who's going to come out ahead and who it's all forNeedless to say, a nation capable of sending a man like Donald Trump to the White House twice is not well. It was of course possible to understand his election in 2016 as a fluke, a win delivered by the Electoral College over the opposition of most voters. But the legitimacy of his election this time around has shifted the mood around his second inauguration significantly. The protests have been sparser, the liberal pundits are quieter, the resistance, all told, seems weaker. Ten years into the Trump era and due for at least another four, we've been humbled into near-impotence, a victory for the only ideology Trump has ever been committed to, which is humiliation.It must have been a real pleasure, given this, to have Biden, Harris, and much of the Democratic party's leadership sit and listen Monday afternoon to an inauguration speech that featured many of the lies and distortions about the Biden administration that he trotted out on the campaign trail. The invasion of criminal immigrants, economic decline, the abolition of free speech, the indoctrination of children - all of it's over and all will be well now that America's being carried forth not only into a new administration but, per Trump, a new era in American history.Osita Nwanevu is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
The Philadelphia Eagles boast a formidable defense. But the rookie quarterback's eerie calm could cause another upsetNow that the Washington Commanders have achieved the highly unlikely by upsetting the NFC's one-seed Detroit Lions with a decisive 45-31 win in the divisional round of the playoffs, it's time to ask if the team, who haven't been to a Super Bowl since the end of the 1991 season, can do so again.If that's to happen, the Commanders and their rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, will have to get past the Philadelphia Eagles, their NFC East neighbors and the conference's two-seed. Continue reading...
It loves freedom and equality, abhors tyranny, values minding your own business and hates, above all, to be told what to do. This will haunt Trump soon enoughAt noon ET on Monday, the US presidency changed hands, and one of the largest governments in the world rearranged itself in service to the petulance and vulgarity of the nation's new president.At the Pentagon, a portrait of a general who Donald Trump had found insufficiently deferential to him in his first term was removed from a wall; photographs of the empty spot circulated on social media. Trump was set to sign a bevvy of executive orders, pledging to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, to revoke policies promoting wind energy and electric cars, and to exert executive powers to speed up the construction of oil pipelines.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Events in Vienna are forcing Germany's bickering mainstream parties to rally together. But the AfD could yet outflank the centreCould Germany go the way of Austria? Could the party of the far right be invited to form a government? What was previously deemed impossible, then revised down to improbable, is now possible. There are two scenarios in which this could happen.Fast forward to Germany's general election day on 23 February and the following assumptions: Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) win, reasonably comfortably, at around their present poll rating of 30%. The far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) comes second, with an impressive vote share of between 20% and 25%. Nevertheless, it is excluded from coalition negotiations thanks to the firewall" established several years ago by the mainstream parties to keep extreme groupings at bay. Continue reading...
Planet-sparing Paris agreement goes out the window, along with punishment for January 6 insurrectionists, as Donald Trump glories in his return to power
Trump took a whistlestop world tour from his Oval Office desk, touching on topics including imposing tariffs, rebuilding Gaza and withdrawing (again) from the Paris climate agreement and the WHO
More than 1,600 people eligible to resettle in the United States are waiting to flee Afghanistan and Pakistan, say advocatesMore than 1,600 Afghans eligible to enter the US as refugees will see their entry blocked under an executive order signed by Donald Trump on Monday evening that suspends the resettlement of all refugees to the United States for an indefinite period of time.The decision has led to panic among prospective Afghan refugees, including family members of hundreds of active-duty service personnel and children waiting to be reunited with family members already in the US, according to a leading refugee resettlement activist and a US official who spoke with the Guardian on condition of anonymity. Continue reading...
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