The Guardian

Trump had said defense bureau was high on list of world’s richest man’s federal budget and personnel slashing teamMembers of Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” arrived at the Pentagon Friday, in what appeared to be their first meeting with defense department staff, a US official told Reuters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.Donald Trump has said the Pentagon would be an early target of Musk’s government budget and personnel slashing team and that he expects the tech billionaire to find hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud and abuse in the department. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/elon-musk-government-efficiency-team-pentagon

Attorney general declines to refer Axel Rudakubana’s 52-year minimum sentence to unduly lenient sentence schemeThe sentence of the Southport killer will not be referred to the court of appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, the attorney general has said.Axel Rudakubana, 18, was handed a 52-year minimum sentence for murdering three girls at a dance class, the second-longest sentence imposed by the courts in English history, but the Southport MP Patrick Hurley previously asked the attorney general to review the sentence as “unduly lenient”, saying it is “not severe enough”. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/15/southport-killers-sentence-will-not-be-referred-to-court-of-appeal Author : Donna Ferguson

US vice-president’s speech and meeting with Germany’s AfD chief signal administration’s wider plans for continentThe Trump administration is making a big bet on Europe’s hard right.Speaking at a conference of Europe’s leaders in Munich on Friday, the US vice-president JD Vance stunned the room by delivering what amounted to a campaign speech against Germany’s sitting government just one week before an election in which the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim AfD is set to take second place. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/trump-vance-europe-far-right Author : Andrew Roth, Global affairs correspondent Publish date : 2025-02-14 23:14:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

Andrew Lester pleaded guilty to lesser charge in shooting of Black honor student who mistakenly rang his doorbellAn 86-year-old Kansas City man has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student who was then 16 and rang the man’s doorbell by mistake.Andrew Lester’s plea on Friday came days before he was supposed to stand trial on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of the teenaged student. Lester pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as part of a deal with prosecutors that averted the trial. Continue reading... Source

Transport safety board said recording suggests crew missed directive before crashing into passenger plane, killing 67The crew of the helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan National airport might not have heard instructions from the air traffic controller to pass behind the plane, investigators said on Friday.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair, Jennifer Homendy, said the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested the crew may have missed the key instruction just before the 29 January collision, in which all 67 people onboard the two aircraft were killed. Continue reading...

Workers for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describe chaos and fear as lawsuits and basic functions grind to a haltThe termination email for a score of employees at the top US consumer watchdog arrived in the late hours of the night.“Unfortunately, the Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs,” dozens of probationary staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were informed on 11 February. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/trump-consumer-financial-protection-bureau Author : Joseph Gedeon in Washington Publish date : 2025-02-14 19:41:00 Copyright for syndicated content

Claudia Scheinbaum warns of reciprocal action if Washington designates country’s cartels as terrorist groupsMexico’s president has warned US gunmakers they could face fresh legal action as accomplices of organized crime if Washington designates the country’s cartels as terrorist groups.The Latin American country, which is under mounting pressure from Donald Trump to curb illegal drug smuggling, wants its neighbor to crack down on firearms trafficking in the other direction. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/14/mexico-gunmakers-lawsuit-terror Author : Agence France-Press in Mexico City Publish date : 2025-02-14 18:06:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, whose documentary is up for an Oscar, have called out the US president’s plan of ethnically cleansing the regionThe Oscar-nominated film-makers behind the documentary No Other Land have expressed shock and dismay over Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.The president has called for the US to take control and bring an effective ethnic cleansing of Gaza giving Palestinians “no alternative” but to leave. He has claimed it would be a “real estate development for the future”, saying Gaza could be “the Riviera of the Middle East”. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/14/no-other-land-film-makers-trump-gaza Author : Benjamin Lee Publish

Major union as well as federal worker advocacy group condemn moves to fire probationary employees as thousands told to leaveThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lose about 10% of its employees after the Trump administration ordered the firing of all hires still in their probationary period, the Associated Press reports.That amounts to about 1,300 employees, according to the AP, which reports the order was communicated verbally to staff by the health and human services department, which oversees the agency tasked with fighting diseases such as Covid-19. Here’s more:The Atlanta-based agency’s leadership was notified of the decision Friday morning.

Awkward WhatsApp revelations, binned bitcoin, musical heart, Godfather nostalgia and the happy over-50sCareer-death via “offensive WhatsApp group” is a modern iteration of a long-standing tradition of public figures being felled by loose talk. Where once it was Jane Austen being busted – albeit posthumously – for making bitchy remarks in a letter about her neighbour’s miscarriage, now we enjoy the spectacle of two Labour MPs and 11 Labour councillors being suspended for comments made in the WhatsApp group, Trigger Me Timbers. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/14/digested-week-labour-politicians-loose-talk-part-of-long-standing-tradition Author : Emma Brockes Publish date : 2025-02-14 12:49:00 Copyright for syndicated content

The science secretary said the government would assess ‘any changes and challenges’ to the global economy caused by the US administrationFriday is the day that political parties tend to get excited about local byelection results, or neglect to mention the election happened at all if it didn’t go their way.Across the evening and into today the Britain Elects social media account has recorded a hold for the Liberal Democrats in Manor (Stevenage), a hold for Labour in Burnt Oak (Barnet), a gain for Reform UK from Labour in Trevethin and Penygarn (Torfaen) and a gain for the Green Party of

Israel warned Thursday that Hamas must release three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in GazaThe Israeli government has signalled it intends to stick to the hostage release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three surviving hostages were not released on Saturday, it would go back to war in Gaza.The statement from the prime minister’s office ends nearly three days of confusion after Donald Trump’s declaration that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining hostages, more than 70 people, by Saturday or failing that, end the

French president warns west not to ‘capitulate’ to Russia after Trump suggests Putin might not make concessionsDefence and security editorEuropean leaders are reeling from several abrupt US moves since Wednesday in relation to the Ukraine war and the continent’s security, which has been underpinned by the US since Nato was formed at the end of the second world war. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/14/russia-ukraine-war-peace-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskyy-donald-trump-munich-security-conference-europe-news Author : Jakub Krupa Publish date : 2025-02-14 08:49:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey accuses union of ‘gaslighting’ the city on a day when 576 train drivers and guards failed to show up to workFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSydney commuters have been told to avoid rail travel and instead book taxis or rideshares, as the state government warned a “sneak strike” that led to a quarter of all morning trains being cancelled would result in worse evening disruptions.Pay negotiations between the New South Wales government and rail unions broke down again on Thursday night before the treasurer,

Exclusive: former Police drummer and the naturalist Martyn Stewart collaborate on album inspired by migration of Arctic ternChirping Arctic terns and howling wolves are among the birds and animals that will be heard in a pioneering composition that fuses sounds from nature with the playing of traditional instruments.Birdsong and animal calls will interact with orchestral music on an album by Stewart Copeland, the former Police drummer and a seven-time Grammy-winning composer, who has drawn on field recordings made by the British naturalist Martyn Stewart. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/14/the-synergy-is-amazing-stewart-copeland-album-fuses-nature-and-music Author : Dalya Alberge Publish date : 2025-02-14 06:00:00 Copyright

Journalist told court the News Corp-owned newspaper had the story live on its site before she had even made it home. Plus: anti-renewables billboard bust-upFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesWant to get this in your inbox every Friday? Sign up for the Weekly Beast media newsletter hereA mystery at the heart of this week’s biggest media story is who leaked the story about Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking from the ABC to The Australian?The Oz had the story live on its site before Lattouf made it home on the day she was let go, she told the court, and

Staff member at Cairo Takeaway in Newtown alleged she felt intimidated by a customer who entered restaurant with Daily Telegraph crew waiting outsideFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice were called to a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in Sydney’s inner west earlier this week after a confrontation involving the venue’s staff, a team from News Corp Australia and a man wearing a Star of David cap.NSW police said they opened an investigation after a staff member at Cairo Takeaway in Newtown alleged she had felt intimidated by a

Surge in tropical bacterial infection since beginning of wet season possibly linked to recent heavy rainfall, Cairns doctor saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo people have died in far north Queensland after contracting melioidosis, a tropical bacterial infection, prompting a warning from health authorities about a “very big” spike in cases possibly linked to recent heavy rainfall.Melioidosis is endemic in parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, where it is often contracted from contaminated soil. It can also be spread via water or the air.Sign up for

Office of personnel management orders agencies to dismiss workers who had not yet gained civil service protectionThe Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the country’s largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection – potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.In addition, workers at some agencies were warned that large workplace cuts would be coming. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/13/trump-probationary-government-workers-layoffs Author : Associated Press Publish date : 2025-02-14 00:41:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

Mayor says plan to reestablish Ice office under discussion despite New York law prohibiting such a moveIn a sign of increasing cooperation with Donald Trump’s anti-immigration plans, the Republican administration’s hardline so-called “border czar”, Tom Homan, met with New York’s Democratic mayor Eric Adams on Thursday as the White House pushes for more detaining and deporting of immigrants, especially those accused of crimes.The two resumed discussions on a controversial topic they had talked about in a previous meeting in December – re-establishing an office for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice) at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail.

Claudia Sheinbaum gives riposte to Trump’s accusation of ‘intolerable alliance’ between Mexican government and gangsMexico’s president has accused the US of harboring drug cartels and American citizens of working with organized crime groups in Mexico, in a riposte to Donald Trump’s allegation of an “intolerable alliance” between traffickers and her government.“There is also organized crime in the United States and there are American people who come to Mexico with these illegal activities,” Claudia Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference on Thursday. “Otherwise who would distribute fentanyl in the cities of the United States?” Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/13/claudia-sheinbaum-us-drug-cartel

Rail union announces protected industrial action. Follow the latest news headlines liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDutton calls for more details on interaction between Australia and China in South China SeaThe opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has also weighed in on that interaction between Australian and Chinese aircraft in the South China Sea on Tuesday.And then Richard Marles did a press conference to provide details. So we haven’t had a briefing on it as yet, but on what the deputy prime minister says it is deeply concerning because it puts that safety at risk, the safety

President says US will impose ‘reciprocal’ duties but no new specific tariffs were announcedDonald Trump threatened to ramp up his economic assault on some of America’s biggest trading partners on Thursday , vowing to impose new tariffs on countries that target products made in the US within weeks.The US will impose “reciprocal” duties, the president announced on Thursday. “We want a level playing field,” Trump declared. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/13/trump-tariffs Author : Callum Jones in New York Publish date : 2025-02-13 19:14:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Foreign secretary says ‘we will discuss issues where the UK and China do not always see eye to eye’ as he meets Wang Yi, Beijing’s foreign affairs ministerKeir Starmer has been forced to cut short a visit to a housing development after a protest by farmers, PA Media reports. PA says:A group of tractor-driving protesters staged a noisy demonstration as Keir Starmer visited a housing development in Buckinghamshire.The vehicles could be heard sounding musical horns while the prime minister spoke to workers at the site. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/feb/13/new-towns-england-keir-starmer-angela-rayner-labour-donald-trump-ukraine-vladimir-putin-uk-politics-live-news Author : Andrew Sparrow Publish date : 2025-02-13 17:46:00