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The Russian strategy of exporting chaos to provoke extremism only works if liberals succumb to cynicism and despairI once spent an exasperating week showing a Russian friend around London. He insisted on seeing everything and admiring nothing. Museums, monuments, shops - all compared unfavourably with St Petersburg and Moscow. This got tiresome after a few days, so I asked my friend if there was anything at all about Britain that impressed him. The stability," he said without hesitation. You can feel the stability."That was a different world; the late 1990s. I don't remember the year, but I remember knowing what my friend was talking about because I had felt the same culture shock in reverse when first visiting Russia.Rafael Behr 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...

In successful challenge, X argued the video wasn't excessively offensive and was an objective record of a public event of historical and political significance'

This blog has now closed. Read our latest story hereWiles also said she had told Donald Trump that his second term was not supposed to be a retribution tour.We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over," she said in an interview in March.I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can't tell you why you shouldn't think that.I don't think he [Trump] wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there's an opportunity, he will go for it.Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I'm going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I'm a little bit of an expert in big personalities. Continue reading...

Move comes amid escalating campaign against Maduro as Venezuelan government condemns grotesque threat'Donald Trump has ordered a total and complete" blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed dozens of people. Continue reading...

Change marks an abrupt end to 30 years of established medical guidance and follows vote earlier this monthThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday ended a long-standing recommendation that all US newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine.The agency's move follows a vote from health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine advisory panel that a birth dose should only be given to newborns whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B or whose status is unknown. Continue reading...

Trump said US armada will only get bigger' until Venezuela returns all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us' - key US politics stories from 16 December 2025Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a naval blockade of sanctioned oil vessels" leaving and heading to Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas.The US has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean - with the stated goal of combatting drug trafficking, but Venezuela views the operation as a campaign to oust Nicolas Maduro. Continue reading...

Development is latest in case in which carmaker accused of falsely marketing and overstating self-driving capabilitiesA California regulator has put on hold an order to suspend Tesla sales in the state, the latest development in a case in which it accused the electric vehicle maker of falsely marketing and overstating self-driving capabilities.The decision grants a reprieve to Tesla in a case that could force it to halt sales in its biggest US market. Continue reading...

Providence police say video shows person of interest casing the area' before attack in which two people were killedThe Providence police department has released a new video of the person of interest in the Brown University shooting and is calling on the public to pay special attention to the shooter's posture, gait, and body language in order to identify them.The newly released footage was captured on the East Side of Providence on Saturday afternoon, about two hours prior to the shooting. In the video, a masked individual wearing a black beanie, green jacket, and black gloves walks in the residential neighborhood by Brown's campus. Continue reading...

Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman announced on Tuesday that Nick Reiner will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his parents, filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and photographer and producer Michele Singer Reiner. Prosecutors said the charges include special circumstances of multiple murders and allegations of using a deadly weapon, which could carry a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty

Senate duo condemn Trump administration and say there can be no business as usual until justice is delivered'Two Democratic senators have announced that they will attempt to block any pending civilian nominations before the Senate in response to what they describe as the Trump administration's failure to provide a briefing to lawmakers" on the release of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein.Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, who both sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, said in a statement on Tuesday that there can be no business as usual until justice is delivered for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes". Continue reading...

US imposes restrictions on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, in addition to initial list of 12 countriesDonald Trump signed a proclamation on Tuesday that further restricts and limits the entry of foreign nationals to the United States, the White House said.The US has imposed full restrictions and entry limitations on nationals from five countries - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria - in addition to the initial list of 12 countries. Full restrictions have also been imposed on individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, the White House said. Continue reading...

LA district attorney says charges could carry the death penalty, after Nick Reiner arrested in murder of his parents

Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Van Hollen go after tech firms including Google and AmazonThree Democratic US senators announced Tuesday that they are investigating whether big tech companies are passing the soaring utility costs of energy-guzzling" data centers on to ordinary Americans. The trio sent letters to the heads of Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta as well as the data center operators CoreWeave, Digital Realty and Equinix asking for greater transparency, cost-sharing and accountability.Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote that they were alarmed by reports that these data centers caused residential electricity bills to skyrocket". Regions with significant data center activity have already endured price increases by as much as 267% over the past five years, the three lawmakers wrote. According to the Energy Information Administration, a federal agency, the average cost of a US family's electricity bill had risen 7% year-over-year as of September. Continue reading...

Susie Wiles gives strikingly unguarded comments in 11 interviews, starting before election, with Vanity FairDonald Trump believes there's nothing he can't do, nothing, zero" as US president, the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said in a rare interview that shines an unvarnished spotlight on his second administration.Speaking to Vanity Fair, Wiles described Trump - who is teetotal - as having an alcoholic's personality", an insight she ascribed to her relationship with her late father, the broadcaster and NFL star Pat Summerall, who had alcoholism. Continue reading...

The US president has repeatedly targeted American media in an attempt to muzzle debate and scrutiny. His attempt to export the bullying must be resistedOn the day that the government launched a high-stakes consultation to consider fresh ways of funding the BBC in the digital era, the corporation could have done without another difficult news event of its own. Donald Trump's decision to follow through on threats to sue over the content of a Panorama programme broadcast in October 2024 may not have come as a surprise, given Mr Trump's litigious record in the United States. But it will add to the general air of beleaguerment at the corporation and further embolden its domestic political enemies.A terse BBC statement on Tuesday suggested that there would be no backing down in the face of White House bullying. That is the right response to absurd claims of overwhelming financial and reputational harm" caused to the US president, and a fantastical request for damages amounting to $10bn. The BBC has rightly apologised for the misleading splicing together of separate clips from Mr Trump's rabble-rousing speech on January 6 2020, prior to the violent storming of the US Capitol. A serious error of judgment was made in that editing process - though the House of Representatives January 6 committee concluded that Trump did use his speech to incite an insurrection. But the claim that a programme not broadcast in the US was part of a malicious plan to defame Mr Trump and subvert the democratic process ahead of last year's election is utterly specious. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio calls drug-trafficking militia, present in at least 20 of Colombia's departments, violent and powerful'The US has designated the Gulf Clan, Colombia's largest and most powerful illegal armed criminal group, as a foreign terrorist organisation.The notorious drug-trafficking militia with its roots in far-right paramilitary forces, is present in at least 20 of Colombia's departments, and dominates people- and drug-smuggling routes through the Darien Gap. It has also battled unsuccessfully against leftwing rebels for control of criminal networks along the Venezuelan border. Continue reading...

Cair claims in lawsuit that Florida governor's order blocking group from state resources was unconstitutionalA leading Muslim civil rights group in the US has sued Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, over his order designating it and another organization as a foreign terrorist organization", saying the directive was unconstitutional.The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as Cair, has more than 20 chapters across the United States and its work involves legal actions, advocacy and education outreach. Continue reading...

The BBC has vowed to defend itself against the $10bn lawsuit that the US president, Donald Trump, filed against it. Trump alleges the broadcaster intentionally, maliciously and deceptively" edited the 6 January speech he gave before the attack on the US Capitol. On Tuesday, a BBC spokesperson said: As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings."Lucy Hough speaks to the head of national news, Archie Bland Continue reading...

Rescheduling marijuana might seem an unlikely move for a Republican president - but it perfectly coheres with his America First' worldviewFor decades, the issue of cannabis reform was firmly viewed as a leftist pipe dream. To most conservatives, particularly US Republicans, legalising weed was as realistic as nuclear disarmament, or abolishing national borders.Think of the phrase war on drugs" and the first people that probably come to mind are Republican presidents Nixon, Reagan and George HW and George W Bush. Although the clampdown reached its harshest levels during the presidency of Mr I didn't inhale" Bill Clinton, it always seemed as if the GOP owned the position of being tough on drugs". As recently as 2023, Mitch McConnell, then Senate Republican leader, reaffirmed this reputation by stating that: Democrats are struggling with the basics. This should not be this hard. Drugs belong off our streets."Dr Kojo Koram is professor of law and political economy at Loughborough University, and writes on issues of law, race and empire. He is the author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire Continue reading...

Randy Fine and Tommy Tuberville, US legislators, face backlash for Islamophobic calls to deport MuslimsDemocrats are condemning two Republican members of Congress who said, in the wake of the mass shooting in Australia, that the US should ban Muslims from the country and kick out those who already live here.Congressman Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, said he not only wants deportations of legal immigrants who are Muslim, but citizenship revocations wherever possible" of Muslims. Continue reading...

Under Trump, the department that once rooted out race- and disability-based discrimination has begun opening investigations over antisemitism and transgender policiesThe 10-year-old was dragged down a school hallway by two school staffers. A camera captured him being forced into a small, empty room with a single paper-covered window.The staffers shut the door in his face. Alone, the boy curled into a ball on the floor. When school employees returned more than 10 minutes later, blood from his face smeared the floor. Continue reading...

While the New York mayor-elect is constantly smiling in the face of his detractors, having a perma-grin didn't come so easily to meAs a big fan of citizen science, I have spent the past month conducting a very important experiment. While I am not quite as hardcore as the American virologist Jonas Salk, who injected the polio vaccine into himself and his family before large-scale trials, this scientific inquiry has involved some personal pain. You see, I have spent the last month trying to smile like Zohran Mamdani. This is not, as I have discovered, an easy feat.Ever since the incoming mayor of New York became a household name, I've been intrigued by his perma-smile. His detractors call him a jihadist", and he smiles. He meets Donald Trump, and he smiles. Some Republican lawmakers launch a campaign to investigate his path to citizenship and deport him? He keeps on smiling. I'm not sure I've ever seen him look angry. Continue reading...

Data shows the headline unemployment rate continued to climb and hit 4.6%, a four-year high, last monthThe US labor market grew by more than expected last month, recovering some of the damage inflicted by the federal government shutdown, according to official data.An estimated 105,000 jobs were lost in October, and 64,000 were added in November, a highly-anticipated report showed on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Two students were killed and nine wounded as hunt for unknown suspect enters fourth day, amid growing frustrationThe FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer of two students in a mass shooting at Brown University as the manhunt for someone described by the agency as an unknown suspect with a stocky build" enters its fourth day.Officials in Rhode Island hope the reward provides a breakthrough in the faltering case, the pace of which has sparked growing community frustration. One person of interest" was detained then released Sunday, and FBI director Kash Patel has faced criticism for prematurely declaring it solved. Continue reading...

From LA to Charlotte, organizers are learning from others' strategies to protect residents amid federal crackdownsWhen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set its sights on Chicago in September, Chicagoans sprang into action to protect their immigrant neighbors: teaching each other how to recognize and safely document ICE agents, setting up know your rights" trainings, and distributing whistles en masse so people could loudly alert anyone in the vicinity when ICE was spotted.In the months since, whistles have become a popular raid alert tool in other cities across the country - New Yorkers wear them around their necks to warn neighbors, the people of New Orleans blast them outside ICE facilities and Charlotte residents used them to ward off Customs and Border Protection officials. While strongly associated with Chicago, the tactic is actually one that city organizers learned in part from groups in Los Angeles. Its spread is illustrative of the many ways cities are helping inspire and equip one another in the face of often unlawful federal activities. Continue reading...

Court filing was response to lawsuit asking judge to halt project until it goes through independent reviews and wins approval from Congress

President accuses broadcaster of deceptive' editing. Plus, music labels embrace AI despite artists' concerns

The Zen-like US representative from Minnesota has had the highest level of death threats of any congressperson because of the president's attacksThat's Teddy," said Tim Mynett, husband of the US representative Ilhan Omar, as their five-year-old labrador retriever capered around her office on Capitol Hill. If you make too much eye contact, he'll lose it. He's my best friend - and he's our security detail these days."The couple were sitting on black leather furniture around a coffee table. Apart from a sneezing fit that took her husband by surprise, Omar had an unusual Zen-like calm for someone who receives frequent death threats and is the subject of a vendetta from the most powerful man in the world. Continue reading...

The US House member says president's rhetoric about her and Somali Americans could have dangerous consequencesUS congresswoman Ilhan Omar has warned that Donald Trump's repeated personal attacks and dehumanising rhetoric are fuelling a climate of political violence that could have dangerous consequences.Speaking days after the president called for her to be thrown out of the country, Omar said Trump's incendiary language reaches the worst humans possible" and encourages them to act. Continue reading...

Mia Tretta has advocated for gun-violence prevention since being shot as a high school student in California in 2019As federal and local authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, continue searching for the person who killed two Brown University students and injured nine others on Saturday, campus members and the broader community are grieving and dealing with a shattered sense of safety.But for 21-year-old Brown University junior Mia Tretta, it's familiar territory. Continue reading...

I am in awe of the children and their parents as they live through raids. How can you call an operation targeted when it blankets a city in fear?There is snow on the ground, but for some Chicago families, this is a moment of unfreezing. ICE is still out there, but Commander Gregory Bovino and his strike force have moved on. After months, Operation Midway Blitz has quieted.In places like the elementary school where I am principal, some parents who were hiding are poking their heads out doors. Children holding their breath since September are beginning to exhale. Continue reading...

Michaela's husband is away 14 hours a day amid Trump's ban on remote work, the threat of layoffs is ever-present and their health premiums are set to multiplyMichaela felt a sharp pain shoot from her hip while she bent over to water some plants in early May 2025. Then she fell over and couldn't get back up.Her husband called an ambulance and she spent the night in a hospital, where, at 57, she found out she had a mass on her spine. It was metastatic breast cancer. Continue reading...

The president continues to preach austerity and hate to people struggling to make ends meet. No wonder voters are turning on himTrump gave what was billed as a Christmas speech" in rural Pennsylvania this past week that began with his wishing each and everyone one of you a very merry Christmas, happy New Year, all of that stuff" and boasting that now, under his presidency: Everybody's saying merry Christmas' again."He then claimed - contrary to the experience of nearly everyone in the crowd - that he had gotten them lower prices" and bigger paychecks". He also asserted that anyone having difficulty making ends meet should just cut back on buying stuff. You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils ... Every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two," he said, adding: You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice. You don't need 37 dolls."Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now Continue reading...

President claims broadcaster intentionally, maliciously and deceptively' edited 6 January speech before Capitol attackThe BBC has vowed to defend itself against the $10bn lawsuit that the US president, Donald Trump filed against it.In a complaint filed on Monday evening, Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts, alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that it violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Continue reading...

Flight logs reveal three British women onboard who were allegedly trafficked by convicted sex offender, according to BBCNearly 90 flights linked to Jeffrey Epstein reportedly arrived at and departed from UK airports, some with British women onboard who allege they were abused by the convicted child sex offender.Analysis by the BBC found three British women who were allegedly trafficked appear in Epstein's records of flights in and out of the UK and other documents related to the late disgraced billionaire. Continue reading...

Survey by world's largest network for sexual and reproductive health shows devastation to services, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, and amplification of anti-rights voicesCuts to US aid funding have directly led to the closure of more than 1,000 family planning clinics, new figures shared with the Guardian reveal.Millions of people have been left without access to contraceptives or care, including those who have suffered sexual assault, as part of a radical shift towards conservative ideologies that deliberately block human rights", according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Continue reading...

The best we can hope for is that Paul does not get seriously hurt. Joshua, Netflix and the sport itself should know betterPrecisely 85 years ago, one of the most fearsome heavyweight boxers in history stunk out the joint. JoeLouis was in the midst of his Bumof the Month club": a staggering run of 13world title defences in 29 months against an assortment of stiffs, wild men and colourful characters. And when he arrived in Boston on 16 December 1940, most believed that Al McCoy would rapidly become his next victim. Only it didn't quite turn out that way.McCoy was expected to crumple under the first punch Louis tossed in his direction," the NewYorkTimes' correspondent wrote. Instead, the wily NewEngland veteran made Louis appear ludicrous at times. Adopting a crouching, bobbing, weaving style, McCoy was an elusive target for the paralysing fists of the titleholder." After the messy contest was stopped at the end of the fifth, a storm of jeers rang out. Louis had won, but only his bank balance had been enhanced. Continue reading...

US Southern Command says boats were engaged in narco-trafficking'The US military has launched a fresh round of deadly strikes on foreign vessels suspected of trafficking narcotics, killing eight people.The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media on Monday, announcing it had hit three vessels in international waters. Continue reading...

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President accuses corporation of intentionally, maliciously and deceptively' editing speech in Panorama broadcastDonald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the BBC over its editing of a speech he made to supporters in Washington before they stormed the US Capitol in 2021, requesting up to $10bn in damages.The US president alleged the broadcaster intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively" edited his 6 January speech before the insurrection, in an episode of Panorama just over a year ago. Continue reading...

Order classifies opioid as potential chemical weapon amid administration's attempts to combat drug smugglingDonald Trump signed an executive order on Monday designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction" - classifying the synthetic opioid not only a lethal drug, but as a potential chemical weapon.The order also directs the Pentagon and justice department to take additional steps to combat production and distribution of the drug. The designation comes amid the administration's use of escalating and increasingly militaristic tactics to combat drug smuggling. Continue reading...

Lawmakers from both sides criticize petty' posts; Trump seeking $10bn in damages from BBC - key US politics stories from 15 December 2025Celebrities and lawmakers from both of the US's major political parties have condemned Donald Trump after the president blamed the death of Rob Reiner on what he described as the acclaimed Hollywood director's dislike of him.After the apparent killings of Reiner, 78, and his 68-year-old wife, Michele, who were found dead at their home Sunday in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, Trump took to social media to call the director tortured and struggling". Trump also claimed Reiner died due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME". Continue reading...

Orders come after a levee is breached following a week of heavy rain amid a flash-flood warningOfficials in Washington state ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs on Monday after a levee failed following a week of heavy rains.The evacuation order from King county covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila. Continue reading...

Tension mixes with grief and frustration at Brown University in Rhode Island as police search for suspect

Manhunt continues for killer of two students on campus Saturday, with suspect considered armed and dangerousThe governor of Rhode Island insisted on Monday evening that everything was being done by law enforcement to catch the person responsible for the mass shooting at Brown University in the state's capital on Saturday that killed two people and wounded nine others, as a huge manhunt continued.We want to see the individual that pulled the trigger on these young kids identified, apprehended and brought to justice," Daniel McKee, the state's governor and a Democrat, said at a press conference early on Monday evening. Continue reading...