Page 14 - Us Government

Greenland forms new govt on eve of Vance visit to resist US annexation bid

Greenlandic lawmakers on Thursday agreed to form a new government, banding together to resist US President Donald Trump's efforts to annex the Arctic island, local media reported. Four of the five parties elected to Greenland's Parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalition that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature. The agreement is set to be signed on Friday, the newspaper Sermitsiaq reported, citing Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of the Demokraatit, the biggest party in Parliament. The agreement comes as Trump ramps up his effort to gain control of Greenland "one way or the other". US Vice-President J D Vance is scheduled to arrive in Greenland on Friday, where he will visit America's Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile surveillance and missile defence operations. After his centre-right party's surprise victory in the March 11 election, Nielsen said he wanted to form the broadest coalition possible to help resist US pressure. The final agreement exc

US judge to order govt to preserve Signal chat about Houthi military strike

A US federal judge on Thursday said he will order the Donald Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a US military strike against Yemen's Houthis. US district judge James Boasberg said during a hearing that he'll issue a temporary restraining order barring administration officials from destroying messages sent over the encrypted messaging app Signal. A nonprofit watchdog, American Oversight, requested the order. A government attorney said the administration already was taking steps to collect and save the messages. The Atlantic published the entire Signal chat on Wednesday. Its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been added to the discussion that included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice-President J D Vance and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. In the chat, Hegseth provided the ex

US Secretary of State vows stern response if Venezuela attacks Guyana

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday vowed that the United States will respond forcefully if Venezuela attacks Guyana amid an ongoing territorial dispute that includes massive oil and gas reserves. Rubio said it would be a "very bad day" for Venezuela should that happen. On the second leg of a three-nation tour of the Caribbean, Rubio was in Guyana as the Doland Trump administration ramps up engagement in the Western Hemisphere to promote energy independence and curb illegal migration, drug trafficking and gang violence. He made a brief stop in Georgetown on Thursday for talks with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and other officials before travelling to Suriname for an even shorter visit to Paramaribo. "The regional threats are based on illegitimate territorial claims by a narco-trafficking regime," Rubio told reporters at a joint news conference with Ali. "And I want to be frank, there will be consequences for adventurism. There will be consequences for aggressive actions.

There was no classified information: Gabbard on Yemen strikes chat leaks

During a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard firmly denied that the messages contained classified info

Judge orders June trial for US government's felony case against Boeing

A federal judge in Texas has set a June trial date for the US government's years-old conspiracy case against Boeing for misleading regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people. US district judge Reed O'Connor did not explain in the scheduling order he issued on Tuesday why he decided to set the case for trial. Lawyers for the aerospace company and the justice department have spent months trying to renegotiate a July 2024 plea agreement that called for Boeing to plead guilty to a single felony charge. The judge rejected that deal in December, saying that diversity, inclusion and equity policies the justice department had in place at the time might influence the selection of a monitor to oversee the company's compliance with the terms of its proposed sentence. Since then, O'Connor had three times extended the deadline for the two sides to report how they planned to proceed. His most recent extension, granted earlier this month, gave them

Trump says security team texting military op plan on Signal a minor glitch

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed the texting of sensitive plans for a military strike against Yemen's Houthis this month to a group chat that included a journalist, saying it was the only glitch in two months of his administration even as Democratic lawmakers heaped criticism on the administration for handling highly sensitive information carelessly. Trump told NBC News that the lapse turned out not to be a serious one", and expressed his continued support for national security advisor Mike Waltz. Waltz, according to an article posted online by The Atlantic on Monday, appeared to have mistakenly added the magazine's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a chat that included 18 senior administration officials discussing planning for the strike. Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man," Trump said. He also appeared to point blame on an unnamed Waltz aide for Goldberg being added to the chain. It was one of Michael's people on the phone. A staffer had h

US Senate confirms Jay Bhattacharya, Marty Makary for top US health posts

Senate voted 53-47 along party lines to confirm Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University health economist and physician, to lead the National Institutes of Health

Trump backs Waltz after Atlantic editor's war plans group chat breach

Trump's comments fit with a broader effort by the administration to downplay the stunning breach, which created a firestorm in Washington over the Trump team's handling of sensitive information

DOGE cuts testing conservative voters' faith in poll for Gaetz's old seat

As the Trump administration forges ahead with its dramatic reshaping of the federal government, voters in a northwest Florida congressional district that's home to thousands of veterans will be among the first to put the president's agenda to an electoral test. The state's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump, is widely expected to win the special election in Florida's 1st Congressional District on April 1 and help pad Republicans' narrow majority in the US House of Representatives. The seat became vacant with the resignation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz in a heavily Republican district. In a longshot bid, Democrat Gay Valimont is seeking to hinge the race on the Department of Government Efficiency Service's push to fire federal workers and dismantle federal agencies. A win for her would defy decades of political convention and could send loud signals about how the president's aggressive second term in the White House is playing with

Greenlanders unite to resist US as Trump seeks control of Arctic island

Lisa Solrun Christiansen gets up at 4 am most days and gets to work knitting thick wool sweaters coveted by buyers around the world for their warmth and colorful patterns celebrating Greenland's traditional Inuit culture. Her morning routine includes a quick check of the news, but these days the ritual shatters her peace because of all the stories about US President Donald Trump's designs on her homeland. I get overwhelmed,' Christiansen said earlier this month as she looked out to sea, where impossibly blue icebergs floated just offshore. The daughter of Inuit and Danish parents, Christiansen, 57, cherishes Greenland. It is a source of immense family pride that her father, an artist and teacher, designed the red-and-white Greenlandic flag. On his deathbed he talked a lot about the flag, and he said that the flag is not his, it's the people's, she said. And there's one sentence I keep thinking about. He said, I hope the flag will unite the Greenlandic people." Island of ...

Trump campaign manager sues Daily Beast over stories on how much he earned

The co-manager of US President Donald Trump's successful 2024 campaign has sued the Daily Beast for defamation over stories regarding how much he was paid for his work. The lawsuit on behalf of Chris LaCivita said the online publication's stories that he was paid USD 22 million over two years -- later corrected to USD 19.2 million -- created the false impression that LaCivita was personally profiting excessively from his work for the campaign and that he was prioritising personal gain over the campaign's success". The Daily Beast said it stood by its reporting, calling the lawsuit "meritless and a transparent attempt to intimidate the Beast and silence the independent press". Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos is representing LaCivita in the lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Richmond, Virginia. The filing was first reported by Axios. The case continues a trend of aggressive action taken against the news media by Trump and those in his orbit. Trump has sued CBS News for USD 20

Donald Trump announces Hyundai's $5.8 billion US Steel investment

He emphasised the significance of the move, calling Hyundai "one of the largest companies in the world" and highlighting that the steel mill will supply Hyundai's auto plants in Alabama and Georgia

$1.8 trillion ESG market thrives as US govt agencies drive demand

Sales of so-called social bonds, which direct proceeds to areas like health, housing and education, jumped about 130 per cent to $657 billion globally last year

US imposes travel ban on former Argentine president over corruption charges

The State Department has banned former Argentine President Cristina Fernndez from entering the United States, accusing her of involvement in significant corruption while in office. The State Department also banned Fernndez' planning minister Julio Miguel De Vido and their families. Kirchner and De Vido abused their positions by orchestrating and financially benefiting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement released Friday. He noted that multiple courts had convicted the pair on corruption charges. Fernndez has been a dominant political leader in recent years in the South American country. The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who abuse public power for personal gain, Rubio said. These designations reaffirm our commitment to counter global corruption, including at the highest levels of government. In Novemb

Trump agency lists 8 buildings for sale after real estate policy reversal

The eight properties listed were far more in keeping with the routine disposal process run by the General Services Administration, which often acts as a landlord for other federal agencies

Gabbard's visit to India highlights strong US-India ties: US official

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's meetings in India focused on bilateral cooperation in areas of intelligence-sharing, defence, counter-terrorism, and transnational threats, an American official said. Gabbard's visit to New Delhi highlighted the decades strong US-India relationship that is bolstered by the leadership of and friendship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, a spokesperson at the office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said. She arrived in the national capital early Sunday on a two-and-a-half-day trip in the first high-level visit to India by a top official of the Donald Trump administration. Gabbard held separate meetings with Prime Minister Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. "In India, the DNI held several bilateral engagements, including with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the spokesperson said. "DNI Gabbard's meetings in India focused on ..

Federal judge blocks DOGE from accessing Social Security data for now

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency from Social Security Administration systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans. The decision from US District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland also requires the team to delete any personally identifiable data they may have. It comes after labor unions and retirees asked for an emergency order limiting DOGE access to the agency and its vast troves of personal data. They said DOGE's nearly unlimited access violates privacy laws and presents massive information security risks. A recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed. The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at the Social Security Administration, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. The administration has

Who is Rasha Alawieh, the doctor US deported over pics of Hassan Nasrallah?

Rasha Alawieh was reportedly held for at least 36 hours before being deported to Lebanon on Saturday, despite a federal judge's order to delay her removal

US Commerce department bureaus ban China's DeepSeek on govt devices

US officials and members of Congress have expressed concerns about the threat of DeepSeek to data privacy and sensitive government information

Trump visits Kennedy Center putting his mark on national arts institution

President Donald Trump on Monday is visiting the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he is taking a tour and chairing a meeting of its board of directors. It was his first time at the venerable institution since he began remaking it at the start of his second term in office. Trump fired the previous board of the Kennedy Center, writing on social media that they do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture. He replaced them with loyalists and installed himself as chairman. The Republican president's allies have complained that the Kennedy Center, which is known for its annual celebration of notable American artists, had become too liberal and woke with its programming. We have to straighten it out. It's not a good situation," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday evening. He was also expected to discuss plans to improve the Kennedy Center and its upcoming artistic programming. Several artists and productions have backed out of performances