The state department cites welfare use as it pauses visa processing for Brazil, Iran, Russia, Somalia and others

The Donald Trump administration has indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, marking one of its most expansive efforts yet to restrict legal pathways to the United States.

The freeze, which takes effect on 21 January, targets applicants officials deem likely to become a “public charge” – who they describe as people who may rely on government benefits for basic needs.

Talks fail to solve ‘fundamental disagreement’ over Arctic island controlled by Copenhagen

Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the US needs Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island, even as he said that “something will work out” with respect to the future governance of the Danish overseas territory.

The remarks, which came after a high-stakes meeting between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials, indicate that fundamental differences remain between how Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk see the political future of the island.

AI tool made by Elon Musk’s xAI makes it easy to harass women with deepfake images, says state’s top attorney

California authorities have announced an investigation into the output of Elon Musk’s Grok.

The state’s top attorney said Grok, an AI tool and image generator made by Musk’s company xAI, appears to be making it easy to harass women and girls with deepfake images on X and elsewhere online.

Musk attempts to recast AI tool’s misuse. Plus, tech billionaires plot against a proposed California tax on their fortunes

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor for the Guardian. Today, we discuss Elon Musk’s rosy depiction of Grok’s image generation controversy; the seven-figure panic among Silicon Valley billionaires over a proposed wealth tax in California, though with one notable exception; and how AI and robotics have revitalized the Consumer Electronics Showcase.

Under a tax proposal that could be put to voters this November, any California resident worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state.

Several Silicon Valley figures have already threatened to leave California and take their business elsewhere. But Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, whose net worth is nearly $159bn, told Bloomberg Television this week that he is “perfectly fine with it”.

Funding to end immediately for up to 2,800 grantees of US agency that serves thousands seeking help and in recovery

The Trump administration on Tuesday evening unexpectedly canceled up to $1.9bn in funding for substance use and mental health care, which providers say will immediately affect thousands of patients.

“It feels like Armageddon for everyone who’s on the frontlines of the addiction and mental health space,” said Ryan Hampton, founder of Mobilize Recovery, a national advocacy organization for people in and seeking recovery.

Tens of thousands of dollars raised for TJ Sabula after he reportedly calls Trump ‘pedophile protector’ during Ford plant tour

Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for an autoworker at a Ford plant in Michigan who was suspended without pay after heckling Donald Trump.

TJ Sabula is said to have called the president a “pedophile protector” as Trump toured the automotive giant’s River Rouge complex on Tuesday.

Republicans in the Senate defeat Venezuelan war powers resolution that would have prevented president from taking further military action without giving Congress notice

Donald Trump repeated his threat to withhold federal funding to sanctuary cities on Truth Social today.

“ALL THEY DO IS BREED CRIME AND VIOLENCE! If States want them, they will have to pay for them!,” the president wrote in a post.

A line has been crossed, and it’s vital to understand that. A system that sends paramilitaries on to the streets will observe no limits

A few years ago, towards the end of the second Obama administration, a friend and her wife flew back to New York from a holiday in Mexico, landing for a connecting flight in South Carolina. At immigration, the officer looked from one to the other, asked their relation to one another and on receiving the reply, made a noise of disgust – “ugh”. On the pretext that American citizens can’t go through the same lane as a spouse on a green card (not true), he sent them to the back of the line, causing them to miss their connection. But that’s not the point of the story.

My friend is a white Australian who is generally conflict-averse; her wife is a Japanese-American who can stop traffic with a single, hard stare, and who teaches in the South Bronx, where many of her students have been harassed by law enforcement since the day they were born. As trouble got under way, my friend kicked off like a good’un, swearing and muttering sarcastically in the Australian style, while her wife shot her desperate, angry looks. Shut up. Shut Up. SHUT UP.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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James Comer says action follows refusal by the former first lady and Bill Clinton to testify about Jeffrey Epstein

• US politics live – latest updates

The House oversight committee will move to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress, its Republican chair James Comer said on Wednesday, after the former first lady joined her husband Bill Clinton in refusing to comply with a subpoena for testimony regarding the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The announcement came a day after the Clintons said they would not honor subpoenas from the investigative panel to discuss Epstein, a former friend of the ex-president, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Amid global backlash, billionaire had only hours earlier said he was not aware of any ‘naked underage images’

Elon Musk’s xAI has announced it will block the ability of its Grok AI tool to alter images of real people to put them in “revealing clothing such as bikinis”, amid a global backlash over the tool being used to generate explicit imagery.

The move came just hours after the billionaire said he was was not aware of any “naked underage images” made by Grok.

Sam Levinson’s hit HBO drama series returns in April with Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi returning

The first trailer for the third season of Euphoria promises more sex, drugs and violence, teasing a troubled life after high school for the show’s characters.

Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer and Jacob Elordi are among those returning for episodes four years in the making. The new season will take place five years after the characters were last seen.

Robin Kelly and other House Democrats move against homeland security secretary over ICE killing of Renee Good

The Democratic representative Robin Kelly on Wednesday formally introduced articles of impeachment against Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, following the fatal shooting of a US citizen by an immigration agent in Minneapolis last week.

“Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, LA, New Orleans, Charlotte, Durham and communities east, north, to south to east to west” Kelly said in a press conference on Wednesday. “She needs to be held accountable for her actions”.

Labor department rhetoric, such as ‘One Homeland. One People. One Heritage’, prompt comparisons to Nazi slogan

Union leaders have accused the Trump administration of a “rhetorical shift towards white supremacy” after social media posts by the US Department of Labor drew comparison with a Nazi slogan.

Recent posts from the agency include a video captioned “remember who you are, American”, with the phrase: “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage.”

Six puppies were revived and treated by first responders and are now being monitored at a local animal shelter

Six puppies in rural Washington state will soon be up for adoption after being revived after a suspected drug overdose – and some of them might go home with the fire-station staff who saved them.

Two people dropped off three of the sickened puppies at Sky Valley Fire, about an hour’s drive north-east of Seattle, on Sunday. Officials believe the animals either breathed or ate fentanyl.

Agents searched Hannah Natanson’s Virginia home and seized devices in inquiry tied to a classified materials case

The FBI raided the home of a Washington Post reporter early on Wednesday in what the newspaper called a “highly unusual and aggressive” move by law enforcement, and press freedom groups condemned as a “tremendous intrusion” by the Trump administration.

Agents descended on the Virginia home of Hannah Natanson as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.

Critics call move to cut payments after 1 February for number of Democrat-run states ‘unconstitutional’

Donald Trump has revived his stalled push to cut federal funding for a number of Democrat-run states, announcing that any with a perceived “sanctuary city” will not receive payments after 1 February.

The president made the statement during a freewheeling address at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday night, shortly after he gave the middle finger to a heckler at a Ford plant in the city.

I hadn’t fully grasped how the idea of a better future sustained me – now I, like many others, find it difficult to be productive

A new year is upon us. Traditionally, we use this time to look forward, imagine and plan.

But instead, I have noticed that most of my friends have been struggling to think beyond the next few days or weeks. I, too, have been having difficulty conjuring up visions of a better future – either for myself or in general.

Graffiti included ‘Fuck Zionism’ and ‘RIP Renee’, an apparent reference to killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis

The property of a Los Angeles-area Jewish temple that was destroyed in last year’s wildfires was vandalized this week, officials said.

On Sunday, a member of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center spotted the lines “Fuck Zionism” and “RIP Renee” spray-painted on an exterior wall on the campus – the second line an apparent reference to the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on 7 January.