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    Inside DoJ’s controversial prosecution of a Texas ‘antifa cell’ charged with terrorism

    DoJ says a group of protesters at an ICE detention center was part of a terror cell; legal experts say case is an effort to crack down on leftwing groups and deter protestersAfter the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September, Donald Trump and others pledged a no-holds barred crackdown on leftwing activists.“We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them,” Trump said after Kirk’s shooting. Top White House officials, including JD Vance and Stephen Miller, repeatedly publicly vowed that a crackdown was coming. In particular, the government focused on “antifa,”which is short for antifascist, and is not an organization but rather an ideology that broadly describes a variety of left-leaning beliefs. Continue reading… More

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    Ordinary Americans are fighting back against ICE: ‘We’re going to outlast them’

    As Trump carries out his mass deportation operation, residents are banding together to block raids and distribute groceriesA year into his second term, Donald Trump’s pledge to stage the “largest deportation operation in American history” has already made an indelible mark on the nation.Nearly 300,000 people have been deported, and a record 65,000 people are being held in detention centers. Aggressive raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, sometimes with the backing of federalized national guard units, have terrorized immigrant communities from Charlotte to Chicago, New Orleans to New York. Enabled by a supreme court ruling that “effectively legalized racial profiling”, immigration enforcement has separated families, forced targeted individuals to miss work, school and doctors appointments, and caused communities to cancel festivals and gatherings. Continue reading… More

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    What’s going on with Donald Trump’s health? | Moira Donegan

    The president’s appearance and schedule have sparked speculation – perhaps fueled in part by his political fortunesIs Donald Trump OK?Recently, he’s looked tired. His famous fake tan is a bit more sallow than usual and seems painted on more thickly and clumsily than it was before. He appears to nod off in front of cameras more and more often, including in cabinet meetings and press events in the Oval Office. His public schedule is light: he is often at his golf clubs, has traveled around the country less frequently than at this point in his first term, and now only rarely holds the stadium rallies that once defined his preferred style of politics. He tends to sit, even when others are standing, and has shortened his daily schedule, often not conducting official duties before noon. A New York Times report found that his public appearances have declined by nearly 40% compared to his first year in office. He sometimes disappears from public view for days as he did in the late summer, and he and his administration have released unclear and conflicting information about his health. His right hand seems to be experiencing frequent injury or discoloration – it will often be covered with a band-aid or smeared with makeup; the White House has claimed, implausibly, that he is bruised from shaking too many hands. In some images, his ankles are visibly swollen.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading… More

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    Trump’s ‘Bah! Humbug!’ address suggests he is feeling the chill of opinion polls

    Primetime speech – delivered with shouty spirit but no cheer – betrayed a figure dogged by a cost of living crisis and the looming release of the Epstein filesIt will go down in history as the “Bah! Humbug!” address.Surrounded by Christmas trees and garlands before a fireplace, Donald Trump on Wednesday gave a convincing rendition of Ebenezer Scrooge, the elderly miser who despises Christmas and blames everyone but himself. Continue reading… More

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    US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four, as Trump accuses Venezuela of taking ‘our oil’

    The announcement from Pete Hegseth comes a day after Trump issued a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving VenezuelaThe US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, as Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking US oil.On Wednesday Hegseth said the “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel engaged in “narco-trafficking operations” had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September. Continue reading… More

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    US military says it carried out lethal strike on vessel in Pacific, killing four, as Trump addresses country – as it happened

    This live blog is now closed. You can find more of our US politics coverage hereUS military carried out lethal strike on vessel in Pacific, killing four, says Pete HegsethThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading… More

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    US government admits negligence in helicopter-plane collision that killed 67

    Official response to lawsuit filed by victims’ relatives admits FAA and army failures played role in Washington DC crashThe US government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the army played a role in causing the collision in January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest crash on American soil in more than two decades.The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated procedures about when to rely on pilots to maintain visual separation that night. Plus, the filing said, the army helicopter pilots’ “failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet makes the government liable. Continue reading… More

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    Trump news at a glance: Dan Bongino ‘wants to go back to his show’ says president, as deputy FBI director resigns

    Bongino, a former Secret Service agent turned podcaster, will step down in January. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 17 December at a glanceThe FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, confirmed on Wednesday that he is stepping down in January.In a statement posted on social media, Bongino thanked Donald Trump, FBI director Kash Patel, and Pam Bondi, the attorney general he reportedly clashed with over her decision not to release files from the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading… More