13 h. ago Trump’s inaugural fund got $19m from fossil fuel industry, analysis shows

President raised $239m for inauguration – more than previous three inaugural committees took in combinedThe fossil fuel industry poured more than $19m to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, accounting for nearly 8% of all donations it raised, a new analysis shows, raising concerns about White House’s relationship with big oil.The president raised a stunning $239m for his inauguration – more than the previous three inaugural committees took in combined and more than double the previous record – according to data published by the US Federal Election Commission (FEC). The oil and gas sector made a significant contribution to that overall number, found the international environmental and human rights organization Global Witness. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago Trump’s inaugural fund received $19m from fossil fuel industry, analysis shows

President raised $239m for inauguration – more than previous three inaugural committees took in combinedThe fossil fuel industry poured more than $19m into Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, accounting for nearly 8% of all donations it raised, a new analysis shows, raising concerns about White House’s relationship with big oil.The president raised a stunning $239m for his inauguration – more than the previous three inaugural committees took in combined and more than double the previous record – according to data published by the US Federal Election Commission (FEC). The oil and gas sector made a significant contribution to that overall number, found the international environmental and human rights organization Global Witness. Continue reading...

Politics

19 h. ago Democrats and climate groups ‘too polite’ in fight against ‘malevolent’ fossil fuel giants, says key senator

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island gives 300th climate speech on the US Senate floorThe Democratic party and the climate movement have been “too cautious and polite” and should instead be denouncing the fossil fuel industry’s “huge denial operation”, the US senator Sheldon Whitehouse said.“The fossil fuel industry has run the biggest and most malevolent propaganda operation the country has ever seen,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in an interview Monday with the global media collaboration Covering Climate Now. “It is defending a $700-plus billion [annual] subsidy” of not being charged for the health and environmental damages caused by burning fossil fuels. “I think the more people understand that, the more they’ll be irate [that] they’ve been lied to.” But, he added, “Democrats have not done a good job of calling that out.” Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Scammers sent fake Trump inauguration emails to steal over $250,000 in crypto from donor

Scammer helped siphon over $250,000 in crypto by impersonating Trump inaugural committee figures

Politics

1 week ago Kristi Noem secretly accepted huge sum of money from mystery donor

Noem received the funds from a nonprofit called American Resolve Policy Fund, a so-called dark money group, while serving as Governor of South Dakota in 2023

Politics

1 week ago As Trump targets birthright citizenship, the terrain is once again ‘women’s bodies and sexuality’

From 22 Chinese women detained in 1874 for being ‘lewd and debauched’, experts point to a grim US traditionOne day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, five pregnant immigrant women – led by an asylum seeker from Venezuela – sued over the president’s executive order limiting automatic birthright citizenship, out of fear that their unborn children would be left stateless.The case went before the supreme court, which sided with the Trump administration Friday by restricting the ability of federal judges to block the order. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago UN expert urges criminalizing fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying

Rapporteur calls for defossilization of economies and urgent reparations to avert ‘catastrophic’ rights and climate harmsA leading UN expert is calling for criminal penalties against those peddling disinformation about the climate crisis and a total ban on fossil fuel industry lobbying and advertising, as part of a radical shake-up to safeguard human rights and curtail planetary catastrophe.Elisa Morgera, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and climate change who presents her damning new report to the general assembly in Geneva on Monday, argues that the US, UK, Canada, Australia and other wealthy fossil fuel nations are legally obliged under international law to fully phase out oil, gas and coal by 2030 – and compensate communities for harms caused. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Michelle Obama addresses lack of public appearances with husband Barack following divorce rumors

The former president and first lady sparked divorce rumors when Michelle failed to attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January

Politics

2 w. ago US supreme court divided as fossil fuel industry wins in car pollution case – live

The conservative-dominated supreme court voted seven to two to back a challenge by oil and gas companiesFuel firms can challenge California’s emission limits, supreme court rulesDonald Trump is once again repeating unfounded claims that the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent, saying that the evidence is “massive and overwhelming” but not providing any of it. The president called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to the case.He wrote on Truth Social this morning: Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago They planned to seek asylum. Trump’s policies have left them stranded at the US

Five months after the president closed the border, many who planned to enter US legally don’t know where to turnDonald Trump’s crackdown on immigration upended lives on inauguration day when he abruptly closed the border for many who were just on the Mexican side of the border planning to cross into the US legally. Five months on, some hold on to hope, others are giving up.A family from El Salvador seeking asylum was left stranded at the border within sight of Texas only three days into the second Trump administration. A grandfather, his daughter, his niece, her husband and two of his grandchildren had done things “the right way”, by requesting one of the highly limited appointments with US Border Patrol, from the Mexican side using the Biden-era mobile phone app called CBPOne. But on January 20, Trump signed an executive order cancelling all scheduled appointments, including theirs on 23 January at noon. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Reeves promised oil industry ‘quid pro quo’ over windfall tax in private meeting

Government accused of making ‘secret exchange deal’ with fossil fuel companies to compensate for tax hikeThe chancellor, Rachel Reeves, told a fossil fuel company the industry would receive a “quid pro quo” in return for higher taxes on its windfall profits, it can be revealed.In a meeting with the Norwegian state energy company Equinor on 27 August, Reeves suggested that the government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) subsidies were a payoff for oil firms being hit with a higher tax rate. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Revealed: London hotspots going alfresco his summer (and Soho isn't one of them)

Four parts of the capital will be the first to receive cash from the Mayor of London’s summer streets fund

Politics

3 w. ago Social media overtakes TV as main source of news in US, analysis finds

Global study shows 54% of Americans receive news from social media, while the UK has highest proportion of news avoiders at 46%Social media has overtaken television as a source of news in the US for the first time, according to a comprehensive analysis of media consumption confirming the rapid rise of “news influencers”.In a watershed moment for the US media, 54% of Americans said they received news from social media, according to the research carried out after President Trump’s second inauguration. Half said they sourced news from the once all-powerful TV networks. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Millions expected at ‘No Kings’ protests before Trump’s military parade – live updates

‘No Kings’ protests across US come after a week of unrest over anti-immigration raids; Trump’s military parade to begin at 6.30pm ET in Washington DCA flagship No Kings march and rally are planned in Philadelphia, but no events are scheduled to take place in Washington DC, reports the Associated Press (AP). The demonstrations come on the heels of protests flaring up around the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Donald Trump ordering national guard troops and marines to Los Angeles where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire. Police responded with teargas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades while officials enforced curfews in Los Angeles and Democratic governors called Trump’s guard deployment “an alarming abuse of power” that “shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement”.The White House’s escalating response to street protests echoes talk before Donald Trump’s inauguration of forcibly quelling resistanc...

Events

3 w. ago How Trump hinted at a crackdown on protests long before his inauguration

Similarly, how cities have long planned their responses to a Trump-led escalation, which is finally hereThe White House’s escalating response to street protests echoes talk before Donald Trump’s inauguration of forcibly quelling resistance in urban America. Those plans are now the present.After the use of federalized national guard units and marines in response to protests in Los Angeles, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) plans to deploy Swat-style special response teams to Seattle, Philadelphia, northern Virginia, New York and Chicago – cities led by Democrats that have long been the target of Trump’s invective – before expected protests this weekend, according to reports by NBC and others. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, Trump’s ‘peacemaker’ promise collapses

A president who vowed to end global conflicts has instead presided over their escalation – his agenda is in disarrayIn his inaugural address this January, Donald Trump declared that his proudest legacy would be that of “a peacemaker and unifier”, pledging that US power would “stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable”.Five months later, his second presidency is witnessing the spectacular unraveling of that lofty aspiration. Continue reading...

Politics