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The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet. It damages America: it will harm us allAn earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage. Recent floods in Asia and droughts in Africa have been catastrophic, yet they have inflicted less damage and affected fewer people than the sudden withdrawal of billions of dollars of US aid from the world's most volatile hotspots and its most vulnerable people. Coming alongside President Trump's plan for a US takeover of Gaza, the US administration's resolve to shut down its international aid agency sends a clear message that the era when American leaders valued their soft power is coming to an end.But while the Gaza plan is as yet only on the drawing board, USAid cuts - which will see funding slashed and just 290 of the more than 10,000 employees worldwide retained, according to the New York Times - have already begun to bite this week. We have seen the halting of landmine-clearing work in Asia, support for war veterans and independent media in Ukraine, and assistance for Rohingya refugees on the border of Bangladesh. This week, drug deliveries to fight the current mpox and Ebola outbreaks in Africa have been stopped, life-saving food lies rotting at African ports, and even initiatives targeting trafficking of drugs like fentanyl have been cut back. One of the world's most respected charities, Brac, says that the 90-day blanket ban on helping vulnerable people is depriving 3.5 million people of vital services.Gordon Brown is the UN's special envoy for global education and was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010 Continue reading...

US president has been critical of court since it issued war crimes arrest warrant for Netanyahu, who welcomes executive order targeting lawfare' against IsraelDonald Trump has signed an executive order that authorises aggressive economic sanctions against the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of illegitimate and baseless actions" targeting the US and Israel.The order grants the US president broad powers to impose asset freezes and travel bans against ICC staff and their family members if the US determines that they are involved in efforts to investigate or prosecute citizens of the US and certain allies. Continue reading...

Lawsuit seeks order blocking unconstitutional and illegal actions' that have created global humanitarian crisis'The largest US government workers' union and an association of foreign service workers sued the Trump administration on Thursday in an effort to reverse its aggressive dismantling of the US Agency for International Development.The lawsuit, filed in Washington, DC federal court by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association, seeks an order blocking what it says are unconstitutional and illegal actions" that have created a global humanitarian crisis". Continue reading...

This live coverage has ended, thanks for following along. You can find all of our US politics coverage here.Today is the deadline for federal workers to accept a buyout offer issued to employees by the Office of Personnel Management 28 January.The Washington Post reports that more than 40,000 people had accepted the buyout offer as of Wednesday, 5 February. Confusion over how and if, in fact, it would actually be implemented persisted as the deadline approached. Elon Musk, who leads the unofficial government program Department of Government Efficiency" has touted the offer. Continue reading...

Ellen Weintraub of Federal Election Commission rejects letter from president that claims she has been removedUnited States Federal Election Commission commissioner and chair Ellen Weintraub said on Thursday she received a letter from Donald Trump that purports to fire her but added that the action was illegal.In a post on X, Weintraub attached the January 31 letter signed by Trump which said: You are hereby removed as a member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately." Continue reading...

Democrats vote unanimously against key architect of Project 2025 but lose in 53-47 vote after all-night debate

Email shows Trump administration told officials to change vocabulary around gender and immigration immediatelyDisaster officials responding to the historic blazes that leveled large swaths of southern California last month received notification from the Trump administration that they must immediately change their vocabulary around gender and immigration, according to an email obtained by 404 Media.The email instructs employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to cease calling undocumented immigrants migrants" and instead call them aliens". It also directs employees to replace gender" with sex". Continue reading...

Ippei Mizuhara, 39, pleaded guilty to fraud after using millions of dollars to cover substantial gambling lossesA former interpreter was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for stealing $17m from Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to pay off gambling debts, according to local media reports.Ippei Mizuhara, the one-time translator and de facto manager of Ohtani, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, the punishment prosecutors had sought, and also ordered by US district judge John Holcomb to pay restitution of over $18m, the City News Service reported. Continue reading...

Funds, from $9bn bond approved by voters, includes $725m for destroyed Palisades and Marquez elementary schoolsLess than a month after wildfires devastated southern California - destroying eight schools across the Los Angeles area - districts are taking steps to rebuild and recover.On Tuesday, Los Angeles unified school district superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced the district will direct $2.2bn toward efforts to repair or rebuild three schools damaged in the Palisades wildfire, and renovate all the districts' campuses to be more natural disaster resilient". The funding - which has been set aside from a $9bn bond that voters approved in November - includes $725m to reconstruct the almost entirely destroyed Palisades and Marquez elementary schools, and Palisades Charter high school, which was about 30% destroyed. Continue reading...

Move comes day after Trump executive order banning trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sportsThe NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes on Thursday, limiting competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth.

President also makes baseless claim that USAid money has been illicitly funding news organisationsDonald Trump has called for the termination" of 60 Minutes, a long-established fixture of US journalism, in a fresh onslaught against the media that also included baseless claims that money from the country's beleaguered foreign aid body had been illicitly funding news organisations.The demand that 60 Minutes be taken off the air came in a post on Trump's Truth Social platform. It was the latest salvo in his long-running dispute with the CBS program over its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris, last year's defeated Democratic presidential candidate, over which Trump has lodged a $10m suit alleging election interference". Continue reading...

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...