Minimalist News

Erosion Of Freedom In The EU: From Censorship To Centralized Power Submitted by Thomas Kolbe The European Union has increasingly fallen on the defensive in foreign policy. Domestically, the Green Deal has significantly damaged the economic foundation. Together with its main pillars Berlin and Paris, the Brussels-based EU Commission is pushing forward the systematic construction of a censorship apparatus to suppress its own failures from public debate. The heated discussion in recent days over the censorship of unpopular platforms like Nius is far more than just a warning sign. Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister-President Daniel Günther offered a deep insight into the strategic toolbox of current

Three Lessons From Venezuela's Economic Collapse Authored by Matthew Mitchell via TheDailyEconomy.org, President Trump has accepted the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado. Unlike Machado, however, he does not accept the central lessons that can be gleaned from five decades of Venezuelan misrule. There are three.  LESSON 1: PAST PROSPERITY IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE PROSPERITY.  In 1970, Venezuela was the wealthiest country in Latin America. Sitting atop the world’s largest proven oil reserve, it churned out more than 3.5 million barrels of oil a day. Using GDP per person as a metric, its citizens earned 2.7 times as much as

Global Energy Transition Threatened By Critical Transformer Shortages By Haley Zaremba of Oilprice.com The global clean energy transition has passed a tipping point as renewable energies have simply become too cheap to fail. Worldwide, nations both rich and poor are rushing to install more and more wind and solar capacity to keep up with rising energy demand rates driven by global economic development and the age of AI. But while countries have been investing heavily into increased production capacity, investments in critical grid infrastructure have not kept pace, leading to a major energy transition bottleneck and a potential threat to energy security

Left-Wing Activists Run Shadow Police Force On Signal To Target ICE In Minneapolis Last week, federal prosecutors issued six grand jury subpoenas to Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and others, as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded federal deportation operations. While the subpoenas appeared focused on whether public statements by state and local officials interfered with federal immigration enforcement, late Saturday night, new reports from citizen journalists suggest the alleged obstruction may have extended well beyond just rhetoric at press conferences and on social media. Let's begin with citizen journalist

Brussels Discipline Machine: How von der Leyen Survived, And Parliament Paid The Price Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Ursula von der Leyen survived her fourth vote of no confidence in the European Parliament on Thursday. In the process, the EPP Group has increasingly resorted to drastic measures to enforce internal discipline and ensure a uniform voting outcome within its ranks. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen once again survived a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament on Thursday at noon. In Strasbourg, 165 members voted in favor of the motion, 390 voted against it, and 10 abstained. The latest initiative from within the Parliament

Venezuela Continues To Top Global Inflation Forecasts In 2026 In 2026, U.S. inflation is projected to decline to 2.4%, ultimately remaining above the Fed’s target. Many European and Asian countries, meanwhile, are expected to see sub-2% increases in prices. Countries facing instability, like Venezuela and Sudan, will brace for significantly higher price pressures. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the 2026 inflation forecast for global economies, based on data from the International Monetary Fund. RANKED: THE 2026 INFLATION FORECAST Below, we show inflation projections for 2026 across 190 economies: Rank Country Inflation Rate Forecast 2026 (%) Region 1 🇻🇪 Venezuela 682.1 South America 2

Ethereum Prepares For Quantum Era With New Security Team And Funding Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com, The Ethereum Foundation has made post-quantum security a central focus of the network’s long-term roadmap, announcing the formation of a dedicated Post Quantum (PQ) team. The new team will be led by Thomas Coratger, a cryptographic engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, with support from Emile, a cryptographer closely associated with leanVM, according to crypto researcher Justin Drake. “After years of quiet R&D, EF management has officially declared PQ security a top strategic priority,” Drake said in a Saturday post on X. “It's now 2026, timelines are accelerating. Time to

Visualizing Life Expectancy In The World's Largest Economies Despite living in the world’s largest economy, Americans have shorter life expectancies than residents of many other wealthy nations. People in Japan - the world’s fourth-largest economy - live about five years longer on average. Meanwhile, residents in countries like France and Italy outlive Americans by roughly four years. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows life expectancy by country across the world’s 30 largest economies, based on data from the United Nations. GDP data was drawn from the International Monetary Fund. A CLOSER LOOK AT LIFE EXPECTANCY BY COUNTRY Below, we rank countries based on GDP in 2025, including

The EU's Green Crackdown Threatens European Industry Amid Deindustrialization Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Brussels and Berlin are increasing regulatory pressure on European industry. With the tightening of the EU Industrial Emissions Directive, agriculture is now moving even further into the crosshairs of climate regulation. That the EU is increasingly isolating itself on the international stage seems to concern no one. If this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos delivered one clear message, it was this: the U.S. delegation led by President Donald Trump gave Europe’s climate-socialist economic transformation a red card. In stark terms, the U.S. President made it clear that the European

America Can't Secure Its Future On Imported Minerals Authored by Jack Bergman via RealClearPolitics.com, If the past few years taught us anything, it’s that national security no longer stops at the water’s edge or the factory gate. It runs through the mines, mills, refineries, and logistics networks that supply the metals inside our jets, ships, satellites, power grid, and the next generation of energy technologies. Copper, nickel, cobalt, and other critical minerals aren’t just components of consumer gadgets; they are the sinews of American strength. And yet, for far too long, we have treated domestic mineral production like an afterthought, outsourcing supply to

China's Sacked Top General Accused Of Leaking Nuclear Secrets To US: Report On Saturday morning the world woke up to news that China's most senior military officer, who is second only to Xi Jinping, has been put under investigation over alleged "grave violations of discipline and the law."  The detained Gen. Zhang Youxia is a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the Communist Party body that controls China's armed forces, and this was a major shock given he is widely regarded as President Xi's closest ally within the military, until now. Another shock is just what he is being investigated for. While all the initial speculation focused

JD Vance Notes Something Very Important About Minneapolis Chaos Authored by 'sundance' via The Last Refuge, Last week CPB commander Greg Bovino was asked what makes Minneapolis different from other cities where ICE enforcement operations have taken place. Bovino noted in the Minneapolis region there is no separation between the extremists on the ground and the people in local government. Today, Vice President JD Vance concurs and expands on that sentiment: [Source] What Vice-President Vance says here is very important.  The regional government is a stakeholder in maintaining the chaos on the streets.  Why?  Because for two decades a cancer of rampant financial fraud has been permitted to

Centrus To Invest $560 Million for High-Rate Manufacturing Plan Centrus Energy, which has long been one of our favorite stocks throughout 2025 and into 2026, is redirecting over 60% of the $900 million Department of Energy (DOE) funding award back into the economy to secure the US domestic nuclear fuel chain. Centrus will invest $560 million into their Oak Ridge, Tennessee, centrifuge production facility to convert it to a high-rate manufacturing plant with the goal of quickly addressing the lack of domestic enrichment and get new centrifuge cascades online before 2029. The investment is expected to create over 400 jobs in Oak Ridge, and is likely

From Vibrancy To Vacancy: America's Going, Going Gone! Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog, I hate shopping. I hate crowds. I hate malls. I don’t believe I had entered a mall in over a decade, until Monday. My visit to the once vibrant Montgomery Mall in Montgomeryville, PA was a shocking confirmation of what I had been predicting about retail stores since 2008. Next to the term Dead Mall in the dictionary should be a picture of the current version of the Montgomery Mall. If you need visual proof, here is brief video showing how it is deader than ever. We didn’t

President Trump To Skip Super Bowl, Slams Halftime Show With Bad Bunny, Green Day Trump made history last year as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl when he showed up at the game in New Orleans, but on Saturday, he announced he won’t be attending this year.  Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump blasted the NFL for choosing Bad Bunny and Green Day as halftime performers. Trump told the New York Post that the halftime act represents "a terrible choice" that only serves to "sow hatred." He confirmed his absence from the game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara,

Supreme Court Orders CA Dems To Justify 'Prop 50' Maps Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics, The Supreme Court on Thursday gave California Democrats a week to respond to the California Republican Party’s request to block the new Democrat-drawn congressional district maps from being used in November. The request for a response, issued by Justice Elena Kagan, who is handling the emergency-injunction request for the court, surprised many court watchers. Given that the justices allowed Texas Republicans’ gerrymandered map to stand, most thought the Supreme Court would allow the Los Angeles district court’s ruling earlier this month, validating California’s new map to stand as

Cuba Charges US With Imposing 'Marine Siege' For 'Piracy' Of Its Oil Imports A Cuban diplomat has accused Washington of "international piracy" as the US moves to choke off Venezuelan oil supplies to the island following the Jan.3rd Pentagon operation that led to the ouster and abduction of President Nicolás Maduro. Carlos de Céspedes, Cuba's ambassador to Colombia, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the United States has effectively imposed a "marine siege" on Cuba and that this is the most threatening and serious action imposed by Washington in decades. via Prensa Latina "Cuba is facing more powerful US threats than it has in the

12,000 Flights Canceled, NatGas Spikes Again As Winter Storm Fern Paralyzes Eastern US Update (1900ET): The good news for those across the southern US and the Mid-Atlantic is that the massive snowstorm turned ice storm will wind down this evening. In the Northeast, snow will continue overnight. The bad news: much of the eastern half of the country is set for a week of dangerously cold temperatures. > The end is finally here friends! > > This last round is DUMPING big flakes on top of it! > > We get BRUTALLY cold tonight it feel like -25 in the morning so be ready! > >

"Do The Right Thing": President Trump Urges "Common Sense" From Democrats Amid the escalating violence in Minnesota, we calmly ask you to cast your mind back a few years - we know it's hard, but just try... President Obama gave his ICE chief an award for deporting 409,000 illegals (in 2012). President Trump's ICE chief has deported 290,000 (in 2025) and he is called a Nazi. The ICE chief... the same guy - Tom Homan. The difference is Democrats' rhetoric and the industrial crisis-manufacturing complex. And that is why President Trump is calling for some "common sense" from officials: > "I am hereby calling on Governor Walz,

What The Left Doesn't Want You To Know About Alex Pretti, The Man That Border Patrol Shot Mainstream media outlets rushed to paint Alex Pretti as a blameless ICU nurse gunned down by heartless Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday. They highlighted his work caring for veterans and seized on video snippets showing him holding a phone. The New York Times ran with that angle, running the headline “Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun,” and claimed that footage captured Pretti only with his phone in hand, insisting that agents had no reason

Alexander, his wife and son, who fled danger under Putin, fighting for security – and compensation – after torment of migration journey Almost a year after Donald Trump strong-armed a deal with Costa Rica to receive 200 people from other countries who were being deported from the United States after being denied the right to request asylum, a small handful remain there in legal limbo and fighting for compensation. The asylum seekers flown to Costa Rica in chains last February, despite not being criminals, were from 20 other countries, chiefly parts of Asia and Africa and included 81 children. They had all

Critics believe ‘drip drip’ of releases after Maduro’s dramatic seizure an attempt by regime to ‘keep the US satisfied’ In the days after Nicolás Maduro was accused of stealing Venezuela’s 2024 election, the relatives of hundreds of protesters captured during the ensuing clampdown flocked to the Zone 7 police detention centre in search of incarcerated loved ones. Now, after the tables turned dramatically and Maduro finds himself locked up in the US, the families have returned to demand the immediate release of every last one of their country’s political prisoners. Continue reading...

Mayor of Salamanca in Guanajuato state says attack is part of ‘crime wave’ as he appeals to president for help Gunmen opened fire at a football match in central Mexico on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 12, authorities said. César Prieto, the mayor of the town of Salamanca in central Guanajuato state, said in a statement posted to social media platforms that the gunmen arrived at the end of a match. Continue reading...

President also claims US refineries will process seized Venezuelan oil, saying ‘we take the oil’ Donald Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if the North American country makes a trade deal with China. Beside that tariff threat, another Trump foreign policy maneuver to make news on Saturday involved the president announcing the US had taken the oil that was on recently seized Venezuelan tankers. Continue reading...

Court says alleged abuse and trafficking offences occurred outside Spain, leaving it without jurisdiction Spanish prosecutors have shelved a complaint brought by two women who have accused the singer Julio Iglesias of sexual assault and human trafficking, arguing the country’s courts have no jurisdiction as the alleged offences took place outside Spain. Two female former employees who worked at Iglesias’s Caribbean mansions 10 days ago accused the veteran entertainer of sexual assault, saying they had been subjected “to inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation … in an atmosphere of control and constant harassment”. Continue reading...

Rescuers save at least 300 people after inter-island ferry sank early on Monday en route from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo island At least 15 people have died after a ferry with more than 350 people sunk early on Monday near an island in the southern Philippines, according to local officials, with the coast guard warning that 28 people remained missing. The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry, was sailing to southern Jolo island in Sulu province from the port city of Zamboanga with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it apparently encountered technical

Zhang Youxia, long seen as Xi Jinping’s closest military ally, reportedly accused of leaking nuclear secrets to US China’s military leadership is in turmoil after its most senior general – a close ally of Xi Jinping – was placed under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”. Zhang Youxia is the joint vice-chairperson of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the ruling body of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Second only to Xi in the military command structure, Zhang has long been seen as the Chinese president’s closest military ally. Continue reading...

US climber takes an hour and half to scale one of Asia’s tallest buildings without ropes or a harness The US rock climber Alex Honnold climbed one of Asia’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes or a harness on Sunday, fulfilling an ambition that began more than a decade ago and which he hoped would inspire people to pursue their own challenges because “time is finite”. Honnold, who starred in the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, ascended the 508-metre (1,667ft) Taipei 101 using the skyscraper’s horizontal metal beams to pull himself up with his bare hands. The challenge had originally been scheduled to take

In the search for stability, some western nations are turning to a country that many in Washington see as an existential threat If geopolitics relies at least in part on bonhomie between global leaders, China made an unexpected play for Ireland’s good graces when the taoiseach visited Beijing this month. Meeting Ireland’s leader, Micheál Martin, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China’s president, Xi Jinping, said a favourite book of his as a teenager was The Gadfly, by the Irish author Ethel Voynich, a novel set in the revolutionary fervour of Italy in the 1840s. “It was unusual that

US policy document suggests South Korea take primary responsibility, as Pentagon prioritises defending US homeland The Pentagon foresees a “more limited” role in deterring North Korea, with South Korea taking primary responsibility for the task, a Pentagon policy document released on Friday said, in a move likely to raise concern in Seoul. South Korea hosts about 28,500 US troops in combined defence against North Korea’s military threat and Seoul has raised its defence budget by 7.5% for this year. Continue reading...

Thousands of people across Sydney and Melbourne take part in March for Australia rallies on Invasion Day * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A man who made antisemitic comments that police allege were “unequivocally” aligned with neo-Nazi ideology in front of a cheering crowd at an anti-immigration protest in Sydney has been charged with inciting hatred. An estimated 2,000 people took part in a March for Australia rally in Sydney on Monday, while hundreds marched in a March for Australia rally in Melbourne, with police working to keep the groups separate from Invasion Day rallies which

Sammy Yahood had his visa cancelled three hours before his flight was due to depart, according to the Australian Jewish Association The government has cancelled the visa of a Jewish influencer, who has previously called for the ban of Islam and was booked to speak at several events in Australia. The right-leaning Australian Jewish Association (AJA) said Sammy Yahood’s visa was cancelled three hours before his flight was due to depart. Continue reading...

Fire in Otways has burned about 9,400 hectares and could spread as far as Lorne amid onset of heatwave in Victoria * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Residents of more than 1,000 homes in Victoria have been urged to leave before sunset in anticipation of a massive fire spreading and the onset of a severe heatwave. Six fires were burning across the state on Monday afternoon, and authorities were concerned that Tuesday’s heatwave conditions and forecast northerly winds could cause the fire in the Otways to

This blog is now closed * Invasion Day: police clear Perth protest site amid reports of ‘threat’ as huge marches held across Australia * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Several beaches in Sydney are closed this morning after shark sightings in the water. Lifeguards have evacuated the water at Manly beach, Dee Why beach and Palm beach this morning, all around 9am, after the sightings. The beaches are closed. The search will continue as is in it current intensity for a number of days yet. We will act on all information coming forward. Continue reading...

Residents near Otways fire in Victoria urged to prepare to evacuate, while Ouyen and Mildura forecast to record 49C on Tuesday * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast South Australia faced another day of searing heat on Monday, as Victorians prepared for conditions forecast to be the hottest in history and more than 1,100 residents told to get ready to evacuate ahead of extreme fire danger. Tuesday could see heat records broken throughout Victoria and eastern South Australia, with maximums expected to be near 50C across inland areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president’s remarks come as Russia praises trilateral talks but warns against expectations of ‘significant results’ The European Commission got also asked about the regular US criticism that it is “targeting” US big tech companies and that, in doing so, it undermines free speech. Digital spokesperson Regnier replied: “Again, we don’t target any company … based of its origin. Now on your censorship point: I think if anyone dares to compare freedom of expression with child sexual abuse material or freedom of expression with undressing women digitally without their consent, then they are not fully aligned with Europe or absolutely not aligned with Europe.

Investigation comes after Elon Musk’s firm sparked outrage by allowing users to ‘strip’ photos of women and children * Europe live – latest updates The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X over the production of sexually explicit images and the spreading of possible child sexual abuse material by the platform’s AI chatbot feature, Grok. The formal inquiry, launched on Monday, also extends an investigation into X’s recommender systems, algorithms that help users discover new content. Continue reading...

Warnings issued across 26 US states, while Portugal braces for heavy rain as Storm Joseph rolls in The US is enduring another bout of severe winter weather, as a succession of powerful weather systems brings heavy snow, freezing rain and extreme cold temperatures to much of the country. Twenty-six states, from Texas to Massachusetts, were under storm warnings issued by the National Weather Service over the weekend, with many alerts remaining in place this week. Continue reading...

Are the German people on board with the government’s massive militarisation programme? Kate Connolly reports “Not so long ago, to be a German soldier dressed in German uniform was quite a difficult role to embody. I mean, you could be going down the street and you could be spat on, or you could have names called at you. “I’ve recently seen people get into conversation with soldiers, which I hadn’t seen in the past, [and] more recently, somebody going up to a soldier and actually getting him into conversation about his role, and at the end of the conversation, thanking him.” Continue reading...

Energy secretary Ed Miliband says clean energy project is part of efforts to leave ‘the fossil fuel rollercoaster’ The UK and nine other European countries have agreed to accelerate the rollout of offshore windfarms in the 2030s and build a power grid in the North Sea, in a landmark pact to turn the ageing oil basin into a “clean energy reservoir”. They will build windfarms at sea that directly connect to various countries through high-voltage subsea cables, under plans that are expected to provide 100 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power, or enough electricity capacity to power 143m homes. Continue reading...

The opening of the the Rafah crossing with Egypt is a key part of the US brokered ceasefire Israel said on Sunday its military was conducting a “large-scale operation” to locate the body of the last hostage in Gaza, adding that it would only reopen the Rafah crossing with Egypt after the mission was completed. The statement came as Israel’s cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening the key border crossing, and a day after top US envoys met prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and reportedly urged him to reopen the vital entry point for aid into Gaza. Continue reading...

Yousef Pezeshkian says nothing will be solved by trying to postpone moment images of violent crackdown circulate The son of Iran’s president has called for the internet restrictions in the country to be lifted, saying nothing will be solved by trying to postpone the moment when pictures and video circulate of the protests that were violently crushed by the regime. With a battle under way at the top of the regime about the political risks of continuing to block Iran from the internet, Yousef Pezeshkian, whose father, Masoud, was elected in the summer of 2024, said keeping the digital shutdown would create

US readers said they were feeling anxious and helpless as authorities’ brutal crackdown has left thousands dead Recent protests in Iran have created the most serious and deadliest unrest in the country since the 1979 revolution, prompting eyes from all around the globe to shift to the Middle East. The Guardian asked Iranians living outside the country to share their views on the current situation in the country and about the possibility of US intervention. Continue reading...

Ceasefire to be extended for one month to allow transfer of suspected Islamic State members from Syria to Iraq The Syrian government and Kurdish forces agreed to extend a ceasefire on Saturday, according to Syrian diplomatic sources, temporarily staving off a looming war between the two sides in the north-east of the country. Sources told Agence France-Presse the ceasefire would be extended for “a period of up to one month at most”, citing the need to facilitate the transfer of suspected members of Islamic State from Syria to Iraq. Continue reading...

US president says ‘we have a lot of ships’ going in that direction and that Washington is watching Iran closely Donald Trump has said an American “armada” is heading towards the Middle East and that the US is monitoring Iran closely, as activists put the death toll from Tehran’s crackdown on protesters at 5,002. Speaking on Air Force One as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos overnight, he said: “We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely … we have an armada …

Voting ends in month-long poll derided internationally as sham designed to cement army’s grip on power Voting in Myanmar has ended with the military-backed party expected to win a landslide victory after a month-long election that has been widely derided as a sham designed to cement the army’s grip on power. The junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, has rejected criticism of the vote, saying it has the support of the public and presenting it as a return to democracy and stability. Continue reading...

Eastern region on high alert as authorities try to track animal tearing through villages in Jharkhand after apparently becoming separated from herd Forest officials in India are on the hunt for an elephant that has killed more than 20 people in a days-long rampage through the eastern state of Jharkhand. Since the beginning of January, 22 people have been killed by a single-tusked elephant that has been tearing through forests and villages in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Continue reading...

Delhi is world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle East Russia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions. Continue reading...

Police ask Paramjeet Singh Pamma to install security cameras and reinforce door locks at his home Police have advised a high-profile Sikh activist in the UK to install security cameras at his home and reinforce door locks because of threats from Hindu nationalist elements. Paramjeet Singh Pamma, 52, said he had been visited by police and received verbal advice to increase his security due to intelligence suggesting threats to his safety. Continue reading...

UN and many western countries as well as human rights groups say that in the absence of a meaningful opposition the election is neither free, fair nor credible Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised as a tool to formalise junta rule. Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war

Her defection comes shortly after Robert Jenrick joined Nigel Farage’s party, meaning there are now eight Reform MPs in the Commons. Keir Starmer was being interview by Beth Rigby from Sky News this morning when he defended the decision not to let Andy Burnham be a byelection candidate. After Starmer delivered his first answer (see 10.15am), Rigby asked him to what he would say to Labour MPs who think he is being “cowardly” and just blocking Burnham to avoid the risk of a leadership contest. Millions of people will be better off if we have the continuation of a Labour government in Wales,

The Labour party has once again been plunged into turmoil after the NEC blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection. Will the row quickly fade, or does it risk piling further pressure on the prime minister? Meanwhile, Pippa Crerar will be joining Keir Starmer on his trip to China – but can he focus on diplomacy abroad, or will the Westminster psychodrama continue to overshadow the visit? Continue reading...

Dylan Phelan accused of encouraging man in Louisiana to take his own life over video call A British man has been charged with encouraging the suicide of an American via a video call. Dylan Phelan, of Churwell, near Leeds in West Yorkshire, is accused of encouraging a 21-year-old man, who lived in Louisiana, to take his own life over a video call on 30 October 2024, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Continue reading...

Inquiry into enlistment medical examinations has been expanded from army to also include navy and RAF More than 500 people have contacted police investigating sexual abuse that allegedly took place during armed services medical examinations over almost 50 years. The investigation was launched after reports about the abuse of some recruits at army enlistment medical examinations but its scope has been expanded to include the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Continue reading...

Braverman becomes third sitting Conservative MP to join Nigel Farage’s party in little more than a week * UK politics live – latest updates Suella Braverman has defected to Reform, the third sitting Conservative MP to join Nigel Farage’s party in little more than a week. Arriving as a surprise speaker at a Reform event in London, Braverman, who has been an MP since 2015 and served as home secretary under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, said: “Today am announcing that I resign the Conservative whip. I have resigned the Conservative whip and my party membership of 30 years because I believe

Many alerts remain in place with power outages in some regions Calling the storms “historic”, Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia, allowing access to assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

President signals to Wall Street Journal that he would eventually withdraw ICE agents, though did not give a timeframe Two federal judges in Minnesota will weigh cases today that could affect Donald Trump’s surge of federal agents in Minneapolis. One case that will be heard in Minneapolis federal court directly challenges the legality of this deployment. Two US citizens have been killed this month during the controversial immigration enforcement operation. On January 24, 2026, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a Minneapolis resident and American citizen was executed on the streets of Minneapolis by ICE agents. This fundraiser is intended to support the loved ones he leaves

Elijah Wood joined protest in Utah’s Park City in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, while Natalie Portman said what is happening is ‘absolutely horrific’ The Sundance film festival, which is currently under way in Park City, Utah, saw a mass protest against the two fatal shootings in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Sunday, along with high-profile interventions from major film industry figures. Actor Natasha Lyonne was among those spreading social media posts about the protest, called “Sundancers Melt ICE”, which was called for Sunday afternoon. The organisers asked for a 10-minute “respectful” event at sunset on Park City’s Main Street to memorialise

Plane crashed at airport in Bangor, which had undergone steady snowfall, along with many other parts of the US * US gripped by severe winter storm – latest updates A private aircraft carrying eight people crashed on takeoff Sunday night at Maine’s Bangor international airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said – as that region and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed at about 7.45pm, and there was no immediate word on the conditions of those aboard. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating. Continue reading...

Barack and Michelle Obama say killing should be ‘wake-up call’ and accuse federal agents of not operating in lawful way. Plus, meet the OB-GYNs fighting Trump’s ‘guerrilla war on science’ * Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. Pressure is mounting on Donald Trump’s administration to fully investigate the killing of the 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. What’s the latest on what’s happening in Minnesota? A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments today on whether to halt the often brutal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, which has led to the killings

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s top uniformed officer Zhang Youxia is among 2 generals under investigation Top Chinese military leaders Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli are under investigation for suspected “serious” disciplinary violations, according to the Ministry of National Defence. 2. Chinese scientists shrink...

The United States will impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports should Ottawa finalise a new trade deal with China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday, amplifying a similar threat from US President Donald Trump a day earlier. “We can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US,” Bessent said on ABC’s This Week. During a visit to Beijing on January 16, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a thaw in bilateral relations with China,...

The British government said on Sunday it will unveil plans this week to create a new national police force, dubbed the “British FBI”, to take charge of complex investigations such as counterterrorism, fraud, online child abuse and criminal gangs. The National Police Service will bring under the same umbrella the work of existing agencies dealing with terrorism and crime, police helicopters and policing of the roads, and regional organised crime units in England and Wales. Home Secretary Shabana...

Jeffrey Ding is an assistant professor of political science at George Washington University. He is the author of Technology and the Rise of Great Powers, an award-winning book exploring the impact of technology on geopolitical competition, as well as the founder of the ChinAI newsletter, which tracks developments in China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry. In this interview, Ding explains why “diffusion”, not innovation, will determine whether China or the US will prevail in the AI race,...

Israel said on Sunday its military was conducting a “large-scale operation” to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressured Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel’s Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top US envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps. The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been...

A monster storm barrelling across the United States had killed at least 11 people on Monday, prompting warnings to stay off the roads, mass flight cancellations and power outages after a weekend of misery. The storm dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain across swathes of the country from Texas to New England, with temperatures set to fall dangerously low this week. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said five people were found dead outside over the weekend, telling reporters “there is no more...

The decapitated body of a woman, whose legs were also cut off, was found in a rubbish bin in Istanbul overnight, Turkish media reported on Sunday, sparking fury from women’s groups. Her body was wrapped in a sheet and dumped in a rubbish container in the Sisli district, where it was discovered on Saturday evening by a paper collector looking for items to recycle, the DHA news agency said. Investigators identified the victim as a 37-year-old Uzbek national. They were not immediately able to find...

Former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton issued pointed calls on Sunday for America to stand up and defend their values after the second killing of a citizen in Minneapolis by immigration agents that Donald Trump blamed on Democratic “chaos”. The Trump administration has faced intensifying pressure over its mass immigration crackdown, particularly after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Saturday while scuffling with him on an icy roadway. That...

Eighty-six people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass after protesters breached the grounds of a London prison in support of a pro-Palestinian hunger striker, UK police said on Sunday. The group were “protesting in support of a Palestine Action prisoner on a hunger strike” late Saturday and then refused to leave the prison grounds when ordered to do so, London’s Metropolitan Police said on X. “They allegedly blocked prison staff from entering and leaving, threatened police officers...

More than 100 political prisoners were freed Sunday in Venezuela, where detainees are slowly being released under pressure from the United States, the non-governmental organisation Foro Penal said. “At Foro Penal we have verified 104 releases of political prisoners in Venezuela today,” the NGO wrote on social media. Foro Penal had earlier reported 80 political prisoners being released Sunday. Director Alfredo Romero said on X that the group was verifying the identities of those released from...

British Labour Party politician Andy Burnham was on Sunday blocked from trying to return to parliament, with lawmakers on the ‍left of the party accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his allies of a political move to keep out a potential leadership rival. Burnham said he was disappointed at the decision and, while he called for unity in the Labour Party, criticised the way the situation had been handled. One of the party’s most high-profile politicians and an elected mayor in the ⁠northern...

France on Sunday took into custody the Indian captain of an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet” for the vessel’s failure to fly a flag, prosecutors said. The 58-year-old captain was in charge of the tanker, the Grinch, which was seized by the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday and is now moored under guard at a southern French port near Marseille. The Marseille prosecutors’ office, in charge of investigating the case, said the rest of the...

Iraq’s parliament will meet on Tuesday to elect the country’s new president, who will then appoint a prime minister, which is expected to be Nouri al-Maliki after he was endorsed by the Levantine country’s largest Shiite bloc. By convention, a Shiite Muslim holds the post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. Parliamentary speaker Haibat al-Halbussi announced on Sunday that the new parliament will convene on Tuesday to elect a...

Europe’s survival as an independent political power depends on its readiness to impose costs on the United States while reopening a sustained channel with China. The Arthashastra counsels that the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend. Europe has ignored this principle, absorbing repeated American bullying while refusing to leverage relations with China as a counterweight. The Greenland episode crystallises a reality enforced through trade threats, security conditionality and territorial...

French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants his government to fast track the legal process to ensure that a ban on social media for children under the age of 15 can enter into force in September at the start of the next school year. In a video released late on Saturday by French broadcaster BFM-TV, Macron said he had asked his government to initiate an accelerated procedure so that the proposed legislation can move as quickly as possible and be passed by the Senate in time. “The brains of our...

The arrival of 2026 has brought anything but peace to the Middle East, caught in the gravitational pull of rival ambitions and with the uneasy sense that the next war may already be under way. From Gaza to Syria, conflict hotspots are flaring as the region finds itself at the epicentre of a global order in flux. The result is a landscape in which rivalries are multiplying, former partners are pitted against each other and more violence appears inevitable, analysts say. “While it is still early...

Mainland China’s and Hong Kong’s birth rates fell to record lows last year, despite extensive government incentives to encourage larger families. In Hong Kong, registered births fell 14 per cent to a historic low of 31,714 in 2025. Notably, the increase in births in 2024 may have been due to the auspicious Year of the Dragon. It is believed that babies born in the dragon year will grow up to be smart and successful. This is likely to have affected the timing of births as seen in Hong Kong during...

When Fabiola, a single mother and naturalised US citizen from Latin America, first learned of the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, ‌she said she was heartbroken and terrified. Then she joined the thousands of other Minnesotans who have volunteered to track ICE agents since Good was killed, despite her fears for herself and her son Asher, who is seven. “I ‍do feel scared, but at the same time, I know I have to take care of my people too,” she...

More than 4,000 flights were cancelled in the US on Saturday ahead of a monster winter storm that has ‌already cut power to more than 210,000 customers as far west as Texas, ‍and threatened to paralyse eastern states with heavy snowfall. Forecasters said snow, sleet and freezing rain, accompanied by dangerously frigid temperatures, would sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation on Sunday and into next week. Calling the storms “historic”, US President ⁠Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal...

President Donald Trump said US military forces used a weapon that he referred to as “the discombobulator” during the US operation in Caracas to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from power earlier this month. “The discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it,” Trump said in an interview with the New York Post. He said the weapon made enemy equipment “not work”. “They never got their rockets off,” Trump said, according to New York Post. “They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they...

Ukraine and Russia ended a second day of ‍US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Saturday without a deal but with more talks expected next weekend, even as overnight Russian air strikes knocked out power for over a million Ukrainians amid sub-zero winter cold. Statements after the conclusion of the talks did not indicate that any agreements had been reached, but Moscow and Kyiv both said they were open to further dialogue. “The central focus of the discussions was the possible parameters for ending...

A US immigration officer shot and killed a man on Saturday in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigid streets and ratcheting up tensions in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier. Family members identified the man who was killed as Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse who had protested against US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city. After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered and protesters clashed with federal...

Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine’s wife was taken to hospital after soldiers invaded their residence, partially undressed and choked her, the couple said. Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, was not at the property and is in hiding after he escaped a previous raid on his home last week ⁠hours before he was announced as the runner-up in the January 15 presidential election. Incumbent ruler President Yoweri Museveni, 81, president since 1986, was declared winner of ‍the vote with 71.6 per cent...

US President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions with Canada, Washington’s closest ally and second-largest trading partner, on Saturday by threatening to impose 100 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods entering the United States. Canada fired back quickly, stressing that there is no pursuit of a free-trade agreement with China, framing recent moves as steps to resolve tariff disputes and bolster the Canadian economy, which was “under threat from abroad”. In a series of social media posts,...

Spanish police on Saturday said they had freed 15 Chinese women forced into prostitution in “conditions of slavery” in Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands, and arrested 14 people. The network profited not only from sexual exploitation but also from selling stimulants and drugs to clients. “The victims were kept in conditions of slavery; they had to be available at all times,” the national police said. Some of the women were already on the Spanish mainland or “had travelled...

Heavy snowfall and rain in Afghanistan have killed at least 61 people and injured 110 others, the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Saturday. Spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Hammad said 458 houses had been completely or partially destroyed over the past three days of severe weather, affecting at least 360 families. Losses of livestock were also reported. Hammad said the figures were preliminary, adding that assessment teams were continuing surveys in affected regions and...

Snow fell over parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas on Friday in ‌a frosty prelude to a monster winter storm expected to converge with bitter Arctic cold and engulf much of the United States over the weekend from the Rockies to ‍the Eastern Seaboard. Forecasts called for heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, accompanied by dangerously frigid temperatures, to sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation, threatening to upend travel and spawn widespread power outages. At least 14 states and the...

Iran will treat any attack “as an all-out war against ‌us”, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, ahead of ‍the arrival of a US military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets in the Middle East in the coming days. “This military build-up – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation – but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,” said the senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This time we will...

Some weighty themes were addressed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, from the apparent return of the Monroe Doctrine and US “manifest destiny” in geopolitics, to a replay of the 19th-century “Great Game” among competing nations elsewhere. But one critical issue that did not receive sufficient attention was the prospect of a global financial system crisis undermining such monumental assumptions. These annual gatherings of the supposedly great and good, from national leaders to business barons...

A 17-year-old in the US who expressed interest in joining the Islamic State (Isis) has pleaded guilty to trying to kill one New Jersey police officer and attacking backup police with a knife. Fasihullah Safar, of Alexandria, Virginia, would be sentenced as an adult on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and motor vehicle theft, Burlington County prosecutors said on Friday. Safar was initially charged as a juvenile before the case...

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least one person and wounded 31 overnight into Saturday as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were to meet in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion. One person died and four were wounded in drone attacks on the capital, Kyiv, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, drone attacks wounded 27 people, said...

Powdered whole milk used to make ByHeart infant formula could be a source of contamination that led to an outbreak of botulism that has sickened dozens of babies, according to US health officials. Testing by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the type of bacteria that could cause the illness in two samples linked to the formula, officials said on Friday. The agency found that bacteria in an unopened tin of formula matched a sample from a sick baby. It also matched contamination...

The US military said on Friday that it had carried out a deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the first known attack since the raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month. US Southern Command said on social media that the boat was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” and that the strike killed two people and left one survivor. It said it notified the coastguard to launch search and rescue operations for that...

The former bassist of the legendary German rock band Scorpions has died at the age of 71, his family said on Friday. “We received a message to this effect from his daughter,” Scorpions spokesman Peter Lanz said. The internationally successful band from the northern city of Hanover parted ways with Buchholz in 1992 after a dispute. Buchholz died of cancer on Thursday, according to a social media post signed by his family, who said he “departed this world peacefully and surrounded by love”. “Our...

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met ‌in Abu Dhabi on Friday to tackle the vital issue of territory, with no sign of a compromise, as Russian air strikes plunged Ukraine into its worst ‍energy crisis of the nearly four-year war. Kyiv is under mounting US pressure to reach a peace deal in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Moscow demanding Kyiv cede its entire eastern industrial area of Donbas before it stops fighting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky...

Having studied and lived in North America in my youth and now middle age, one thing I have come to realise is that there is not one Canada but several, not one United States but many. Another is the contrasting national sentiments about equality – a fundamental Canadian value enshrined in its constitution – and inequality, which is not only tolerated or ignored but even celebrated in many powerful circles in the US, including the current White House. Canadians are generally proud of their...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call late on Thursday, during which both leaders stressed the need to defend the authority of the United Nations (UN) and to strengthen cooperation across the Global South, according to official readouts. The call, confirmed by both governments on Friday, took place amid heightened geopolitical tension that has strained the multilateral system and produced new frictions in Latin America and...

US President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed out a Commerce Department official whose office effectively barred ‍nearly all Chinese cars from the US market for national security reasons, according to people familiar with the matter. Elizabeth “Liz” Cannon has resigned as executive director for Information and Communications Technology and Services, an office created in 2022 to investigate threats to the supply chain from foreign adversaries, the people said. News of Cannon’s impending...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called US President Donald Trump’s comments about European troops staying off the front lines in Afghanistan ‍insulting and appalling, joining a chorus of criticism from other European officials and veterans. “I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling, and I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt for the loved ones of those who were killed or injured,” Starmer told reporters. When asked whether he would demand an apology from...

Valentino, Italy’s haute couture “emperor”, was laid to rest in Rome on Friday, with the distinctive red ‌he championed in his collections echoed in splashes of crimson among the black-clad mourners. The biggest ‍names in fashion – including Donatella Versace, Tom Ford and Maria Grazia Chiuri – gathered in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, a church designed by Michelangelo and built on the ruins of ancient Roman baths. Valentino’s co-founder Giancarlo Giammetti, dressed ⁠in a sharply...

Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who was among the FBI’s top fugitives and faces charges related to multinational drug trafficking and the killing of a federal witness, was arrested on Friday, two people familiar with the matter told Associated Press. Wedding, 44, is accused of running a drug trafficking operation and officials say he orchestrated several killings to further the drug crimes. He was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list and authorities had offered a US$15 million...

Israel wants to restrict the number of Palestinians entering ‌Gaza through the border crossing with Egypt to ensure that more are allowed out than in, three sources briefed on the matter ‍said ahead of the border’s expected opening next week. The head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the US to temporarily administer Gaza, Ali Shaath, announced on Thursday that the Rafah Border Crossing – effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than 2 million...

Despite a slowing economy, recurring trade frictions and intensifying price competition, the value of China’s exports rose in 2025 by 6.1 per cent, year on year, to a record 26.98 trillion yuan (US$3.87 trillion) – cementing its position as the world’s largest trading nation. Behind that growth, China’s export machine is increasingly being shaped by coastal concentration and industrial upgrading, with market diversification cushioning external shocks at the cost of weaker prices and thinner...

An investigation into last weekend’s high-speed train collision in Spain that killed 45 people suggests the track was cracked before the catastrophe, according to a preliminary report published on Friday. The shell-shocked country is searching for answers to one of Europe’s deadliest such accidents this century, which has raised doubts about the safety of the world’s second-largest high-speed rail network. The disaster struck in the southern region of Andalusia on Sunday evening when a train run...

US President Donald Trump stole the show at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but he may have also made the annual gabfest of the global elite relevant again – at least for a week. The relevance of the gathering of CEOs and political leaders in the Swiss Alps is regularly questioned by critics who deride it as an out-of-touch echo chamber where little gets done. But all eyes were on this year’s Davos as Trump barrelled into town with a geopolitical storm hanging over the picturesque ski resort,...

A combat veteran, Zhang Youxia was once seen as the most trusted man in Xi Jinping’s military. Now he has been accused of disloyalty to Mr. Xi.

Frank Bisignano is the first chief executive of the I.R.S., where there’s hope he will end a chaotic stretch at the agency. The tax filing season, which started Monday, is his first test.

Tension over Greenland has prompted worries that the Trump administration could turn the U.S. oil and gas industry into a way to pressure Europe.

The price of gold surged above $5,000 an ounce as investors sought shelter from geopolitical uncertainty.

The actor has spent a decade dismantling his McDreamy persona from “Grey’s Anatomy.” He stars as an assassin in a new Fox thriller.

Concerns about the affordability of education, housing, health care, having a family and retirement are driving economic anxieties, a New York Times/Siena poll found.

Consumers are still spending, but they’re looking for ways to stretch their dollars as far as possible.

The Rafah crossing will open at the end of Israel’s search for the remains of the last captive in Gaza.

Regulators said the company’s lack of controls had led to the widespread use of deepfakes created with the chatbot Grok.

Yann LeCun helped create the technology behind today’s chatbots. Now he says many tech companies are on the wrong path to creating intelligent machines.

Ricursive Intelligence, founded by two former Google researchers and valued at $4 billion, is among several efforts to automate the creation of artificial intelligence.

Shifts in tactics and technology in Ukraine mean that the pace of fighting is no longer decided by whether tanks can navigate frozen fields.

Ukrainian and Russian officials left rare direct talks last weekend in a somewhat optimistic mood. But Russia may be simply stalling for time, analysts said.

The mass shooting occurred in an area fought over by drug cartels, just as the Mexican government has sought to show Washington that it is combating criminal groups.

Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez is liberalizing the economy without dismantling her predecessor’s repressive apparatus, raising questions about her aims.

Top Afghan officials say they want two American detainees released “as soon as possible,” but the Trump administration says a third one should be included.

In the last part of a monthlong series, Pete Wells and experts suggest how to sidestep the perils of alcoholic or sugary beverages.

On immigration raids, the shooting death of Alex Pretti and where we go from here.

State and local prosecutions could produce deterrent effects that are so desperately needed now.

Jennifer Mnookin has led the flagship campus of the state university system since 2022. She takes the helm at Columbia after a tumultuous period.

A Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed during takeoff at the Bangor airport, according to officials, as a paralyzing winter storm lashed the East Coast.

Pedro, a 2-year-old, needs a new heart and has spent months in a New York hospital. With his nurses on the picket line, replacement workers care for him.