Live Updates: German Leader Says International Order ‘No Longer Exists’
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, criticized President Trump’s rapid reorientation of American foreign policy. He also warned that the U.S. could not “go it alone.”
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DHS shutdown looms as battle continues on Capitol Hill over demands to rein in ICE – US politics live
Negotiations over funding bill stall as Democratic members of Congress try to force Republicans to consider measures on ICE and CBP behaviorThe annual rate of US inflation eased in January, according to the latest data consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Over the last 12 months, the cost of goods has increased by 2.4% – down from 2.7% in last month’s report.Lawmakers in the House and Senate left Washington on Thursday as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) heads for another shutdown, when stopgap funding lapses tonight. Nearly all Democrats blocked a second attempt to pass the annual DHS appropriations bill as negotiations for guardrails on federal immigration enforcement have stalled. Senator John Fetterman was the only lawmaker to break ranks with the party. Continue reading...
Amid Fallout From Epstein Files, Dubai’s DP World Boss Is Replaced
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was credited with turning the state-backed DP World into a global logistics powerhouse. He was recently identified in correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.
California’s mountain lion population now protected by state’s Endangered Species Act
State agencies are now mandated to protect the big cats, which have been increasingly vulnerable due to habitat lossMore than 1,400 mountain lions across California are now protected by the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state’s fish and game commission announced on Thursday.The commission unanimously voted to list six groups of central coast and southern California mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act, meaning the agency determined that they are likely to become extinct without intervention. The affected species can be found from the Bay Area all the way down to the Mexican border. Continue reading...
‘They escaped!’: NGOs sound the alarm as families flee Islamic State camp
Annex holding 6,000 women and children is now mostly empty, raising security and humanitarian concernsMost of the foreign families of suspected Islamic State fighters have left al-Hawl camp since the Syrian government took control of the facility, prompting security and humanitarian concerns over their whereabouts.About 6,000 women and children from 42 different countries were previously held in the foreigners’ annex of al-Hawl camp in northeast Syria, which housed some of the most radical former members of the extremist group. The foreigners’ annex was separate from the part of the camp that contained about 20,000 Syrians and Iraqis. Continue reading...
Even US will not be powerful enough ‘to go alone’, says Merz – Munich Security Conference live
German chancellor says close relationship is advantage for both Europe and US but world order as we know it ‘not longer exists’If you need a primer on what’s on the agenda for the next three days, I spoke with the MSC’s head of policy Nicole Koenig, the author of the European part of their security report published ahead of the meeting.I asked her what is most likely to be the focus of this year’s forum, will Rubio deliver a “JD Vance 2.0” speech or say something more (nomen omen) diplomatic, and what other topics are likely to come up.“We have had years, decades of complaints by the US about the fact that in Europe, we were not spending enough on defence. That has changed since the summit in The Hague. The shift in mindset is that yesterday in the room, what we felt, all of us, there was a clear coming together of vision and of unity. “They want [us] to perceive the Russians as a mighty bear, but you could argue they are moving through Ukraine at the stilted speed of a garden snail, so let’s not fall the trap of the Russian propaganda.” Continue reading...
AI is indeed coming – but there is also evidence to allay investor fears
Opinions are divided about the potential impact of artificial intelligence as the response to a recent viral essay showsUK ad agencies undergo their biggest exodus of staff as AI threatens industryThe message from investors to the software, wealth management, legal services and logistics industries this month has been clear: AI is coming for your business.The release of new, ever more powerful AI tools has coincided with a stock market slide, which has swept up sectors as diverse as drug distribution, commercial property and price comparison sites. Advances in the technology are giving increasing credulity to predictions that it may render millions of white collar jobs obsolete – or, at least, eat into the profits of established companies. Continue reading...
Calls mount for release of Palestinian protester held by ICE for nearly a year
Leqaa Kordia was taken into custody last March, nearly a year after being arrested at a protest at ColumbiaCalls are mounting for the release of a Palestinian woman who has been held in immigration detention for nearly a year following her arrest at a pro-Palestine protest last year, with several elected officials weighing in after a medical emergency renewed attention to her case.Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old originally from the West Bank, was arrested in April 2024 at a protest against Israel’s war in Gaza outside Columbia University. (She was not a student there.) The charges against her were dismissed the following day, but last March, nearly a year after the protest, she was taken into custody when she checked into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in New Jersey. She had a pending asylum application at the time, her attorney said. Continue reading...
Owen Jones on Palestine Action high court win – The Latest
The co-founder of Palestine Action has won a legal challenge to the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. Palestine Action was the first direct action protest group to be proscribed.The decision was widely condemned and was defied by a civil disobedience campaign, during which more than 2,000 people have been arrested. From July last year, being a member of – or showing support for – the group became an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian columnist Owen Jones - watch on YouTube Continue reading...
‘What word is there for this?’ Tumbler Ridge reaches for unity in storm of grief
In Canadian town stunned by shooting perpetrated by one of its own, there is anger, but also a prevailing sense of dutyResidents of the Canadian mining town Tumbler Ridge largely agree that Tuesday 10 February began like a normal day. The cloudy haze that settled over the valley was typical. So, too, was the chill of winter.There were no hints that the quiet and comfortable routine of daily life in the mountains would be irrevocably shattered in one of Canada’s worst acts of mass violence. Continue reading...