The state department cites welfare use as it pauses visa processing for Brazil, Iran, Russia, Somalia and others The Donald Trump administration has indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, marking one of its most expansive efforts yet to restrict legal pathways to the United States. The freeze, which takes effect on 21 January, targets applicants officials deem likely to become a “public charge” – who they describe as people who may rely on government benefits for basic needs. Continue reading...

Fossil fuel execs Robert Pender and Michael Sabel deny wrongdoing after report on potential conflict of interest

Co-chairs of LNG firm, who bought stock worth almost $12m each after meeting with Trump officials, deny wrongdoing

Co-chairs of LNG firm, who bought stock worth almost $12m each after meeting with Trump officials, deny wrongdoing

Israeli soldiers had taken Mohammed Ibrahim from his home in a night raid when he was only 15 years old

Israeli soldiers had taken Mohammed Ibrahim from his home in a night raid when he was only 15 years old

Steve Witkoff told Yuri Ushakov in October phone call that peace would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial exchange, according to a recording of their conversation obtained by Bloomberg. In the 14 October phone call with Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary all while advising Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame discussions more optimistically. Continue reading...

‘We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,’ the US president said of his first face-to-face meeting with the New York mayor-elect

Trump administration proposal would exclude elite schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices

Apple and WhatsApp say they’ll keep warning users if their phones are targeted by governments using hacking software against them

Team includes Lina Khan, the FTC commissioner under Biden, and other Democratic former city officials * US politics live – latest updates Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration began taking shape on Wednesday as the New York City mayor-elect announced a transition team to help enact what he called the city’s most ambitious policy platform in a generation, vowing to get right to work when he takes office on 1 January. Speaking at a morning press conference in Queens, the 34-year-old democratic socialist revealed an all-female transition team led by Elana Leopold as executive director. It also includes co-chairs Maria Torres-Springer, the former first deputy mayor; Lina Khan, the former federal trade commission chair; the United Way’s president and CEO, Grace Bonilla; and the former deputy mayor for health and human services Melanie Hartzog. Continue reading...

Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon say Israel is systematically destroying Palestinians Two Democratic senators claim they’ve reached the “inescapable conclusion” that Israel is acting on a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza to force locals to leave, and they say the US is complicit. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both members of the Senate foreign relations committee, released their findings in a report on Thursday after returning from a congressional delegation to the Middle East where, they note, the destruction goes beyond bombs and bullets. They say they also found a systematic campaign to strangle humanitarian aid, which they call “using food as a weapon of war”. Continue reading...

White House identifies institutions including those for Latino, African and Asian art for review, document shows

Census has historically counted all residents regardless of citizenship status, as required by the 14th amendment Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has ordered the commerce department to conduct a new census that would exclude undocumented immigrants from the official count. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the census would be “based on modern day facts and figures” and use “results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024”. He added that “people who are in our country illegally will not be counted”. Continue reading...

Ambulances were reportedly stopped from reaching Sayfollah Musallet after attack in which another Palestinian man was shot dead

Attention comes in wake of ex-employees’ allegations that insurer paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers and used improper tactics to gain Medicare Advantage enrollees

State department to take control of US foreign assistance programs in mass restructuring by 30 September The Trump administration will eliminate all USAID (United States Agency for International Development) overseas positions worldwide by 30 September in a dramatic restructuring of remaining US foreign aid operations. In a Tuesday state department cable obtained by the Guardian, secretary of state Marco Rubio ordered the abolishment of the agency’s entire international workforce, transferring control of foreign assistance programs directly to the state department. Continue reading...

State department to take control of US foreign assistance programs in mass restructuring by 30 September

Police said a suspect was in custody after the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum

Democrats including Schumer say Trump is using antisemitism as cover to defund schools