39 h. ago Justice department opens investigation into Jerome Powell as Trump ramps up campaign against Federal Reserve

Fed chair accuses DoJ of threatening criminal charges over building renovation projects because central bank defied Trump’s interest rate demandsThe Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s extraordinary attack on the US central bank.Powell said the Department of Justice had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to his testimony before the Senate banking committee in June last year, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are ‘unacceptable’

Exclusive: US vice-president ‘sympathetic’ to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PMJD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is “entirely unacceptable” for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian.The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how the technology was being used to fuel “hyper-pornographied slop” online when they met in Washington on Thursday. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Russia fires hypersonic Oreshnik missile at Ukraine in massive attack

Kyiv dismisses as ‘absurd’ Moscow’s attempt to portray missile launch as retaliation for supposed attempted drone strike on Putin residenceEurope live – latest updatesRussia’s military has said it fired its new hypersonic Oreshnik missile at a target in Ukraine during a massive overnight strike.Ukraine confirmed the attack, saying it took place in the west of the country near the European Union border. Moscow said the launch of the intermediate-range ballistic missile was retaliation for a supposed attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence late last month – an allegation both Kyiv and Washington have said is false. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Minneapolis shooting latest: demonstrations and vigils across US after Minnesota woman fatally shot by ICE agent

Governor Tim Walz said he was prepared to deploy the National Guard and expressed outrage over the shootingWhen a federal agent shot and killed a woman during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the Guardian was nearby, shadowing observers who have trained for months to monitor and respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the state.ICE vehicles, unmarked, lined the street, and yellow police tape cordoned off the area in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Dozens of protesters and community members were seen on the snowy street, shouting at ICE agents and at the local police. More agents arrived amid the chaos. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Tim Walz floats deploying National Guard to Minneapolis after ICE shooting in blistering message to Trump: Live updates

A woman was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Politics

6 d. ago Reflagged by Russia, spied on by UK, seized by US: why so much interest in a rusty tanker in the Atlantic?

Ship has long been part of shadow fleet used to dodge western sanctions. It had no oil onboard – but was it carrying Russian weapons?A massive, rusty crude oil tanker floating north through the Atlantic has become the centre of global interest after it was followed for days and eventually seized by US forces while Russia’s military rushed towards it.Despite not carrying any oil, the 300-metre-long ship is clearly of value. Theories for why range from speculation that high-value Russian weapons are hidden in the hull, to the ship’s potential to become a symbolic trophy in a transatlantic power struggle between Washington and Moscow. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago California can’t bar teachers from telling parents about student’s gender identity at school, judge rules

The state of California quickly challenged the ruling and the decision is currently on hold as a federal appeals court considers the case

Society

1 week ago Federal ruling blocks Hawaii's climate change tourist tax on cruise ships

A federal appeals court is blocking Hawaii from enforcing a climate change tourist tax on cruise ship passengers

Society

1 week ago Trump says he’s dropping his push for the National Guard to patrol Chicago, LA and Portland

The administration has been hit with multiple legal challenges over the presence of the guardsmen

Politics

1 week ago Appeals court says Medicaid funding cuts for Planned Parenthood can stand while lawsuit proceeds

A federal appeals court says the Trump administration can continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood while legal challenges continue

Society

1 week ago Kennedy Center reportedly changed rules before vote to add Trump’s name

Bylaws that would limit voting to Trump-appointed trustees appears to reveal long-held renaming planThe Kennedy Center reportedly adopted bylaws earlier this year that would limit voting to Donald Trump-appointed trustees – a controversial move that appears to reveal the long-held plan to install Trump’s name to the center.The bylaws, in a possible breach of the institution’s charter, were revised in May and specified that board members appointed by Congress, known as ex-officio members, could not vote or count towards a quorum, according to the Washington Post. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago National Guard deploys to New Orleans for New Year’s a year after terror attack killed 14

The 350 Guard members will stay through Carnival season

Events

2 w. ago ‘By 15, I was hanging out with Skrillex’: the idiosyncratic club music of reformed EDM kid Villager

Disillusioned by his early EDM success, Alex Young bought hardware, embraced UK dance culture – and reinvented himselfFrom Washington, DCRecommended if you like Floating Points, Jon Hopkins, Joy OrbisonUp next A slew of new music from the vaultIt was probably the moment when he was paid $10,000 to DJ a spin fitness class that Alex Young, barely 16 at the time, felt he had lost touch with what music was all about. “At 13, I was like, if I could ever hang out with Skrillex, my life would be complete,” he says, sipping a pilsner on an icy day in Washington DC. “Then by 15, I’m doing it.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Shy Barron Trump keeps to himself as he sits next to his father at Mar

The youngest of the president's five children, 19, has kept a low profile since appearing publicly at his father's inauguration in Washington DC as he continues to study at NYU.

Politics

2 w. ago National Guard to patrol New Orleans for New Year's a year after deadly attack

A National Guard deployment in New Orleans authorized by President Donald Trump will begin Tuesday as part of a heavy security presence for New Year’s celebrations

Events

2 w. ago ‘Weapons of mass construction’: the US ‘craftivists’ using yarn to fight back against Trump

Fiber artists across the US are using their craft to protest against everything from national guard deployments to rollbacks on abortion rightsIn early October, Tracy Wright invited a group of other women in her social circle – all fellow knitters – to gather outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in their home town of Portland, Oregon. They were “armed with their weapons of mass construction”.Donald Trump had just ordered national guard troops deployed to the city, which he called “war ravaged” in order to protect ICE facilities he said were “under siege” by anti-fascists “and other domestic terrorists”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Zelenskyy to travel to US for Trump meeting amid push for Ukraine deal

Meeting on Sunday will follow flurry of US, Russian and Ukrainian talks, but Putin has shown little sign of softeningVolodymyr Zelenskyy is to travel to the US for a planned meeting with Donald Trump on Sunday, as Washington continues to push for a possible peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.The Ukrainian president announced the visit on Friday in a social media post, saying he had received a briefing from Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, on new contacts with US officials. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Tiny Pacific nation of Palau to take migrants from US in return for aid

The island nation will take up to 75 migrants, months after lawmakers rejected a previous request from WashingtonPalau will take up to 75 migrants from the US in return for additional aid, after the tiny Pacific Island nation signed a memorandum of understanding with Washington on transfer of third-country nationals.US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau spoke to Palau president Surangel Whipps in a call on Tuesday about transferring third-country nationals to Palau, the two sides said in separate statements, after Palau’s lawmakers rejected a previous request from Washington on the matter earlier this year. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago P Diddy begs to be 'immediately released from prison' as he launches appeal

Sean 'P Diddy' Combs' lawyers have encouraged a federal appeals court to order him to be immediately released from prison and reverse his conviction from earlier this year

Events

2 w. ago Trump approves deployment of 350 national guard members to New Orleans

Critics say deployment is unwarranted and could cause fear in the city, which has seen a decrease in violent crime ratesThe Trump administration is deploying 350 national guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the new year, launching another federal deployment in the city at the same time that an immigration crackdown led by border patrol is under way.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with supporting federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Parnell added that the national guard troops will be deployed through February. Continue reading...

Politics