Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
A new book from Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff says special counsel Robert Mueller drew up a three-count obstruction of justice indictment against Donald Trump before deciding to shelve it – an explosive claim which a spokesman for Mueller flatly denied.
Donald Trump presented a trophy to the winner of a sumo tournament, turning to personal diplomacy for the second day of a Japan visit shadowed by tough trade talk. But it was all smiles as the two leaders watched giant sumo wrestlers grapple on the final day of a 15-day tournament won by rising star Asanoyama. Trump, the first US president to watch sumo in the sport's homeland, waved to the audience as he entered the hallowed Kokugikan arena and then saluted them with applause as they waved and raised their phones to take photos.
Veteran and 2020 candidate said Trump’s willingness to pardon soldiers ‘undermines the very foundations ... of this country’
Donald Trump’s willingness to consider pardons for US soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes “undermines the very foundations, legal and moral, of this country”, Democratic candidate for president Pete Buttigieg said.
Visit to sumo wrestling’s spiritual home followed by golf and burgers as Abe tries to keep president on side
On one side of the sumo ring stood a tall, hefty man with an unconventional hairstyle, bowing and smiling as the crowd applauded; opposite Donald Trump stood a professional wrestler, who on Sunday became the first recipient of a winner’s trophy awarded by the US president during his state visit to Japan.
Trump had been spared the agony of watching the last five bouts of the 15-day tournament in the customary manner – seated cross-legged on a thin cushion. Instead, sumo authorities broke with tradition and provided near-ringside armchairs for the president and the first lady, Melania, and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, and his wife, Akie.
President says recent missile tests bother some people, but not him, and praises regime for calling Joe Biden ‘a fool of low IQ’
Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about North Korea’s recent missile tests, calling them “small weapons”, a day after his national security adviser said there was no doubt the launches violated UN security council resolutions.
The US president tweeted on Sunday: “North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me”.
Visit will stress ties between the two countries as tensions over exports rise amid the US-China trade war
Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, landed in Japan on Saturday for a largely ceremonial visit meant to showcase strong ties with Tokyo even as trade tensions loom.
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will treat Trump to an imperial banquet and front-row seats at a sumo tournament during the trip, which lasts until Tuesday.
Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US would send 1,500 troops to the Middle East as a protective measure after a breakdown in relations with Iran. ‘Right now, I don’t think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don’t think they want to fight with us,’ the US president said
That’s all from me! Here’s a rundown on the day’s major events:
Abortion providers reported an “alarming escalation” in incidents of disruption and intimidation in 2018, according to a new report by their professional association, the National Abortion Federation (NAF).
Trespassing reached the highest level since the NAF began recording such incidents in 1999, while incidents of obstruction grew 78% from 2017 to 2018. Providers also reported record levels of picketing (99,409 incidents) since recording began in 1977, and the highest number of incidents of vandalism (125) since 1990.
This is the first time the US president has publicly named Australia while discussing the FBI inquiry into his election campaign
Donald Trump has said he wants Australia’s role in setting off the FBI inquiry into links between Russia and his election campaign examined by the US attorney general, William Barr.
It is a potentially explosive development for the historically solid US-Australian alliance and the first time Trump has publicly named Australia while discussing what he calls the “Russia hoax” and “witch hunt”.
Donald Trump, who is due to make a state visit to the UK in early June, praised Theresa May following her resignation as prime minister. Speaking to journalists at the White House, the US president said he felt bad for May, whom he described as a ‘good woman’. He added: ‘She worked very hard. She’s very strong. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at. Some people weren’t. It’s for the good of her country’
Footage of the Democratic House Speaker was edited to make her appear drunk or unwell, in the latest incident highlighting social media's struggle to deal with disinformation. Compare the original footage with the viral clip
With calls for an intervention on his behalf, the House speaker has knocked an ‘extremely calm’ leader off balance
It has been almost four years since Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign from the gilded escalator of Trump Tower. In that time he has come to be feared by Democrats and Republicans alike for his personal attacks that always seem to supremely rile his opponents.
The Democratic speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said the White House was “crying out for impeachment” and called for Donald Trump’s family to intervene in the president’s wellbeing “for the good of the country”. The dramatic statements came one day after Trump stormed out of a meeting in the Oval Office with Pelosi and the Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, about infrastructure legislation, and then held a hastily called press conference to say he wouldn’t work with Democrats until they stop investigating him.
Voices within Chinese state and private media grow more strident as tensions mount
Over the last week, China’s state media outlets have called the US government delusional, compared it to apes shouting on a river bank, and offered to teach the Americans a Chinese idiom: diandao heibai, “to invert black and white”, or deliberately distort the truth.
As trade tensions mount between the US and China, Beijing faces the difficult task of appealing to national pride to shore up confidence in the leadership while also keeping public anger in check.
Donald Trump Jr is set to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming an author.
The first son, who earlier today was described as “a good young man” by his father – has signed a deal with Center Street Books, and the tome will be published later this year.
Donald Trump rejected a charge by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, that he was engaged in a cover-up, saying he was the "most transparent president" the country had ever had. In a last-minute press conference in the Rose Garden, outside the Oval office, Trump condemned the Democats, and said "the crime was committed on the other side". Trump added he would refuse to work with them unless they dropped their investigations into his administration and finances
Donald Trump on Wednesday terminated a meeting with Democratic leaders after just a few minutes, saying he refuses to work with them on an infrastructure plan unless they stop investigating him and lift the threat of impeachment.
Democrats quickly fired back, claiming that the US president had planned the stunt in advance and what happened at the White House would “make your jaw drop”.
Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, was a key architect of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Now he is stoking tensions with Iran. Julian Borger describes how the standoff could get out of control. Also today: Katharine Viner on how the Guardian is updating its language when reporting on the climate crisis
John Bolton, who has been called “the most dangerous man in the world”, was not Donald Trump’s first pick for his national security adviser. But after a series of resignations, he was plucked from a life of Fox News appearances to reprise his career as the foremost military hawk in the US. Now he has his sights set on Iran and has pushed for a buildup of US military assets in the Gulf.
The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger,tells Anushka Asthana that as tensions rise, so do the chances of an accidental – or deliberate – escalation towards war. The echoes of the drumbeat to war in Iraq in 2003 are all too apparent, and it was Bolton’s role in that crisis that prompted a Guardian columnist to attempt to make a citizen’s arrest of him in the tranquil surroundings of the Hay literary festival in 2008. George Monbiot describes how he came out second best from that encounter.
Organizations around the country are holding “Stop the Bans” day of action Tuesday to protest bans and restrictions on abortion in a growing number of states.
There will be a main event in Washington, D.C. outside the U.S. Supreme Court at noon, as well as rallies in all 50 states.
Kris Kobach demanded access to a government jet 24 hours a day and a chance to become homeland security secretary if he takes a job as Donald Trump’s immigration czar, the New York Times reported Monday evening.
The former Kansas secretary of state has given the White House a list of ten conditions. The full list, obtained by the Times:
President Trump’s attorneys have been fighting a House oversight committee subpoena of one of the president’s accounting firms, Mazars USA, for eight years of Trump’s personal and business records.
Today, Judge Amit Mehta ruled in favor of the House oversight committee.
BREAKING: A federal judge in DC will not block a House subpoena to Trump's accounting firm — expect a quick notice of appeal from Trump's lawyers https://t.co/Izk2q1F2Yh More shortly. pic.twitter.com/ZlgQnFPT6c
MONEY QUOTE: Congress says it wants Trump files to guide future legislation. "[I]t is not for the court to question whether the Committee’s actions are truly motivated by political considerations. Accordingly, the court will enter judgment in favor of the Oversight Committee.
Hey all, Vivian Ho taking over for Sabrina Siddiqui. It appears a federal judge has ruled against the efforts of President Trump’s attorneys to overturn the House oversight committee subpoena for the president’s financial documents.
BREAKING: U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta rules in favor of House Democrats in their subpoena to Mazars for Trump’s financial records.