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US lawmakers on Wednesday approved a sweeping defense bill bolstering European security — a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump’s mounting threats to downgrade Washington’s ties to traditional allies and NATO.The bipartisan House of Representatives vote came on the heels of the publication of a White House national security strategy that amounted to a startling attack on Europe — rattling its governments and opening the biggest transatlantic rift in years.By contrast, the House’s $900 billion Pentagon bill stands out for its pro-Europe orientation and its clampdown on Trump’s authority to reduce troop numbers, move equipment or downgrade NATO-linked missions.”President Trump and congressional Republicans are restoring American strength, defending our homeland, standing with our allies, and ensuring the United States remains the most powerful and capable military force the world has ever known,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of the vote. In his security strategy published last week, Trump lambasted Europe as an over-regulated, censorious continent lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.His administration accuses European nations of taking advantage of American generosity and of failing to take responsibility for their own destiny.The security strategy openly supports far-right European parties, questioning the continent’s commitment to peace and indicating that its security is no longer a top US priority.But lawmakers are explicitly moving in the opposite direction — deepening US resources for the Baltic states and hardening NATO’s northeastern flank, in a move that amounts to one of the strongest congressional assertions in years of Europe’s strategic importance.The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — which now advances to the Senate — carries a robust $8 billion more than the funding Trump requested in May. It leans hard into European defense, barring troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and blocking the removal of major equipment.- Demand for drug-strike videos -The White House has backed the 3,086-page text, despite its misgivings over Europe, as well as a provision forcing the Pentagon to hand over videos of maritime strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in Latin American waters.The footage has become a flashpoint in a transparency dispute between congressional defense and security committees and the military. To ensure compliance, lawmakers will withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the videos arrive — an unusually personal tactic reflecting frustration over slow document production and the administration’s expanding use of lethal force in drug interdictions.The NDAA also adds traditional security priorities. It places fresh limits on any reduction of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea, a signal to Seoul amid uncertainty over America’s long-term military commitment in East Asia.With support from the administration wavering, the bill also doubles down on Ukraine — setting aside $400 million in security assistance to sustain a baseline of support even if emergency funding stalls.The National Transportation Safety Board had warned against a provision that it said would roll back critical air-safety requirements for military aircraft operating in Washington’s restricted airspace. A group of conservative hardliners mulled blocking the bill over its Ukraine assistance and the absence of a ban on a central bank digital currency.But opposition on multiple fronts is routine for a final NDAA, and there was never significant risk of a rebellion capable of sinking the package.

The United States has seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, dramatically escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.The move comes amid a huge US naval build-up in the Caribbean, which Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro says is aimed at regime change, and strikes on alleged drug boats.A video published by US Attorney General Pam Bondi showed troops rappelling from a helicopter onto the tanker’s deck, then entering the ship’s bridge with rifles raised.”We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump told reporters at the start of a roundtable with business leaders at the White House.”And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later.”Bondi said the tanker was part of an “illicit oil shipping network” used to carry sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.US media reported that the tanker was heading for Cuba, another American rival, and was detained by the US Coast Guard. Trump just said the tanker “was seized for a very good reason.”Trump’s announcement came a day before Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was set to address the world from Oslo after coming out of hiding.Machado, who won the Nobel for challenging Maduro’s grip on power in oil-rich Venezuela, has not been seen out in the open for months after threats to her life.Venezuela had warned she could be arrested as a fugitive if attempting to re-enter the country after traveling for the Nobel, but Trump warned Caracas against any such step.”I don’t like if she would be arrested, I wouldn’t be happy with it,” Trump told reporters.- ‘State terrorism’ -After saying she was coming to Norway but would not arrive in time for Wednesday’s prize ceremony, Machado will make her first public appearance at a press conference in Oslo at 0915 GMT Thursday, Norway’s government said.Accepting the award on Machado’s behalf on Wednesday, her daughter delivered her blistering acceptance speech, in which she urged her compatriots to fight for freedom against “state terrorism” by Maduro.Trump’s administration has piled pressure on Maduro in recent months, deploying a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.The United States has also carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 alleged drug boats in the region, killing at least 87 people.Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a “narco-terrorist” organization last month.Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion against Venezuela.Maduro — the political heir to leftist leader Hugo Chavez — says the US is bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday after Maduro called for stepped-up military recruitment.Trump’s administration also alleges that Maduro’s hold on power is illegitimate and that he stole Venezuela’s July 2024 election — a claim backed by opposition leader Machado.Since going into hiding, Machado’s only public appearance was on January 9, in Caracas, where she protested against Maduro’s inauguration for his third term.

The United States has seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, further escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.”We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said at the start of a roundtable with business leaders at the White House.”And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”Trump did not immediately give further details on the incident.His announcement came a day before Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was set to address the world from Oslo after coming out of hiding.Trump’s administration has piled pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, deploying a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.The United States has also carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 alleged drug boats in the region, killing at least 87 people.Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion against Venezuela.Maduro says the US is bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday after Maduro called for stepped-up military recruitment.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday examined how to determine whether a death row inmate is intellectually disabled and should be spared execution.The top court more than 20 years ago outlawed executing individuals with diminished mental capacity, ruling it to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.The nine-member court left it up to the states to define whether or not a person is intellectually disabled.At issue in the case heard by the Supreme Court is the role of IQ tests in making that determination.Joseph Smith, 55, who was sentenced to death in the southern state of Alabama for a 1997 murder, claims he should be spared the death sentence because he is intellectually disabled.Smith has taken five IQ tests over the years, scoring between 72 and 78.A score of 70 or lower is considered evidence of intellectual disability under Alabama law.Even though Smith scored above 70, a district court ruled he is intellectually disabled after taking into consideration the test’s margin of error and other factors.An appeals court affirmed the ruling and Alabama appealed to the Supreme Court.”Every identified method of handling multiple IQ scores favors the conclusion that Smith is not intellectually disabled,” Robert Overing, the attorney representing Alabama, told the justices on Wednesday.Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal, asked why the test for intellectual disability “should be simply and solely IQ score cutoff at 70?””IQ is originally how intellectual disability was defined as a condition, and it’s always been the primary criterion,” Overing said. “And states are allowed to take the best evidence of intelligence and to make that the test.”Jackson pushed back, saying the words “IQ score under 70″ do not appear in the court’s prior rulings related to intellectually disabled individuals.”I think what you’ve done is shift this to be all about the IQ test in a way that is not supported by our case law,” she said.Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, said there did appear to be a need for a “concrete standard.””As opposed to a situation where everything is up for grabs in every case, and both sides can bring in experts to testify about the person’s intellectual disability or lack of intellectual disability,” Alito said.Smith’s lawyer Seth Waxman told the justices IQ test scores alone should not be used to determine mental capacity.Sub average intellectual functioning “is a condition, not a test score,” Waxman said.The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the case before the end of June.

Streets were empty, shops shuttered and soldiers fled a key eastern DR Congo city Wednesday a day after the Rwanda-backed M23 militia entered the outskirts, in a move Burundi called a “middle finger” to the United States after the signing of a peace deal in Washington.M23 fighters entered the strategic city of Uvira at the gateway to Burundi late Tuesday, security and military sources said, plunging the city of several hundred thousand residents into uncertainty over who was in charge.It comes less than a year after the anti-government group seized Goma and Bukavu, two provincial capitals in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been plagued by conflict for around three decades.”The residents are locked inside their homes,” one of them told AFP. “Everyone is staying home,” another added.”We don’t understand anything, we can only wait for new authorities to take over. We can’t remain without an army or police,” a third resident said. All spoke by telephone and asked to remain anonymous.The latest offensive — launched on December 1 against the Congolese army backed by Burundian forces and allied armed groups — has further shaken hopes that an agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump will succeed in halting the conflict.Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame inked the deal in Washington last Thursday.”Signing an agreement and not implementing it is a humiliation for everyone, and first and foremost for President Trump,” Burundian Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana told AFP over the phone.”It’s truly a slap in the face to the United States, a middle finger,” he said, adding that sanctions against Rwanda were “necessary”.Rwanda accused the DRC and Burundi of deliberately violating the peace agreement, in a statement Wednesday. A day earlier, the United States and European powers urged the M23 to “immediately halt” its offensive and for Rwanda to pull its troops out of the eastern DRC.- Border closed – Burundi, which neighbours both the DRC and Rwanda, views the prospect of Uvira falling to Rwanda-backed forces as an existential threat.Uvira sits across Lake Tanganyika from the Burundian economic capital Bujumbura, with only around 20 kilometres (12 miles) between the two cities.  Burundi’s main border posts with the DRC were closed on Tuesday afternoon and are now considered “military zones”, military and police sources told AFP. The M23, for its part, has closed the border on the Congolese side, according to local and military sources, though it is not yet clear whether the armed group has taken control of Uvira. Several Congolese army soldiers and members of pro-Kinshasa militia were still seen in the area of Uvira, military sources and witnesses said.A few stray shots were reported.The city nestled between mountains and Lake Tanganyika had already largely emptied on Tuesday as soldiers, police and administrative personnel fled the M23’s advance.Residents speaking to AFP by telephone had pointed to a “every man for himself” mentality and growing panic.Congolese soldiers, some of whom had abandoned their weapons and uniforms, fled, looting shops and a pharmacy as they went, according to witnesses and military sources.- Threatened -Several residents told AFP by telephone in the early afternoon Wednesday that they had seen M23 fighters in Uvira’s northern districts.”I can confirm the presence of M23 in the city,” a representative of civil society told AFP. “I’ve just the M23 with my own eyes pass by my house.”More than 40,000 Congolese have fled the fighting and arrived in Burundi in the space of a week, the Burundian foreign minister told AFP.According to an initial estimate by the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA, more than 200,000 people have been displaced within South Kivu province since December 2. Meanwhile thousands of others have crossed the border into neighbouring countries, especially Burundi but also Rwanda.The latest advance on Uvira marks a new blow for the DRC government.According to several European diplomatic sources, Kinshasa fears the M23 pushing on towards the copper- and cobalt-rich Katanga province in the southeastern DRC, the vast country’s mining hub which the state relies on to fill its coffers thanks to taxes imposed on mining companies.The peace agreement — which Trump called a “miracle” deal — includes an economic portion intended to secure US supplies of critical minerals present in the region, as the United States seeks to challenge China’s dominance in the sector.The M23 is supported by up to 7,000 Rwandan troops in eastern DRC, according to UN experts. Burundi, which has thorny relations with Rwanda, deployed about 10,000 soldiers to the eastern DRC in October 2023 as part of a military cooperation agreement, and security sources say reinforcements have since taken that presence to around 18,000 men.While denying offering the M23 military support, Rwanda argues that it faces an existential threat from the presence in the eastern DRC of ethnic Hutu militants with links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis.burs-cld/kjm/sbk

A divided US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates Wednesday for a third consecutive time this year, flagging labor market concerns even as inflation remained elevated as President Donald Trump’s tariffs bite.The cut by a quarter percentage point brings rates to a range between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent, the lowest in around three years.The move was in line with market expectations, although the path ahead is less certain.The Fed penciled in at least one more rate reduction next year, and flagged heightened risks to employment as it announced Wednesday’s move.But a rift within the central bank deepened with three officials voting against the modest reduction.Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed president Jeffrey Schmid instead sought to keep rates unchanged. Fed Governor Stephen Miran backed a bigger, half-percentage-point cut.The Fed’s rate-setting committee consists of 12 voting members — including seven members of the board of governors, the New York Fed president and a rotation of reserve bank presidents — who take a majority vote in deciding the path of rates.On Wednesday, Fed officials also lifted their 2026 GDP growth forecast to 2.3 percent, from 1.8 percent previously.They eased their inflation expectations slightly for the next year, and kept unemployment rate expectations unchanged.These projections could shift as the central bank grapples with a delay in federal economic data releases after a record-long government shutdown.The Fed also faces a turbulent year ahead with a new chief arriving after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May, while political pressure mounts.Miran’s term expires in January, creating an opening among the Fed’s top leadership, and Trump has sought to free up another seat by attempting to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook this year.Cook has challenged her ousting and the case remains before the courts — she continues to carry out her role in the meantime.- Caution ahead -A contentious meeting that has multiple dissents is a “normal and healthy” sign, said Ryan Sweet of Oxford Economics.Still, “more cuts now imply fewer later,” he added in a note this week.”The central bank will want time to gauge how past cuts are impacting the economy,” he said.Analysts said that a third consecutive rate reduction was likely, in order to manage risks to the labor market.”The challenge facing the Fed next year is the potential jobless expansion, when GDP increases but employment gains are modest, at best,” Sweet said. “This leaves the economy vulnerable to shocks because the labor market is the main firewall against a recession.”The most recent available figures confirmed a slowdown in the jobs market, while the government shutdown from October to mid-November delayed publications of more updated official data.The Fed pursues maximum employment and stable prices in adjusting interest rates, although these goals can sometimes be in conflict. Lower rates typically stimulate the economy while higher levels hold back activity and tamp down inflation.Powell is due to speak at a press conference after the announcement of the rate decision.This week’s gathering is the last before 2026, a year of key changes for the bank.In a Politico interview published Tuesday, Trump signaled he would judge Powell’s successor on whether they immediately cut rates. Interviews for his choice are entering the final stages.Trump earlier hinted that he wants to nominate his chief economic adviser Kevin Hassett.Other top contenders include former Fed official Kevin Warsh, Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, and Rick Rieder of BlackRock.

Music powerhouse Beyonce, tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman will co-chair the 2026 Met Gala on May 4 alongside Vogue’s Anna Wintour, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Wednesday in New York.The annual Met Gala, traditionally held on the first Monday in May, was first organized in 1948 and for decades was reserved for New York high society. Wintour, the high priestess of US fashion, took over the show in the 1990s, transforming the party into a catwalk for the rich and famous.The gala is a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute, but it is also a social media extravaganza that sees stars don over-the-top looks, vying to create the greatest spectacle.The dress code has not yet been revealed but it will dovetail with the “Costume Art” exhibition, which opens on May 10 at the venerable museum in Manhattan and will seek to explore the “dressed body” in artworks across the centuries.The co-chairs are power players in their fields: music, sports and film. The gala will mark the first time in a decade that Beyonce has attended, and fashionistas will be holding their breath waiting to see what look — or looks – she unveils. She was an honorary co-chair in 2013.Williams, 45, is the winner of seven Grand Slam titles. She is still competing on the WTA Tour. Her sister Serena — who has retired from tennis — co-hosted the event in 2019.Kidman, who co-chaired the event in 2003 and in 2005, has several projects in the works for 2026, including “Practical Magic 2,” a sequel to the popular 1998 film about a family of witches, and “Scarpetta,” a series based on Patricia Cornwell’s crime novel heroine.The Met also announced a gala “host committee” led by Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello and actress Zoe Kravitz. Also on the committee are singers Sabrina Carpenter and Doja Cat, retired ballet superstar Misty Copeland, and WNBA champion A’ja Wilson.

US lawmakers are set to vote Wednesday on a sweeping annual defense bill bolstering European security, in a direct rebuke of President Donald Trump’s threats to walk away from the continent and his statements casting doubt on NATO’s future.The House vote comes on the heels of the publication of a national security strategy that amounted to an all-out attack on Europe —- rattling allied capitals and widening the biggest transatlantic rift in years.By contrast, the huge bill being considered in Congress, which would authorize nearly a trillion dollars in defense spending, has drawn attention for its pro-Europe orientation and strict limits designed to prevent Trump from reducing troop numbers, moving equipment or downgrading NATO-linked missions.”This legislation includes important House-passed provisions to ensure our military forces remain the most lethal in the world and can deter any adversary,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement. In his security strategy published last week, Trump lambasted Europe as an over-regulated, censorious continent lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.His administration accuses European nations of taking advantage of American generosity and of failing to take responsibility for their own destiny.The security strategy openly supports far-right European parties, questioning the continent’s commitment to peace and indicating that its security was no longer a top US priority.But lawmakers are explicitly moving in the opposite direction — deepening US resources for the Baltic states and hardening NATO’s northeastern flank, in a move that amounts to one of the strongest congressional assertions in years of Europe’s strategic importance.The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) carries a robust $8 billion more than Trump requested in May, authorizing roughly $901 billion in defense spending. It leans hard into European defense, barring troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and blocking the removal of major equipment.- Demand for drug-strike videos -The White House has backed the 3,086-page bill, despite its misgivings over Europe — and a provision forcing the Pentagon to hand over videos of maritime strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in Latin American waters.The footage has become a flashpoint in a transparency dispute between congressional defense and security committees and the military. To ensure compliance, lawmakers will withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the videos arrive — an unusually personal tactic reflecting frustration over slow document production and the administration’s expanding use of lethal force in drug interdictions.The NDAA also adds traditional security priorities. It places fresh limits on any reduction of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea, a signal to Seoul amid uncertainty over America’s long-term military commitment in East Asia.With support from the administration wavering, the bill also doubles down on Ukraine — setting aside $400 million in security assistance to sustain a baseline of support even if emergency funding stalls.A group of conservative hardliners has explored blocking the NDAA over its inclusion of Ukraine assistance and the absence of a ban on a central bank digital currency. But such grumbling is routine for a final NDAA, and there were few signs of a rebellion capable of sinking the policy package.With bipartisan backing on Europe, Korea, Ukraine and the war authorization repeals, House passage is expected — though the bill would then head to the Senate for further scrutiny.

A US federal judge on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of grand jury records on Jeffrey Epstein, in the latest move by a court to release documents related to the convicted sex offender.The decision by New York Judge Richard Berman concerns proceedings launched against the disgraced financier in July 2019, the most serious case against him for the sexual exploitation of minors.Those proceedings were cut short after Epstein’s suicide in prison in August that year during pre-trial detention.Such records are generally kept secret, but the judge cited a bill that President Donald Trump signed last month requiring that the Justice Department release by December 19 all unclassified records regarding Epstein, whose transgressions remain politically explosive in the United States.On Tuesday, another federal judge agreed to unseal grand jury records from the probe of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for offenses including sex trafficking of a minor.And on Friday, a judge in Florida ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the investigation of Epstein in that state. Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution.There is no guarantee that the new documents will contain new revelations, and it remains unclear exactly when, and how, the Justice Department will release all the documents to the public.Trump, once a close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of files about him held by the Justice Department.Trump and his allies spent years pushing theories about powerful Democrats being protected over involvement with Epstein, framing the case as a potent symbol of how rich men can hide behind lawyers, money and connections.The FBI and Justice Department triggered a political furor in July with the release of a memo stating that after an “exhaustive review” of the Epstein files, no evidence had emerged that would warrant further investigation.Last month, Trump caved to pressure from Congress, including from fellow Republicans, and signed the law compelling release of the materials.

Hollywood A-listers Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde and Russell Crowe will rub shoulders with some of cinema’s best and brightest new talent at the Sundance film festival next month, organizers said Wednesday.The first edition of the festival since the death in September of founder Robert Redford will see a firmament of stars descend on Park City, Utah for one of the most important gatherings in the global movie calendar.”I think that this is going to be such a celebratory year and a very special one,” Sundance director of programming Kim Yutani told AFP.”Any time you can bring together such an eclectic group of artists and storytellers… I think about Charli XCX and Billie Jean King, Salman Rushdie, Rinko Kikuchi together… it’s such a special (group) of people that we can have on the mountain.”A rich vein of comedy runs through this year’s program, said Yutani.”There are films that are looking at things in a kind of more quirky and unique way, like ‘The History of Concrete’ by John Wilson, which is going to have its own enthusiastic audience,” she said.The documentary traces Wilson’s efforts to sell a film about building materials after attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie.The laughs continue with Seth Rogen and Edward Norton in “The Invite,” opposite Olivia Wilde, who also directs.The script, co-written by Rashida James (“Parks and Recreation”), deals with a couple whose mysterious neighbors come over for dinner.Meanwhile, “Mad Men” stars Hamm and John Slattery reunite in “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” where a Midwestern bride-to-be rampages through Hollywood in an effort to even the score after her fiance uses the couple’s “free celebrity pass” on his famous crush.In “The Gallerist” — starring Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, along with Jenna Ortega and Sterling K. Brown — a desperate curator tries to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami.- International -With the movie industry still struggling to find its feet after successive blows from the streaming revolution, the Covid pandemic and Hollywood strikes that crippled Tinseltown in 2023, the involvement of such famous faces is a vote of confidence in independent filmmaking, said festival programmer John Nein.”When you see Chris Pine and Jenny Slate in ‘Carousel,’ or when you see Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan in ‘Josephine’… that’s one of the signs of optimism at a time when we are looking at some real challenges in the sector, that notable actors continue to want to be involved in these projects,” he told AFP.Sundance received more than 16,000 submissions, whittling them down to 90 feature-length films, with 40 percent of them from first-time feature directors.All but a handful of the titles that will be screened in the festival’s snow-capped Rocky Mountain base will be world premieres, selected from 164 countries and territories around the globe.The strong international line-up includes films from traditional cinematic powerhouses like Britain, in the form of the debut feature “Extra Geography” from director Molly Manners, and queer genre film “Leviticus” from Australia.But it also includes offerings from places the audience might be less familiar with, like “Hanging by a Wire,” a nail-biting race to save schoolboys dangling from a stranded cable car in the Himalayan foothills.”Hold On to Me” from Cyprus tells the story of an 11-year-old tracking down her estranged father, while documentary “Kikuyu Land” from Kenya examines how powerful outside forces use local corruption to dispossess a people.Sundance, which runs from January 22 to February 1, is being held in Utah for the final time before a move to Boulder, Colorado in 2027.Festival and public programming director Eugene Hernandez said the final Park City edition, along with Redford’s death, makes this a significant year.”We reach this pinnacle of our experience in Utah this year,” he said. “It’s going to be a special edition.”