It has been a big year for the right to repair, the movement of advocates pushing for people to be able to fix their own electronics and equipment without manufacturer approval. The issue has gathered broad support from technologists, farmers, military leaders, and politicians on both sides of the aisle. It is popular with just about everyone-except the companies who stand to gain if the parts, instructions, and tools necessary to fix their products remain under lock and key.
The Justice Department said in a social media post that federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI "have uncovered over a million more documents" that could be related to the Epstein case - a stunning 11th hour development after department officials suggested months ago that they had undertaken a comprehensive review that accounted for the vast universe of Epstein-related materials.
US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau spoke to Palau president Surangel Whipps in a call on Tuesday about transferring third-country nationals to Palau, the two sides said in separate statements, after Palau's lawmakers rejected a previous request from Washington on the matter earlier this year. President Donald Trump's immigration policies, including his administration's deportation drive, have been broadly condemned by human rights advocates over concerns about due process.
In this time of unrelenting, often unprecedented cruelty and lawlessness, I'm grateful for readers like you. So many of you have taken to the streets, organized in your neighborhood and with your union, and showed up at the ballot box to vote for progressive candidates. You're proving that it is possible-to paraphrase the legendary Patti Smith-to redeem the work of the fools running our government.
The journalist who initially revealed that President Donald Trump's administration killed shipwrecked survivors of its first known boat bombing reported Tuesday that the admiral in charge consulted with a US military lawyer before ordering another strike on the two alleged drug traffickers who were clinging to debris in the Caribbean Sea. Just days after Trump announced the September 2 bombing on social media, Intercept journalist Nick Turse exposed the follow-up strike that killed survivors, citing US officials.
In a 9,500-word Vanity Fair magazine profile based on 11 interviews conducted over Trump's first year back in office, Wiles described the president as having an alcoholic's personality and an eye for vengeance against perceived enemies. The first woman to serve as White House chief of staff also called the vice-president, JD Vance, a conspiracy theorist, branded tech tycoon Elon Musk an odd, odd duck while criticising his dismantling of USAID, and gave juicy opinions on other Trump administration figures.
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.
The United States will focus on exerting economic rather than military pressure on Venezuela over the next two months as it continues to pursue sanctioned Venezuelan oil, according to a Reuters news agency report citing an unnamed US official. The White House has ordered the military to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a quarantine' of Venezuelan oil, the Reuters report said, even as the US continues to apply military pressure in the region.
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.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL), sought to speed up the removal of troubling online content: non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII). The spread of NCII is a serious problem, as is digitally altered NCII, sometimes called "deepfakes." That's why 48 states have specific laws criminalizing the distribution of NCII, in addition to the long-existing defamation, harassment, and extortion
A federal judge said the Trump administration can move ahead with a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, providing a setback for US technology companies that rely on hiring skilled foreign workers. US District Judge Beryl Howell said in a ruling Tuesday that President Donald Trump's effort to radically increase the cost of the popular visa is lawful. The decision gives a boost to the administration's campaign to restrict immigration and push demand for US workers.
Homicides in America decreased by 19.8% this year, according to crime analyst Jeff Asher. He wrote on Substack on Monday that his research is based primarily on the Real-Time Crime Index, which collects monthly crime data from 570 law enforcement agencies nationwide. Asher said 2025 will be the third straight year murders have dropped at a record pace, after there was a 15% decline in homicides in 2024.
PG&E and Alameda County Fire officials say more investigation is needed to determine if residents should have been told to leave. The fact that a house blew up and people were injured means they absolutely should have been told. These spokespeople mean "did we follow our flawed process that said no need to notify despite the risk, or did we not follow our good enough process that should have notified people?" As such, they completely lose track of their real responsibility, our safety.
"Sabre, who goes by Bottleneckloser on Instagram, recently posted side-by-side photos of herself on X depicting her pre- and post-transition. "God I love estrogen," she wrote. Almost three weeks later, Mace shared the post to her official X account and wrote, "Estrogen doesn't love you." She also shared the post on her personal X account and wrote, "Can we get @RobertKennedyJr on this? NO way is this healthy."
The Takings Clause is a part of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and it says that if the government wants to take away someone's private property, they have to do it in a way that's fair. Most of us grew up hearing adults say that life isn't fair. And they're right-it isn't. Neither is an authority forcing you to give up your property for whatever they think is fair.
Every year around this time, the noise starts to drop. The pace eases a bit. Families gather, neighbors reconnect, and people who disagree on just about everything still manage to pass plates across the same table. Something about late November into December nudges us toward reflection. Whatever you call it holiday spirit, cultural memory, or just a pause in the chaos it's real. And in a country this divided, it might be the reminder we need most.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with supporting federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Parnell added that the national guard troops will be deployed through February. Louisiana's governor, Jeff Landry, a Republican, praised Donald Trump and the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, for coordinating the deployment and predicted the guard's presence would have a positive impact.
In anticipation of the Trump administration's major cuts to Medicaid, the Alameda Health System, which runs public hospitals and clinics throughout the East Bay, is planning to lay off nearly 300 people in January. "I think they're bowing to pressures before those pressures have actually come into play," Reilly Gardine, a clinical dietitian at Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus in Oakland, told KQED on Monday. "And I think they're not being creative enough in figuring out alternative ways for funding."
"In my last job, around this time of year, I would often hold a press conference to remind passengers of their rights and to remind airlines that we would be enforcing those rights," he said, explaining that those rights have been somewhat diminished in the past year because of the new presidential administration. "But you still have rights, including the right to an automatic refund that we fought to get enshrined into law," he continued, referring to how the Biden administration was able to make rules that require airlines to issue automatic refunds for significantly delayed or canceled flights.
