Afghans evacuated by US in chaos of withdrawal are languishing in foreign camps, documents reveal

Exclusive: records show evacuees with pending applications to enter US ‘forced to remain in limbo’ in at least 36 countries, some in ‘untenable conditions’

Afghan citizens who fled the country with American assistance after the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan remain stranded in third countries, new documents shared exclusively with the Guardian suggest, some at prison-like facilities and many with no clarity about their prospects for resettlement.

US officials won’t say exactly how many Afghans remain at such sites, where they were taken after the withdrawal that involved hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives during the Taliban’s lightning takeover in 2021. Some advocates estimate that “hundreds” remain stranded in temporary facilities in up to three dozen countries.

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UK should back tough Trump sanctions on Iran, report says

Former top UK official believes intensifying economic pressure on Tehran would erode internal support for regime

The UK should back Donald Trump’s expected maximum economic sanctions against Iran as part of an effort to encourage nationals to end their support for the current regime in Tehran, Mark Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary, argues in a report published on Monday.

He writes: “It is not for the west, let alone the UK, to determine who rules Iran. That is for the Iranian people. But we can make clear that the right choice will bring benefits just as the wrong one will bring more of the same.”

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Biden extends temporary protections for more than 800,000 immigrants

US president moves to shield roughly 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans against Trump administration

The Biden administration on Friday extended temporary humanitarian protections for about 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US, in an effort to shield those groups from an incoming Trump administration that has promised to deport them.

The decision in the dying days of Joe Biden’s presidency came after immigrant advocates and lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security to extend temporary protected status (TPS), designed to protect immigrants from being deported to countries that are engulfed in disaster or conflict.

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Kurdish general urges Trump to leave US troops in north-east Syria

Exclusive: SDF leader says removal of 2,000-strong force would leave door open for Islamic State resurgence

The leader of the Kurdish forces that control north-eastern Syria has called on Donald Trump to maintain a US military presence in the region, warning that a retreat would risk a resurgence of Islamic State in the country.

Gen Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said IS had increased its strength in the desert after seizing arms from the collapsed Assad regime, while the Kurdish forces were coming under increased pressure from Turkey and its Syrian proxies.

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Republicans try to exploit New Orleans attack to push through Trump agenda

Trump loyalists make baseless link between attack and US border and say cabinet nominees must be urgently ratified

Republicans in the US Senate are attempting to exploit the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 victims in New Orleans, injuring dozens more, to push through Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominations and rocket-charge the incoming president’s anti-immigration agenda – despite the fact that the attacker was a US citizen born and raised in east Texas.

Several Senate Republicans appeared on Sunday’s political shows to call for an urgent approval of the most contentious of Trump’s cabinet selections, who are facing a tough confirmation process. They include Kash Patel, chosen by Trump for FBI director; Pete Hegseth for defense secretary; and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

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Giorgia Meloni meets Donald Trump in flying visit to Mar-a-Lago

US president-elect praises Italian prime minister at Florida resort for ‘really taking Europe by storm’

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, made a flying visit to Donald Trump’s Florida golf club on Saturday, during which the US president-elect praised the far-right leader for “really taking Europe by storm”.

The pair were photographed in the grand ballroom of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

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Trump appoints aide behind biggest campaign stunts to White House job

President-elect hails Justin Caporale for Madison Square Garden rally and McDonald’s ‘shift’

Donald Trump has appointed Justin Caporale, the man credited with some of his most eye-catching campaign gambits on the path to his second presidential election victory, to a White House role, signalling that high-profile publicity stunts are likely to be a key feature of his second presidential term.

Posting on his Truth Social platform, the president-elect said Caparole would assume the role of executive producer for “major events and public appearances” after he returns to the Oval Office on 20 January.

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Family detentions to return in migration crackdown, says Trump ‘border czar’

Tom Homan also said that undocumented parents of US-born children will be deported, with or without their kids

US immigration authorities will resume the controversial policy of putting families with children in detention centres as part of a drive to deport undocumented immigrants, the incoming Trump administration’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, has said.

Homan, regarded as the “architect” of the widely vilified family separation policy applied to undocumented immigrants in the first Trump administration, also said officials would not hesitate to deport parents whose children were American citizens because they had been born in the US.

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Trump nominates Miami-Dade official as Panama ambassador amid canal row

Announcement comes as Trump has threatened to reassert control over canal, which US handed to Panama in 1999

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated the Miami-Dade county commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama.

Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for America First principles” who he said has been instrumental in driving economic growth and fostering international partnerships.

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Pete Hegseth says Donald Trump ‘supports us fully’ as he arrives on Capitol Hill to charm senators – US politics live

Trump’s Pentagon pick says president-elect spoke to him on Thursday morning as media reports say Hegseth faced HR investigation over Fox Christmas party antics

Pete Hegseth has continued promoting his nomination for defense secretary on X, writing:

Maybe it’s time for a [defense secretary] who has…

Led in combat. Been on patrol for days. Pulled a trigger. Heard bullets whiz by. Called in close air support. Led medevacs. Dodged IEDs.

We’re going to confirm @PeteHegseth !

The importance of a warrior for the war fighter cannot be overstated. The Secretary of Defense must be clear-eyed, mission-oriented, and vigilant on behalf of the men and women they lead. I appreciate @PeteHegseth’s willingness to serve. The scrutiny of the nomination process and transparency matter. I look forward to his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Trump names Peter Navarro, jailed for contempt of Congress, trade adviser

President-elect says Navarro, his former White House trade adviser, will focus on tariffs

Donald Trump said he would name former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.

Navarro made headlines earlier this year when, in March, he was jailed for contempt of Congress.

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Mexico says Canada wishes it had its ‘cultural riches’ amid tariffs feud

Leaders cast the other as ill-prepared after Trump threatens to apply 25% taxes on goods from both countries

Mexico’s president has said Canadians “could only wish they had the cultural riches” of her country as tensions mount between the two nations, caught in a feud over tariffs and trade exacerbated by Donald Trump.

The US president-elect threatened in a social media post last week to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both countries, and to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”

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Trump’s DEA pick Chad Chronister withdraws from consideration

Florida sheriff cites ‘gravity’ of responsibility days after Trump taps him to lead Drug Enforcement Administration

Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Chad Chronister, said on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from consideration.

“Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister, a Florida sheriff, said in a social media post.

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Trudeau meets rivals as he seeks united front in face of Trump tariff threat

Canadian government scrambles to ward off tariffs as prime minister briefs politicians on meeting with Trump

Canada’s federal government has redoubled its efforts to ward off potentially disastrous tariffs from its closest ally, but provincial leaders have hinted at divergent strategies in response to the protectionist threat from president-elect Donald Trump.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, convened a rare, in-person meeting with his political rivals on Tuesday to brief them on a surprise meeting with Trump at his Florida resort over the weekend.

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Defense head pick Pete Hegseth now dogged by questions over alcohol use

Questions have also been raised over reports the embattled former Fox News host mismanaged two veterans groups

Questions continued to dog Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, on Monday following reports he was twice ousted from previous organisations he led over financial mismanagement and improper behavior, with reporters asking him directly if he had an alcohol problem.

Hegseth, 44, who was visiting Capitol Hill to drum up support for his troubled nomination, did not respond when a journalist asked “Do you have an alcohol problem?” as he arrived for a meeting with Republican senators.

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Chip war ramps up with new US semiconductor restrictions on China

Biden administration broadens limits on Chinese access to advanced microchip technology, with Donald Trump expected to go even further

The US has announced new export restrictions targeting China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, drawing swift condemnation from Beijing.

Washington is expanding efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China that can be used in advanced weapons systems and in artificial intelligence.

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Trump picks Republican mega-donor Warren Stephens as ambassador to UK

Investment banker has donated regularly to conservative causes although not always in favor of the president-elect

Donald Trump announced on Monday he has picked investment banker and Republican mega-donor Warren Stephens to serve as ambassador to the UK.

“Warren has always dreamed of serving the United States full time,” wrote Trump in a social media post. “I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top Diplomat, representing the U.S.A. to one of America’s most cherished and beloved Allies.”

Reuters contributed reporting

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Wisconsin’s Ben Wikler joins race for Democratic National Committee chair

In announcement, state’s Democratic chair touts grassroots and new media organizing success in closely divided state

Wisconsin Democratic leader Ben Wikler joined the race to lead the Democratic National Committee on Sunday, promising “to take on Trump, Republican extremists, and move our country forward”, as the party looks to rebuild from its losses in the November election.

In a video posted on social networks, Wikler, 43, touted his state party’s success in organizing to flip 14 state legislative seats and send Senator Tammy Baldwin back to Washington DC in November, and in previously campaigns to win control of the state supreme court and re-elect governor Tony Evers. Wikler, a former podcaster, Air America radio producer and headline writer for The Onion, also stressed his new media expertise.

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Conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead FBI, faces Senate blowback

‘Deep state’ critic who has threatened to shut down agency’s headquarters could face tough confirmation battle

Donald Trump’s plan to nominate as FBI director the “deep state” conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, a virulent critic of the bureau who has threatened to fire its top echelons and shut down the agency’s headquarters, is facing blowback in Congress as US senators begin to flex their muscles ahead of a contentious confirmation process.

Politicians from both main parties took to the Sunday talk shows to express starkly divergent views on Patel, whom Trump announced on Saturday as his pick to lead the most powerful law enforcement agency in the US. The move is dependent on the incumbent FBI chief, Christopher Wray, who Trump himself placed in the job in 2017, either being fired or resigning.

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Trump nominates Jared Kushner’s father for ambassador to France

Businessman pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005

Donald Trump has nominated Charles Kushner, a businessman who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, to serve as US ambassador to France, the president-elect said on Saturday.

Kushner, whose job requires Senate confirmation, is the latest of Trump’s picks to have close ties with the incoming president. Kushner’s son, Jared Kushner, is married to Ivanka Trump, and was a close advisor to Trump during his first presidency.

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