More stories

  • in

    Fairer laws passed, polluting factories shuttered, charges against innocent people dropped – and 10 more ways our US reporting made change in 2025

    Our work would not be possible without the support of our readers. From everyone at the Guardian US: thank youPlease consider supporting us as we approach the deadline of our crucial year-end appealAfter we exclusively revealed that Israel’s elite spy agency was using Microsoft technology to store recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, Microsoft announced it was terminating the Israeli military’s access to services used in that surveillance system. According to sources, the sweeping and intrusive surveillance program was used to shape military operations and facilitate the preparation of deadly airstrikes. Our report, in collaboration with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, prompted protests at Microsoft’s US headquarters and pressure from employees and investors that led to the tech company’s extraordinary decision. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Trump’s shuttering of the National Center for Atmospheric Research is Stalinist | Michael Mann and Bob Ward

    This is the latest in the relentless purge of climate researchers who refuse to be co-opted by the fossil fuel industryThe Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin would no doubt have understood and even appreciated the latest attack by the Trump administration on climate researchers and their work.The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is to be dismantled after more than 50 years at the forefront of global research on climate science and monitoring.Professor Michael Mann is the presidential distinguished professor and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-author with Peter Hotez of Science Under Siege; Bob Ward is policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science Continue reading… More

  • in

    US Coast Guard pursuing another oil tanker off coast of Venezuela

    Official indicates vessel is subject to sanctions after Trump’s ‘blockade’ on sanctioned tankers in and out of VenezuelaUS Coast Guard officials said on Sunday they were tracking an oil tanker in international waters close to Venezuela, multiple unnamed US officials have told US media, marking the second such action over the weekend – and the third within the past week.What officials described as an “active pursuit” in the Caribbean Sea took place a day after the coast guard seized another vessel off the coast of Venezuela, as Washington ramps up its pressure campaign targeting the South American nation’s vital oil sector. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Trump news at a glance: justice department restores Epstein files image featuring Trump after outcry

    Todd Blanche says removal of images has ‘nothing to do’ with the president, and removal of 16 photos came at request of victim advocacy groups – key US politics stories from Sunday 21 December at a glanceDeputy US attorney general Todd Blanche said on Sunday that removing photos from the Jeffrey Epstein files release, including one of Donald Trump, had “nothing to do” with the president, as the justice department restored an image it had removed a day earlier that included within it a photo of Trump.The US justice department said on Sunday it restored the image after concluding that the photograph posed no risk of public exposure to victims of the late convicted sex offender. Its unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a chorus of accusations from Democrats of political interference in favor of the president, a former friend of Epstein. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Trump administration recalls nearly 30 career diplomats around world

    Tenures end for mission chiefs in at least 29 countries, including 13 in Africa, as US reshapes its diplomatic postureThe Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the US diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of Donald Trump’s “America first” priorities.The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two state department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Ukrainian and European officials had ‘productive’ talks on ending war, US envoy says

    Steve Witkoff says representatives share goals to stop killing, support Ukraine and end war with RussiaA White House envoy said on Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the US and Europe. Continue reading… More

  • in

    Louisiana nursing student speaks out during her six-month ICE detention

    Vilma Palacios, 22, tells local outlet ‘I want my freedom back’ as she may be forced to return to HondurasA recent graduate of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing has been held in an ICE processing center in Basile, Louisiana, for the past six months following her arrest by immigration agents over the summer.Vilma Palacios had just recently accepted a position at Touro Infirmary when ICE agents arrested her and transferred her to the processing center in Basile. Her detention comes amid a broader immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, including cases involving individuals with no criminal records who are seeking legal residency. Continue reading… More

  • in

    The Trump administration is trying to legislate trans people out of existence | Judith Levine

    Robert F Kennedy Jr is pushing a plan to block medical treatments, the latest move against bodily autonomyOn Thursday, when Robert F Kennedy Jr announced an effort to block medical treatments for transgender youth, he used the term “sex-rejecting procedures” in place of “gender-affirming care”.And where transgender advocates and healthcare providers view puberty blockers, hormones and (in rare cases) surgical interventions as suicide prevention measures, the health secretary claimed that these “procedures” will do the opposite: “rob children of their futures.”Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading… More