Speaking from the Oval Office, Elon Musk defended his role in the gutting of federal agencies under the auspices of his so-called 'department of government efficiency'. Musk also dismissed concerns about his conflicts of interest, telling reporters he is trying to be as transparent as possible, even though his own financial disclosures will not be made public. 'Transparency is what builds trust,' he said Continue reading...
by Guardian staff and agencies in Washington on (#6V7FW)
Egypt also rejects idea, saying it planned to present vision of reconstruction in Gaza for Palestinians to remain on landDonald Trump has pressed Jordan's King Abdullah to take in Palestinians who would be permanently displaced under the US president's idea for the US to take over the Gaza Strip - even as the king said his country was firmly opposed to the move.Speaking alongside the Arab country's ruler in the White House, Trump signaled he would not budge on his idea that involves moving the Gaza Strip's shell-shocked residents and transforming the war-ravaged territory into what he billed a Riviera of the Middle East". Continue reading...
President's order notes agency heads will undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force' with some exceptionsDonald Trump handed Elon Musk even more control over the federal government by preparing an executive order requiring agencies to cooperate with Musk's so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge), a team Trump has assembled, when told to cut their workforces and limit the hiring of replacements.The White House order, titled Implementing The President's Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative, said the goal is to restore accountability to the American public" and that this order commences a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy. By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself." Continue reading...
The agency was transferring the records for declassification and did not say what information they containedThe FBI on Tuesday said it had discovered 2,400 new records related to the assassination of former president John F Kennedy as federal agencies work to comply with Donald Trump's executive order last month to release thousands of files.The FBI said it's working to transfer the records to the National Archives and Records Administration to be included in the declassification process. Continue reading...
President makes remarks following release of Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel, held in Russia since 2021A US teacher who has been held in Russia since 2021 has been released after a deal which Donald Trump said he hoped could mark the start of a renewed relationship with Moscow.Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher sentenced in Russia to 14 years on drug-trafficking charges, was released on Tuesday following an unannounced visit to Moscow by Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Continue reading...
US agencies told to reinstate critical public health information that had been scrubbed from public viewA federal judge has ordered that the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) restore several of the webpages that they took down following Donald Trump's executive order attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).On Tuesday, the US district judge John Bates gave the health agencies until midnight to reinstate public medical information that had been scrubbed from the websites. Continue reading...
Trump ally pleaded guilty to charge related to duping donors who gave money to effort to build wall on US borderSteve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to duping donors who gave money to a private effort to build a wall along the US southern border - a case the conservative strategist has decried as a political persecution".Bannon, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, reached a plea agreement that spares him from jail time in the We Build the Wall" scheme. Continue reading...
A night behind the velvet ropes at the Super Bowl of canines, America's oldest continuously held sporting event, was enough to change even the staunchest skepticI'm not afraid to say it: dogs are in their flop era. Or maybe, just their owners are. The ones who bring a Great Dane into the grocery store, or hole up in a cocktail bar with a giant Saint Bernard at their feet. Dog people used to symbolize sensitivity, or a down-to-earth vibe. Now, they're synonymous with white-collar entitlement.But I kept those feelings to myself during the Westminster Dog Show, lest they take me out back to get mauled by a pack of Belgian Malinios. Continue reading...
There's no formal network for families caught up in mass deportations to re-home their pets, but communities are stepping up to helpOn 1 February, Kyle Aaron Reese saw a Facebook post from an old school friend urgently looking for someone to adopt a dog named Benny. Benny's owners had just been deported after an immigration raid in New York City; faced with high costs and uncertainty, they hadn't been able to take Benny with them. Reese did not have to stare long at the photo of the jowly bulldog's silly smile before jumping in his car to go pick him up.Everything about what I learned about that dog made me want him more," said Reese, who is 39 and lives in Brooklyn. Continue reading...
South Carolina Republican says she uncovered four men's graphic photos and videos of women and underage girlsThe South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace accused four men - including her former fiance - of rape, physical abuse and sexual misconduct during a nearly hourlong speech on Monday on the US House floor.In the 50-minute presentation, Mace named and displayed photos of the alleged abusers. Mace described how, in November 2023, she accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable" - including non-consensual photos, non-consensual videos of women and underage girls". Continue reading...
The supplement-loving anti-vaxxer could well be the US's next health secretary. At least the wellness bros and woo-woo fans will be happyRobert F Kennedy Jr is many things, but he is not a tropical fish. Someone should probably tell him this because he appears to be guzzling fish medicine. Last week a video of RFK sitting on a plane and putting a strange blue liquid into his glass of water went viral. It's not clear what he was taking, but online sleuths are convinced it was methylene blue, which is used to treat parasites in fish as well as aquatic ailments such as swim bladder disease.To be fair, methylene blue does have human uses - in the US it is FDA-approved to treat a rare blood disorder. Over the last few years, however, it has been touted as a miracle drug in wellness circles and people have been using it off-label in the hopes of staving off everything from jet lag to ageing. Looks like RFK Jr is in on one of the best-kept secrets in biohacking - methylene blue," wrote one prominent wellness influencer after the viral video. When used correctly, it's a gamechanger for mental clarity and longevity." Continue reading...
Lawyer says 26-year-old accused very much appreciates the outpouring of support' on fundraising platformThe man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare's CEO in December plans to accept more than $300,000 that people who are sympathetic to the accused killer have raised for his legal defense.More than 10,000 people had contributed an average of about $30 to Luigi Mangione's defense fund when his legal team indicated it would accept the donations, according to a post on Monday on the GiveSendGo platform that is hosting a fundraising campaign in his benefit. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Tom Cotton, Senate intelligence chair, risks angering key Trump ally with harsh words for tech titans'In a new book, the Arkansas senator Tom Cotton condemns Elon Musk for chasing Chinese dollars" and having shamefully supplicated China's Communist rulers", in order to advance his own interests as chief executive of companies including Tesla and SpaceX.It's an explosive charge from the Republican chair of the powerful Senate intelligence committee, given that Musk, the world's richest person, is a major donor and close adviser to Donald Trump, now working at the heart of the president's administration to slash costs and reshape the federal government. Continue reading...
by Natricia Duncan Caribbean correspondent on (#6V6ZS)
Nations try to reassure citizens as Trump threatens unprecedented crackdown but scale remains unclearNations across the Caribbean have been attempting to reassure their citizens at home and in the US after misinformation spread on social media channels caused widespread panic over Donald Trump's plans for trade tariffs and mass deportations.Alarming stories claiming that 5,000 Jamaicans had already been given final removal orders or that more than 1 million undocumented people were on federal enforcement lists, have caused concern across the region. Continue reading...
Protesters are facing increasingly draconian charges that get dismissed but could still have a chilling effectAs pro-Palestinian demonstrations broke out across the US during the first year of war in Gaza, thousands of people were arrested, charged, or cited for their involvement. Most of the cases against them did not stick, a new Guardian analysis of prosecution data in a dozen major cities finds.About 60% of alleged offenses committed by protesters did not result in prosecutions. The Guardian identified about 2,800 charges, summons and citations brought or requested against Gaza protesters. Around 1,600 were dropped, dismissed or otherwise not filed, data shows. Continue reading...
Without evidence, Trump blamed diversity after the crash, leading some to accuse Jo Ellis of being one of the pilotsJo Ellis is alive.It was a noncontroversial, irrefutable fact - until she was accused of piloting the military helicopter that crashed into a commercial airplane in Washington DC on 29 January, killing all involved. Continue reading...
Referencing DEI is the new rightwing abstraction deployed by Republicans to conceal their anti-Black racismIn 1981, Lee Atwater, the most influential Republican party strategist of the late 20th century, sat down for an off-the-record interview with the political scientist Alexander P Lamis. At the time, Atwater was a junior member of the Reagan administration, but he would later go on to run George HW Bush's presidential campaign in 1988 and then become chair of the Republican National Committee in 1989.In perhaps the most revealing, and most infamous, portion of the interview, the hard-charging Republican operative explained to Lamis how Republican politicians could mask their racism - and racist appeals to white voters - behind a series of euphemisms.You start out in 1954 by saying, [N-word, N-word, N-word]'. By 1968 you can't say [N-word]' - that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff, and you're getting so abstract. Now, you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites ... We want to cut this,' is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than [N-word, N-word]'.Mehdi Hasan is the CEO and editor-in-chief of the new media company Zeteo Continue reading...
There was a time when being a millionaire represented fantastical, unimaginable wealth - but our language needs an updateTwo friends and I were walking through our various rationales for some recent stupid act or thought. I didn't pay my tax on time, because I didn't want to cash in my premium bonds before the end of the month, because maybe I'd win a million pounds. H reckons if she applied herself seriously to writing erotic fanfic, she would definitely make a million pounds. D was wondering what the maximum amount of compensation would be for a range of workplace accidents, what limb you'd have to lose for a million pounds. She's dreaming. She's a graphic designer.One million pounds has been the objective unit of gigantic wealth for as long as I've been alive. There has never been any point in two million and it would sound unbelievably pedantic to wish for three. That's 50 years, during which time the value of one million pounds has changed quite a lot. Half a century ago, you could have bought an island, and now you might get a house with a well-made kitchen island. Yet the word has meant unimaginably massive" all that time. It never even respected currency variation - when a photo caption once ran Elizabeth Taylor arrived looking like a million dollars" and the newspaper sub added, per house style, (565,000)", people found that ridiculous; of course she didn't look like 565,000. If she looked like a million dollars, she looked like a million pounds. Continue reading...
Billions of gallons of irrigation water were wasted under Trump's orders in what now appears to be a political stuntUnder orders from Donald Trump, billions of gallons of irrigation water were laid to waste in California's thirsty agricultural hub this month, a move that left water experts shocked and local officials scrambling.The water, stored in two reservoirs operated by the army corps of engineers, is a vital source for many farms and ranches in the state's sprawling and productive San Joaquin Valley during the driest times of the year. It will be especially important in the coming months as the region braces for another brutally hot summer with sparse supplies. Continue reading...
This story about a child with cerebral palsy is badly misleading - and a slap in the face for families like oursAmazing news from Netflix: there is an extraordinary treatment available for children with very severe neurological disabilities, one that, given the appropriate level of parental gumption, will grant kids written off as hopeless cases the ability to walk and talk. The medical establishment, populated as it is with hopeless dinosaurs, hasn't yet absorbed its full significance, and you won't find it on the NHS, or through mainstream providers in the United States or Europe. But quietly, almost magically, it is already changing lives.The device that provides this treatment, the Cytotron, is the subject of the Mexican movie Lucca's World, the No 1 non-English-language film on the world's biggest streaming platform last week. It follows one family - led by a remarkable mother, Barbara Anderson, on whose memoir the movie is based - as they turn every stone in pursuit of a better life for their little boy. And as soon as Anderson learns about the Cytotron, there is very little room for doubt about its remarkable properties. By stimulating the damaged brain cells in order for them to become more active and create new connections", the device can apparently restore the functions that have been destroyed by Lucca's severe cerebral palsy. The Cytotron will mark a before and after in the history of medicine," we learn. It's scientifically supported". Yes, it's eye-wateringly expensive - $50,000 for a single course of treatment in the movie - but that's because it's unprecedented. Continue reading...
by Ana Lucía González Paz, Lucy Swan, Ashley Kirk, on (#6V6TN)
These graphics explain how the US trade deficit has changed, why Trump may be targeting certain countries with tariffs - and what the impact could beThe US president, Donald Trump, has put global leaders ill at ease with his threat of tariffs.After announcing and then delaying tariffs on Canada and Mexico, hitting Chinese goods with an additional 10% tariff and also threatening the European Union, countries and markets are concerned about where the US president will go next. Continue reading...
Conservative Friedrich Merz shattered a political taboo. His blunder gives the centre-left a chance in the 23 February electionThere are moments in every election campaign when the fate of a key protagonist takes a decisive turn, often after an unforced error. There was Rishi Sunak's overly hasty return from D-day commemorations in France for a TV interview, and, in Germany, Armin Laschet's unfortunate laughter during a 2021 visit to a flooded town that marked the beginning of the end for the then Christian Democratic Union (CDU) frontrunner.The current CDU leader, Friedrich Merz, who is the polls' favourite to become the next chancellor after Germany's general election on 23 February, may have had his moment of truth when his proposed crackdown on asylum seekers was narrowly passed by the Bundestag with the full support of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD).Florian Ranft is a member of the management board at Das Progressive Zentrum, a thinktank based in Berlin Continue reading...
Drake was humiliated on record, at the Grammys and now in a football stadium. But as a crisis expert attests, there's a way he could still return to relevanceIt's fitting that the Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef should end up on the Super Bowl field: My intent from day one was to keep the nature of it as a sport," Lamar said in an interview prior to his half-time show on Sunday. As the two rappers' enmity built into a series of back-and-forth diss tracks in spring 2024, writers reached for boxing metaphors, describing sparring", trading blows" or delivering haymakers". It was reminiscent of Pusha T's words to the Guardian after his own spat with Drake: What has been more energetic than this?" And of Drake's own words on one of his earliest hits: Sports and music are so synonymous / Cause we want to be them, and they want to be us."Drake fans might grumble that Lamar is now being less than sporting: having clearly won the beef thanks to the huge US No 1 success of Not Like Us - which framed Drake as a paedophile, a claim Drake outright rejected - he is now gleeful in victory. Last month he went to collect five Grammy awards for Not Like Us dressed in a Canadian tuxedo": Drake is from Toronto. At the Super Bowl, he brought out Serena Williams to dance during Not Like Us: Drake and Williams were once rumoured to be dating, and Drake later wrote hurt lyrics about her. Lamar's special guest SZA was one of Drake's own beloved creative foils. Lamar himself grinned down the camera as he rapped: Say Drake, I hear you like em young". At both events, thousands-strong crowds chanted tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor", a line about paedophilia, at full volume - it was, Billboard stated, even more deafening in the Superdome than the telecast suggested". Kendrick wore a lower-case a" pendant to underline the reference. The stop, he's already dead" Simpsons quote is being much shared, and has never been so appropriate. Continue reading...
The president said US would impose a 25% levy on metals being imported in to the countryIn an Oval Office signing ceremony Monday, Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, to be enforced without exceptions or exemptions". The executive actions were the latest in a series of aggressive trade policies Trump has undertaken since re-taking office last month.Here's what we know about the steel and aluminum tariffs so far: Continue reading...
President says America First ally will oversee operations amid concern about politicization of top US cultural centerDonald Trump has named longtime foreign policy adviser Ric Grenell as interim executive director of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, a move likely to raise concerns about the politicisation of the arts and potential for censorship.Grenell has been a vocal tribune of Trump's America First" ideology, and was not afraid to ruffle feathers during past spells as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence (he was the first openly gay person to lead the intelligence community). More recently, the 58-year-old has served as the president's envoy for special missions, and was involved in securing the release of Americans detained in Venezuela. Continue reading...
Lawmakers Elizabeth Warren and Maxine Waters join rally after Trump administration suspends all CFPB operationsChants of let us work!" rang out across the courtyard of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) blocks away from the White House on Monday, as hundreds of angry protesters rallied against the Trump administration's decision to suspend all operations at the US's top financial watchdog - an agency that has clawed back more than $21bn from Wall Street for defrauded consumers.The demonstration came after Russell Vought, Trump's newly installed acting director of the agency, ordered all CFPB staff to stand down and stay away from the office in what critics are calling a brazen attempt to defang financial industry oversight. Continue reading...
President directs DoJ to pause prosecutions under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and issues pardon to Rod BlagojevichDonald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the US justice department to halt prosecuting Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials to win business.The order instructs the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to pause prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 until she issues revised enforcement guidance that promotes American competitiveness. Continue reading...
US government auditors find cuts have degraded USAid's ability to distribute and safeguard humanitarian assistance'Nearly half a billion dollars of food aid is at risk of spoilage following the decision of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Doge" agency to make cuts to USAid, according to an inspector general (IG) report released on Monday.Following staff reductions and funding freezes, the US agency responsible for providing humanitarian assistance across the world - including food, water, shelter and emergency healthcare - is struggling to function. Continue reading...
John McConnell says administration had defied earlier order to resume disbursement of billions of dollarsA federal judge said on Monday that the Trump administration had defied his order to unfreeze billions in federal funding and issued a directive demanding that the government immediately restore frozen funding".In the order, US district judge John J McConnell Jr in Rhode Island instructed Donald Trump's administration to restore and resume federal funding in accordance with the temporary restraining order he issued in January, which halted the administration's freeze of congressionally approved federal funds. Continue reading...
Trump's defense secretary filed the memo in line with an executive order signed by the presidentThe US military will no longer allow transgender individuals to join the armed forces and will stop performing or facilitating procedures associated with gender transition for service members, according to a memo from defense secretary Pete Hegseth filed in court Monday.Hegseth's memo comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that took aim at transgender troops in a personal way. The president's order had said that a man identifying as a woman was not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member". Continue reading...
Adam Schiff warns in letter to White House that Trump ally may use role to shield his companies from federal scrutiny'The California senator Adam Schiff has demanded answers about Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest in his role leading the department of government efficiency" (Doge), as evidence grows of his complex business relationship with agencies now facing cuts.In a Monday letter to the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, Schiff accused Musk of operating in a legal grey zone, noting that as a special government employee" Musk is subject to strict conflict-of-interest regulations while retaining significant financial interests in multiple private companies that benefit from federal government contracts". Continue reading...
by Edward Helmore in Mayville, New York on (#6V61P)
Prosecutors begin case against Hadi Matar, charged with attempted murder and assault over festival attack in 2022Prosecutors began their case against Hadi Matar, the man accused of attacking the author Salman Rushdie, with a vivid and gruesome description of the stabbing they said came perilously close to killing him.Matar, a 27-year-old Lebanese American, is charged with attempted murder and assault over the stabbing attack on the author on stage at an arts festival in August 2022. The 77-year-old Rushdie was grievously injured in the attack and lost sight in one eye. Continue reading...
The US president's tariffs pose as worker protection, but they're a smokescreen - his bluster trades US credibility for a $4.6tn tax-cutting giveaway to the richIn 2020, Donald Trump scrapped the North American free trade agreement, replacing it with the United States Mexico Canada agreement", which he bragged was the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial" trade deal ever. That agreement between the three nations explicitly bans tariff hikes beyond what was agreed. Yet, on his return to the White House, Mr Trump immediately threatened steep levies on goods from Canada and Mexico - the US's key allies - retreating only after they made token concessions on drugs and illegal immigration. Now, he's vowing fresh steel and aluminum tariffs, a direct hit on Canada.Mr Trump is exploiting presidential emergency powers to push these tariffs with no real constraints. The bottom line is the US is breaking its word. Friends, such as the EU and the UK, as well as opponents like China are also under threat. Allies will think twice before signing deals with Washington, fearing future betrayals. Yet Mr Trump's administration doesn't care - it thrives on defying global norms. Skipping this year's G20 summit - citing host South Africa's focus on diversity, equality and climate action, alongside Elon Musk's fixation on white South African farmers - Mr Trump's team is mulling an exit from the IMF and World Bank. Continue reading...
James Watt, 26, sentenced to three years of probation after earning over $1.3m worth of bitcoin for false documentsAn Indiana man has been sentenced to three years of probation for making fake IDs after being caught working for a website that publicly declared: Your #1 Trusted Source for Fake IDs".James Watt, 26, pleaded guilty to unlawful production of document or authentication feature and money laundering, after the US attorney's office of the southern district of Indiana accused him of manufacturing and mailing 30,000 fake driver's licenses and other forms of false identification. Continue reading...
Vice-president accused of threatening constitution after saying judges have no right to restrain president's agendaJD Vance, the US vice-president, has been accused of threatening the US constitution after telling judges who have issued rulings temporarily blocking some of Donald Trump's most contentious executive orders that they aren't allowed" to control the president's legitimate power".Vance's intervention came after Judge Paul Engelmayer, a US district court judge, issued an injunction stopping Elon Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge) unit from accessing the treasury department's central payment system in search of supposed corruption and waste. Continue reading...
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