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Trump sued by preservation group over $300m White House ballroom project

National Trust looks to halt construction, claiming Trump tore down historic East Wing without needed permission

Donald Trump is facing a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction on his $300m White House ballroom, with historic preservationists accusing the president of violating multiple federal laws by tearing down part of the iconic building without required reviews or congressional approval.

The legal challenge, filed on Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the US district court for the District of Columbia, represents the most significant attempt yet to stop Trump’s 90,000-sq-ft addition to the White House complex. The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze all construction activities until proper federal oversight procedures are completed.

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© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

© Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

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US treasury lifts sanctions on Brazilian judge who presided over Bolsonaro case

Justice Alexandre de Moraes and his wife had been under Global Magnitsky sanctions after conviction of ex-president

The US Department of the Treasury has lifted sanctions imposed on the Brazilian supreme court justice who oversaw the conviction of the former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes had been under Global Magnitsky sanctions, which target individuals accused of human rights abuses, since July. His wife Viviane Barci de Moraes – who was added the sanctions list in September – was also removed from the register on Friday.

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© Photograph: Ton Molina/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ton Molina/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ton Molina/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

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Colombian rebels warn civilians of military drills amid ‘imperialist’ Trump threats

Citizens told to stay at home while ELN guerrillas carry out exercises in response to US president’s cocaine warning

Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group has ordered civilians in areas under its control to stay home for three days starting on Sunday, while it carries out military exercises in response to “intervention” threats from Donald Trump.

Trump said earlier this month any country that produces cocaine and sells it to the United States was “subject to attack”.

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© Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

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Thailand and Cambodia agree to restart ceasefire brokered by US, says Trump

After deadly clashes between the two countries, the US president announces renewal of peace deal made in July

Donald Trump has said Thai and Cambodian leaders agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes that threatened to undo a ceasefire the US administration helped broker earlier this year.

Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting after calls with Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet.

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© Photograph: Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP/Getty Images

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The Guardian view on Trump and Venezuela: a return to seeking regime change | Editorial

The US is ramping up the pressure on Nicolás Maduro with a tanker seizure and expanded sanctions following threats and boat strikes

Early in his first term, Donald Trump mooted a “military option” for Venezuela to dislodge its president, Nicolás Maduro. Reports suggest that he eagerly discussed the prospect of an invasion behind closed doors. Advisers eventually talked him down. Instead, the US pursued a “maximum pressure” strategy of sanctions and threats.

But Mr Maduro is still in place. And Mr Trump’s attempts to remove him are ramping up again. The US has amassed its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. It has carried out more than 20 shocking strikes on alleged drug boats. Mr Trump reportedly delivered an ultimatum late last month, telling the Venezuelan leader that he could have safe passage from his country if he left immediately. There was already a $50m bounty on his head. This week came expanded sanctions and the seizure of a tanker.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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House Democrats release Epstein photos with Trump, Bannon, Clinton and others

Notable figures in the batch of images include Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Woody Allen and Bill Gates

House Democrats published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, featuring among others Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The 19 photographs, some of which have been seen before, represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee that is looking into the actions and connections of Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 after he was charged with sex-trafficking offenses.

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© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

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Donald Trump is pursuing regime change – in Europe | Jonathan Freedland

The US made it clear this week that it plans to help the parties of the European far right gain power. Keir Starmer and his fellow leaders have to face this new reality

When are we going to get the message? I joked a few months back that, when it comes to Donald Trump, Europe needs to learn from Sex and the City’s Miranda Hobbes and realise that “He’s just not that into you”. After this past week, it’s clear that understates the problem. Trump’s America is not merely indifferent to Europe – it’s positively hostile to it. That has enormous implications for the continent and for Britain, which too many of our leaders still refuse to face.

The depth of US hostility was revealed most explicitly in the new US national security strategy, or NSS, a 29-page document that serves as a formal statement of the foreign policy of the second Trump administration. There is much there to lament, starting with the sceptical quote marks that appear around the sole reference to “climate change”, but the most striking passages are those that take aim at Europe.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

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Stephen Colbert on Trump’s ‘gold card’: ‘Pay-to-play program for rich foreigners’

Late-night hosts discussed Trump’s new ‘golden visa’ program for wealthy foreigners and his increasingly weird reassurances on the economy

Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump’s new “gold card” immigration program and his many weird tangents about grocery prices.

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© Photograph: Youtube

© Photograph: Youtube

© Photograph: Youtube

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Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts

Corporate tax revenue has quickly dipped since Republicans passed tax cuts this summer. But economists think these tax breaks might be worth it.

© Dave Sanders for The New York Times

While Americans won’t begin to see tax savings until next year, some corporations, including Walmart, are already reporting reductions to their tax payments in 2025.
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Democrats Release New Epstein Photos Documenting Ties to Trump, Clinton and Others

The images, released without context by Democrats on the Oversight Committee, reveal little new about the deceased sex offender’s ties to prominent men in politics, entertainment and finance.

© Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post, via Associated Press

Jeffrey Epstein, center, in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2008. Wealthy and famous men once in his orbit have faced questions about what they knew about the accusations that he was trafficking girls.
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A Seized Oil Tanker Off Venezuela and the Big Business of Dark Fleet Smuggling

The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

Oil tankers anchored at a refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, in 2022. The country relies heavily on a so-called dark fleet to export its oil.
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Russian ambassador summoned to Berlin over claims Kremlin is seeking to destabilise Germany – Europe live

Foreign ministry says there has been ‘significant increase in Russian hybrid activities’ and government will decide on further diplomatic measures later

Russia’s central bank said it was suing the Belgium-based Euroclear financial group, which holds Moscow’s frozen international reserves, as the EU moves closer to using the funds to support Ukraine, AFP reported.

The bank said it was filing “a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court” due to what it called “the illegal actions” of the institution.

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© Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock

© Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock

© Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock

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