Le Journal

In year one of his second presidency, Donald Trump wielded a wrecking ball — literal and metaphorical — to the ways of Washington and the traditional role of the U.S. in the world. Associated Press photographers documented it all. Trump moved his inauguration indoors and gave the titans of the tech world prime seats in the Capitol Rotunda, which had been ransacked by his supporters only four years earlier. The Republican president empowered Elon Musk to fire thousands of federal employees — until the two titanic personalities had a falling-out. An immigration crackdown began with border control and mushroomed into violence in U.S. cities where federal officers were dispatched. Trump told mourners at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service that he hates his opponents. The White House dubbed Trump “the president of peace,” and soccer governing body FIFA followed suit. Yet Trump was unable to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine, and Trump upbraided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Trump gilded the West Wing and demolished the East Wing. He fought U.S. media in front of cameras and in court. He repeatedly bent Congress to his will and resisted the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files. As the first year drew to a close, Trump threatened to deploy U.S. military might in Minneapolis at the same time he pressed the case for a U.S. takeover of Greenland. This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors. ___ Barrow reported from Atlanta. Source

Israel will help Greece develop technology to counter swarms of military drones as the two countries deepen defense cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean, the Greek defense minister said Tuesday. The pledge followed talks in Athens between Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and his counterpart Israel Katz, building on a December defense pact between Greece, Israel and Cyprus. Israel is already assisting Greece in building an air defense shield as part of the expanding cooperation. “We agreed to exchange views and expertise so that we can counter unmanned platforms — specifically swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles and groups of unmanned underwater vehicles,” Dendias said, appearing alongside Katz. Katz called the partnership “an anchor of stability in the Mediterranean.” Drone swarms — typically using small, low-cost craft that operate in coordination — reflect a broader shift in modern warfare, used for reconnaissance, defense and attempts to overwhelm opposing systems. Greece, a high military spender relative to the size of its economy, remains locked in a long-running dispute with fellow NATO member Turkey over maritime boundaries and offshore resources. The December agreement outlined a joint plan for combined exercises, special operations training and regular strategic consultations. It followed talks between the leaders of the three countries aimed at advancing maritime security and energy initiatives. Source

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government on Tuesday approved a huge new Chinese Embassy in central London despite heavy pressure from lawmakers across the political spectrum over its potential security risks. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed formally signed off on plans for the building near the Tower of London after years of delays and legal challenges. Critics have long expressed concerns that the supersized embassy, set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe, will be used as a base for espionage as well as pose a heightened threat of surveillance and intimidation of Chinese dissidents in exile. But the government said it had worked “with policing, and other relevant partners, to ensure that the breadth of national security issues associated with this planning application have been considered and addressed.” Plans for the embassy have been plagued by objections and protests since 2018, when China’s government bought the site at Royal Mint Court, where Britain’s money was once made, for 225 million pounds ($301 million.) Opponents say the huge site sits too close to underground fiber optic cables carrying sensitive financial information between London’s two main financial districts. British media have reported that the 20,000 square meter (215,278 square feet) complex would include 208 secret basement rooms close to the data cables. Fears the embassy will be used to monitor activists Dissidents have been among those who have protested the plans, saying a mega-embassy housing large numbers of officials would further China’s repression of activists abroad. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, joined hundreds of protesters who chanted “no China mega embassy” at the site Sunday. Conservative foreign affairs spokeswoman Priti Patel said “Keir Starmer has sold off our national security to the Chinese Communist Party with his shameful super embassy surrender.” Conservative security spokeswoman Alicia Kearns said the decision would likely face a court challenge. Helena Kennedy, a human rights lawyer and Labour Party member of the House of Lords, said the decision was a dangerous step. “We cannot reinforce the dangerous notion that Britain will continue to make concessions — such as granting a mega-embassy — without reciprocity or regard for the rule of law,” she said. Starmer wants dialogue with China Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has repeatedly postponed its decision in recent months after multiple cases of alleged Chinese spying and political interference underlined concerns about the proposed embassy. In November, the domestic intelligence agency MI5 issued an alert to lawmakers warning that Chinese agents were making “targeted and widespread” efforts to recruit and cultivate them using LinkedIn or cover companies. Beijing has strongly denied those claims, calling them “pure fabrication and malicious slander.” U.K. security services gave the greenlight to the embassy development. Some security experts say the risks are manageable and that the embassy has the advantage of consolidating China’s current seven diplomatic premises in London onto one site. The government said that “no bodies with responsibility for national security … have raised concerns or objected to the proposal on the basis of the proximity of the cables or other underground infrastructure.” Starmer has stressed that while protecting national security is non-negotiable, Britain needs to keep up diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the Asian superpower. The approval is widely expected to pave the way for a long-anticipated trip by Starmer to China, and an expansion of the U.K. Embassy in Beijing. The closely watched visit would be the first made by a British prime minister since 2018. China has complained about the seven-year delay in approving the project, saying the U.K. was “constantly complicating and politicizing the matter.” Source

Aimée Dorsey doesn’t belong to any of the groups that endorsed Monday’s Martin Luther King March of Resistance in Newark, an event held every year in the state’s largest city on the federal holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader’s birth on Jan. 15, 1929.