6 d. ago RFK Jr faces calls to quit as CDC chief fired and senior staff resign: ‘an embarrassment’

Susan Monarez’s ousting and four top resignations follow vaccine confusion, leaving US health agencies in turmoilWho’s who in the CDC crisis?It’s been a tumultuous week for US health agencies, with the departure of several top officials, uncertainty around new Covid vaccine restrictions, and even more experts calling for the removal of top health official Robert F Kennedy Jr.The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez, was fired by the Trump White House after some controversy, and four other top officials also resigned. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago The Latest: White House says CDC director is fired, agency leaders resign

The director of the nation’s top public health agency is challenging a White House announcement that she's been fired, and several other top leaders of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have resigned, saying President Donald Trump’s administration is putting politics in the way of keeping Americans safe

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7 d. ago Newsom and Pritzker tell Trump crime is under control but vast majority of Americans see it as ‘major problem’

‘You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is,’ the president has said

Politics

7 d. ago Trump extends control over Washington by taking management of Union Station away from Amtrak

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says his department is taking management of Washington's main transportation hub away from Amtrak, in another example of how the federal government is exerting its power over the nation’s capital

Politics

7 d. ago Met Office issues 'thunderstorm' forecast as one region faces major washout

Met Office weather forecasters say 'longer spells of rain' could impact most of the country in the coming days, with thunderstorms on the cards and one region most at risk

Events

7 d. ago Fertility rate for England and Wales falls to new record low

For a country’s population to remain stable, discounting any impact from migration, the total fertility rate needs to be around 2.1.

Politics

9 d. ago Revealed: The 'pricey' European gem tourists are turning their back on

There are some countries that have seen a huge boost of tourism in recent years and now risk being the next country to face the detrimental impacts of overtourism.

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s attacks on the ‘Blacksonian’ have a history in a century

The United Daughters of the Confederacy set out to make slavery respectable again by promoting ‘the lost cause’It should surprise no one that former cast members from reality shows that ran for more than 15 seasons are running out of new material. Days ago, Donald Trump, former star of NBC’s The Apprentice and current US president, posted a lengthy Truth Social rant in which he (again) threatened the country’s leading cultural institutions to adhere to his political ideology. The target was one he has had in his crosshairs before – the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) – which Trump called “OUT OF CONTROL” in his post. “Everything discussed [in NMAAHC exhibits] is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was,” Trump unloaded. “WOKE IS BROKE,” he continued through his customary use of all caps and misplaced capitalization of common nouns. “We have the HOTTEST Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our M...

Politics

1 week ago White House rattled by one Smithsonian painting it claims proves Trump’s ‘out of control’ claims

Criticism comes as White House officials have accused Smithsonian of being ‘woke’ and featuring an ‘overemphasis on slavery

Politics

1 week ago Ant smuggling into the US is out of control since Trump’s cuts – and it could have dire impacts on the country

Invasive insects can devastate local ecosystems and damage the homes of local residents

Politics

2 w. ago Federal prosecutors launch inquiry into Washington DC police over allegedly fudged crime statistics

Move comes after Donald Trump posted on social media about US capital’s ‘fake crime numbers’Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Washington DC police systematically manipulated crime statistics to make the city appear safer than it actually is.The probe, anonymous sources tell the Washington Post, NBC News and Fox News, being conducted by the US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia under Jeanine Pirro, is the latest escalation between the Trump administration and DC officials over federal control of local policing. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Pam Bondi returns control to DC police chief after city sued Trump over ‘hostile takeover’

Washington, D.C.’s attorney general calls administration’s actions ‘gravest threat’ to district’s self-governance

Politics

2 w. ago California governor calls for a special election to introduce new US House maps – live

Gavin Newsom announces plans to ask voters to approve new congressional maps in response to a redistricting plan by TexasMelania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump repeats false claims about DC crime and praises order allowing city police to work closer with Ice agents – live updates

Trump says, without evidence, that law enforcement officials who have created ‘fake’ crime statistics, are ‘under investigation’Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump wants to ‘take back’ DC — but the feds already control most of the land

Huge chunks of the capital are under the federal government’s control. Local officials feel like their hands are tied when it comes to how to run the city

Politics

2 w. ago Trump rails about ‘rampant’ crime and social security fraud without evidence – live updates

Trump also claims his domestic policy bill, which he signed into law last month, enshrines ‘no tax’ on social security for America’s seniorsMelania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump’s DC takeover is a move of staggering hypocrisy | Rebecca Solnit

Donald Trump is concocting a drama in DC because he would like us to really stop talking about the Epstein filesThe most violent day in the history of Washington DC, leaving aside the War of 1812, was 6 January 2021, and the instigator was Donald J Trump, who this week has endeavored to seize control of the nation’s capital, after reports that a former employee of the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) was assaulted in the city.In a sense the new event echoes the old; both are illegitimate power grabs made on the basis of lies. In 2021 it was a lie about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election; in the summer of 2025 it’s lies about crime levels. Reliable sources – including the Biden Department of Justice in January – have noted that violent crime there is at a 30-year low. Five people died as a result of that 2021 attack on Congress, and dozens of law enforcement officers were injured, some gravely, by the mob Trump incited. On his first day in office in 2025 he par...

Politics

2 w. ago Protesters confront federal officers as Trump tightens grip on DC policing

Democratic leader says ‘no fucking way’ as president signals he could declare emergency to keep control past 30 daysUS politics live – latest updatesProtesters heckled federal law enforcement officials as they reportedly stopped dozens of cars at a checkpoint along a busy street in Washington DC on Wednesday night, underscoring tensions after Donald Trump announced he was taking control of the city’s police department and deploying the national guard in the city.Around 20 law enforcement officers, some of whom appeared to be from the Department of Homeland Security, pulled over drivers for infractions such as broken taillights and not wearing seatbelts, according to the Washington Post. At least one woman was reportedly arrested as more than 100 protesters gathered and reportedly yelled things like “get off our streets”, according to NBC News. Some protesters began warning drivers to avoid the area, the outlet reported. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Trump says he’ll seek ‘longterm’ control of DC police and signals he’ll target other cities next

President’s comments come as White House takes credit for dozens of arrests as part of campaign to fight ‘crime crisis’ its leaders say doesn’t existUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump said on Wednesday he would ask Congress for “longterm” control of Washington DC’s police department and signaled he expected other Democratic-led cities to change their laws in response to his deployment of national guard troops and federal agents into the capital.The president’s comments came as the White House took credit for dozens of arrests overnight in Washington as part of Trump’s campaign to fight a “crime crisis”, which its leaders say does not exist. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Spain wildfires are ‘clear warning’ of climate emergency, minister says

Environment minister says blazes are proof of country’s vulnerability to global heating as fires burn across EuropeThe heatwave-fuelled wildfires that have killed two people in Spain over recent days, devouring thousands of hectares of land and forcing thousands of people from their homes, are a “clear warning” of the impact of the climate emergency, the country’s environment minister has said.Speaking on Wednesday morning, as firefighters in Spain, Greece and other Mediterranean countries continued to battle dozens of blazes, Sara Aagesen said the 14 wildfires still burning across seven Spanish regions were further proof of the country’s particular vulnerability to global heating. Continue reading...

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