Exclusive: Jesse Binnall and Joe Flynn, who campaigned to overturn 2020 election, seek to win Bosnia deal for little-known US firm

Leading members of Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election are seeking a huge European pipeline contract, the latest figures from the US president’s circle to mix business and geopolitics.

Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who worked on legal actions advancing Trump’s baseless claim that the vote was stolen from him, and Joe Flynn, who also sought to undermine Joe Biden’s victory, have been in Bosnia this week to discuss the project.

The right is unafraid to show its might on the world stage – meanwhile the prime minister is tinkering with potholes. That just about sums up the centre-left

Last weekend, as the world wondered whether Donald Trump would swipe Greenland, Keir Starmer made his own big geographic intervention: he published a map of which councils were fixing potholes.

Yes, potholes. Yes, a map. Barely 18 months into office, with crucial elections just ahead and his party lagging behind the ragtag troops of Nigel Farage and even Kemi Badenoch, this was how Team Starmer kicked off 2026. To be fair, as the young people say, the map is colour-coded.

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

Its agents outnumber police on the streets of Minneapolis, are detaining US citizens and clashing violently with protesters. Caitlin Dickerson and Maanvi Singh report

In Minneapolis, ICE officers now outnumber the city’s police officers five to one. And in the days since the death of Renee Nicole Good, a US citizen, at the hands of an ICE agent, tensions have only been growing in the US city.

The Guardian’s immigration reporter Maanvi Singh has been reporting from the city. She tells Annie Kelly about the atmosphere of fear. “You see these vehicles with ICE agents – SUVs without license plates being driven by masked drivers some carrying weapons.”

Heather Ammel says ex-Arizona senator pursued romantic relationship with her husband that led to couple’s breakup

Kyrsten Sinema, a former US senator from Arizona, had a romantic relationship with a member of her security detail that led to the breakup of the man’s marriage, his ex-wife alleges in a lawsuit seeking at least $75,000 from Sinema.

Matthew and Heather Ammel had “a good and loving marriage” with “genuine love and affection” before Sinema interfered, pursuing Matthew Ammel despite knowing he was married, Heather Ammel alleges in her lawsuit.

Protests continue across state as governor urges peace a week after ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good

• People affected by the US visa freeze: share your experience

Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests in Minneapolis against federal immigration enforcement operations, as Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, overnight urged demonstrators in Minneapolis to be peaceful amid escalating tensions.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would use the Insurrection Act and “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place” if the “corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE”.

Ashley St Clair files lawsuit in state of New York over deepfakes that appeared on social media platform X

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his company – alleging explicit images were generated of her by his Grok AI tool, including one in which she was underage.

Ashley St Clair has filed a lawsuit with the supreme court of the state of New York against xAI, alleging that Grok, which is used on the social media platform X, promised to stop generating explicit images but continued to do so.

Setback for president, who has called windfarms ‘losers’, as Empire Wind project allowed to move forward

A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would probably kill the project in a matter of days.

District judge Carl J Nichols, an appointee of Donald Trump, ruled construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure.

US to lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% as chip and tech businesses pledge $250bn spending in US operations

The US said on Thursday that it had signed a deal with Taiwan to reduce tariffs on goods from the democratic island, while increasing Taiwanese semiconductor and tech companies’ investments in America.

The agreement, the US commerce department said, “will drive a massive reshoring of America’s semiconductor sector”.

Trump heaped praise on the Venezuelan opposition leader for presenting him with ‘her Nobel peace prize for the work I have done’

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has presented her gold Nobel peace prize medal to Donald Trump after meeting him in the White House, nearly a fortnight after he ordered the abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

Machado, who received the award last year for her struggle against Maduro’s “brutal, authoritarian state”, told reporters on Thursday she had done so “in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom”.

Officials to offer 50% subsidy up to $310,000 in effort to make one of world’s most expensive cities more affordable

San Francisco will offer free childcare to families earning less than $230,000 a year, and a 50% subsidy to those earning up to $310,000, in an expansion of the city’s childcare offerings designed to make one of the world’s most expensive cities more affordable for residents.

San Francisco’s mayor, Daniel Lurie, announced the initiative as part of his “Family Opportunity Agenda” on Wednesday, alongside a package of housing, education, food, healthcare, transportation and other programs focused on affordability.

Months after Trump spoke of ‘concepts of a plan’, framework offers few specifics – and could stall in Congress

Donald Trump has finally unveiled his long-awaited framework for healthcare affordability, almost a year and a half after announcing during a pre-election presidential debate that he had the “concepts of a plan” for healthcare reform.

The short document, titled the Great Healthcare Plan, provides four headline objectives, but few specific details as to how they will be achieved.