Agents confronted white male, who has not been identified, carrying a shotgun and a gasoline can, authorities say
The US Secret Service shot and killed an armed intruder who breached the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida residence and private club in Palm Beach, early on Sunday.
Although the US president often spends weekends at the oceanfront resort, he was at the White House in Washington during this incident, as was first lady Melania Trump.
Continue reading...Arab and Islamic governments issue statement denouncing comments made on Tucker Carlson podcast
Governments from across the Islamic world have condemned remarks by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, suggesting it would “be fine” for Israel to claim a broad swath of the Middle East.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian pastor and former Arkansas governor, has long been an outspoken supporter of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Continue reading...US president calls for removal of Susan Rice as streaming platform pursues takeover of Warner Bros Discovery
Donald Trump has told Netflix to remove the Democratic foreign policy expert Susan Rice from its board or “face the consequences”, while the streaming platform is locked in an extraordinary corporate battle to take control of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
In comments posted on his Truth Social platform, the US president described Rice – who served as national security adviser to Barack Obama and UN ambassador and White House adviser under Joe Biden – as a “political hack” and accused her of having “no talent or skills”.
Continue reading...President announced increase from 10% using different authority from mechanism that supreme court struck down on Friday
Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would raise a temporary tariff rate on US imports from all countries from 10% to 15%, less than 24 hours after the US supreme court ruled against the legality of his flagship trade policy.
Infuriated by the high court’s ruling on Friday that he had exceeded his authority and should have got congressional approval for the tariffs he introduced last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the US president railed against the justices who struck down his use of tariffs – calling them a “disgrace to the nation” – and ordered an immediate 10% tariff on all imports, in addition to any existing levies, under a separate law.
Continue reading...Shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, in Texas was not publicly disclosed by Department of Homeland Security
Newly released records show a US citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of a nationwide immigration crackdown in Donald Trump’s second term. On Friday, DHS said the shooting on South Padre Island last March occurred after the driver intentionally struck an agent.
Continue reading...Rightwing Trump ally tells Tucker Carlson Israel has biblical right to land from ‘wadi of Egypt to the great river’
The US’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has contended to the podcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East – or at least the lion’s share of it.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said to Carlson during an interview posted on Friday. The Trump administration appointee and former Arkansas governor discussed with Carlson interpretations of Old Testament scripture within the US Christian nationalist movement.
Continue reading...Purdue says no ban on Chinese students exists, but reportedly rescinded dozens of offers after warnings from legislators
Several universities have scrapped partnerships with Chinese institutions in recent months as a direct result of pressure from US legislators. But no university appears to have gone as far as Purdue University in Indiana.
Students and faculty at the public university say that an unofficial policy is in effect to automatically reject students from China and a number of other countries altogether.
Continue reading...Sam Forstag, who parachutes from planes to fight wildfires, believes pro-worker polices can flip district from Trump ally
Sam Forstag is used to launching himself into heated territory.
As a smokejumper, his job is to jump out of airplanes 3,000 feet in the air and parachute down into the Montana wilderness. Going by air is often the easiest way to access the remote wilderness and combat the wildfires that burn an average of 7.2 million acres a year in the state.
Continue reading...Experts say new labeling could deceive consumers as dangerous substances still allowed under new rules
In a further retreat from its pledge to ban artificial dyes from food, Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would loosen labeling requirements to allow companies to state “no artificial colors”, even though products may contain some dangerous substances such as titanium dioxide.
The FDA in early February announced it would allow food makers to claim “no artificial colors” as long as the dyes are not petroleum-based, but health experts say even some naturally based additives present health risks, and the labeling would deceive consumers.
Continue reading...After tech billionaire Peter Thiel and others donated to Jace Yarbrough’s campaign, Donald Trump endorsed him
A rookie congressional candidate in a nine-way Texas primary has received the imprimatur of wealthy hard-right donors including tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Claremont Institute board chair Thomas Klingenstein and Charles Haywood, who once expressed a desire to be a “warlord”, according to new Federal Election Commission filings showing early donations to his campaign.
In a recent candidate forum, Jace Yarbrough unapologetically staked out a series of extremist positions, saying that critics may call his approach to politics “bigoted and backward and oppressive and Nazi-ish”, but that he is “past trying to placate that in any way, shape or form”.
Continue reading...Virginia governor is seen as a model for the party to win back power in midterm elections
Virginia’s governor Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, elevating a pragmatic voice whose affordability-focused gubernatorial campaign is seen as a model for the party to win back power in the November midterm elections.
The Democratic rebuttal will immediately follow Trump’s address to Congress on 24 February. Spanberger, a former undercover CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year, resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican. She won the race by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families.
Shrai Popat contributed reporting
Continue reading...US citizen George Retes was held without access to family, an attorney, or information about the charges against him
An army veteran detained by federal immigration agents in southern California during his work commute in July has filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
According to the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday with the help of the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, George Retes was held in a detention center for three days without access to his family, an attorney, or any information about the charges against him, in what the suit argues was an unconstitutional detention.
Continue reading...Wexner, who has denied misconduct related to Epstein, is one of several subpoenaed by House oversight panel
The former boss of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand, Les Wexner, has provided a statement to Congress saying “I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” as he testifies on Wednesday before a congressional committee in relation to his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Wexner is one of several Epstein associates subpoenaed to testify before the House oversight committee in their continued investigation of the late financier’s crimes.
Continue reading...Union coverage slightly increased last year even as White House tried to eliminate contracts for thousands of workers
The number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About 16.5 million workers were covered by a union contract in 2025, up from 16 million in 2024 and the highest level since 2009. The increase stems from workers joining unions as members – 14.7 million US workers were union members in 2025, up from 14.2 million workers in 2024.
Continue reading...Kimberly Prost and Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza vow US reprisals will not affect work of international criminal court
When the Canadian Kimberly Prost learned Donald Trump’s administration had imposed sanctions on her, it came as a shock.
For years, she has sat as a judge at the international criminal court, weighing accusations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity; now she is on the same list as terrorists and those involved in organised crime. “It really was a moment of a bit of disbelief,” she said.
Continue reading...Interim president José Jerí voted out by country’s congress amid scandal concerning secretive meetings
Peru’s interim president has been forced out of office in an “express impeachment” after a political scandal over his secretive meetings with Chinese businessmen.
Lawmakers voted by 75 votes to 24 to proceed with the removal of José Jerí, who had been at the helm for just four months.
Continue reading...Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Al Sharpton, Donald Trump and more react to death of the civil rights leader at the age of 84
Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a “titan” of the civil rights movement and “one of America’s greatest patriots” who has died at the age of 84.
Joe Biden said history would remember Jackson as “a man of God and of the people”, calling him in a social media post : “Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.”
Continue reading...Discussions through Omani intermediaries may pave way for further meeting on nuclear programme, Iran says
Iran has described the latest round of indirect talks with the US as “more constructive” than the previous set earlier this month, and said agreement had been reached on “general guiding principles” that could lead to a further meeting to discuss its nuclear programme.
The talks – held in Geneva through Omani intermediaries – were to discuss the terms for Tehran constraining its nuclear programme under the supervision of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate. They ended after three and a half hours.
Continue reading...Donation of $6.25bn for children’s investment accounts prompts wave of questions – but details remain scarce
A tech billionaire and his wife said on Tuesday they would pour $6.25bn into individual investment accounts for 25 million children under 10, prompting a wave of new questions about how these so-called “Trump accounts” will work.
The creation of these accounts was included as part of Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, which he signed into law in July. Every child born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2028, can receive a Trump account that includes a $1,000 initial deposit from the administration. The money will then be invested.
Continue reading...US president’s xenophobic rant comes amid reports of stepped-up effort to deport Somalis in Minneapolis-St Paul
Donald Trump on Tuesday called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said they should be sent back home in a rant that came as the administration is reportedly increasing immigration enforcement against undocumented Somalis in Minnesota.
In a xenophobic rant during a cabinet meeting, Trump went off on Somalis and Ilhan Omar, the representative who is from Somalia and is a US citizen. He said Somalia “stinks” and is “no good for a reason”.
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