4m ago / 8:34 AM EST
Macron warns of renewed friction with U.S., urges E.U. to use ‘Greenland moment’ to push reforms
Europe should brace for more moments of U.S. hostility, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned, and should treat what he called the “Greenland moment” as a wake‑up call to push through long‑delayed reforms to strengthen the bloc’s global power.
In an interview with several European newspapers, the French leader said the European Union should not mistake a lull in tensions with Washington for a lasting shift despite a pause in U.S. threats over Greenland, trade and technology.
Macron urged E.U. leaders to use a summit in a Belgian castle this week to inject fresh energy into economic reforms to bolster the bloc’s competitiveness and strengthen its ability to stand up to China and the United States on the world stage.
“When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement,” Macron told Le Monde, the Financial Times and other newspapers in comments published today. “We’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working.”
41m ago / 7:57 AM EST
Court rules government can’t deport Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts student who criticized Israel, her lawyers say in filing
A U.S. immigration court has terminated the Trump administration’s attempt to deport a Tufts University student and pro-Palestinian activist who has been critical of Israel, her lawyers said yesterday.
The court terminated the government’s removal proceedings Jan. 29, finding that the government has not met its burden in proving that Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student from Turkey studying children’s relationship to social media, should be deported, the lawyers said.
The termination was noted in a filing on behalf of Öztürk with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City, where she is challenging her arrest and detention.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” Öztürk said in a statement yesterday. “Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all.”
2h ago / 7:37 AM EST
Vance went to a country no sitting U.S. president or vice president has visited before
Vice President JD Vance landed yesterday in Armenia — a country that no sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited before — offering economic opportunities as the Trump administration works to advance a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Vance and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement to push forward negotiations on a civil nuclear energy deal, and Vance said the U.S. was ready to export advanced computer chips and surveillance drones to Armenia, and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
The visit comes after Pashinyan signed a deal at the White House in August with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev where the leaders signed agreements reaffirming their commitment to signing a peace treaty. The text of the treaty was initialed by foreign ministers, which indicates preliminary approval. But the leaders have yet to sign the treaty and parliaments have yet to ratify it.
Vance continued today with the next stop on his trip, Azerbaijan.
2h ago / 7:37 AM EST
Members of Congress are fleeing the job at a historically high rate
Some feel they’ve hit an appropriate retirement age. Others want to tend to their health or their families. Yet more are leaving because they don’t like the workplace.
Add it all together, and members of Congress are heading for the exit at a historically high rate ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with two more House Republicans adding themselves to a growing roster just last week.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., announced Wednesday that he was retiring from Congress, while Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., announced Friday that he wouldn’t run for re-election, either. Loudermilk said he wants “to spend more dedicated time with my family,” while Amodei said it was “the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.”
The latest retirements mean 60 members of Congress have decided not to run for re-election this year — 51 House members and nine senators. It’s the most retirements from both chambers combined this century, according to historical data from the Brookings Institution’s Vital Statistics on Congress.
2h ago / 7:37 AM EST
Backlash to Trump emboldens Democrats on DHS and ICE as partial shutdown looms
Americans are souring on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, complicating an already messy dynamic on Capitol Hill as emboldened Democrats draw a hard line against another short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
Just over four days until funding runs out, key members of the Senate Democratic Caucus say they won’t support another continuing resolution, or “CR,” to prevent a shutdown of DHS beginning this weekend.
“What ICE is doing is unconscionable, and it’s got to be reined in. I can’t, in good conscience, vote for it,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told NBC News. “I would feel complicit in what they are doing.”
King’s statement is significant. He was one of eight senators in the Democratic caucus who voted with Republicans to reopen the government after a historic shutdown over health care last fall. And he has been instrumental in getting the Senate over the key 60-vote hurdle for recent funding bills. Asked why he’s drawing a line now, he said the situation is different because “96% of the government is now funded.”
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