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Concerns that Musk and operatives have illegally accessed classified information as Republican support for Musk falls

US attorney general issues memo to break up effort started after 2022 Ukraine invasion to target those close to KremlinThe US justice department under Donald Trump is disbanding an effort started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.A memo from the attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued during a wave of orders on her first day in office but not previously reported, said the effort, known as Task Force KleptoCapture, will end as part of a shift in focus and funding to combating drug cartels and international gangs. Continue reading...

Photos show gift, reportedly nod to Israel's deadly attack on Hezbollah, during which devices simultaneously detonatedBenjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Donald Trump a golden pager" during their meeting in Washington DC this week, in an apparent reference to Israel's deadly attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year.In photos circulating online, the golden pager can be seen mounted on a piece of wood, accompanied by a golden plaque that reads in black lettering: To President Donald J. Trump, Our greatest friend and greatest ally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." Continue reading...

Directive says new contracts must be terminated immediately in response to Trump executive orderThe Department of State told staff on Thursday it would not extend contracts for civilian personal services contractors beginning on Saturday, according to two people familiar with the situation.Personal services contractors provide duties such as housekeeping and maintenance at overseas embassies. But they also supplement diplomatic security. Three of the four people killed in a 2012 raid on the Libyan diplomatic mission in Benghazi - Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty - were civilian security contractors. Continue reading...

Just look at the chaos Trump is causing in the Department of Education to understand the nature of his second termIn retrospect, the weeks between the election and Donald Trump's first executive order seem like a phoney war. Everyone knew that something bad was about to happen, but there was still a sense it might not be so bad. After all, Trump's first four years had been less terrible than observers predicted. That was always a mistake: aspiring autocrats are most dangerous when they come to power a second time. But even those bracing for shocks could hardly have expected Trump to be so blatantly lawless and destructive once back in office. This approach - sabotage bureaucracies, violate the constitution, then see what happens - might now be applied to education.Trump's choice of education secretary, pro-wrestling billionaire Linda McMahon, seemed positively harmless compared with figures like the walking talking threat to public health known as Robert F Kennedy Jr. Though she has an accusation of having enabled the sexual abuse of young boys in the wrestling world hanging over her, McMahon denies all wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Justice department also sues state of Illinois, seeking a court order sweeping aside sanctuary lawsThe US Department of Justice (DoJ) sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday, accusing the authorities there of impeding the Trump administration's anti-immigration enforcement policies and seeking a court order sweeping aside so-called sanctuary laws.The department cited a national emergency declared by Donald Trump on the same day he was inaugurated, amid a flurry of executive orders and proclamations as he began his second administration. Continue reading...

Federal judge says freeze allows time for legal briefs to be filed before a hearing on Monday

Federal workers alarmed at Heritage Foundation-backed watchdog's list of civil servants in health equity roles

US secretary of state repeats remarks by Donald Trump about expropriation of private property' in African nationThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has accused South Africa of anti-Americanism" and refused to attend a G20 meeting in Johannesburg later this month, as diplomatic ties sour between the two countries under Donald Trump's administration.Rubio made the announcement on X, where he repeated the US president's unfounded claim that South Africa was expropriating private property. Continue reading...

As Elon Musk dismantles the agency, Trump claims subscription fees to the outlet could be biggest scandal of them all'

Once stripped of his power, the Eagles' salary cap savant has since been the architect of three Super Bowl teams in eight years. But this year's edition might just be his masterpieceHowie Roseman has taken on folklore status in the NFL. Whenever the draft and free-agent seasons roll around, you hear the chorus: Howie has done it again! As general manager, Roseman has led the Philadelphia Eagles to three Super Bowl appearances in eight years, winning one title. But this year's team is his magnum opus.Repeated playoff heartaches can warp a team's self-perception. Every flaw becomes magnified. Two years after losing the Super Bowl to the Chiefs - and last season's disappointing end-of-year collapse - Roseman tore down his roster and built a fresh juggernaut, with fewer than half of the players who played the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII remaining on this year's roster. Continue reading...

President says territory would be turned over' to US by Israel as it emerges idea was not discussed with aides

President Jose Raul Mulino denies making a deal that US ships can transit the canal free of chargeThe president of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, has accused the US of peddling a quite simply intolerable falsehood" about the Panama canal, as Donald Trump's pledge to take back" the waterway continued to poison relations between the two countries and cause alarm around Latin America.The US state department claimed late on Wednesday the Central American country had agreed to no longer charge US government vessels to pass through its canal - a move that would supposedly save Washington millions of dollars a year. Continue reading...

The US president is quick to roll out the red carpet for an ally wanted for war crimes. Now Europe must stop placating themDonald Trump's proposal to evict 2 million Palestinians from Gaza is an unashamed declaration of support for ethnic cleansing. As so often, he seems ready to ignore moral and legal codes alike. Deportation or forcible transfer of population" is listed in the Rome statute of the international criminal court as a crime against humanity. And yet a US president has put that idea on the table. Trump insists this would be in everybody's interest. According to him, Palestinians would not want to return to their homes. I have heard that Gaza has been very unlucky for them," he recently said. The population is, in Trump's words, living in hell", with death and destruction and rubble and demolished buildings falling all over". He made no mention of Israel's responsibility for that death and destruction and rubble.More than 30 years ago, during the early months of the bloody Bosnian war that I had been reporting on as the eastern Europe editor of the Independent, the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadi, explained to me that the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population that was then under way was, in fact, doing the Bosnians a favour. We let them go," Karadi explained with a smile, with their luggage and everything." Like Karadi, Trump does not hide the fact that Palestinians who are forced to abandon their homes would have no choice in the matter. Sitting next to Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump suggested: I don't think they're going to tell me no."Steve Crawshaw is author of Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for JusticeDo 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...

With the Winter Olympics set to begin one year from today, here's a look at 20 Americans worth keeping an eye onThe longtime ice dance partners, together on skates from 2011 and married since last year, finally broke through for their first world championship after years of near-misses in 2023, then went back-to-back last year in their adopted hometown of Montreal. Known for their deep chemistry, bold storytelling and technical brilliance, they are coming off a record-tying sixth US title in January and will be hotly tipped to complete the first ice dance three-peat at worlds in 28 years next month in Boston. On current form they're the team to beat in Milan with the team event offering the potential for double gold. Continue reading...

Residents fear recent wildfires could erase a once-thriving community that nurtured Black artists, activists and writersNearly half of Black households in Altadena were destroyed or majorly damaged by the Eaton Canyon wildfire, according to new estimates by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.Altadena has been a center of Black homeownership in Los Angeles for decades, and residents fear that January's wildfire, which turned blocks of homes and businesses into rubble, could erase a once-thriving community that has nurtured Black artists, activists and writers, from Sidney Poitier to Octavia Butler. Continue reading...

Kansas City's quarterback and USA men's flag football star Darrell Housh' Doucette ended up in a social media furor over the new Olympic sport for the LA GamesThe NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes and USA men's flag-football quarterback Darrell Housh" Doucette Jr have sought to bury the hatchet after being pitted against each other in a social media storm over the summer.Both men are in New Orleans as the city prepares for Sunday's Super Bowl, where Mahomes will lead the Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the issue has surfaced again. Doucette went viral in August after he told the Guardian that it was disrespectful" for the public to assume that Mahomes and fellow NFL signal-callers like Joe Burrow and the Eagles' Jalen Hurts automatically assume" they would be able to oust him from his spot on USA's flag-football team's quarterback ahead of the sport's Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028. Continue reading...

The rest of the world will look on in envy on Sunday as the US blends sport and music in a fashion no one else can matchIf US high school romcoms have taught us anything, it's that jocks don't have anything in common with those who play band. Nor do they, typically, hang with the brooders, the sensitive souls who write waspish poetry and listen to indie music. And yet here we are: another Super Bowl, another year of romance. It shouldn't work, not where so many other relationships have faltered. But this one is true love.We're not talking about Travis and Taylor, but NFL and the half-time show. This Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles, we once again bear witness to a perfect American marriage: the country's biggest sporting event coupled with a live music gig so valuable to its megastar performers that they undertake it for free. Continue reading...

Police search for culprit in Antrim township heist as US egg prices continue to rise amid bird flu outbreakPolice in Pennsylvania are hunting for thieves who stole 100,000 eggs from the back of a trailer, amid a US-wide spike in the price of eggs that has triggered panic-buying in some shops.The eggs were lifted from the back of Pete & Gerry's Organics' distribution trailer on Saturday at about 8.40pm in Antrim township, according to police. There have been no arrests yet. Continue reading...

Black women died at rate nearly 3.5 times higher than white women, CDC data showsBlack women in the US died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher than white women around the time of childbirth in 2023, as maternal mortality fell below pre-pandemic levels overall but racial gaps widened, according to federal health data released Wednesday.In 2021 and 2022, the maternal death rate for Black women was about 2.6 times higher than white women.The maternal death rate for white women dropped from 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 to 14.5 per 100,000 in 2023.The rate for Black women went from 49.5 to a little above 50, though the report says that increase was not statistically significant.The rate for Hispanic women dropped from about 17 to about 12.The rate for Asian Americans fell from about 13 to about 11. Continue reading...

Case on nondelegation doctrine comes after conservative court substantially curbed regulatory power in recent yearsThe US supreme court may soon revive an obscure, pro-big business legal doctrine that could make it virtually impossible for the US government to develop new laws and regulatory rules that protect Americans.The theory, called the nondelegation doctrine", could also potentially invalidate large pieces of bedrock American laws and protections put in place since the first Congress. Continue reading...

Dozens of New Orleanians have been bused to a site with no floor and no blankets days before the city is to host the Super BowlOn a pre-dawn morning in January, state police and other agencies directed by the Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, descended on homeless encampments throughout downtown New Orleans. More than 100 unhoused people were bused - under threat of arrest - to an industrial warehouse miles away, dubbed the transitional center".The hastily assembled site had been arranged under a no-bid contract thanks to emergency powers invoked by Landry - who took office in early 2024 - and opened before an unprecedented winter storm that ultimately dumped about 10in of snow on some parts of the region. Continue reading...

A Democratic representative told the US House on Wednesday he was bringing articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for his proposal to 'take over Gaza'. Al Green said the president's proposal was a dastardly deed' that amounted to ethnic cleansing.Green, a firebrand politician who launched a number of unsuccessful attempts to impeach Trump during his first term in office, is unlikely to find much traction on his latest effort. But it is evidence that a growing number of elected Democrats are finding their voice amid what critics say has been a muted response so far to the extremes of Trump's 17-day-old second presidency

Heritage Foundation gave the American Accountability Foundation $100,000 for list focusing on homeland securityA rightwing group that has created a series of blacklists to target federal workers it believes the Trump administration should fire has received funding for the project by the thinktank behind Project 2025.A recent list created by the American Accountability Foundation called the DEI Watch List" includes mostly people of color with roles in government health roles alleged to have some tie to diversity initiatives. Another targets education department employees in career roles who cannot be trusted to faithfully execute the agenda of the elected President of the United States". One calls out the most subversive immigration bureaucrats". Continue reading...

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who floated idea to take over Gaza, is just one member of president's clan who has business ties that pose conflictsDonald Trump's stunning proposal to take over Gaza and turn it into a Riviera for the Middle East" was first floated by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, illuminating the potential for family-centered conflicts of interest in his administration.Kushner, who is married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, and served as an adviser in his first presidency, created headlines when he lauded the very valuable" potential of the coastal strip's waterfront property" in an interview with the Harvard School of Government's Middle East Initiative last year. Foreshadowing Trump, he proposed moving inhabitants out to clean it up". Continue reading...

The violent repression of protests reflects a wider trend as Africa's younger voters lose faith in independence-era partiesThe bullet ripped through the young man's face, scattering his teeth in a pool of blood on the concrete floor. As more gunshots rang through the air, the joyous sounds of thousands of people who had gathered in central Maputo on 9 January turned to screaming. On my video camera, I continued filming, even as I too started running.We had known this might happen. Three months earlier, Mozambicans went to the polls in elections that have already changed the course of my country's history.Estevao Chavisso is a journalist based in Mozambique, where he is the coordinator of Lusa, Portugal's national news agency Continue reading...

A foreign billionaire is running the state through a shadow government without formal checks - the constitutional order, now, is largely window dressingIt's one of the humiliations of our historical moment that the constitutional order has been destroyed by such stupid and unserious people. On the trail with Donald Trump, the billionaire Elon Musk, who financed Trump's campaign to the tune of about $250m, pledged to cut $2tn from the federal budget, a project that promised to wreck the economy, destroy the nation's credit, eliminate programs and institutions that structure people's lives and create an international economic and leadership vacuum into which America's rivals - namely, China - could step.This would have been ominous enough on its own. But because Musk is a narcissist and a nerd - because he insists on discarding solemnity and being ostentatiously irreverent and carefree as he destroys people's lives - he named his new project the department of government efficiency," or Doge, a juvenile reference to a years-old internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

The former quarterback been hit with the problem that often plagues great players: what is intuitive to him is not intuitive to everyone elseTom Brady will face one of the biggest tests of his career in the Super Bowl on Sunday. He is no longer charged with deciding games with his arm but he will be in the booth to analyze the game for an anticipated US audience of 120 million as Fox's lead analyst.For millions of those viewers, Sunday will be the first time they have heard from Brady since he played in a Super Bowl, was roasted on Netflix or was fodder for the tabloids. He will be tasked with navigating the longest broadcast of his career knowing that, with the Kansas City Chiefs chasing an unprecedented three-peat, his words will live in perpetuity. You can already foresee the social media outbursts and the heads slowly turning at your Super Bowl party: Is that what Tom Brady sounds like? He is not very good at this, is he?"There is a lot on the line this game for both clubs"I always hated playing defenses that played well"The last thing Commanders fans wanted there was a fumble"This game is about the games within the game"In the playoffs, things are tougher"This team needs more juice"What a stud"Now here is a stud"They just have more studs"The Eagles are playing with more juice"They don't have enough juice"In the playoffs, it's about the Jimmies and Joes"That's playoff football" Continue reading...

The monarch's new doc raises many questions. Why Amazon? Will it compete with Harry and Meghan - or Clarkson's Farm?So King Charles is working on a feature-length documentary for Amazon Prime Video, which will apparently detail his philosophy on how to transform people, places and ultimately the planet". Times have changed. Before, you waited years for a royal TV project - now they all come along at once.The royal documentary of old was a rare event, eagerly looked forward to, cherished and lovingly analysed - by royalists at least - for years to come: think of the BBC and ITV's Royal Family in 1969. Now they're ubiquitous, what with Harry and Meghan's Netflix programmes - including how to lay a dining table in someone else's house in California by Meghan - not to mention Channel 5's endless Saturday night royal documentaries.Stephen Bates is a former Guardian royal correspondent and author of Royalty Inc: Britain's Best-known Brand Continue reading...

If Trump executes his plans, it's because the media helped pave the way. It's beyond time for more of my colleagues to speak upThey make a desert and call it peace," said Tacitus, paraphrasing Calgacus.Israel, meanwhile, has made a graveyard of Gaza, and Donald Trump is calling it a real estate opportunity. The president, as you will know, has decided the US should just take over the Gaza Strip. As for the Palestinians who are inconveniently there at the moment? According to Trump, they can just be moved somewhere else. They can be dumped in Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia. They won't mind. Those Arabs are all the same anyway. Continue reading...

Those who celebrate his defiance and sadism are as claimed by his logic as those who are paralyzed with outrageAs Trump delivers a series of devastating and appalling executive orders and public pronouncements every day, it has never been more important to avoid being captured by his obscenity and focus on how the issues are interconnected.It is easy to forget or sideline the executive orders of the previous week: bans on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and discourse as well as gender ideology" in all federally funded programing, as new obscenities flood the news cycle. Threats of deportation to international students who engage in legitimate protest; expansionist designs on Panama and Greenland and proposals to take over the total and forcible displacement of Palestinians in Gaza from their land are announced in quick succession. In each case, Trump makes the declaration as a show of power, testing to see whether it can take effect. The executive orders can be stopped by courts, but the deportation of immigrants has already begun, as has the re-opening of the grotesque camps of Guantanamo. Continue reading...

The US president's plan to expel 2 million Palestinians from Gaza clashes with his desire to be a dealmaker. He should push for a Palestinian state insteadDonald Trump's proposal to expel all 2 million or more Palestinians from Gaza is so mind-bogglingly outrageous that it seems designed to stun us into paralyzed acquiescence. It is the latest example of the US president's tendency to normalize the unthinkable, to bring ideas that were rightly considered beyond the pale and force them into the realm of policy discussion. Yet there are plenty of reasons to overcome our shock and reject this appalling scheme.It does have its supporters. The Israeli far right is salivating at the proposition. It has long sought to solve" the Palestinian problem by getting rid of the Palestinians. No wonder Benjamin Netanyahu, sitting next to Trump during their White House press conference, could barely contain his glee. Continue reading...

Benjamin Netanyahu called it groundbreaking' thinking, but it isn't. It is idiocy that will make a bad situation worse

Class action also alleges prison officials knew of Dr Scott Lee's abuse of incarcerated women for years, but did not act

This blog has now closed. Read our latest story hereDonald Trump will sign an executive order to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's sports at 3pm today, the White House said.Dubbed No Men in Women's Sports", the order will change how the administration interprets Title IX, a civil rights law that addresses sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding, including in athletics. Continue reading...

Meeting on Wednesday underscores political tightrope Gavin Newsom must walk to secure assistance for stateGavin Newsom met with Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, as the California governor seeks federal disaster aid for the Los Angeles communities devastated by recent wildfires.The Oval Office meeting, less than two weeks after the president pledged, during a visit to survey the damage in Los Angeles, to help the city rebuild, underscores the political tightrope Newsom must walk to secure desperately needed assistance for his state at a moment when his party - and many of his constituents - are demanding their leaders take a stronger stand against the new administration. Continue reading...

Attorney general Rob Bonta tells Guardian that health providers have duty to provide gender-affirming treatment amid Trump attacksAs Donald Trump seeks to block transgender youth healthcare across the country, California's attorney general has sent a clear message to providers, reminding them of their duty to provide gender-affirming treatment under the state's nondiscrimination laws.The law requires [hospitals] to continue to provide gender-affirming care to our transgender community," Rob Bonta, a Democrat who heads the California justice department, told the Guardian on Wednesday. We will have the transgender community's back. We will fight for their rights, for their protections, for their freedoms." Continue reading...

News comes after nearly a thousand contractors laid off or furloughed, and USAid website and X account removedThousands gathered at the US Capitol on Wednesday after the shock announcement on Tuesday evening that the US Agency for International Development (USAid) was putting nearly all of its employees on leave and recalling thousands of officers from their postings abroad.The news came only days after nearly a thousand contractors were laid off or furloughed, the USAid website was taken down, and its X account was deleted. Continue reading...

Samy Arbid's home was spared by the Altadena fire, but he returned to find it was occupied by a black bearFor those lucky enough to have homes to return to in Altadena, going home meant dealing with unfinished chores left behind when the Eaton fire forced them to evacuate. For some, that meant paying overdue bills or cleaning out freezers filled with rotting food, all in the midst of trauma and toxic surroundings.For Samy Arbid, who had moved into a home just a block from the fire line in November, there was a different kind of obstacle: a 525lb black bear. Continue reading...

Order to reinterpret anti-discrimination rules is latest move by Trump administration to roll back trans rightsDonald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday banning transgender athletes from participating in women's sports, the latest in a slew of moves rolling back the rights of trans people.The order establishes stricter mandates on sports and gender policy, directing federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to interpret federal Title IX rules as the prohibition of transgender girls and women from participating in any female sports categories. Continue reading...

For those lucky enough to have a place to return to in Altadena, going home meant dealing with unfinished chores left behind when the Eaton fire forced them to evacuate. For Samy Arbid, who had moved into a property just a block from the fire line in November, there was a different kind of challenge: a 525lb (240kg) black bear. It had moved into the crawl space under the house before the fire and was still sheltering there when Arbid and his wife returned. The California wildfire department stepped in to help, luring the bear out with treats after deciding it was too big to tranquillise. The bear's new home is much more appropriate: the Angeles national forest Continue reading...

Texas judge says he cannot approve deal between families who won suits over false remarks about 2012 mass shootingA bankruptcy judge has blocked a proposed settlement between the families of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting victims who sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over his false remarks about the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school.On Wednesday, judge Christopher Lopez of the US bankruptcy court for the southern district of Texas said he was unable to approve the proposed settlement between the families and Jones's bankruptcy trustee. Lopez claimed that their efforts to divide Jones's assets exceeded his court's authority. Continue reading...

Two-week strike begins as union for King Soopers alleges surveillance of workers and pushes to gut health benefitsTen thousand workers at Kroger-owned King Soopers grocery stores in Colorado begin a two-week unfair labor practice strike on Thursday.The union, United Food and Commercial Workers local 7, whose contract expired last month, voted 96% in favor of authorizing the strike. Continue reading...

President's plan for US to take over Gaza Strip and move Palestinians out also rejected by allies Saudi Arabia and Jordan

Judge rules Trump's executive order discriminates against trans people and violates their constitutional rightsA US judge has temporarily blocked federal prisons from transferring transgender women to men's facilities and barring their access to hormone therapy, halting one of Donald Trump's executive orders seeking to erode trans rights behind bars.A lawsuit filed last week by three incarcerated trans women challenged Trump's anti-trans order, which directed the US bureau of prisons to make sure males are not detained in women's prisons or housed in women's detention centers" and that no federal funds go to gender-affirming treatment or procedures for people in custody. Continue reading...

Arab Americans for Trump' group rebrands itself while activists also criticize Biden and Harris's support of Israel