The US justice department under Donald Trump is disbanding an effort started after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin. A memo from the attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued during a wave of orders on her first day in office but not previously reported, said the effort,…
Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Donald Trump a “golden pager” during their meeting in Washington DC this week, in an apparent reference to Israel’s deadly attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year. In photos circulating online, the golden pager can be seen mounted on a piece of wood, accompanied by a golden plaque that reads in…
The Department of State told staff on Thursday it would not extend contracts for civilian personal services contractors beginning on Saturday, according to two people familiar with the situation. Personal services contractors provide duties such as housekeeping and maintenance at overseas embassies. But they also supplement diplomatic security. Three of the four people killed in…
Rail bosses have been accused of patronising passengers by hiding trains’ departure information minutes before they are due to leave in a bid to tackle last-moment platform dashes. Under the scheme, which is being trialled at King’s Cross, the final call for long-distance trains will be made four minutes before departure. Train details will be…
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday, accusing the authorities there of impeding the Trump administration’s anti-immigration enforcement policies and seeking a court order sweeping aside so-called sanctuary laws. The department cited a national emergency declared by Donald Trump on the same day he…
The housing charity Shelter has criticised the government for putting lives at risk by delaying a law to make social landlords in England fix dangerous hazards quickly. Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, and Matthew Pennycook, her housing minister, announced on Thursday they were giving landlords in the social rented sector until 2027 before they have…
Moscow has welcomed the impending dissolution of USAid, joining a chorus of strongman leaders declaring victory over an organisation they have long portrayed as a vehicle of American political interference. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday described USAid as “anything but an aid, development and assistance agency” and instead branded it a “mechanism…
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has accused South Africa of “anti-Americanism” and refused to attend a G20 meeting in Johannesburg later this month, as diplomatic ties sour between the two countries under Donald Trump’s administration. Rubio made the announcement on X, where he repeated the US president’s unfounded claim that South Africa was…
The EU will not let the question of fishing rights derail a pact with the UK on security and defence, the president of the European Council has said. The comments from António Costa, who took over as the European Council president in December, is a boost for Keir Starmer, amid frustration among UK officials over…
Greek civil protection authorities have declared a state of emergency on Santorini as natural disaster experts voice mounting fears over the “intense” seismic activity that has rattled the island. The emergency measures were declared by the island’s town hall hours after seismologists recorded a 5.2-magnitude earthquake – the most powerful tremor to be felt on…
