United States | News & Politics

LONDON — Two of the world’s biggest trading blocs are cautiously eyeing closer ties to short-circuit Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The European Union and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc are opening talks to explore proposals to form one of the largest global economic alliances, multiple people with knowledge of the talks told POLITICO.

Canada is spearheading the discussions after Prime Minister Mark Carney called on middle powers to buck trade war coercion last month, days after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Denmark’s European allies if it didn’t cede Greenland.

Ottawa is “championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP] and the European Union, which would create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people,” Carney told world leaders and the global business elite in Davos.

The Department of Homeland Security’s HART system utilizes AI to identify facial features, fingerprints, voice patterns, and possible DNA. Those for HART included AI in its system citing its ability to share biometric data across government agencies. Those against HART utilizing AI worry the system’s accuracy will be decreased all the while accessing sensitive data. How can HART’s AI be further regulated to decrease the misidentifications that have already occurred?

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — Opening statements are expected Monday in the trial of a man whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school in September 2024.

The case is one of several around the country where prosecutors are trying to hold parents responsible after their children are accused in fatal shootings. Colin Gray faces 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and numerous counts of second-degree cruelty to children related to the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that more than 1,000 immigration agents have left Minnesota’s Twin Cities area and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead as part of the Trump administration’s drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge.

A “small” security force will stay for a short period to protect remaining immigration agents and will respond “when our agents are out and they get surrounded by agitators and things got out of control,” Homan told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He did not define “small.”

He also said agents will keep investigating fraud allegations as well as the anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a church service.

“We already removed well over 1,000 people, and as of Monday, Tuesday, we’ll remove several hundred more,” Homan said. “We’ll get back to the original footprint.”

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https://archive.ph/38vaz

"​An unmistakable majority wants a party that will fight harder against the corporations and rich people they see as responsible for keeping them down," wrote the New Republic's editorial director.

Feb. 13, 2026

President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda has supercharged opposition in cities where he has deployed federal agents to conduct raids, and communities in states including New York and Missouri are already working to block the next step the Department of Homeland Security plans to take in its push for mass deportations: acquiring massive warehouses across the country to use as immigrant detention centers.

US immigration and Customs Enforcement documents that were provided to Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire—one of the states where ICE aims to acquire a building and retrofit it to house at least 1,000 people at a time—show that the administration plans to spend $38.3 billion on its mass detention plan.

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The bill's supporters call it child protection; its architecture looks more like a national ID system for the internet.

“I asked for an attorney probably a hundred times and was never given one,” Saari said. “I was never told why I was being arrested.”

Then, Saari said, “They took my cell phone and cloned it. They actually told me they did that.”

A much-hyped ICE pullback from Minneapolis is a blip in a looming nationwide surge of arrests, concentration camps.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/43164907

Federal officials initially claimed a cartel drone infiltrated U.S. airspace in bizarre incident

Homeland Security Kristi Noem abruptly ended a press conference in Arizona on Friday after being asked about a bizarre incident in which federal officials closed the airspace above El Paso this week after border officials reportedly used a laser to shoot down a party balloon they mistook for a cartel drone.

During the press conference in Phoenix, a journalist asked if the reports were true, and if so, why border officials did not appear to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration.

“You know, this was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken and we’re continuing to work on the communication through that but recognize we’re grateful for the partnership of the Department of War and FAA as we go forward,” said Noem, who then walked away from her microphone.

Feb. 13, 2026

https://archive.ph/gBRoW

Free buses? Really? Of all the promises that Zohran Mamdani made during his New York City mayoral campaign, that one struck some skeptics as the most frivolous leftist fantasy. Unlike housing, groceries and child care, which weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ finances, a bus ride is just a few bucks. Is it really worth the huge effort to spare people that tiny outlay?

It is. Far beyond just saving riders money, free buses deliver a cascade of benefits, from easing traffic to promoting public safety. Just look at Boston; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and even New York itself, all of which have tried it to excellent effect. And it doesn’t have to be costly — in fact, it can come out just about even.

If free buses strike you as wasteful, you’re not alone. Plenty of the beneficiaries would be people who can afford to pay. Does it make sense to give them a freebie? Yes, if it improves the life of the city, just as free parks, libraries and public schools do. Don’t think of it as a giveaway to the undeserving. Think of it as a gift to all New Yorkers in every community. We deserve it.

Most had court orders protecting them from removal to their home countries, so they were sent to detention in Cameroon.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7661955

Noam Chomsky, described this ethos: “The cool observers – meaning us smart guys – it’s our task to impose necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplifications to keep these poor simpletons on course.”

Feds could be in your group chat

“President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda has supercharged opposition in cities where he has deployed federal agents to conduct raids, and communities in states including New York and Missouri are already working to block the next step the Department of Homeland Security plans to take in its push for mass deportations: acquiring massive warehouses across the country to use as immigrant detention centers.

““Thirty-eight billion dollars,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.). “That’s what Trump is spending to turn warehouses into human holding facilities. Not on schools. Not on healthcare. Not on veterans. On warehousing humans.””