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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...

European futures also down more than 3% after Trump indicates tariffs will definitely happen' in EU countries

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...

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...

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...

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer leads charge against president's tax plans on neighbors and alliesTop Democrats have slammed Donald Trump's plans to impose serious tariffs on the US's neighbors and allies, warning that they will hit working families and small businesses hard, even as the president said any pain they suffered would be worth the price".Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the US senate, led the charge by saying the president's threatened tariffs would likely hit Americans in their wallets". It would be nice if Donald Trump could start focusing on getting the prices down instead of making them go up." Continue reading...

How can neighbors have such a fundamental disagreement about seemingly basic concepts of rightness and justice?In 2016, it was easy for the left to process Donald Trump's election as a fluke - thanks to the electoral college, he'd essentially won on a technicality. But as he took office once again this month after winning the US popular vote, there is a sense that his every action comes with the tacit endorsement of the voting public.Trump is, of course, far from the first American leader to be accused of cruelty. What's striking about him is that he doesn't pretend otherwise. Presidents in recent memory at least paid lip service to compassion; the new one has made exclusion, spite and bullying his brand. He seems to celebrate violating the basic rules we're taught from infancy: be kind to others, share resources, welcome those who may seem different. Continue reading...

Senate File 125 could limit access to any treatment that causes harm' to the heart, lungs, brain and other organsIn an effort to restrict abortion access, Wyoming Republicans authored a bill that could choke access to a host of life-saving medical procedures, from chemotherapy to heart surgery.State judge Melissa Owens overturned Wyoming's abortion bans in November 2024, citing the state's constitutionally guaranteed right to healthcare. The Republican state senator Cheri Steinmetz and the bill's eight co-sponsors took issue with the ruling, and sought to draw up a definition of healthcare that excludes abortion. Continue reading...

New fact sheet bears similarity to Heritage Foundation's Project Esther, which aims to quash US support of PalestineCritics warn that a new executive order from Donald Trump's administration purporting to combat antisemitism", and a corresponding fact sheet suggesting deporting international students who protest Israel, could chill political speech on campuses.The fact sheet released before Trump signed the order on Wednesday quoted the president as saying: To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before." Continue reading...

Starbucks wants people to stop hanging out in its US branches without buying anything. But sometimes we all need somewhere to sit that isn't homeThere has been a kerfuffle about cafes recently. In the US, Starbucks' new Coffeehouse Code of Conduct" is making people buy something or leave, reversing its previous laid-back attitude. Meanwhile, in Paris, cultural barricades are being raised between trad cafes and the kind that sell 5 almond milk cortados. The New York Times last month set out the zinc bar v barista" philosophical divide between classic community hubs and hipster roasteries in the city, while a Parisienne on TikTok has posted a video pointing out three new-gen coffee shops within 50 metres of each other in the Marais, explaining that French people take our time to have a coffee ... we sit on a terrace", but now les Americains" are demanding takeaway americanos.This is about what cafes are for - and the answer has always been more than coffee. Seventeenth-century coffee houses offered a democratic meeting space (well, unless you were a woman). Revolution brewed in US and French ones in the 18th century. They were also, historically, a refuge. In one of her memoirs, Simone de Beauvoir described spending whole days in the Cafe de Flore through the freezing winter of 1942-43, arriving early to get the hottest spot, next to the stovepipe. We always had a shock of pleasure, emerging from the cold darkness, coming into this warm, bright den," she wrote. She and others who did the same became afamily" of regulars. We felt at home, safe." Continue reading...

Billionaires and corporations leading TV networks and newspapers seem to have caved to the president's pressureIn a tumultuous first two weeks back in power in the White House, Donald Trump has targeted many familiar enemies, including one of his most passionate obsessions: the US media, whom he has frequently dubbed enemies of the people".Trump's new federal communications chair, Brendan Carr, is reported to have ordered an investigation into the sponsorship practices of taxpayer-supported NPR and PBS member stations - a media network long hated by conservatives who accuse it of a liberal slant. Continue reading...

Employees condemn unprecedented and scary' effort to push out those who had worked on diversity programsJeremy Wood thought he was safe from the shuttering of federal government diversity initiatives that he expected to start as soon as Donald Trump was sworn in.A Raleigh, North Carolina-based career civil servant in the US agriculture department, Wood had been among those tasked with implementing policies ordered by Joe Biden to curtail discrimination on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal government. Continue reading...

I saw them killed by sniper fire and drones. Why doesn't Labour condemn it? Why do arms keep flowing in Israel's direction?I had never imagined, when working as a professor of transplant surgery at a large teaching hospital in London, that one day I would find myself operating on an eight-year-old child who was bleeding to death, only to be told by the scrub nurse that there were no more gauze swabs available. But I found myself in that situation last August while operating at Nasser hospital in Gaza as a volunteer with Medical Aid for Palestinians (Map). Reduced to scooping out the blood with my hands, I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea - I was anxious that the child would not survive. Luckily she did, although many others did not.Having retired from the NHS, I decided to go to Gaza because it had become clear that there was a desperate need for surgical help, and I had the skills to contribute. Life as a transplant surgeon in London had been tough but hugely rewarding, and as a senior member of the transplant community I had enjoyed a certain status. This was going to be a different experience - but nothing prepared me for what I found when I arrived.Nizam Mamode is a humanitarian surgeon and retired professor of transplant surgery. He was a volunteer surgeon in an emergency medical team in Gaza, which was organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in August/September 2024Do 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...

About 14.7 million egg-laying hens have been affected as wholesale price of eggs climbs as much as 40 cents a weekEgg prices in the US have risen steeply over the last several weeks. Experts say they are likely to climb further as an avian flu outbreak decimates flocks across the country.Though the avian flu has been in the US since 2022, the largest outbreak started in October and is still affecting millions of hens. About 14.7 million egg-producing chickens have been affected by the avian flu since the start of January, surpassing the number of hens affected in all of 2023, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Continue reading...

But it's important to not limit our sense of what resistance looks likeAll those lists and instructions and editorials on how to resist authoritarianism and stand up for human rights, the rule of law and climate are good, and I both wholly support them and want to veer off from their recommendations here. Yes, everyone with any capacity to do so should join things, call politicians, support the groups and campaigns protecting the above. But it's important to not limit our sense of what resistance looks like to these versions of doing something. In addition to these formal, structured ways of defending what you believe in, there are ways of doing so woven into everyday life and our conversations and communications.Each of us needs to stand on principle, loudly, whenever, wherever we can. Used strategically, our voices can do a lot to preserve anti-authoritarian worldviews about facts, science, history, rights, justice and inclusion. In this moment, it matters to just be a person who, wherever the opportunity arises, affirms that the climate crisis is real and climate solutions benefit us all, immigrants are vital to our economy and their rights matter, trans people harm no one by their existence but face terrible harm, diversity strengthens enterprises and communities and our country, women's rights and equality should be non-negotiable.Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell's Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility Continue reading...

President's culture war' crusade targets DEI and LGBTQ+ rights in bid to spread rightwing agenda, experts say

The Louvre's proposed two-tier fees are a better way to fund museums than iffy corporate sponsorship dealsIntroducing, five years on, another Brexit bonus: the chance to support the renovation of the Louvre. President Emmanuel Macron has proposed paying for the renaissance" of the Paris museum, in part, by increasing entrance fees for visitors from outside the EU.After some initial attempts to represent this as a direct insult - Brits will be forced to pay more than EU residents" (the Mail) - even the rabidly pro-Brexit press appears to have accepted that the scheme applies globally, to all non-EU visitors: an exceptionally cunning way of Brit-targeting, even for the French. Continue reading...

Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, announces tit-for-tat 25% tariffs and warns of impeded access to vital goods critical to US security'The leaders of Canada and Mexico have hit back after Donald Trump signed an order authorizing drastic tariffs of up to 25% on their exports to the US, while China said it would complain to the World Trade Organization after it was also targeted by the president.Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, on Saturday night made a televised address announcing concrete measures including a tit-for-tat 25% tariff phased in across C$155bn ($107bn) worth of American products. Trudeau said Trump had put at risk US consumers' and industries' access to much-needed Canadian critical minerals and resources including oil, energy and timber. The prime minister promised to work with Canada's provinces to review dealings with the United States. Continue reading...

Tariffs on imports mean higher costs for finishing fuels, much of which is likely to be passed on to consumersUS consumers will see higher prices at the gas pump from Donald Trump's decision on Saturday to apply tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil, according to analysts and fuel traders.The likely hike in fuel prices reflects the double-edged nature of Trump's trade protections, which are designed to bolster domestic business and pressure US neighbors to curb illegal immigration and drug smuggling, but which will also run counter to his promises to tackle inflation. Continue reading...

Move would threaten life-saving global humanitarian aid programs, from HIV/Aids treatments to clean water accessThe website for the US Agency for International Development, or USAid, appeared to be offline on Saturday, as the Trump administration moves to put the free-standing agency, and its current $42.8bn budget for global humanitarian operations, under state department control.A message stating that the server IP address could not be found" appeared when attempts were made to access the website on Saturday. Continue reading...

The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, indicated multiple jihadists were killed and no civilians were harmedThe US military has conducted airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the country during Donald Trump's second term as president.The strikes were carried out against IS-Somalia in the Golis Mountains, in Somalia's semi-autonomous northern Puntland region. In 2015, IS-Somalia splintered from al-Shabaab, a much larger and more widely known jihadist organisation affiliated with al-Qaida, which controls parts of southern Somalia. Continue reading...

Aviation experts say piloting Black Hawk helicopters is a complex challenge but army defends training operationsIn March 2023, two US army Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed into a Kentucky farmer's field after a nighttime evacuation training mission, killing nine service members.That crash was among a dozen fatal crashes during army Black Hawk training missions since 2014 that claimed the lives of 47 service members and in April 2023 helped prompt Pentagon officials to temporarily ground and provide more training to all army aviators not involved in critical missions. Continue reading...

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor chair to lead party still reeling from extensive lossesKen Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, won the crowded race to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday.The move provides Martin with a powerful perch to determine the messaging and trajectory of a party that is still reeling from its extensive losses in the November election and confronting four more years of Donald Trump's leadership. Continue reading...

Other swaps due to new rotation' include NPR for Breitbart, NBC for One America News and Politico for HuffPostThe Trump administration's program to shake up media representation at official briefings and press calls in Washington is set to affect the Pentagon, with credentialed media being rotated out of assigned workspaces for media newcomers.The conservative-leaning One America News Network will replace NBC News, Breitbart will be given space held by National Public Radio, the New York Post has been offered the New York Times' workspace and HuffPost will replace Politico. Continue reading...

US bank, world's biggest bullion dealer, says it will deliver raw material against contracts that will expire in FebruaryUS banking giant JPMorgan plans to deliver $4bn of gold bullion weighing more than 937 tons to New York this month, before an anticipated escalation of Donald Trump's trade-rebalancing tariff moves planned for Saturday.The US bank, the world's biggest bullion dealer, said it would deliver the hefty raw material, weighed as 30m troy ounces of gold, or 1.875m lbs, against contracts that will expire in February. Continue reading...

The loss of the young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short in the American Eagle flight 5342 crash has ripped a hole in the tightly knit world of figure skatingEveryone agreed it was the best camp they'd ever been to. The most fun. There was an interpretive dance class. Successful jump drills were met with high-fives all around. On the day of the Chinese new year, the kids all went out for hot pot. And parents and coaches, regardless of athlete rivalries, intermingled in camaraderie; when one parent noticed a coach's voice grow hoarse, they pulled a ginger shot from out of their purse, handing it to her with a smile.National development camps, such as the one that took place following the US figure skating championships in Wichita last week, are held for the highest performing juvenile, intermediate and novice skaters. The young athletes with the greatest potential are offered this chance to watch the stars of their sport compete, and then learn from some of the most elite coaches in the country. Continue reading...

Campaign ally sowed trail of enmity during first Trump presidency and allegedly was present at January 6 riotThe Trump administration's evisceration of US overseas aid has been presided over by a campaign ally who sowed a trail of enmity at multiple agencies during the first Trump presidency and has been publicly identified as allegedly having been present at the January 6 insurrection when rioters stormed the US Capitol.Peter Marocco has accumulated power in the office of foreign assistance, informally called F", that traditionally has helped coordinate US foreign aid programs. But under Marocco, it has enforced a full-scale freeze on overseas aid and a stop-work order that has in effect halted operations and already led to hundreds of layoffs in the United States and overseas. Continue reading...

The blazes killed 29 people and are estimated to have caused more than $250bn in damagesThe Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which killed at least 29 people and burned across about 60 sq miles (155 sq km) around Los Angeles, have been fully contained.California's department of forestry and fire protection's announcement on Friday came more than three weeks after the two blazes battered this highly populated area of southern California, laying waste to entire neighborhoods - including Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Containment refers to how much of a perimeter has been established around a fire to prevent it from growing, according to NBC News. Continue reading...

Magnificent, irreplaceable 20th-century architecture made with craft and imagination was destroyed in the Palisades wildfiresPacific Palisades and its surrounding neighbourhoods, which have burned so ferociously over the past three weeks, happen to be the location of some beautiful and magnificent 20th-century architecture. Or were, as the fire has taken a terrible toll.Houses by the emigre Austrian modernist Richard Neutra have gone, as have most of the Park Planned Homes of 1948, an idealistic experiment in affordable modern living by the architect Gregory Ain. Stone chimney stacks are all that remain of the scaled-up cabin that was Will Rogers' ranch house. His 30-horse stables, in their centre a rotonda like an equine chapter house, are ashes. Continue reading...

Some 18,000 employees across the country were poised to walk out after union negotiations stalledA strike that would have seen some 18,000 workers at Costco around the US walk off the job at midnight was averted on Saturday, with the Teamsters union reaching a tentative agreement just before the deadline.Full terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed publicly. Continue reading...

After the 2022 Dobbs decision, the anti-abortion movement's sights are now set on medication abortionDozens of anti-abortion activists streamed into the conference room of a Washington DC hotel. They jostled for seats as speakers, dotted throughout the room, blasted a song about the need to be a little more like Jesus, a little less like me".By the time a trio of advocates, assembled on a dais at the front of the room, started to talk about the Future of Chemical Abortion in America", the title of one of the first seminars at the National Pro-Life Summit, it was standing room only. Continue reading...

When asked about his plans to visit the crash site, Trump made a joke: The water? You want me to go swimming?'Every day, the world seems to get stupider and stupider and our leaders seem to get nastier and nastier. Nobody expects empathy or accuracy from Donald Trump but, even by the extremely low standards to which he is held, his reaction to the tragic mid-air collision in Washington DC that killed 67 people on Wednesday night was shocking. Continue reading...