5 h. ago US justice department reportedly opens criminal inquiry into Fed governor Lisa Cook

Officials to investigate claims of mortgage fraud against Cook, who has refused to accept firing by Donald TrumpThe US justice department has initiated a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud claims against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, according to new reports, as a lawsuit she filed against Donald Trump over her firing makes its way through court.Lawyers with the justice department have issued subpoenas for the investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading...

Society

6 h. ago Federal government sues California utility, alleging equipment sparked deadly wildfires

The federal government has filed two lawsuits against Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked fires in the Los Angeles area that destroyed thousands of structures and killed 17 people

Events

6 h. ago Justice Department probes mortgage fraud claims against Lisa Cook of Federal Reserve, AP source says

The Justice Department has issued subpoenas as part of an investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against Lisa Cook, who is fighting a Trump administration effort to remove her from her role as a Federal Reserve Governor

Society

26 h. ago NYC Mayor Eric Adams insists he isn't ending his reelection campaign

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is insisting that he isn’t dropping his reelection campaign after reports he had been approached about potentially taking a job with the federal government

Politics

27 h. ago Federal government to markedly increase number of inspectors trained to spot rail bridge concerns

The Transportation Department is going to train 163 track inspectors to dramatically increase the number of people who know how to spot critical problems with railroad bridges, but the railroads themselves will still be responsible for inspecting their own bridges and the results will still be kept confidential

Politics

39 h. ago Survivors of Maine mass shooting and victims' relatives sue US government alleging negligence

More than 100 survivors and relatives of victims of Maine's deadliest mass shooting are suing the federal government

Events

58 h. ago ‘Trump loses again’: California governor reacts to judge ruling that national guard in LA violated federal law – live

Democratic governor Gavin Newsom takes shot at Trump after ‘the courts agree’ that deployment of national guard during LA immigration protests was illegalTrump illegally deployed national guard during LA Ice protests, judge rulesDonald Trump’s “exciting announcement” expected at 2pm ET will be “related to the Department of Defense”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna plan to hold a news conference tomorrow with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse as the political fallout from the saga continues to engage Congress on several fronts. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘A common enemy beyond ideologies’: Spain’s PM announces plan to tackle climate crisis

Pedro Sánchez says country’s deadly August wildfires show society needs to mobilise and take immediate actionSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a 10-point plan to prepare the country for the climate emergency, warning that “if we don’t want to bequeath our children a Spain that’s grey from fire and flames, or a Spain that’s brown from floods, then we need a Spain that’s greener”.Sánchez said August’s heatwave-fuelled wildfires – which killed four people, burned through an area six times the size of Ibiza, and required “the biggest human and technical deployment” ever seen in Spain – showed immediate action must be taken to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Climate change kills, Spanish PM tells deniers at launch of plan to tackle crisis

Pedro Sánchez says country’s deadly August wildfires show society needs to mobilise and take immediate actionSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a 10-point plan to prepare the country for the climate emergency, warning: “If we don’t want to bequeath our children a Spain that’s grey from fire and flames, or a Spain that’s brown from floods, then we need a Spain that’s greener.”Sánchez said August’s heatwave-fuelled wildfires – which killed four people, burned through an area six times the size of Ibiza and required “the biggest human and technical deployment” ever seen in Spain – showed that immediate action must be taken to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Chicago mayor announces measures to ‘protect our people’ from imminent influx of federal agents on Trump’s orders

Brandon Johnson warns that the city could see ‘some type of militarized activity by the federal government’ within days

Politics

5 d. ago ‘Racist as hell’: Trump’s cabinet is almost all white, and he keeps firing Black officials

President’s targeting of Fed governor Lisa Cook highlights his efforts to remove diverse voices from governmentA day after Donald Trump announced that he was firing Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, the White House proudly released a photo. It showed Trump, his cabinet and other officials giving a thumbs-up. Of the 24 people in the Oval Office, only one was Black.For those who have studied the US president’s long and troubling history of racism, the two events were more than mere coincidence. They were indicative of a man who has recently brought white nationalist perspectives from the margins back to the mainstream. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and the Fed: independence is no substitute for accountability | Editorial

The US president’s move against Lisa Cook shows his despotic bent, but the Fed was never democracy’s guardian. It’s time to rethink who really controls moneyDonald Trump’s attempt to sack the Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, is the familiar authoritarian trick of bending institutions to serve the leader’s immediate ends. The widespread condemnation is deserved. This is not some daring experiment in popular control of monetary policy. Yet what should follow censure is reflection. For the furore over Ms Cook has revealed a peculiar reflex: to defend the Fed’s independence as though it were synonymous with democracy itself.But is independence of the Fed, or central banks generally, really that? Eric Levitz at Vox thinks so, or at least that it is close enough. He argues that Congress sets the Fed’s objectives; independence applies only to the means. Without independence, politicians would be free to game rates for votes – as Richard Nixon did in 1972, leaning on the ...

Politics

6 d. ago Lawyer for Federal Reserve governor targeted by Trump says firing does ‘irreparable harm’ – US politics live

Lisa Cook’s attorney argues she should be allowed to carry on in her role until court makes ruling White House picks Kennedy deputy to replace fired CDC chiefA visit to Taiwan by two US senators has drawn criticism from China, which claims the island as its own and objects to any contact between officials of the two sides.The chair of the Senate armed services committee, Roger Wicker, and the Nebraska senator Deb Fischer arrived in Taipei on Friday for a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy in lieu of formal diplomatic relations with the self-governing island democracy.A thriving democracy is never fully assured and we’re here to talk to our friends and allies in Taiwan about what we’re doing to enhance worldwide peace. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor battling Donald Trump

Economist’s legal showdown with the president will have sweeping implications for the US central bank

Politics

7 d. ago Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook sues Trump after he ‘fired’ her

Trump’s unprecedented move against the central bank's leadership is an effort to ‘undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve’, Cook’s lawyer said

Politics

7 d. ago Judge won't halt closure of 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center in Florida Everglades

A federal judge in Miami has refused to pause her order requiring the winding down of the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” while the federal government appeals her ruling

Events

7 d. ago How Elon Musk’s billionaire Doge lieutenant took over the US’s biggest MDMA company

Antonio Gracias is part of the growing movement among Silicon Valley’s right wing enamored with the therapeutic and commercial potential of drugs like MDMAMonths before Antonio Gracias took a leading role in the “department of government efficiency’s” dismantling of the federal government, he was at Burning Man.In the dusty Nevada desert, Gracias, a billionaire private equity investor and one of Elon Musk’s closest friends, attended Nova Heaven, a sunrise rave tribute to victims of the Hamas-led 7 October terrorist attack, and found himself dancing next to Rick Doblin – the US’s most prominent advocate for psychedelic drugs. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Scientists blame climate change for the deadly wildfires across Europe: Devastating blazes in Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece were made 10 TIMES more likely by global warming

This summer, enormous wildfires swept across Europe, leaving huge swathes of Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus scorched. Now, scientists have blamed climate change for the blazes.

Events

8 d. ago ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to be vacated in compliance with court order to shut it

Reported email by Florida official confirms state will shutter prison though governor Ron DeSantis has appealedFlorida’s immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will probably be empty of detainees within days, a state official has said, indicating compliance with a judge’s order last week that the facility must close.The Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s administration appealed the order by federal court judge Kathleen Williams that the tented detention camp in the Florida Everglades, which attracted criticism for its harsh conditions, must be dismantled within 60 days. Continue reading...

Events

8 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