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The global economy is doing better than expected, even as it faces prolonged uncertainty and underwhelming medium-term growth prospects, the head of the IMF said Wednesday. The world economy is doing “better than feared, but worse than we need,” International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters in Washington.She added that the Fund now expects global growth to slow “only slightly this year and next,” propped up by better-than-expected conditions in the United States, and among some other advanced, emerging market and developing countries. Georgieva’s remarks came ahead of next week’s gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors at the World Bank and the IMF in Washington. Trade is once again likely to dominate the agenda at the annual meetings, following US President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to unleash sweeping tariffs against many trading partners.- ‘Multiple shocks’ -“All signs point to a world economy that has generally withstood acute strains from multiple shocks,” Georgieva said, pointing to “improved policy fundamentals,” the adaptability of the private sector, lower-than-expected tariffs, and supportive financial conditions. “The world has avoided a tit-for-tat slide into trade war — so far,” she added. She noted that the average US tariff rate has fallen from 23 percent in April to 17.5 percent today, while the US effective tariff rate of around 10 percent remains “far above” the rest of the world.But, she warned, the full effect of those tariffs “is still to unfold,” adding that the resilience of the world economy has yet to be “fully tested.” Against this backdrop, the Fund still expects global growth to remain at roughly three percent over the medium term, in line with previous forecasts — below the 3.7 percent, on average, seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.”Global growth patterns have been changing over the years, notably with China decelerating steadily while India develops into a key growth engine,” Georgieva said. To boost lackluster growth prospects elsewhere, she called on countries to act swiftly to “durably” lift output, rebuild fiscal buffers, and address “excessive” trade imbalances. The Fund’s prescriptions for policymakers differed by region, with Asia urged to deepen its internal trade, and to strengthen the service sector and access to finance. Carried out correctly, this could raise economic output by as much as 1.8 percent in the long run, Georgieva said. African countries should promote “business-friendly reforms” and continue with efforts to build up the Continental Free Trade Area which, she said, could lift their real GDP per capita by “over 10 percent.””Gains from this region can be especially large,” she said. – Tough love for Europe -Georgieva reserved her harshest criticism for Europe, which has struggled with economic growth in recent years, in marked contrast to the United States.To raise competition in the bloc, Georgieva called on the European Union to appoint a new “single market czar” to drive reforms, a move that would simplify the EU’s structure and consolidate the power to make the changes required. These changes include steps to deepen EU single market integration in financial services and energy. “Catch up with the private sector dynamism of the US,” she said, adding that Europe must “recognize that there will be some sacrifices on the way.”For the world’s largest economy, Georgieva urged the Trump administration to address the country’s federal deficit and to take steps to incentivize household savings. And for China, the world’s second-largest economy, Georgieva reiterated the IMF’s ongoing calls for fiscal reforms to boost private consumption and reduce dependence on industrial policy to drive growth. 

Republicans say Democrats want to hand out free health care to illegal immigrants. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to blow up Obamacare — again. And somewhere in the middle, the US federal government is stuck in shutdown mode, with the finger-pointing in full swing over insurance subsidies that millions of Americans rely on.Here is a look at what’s driving a clash that is proving a bitter pill for Americans to swallow.  – Why is Washington shut down? -Congress failed to pass a bill to keep federal departments and agencies funded and functioning past October 1, triggering a shutdown. The sticking point? Health care.Democrats are demanding an extension of subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans — financial aid that keeps premiums affordable for millions.Republicans — who run Congress and the White House but need Democratic votes to set budgets — say that debate should happen later, not as part of a must-pass funding bill.Both sides have repeatedly blocked the other’s reopening proposals in the Senate, meaning federal agencies have been closing and placing some 750,000 nonessential workers on enforced leave, while essential employees have been working without pay. – What are these subsidies about? -The subsidies are enhanced tax credits for people who buy insurance through the ACA — or “Obamacare” — marketplace. They were boosted during the Covid-19 pandemic but are set to expire at the end of the year.If Congress does not act, premiums could rise by an average of 114 percent in 2026 for 24 million Americans who rely on Obamacare, according to health care policy research group KFF. That means someone paying the 2025 average of $888 would suddenly owe $1,904 in 2026. The Congressional Budget Office estimates four million people could lose coverage altogether. Democrats say letting the subsidies expire would be a disaster for working families, especially in rural areas and Republican-voting states like Texas and Florida, where Obamacare enrollment is highest.- Why are Republicans saying no? -Republican leaders argue that health care policy should be debated separately from government funding. They have proposed a “clean” bill with no strings attached to keep the lights on through November 21.But there is division within the party, with moderates supporting extending the subsidies and hardline conservatives pushing for an end to “Covid-era handouts.”Even Georgia congresswoman and staunch conservative Marjorie Taylor Greene broke ranks, saying she is “disgusted” that premiums could double for her own grown-up children.- How does this tie into Obamacare? -The ACA has been a political battleground since it passed in 2010. Republicans have tried for years to dismantle it, while Democrats have fought to protect and expand it.In this latest chapter of the battle, Democrats want to make the enhanced subsidies permanent, framing it as a defense of affordable health care. Republicans see the shutdown as a chance to revisit the ACA and push for reforms — or rollbacks.Some Republicans are also pushing for restrictions on subsidies going to insurers that cover abortion, adding another layer of controversy.- What is each side telling voters? -Democrats say Republicans are risking the health of millions by refusing to extend ACA subsidies. Their message: “Protect working families. Extend the subsidies. Reopen the government.”Republicans say Democrats are holding the government hostage over unrelated demands. Their message: “Pass a clean bill. Debate health care later.”Trump and his allies have added to the noise by pushing misleading claims that Democrats want to give free health care to undocumented immigrants.US law bars such migrants from receiving the health care benefits under debate, and the Democrats have not called for a new act of Congress to change that.Polls show most Americans side with Democrats on the health care issue. A recent KFF survey found 78 percent support extending the subsidies, including 59 percent of Republicans.

Russia said Wednesday that momentum towards reaching a peace deal in Ukraine had largely vanished following Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s presidential summit in Alaska, dimming hopes for a quick end to the three-and-a-half year war.The two leaders met at an air base in the Alaskan city of Anchorage in August, but failed to reach any kind of peace agreement to end the fighting.Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have since stalled, with both Moscow and Kyiv launching deadly strikes into each other’s territory and Russia advancing on the battlefield.Trump has grown increasingly frustrated at Putin’s apparent reluctance to accept a deal, saying last month he was “very disappointed” with the Russian leader.”Unfortunately, we must admit that the powerful momentum generated by Anchorage in favour of agreements… has largely gone,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Russian news agencies.He blamed Europe for the impasse, accusing them of wanting to wage a “war to the last Ukrainian”.Trump reached out to Putin within weeks of returning to the White House, casting himself as a neutral mediator. But he has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin.Trump has since grown more hostile towards Moscow while expressing sympathy for Ukraine.In September, he wrote on Truth Social that Kyiv should try to “take back” all its occupied territory with Europe’s and NATO’s help.Last month, US Vice President JD Vance told broadcaster Fox News that Washington was considering sending long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.Putin warned that such a move would mean a “whole new level of escalation”.On Wednesday, Ryabkov said sending Tomahawks to Ukraine would have “severe” consequences and urged Washington to reconsider the decision.US-Russian ties were “cracking” at their “foundation”, said Ryabkov — and “the Americans are to blame for this”.- Sports hall hit -Both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of attacking civilians early Wednesday, while Moscow said it had captured a village. In Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, a missile strike killed three people in the village of Maslova Pristan, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the border, the local governor said.The governor said the strike had partially destroyed a “social facility” and posted images of what appeared to be a sports hall, its facade partially shattered.A Russian strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed two elderly people, local officials said.Russia fired at least 183 drones at Ukrainian territory between late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the Ukrainian air force said.Among the targets were rail and energy infrastructure, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.Moscow’s defence ministry said it had intercepted 53 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of them over the Belgorod region, a frequent target of attacks.Russia launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a “special military operation” to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO.Kyiv and its European allies have cast the war as an illegal land grab that has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and widespread destruction.Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes since 2022, while Russia now occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory — much of it ravaged by fighting.

Former FBI director James Comey, a prominent critic of US President Donald Trump, is to make his first court appearance on Wednesday to face charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding.Comey’s arraignment, during which he is expected to plead not guilty, is to be held at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, before district judge Michael Nachmanoff.Comey, 64, was indicted last month on two felony counts in an escalation of Trump’s campaign of retribution against the Republican president’s political foes.Appointed to head the FBI by former president Barack Obama in 2013, Comey is charged with lying to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding stemming from sworn testimony he gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020.He is accused of falsely stating that he had not authorized another FBI employee to be an anonymous source in news reports. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump presidential campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 vote.The charges came just days after Trump had publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and others he sees as enemies — a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free from White House pressure.Trump, the first convicted felon to serve as US president, hailed the indictment, saying Comey is “one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to.”Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents since taking office in January.The 79-year-old Republican has stripped former officials of their security clearances, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.Comey’s indictment came after the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, stepped down after reportedly telling Justice Department leaders there was insufficient evidence to charge Comey.Trump replaced Siebert with Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to the president, who brought the case to a grand jury and secured an indictment.In a video posted on Instagram following the indictment, Comey proclaimed his innocence and said “my family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump.”Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House in 2021.The FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of a probe into mishandling of classified documents and Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Neither case came to trial, and Smith — in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president — dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 vote.

Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he is obsessed with winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But so far the award has eluded him throughout his two US presidencies.Trump’s push for the prize, whose 2025 winner will be named on Friday, is fueled by a potent mix of a desire for prestige and a long rivalry with former president Barack Obama.Sometimes Trump, who is often better known for his divisive rhetoric, anti-migration drive and embrace of foreign authoritarians, has appeared to acknowledge that he is an unlikely candidate.”Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They’ll give it to some guy that didn’t do a damn thing,” Trump said during a speech to hundreds of the US military’s top officers in September.But in the same breath Trump revealed his true feelings.”It’d be a big insult to our country, I will tell you that. I don’t want it, I want the country to get it. It should get it because there’s never been anything like it,” he said at the same gathering.- ‘Seven wars’ -As the Norwegian committee’s announcement has drawn nearer, the steady drumbeat of Trump’s campaigning for the peace prize has intensified to unprecedented levels.In recent weeks, barely a public event has gone by without Trump bragging about what he says is his role in ending seven wars.Trump’s administration recently listed them as being between Cambodia and Thailand; Kosovo and Serbia; the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda; Pakistan and India; Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Armenia and Azerbaijan.But while Trump has been quick to claim credit for some — for example announcing a ceasefire between nuclear-armed Delhi and Islamabad in May — many of the claims are partial or inaccurate.Trump has even bombed one of the countries he mentions. He ordered US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program in June.But perhaps the biggest issue is that the two main wars that Trump promised to end within days of his inauguration — in Gaza and Ukraine — are still raging.His push for a deal between US ally Israel and Hamas to end the brutal two-year war in Gaza has reached a climax just days before the Nobel announcement — but is almost certainly too late to sway the committee.Foreign leaders seeking to curry favor with Trump have been quick to talk up Trump’s chances.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Trump for the prize, as did an Israeli advocacy group campaigning for the release of hostages in Gaza.Pakistan also nominated Trump while the leaders of several African countries paid tribute to his supposed peacemaking efforts in a visit earlier this year.- Obama rivalry -But while Trump wants international recognition as “peacemaker-in-chief,” there is another driving factor.Since the beginning of his presidential ambitions 10 years ago, “he has put himself in opposition to Barack Obama, who famously won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009,” Garret Martin, a professor of international relations at American University, told AFP.The prize awarded to the Democratic former president, barely nine months after he took office, sparked heated debate — and continues to annoy Republican Trump.”If I were named Obama I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds,” Trump complained in October 2024, during the final stretch of the presidential campaign.Three other US presidents have also won the award: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter, although Carter won his decades after his presidency for his subsequent peace efforts.

Dolly Parton’s sister on Tuesday asked fans to pray for the American country singer, who has postponed several concerts due to health issues. Parton, 79, last week delayed her upcoming Las Vegas gigs due to unspecified “health challenges,” and disclosed that she was set to undergo multiple medical procedures. “Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” wrote Freida Parton on her Facebook page.”I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”Dolly Parton had been set to perform six nights of sold-out shows in December at Caesars Palace.The “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” singer scrapped those dates last week because her current health meant she would not “be able to rehearse and put together the show that you want to see.”Parton told her millions of followers that she was not ending her glittering career just yet, and said new dates were set for next September.Parton became a major star in the 1970s, with singles including “Coat of Many Colors,” and followed up with smash hits like “I Will Always Love You,” famously covered by Whitney Houston, and “9 to 5.” She is due to receive an honorary Oscar next month, but Hollywood trade publication Variety said Parton is no longer expected to attend the Los Angeles ceremony.Her sister Freida ended her plea for prayers Tuesday with an upbeat note.”She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine,” she wrote.”Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”

It was just past 2:00 am when a mysterious number rang Nobel laureate John Clarke, what he deemed “obviously a joke call” that grew increasingly surreal when he heard “a voice from Sweden.””It soon became clear that it was real,” Clarke told journalists Tuesday after he and two colleagues had won the Nobel Prize in physics for their door-opening work in quantum mechanics.”I was just sitting there feeling completely stunned,” Clarke said. “It had never occurred to me in my entire life that anything like this would ever happen.”The University of California, Berkeley professor said his phone kept ringing, emails began pouring in, and people started “banging on my door” seeking interviews at 3:00 am (1000 GMT).”I said no thank you, not at this time of night,” the British 83-year-old said with a chuckle.Clarke shared the coveted prize with two fellow physicists who worked in his Berkeley lab at the time of the trio’s research, Frenchman Michel Devoret and American John Martinis. All three scientists are researchers at American universities.The physicist noted the significant resources he was afforded at the time of their work some four decades ago, including lab space, graduate assistants and equipment.And he called US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape American science and health policy — including mass firings to government scientists and steep slashes to research budgets  — an “immensely serious problem.””This will cripple much of United States science research,” he told AFP, adding that he knew people who have taken enormous funding hits.”It is going to be disastrous if this continues,” Clarke said. “Assuming that the present administration finally comes to an end, it may take a decade to get back to where we were, say, half a year ago.””It’s a huge problem” that’s “entirely beyond any understanding of anyone who is a scientist,” he said.- ‘Basic science’ -Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow, among Monday’s winners for medicine, had similarly emphasized to journalists the importance of US public financing to scientific research.This year’s physics laureates carried out their experiments in the 1980s, research that enabled real-world applications of the quantum realm.Quantum mechanics takes over when things get tiny — think subatomic — and the rules of traditional physics no longer apply.For example, when a normal ball hits a wall, it bounces back. But on the quantum scale, a particle will actually pass straight through a comparable wall — a phenomenon called “tunneling.”Clarke and his fellow winners demonstrated tunneling on a scale the public can grasp. As the Nobel committee put it, their work showed “the bizarre properties of the quantum world can be made concrete in a system big enough to be held in the hand.”That research made possible technologies like the cell phone, and also proved foundational in the race to develop powerful quantum computers.Clarke noted Tuesday that it is “vital” to keep conducting — and funding — work that might seem like “basic science” but results in “crucial applications” down the line.”Michel and John and I had no way of understanding the importance” their work would have, he said. “If you’d asked us 40 years ago, we would have said, ‘Well yeah, it’s an interesting thing.'”He emphasized that researchers who lay the groundwork “are not that people who actually use that effect to do something that is vitally important.””It’s so important to do this basic science, because you don’t know what the outcome is going to be.”

Briton John Clarke, Frenchman Michel Devoret and American John Martinis won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for putting quantum mechanics into action and enabling the development of all kinds of digital technology from cellphones to a new generation of computersThe Nobel jury noted that their work had “provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers and quantum sensors”.Quantum mechanics describes how differently things work on incredibly small scales. For example, when a normal ball hits a wall, it bounces back. But on the quantum scale, a particle will actually pass straight through a comparable wall — a phenomenon called “tunnelling”.”What these scientists were able to do was to basically do that, but on an electric circuit,” Ulf Danielsson, secretary of the Nobel physics committee and a professor of theoretical physics at Uppsala University, told AFP.In experiments carried out in the 1980s, the scientists showed that quantum tunnelling can also be observed on a macroscopic scale -– involving multiple particles –- by using superconductors.”This prize is awarding an experiment that brings the scale up to the macroscopic scale, scales that we can understand and measure through human standards,” Danielsson said.- ‘Surprise of my life’ -“It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology,” Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a statement.Clarke, 83, is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.Devoret, 72, is a professor at University of California, Santa Barbara and is listed as a professor emeritus at Yale University.Martinis, born 1958, is also a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.”To put it mildly, it was the surprise of my life,” Clarke told reporters via telephone during the prize announcement, about learning of his award.Clarke said the scientists had been focused on the physics of their experiments and had not realised at the time the practical applications that could follow.”It certainly had not occurred to us in any way that this discovery would have such a significant impact,” Clarke said.Asked about how their discoveries had affected everyday life, Clarke noted that he was speaking to the audience via his mobile phone.”One of the underlying reasons that the cell phone works is because of all this work,” Clarke said.Speaking to journalists later Tuesday he emphasized how “vital and important” the insights of his colleagues had been.”We would never have gotten this prize if they hadn’t done all their hard work.”- ‘Brain drain’ -Like many Nobel laureates, the trio’s research was carried out in the United States.Speaking to reporters stateside on Tuesday, Clarke emphasized that massive budget cuts to science programmes announced by President Donald Trump “will cripple” important research there.”It is going to be disastrous if this continues,” he told AFP.Major US institutions typically dominate the Nobel science prizes, due largely to the US’ longstanding investment in basic science and academic freedoms.”The fact that Michel Devoret went to the US is an example of the brain drain,” Eleanor Crane, a quantum physicist at King’s College London, told AFP.But at the same time, Crane noted that this trend “is being reverted right now with a new administration”.Trump’s efforts to slash funding to research universities have raised fears that the US may lose its scientific edge.  The physics prize is the second Nobel of the season, following Monday’s medicine prize to a US-Japanese trio for research into the human immune system.Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States and Japan’s Shimon Sakaguchi were honoured for identifying immunological “security guards”.Brunkow also emphasized to journalists Tuesday how important federal funding was “for promoting and supporting science.”The physics prize will be followed by the chemistry prize on Wednesday, the literature prize on Thursday, and the highly watched Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.The economics prize wraps up the 2025 Nobel season on October 13.The Nobel consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1.2-million cheque, to be shared if there is more than one winner in a discipline.The 2025 laureates will receive their prizes at formal ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of scientist Alfred Nobel, who created the prizes in his will.

President Donald Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would be “very happy” after their trade talks at the White House Tuesday, but offered no immediate concessions on lifting steep US tariffs.Striking a friendly tone in the Oval Office, Trump praised Carney as a “world-class leader” adding that the former central banker was a “nice man” who can also be “very nasty.”But Carney, who faced pressure at home to get a deal during his second White House visit since taking power in April, left without any firm promises that tariffs would be lifted.”I think they’re going to walk away very happy,” Trump told reporters, saying that there was “natural conflict” between the two economies, but that they had “come a long way over the last few months.” Carney said he was confident that Canada would “get the right deal” from the United States, his country’s main economic partner.The pair also shared a series of light-hearted moments, even laughing as Trump joked about a Canadian “merger” in a reference to his previous calls for Canada to become the 51st US state.Despite the jovial tone, Trump and Carney studiously avoided giving any precise details on how they might ease US tariffs on lumber, aluminum, steel and automobiles. On Monday, the US president announced 25 percent tariffs on all imported heavy trucks starting November 1.A statement from Carney after the visit indicated there had been little firm agreement, saying only that both leaders recognized there were areas for competition and others where they could work together. “We’re focused on building these new opportunities,” he said on X.- ‘Broken promises’ -The 60-year-old Carney entered politics less than a year ago after campaigning on his extensive crisis management experience as a way of countering Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats.But while the vast majority of Canada’s trade remains protected by the USMCA, a free-trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, Trump has called for revisions when it comes up for renegotiation soon.Seventy-five percent of Canada’s exports are sold across its southern border. Canada saw its GDP decline by 1.5 percent in the second quarter, adding to the economic pressure.Before the visit, Canada’s opposition heaped pressure on Carney, as the country is the last major US ally not to seal a deal with Washington.”If you return with excuses, broken promises and photo ops, you will have failed our workers, our businesses and our country,” conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre wrote in an open letter to Carney on Monday.Carney faces particular criticism for making concessions to Trump while getting little in return.At the end of June, Carney canceled a tax targeting American tech giants under pressure from Trump, who called it outrageous. He also lifted many of the tariffs imposed by the previous government. “Mark Carney has no choice, he must return from Washington with progress,” said Daniel Beland, a political scientist at McGill University in Montreal, pointing to the steel and aluminum tariffs as key areas.But Carney at least seemed to have negotiated the hurdle of an Oval Office visit for a second time — one that has caused stumbles for previous visitors like Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.”These meetings can easily go off track, and everything plays out publicly,” said Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa.

Two hundred Texas National Guard troops have arrived in Illinois, a Pentagon official said Tuesday, ahead of a planned deployment in Chicago that is strongly opposed by local Democratic officials.US President Donald Trump has already sent troops onto the streets of Los Angeles and Washington, DC and has ordered them to Memphis as well as Chicago and Portland, threatening to invoke emergency powers to forward such efforts if the courts get in the way. Trump — who suggested last week that American cities be used as “training grounds” for US military forces — exaggerated the scale of unrest in Los Angeles and crime in Washington to justify those deployments, and a judge suggested he did the same when it comes to Portland.The troops from Texas were sent to Illinois as part of a mission to protect “federal functions, personnel, and property,” the Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the Guardsmen have been mobilized for an initial period of 60 days.The troops were seen on Tuesday at a military facility in Elwood, southwest of Chicago.The planned deployment of these forces has infuriated Democratic Governor JB Pritzker, who said they “should stay the hell out of Illinois,” and that any deployment against his state government’s wishes would amount to an “invasion.”Trump over the weekend authorized the deployment of 700 National Guard troops to Chicago, sparking a lawsuit by Illinois state officials who accused him of using US troops “to punish his political enemies.”- ‘Untethered to the facts’ -“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly not simply because their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” the Illinois Attorney General and counsel for Chicago said.But Judge April Perry, an appointee of Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, declined to issue an immediate temporary restraining order, instead scheduling a full hearing for Thursday.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the plan to send troops to Chicago, claiming that the third-largest US city is “a war zone.”Trump has similarly taken aim at Portland, which like Chicago has seen surges of federal agents as part of the president’s mass deportation drive, prompting protests outside immigration processing facilities. Trump asserted that it is “war-ravaged” and riddled with violent crime.But in a Saturday court order temporarily blocking the deployment of troops to Oregon, US District Judge Karin Immergut wrote that “the President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts.”Protests in Portland did not pose a “danger of rebellion” and “regular law enforcement forces” could handle such incidents, the judge wrote.Trump responded to that setback by openly mulling the use of the Insurrection Act — which allows the president to deploy the military within the United States to suppress rebellion — in order to send more troops into Democratic-led US cities.”We have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump said, adding that he would use it if “people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up.”