Donald Trump declared Monday he has annulled preventative pardons issued by former president Joe Biden to members of Congress who angered Trump by investigating the attempt to overturn the 2020 US election.It was unclear what, if any authority Trump has to void presidential pardons issued by his predecessor.The Republican claimed that Biden’s signature on the documents had been carried out with a commonly used device known as an autopen and therefore was not valid — without providing evidence either for the autopen or his contention that it would invalidate the signature.The pardons “are hereby declared void, vacant, and of no further force or effect, because of the fact they were done by Autopen,” Trump posted on his social media account Truth Social.Biden issued pardons to former senior Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney and other members of the congressional committee that had investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump’s supporters and multiple attempts by Trump to overturn the election in which he lost.The Biden pardons, issued at the end of his presidency, were effectively a blanket immunity to shield the lawmakers from Trump’s repeated promises that he would take revenge against them if he won the 2024 election.Trump appeared to acknowledge that his action entered disputed legal territory. Asked by reporters early Monday whether everything Biden signed with an autopen should be voided, Trump said “I think so. It’s not my decision, that’ll be up to a court.”But he said the committee members “should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”Biden also issued preemptive pardons to former Covid pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and — perhaps most controversially — to close family members including his son Hunter. All of them had become public targets of the incoming Republican president.Trump has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his political opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution, and Biden said at the time that he could not “in good conscience do nothing.”On taking office this January, Trump immediately issued multiple pardons to supporters, including to about 1,500 people convicted in the storming of the Capitol building in an attempt to block certification of Biden’s election victory on January 6, 2021.

The death toll from tornadoes and violent storms that ravaged the central and southern United States over the weekend has risen to at least 40 people, with dozens more injured, local authorities said.Local news channels across the affected region showed video of roofs torn off homes, trees felled, and trucks overturned by high winds.Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a “severe dust storm,” local police said.In Oklahoma, four people were killed as wildfires and strong winds swept across the state, the local emergency management department said.Mississippi’s state governor said in a post on X that at least six people had been killed there, with three still missing.”We are actively monitoring the severe tornadoes and storms that have impacted many States across the South and Midwest,” President Donald Trump posted earlier Sunday on Truth Social, putting the toll at 36.He said National Guard troops were deployed in Arkansas, where officials said three people had died and 32 had been injured in the storm.”The damage is overwhelming,” Missouri governor Mike Kehoe said in a statement after visiting some of the hardest-hit areas in that state.”Homes and businesses have been destroyed, entire communities are without power, and the road to recovery will not be easy.”Earlier, the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related fatalities and shared images of boats piled on top of one another at a marina destroyed by the weather.In Texas, local authorities said four people had died in vehicle accidents linked to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the roads.The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trailing only 2004.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they attacked an American aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours as they prepared for huge rallies on Monday after US strikes left dozens dead.The response from the Huthis follows attacks on Saturday ordered by President Donald Trump that hammered the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and several other areas, killing 53 people, according to the rebels.The United States struck the Huthis over their repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping sparked by the Gaza war, which have put a major strain on the vital trade route.The rebels said they had hit back by firing 18 missiles and a drone at the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group on Sunday, before launching a second strike hours later.There was no immediate comment from the United States about the Huthis’ claimed attacks.In a statement posted to Telegram, a Huthi spokesperson said the attacks were “in retaliation to the continued American aggression against our country”.Washington has vowed to keep striking Yemen until the rebels stop attacking Red Sea shipping, with Trump warning he would use “overwhelming lethal force”.Huthi leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi called for large-scale rallies on Monday, the anniversary of the Battle of Badr — an against-the-odds, seventh-century military victory by the Prophet Mohammed.”I call on our dear people to go out tomorrow on the anniversary of the Battle of Badr in a million-strong march in Sanaa and the rest of the governorates,” he said in a televised address late on Sunday.- Heavy strikes -Sanaa’s Al Sabeen Square, the scene of regular major protests during the Israel-Hamas war, looked set to be packed once again for Monday’s rally.Late on Saturday, the Huthi-controlled capital was hit by heavy strikes, including in northern districts frequented by the rebels’ leadership.The Huthi health ministry said women and children were among the 53 people killed and 98 wounded.”The house shook, the windows shattered, and my family and I were terrified,” father of two Ahmed, who declined to give his full name, told AFP.The strikes were the first since Trump came to office in January, and came despite a pause in the Huthis’ attacks during a ceasefire in the Gaza war.On Sunday, US officials vowed further strikes until the rebels ended their campaign against Red Sea shipping, also threatening action against Iran.Huthi media reported more explosions late on Sunday night, accusing the Americans of targeting a cotton facility in the Hodeida region and the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship hijacked in November 2023.In response to the latest escalation along the maritime trade route, the United Nations urged both sides to “cease all military activity”, while China reiterated calls for diplomacy.”The reasons behind the situation in the Red Sea and the Yemen issue are complex and should be properly resolved through dialogue and negotiation,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.- ‘Hell will rain down’ -The Iran-backed Huthis, who control much of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, have attacked Israel and shipping vessels throughout the Gaza war, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.Before this weekend’s targeting of the US carrier group, the Huthis had not claimed attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since January 19, when the ceasefire in Gaza began.However, the group had recently threatened to resume its attacks over Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory. It said it would “move to additional escalatory options” if the “American aggression” continued.US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Huthi leaders and took them out”. The Huthis have not responded to Waltz’s claim.Trump, meanwhile, has warned the Yemeni group that “hell will rain down upon you” if it did not stop its attacks. In a social media post he also addressed Iran, demanding it stop supporting “Huthi terrorists”.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the US strikes and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.A database set up by ACLED, a non-profit monitor, shows 136 Huthi attacks against warships, commercial vessels, and Israeli and other targets since October 19, 2023.While the Red Sea trade route normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, Huthi attacks have forced many companies into costly detours around southern Africa.The United States had already launched several rounds of strikes on Huthi targets under former president Joe Biden.Israel has also struck Yemen, most recently in December, after Huthi missile fire towards Israeli territory.In addition to their actions in the Red Sea, the rebels have been at war for nearly a decade with a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, from which the Huthis have seized large swathes of territory.Fighting in that conflict has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire, but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of the Huthi attacks on shipping.burs/th/smw

At least 40 people were killed and dozens more injured by tornadoes and violent storms that ravaged the central and southern United States at the weekend, local authorities said.Local news channels across the affected region showed video of roofs torn off homes, trees felled, and trucks overturned by high winds.Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a “severe dust storm”, local police said.In Oklahoma, four people were killed as wildfires and strong winds swept across the state, the local emergency management department said.”We are actively monitoring the severe tornadoes and storms that have impacted many States across the South and Midwest,” President Donald Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social.He said National Guard troops were deployed in Arkansas, where officials said three people had died and 32 had been injured in the storm.”The damage is overwhelming,” Missouri governor Mike Kehoe said in a statement after visiting some of the hardest-hit areas in that state.”Homes and businesses have been destroyed, entire communities are without power, and the road to recovery will not be easy.”Earlier, the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related fatalities and shared images of boats piled on top of one another at a marina destroyed by the weather.In Texas, local authorities said four people had died in vehicle accidents linked to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the roads.The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trailing only 2004.

The United States flew more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said Sunday, after US counterpart Donald Trump controversially invoked wartime legislation to expel them.The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsions order — apparently as planes were headed to El Salvador — raising questions over whether the Trump administration deliberately defied the court decision.”Oopsie … Too late,” Bukele posted on social media in response to an article on the judge’s ruling, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt denied that officials had refused to comply with the court order, which the Trump administration is appealing, as she said the deportees had already left the United States.”A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” Leavitt wrote in a statement.Civil rights groups have warned that if Trump’s invocation of the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act law is upheld in courts, it could allow the deportation of huge numbers of adult migrants without explanation or a court hearing.Bukele announced Sunday that 238 members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump has designated a foreign terrorist organization, had arrived in El Salvador.He shared a video on X of several men in handcuffs and shackles being transferred from a plane to a heavily guarded convoy, while the presidency shared photos showing prisoners’ heads being shaved upon arrival in El Salvador.AFP did not have access to the prisoners during their transfer nor was given details of the circumstances in which the images were taken. The El Salvador presidency released the only images of the event.The Washington Post, citing a White House official, said 137 of prisoners deported Saturday were under the Alien Enemies Act. It said a total of 261 people were deported.Bukele said the United States would “pay a very low fee” to El Salvador but did not specify the amount.- Mega-jail with windowless cells -In a post Sunday on his Truth Social platform, Trump referred to the deportees as “monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats,” and thanked El Salvador for receiving them.The US president on Friday had signed an order invoking the little-known Alien Enemies Act of 1798, but it was not publicly announced until Saturday.The wartime authority allows a president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation.It has been invoked only three times — during the War of 1812 to expel British nationals, during World War I against nationals from enemy nations and, most notoriously, during World War II for the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese citizens and Japanese Americans.Bukele, in a meeting last month with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had offered to house prisoners from the United States in his country, including members of Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s own MS-13 gang.The iron-fisted leader is extremely popular in his country for a successful crackdown on violent gangs, but has faced criticism from human rights groups.Bukele said the alleged gang members had been sent to the country’s maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison southeast of the capital San Salvador with capacity for 40,000 prisoners.Inmates there are packed in windowless cells, sleep on metal beds with no mattresses and are forbidden visitors.- ‘Wartime powers’ -In a sharp rebuke Sunday, Venezuela’s government said Trump had “criminalized” Venezuelan migrants, whom it said were “in their immense majority… dignified and honest” workers.Trump, in his order, claimed Tren de Aragua was “conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime” in Caracas.The order will apply to all Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members who are over 14 and not naturalized US citizens or lawful permanent residents.The ACLU rights group and an allied group, Democracy Forward, asked a US District Court in Washington to bar the deportations — arguing that the 1798 act was not intended for use in peacetime.A Democracy Forward statement called Saturday a “horrific day in the history of the nation, when the president publicized that he was seeking to invoke extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war or invasion.”