5 hours ago Donald Trump isn’t even in office yet and silly season has already begun | Sidney Blumenthal

He wants to seize the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland. And now wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of AmericaDonald Trump’s silly season has already caused irreparable damage to United States national security. Despite not yet holding office for a minute, Trump has made it plain that in his second term the U.S. will be an unreliable partner swayed by his personal whim, that he has no respect for historic alliances and that he has contempt for the rule-based international order that the U.S. has led since the end of World War II to prevent the reemergence of catastrophic great power collisions.Beginning with his “Merry Christmas to all” tweet that he wanted to seize the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland, Trump has not relented in his absurd claims, extended to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. His disdain for the sovereignty of independent nations—two of them NATO allies and Panama a fellow member of the Organization of American States—has undermined the cr...

Politics

8 hours ago Stock market today: Asian stocks follow Wall Street's retreat, oil prices surge

Asian stocks have retreated after U.S. stocks fell as good news on the job market raised worries over inflation

Economics

2 hours ago ‘I’m going to have him run out of here by inauguration day’: Steve Bannon escalates his war with Elon Musk

Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist branded the tech tycoon as a ‘truly evil person’ and said stopping him before Janaury 20 has become ‘a personal issue’

Events

7 hours ago As Trump enters the fray, the danger is that a nationalist Europe will fragment, not stick together | Nathalie Tocci

Rightwing leaders such as Meloni and Orbán set themselves up as Trump whisperers – but they only want to preserve their own interests A far-right wind is blowing across the Atlantic. While the rise of the populist right in Europe predated Donald Trump’s re-election, far-right parties, leaders and governments across Europe are being bolstered by his imminent return to power, and by Elon Musk’s rising political star. There is some hope that Trump’s presidency could have a unifying effect on Europe – and on issues such as defence policy, I believe it might.Trump’s apparent disregard for international law, sovereign borders and the US’s Nato allies with his ludicrous threat, even before his second term begins, to annex Greenland by force, drew a swift and unified reaction from France, Germany and Spain, whose leaders made it clear that they are, as you would expect, appalled and standing with Denmark. Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Trump’s remarks had triggered “incomprehension...

Politics

7 hours ago Robert F Kennedy Jr claims seed oils are ‘poisoning’ us. Here’s why he’s wrong

Like a host of online influencers, the man likely to be the US’s next health secretary has denounced the vegetable oils used in countless foods. The science is not on their side Seed oils are in many foods. They are usually cheap and easy to cook with, and their inoffensive taste means they can be used in a huge variety of things. Go on any social media platform, though, and you will find self-appointed health influencers blaming them for everything from inflammation to the obesity epidemic. Politicians do it too: the man Donald Trump wants for his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has claimed that Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned” by them. But is any of this true, and should it change how you buy or cook your food?To be clear, seed oils are oils extracted from – well, seeds. In the UK, the most common are rapeseed (known in the US as canola oil) and sunflower (both often called vegetable oil), though you will also find soybean, corn, grapeseed, rice bran and safflower...

Politics

8 hours ago LA wildfires show that those who deny climate change are putting us all at risk

With Donald Trump about to become US President, Labour must live up to their promises on climate change

Events

10 hours ago China's exports in December grew 10.7%, beating estimates as higher US tariffs loom

China’s exports in December grew at a faster pace than expected, as factories rushed to fill orders to beat higher tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose once he takes office

Politics

21 hours ago Spoon bender Uri Geller offers Donald Trump to use his island as US military base

Well-known spoon bender Uri Geller has offered Donald Trump the use of his island as a US military base after the President-elect's calls to take over Greenland

Events

12 hours ago JD Vance splits with Trump on major issue that could cause turmoil on their first day back in the White House

JD Vance has diverged from Donald Trump on pardoning January 6 rioters, advocating against clemency for those who committed violence while supporting pardons for peaceful protestors.

Politics

26 hours ago California governor Gavin Newsom hits out at 'delusional' Donald Trump over wildfire criticism

California governor Gavin Newsom has hit at Donald Trump over his LA wildfire response claims, calling the president-elect “delusional”.

Events

17 hours ago Jeremy Clarkson says Trump should buy Britain after declaring he wants Greenland

Creepy Jeremy Clarkson says the MAGA man himself, Donald Trump, should be free to buy Britain following the orange manbaby's declaration that he wants to take over Greenland

Politics

28 hours ago Donald Trump breaks his silence on LA fires after failing to respond to Gavin Newsom's invite to visit wildfire ground zero

Donald Trump has finally broken his silence over the Los Angeles fires that have consumed the west coast city

Events

18 hours ago Steve Bannon explodes on 'evil racist' Elon Musk and pledges to 'take him down' before Trump's Inauguration Day

It's no secret that Steve Bannon, once a top aide to Donald Trump, isn't a fan of the president-elect's newest buddy Elon Musk.

Politics

19 hours ago The Guardian view on capital punishment: an upsurge in executions should concern us all | Editorial

The vast majority of countries have outlawed the death penalty. Yet the annual toll is growing – and Donald Trump wants to increase its useThe good news: Zimbabwe has just banned the death penalty. While it should remove an exemption clause, which might allow for capital punishment’s return were a state of emergency to be declared, the decision is another welcome step in the global journey towards abolition: 113 states have now banned executions.The bad news is that fewer countries have been killing more people in the last few years. Last May, Amnesty International recorded 1,153 executions in 2023, a 31% increase from the previous year and the highest level for almost a decade. (The figure is an underestimate since countries including China, believed to be the world’s largest executioner, do not publish data on the death penalty.) There was no letup in 2024. Iran reportedly executed more than 900 people. Saudi Arabia is believed to have killed another 330, compared with 172 in...

Politics

20 hours ago The Guardian view on Argentina’s austerity year: painful cuts, rising poverty and a geopolitical gamble | Editorial

In his first 12 months Javier Milei has imposed drastic economic measures – sparking protests while banking on an IMF bailoutThe first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump after his victory last November was Argentina’s president, Javier Milei. The affinity is obvious: both are political outsiders united by extreme-right rhetoric and a penchant for anarchic capitalism. Mr Milei promised a war on bureaucrats, brutal public spending cuts and sweeping deregulation of Latin America’s second-largest economy. Predictably, the outcome has been devastating: a recession plunged more than half the country into poverty within the first six months of 2024.Mr Milei did not so much win the last election as the previous government lost it. When voters went to the polls in October 2023, monthly inflation stood at around 8%, fuelling frustration with the established parties and anxiety about the future – sentiments Mr Milei skilfully exploited. After his victory, monthly inflation soared to...

Politics

22 hours ago First Minister says he will use Donald Trump's Scottish links in tariff talks

The incoming president has threatened a blanket 20 per cent tariff on all imports into the US

Politics

24 hours ago Canada’s election is about to have an Elon Musk problem with Trudeau’s exit

The world’s richest man looks to move Canada to the right as the beleaguered prime minister prepares to departThe decision by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, this week to resign as head of the Liberal party has set in motion a leadership race against the backdrop of a looming general election, which will be held amid political turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s America First economic nationalism. It has also given Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, an opportunity to inject himself into yet another country’s political turmoil.Since Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, Musk has posted repeatedly about Canadian politics on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter he bought in 2022 for $44bn. He has praised clips of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative party, while relishing in Trudeau’s downfall and engaging with rightwing Canadian influencers. Continue reading...

Politics

29 hours ago Humiliation as Brexit bankroller Arron Banks refused US entry to own Donald Trump party

Brexit bankroller and Nigel Farage pal Arron Banks is unable to attend his own £150,000 party celebrating Donald Trump's return to the White House after being denied US entry

Politics

30 hours ago Britain is a weak link in Donald Trump’s new world order, so it needs to find friends fast | Will Hutton

Amid deepening debt and an onslaught by the president-elect, Labour must calm the markets, then think big economicallyIt’s certainly not 2008, nor even Truss 2022, but the men and women who move the financial markets are suddenly darkly pessimistic. Some of the private emails and WhatsApp messages circulating last week matched any efforts by Cassandra. The mood has turned against Britain.It is not one single thing, but a toxic mix. There is the prospect of a long period of stagflation, the consequence, as even the markets recognise, of 14 years of epic misgovernment. The problem now is partly that Labour does not have a plausible growth story, partly that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is painted as having an economic tin ear that douses capitalist animal spirits, and partly because Trump’s arrival has exposed just how dependent an indebted, economically wounded Britain is on the kindness of strangers. It’s not yet a crisis – the stock market has held up – but without some skilful e...

Politics

32 hours ago Mike Pence fuels speculation that his wife snubbed Melania and reveals first words to Trump in four years

At Jimmy Carter's funeral, Mike Pence's wife, Karen, sparked speculation of a deliberate snub when she remained seated and ignored Donald and Melania Trump while warmly greeting Bushes.

Politics

36 hours ago Politicians quibbling as LA burns: Gavin Newsom’s latest beef with Trump

California governor calls president-elect’s claim that water is being withheld from southern California ‘delusional’Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, appeared briefly to put his long-running feud with Donald Trump to one side on Friday, when he invited the president-elect to Los Angeles to survey devastation from the wildfires and meet with first responders, firefighters and the “Americans” affected.“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans – displaced from their homes and fearful for the future – deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.” Continue reading...

Politics