8 h. ago Dozens of Nobel laureates urge Trump to help release Belarusian political prisoners

Around 1,400 political prisoners – including doctors, journalists and scientists – are jailed in the country, according to human rights groups

Politics

12 h. ago Judge gives Trump administration two days to unfreeze funds for US foreign aid

A federal judge has given the Trump administration less than two days to release billions of dollars in blocked funding for U.S. foreign aid

Politics

4 d. ago Several of Prince Harry's secret US visa records to be released in latest twist in legal saga

Lawyers for US Department of Homeland Security agree some of Harry’s visa documents can be released

Politics

5 d. ago Why Trump’s water releases were dangerous for California’s levees

The condition of the state’s system was already precarious when the US president ordered billions of gallons be let outFirst, there was Donald Trump’s executive order to release billions of gallons of water from two reservoirs in California’s Central valley, a move the feds walked back after farmers and water experts decried it as wasteful, ill-conceived – and an unnecessary risk factor for levees in the region.The mandate, said Nicholas Pinter, a professor of applied geoscience at the University of California at Davis who studies California’s levees, amounted to “hydrologic insanity”. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump’s Gaza takeover won’t happen. But it has already changed the face of Israeli politics | Yair Wallach

The US president’s support for forcibly relocating Palestinians has laid the ground for Netanyahu’s ultimate fantasyWhen President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas last week to release all hostages by noon on 15 February, warning that otherwise “all hell [will] break loose”, the Israeli right was ecstatic. Here was a chance to finally move ahead with the complete occupation and annihilation of the Gaza Strip. The families of Israeli hostages were petrified about the prospect of the ceasefire collapsing, yet members of the ruling coalition called to kill the deal. “We have international support, give the order!” demanded the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.But the order never came. Hamas abided by the agreement and freed three hostages; Israel then released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Trump shrugged and said that it was Israel’s decision. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, who visited Israel on Sunday, signalled that the direction of travel is not towards resuming h...

Politics

7 d. ago Afflicted with liberal angst in the age of Trump? Take a leaf from Bridget Jones’s diary | Rafael Behr

The new movie wasn’t conceived as an allegory of the current international crisis, but for a generation of fans it works on that level When future generations study creative works that capture the unsettled spirit of our age, they might easily neglect Bridget Jones 4: Mad About the Boy. The movie isn’t about the historical inflection point that coincides with its release. It doesn’t feature Donald Trump, his vandalism of US democracy or his dissolution of the transatlantic alliance. Such things are not the stuff of romantic comedy. Also, they hadn’t yet happened in 2013, when Helen Fielding wrote the book on which the film is based.But the lack of intentional allegory doesn’t prevent us projecting one on to the story. Or maybe it was just me, experiencing a sentimental hallucination induced by events outside the cinema. Indulge me a moment (and forgive any plot spoilers), as I explain. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump tells Netanyahu to 'do whatever you want' regarding ceasefire deal after imposing strict deadline to release all hostages

Donald Trump has told Israel 's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do 'whatever he wants' in the next stage of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Events

9 d. ago MLK’s family fear new batch of assassination files will have FBI ‘smears’

Family of Martin Luther King Jr says Trump mandate could revive J Edgar Hoover’s efforts to discredit revered activistThe family of Martin Luther King Jr has expressed concern over Donald Trump’s executive order to release records surrounding the civil rights leader’s assassination, saying the president’s mandate could revive efforts to discredit the revered activist with the public.Speaking to Axios, a friend of the King family said: “We know J Edgar Hoover tried to destroy Dr King’s legacy, and the family doesn’t want that effort to prevail,” referring to the late former FBI director and his agency’s years-long surveillance of King as well his associates. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘Another woke disaster from Hollywood!’ How Captain America joined the culture wars

In the latest film from the Marvel franchise, Captain America: Brave New World, a Black hero squares up to a raging red baddie trashing the White House. Cue the conservative outrage Of all the times to recast the most iconically American comic-book character with a Black actor and then pit him against a violently angry supervillain with an unnaturally reddish skin tone, who also happens to be the new US president Sorry if that’s a spoiler, but it is in the trailer for the new Captain America: Brave New World, just released into a tumultuous Trump-run America that’s itching for another culture war.If Marvel was looking for some attention to reignite its beleaguered movie franchise, it seems to have found it – but not necessarily the good kind. If nothing else, the image of a raging red superbeing rising up from behind the presidential podium and then trashing the White House is sure to provoke a reaction. As Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson takes up the star-spangled shield passed on to h...

Events