Some personal news, as they say:

From last night's @semafor.com media newsletter: The Guardian is launching a video-first daily news podcast hosted by Kai Wright and Carter Sherman.

It's part of a larger push by the publication into video, and a further investment in the US, where the Guardian now has 200 staffers.

Exclusive: The Guardian debuts new flagship video podcast The show is meant to compete with the likes of The New York Times and NPR.

The Guardian debuts new flagship video podcast

www.semafor.com/article/02/1...

Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts Elon Musk’s longtime fixation on a white racial majority is intensifying. The richest man in the world posted about how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January, according to the Guardian’s analysis of his social media output. The posts, made on his platform X, reflect a renewed embrace of what extremism experts describe as white supremacist material. “Whites are a rapidly dying minority,” Musk said on 22 January, a short time before taking the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, while reposting an Irish anti-immigrant influencer’s video about demographic change. Continue reading...

Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January

Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez assured US of cooperation before Maduro’s capture Exclusive: sources say powerful figures in the regime secretly pledged US and Qatari officials they would welcome Maduro’s departure Before the US military snatched Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month, Delcy Rodríguez and her powerful brother pledged to cooperate with the Trump administration once the strongman was gone, four sources involved at high levels with the discussions told the Guardian. Rodríguez, who was sworn in on 5 January as acting president to replace Maduro, and her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, secretly assured US and Qatari officials through intermediaries ahead of time that they would welcome Maduro’s departure, according to the sources. Continue reading...

Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez assured US of cooperation before Maduro’s capture

US court allows ICE to arrest and pepper-spray peaceful protestors in Minnesota

Appeals Court Stays Restrictions on Federal Tactics in Minnesota The Eighth Circuit granted the Trump administration’s request to block, at least for now, a lower court’s injunction limiting how federal agents interact with protesters in the state.

One court decision, two different headlines.

Guardian on the left, NY Times on the right. Which one more directly conveys information and the stakes to the reader?

The Guardian marks latest push into US market with first major US ad campaign: ‘The whole picture’ Four-week marketing campaign to run in New York City subways, high-impact Manhattan billboards, major US podcasts and more

www.theguardian.com/guardian-us-...

New York City comptroller Brad Lander arrested at immigration court hearing Mayoral candidate was detained by Ice as he escorted an immigrant out of court, says his wife

"I am extraordinarily proud of my husband," said Brad Lander's wife, Meg Barnette, during a press conference just now.

"What was going on in those courtrooms is absolutely unacceptable... This is not the way people are treated in the US."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

UnitedHealth faces federal scrutiny into whistleblower claims Attention comes in wake of ex-employees’ allegations that insurer paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers and used improper tactics to gain Medicare Advantage enrollees

“Last week, shortly before the Guardian was to publish a second story providing additional detail about Gonite’s pending lawsuit and the other two whistleblowers’ declarations, UnitedHealth filed a lawsuit against the Guardian”- @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

thanks MAX!

a real accomplishment by the makers of Parasite that Trump is still upset about the best picture win 5 years later

the horses did it again!

Loathe thy neighbor: Elon Musk and the Christian right are waging war on empathy Trump’s actions are irreconcilable with Christian compassion. But an unholy alliance seeks to cast empathy as a parasitic plague

I didn't have space to get into it much in my piece, but there is a Catholic version of the political work done by "the sin of empathy" and it's "ordo amoris" – a concept embraced by JD Vance to justify privileging his family and fellow citizens over strangers

Loathe thy neighbor: Elon Musk and the Christian right are waging war on empathy Trump’s actions are irreconcilable with Christian compassion. But an unholy alliance seeks to cast empathy as a parasitic plague

I tried to write about empathy and ended up writing about fascism again

gonna say what we’ve all been thinking: the phrase “jammy eggs” is absolutely disgusting

The Newspaper Flourishing Without a Paywall How the Guardian US is using Trump to get readers to cough up a donation.

“there is a real crisis of access to reliable information for people who don’t want or have the means to subscribe”- @thebetsy.bsky.social via @charlottetklein.bsky.social nymag.com/intelligence...

White House buoyed up by submission of major law firm attacked by Trump Paul, Weiss’s chair hung former partner out to dry after a series of attacks on US legal community by president

NEW: Trump agreed to rescind executive order targeting Paul Weiss after seeing the firm’s chairman offer up criticism of Mark Pomerantz at a meeting on Wednesday as he tried to appease the president. The White House then publicized his criticism @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

!! H/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social

Hi there, Today Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post and the third richest man on the planet, directly intervened for a second time in recent months in his newspaper’s coverage, undermining its editorial independence. Bezos announced in an email to staff that he had directed the Post’s opinion editor to limit the section’s pieces only to those “in support and defense of … personal liberties and free markets”, appearing to restrict how the Post’s opinion writers can respond to the crisis in the US – and the world – brought about by Donald Trump’s second reign as president. Rather than comply with this politicized edict, the Post’s opinion editor resigned. Since the US election, Bezos has stepped up his direct interventions in the Post’s coverage. In October, the Amazon and Blue Origin founder, who has billions of dollars at stake in government contracts, told editors at the Post to pull a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, the first time in 30 years the newspaper’s editorial board had not endorsed a candidate. The Guardian will never take editorial direction from our billionaire owner – because thankfully, we don't have one. Instead, we rely on readers like you to fund our truly independent work. We’re grateful for your past support of our work. If you are able to make a sustained commitment to journalism that is free from proprietorial interference, please consider supporting us on a monthly basis from $5 – or we of course welcome all one-time gifts. This is what billionaire ownership of news organizations looks like. We are proud to offer an alternative – thanks to your support.

Bezos's interference in the Post during the morning becomes a fund-raising pitch by the Guardian during the afternoon

When SDNY refused to drop the Eric Adams case, it was moved to the Public Integrity Section.

The acting leader of the Public Integrity Section also refused to drop the case and resigned.

Condé Nast, McClatchy and Other Publishers Accuse AI Firm Cohere of Copyright Violations The lawsuit accuses the Canadian company of sharing versions of entire articles without permission.

“when prompted to pull an article the Guardian published on Oct. 7, 2024, titled, “‘The pain will never leave’: Nova massacre survivors return to site one year on,” …Cohere referenced an entirely different, and nonexistent article”- @wsj.com www.wsj.com/business/med...