46 m. ago Trump heads to Texas a week after devastating floods – US politics live

President reportedly backing away from abolishing FEMA but is still describing tragedy as a ‘once-in-every-200-year deal’ as at least 120 have diedAt least eight core members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have left their positions in the last six months, Politico reported on Friday, citing internal records and sources familiar with the matter.A senior White House official explained the departures by pointing to the fact that many DOGE staffers were special government employees, a designation that has a required end date, the report said. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago US state department announces plan to lay off nearly 15% of its domestic staff

Several hundred bureaus will be merged or eliminated after supreme court sided with Trump administrationThe US state department has announced that it plans to move forward with mass layoffs as part of the most significant restructuring of the country’s diplomatic corps in decades. Officials say the cuts will align their mission with Donald Trump’s vision of America first.The layoffs, which are commonly called reductions in force (or RIFs), along with voluntary redundancies, will affect nearly 15% of the state department’s domestic staff. A senior state department official said that was close to 1,800 people. The restructuring will also see several hundred bureaus merged or eliminated entirely. The department advises the president and leads the US in foreign policy issues. Continue reading...

Politics

45 h. ago Iran 'could blast Trump with a drone 'in the navel while sunbathing at Mar

A senior Iranian official has reportedly warned that US president Donald Trump could be hit with a drone strike while sunbathing at Mar-a-Lago.

Politics

67 h. ago AI scammer posing as Marco Rubio targets officials in growing threat

Fake voice and text messages on Signal tricked senior leaders, as AI impersonation rises in global politicsAn unknown fraudster has used artificial intelligence to impersonate the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, contacting at least five senior officials.According to a state department cable first seen by the Washington Post and confirmed by the Guardian, the impostor sent fake voice messages and texts that mimicked Rubio’s voice and writing style to those targets including three foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress. Continue reading...

Events

2 d. ago Marco Rubio impostor reportedly using AI to contact multiple senior officials – US politics live

According to a state department cable seen by the Washington Post, the Rubio impostor sent fake messages to three foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of CongressDavid Axelrod, who served as senior adviser to Barack Obama, said the AI scam using Rubio was “only a matter of time” and urged urgent action to defend against such attacks.“A Marco Rubio impostor is using AI voice to call high-level officials,” Axelrod wrote on X. “This is the new world in which we live and we’d better figure out how to defend against it because of its implications for our democracy and the world.” Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Top Russian general linked to Bucha war crimes reported dead after Ukraine missile strike

Russia has suffered yet another blow in their relentless invasion of Ukraine – with a targeted drone strike taking out one of the most senior and brutal military officials

Events

1 week ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Greek PM vows to investigate €290m ‘fake’ farmer fraud scandal

Kyriakos Mitsotakis sets up taskforce over alleged scamming of EU agricultural funds after resignation of five senior officialsThe Greek prime minister has vowed to get to the bottom of how a scheme of fraudulent EU subsidy claims could have operated undetected in the country for years, as he admitted that the scandal had revealed “the state’s inadequacy” in dealing with corruption.Faced with revelations that “fake” farmers had been scamming designated agricultural funds to the tune of a reputed €290m (£249m), Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday a special taskforce would be set up to “immediately and exhaustively” investigate the illegal payments. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago No 10 climbs down over welfare bill in move to win over Labour rebels

Compromises include exempting those currently receiving disability benefits and increasing health element of universal credit in line with inflationDowning Street has announced major changes to the welfare bill in an attempt to win the support of more than Labour 120 rebels who had threatened to vote against it next week and hand Keir Starmer a damaging first defeat as prime minister.Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, wrote to Labour MPs on Thursday night to lay out the concessions, which were thrashed out over 24 hours of negotiations between senior rebels and government officials. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Zelenskyy approves plans on special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders over Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has formally approved plans to establish a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Politics

2 w. ago US government role to be excluded in review into Harry Dunn’s death

Commons review into handling of motorcyclist’s death will not scrutinise actions of US authoritiesA parliamentary review into how the UK’s Foreign Office handled the death of the teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn will not include scrutiny of the role or actions of the US government, it is understood. The 19-year-old’s family met senior officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Wednesday where they were told the probe will be led by former chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers. The review is expected to examine the support the FCDO offered the Dunn family after Harry was killed by a former US state department employee in a road crash in 2019 in Northamptonshire, the PA news agency reported. The American driver, Anne Sacoolas, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf after the incident outside RAF Croughton before a senior Foreign Office official said they should “feel able” to put her on the next flight home. PA understands the review, which is sche...

Politics

2 w. ago Where is Iran's missing 880lbs of uranium? Ayatollah may have moved enough to build nukes before Trump struck

Senior Trump administration officials conceded they do not know the fate of Iran's 880 pounds of near-bomb-grade uranium. 

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on Trump bombing Iran: an illegal and reckless act | Editorial

The US president has chosen war at Israel’s behest. He may imagine he has scored an easy win, but the world is likely to pay a steep priceDonald Trump was predictably quick to claim victory following the illegal US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities: “Completely and totally obliterated,” he crowed. Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and sycophants at home rushed to fawn over his “courageous” and “brilliant” decision. The most senior US military official, Dan Caine, offered a more muted assessment: it was “way too early” to know the full outcome despite severe damage. We cannot yet know whether the blow has ended Iran’s nuclear aspirations – or will spur it to pursue the bomb. It may be weeks or months, too, before Iranian retaliation plays out, with all its potential repercussions.Two nuclear-armed states have gone to war on the unevidenced claim that a third state is on the verge of acquiring its own nuclear arms. In March, the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said I...

Events

2 w. ago US attacks on Iran inflicted major destruction, Pentagon officials say

Defence secretary denies US is pursuing policy of regime change after strikes on Iranian nuclear sitesMiddle East crisis – latest updatesThe surprise overnight US attack on Iran inflicted major damage and destruction on three of its key nuclear sites, senior Pentagon officials said, as the US defence secretary denied that the Trump administration was pursuing a policy of regime change in the Middle East.In a press conference in Washington, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailed Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven B-2 Spirit bombers flew 18 hours from the US to sites in Iran to drop 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in strikes that were said to have caused “extremely severe damage” to Iranian uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago US spies contradict Donald Trump as Iran 'not racing for nuclear weapon'

American officials and senior lawmakers have pushed back on Donald Trump's claims that Iran is weeks away from a nuclear weapon, suggesting they are not supported by available US intelligence

Events

3 w. ago Trump is ‘losing confidence’ in Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard as he mulls removing her entire office, senior official says

President reportedly angered by intelligence chief’s social media warning against ‘warmongers’ placing the world ‘on the brink of nuclear annihilation’

Politics

3 w. ago Trump is ‘losing confidence’ in Tulsi Gabbard as he mulls removing her entire office, senior official says

President reportedly angered by intelligence chief’s social media warning against ‘warmongers’ placing the world ‘on the brink of nuclear annihilation’

Politics

3 w. ago Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader – report

US officials say Israelis reported they had opportunity to kill Iranian leader, but Trump waved them off of planPresident Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” said one of the sources, a senior US administration official. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump 'vetoed plot to kill Iran's supreme leader,' claim US officials

Two senior US officials alleged the US president vetoed an Irsraeli plan to assassinate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, claims that Benjamin Netanyahu has denied

Politics

3 w. ago Ice reportedly shifting away from immigration raids on farms and hotels

Workplace raids will be stopped after Trump conceded that deportations are hurting agricultural and hospitality industriesThe Trump administration deportation campaign is reportedly shifting its focus away from raids on the agricultural and hospitality sectors after Donald Trump conceded this week that his immigration policies are hurting the farming and hotel industries.The New York Times reported that an internal email was sent on Thursday by Tatum King, a senior official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), to regional department leaders at Homeland Security Investigations, directing them to stop workplace immigration enforcement actions unless related to criminal investigations. Continue reading...

Politics