The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000 — and the final reduction in force number could be as high as 50%, according to two people familiar with the agency’s plans who are not authorized to speak publicly

Events

Betsy Arakawa, a concert pianist and co-founder of a home furnishing business, was found dead Wednesday in her Santa Fe, New Mexico, home along with actor-husband Gene Hackman and their dog, according to authorities

Culture

Geo Group, an Ice partner, is moving at ‘unprecedented speed’ to build out its monitoring, executive chair saysThe Geo Group, the largest single private contractor to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), said it is building out its surveillance business to be able to monitor hundreds of thousands or millions more immigrants than it already does.The Geo Group, a private prison corporation and parent company of BI Inc, has contracted with Ice for nearly 20 years to manage the agency’s electronic monitoring program. It currently tracks approximately 186,000 immigrants using devices such as ankle monitors, smart watches and a facial recognition app, according to public Ice data. Due to increasing demand from Donald Trump’s administration, which has promised mass deportations, company executives said that they expect that number to grow past its previous peak of 370,000 to 450,000 immigrants within the next year. The remarks were made during the company’s fourth quarter earnings...

Events

Canadian event loses three sponsors who also do business in the US to avoid being seen as supporting LGBTQ+ rightsPride Toronto, one of the largest celebrations of LGTBQ+ people in North America, is reeling from the loss of three major sponsors who have pulled funding after Donald Trump’s purge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the US.Kojo Modeste, the executive director of the Canadian event said that the sponsors who also do business in the US are seeking to avoidbeing seen as supporting LGBTQ+ rights. Continue reading...

Politics

US president says UK is ‘very different place’ where he has investmentsTrump-Starmer visit: the key takeawaysEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will travel to London this Sunday to take part in an informal meeting on Ukraine and European security, the European Commission has just confirmed. Jakub Krupa has more on his Europe live blog.David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has confirmed that President Trump has the ability to veto the deal that the UK has negotiated transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Isands to Mauritius. Speaking on ITV’s Peston last night, Lammy said:If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward.The reason for that is because we have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States, and of course they’ve got to be happy with the deal, or there is no deal. Continue reading...

Politics

Another Welsh business has impressed a lot of dragons on Dragons' Den

Politics

Kenyan detectives say they will catch the killers of a Scots businessman they fear was tortured before being murdered and dumped in a forest.

Events

Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn to line up for last time until 2040

Politics

Nsiala was hooked inside half an hour at Rugby Park but Gers no 9 insists the young defender has nothing to worry about

Culture

Sir Keir Starmer has already said he is prepared to deploy British troops as part of a force to safeguard any peace deal.

Politics

FC United of Manchester is rolling out the red carpet for Man United football royalty as it plans to showcase two teams of legends for a momentous fixture

Politics

The King suggested that he and Trump could meet before that visit, either at Dumfries House or Balmoral which are near the businessman’s golf courses in Scotland, to discuss the plans for the much grander state visit.

Politics

The US president suggested he could ignore Republican and Tory fury at the government's plan to hand over the Indian Ocean archipelago, as he met with Sir Keir Starmer in the White House.

Economics

These plant-based chocolate eggs are ‘no yolk’ when it comes to taste

Politics

The Prime Minister is prepared to commit British troops to a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine but is seeking US support.

Politics

Vladimir Putin's propogandists have revealed on Russian state TV that they want to work with Donald Trump and the US to break Europe apart and here's how they plan on doing it

Politics

The decision comes amid the worst flu season in 15 years

Politics

President Donald Trump on Thursday promised to push ahead with plans to impose punishing tariffs on Mexico and Canada because drugs are still pouring into the U.S. from those countries.

Politics

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Politics

Emma Briggs tripled the size of her company during a year she had chemotherapy and surgery

Politics