25 h. ago Trump says Biden caused the economic downturn. That’s malarkey | Steven Greenhouse

The US president is blaming ‘Biden’s economy’. In fact, there is one key cause of the poor showing – and it’s not his predecessorWhile Donald Trump delusionally asserts that “we’re celebrating the most successful first 100 days of any administration in American history”, last week’s economic news emphatically refutes that. Trump’s commerce department reported on Wednesday that the US economy – in a sharp and dismaying reversal – shrank in the first quarter of this year.That of course is when Trump returned to the White House, but Trump, true to form, denied that he was in any way responsible for the surprisingly bad economic news. Trump, who has spent his life blaming others and refusing to admit mistakes, was quick to blame Joe Biden for the downturn. The nation’s gross domestic product declined at a 0.3% annual rate in the quarter, after adjusting for inflation.Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author focusing on labor and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Co...

Politics

42 h. ago Biden’s team walked back idea of a public cognitive test in 2024 over optics concerns, new book says

The debate over whether to take the test occurred in February 2024, four months before the infamous first debate between Biden and Trump

Politics

48 h. ago Biden aides discussed a cognitive test but decided against it, book reveals

Debate around Joe Biden’s mental acuity and his age was a critical issue during the run up to the 2024 electionJoe Biden’s top staff debated the possibility of the embattled Democratic president taking a cognitive test last year as he geared up for re-election but eventually decided against the idea, a new book is set to reveal.Debate around Biden’s mental acuity and his age was an acute issue during the run up to the 2024 election, which eventually saw Biden step down from his re-election campaign in favor of his vice-president, Kamala Harris. Continue reading...

Politics

2 d. ago Indigenous activists see Trump's Columbus Day rhetoric as cause for continued advocacy

President Donald Trump has announced he won't recognize Indigenous Peoples Day and will bring Columbus Day “back from the ashes” — another sign some Native leaders say that advocacy for Indigenous representation must continue during Trump’s second term in the White House

Politics

3 d. ago The force is strong with this holiday: Why 'Star Wars' fans say 'May the 4th be with you'

May the 4th be with you

Events

3 d. ago America says it’s Trump’s economy (despite his constant blaming of Biden)

Donald Trump has consistently blamed Joe Biden for the turbulent stock market after the president triggered a global trade war with his tariffs

Politics

4 d. ago Revealed: Forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels soar in Trump’s first 100 days

Tariff chaos hampers Trump’s pledge to ‘drill, baby, drill’, but analysis still shows surge in planet-heating emissions‘A ruthless agenda’: charting 100 days of Trump’s onslaught on the environmentDonald Trump’s ambitions for the US to “drill, baby, drill” for more fossil fuels have ironically been hampered by the economic chaos unleashed by his own tariffs, but the US is still on track to increase oil and gas extraction, causing a surge in planet-heating emissions, a new analysis shows.The US was already the world’s leading oil and gas power, producing more of the fossil fuels than any country in history during Joe Biden’s administration. But Trump has sought to escalate this further, declaring an “energy emergency” to open up more land and ocean for drilling and launching an unprecedented assault on environmental regulations in his first 100 days back in the White House. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Militarily cosying up to Trump in Yemen cannot end well for the UK | Paul Rogers

US foreign policy is turning it into a global pariah – yet Labour’s strike on the Houthis represents a new level of supportPaul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford UniversityThis week’s RAF attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen was the first to be approved by the Labour government. It joined a major US military operation that started in March and has involved 45 days of airstrikes. Operation Rough Rider is a demonstration by the Trump administration that it will prosecute a vigorous war that is more intense than under Joe Biden, and has, according to the US, already seen more than 1,000 targets hit.The RAF operation reportedly targeted a plant manufacturing armed drones used in Houthi attacks on shipping transiting the Red Sea, and demonstrated that Keir Starmer has decided to be Donald Trump’s closest military ally.Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago A former Trump official backs World Heritage status for the vast Okefenokee Swamp

President Donald Trump's former agriculture secretary wants the administration to support adding the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge to a United Nations list of World Heritage site

Politics

5 d. ago Trump says he does not know if El Salvador would return Kilmar Ábrego García and hasn’t asked – live

Trump said he hasn’t spoken to Bukele about mistakenly deported man – despite supreme court order requiring administration to facilitate returnKristi Noem says Ábrego García would be deported immediately if sent back to USTrump pressures journalist to accept doctored photo as realDonald Trump promptly claimed this morning that the contraction in the US economy had nothing to do with his tariff wars, repeated his habitual claim that this is all somehow his predecessor Joe Biden’s fault, and predicted the economy would boom when tariffs kicked in. He wrote on his Truth Social platform:This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden “Overhang.” This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE P...

Politics

6 d. ago Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has only grown in 5 decades

It has been almost 50 years since the U.S. government established that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and their accomplishments be recognized annually across the nation

Politics

6 d. ago 'We're just getting started': Donald Trump goes on attack in speech at rally to mark 100 days in office

US president repeatedly mocks predecessor Joe Biden and repeats lie he won 2020 presidential election

Politics

6 d. ago Trump fires Doug Emhoff and others from US Holocaust Memorial Council

Husband of Kamala Harris calls move political and decries turning historical atrocity into ‘a wedge issue’The Trump administration has fired several members of the US Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by Joe Biden, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris.Emhoff described the move as a political decision that turned “one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue”. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Former school athletic director gets 4 months in jail in racist AI deepfake case

A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disturbing school operations

Events

9 d. ago Moment frail Joe Biden forced to grab arm of elderly priest as he struggles to walk unaided at Pope Francis's funeral

Former President Biden made a rare public appearance on Saturday at Pope Francis's funeral, where he was seen gripping a priest's forearm as he stepped down steps at the Vatican.

Politics

1 week ago Donald Trump and Joe Biden's close call at Pope Francis' funeral

President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden sat just five rows between them at Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday, easily in the other's sight line.

Politics

1 week ago Joe Biden arrives at Pope Francis' funeral in Rome when 200,000 mourners will remember 'saintly man who wanted peace for the whole world'

Francis, heralded as the 'people's pope' due to his focus on society's neediest, died aged 88 on Monday just hours after greeting crowds to mark Easter.

Politics

1 week ago How Melania could end up in the middle of the awkward dynamics at the Pope's funeral playing nice with Trump's greatest enemies

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump won't be the only American VIPs in attendance at Pope Francis ' funeral in Rome Saturday.

Politics

1 week ago Crowds gathering for funeral of popular pontiff Pope Francis

US President Donald Trump will join other world leaders and dignitaries at the requiem mass.

Culture

1 week ago Trump blows off Joe Biden's attendance at Pope's funeral: 'It's not high on my list'

Donald Trump made the remark as he landed in Rome ahead of the harrowing ceremony.

Politics