US politics

US politics

The word that comes to my mind is dissidence. If we want to understand why the whistleblowing, camera-wielding people of Minneapolis have caused the Trump administration-and Donald Trump himself-to flinch, I believe we need some added history, and a bigger map. What we've been watching is part of a long, established tradition-one that might help Americans unlock a different kind of future.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

On Jan. 13, just hours before Bill Clinton's deadline to appear before the committee, the Clintons sent letters to its chair, James Comer, decrying their treatment and defying their subpoenas. The committee voted to recommend contempt charges to the full House the next week. Nine of the panel's 21 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the measure against Clinton. Three supported the one against Hillary Clinton as well.

Many millions of eyes are on Minneapolis this week as the city, the state, and indeed the nation try to cope with the violence unleashed by a federal immigration-enforcement "surge" that has taken the lives of two U.S. citizens and created a huge backlash against the Trump administration's mass-deportation initiative. Now Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar is stepping into that maelstrom and a very bright spotlight.

But on top of a lengthy list of demands from Democrats around ICE, expect an even longer one from the House Freedom Caucus, centering on sanctuary cities, immigration enforcement and border security. What's next: Conservatives would need to vote for a rule - a party-line procedural vote - to advance the bill. And President Trump's urging everyone to help it pass.

The strike is a response to the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. In the days since, calls for a nationwide shutdown have spread rapidly across social media, shared by activists, nonprofits, and everyday people urging a halt to economic activity. Celebrities including Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, and Jamie Lee Curtis have amplified the message to their followers.

The U.S.'s population growth is slowing as immigration has declined amid President Donald Trump's deportation push and stricter border policies. According to new Census Bureau data, the drop-off is the biggest since the COVID-19 pandemic. From July 2024 to July 2025, the population of the United States grew by 1.8 million people (about 0.5%). This was mostly driven by immigration: During that period, the U.S. added 1.3 million immigrants.

Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, wants to have a briefing with the mayor of Evanston, Ill., regarding his decision not to help dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University in April 2024. Walberg, a Republican, requested the briefing in a Jan. 28 letter to Mayor Daniel Biss, which included 13 pages of communications among then-Northwestern president Michael Schill and university trustees as well as between Schill and Biss.

Train passengers are missing out on over 80 million annually in compensation for delayed journeys, a new analysis has revealed. The shortfall has been blamed on an "unacceptable" claims processes. Online ticket retailer Trainline, which produced the data, has called for rail reform that "focuses on what matters" to passengers. While customers who purchase tickets directly through a train operator's website or app can often access "one-click" compensation claims via the delay repay scheme for service disruptions,

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

A minister has said it would be absolutely bonkers for the UK not to engage with China after Donald Trump criticised Sir Keir Starmer's visit to the country. The prime minister met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday as he made the case for a more sophisticated relationship between the two countries, before touching down in Shanghai for the next leg of his trip. The US president then warned overnight that it would be dangerous for Britain to do business with China.

Kennedy Center vice president Kevin Couch has stepped down just 12 days after being appointed to the role. During his short stint, Couch served as vice president of artistic programming at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, known as the Kennedy Center - the national cultural centre of the US. In December, Kennedy Center's board "unanimously" voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center following Trump replacing the chairman with himself and removing existing board members.

On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a bill that would establish a federal regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The bill's future prospects seem dim, but it resulted in a sizable crash for Bitcoin, which fell to around $84,000 - its nadir for 2026 so far. Other prominent digital currencies like Ethereum and Doge fell it with, tumbling as much as 6 percent.