40 h. ago Rwandan talks with US over deported migrants are chance to expand its influence

African country looks to position itself as a useful option for countries’ anti-migration policiesUS politics live – latest updatesTalks between Rwanda and the US to host deported migrants is the latest move by the African country to position itself as a useful option for the anti-migration policies of allied governments.Previous high-profile attempts, however, including with the UK, Israel and Denmark, failed after becoming beset by controversy. Continue reading...

Events

59 h. ago Donald Trump bans 'dangerous' virus research funding to China after Covid

Donald Trump has issued an executive order to terminate all federal funding for risky virus research in countries deemed hostile or lacking proper regulation, five years post-COVID-19, which US intelligence now believes likely originated from a lab mishap

Science

6 d. ago Dozens of homeless people living in national forest evicted by US Forest Service

Service closing area in Oregon for wildfire prevention plan months after Trump order to increase timber productionDozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted on Thursday by the US Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees, clearing debris and setting controlled burns over thousands of acres.The project has been on the books for years, and the decision to remove the encampment in the Deschutes national forest comes two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk. It wasn’t immediately clear if the evictions were a result of that order, but homeless advocates seized on the timing on Thursday, as US Forest Service officers blocked the access road. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Civil rights advocates say Trump order guts protections against discrimination

Order directs federal agencies to ‘deprioritize enforcement’ of laws where policies have discriminatory effectsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s executive order on Wednesday eliminating “disparate-impact liability” from federal civil rights enforcement has sparked condemnation from legal and civil rights advocates who argue it guts protections that have shielded Americans from discrimination for decades.The order directs federal agencies to immediately “deprioritize enforcement” of laws where policies have discriminatory effects, even without discriminatory intent – a cornerstone of modern civil rights protection. It also instructs the attorney general to begin repealing or amending regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump takes aim at city and state climate laws in executive order

President orders justice department to stop enforcement of critical policies holding fossil fuel companies accountableUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump is taking aim and city- and state-led fossil fuel accountability efforts, which have been hailed as a last source of hope for the climate amid the president’s ferociously anti-environment agenda.In a Tuesday executive order, Trump instructed the Department of Justice to “stop the enforcement” of state climate laws, which his administration has suggested are unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Democratic governors hit back at Trump order blocking state climate policies – US politics live

Move directing US attorney general to block laws addressing carbon emissions draws criticism China’s move to impose 84% retaliatory tariffs against the United States is unfortunate and a losing proposition for Beijing, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Wednesday, as he urged China to “come to the table” with the Trump administration.“I think it’s unfortunate that the Chinese actually don’t want to come and negotiate, because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them, that they have some very smart the economist and the academicians, technocrats within their bureaucracy, and they would be telling the leadership that we do not have the edge here. They are the surplus country that their exports to the US are five times our exports to China. So they can raise their tariffs. But so what?No one wins in a war. But it’s proportionality. And ...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump issues executive order to block state climate crisis policies – US politics live

Move directs US attorney general to block laws addressing carbon emissions and comes hours after president issued orders to increase coal productionChina will impose 84% tariffs on US goods from Thursday, up from the 34% previously announced, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.In early March, the Trump administration sent warning letters to 60 US universities it said were facing “potential enforcement actions” for what it described as “failure to protect Jewish students on campus” in the wake of widespread pro-Palestinian protests on campuses last year. Continue reading...

Politics