12 h. ago Trump’s military takeover of Washington DC is a sheer demonstration of power | Moira Dongan

No one believes that the deployment of troops to America’s most liberal, most racially diverse, and most culturally thriving cities is about solving a real problemPresident Trump imposed a military takeover of the nation’s capital on Monday, sending National Guard troops to Washington. He also seized control of the DC municipal police department, invoking an obscure section of the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act which allows the president to take control of local law enforcement in the district for a period of one month in times of emergency.That there is no emergency is irrelevant: Trump has declared one in order to exercise powers that are only available to him in a state of exception, which is, of course, what the whole country increasingly finds itself to be experiencing as the president expands the powers of his office from those of a constitutional executive into something more like the power of authoritarian control.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Events

29 h. ago Charlie Kirk calls for ‘full military occupation’ of American cities ‘once we liberate DC’

‘We got to go hard. We gotta go big league. We're talking National Guard, tanks — every street, you need military,’ Charlie Kirk exclaimed on Monday.

Events

58 h. ago Charlie Kirk smokes Trump over push to reclassify marijuana as less dangerous drug: ‘Everything already smells like weed’

Kirk slammed the change in classification that Trump is reportedly considering, saying the drug shouldn’t be downgraded because it ruins public spaces.

Events

4 d. ago Myanmar military junta using European technology for drone attacks, report says

Junta obtained ‘anti-jamming’ product made in Europe through a Chinese company, research finds, triggering calls for tighter sanctionsMyanmar’s military is using advanced European technology to protect its drone fleet as it carries out brutal aerial campaigns, research suggests, prompting calls for sanctions against the junta to be tightened.Myanmar’s military, which has been widely condemned for its indiscriminate attacks against civilians, obtained “anti-jamming” technology made in Europe through a Chinese company, according to a report by Conflict Armament Research (Car). Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago ‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians

Revealed: The Israeli military undertook an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on Microsoft’s servers in EuropeOne afternoon in late 2021, Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, met with the commander of Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200. On the spy chief’s agenda: moving vast amounts of top secret intelligence material into the US company’s cloud.Meeting at Microsoft’s headquarters near Seattle, a former chicken farm turned hi-tech campus, the spymaster, Yossi Sariel, won Nadella’s support for a plan that would grant Unit 8200 access to a customised and segregated area within Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Call for Nato action after Russian drone intrudes on Lithuania

Russia talking down Medvedev’s influence after nuclear threats; oligarch’s superyacht goes on sale with proceeds to Ukraine. What we know on day 1,260Lithuania has called for Nato help to boost its air defences after Russian military drones repeatedly violated its airspace. “Last Monday, a Russian military drone violated Lithuanian airspace,” said Kęstutis Budrys, the foreign minister in Vilnius. “This marks the second such incident in less than a month. Similar airspace violations have also been reported recently by other allies.”Budrys added that he and the defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, had asked the Nato secretary general for “immediate measures to enhance air defence capabilities in Lithuania and accelerate the full implementation of the rotational air defence model. Air defence is vital to allied security. Securing Nato’s eastern flank must remain a top priority for the alliance.”Amid the nuclear row between Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin has moved to play ...

Events

1 week ago DJ K: Radio Libertadora! review – explosive freedom and skilful cacophony

(Nyege Nyege Tapes)Kaique Vieira’s latest ‘bruxaria’ album is even bolder and louder than his 2023 debut, as he brings revolutionary spirit to the funk sound of São PaoloOver the past two years, Kaique Vieira, AKA DJ K, has been crafting a new sound of São Paolo. Influenced by local favela street parties, the 24-year-old producer takes the distorted bass, Afro-Brazilian rhythms and vocal melodies of baile funk – a dance genre that originated in Brazil in the 80s – and adds a darker palette of reverb-laden vocal lines, rave sirens and buzzing synths to create a style he calls bruxaria (witchcraft). Vieira’s 2023 debut Pânico no Submundo was a 15-track introduction, harnessing the sound of blown-out speaker cones. Radio Libertadora! moves into even bolder and louder territory, developing his nascent genre into a source of dancefloor chaos.Opening with a sample of a 1969 radio speech by the revolutionary Carlos Marighella, which called on people to act against Brazil’s military dictato...

Events

4 w. ago Charlie Kirk backtracks after saying he’s ‘done talking about Epstein,’ claims he meant just ‘yesterday’

‘When I said for the time being, I was talking yesterday,” Charlie Kirk insisted on Tuesday.

Politics

4 w. ago Charlie Kirk says ‘I’m done talking about Epstein’ after Trump called him over weekend

The president reportedly called up influential right-wing media personalities and asked them to pull back on their criticism of Pam Bondi amid the continued uproar over the Epstein memo

Politics

4 w. ago ‘People always say, “I love you, Gramps”’: why these seniors love video games

Adults in their 60s, 70s and 80s represent nearly 28% of roughly 205 million US gamers and are becoming more visible in the mainstreamMichelle Statham’s preferred game is Call of Duty. It’s fast and frenetic, involving military and espionage campaigns inspired by real history. She typically spends six hours a day livestreaming to Twitch, chatting to her more than 110,000 followers from her home in Washington state. She boasts about how she’ll beat opponents, and says “bless your heart” while hurtling over rooftops to avoid clusterstrikes of enemy fire. When she’s hit, she “respawns” – or comes back to life at a checkpoint – and jumps right back into the fray.The military shooter game has a predominantly young male user base, but Statham’s Twitch handle is TacticalGramma – a nod to the 60-year-old’s two grandkids. Her lifelong gaming hobby has become an income stream (she prefers to keep her earnings private, but says she has raised “thousands” for charity), as well as a way to have ...

Politics

4 w. ago Gaming in their golden years: why millions of seniors are playing video games

Adults over the age of 50 represent nearly a third of US gamers and are becoming more visible in the mainstreamMichelle Statham’s preferred game is Call of Duty. It’s fast and frenetic, involving military and espionage campaigns inspired by real history. She typically spends six hours a day livestreaming to Twitch, chatting to her more than 110,000 followers from her home in Washington state. She boasts about how she’ll beat opponents, and says “bless your heart” while hurtling over rooftops to avoid clusterstrikes of enemy fire. When she’s hit, she “respawns” – or comes back to life at a checkpoint – and jumps right back into the fray.The military shooter game has a predominantly young male user base, but Statham’s Twitch handle is TacticalGramma – a nod to the 60-year-old’s two grandkids. Her lifelong gaming hobby has become an income stream (she prefers to keep her earnings private, but says she has raised “thousands” for charity), as well as a way to have fun, stay sharp and con...

Politics