Second lady becomes first US vice-presidential spouse to be pregnant while her husband serves in officeJD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, announced on Tuesday that they are expecting their fourth child this summer.We're very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy," the pair announced in a post shared on social media. Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are all looking forward to welcoming him in late July." Continue reading...
Seizing of vessel in Caribbean Sea is seventh apprehension in Trump's campaign to control Venezuela's oil flowsThe US military said it seized another oil tanker with links to Venezuela on Tuesday, in the Caribbean Sea.The report marks the seventh such apprehension since the start of Donald Trump's month-long campaign to control Venezuela's oil flows. Continue reading...
Authorities believe that in 2022 Austin Thompson, then 15, went on killing rampage, beginning with his older brotherAn 18-year-old plans to plead guilty to a 2022 mass shooting in North Carolina that left five people dead - including his older brother - avoiding a trial in February, his attorneys have said.A written notice filed in Wake county court by the lawyers for Austin Thompson said their client intends to plead guilty to all charges against him. Continue reading...
Trump's demand for Greenland is a throwback to the 1884 Berlin conference: a transaction of land and people driven by a might makes right worldviewThe announcement on 17 January that Washington will impose punitive tariffs of 10% to 25% on eight European allies - unless they facilitate the complete and total purchase" of Greenland - is likely to be the death knell of the post-1945 transatlantic order. By linking the territorial sovereignty of a Nato ally to trade access, the US has transitioned from Europe's security guarantor to a 19th-century imperial rent-seeker.This is a moment of profound rupture. For decades, the western world believed that raw imperialism had been relegated to the past among advanced industrial powers. Even China, for all its assertiveness, largely couches its ambitions in the language of revanchism - the reclaiming" of lost territory. Washington's current demand for Greenland, by contrast, is a throwback to the age of the 1884 Berlin conference: a transaction of land and people driven by a might makes right worldview.Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former US national intelligence officer for Europe Continue reading...
A Matter Neuroscience project lets callers in liberal San Francisco and conservative Abilene speak across party linesTwo experimental payphones - one placed in San Francisco and the other in Abilene, Texas - are connecting strangers across party lines, allowing callers to speak directly with Democrats and Republicans in two of the US's most ideologically opposed cities.The project is the work of Matter Neuroscience, a Boulder, Colorado-based biotech company and is fashioned out of old payphones bought off Facebook. One phone sits outside Black Serum Tattoo parlor in San Francisco's Mission District - and the other is in downtown Abilene by the bookstore Seven and One Books. Each phone is marked with a sign explaining that callers will be connected to someone from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Continue reading...
Court considering legality of state law banning guns on private property open to the public unless owner allows itThe conservative majority on the US supreme court appeared skeptical of a Hawaii law that bans people from bringing firearms on private property open to the public without permission from the property owner.The case, Wolford v Lopez, was brought by three Maui residents with concealed-carry permits and a local gun group who have support from Donald Trump's administration.Reuters contributed to this report Continue reading...
Email sent to diplomats by state department office's new boss is labelled racist' after dismissing Africa as a priorityUS diplomats have been encouraged to unabashedly and aggressively" remind African governments about the generosity" of the American people, according to a leaked email sent to staff in the US state department's Bureau of African Affairs this January and obtained by the Guardian.It's not gauche to remind these countries of the American people's generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine," says the email. Continue reading...
by Sigal Ben-Porath, Serena Mayeri and Amanda Shanor on (#72Z9J)
If history teaches us anything, it is that making lists of Jews, no matter the ostensible purpose, is often a prelude to their and others' persecutionThis month, a judge ordered the University of Pennsylvania to justify its refusal to collect and disclose the names and personal contact information of Jewish faculty, staff and students to the federal government. Late last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Penn to force compliance with this chilling demand, made in the name of fighting antisemitism. Jewish and non-Jewish community members at Penn and beyond have united to support the university's resistance to compiling and releasing data about members of campus Jewish organizations, the Jewish studies department, and individuals who participated in confidential listening sessions and surveys about antisemitism.That such a diverse array of organizations, including Penn's Hillel and Meor chapters, AAUP-Penn, the Association for Jewish Studies, the American Council on Education and Pen America, as well as local chapters of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation and the American Jewish Committee, have all spoken against the EEOC's lawsuit reflects how deeply disturbing it is to think of the government demanding such a list. The Trump administration claims to act in the name of Jewish safety and against antisemitism, but this common reaction from groups with often divergent views may reflect a growing concern that its actions belie those laudable aims. Continue reading...
Judge rules homeland security can insist lawmakers provide week's notice of intention to inspect facilitiesThe Trump administration won a legal victory on Monday that temporarily allows it to keep elected officials out of immigration detention camps, while it advanced two other court actions in support of its surge into Minnesota.A federal judge in Washington DC ruled that the homeland security department (DHS) can continue to insist that lawmakers provide a week's notice of their intention to inspect immigration facilities, even though she blocked an identical policy last month. Continue reading...
Democrats lead legislative charge to block imposition of tariffs as some Republicans break from TrumpLawmakers from both parties promised legislative action to block Donald Trump's threatened tariffs against European allies on Monday, though Republicans willing to publicly break with the president on Greenland remain in short supply.Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat, announced plans to introduce a resolution aimed at terminating tariffs Trump threatened to impose over the weekend on eight European nations, including Nato allies Denmark, the UK, Germany and France. The president first mused about the tariffs on Friday at a White House roundtable, then punctuated his threat with new details that included a 10% levy beginning in February, escalating to 25% by June unless a deal is reached for what he called the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland." Continue reading...
ChongLy Scott' Thao of Minnesota says agents pointed guns at his family, and his four-year-old grandson watched and criedFederal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a US citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by the Associated Press.ChongLy Scott" Thao told the AP that his daughter-in-law woke him up from a nap Sunday afternoon and said that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were banging at the door of his residence in St Paul. He told her not to open it. Masked agents then forced their way in and pointed guns at the family, yelling at them, Thao recalled. Continue reading...
Jannik Sinner started his title defence, Naomi Osaka won in three sets after turning heads with her outfit and Katie Boulter was beaten by the in-form Belinda BencicFritz's 2025 was a slight disappointment, he didn't quite push on from his US Open final appearance in 2024, and as a result he's no longer the highest-ranked American - that's Ben Shelton. Fritz has also been dealing with a knee injury during the early stages of this season, but he leads Royer, the Frenchman who's making his Australian Open debut, 7-6, 5-5.I'm loving the new multiview action on Discovery+. It's making this job much easier. Gone are the days of needing an extra laptop, mobile and iPad just to keep track of everything. So I'm currently keeping an eye on Sinner v Gaston, Boulter v Bencic, Fritz v Royer and Dimitrov v Machac. Continue reading...
Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm and Kimberly Meyer had a hip injury from the attack, authorities saidAn Indiana state court judge and his wife were in stable condition Monday as authorities continued to search for suspects who shot the couple the day before at their Lafayette home.Steven Meyer, a Tippecanoe superior court judge, suffered an injury to his arm and his wife - Kimberly Meyer - had a hip injury from the attack, authorities said. Continue reading...
The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, said on Tuesday he was confident that Britain and the US would work through differences on Greenland that threaten to upend bilateral ties. Johnson's visit to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence from British rule comes at an awkward time for transatlantic relations, days after President Donald Trump threatened Britain and other European countries with tariffs unless they agree to the US acquiring Greenland Continue reading...
Driver said he could barely see the cars in front of him and heard bangs and booms' behind himMore than 100 vehicles smashed into each other or slid off the interstate in Michigan on Monday as snow fueled by the Great Lakes blanketed the state.The massive pileup prompted the Michigan state police to close both directions of Interstate 196 just south-west of Grand Rapids on Monday morning while officials worked to remove all the vehicles, including more than 30 semitrailer trucks. The state police said there were numerous injuries, but no deaths had been reported. Continue reading...
A review of Trump's bold promises about immigration, the economy, the US's standing in the world and much moreThere was no debate about record crowd sizes this time. With the temperature plunging to 27F (-3C) and a wind chill making it feel far colder, Donald Trump's second inauguration was held in the rotunda at the US Capitol in Washington on 20 January 2025.The great and the good of the political elite were there, including former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama and outgoing president Joe Biden. So were tech oligarchs such as Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. At 12.10pm, they listened intently as Trump began a half-hour-long inaugural address. Continue reading...
Oleksandra Oliynykova made life hard for the American with a vicious concoction of drop shots, slices and moonballs up to the roofFans seated in the upper bowls of the vast Rod Laver Arena are long accustomed to watching tennis from a considerable distance away, but on Tuesday afternoon they enjoyed the rare sight of the tennis ball frequently rising as high as their seats.That is the magic of Oleksandra Oliynykova, who made life hell for Madison Keys in the first match of the American's Australian Open title defence with a vicious concoction of drop shots, slices and, most notably, moonballs that seemed to graze the stadium roof. Despite facing two set points in the opener, Keys showed her mental fortitude as she advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory. Continue reading...
The idea that the liberal rules-based order can survive his presidency now seems complacent. This is a historic moment - and a time to actA European-wide chorus of resistance, led this morning by Keir Starmer, has greeted Donald Trump's plan to take over Greenland, by force if necessary, and to start a tariff war if any country stands in his way. Have no doubt, this is a moment: if pursued as a non-negotiable demand, Trump's plan ends any lingering hope that the liberal rules-based order can stumble on through his remaining time in office. The real question now is whether the 2020s will be defined by the complete collapse of the order's already crumbling pillars and the atrocities accompanying it, or whether an international coalition of the willing can come together to build a new global framework in its place.For, in quick succession, the US has abandoned its longstanding championing of the rule of law, human rights, democracy and the territorial integrity of nation states. Gone is its erstwhile support for humanitarian aid and environmental stewardship. Gone, too, is the founding principle of the postwar settlement: that countries choose diplomacy and multilateral cooperation over aggression and unilateral action. We cannot doubt any longer that the president meant it when he said he doesn't need international law", and that the only constraint on his exercise of power would be my own morality, my own mind".Gordon Brown is the UN's special envoy for global education and was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010 Continue reading...
Trump says failure to receive the Nobel peace prize means he no longer feels the need to think purely of peace' - key US politics stories from 19 JanuaryAn extraordinary text message exchange between Donald Trump and Norway's prime minister has revealed the US president no longer felt an obligation to think purely of peace" because he didn't get the Nobel peace prize, as he again declined to rule out seizing Greenland by force.The disclosure of the exchange with prime minister Jonas Gahr Store comes amid a concerted push by Trump to grab the territory, a largely self-governing part of Denmark. In recent weeks, he has said the US would take control of the Arctic island one way or the other" and, over the weekend: Now it is time, and it will be done!!!" Continue reading...
Holiday marked with parades and services but tempered by anxieties over racial and social equality under TrumpMartin Luther King Jr Day was marked with parades and services across the US on Monday. But the celebration for the achievements of the slain 60s civil rights leader was tempered by contemporary anxieties over racial and social equality and Trump administration's crackdown in Minneapolis.At a rally in Harlem, the Rev Al Sharpton referred to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month. Continue reading...
Blair, Putin, Erdoan, Orban: the names of those invited to serve say it all. And it's about so much more than GazaThe fate of the Palestinian people offers a warning about the future of humanity. When I recently visited the West Bank, Palestinians kept impressing the same point on me: Israel has turned their land into a laboratory. The technology of oppression that it has deployed - including in its genocide in Gaza - ranges from hi-tech surveillance to military drones and AI on the battlefield. These technologies have been exported to oppressive states across the world. And it doesn't stop there.This brings us to Donald Trump's board of peace", now set to rule Gaza. In the sleepy Oxfordshire village of Sutton Courtenay, where George Orwell lies buried, the ground itself ought to be shaking. This isn't peace. It's naked neocolonialism.Owen Jones 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...
The Democratic representative plans to introduce a bill halting subsidies and tax advantages for the super-richThey had the best seats in the house. When Donald Trump was sworn in as US president a year ago this week, tech titans Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg were sitting closer than even some of his cabinet picks, living symbols of the US's new gilded age.It was so gross," Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic representative from Michigan, recalled in a phone interview. It was like a reunion of all the billionaires. Some of them didn't even like each other, but boy, did they come together for Trump." Continue reading...
US justice department announced it is investigating protesters in Minnesota who disrupted church servicesKristi Noem first denied that federal agents were using chemical agents against protesters, then after being shown video footage turned to blaming the protesters themselves, as tensions continued to run high amid the Trump administration's surge of federal officers into Minneapolis.The head of homeland security, who has acted as spearhead for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in the city - known as Operation Metro Surge" - told the CBS show Face the Nation on Sunday that her department had not used pepper spray against crowds. Continue reading...
New Jersey musician said during concert in home state that US core values have never been as endangered' as nowBruce Springsteen used a Saturday concert to decry what he called the Gestapo tactics" of the Trump administration's surge of immigration officers and said the country's founding values have never been as endangered as they are right now".While performing in his home state of New Jersey, Springsteen dedicated his 1978 song The Promised Land to Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minnesota. Continue reading...
Recent cuts to flagship federal program that funds housing and other services described as chaotic and disruptive'When Shawn Pleasants first heard that the federal government was tearing up almost two decades of homelessness policy, it sent chills up his spine.Pleasants, 58, was brought right back to the moment he lost his car and was forced to start living on Los Angeles's streets. That feeling of, you could never be safe - there's no more future," he said. Continue reading...
by Lex McMenamin and Andrew Witherspoon on (#72YFH)
Data shows 133% increase from 2017 to 2025 as anti-ICE and No Kings protests push mobilization against White HouseIn the year since Donald Trump retook office, the number of protests in the US outpaced those at the same point in his first administration, according to data from the Crowd Counting Consortium, an open-source project collaboration between Harvard University's Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut.There were more than 10,700 protests in 2025, a 133% increase from the 4,588 recorded in 2017, the first year of Trump's first term. According to the data, an overwhelming majority of US counties - including 42% that voted for Trump - have had at least one protest since he was re-inaugurated last year. Continue reading...
The champion will be decided on 19 July in New Jersey. Here's a rundown of the issues that will shape the tournament as it comes to North AmericaWe're only six months from the biggest single sporting occasion in the world. On 19 July in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the men's World Cup final will kick off and a champion will be crowned (although it will be hard to top the last one).The final will be more than a coronation (or confirmation, if Argentina repeat as champions). It will also be a culmination of six weeks of near non-stop soccer played across three countries, four time zones, and 16 cities. It's likely that conclusions will already be drawn at that point on how the whole tournament fared. But for now, at this semi-convenient milestone, it's worth taking stock of where we are six months out. Continue reading...
Deadline mandated by Epstein Files Transparency Act long past, but millions of documents have still not been releasedOne month after the justice department's congressionally mandated deadline to release all Jeffrey Epstein investigative files went unmet, victims' advocates are expressing outrage over the department's failure to comply with federal law.Advocates have also indicated that they are not surprised, describing the justice department's noncompliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act as yet another example of US officials failing to hold wrongdoers accountable in the ongoing saga. Continue reading...
Over 2 million documents are under DoJ review despite legal obligation' from Epstein Files Transparency ActThe law was clear: Donald Trump's Department of Justice was required to disclose all investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein by 19 December 2025, with rare exceptions.One month after this deadline mandated by Congress's Epstein Files Transparency Act, however, Trump's justice department has not complied with this law, prompting questions about when - and whether - authorities will ever release investigative documents about the late sex offender. Continue reading...
Critics draw direct line' between content by Nick Sortor and similar figures and violent actions of federal agentsA rightwing influencer, who appeared to admit that he recently drove his truck at protesters in Minneapolis, has for years cooperated with the Trump administration even while he has been repeatedly accused of escalating conflict for video content he pumps out to 1.2 million followers on X.Nick Sortor has received full-throated support of the Trump administration after an October arrest in Portland, and attended an October 2025 White House influencer roundtable on antifa". Continue reading...
Donald Trump links Greenland seizure threats to Nobel snub in letter to Norway's prime minister. Plus, unseen home video of Martin Luther King JrGood morning.Donald Trump has linked his repeated threats to seize control of Greenland to his failure to receive the Nobel peace prize, according to an extraordinary letter sent to the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store.What else has Trump said about Greenland this weekend? The US president on Saturday threatened to impose a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland from 1 February until the US is allowed to buy the Arctic island.How have those countries responded? The EU is weighing up retaliatory tariffs on US goods and even the use of its most severe economic sanctions as European leaders lined up to criticise Trump's threat, which one minister described as blackmail".How has the city's mayor, Jacob Frey, responded? He said on Sunday that any military deployment would be ridiculous" and would only exacerbate tensions in Minnesota's largest city, where the Trump administration has sent 3,000 immigration and border patrol officers who have faced largely peaceful protests. Continue reading...
Many people use their vacation time each year. These people take ownership of their jobs, and make sure they get them doneA recent survey of more than 3,000 US workers for employment search site FlexJobs found that almost a quarter didn't take a vacation day during the past year and - more concerning to the study's authors - as many as 82% avoid using" their accrued time off. Why?Kelsey Szamet, an employment lawyer, says the reason is a shift in mentality. Many employees are concerned about the security of their jobs," she told Quartz. The adoption of AI and automation technologies has allowed employees to actually consider their own replaceability before requesting a leave or a holiday, or any kind of time-off benefit." Continue reading...
Martin Luther King Jr knew that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly'. But we Americans are denying that realityThe United States seems determined to turn its back on the rest of our planetary neighbors. The Trump administration's recent decision to withdraw from 66 international treaties, conventions and organizations is striking for the range of its rejections. Everything from the global treaty on climate change to multilateral efforts to address migration and cultural heritage, clean water and renewable energy, and the international trade in timber and minerals has been summarily dismissed as contrary to the interests of the United States".It's no surprise that an administration hellbent on physical walls around the United States would also put up such walls of indifference, as if all of these longstanding collective efforts were simply irrelevant" to our interests as a country, as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, put it in a public statement. And yet, as we know, the reality of contemporary life on Earth is so profoundly otherwise. How has the truth of our interconnectedness with others elsewhere become so difficult to grasp in the United States? Continue reading...
Willy Esquivel was delivering nearby when neighbors asked him to help Ann Edwards, who lives alone in Santa AnaA United Parcel Service driver at work recently charged into a burning home outside Los Angeles and carried a centenarian woman out to safety in what officials called a remarkable" example of people looking out for one another in a moment of need".As his heroics drew attention in online circles dedicated to finding uplifting stories in the media, Willy Esquivel told the Los Angeles news outlet KTLA that he was just a UPS driver who was in the right place at the right time". Continue reading...
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