2 h. ago What Trump is forgetting: American nations have a long history of open borders | Daniel Mendiola

The US cites the ‘wisdom’ of historical immigration policy. But nation states in the Americas have spent more time with open borders than closedLate last year, Donald Trump’s White House published a new National Security Strategy (NSS) outlining its vision for the world. At the time, the plan raised alarm for dismissing European alliances (now largely confirmed after Trump threatened Nato allies over Greenland), previewing interventions in Latin America (also largely confirmed by recent military action in Venezuela), and aligning closely with the priorities of the Kremlin.The document also demonizes immigrants. In one widely cited passage, it even claims that “unchecked migration” has gotten so out of control that Europe is facing imminent “civilizational erasure”. On these grounds, the plan makes ending “The Era of Mass Migration” a top priority for the US. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago Pentagon to cut support for allies including UK in new ‘America First’ plan that urges ‘do your part’

THE US is set to slash support for its allies including the UK as part of a new "America first" plan which urges Europe and Asia to step up. The 34-page National Defence Strategy document slams American partners across the globe for overreliance on Washington for defence across the last few decades. The plan calls...

Politics

3 d. ago As the world finally punches back, was this the week Donald Trump went too far? | Jonathan Freedland

The US president took his bullying doctrine to Davos and hit a wall of opposition. If this creates a new western alliance against him, all to the goodThe temptation is strong to hope that the storm has passed. To believe that a week that began with a US threat to seize a European territory, whether by force or extortion, has ended with the promise of negotiation and therefore a return to normality. But that is a dangerous delusion. There can be no return to normality. The world we thought we knew has gone. The only question now is what takes its place – a question that will affect us all, that is full of danger and that, perhaps unexpectedly, also carries a whisper of hope.Forget that Donald Trump eventually backed down from his threats to conquer Greenland, re-holstering the economic gun he had put to the head of all those countries who stood in his way, the UK among them. The fact that he made the threat at all confirmed what should have been obvious since he returned to office a ...

Politics

3 d. ago Philadelphia sues over removal of slavery exhibit at Independence National Historical Park

The National Park Service has removed an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park

Politics

4 d. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Stooped old egomaniac Trump was a forcefield of attention. Europe's club

Forget Greenland. This was the week Donald Trump colonised Davos - and much that it represented.

Politics

5 d. ago Donald Trump is not forgetting America’s old alliances – his goal is to destroy them | Rafael Behr

European leaders who know their continent’s history must now see that the US president is siding with the forces of tyrannyIn January 2018, when Donald Trump was in the second year of his first term as US president, Angela Merkel, in her 13th year as German chancellor, gave a gloomy speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. She opened her remarks with a warning from Europe’s past. Politicians had “sleep-walked” into the first world war. As the number of surviving eyewitnesses to the second world war dwindled, she added, subsequent generations would have to prove they understood the fragility of peace. “We need to ask ourselves if we have really learned from history or not.”Fast forward eight years. Vladimir Putin’s territorial aggression harries Europe’s eastern flank. To the west, Trump, now in his second term and guest of honour at Davos, threatens to annex Greenland. This is not a world that has internalised the lessons of the 20th century. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Heckler screams 'leave Greenland alone!' as Vanessa Williams sings US national anthem before NBA game in London

A man attending an NBA game at London's O2 Arena yelled 'leave Greenland alone!' as actress Vanessa Williams sang the American national anthem.

Politics

2 w. ago US plan to exploit Venezuela’s oil could eat up 13% of carbon budget to keep 1.5C limit

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastropheUS plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s other Latin American feud: why Colombia’s Petro is not Maduro

Leftwing leader rallies his supporters as US president accuses him of drug trafficking and threatens military actionA leftwing South American firebrand calls for his followers to rally in public squares nationwide to defend his country’s sovereignty and decry verbal attacks from Donald Trump. The US president accuses the leader of personally flooding American streets with illegal drugs and imposes sanctions against him and his wife. Threats of military action are followed by a phone conversation between the two leaders.One might imagine that this is a description of the buildup of tensions that led to the 3 January special forces raid on Caracas to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to face several criminal charges in New York. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US could ease sanctions on Venezuela next week, says Bessent

Trump is seeking to convince sceptical US oil companies to invest in Latin American nation after overthrow of Maduro

Politics

2 w. ago French farmers force their way through Paris with tractors to protest free trade deal

Farmers have driven about a hundred tractors into Paris to protest European negotiations over a free trade deal with South American nations, according to the French Interior Ministry

Economics

2 w. ago Trump's strike against Venezuela proves oil is still the lifeblood of prosperity

Forget fentanyl and cocaine. The substance Donald Trump really wants to stop flowing out of Venezuela is crude oil to China.

Events

3 w. ago Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

South American nation’s tar-like oil is what many Gulf coast facilities were built for but ramping up production to 3m barrels a day will be a long gameClustered along the US Gulf coast are some of the largest and most complex heavy-oil refineries in the world. These sprawling industrial hubs, owned by major US oil companies, stand ready to emerge as some of the major victors of Donald Trump’s swoop on Venezuela.In some ways, these refineries are a relic of another time; built to process the heavy, unctuous crude imported from Latin America before the boom in lighter US shale oil emerged earlier this century. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump angers the Danish amid fears he could target other nations including Greenland to assert 'American dominance' after Venezuela raid

The US President suggested Colombia, Cuba and Mexicowere also in his sights following his capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Politics

3 w. ago US legal case against Maduro to test limits of presidential power

Prosecution raises questions about use of American courts to try leader of a foreign nation

Politics

3 w. ago Trump warns Venezuelan rulers as Washington prepares to dictate policy

US president says Latin American nation’s post-Maduro leader must adhere to conditions or pay ‘a very big price’

Events

3 w. ago Trump warns of dire consequences if Venezuela fails to meet US demands

US president says Latin American nation’s de facto leader must adhere to Washington’s conditions or risk paying ‘a very big price’

Events

3 w. ago Unsealed indictment reveals charges against Nicolás Maduro and his wife

Venezuelan president accused of running a ‘corrupt’ government fuelled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded US with cocaineMaduro detained in New York after audacious raid – live updatesA newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses the captured Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine.The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early on Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for US prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How world leaders reacted to Trump's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro

The extraordinary action put an end to an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on the South American nation and its autocratic leader.

Politics

3 w. ago Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro 'pictured for first time' since 'capture' as Trump shares image

A photo of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been shared online by the US President, Donald Trump, hours after the US launched a military strike on the South American nation

Politics