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Error message previously shown on Maj Gen Rogers's site as officials argue that it is wrong to call diversity a strength

White House denies violating judge's order with Venezuela flights; Elon Musk's Doge workers break into non-government agency - key US politics stories from Monday at a glanceThe Trump administration claimed to a federal judge on Monday that it did not turn around the deportation flights of hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members over the weekend despite his specific instructions because that was not expressly included in the formal written order.The administration also said that even if James Boasberg, the chief US district judge in Washington, had included that instruction in his formal order, his authority to compel the planes to return disappeared the moment the planes entered international airspace. Continue reading...

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Remaining members of board - Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and Peter Garvin - fire president of independent non-profitThe Trump administration fired most of the board of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and sent its new leader into the Washington DC headquarters of the independent organization on Monday, in its latest effort targeting agencies tied to foreign assistance work.The remaining three members of the group's board - defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and national defense university president Peter Garvin - fired president and CEO, George Moose, on Friday, according to a document obtained by the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Administration claims it didn't stop flights despite judge's instructions because he did not write it in the formal orderThe Trump administration claimed to a federal judge on Monday that it did not recall deportation flights of hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members over the weekend despite his specific instructions because that was not expressly included in the formal written order issued afterwards.The administration also said that even if James Boasberg, the chief US district judge in Washington, had included that instruction in his formal order, his authority to compel the planes to return disappeared the moment the planes entered international airspace. Continue reading...

Webpage listing statistics and information on shootings taken down as Trump seeks to protect second amendmentThe Trump administration has removed former surgeon general Vivek Murthy's advisory on gun violence as a public health issue from the US Department of Health and Human Services' website. This move was made to comply with Donald Trump's executive order to protect second amendment rights, a White House official told the Guardian.The firearm violence in America" page, where the advisory had been posted, was filled with data and information about the ripple effects of shootings, the prevalence of firearm suicides and the number of American children and adolescents who have been shot and killed. Now, when someone reaches the site they will be met with a page not found" message. Continue reading...

President made change effective immediately' to security protection for Hunter and Ashley after a reporter's inquiry

While we watch students getting handcuffed, vague new guidelines create a culture of fear over teaching our historyOn 14 February, the US Department of Education's office of civil rights issued a letter providing notice to American educational institutions, schools and universities of the department's new interpretation of federal civil rights law. The letter lays out new conditions for institutions to receive federal funding, including in the form of student loans or scientific and medical research.Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in federally assisted programs or activities. The education department's Dear Colleagues" letter redefines the central targets of Title VI to centrally include supposed discrimination against whites. The letter was followed, on 28 February, with a set of guidelines for its interpretation. The novel understanding of anti-white discrimination in these documents is a chilling manifestation of educational authoritarianism.Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon systemic and structural racism' and advanced discriminatory policies and practices. Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them - particularly during the last four years - under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI'), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.a racially-oriented vision of social justice, or similar goals will be probative in OCR's analysis of the facts and circumstances of an individual case. Continue reading...

Trump administration used Alien Enemies Act to deport about 250 alleged gang members to El Salvador

Micheal Martin says MMA fighter's comments before Trump meeting do not reflect spirit of St Patrick's Day'Ireland's taoiseach has denounced anti-immigration comments made by Conor McGregor as the MMA fighter visited the White House before a St Patrick's Day meeting with Donald Trump.McGregor said Ireland is on the cusp of losing its Irishness" and that an illegal immigration racket" was running ravage on the country". Continue reading...

Senate majority leader cites security concerns as fury grows over New Yorker's support for Republican funding bill

Tweet was from Patrick Casey, ex-head of a defunct racist group, who said Trump can revoke someone's Jew card'The leader of a prominent Jewish group has condemned Leo Terrell, the head of Donald Trump's official antisemitism taskforce, for sharing a post by a white supremacist.The post Terrell shared was written by Patrick Casey last Wednesday. It accompanied footage of the US president saying in the Oval Office that Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic Senate minority leader, used to be Jewish" and is not Jewish anymore, he's a Palestinian". Continue reading...

Robert Morris, ex-pastor of Texas megachurch, was charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a childA former pastor of a Texas megachurch - and ex-Donald Trump spiritual adviser - surrendered to Oklahoma authorities on Monday on charges of child sexual abuse.Robert Preston Morris, 63, turned himself over to officials in Osage county, where he was charged on Thursday with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma attorney general's office, told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

The pontiff is off the critical list and stable. But his achievements will need to be safeguarded in an inevitable power struggle to comeThe release on Sunday of the first photograph of PopeFrancis since his admission to the Gemelli hospital in Rome was an uplifting moment for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics. In a message published bythe Vatican, he said that he continued to feel fragile" and was facing a period of trial". But after battling pneumonia in both lungs for more than a month, he is now off the critical list.How long the 88-year-old pontiff is able to carry on in St Peter's chair, though, is another matter. Rumours have inevitably swirled regarding a possible resignation - following the precedent set by his predecessor, Benedict XVI. Though he has overcome multiple health issues to pursue an active and dynamicpapacy, a prolonged period of illness may leadhim to contemplate stepping down if he can no longer carry out a pastoral role effectively.Do 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...

Raphael Glucksmann quips that US should give back 19th-century gift from France over Trump's approach to UkraineA French European parliament member has quipped that the US should return the Statue of Liberty, which it received as a gift from France about 140 years ago, after Donald Trump's decision to side with the tyrants" against Ukraine.Trump's White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, then responded to Raphael Glucksmann on Monday by calling him an unnamed low-level French politician" and saying the US would keep the statue. Continue reading...

Justice department's threat to come after' demonstrators against Trump-allied billionaire fails to deter protestsHundreds of people protested at Tesla dealerships across the US over the weekend, as the backlash against Elon Musk and the Trump administration continued despite a warning from the attorney general that the government would be coming after" protesters.The protests, in cities including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, have come as Musk has seen his net worth plunge and the sales of Teslas plummet in Europe. In Brooklyn, New York, about 50 people gathered outside a Tesla showroom on Saturday afternoon to loudly make their displeasure clear, the fourth such protest in the last four weeks. Continue reading...

Tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people and widespread destruction

Rasha Alawieh's case highlights Donald Trump's escalating immigration policies and tensions with universities

Email from law school professors urges students from targeted' countries to consider returning to US

The Last Week Tonight host discussed how the US gambling industry has expanded and created a multitude of problemsJohn Oliver addressed the problems attached to the expanding sports betting industry, urging for changes to be made.The Last Week Tonight host spoke about how the process of picking winners and losers" has become such a huge business in the US with constant commercials surrounding Americans. You're not crazy for thinking those ads are inescapable," he said. Continue reading...

The Argentinian was at his destructive best as Inter Miami faced Atlanta again, while there are positive signs for a young USMNT starIt was a nightmare for Inter Miami.Bartosz Slisz had just fired Atlanta United ahead in the decisive match of their first-round playoff series last season. Try as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami might, they couldn't equalize and were forced to watch as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. Their record-breaking regular season had quickly turned into a different sort of record-breaking postseason: the 34-point gap between Miami and Atlanta at the end of the 34-game schedule made it the largest upset in MLS playoff history. Continue reading...

Russia and allies were target of International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against UkraineThe Trump administration is withdrawing from an international body formed to investigate responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine in the latest sign that the White House is adopting a posture favouring Vladimir Putin.The Department of Justice said it was pulling out of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) two years after the Biden administration joined it with a commitment to hold Putin, Russia's president, to account for the 2022 invasion and subsequent crimes committed by Russian forces. Continue reading...

Arne Slot's team will almost certainly win the Premier League this season but there are welcome signs that talent in England may be becoming more dispersed

US official urges stop to plan to re-evaluate Biden program to connect communities to high-speed internet, which will likely benefit Starlink

The retail chain is winding down US operations after years of struggles, having earlier filed for bankruptcy in 2019Forever 21's US operator on Sunday filed for bankruptcy for the second time in six years and said it would wind down operations in the country, hurt by mounting online competition in the fast-fashion sector and weak mall traffic.The company blamed the situation on higher costs and foreign companies taking advantage of duty-free treatment of low-cost packages from China to undermine its pricing power. Continue reading...

State plans to carry out first judicial killing in 15 years on Tuesday using technique critics call inhumaneLouisiana is preparing to carry out its first execution in 15 years using a gassing method that is banned under the state's own laws for euthanizing cats and dogs.Barring a last-minute intervention by the US supreme court, Jessie Hoffman, 46, is scheduled to die by nitrogen gas on Tuesday at Louisiana state penitentiary, commonly known as Angola prison. He was sentenced to death for the 1996 rape and murder of an advertising executive, Mary Elliott. Continue reading...

The California governor is seeking to reposition himself for a possible 2028 presidential run. This isn't the way to do itGavin Newsom's choice of guests - a parade of rightwingers - on his new podcast might seem baffling.After all, the California governor is seen as a mostly progressive Democrat from a very blue state whose reputation is that of a coastal elite. That's the kind of person the American right, and plenty of centrists, love to hate, as we learned once again when Kamala Harris lost the presidential race to Donald Trump. His image is that of a rich, pretty boy who probably thinks jumper cables are just oversized iPhone chargers. Continue reading...

In our rainbow family, there are two dads and a mum - but the law in the Netherlands only recognises two of usOur daughter is very much on board with the idea that, unlike her, many other five-year-olds don't have two fathers and a mum. Only has one dad," she'll remark in a confidential tone of a newly made friend at the trampoline park or the swimming pool.My husband and I live in Amsterdam, a short cycle from our daughter's mum, who is a longstanding mutual friend. Our daughter's time is split between the two households. We are just one of many rainbow families in the Netherlands, where parents (often, a gay male couple and a single woman, or a lesbian couple) choose to have and raise children in constellations of more than two adults. The Dutch have a proud history of championing gay rights - it was back in 2001 that Amsterdam's then-mayor presided over the world's first same-sex marriages - and families such as ours have long been embraced here. And yet, from a legal point of view, we are unseen and, consequently, disadvantaged.Mark Smith is an Amsterdam-based writer Continue reading...

Exiles fleeing Putin's repression in Russia and other post-Soviet states find a harsh welcome when arriving statesideFor most of the four years of Joe Biden was in office, citizens of Russia and other post-Soviet states seeking asylum in the US were generally released into the country while they awaited hearings on their claim in immigration court.But since last summer, many have been detained upon entering the US, and some of them have been held for more than a year, lawyers, activists and detainees say. Some children have been separated from their parents. Continue reading...

The Russian and US presidents will discuss a Ukraine ceasefire plan, as the EU aims to ramp up pressure by insisting the ball is in Russia's court'. Plus, how the Irish are ruling pop culture

Planned missiles on Kyushu said to be part of counterstrike capabilities', as fears grow over US security pactJapan is planning to deploy long-range missiles on its southern island of Kyushu amid concerns around the Trump administration's stance towards its security pacts and continuing regional tensions.The missiles, with a range of about 1,000km, would be capable of hitting targets in North Korea and China's coastal regions, and are due to be deployed next year in two bases with existing missile garrisons. They would bolster the defences of the strategically important Okinawa island chain and are part of Japan's development of counterstrike capabilities" in the event it is attacked, according to reports from Kyodo News agency, citing government sources. Continue reading...

Women's goods are taxed at a higher rate than men's, an invisible bias that is estimated to cost women $2.5bn a yearMany shoppers know about the so-called pink tax - a needless markup on products marketed to women, even if those products are essentially the same, just cheaper, when sold to men. Personal care items such as razors, deodorants and shampoo fall into this category. But shoppers may be less aware of pink tariffs", or taxes on imported goods labeled as women's items".Pink tariffs are one reason women's clothing tends to cost more than men's at the checkout counter, and why some women might buy sweatpants or oversized sweaters technically made for men" - it could save them some cash. Continue reading...

Like other middle-aged women, my wardrobe is predominantly made up of black, loosely fitting clothing, often worn backwards. I'm glad to see us represented in the witchcore trend.It's time," the New York Times says, to start dressing like a witch." I don't think this headline filled me with joy just because it was one of the few not to give me palpitations and a 20-point blood pressure spike; I'm genuinely excited to read that witchcore is coming.Despite wearing the same grubby sweatshirt five days a week, I love finding out what florid, fever dreams fashion has cooked up: can it ever top Balenciaga spring/summer 2023, when furious-looking models trudged through mud in giant boots, like teens forced to walk the family dog in winter? This report suggested the current round of shows were less out-there, but brimming with good news for the middle-aged homeworker. There is, reportedly, a very witchy vibe to the entire season", exemplified by the Tom Ford show and the upsettingly named fashion house Matieres Fecales (fecal matter).Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Leading figures urge Pam Bondi to examine Mr Musk's activities at the FAA' amid conflict-of-interest concerns

The US president is condemning waste' and firing workers - while cashing in by traveling to his own resortsIt's no secret that Donald Trump loves to golf, especially at his own resorts. But Trump's habit is costing US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars - even as he decries fraud and claims to slash waste in federal spending.Since he took office, Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers and tried to shut down agencies, part of his effort to unilaterally dismantle the government. He has also made seven trips to Florida and the golf courses he owns there. Continue reading...

The last time a player from a historically black college made the NBA was in 2010. Work is underway to open up the pathway to the prosIn the coming weeks, tens of thousands of people will attend the Final Four of the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments. They'll pack into raucous arenas and argue with strangers about the merits of college basketball stars - and then celebrate victory or mourn defeat with those same strangers hours later. At the center of the commotion and excitement will be eight teams, young men and women who are among the best in their sport.But there will be another group of athletes in San Antonio at the same time as the men's Final Four is played there, and it will include the best basketball players from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The 48 players - 24 men and 24 women - are not going to be in Texas for the Final Four, but instead will compete in the 2025 HBCU All-Star Game & Experience, a six-day event that culminates in back-to-back championship matches on 6 April. Continue reading...

US immigration has become a machine of surveillance and fear. We're already seeing the consequencesThis month marks 22 years since the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).Created in the wake of 9/11 under the guise of national security, Ice was supposed to target real threats. Instead, it has become a machine of mass surveillance, indiscriminate arrests and fear-based enforcement that does little to keep us safer. Over the years, the harshest post-9/11 policies were rolled back after proving ineffective. But today, we are watching history repeat itself. Continue reading...

US president Donald Trump said he ordered the launch of military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping. Trump promised to use 'overwhelming lethal force' until the rebel group ceased their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor.

It's time to open up your big fat mouths and push back against fatphobiaA strange paradox about being fat is how, at the same time as people can't seem to see past your fatness, you can also somehow be invisible. For some, your fatness becomes the only thing about you, the only quality you have. My fatness causes adults to laugh or sneer or hurl abuse in the street, or to say horrible depraved things online. Strangers hate my extra flesh so much that they can't help but regularly inform me about it as I'm tweeting, walking home, standing in a mall, ordering a drink at a bar - or once, entering my own front door.I can't remember every one of the numerous public incidents but I do remember the first time it happened. I was a (lonely) 14-year-old waiting for the bus with a bunch of other kids at 8:30am, and men drove past and shouted WHALE" at me. It was humiliating, it was stupid (I am clearly a land animal), and in my memory it was the sharp beginning of my life in a fatphobic world. It was the beginning of fatphobia fundamentally changing who I was, who I was growing into, planting seeds that would affect me for decades. Shortly after that, I stopped being able to do public speaking, and even now I have to drug myself, my body going into flight mode when I put her in front of a crowd.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Russian president accepts the philosophy' of US's Ukraine ceasefire terms, says US envoy; Musk's popularity falls - key US politics stories from Sunday at a glanceUS president Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he expected the US president to speak with Vladimir Putin this week, adding that the Russian president accepts the philosophy" of Trump's ceasefire and peace terms.Witkoff told CNN that discussions with Putin over several hours last week were positive" and solution-based". He declined to confirm when asked whether Putin's demands included the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Kursk; international recognition of Ukrainian territory seized by Russia as Russian; limits on Ukraine's ability to mobilise; a halt to western military aid; and a ban on foreign peacekeepers. Continue reading...

Portions of eastern US under watch for dangerous winds and tornadoes as storm moves out on SundayPortions of Pennsylvania, New York, and mid-Atlantic and south-east states were still under a National Weather Service watch for damaging wind and tornadoes, as the death toll from weekend storms rose to 36 people across six states.In a White House statement, Donald Trump said he was monitoring the tornadoes and storms, adding that 36 innocent lives have been lost, and many more devastated". Continue reading...

Independent reporting on how disparities undermine child well-being in AmericaThis series is supported, in part, through philanthropic funding to theguardian.org, a US-based foundation that partners with the Guardian on independent editorial projects. Support for this project comes from the Foundation for Child Development.All of the journalism is editorially independent, commissioned and produced by our Guardian journalists. You can read more about content funding on the Guardian here. A full list of philanthropically supported editorial projects can be found here. Continue reading...

A massive storm system unleashed powerful winds and spawned multiple tornadoes, killing at least 32 Continue reading...

Page honoring Charles C Rogers for his Vietnam war service is now defunct with letters DEI' added to website addressThe US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the country's highest military decoration has been removed and the letters DEI" added to the site's address.On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers's Medal of Honor webpage led to a 404" error message. The URL was also changed, with the word medal" changed to deimedal". Continue reading...