Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information: AP sources
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Acting Commissioner Michelle...
USAID shutdown is upending livelihoods for nonprofit workers, farmers and other Americans
WASHINGTON — There’s the executive in a U.S. supply-chain company whose voice breaks while facing the next round of calls telling employees they no longer have jobs. And a farmer in Missouri who grew up knowing that a world with more hungry people is a world that’s more dangerous. And...
Florida man charged with attempted murder after shooting 2 men he thought were ‘Palestinians’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after opening fire on two men in Miami Beach who he thought were Palestinians. According to an arrest report, Mordechai Brafman shot at the men 17 times in the “unprovoked” attack, telling officers that while...
Leader of cultlike Zizians linked to 6 killings faces bail hearing in Maryland
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The leader of a cultlike group known as the Zizians that is linked to six killings in three states faces a bail hearing Tuesday along with two others who were arrested with her in Maryland. Jack LaSota, 34, of Berkeley, California, also known as Ziz, was arrested...
Arctic air sweeping south over Plains shatters record temperatures in North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. — More than 95 million people are facing gripping cold Tuesday as a polar vortex sends temperatures plunging to record levels, closing schools, bursting pipes and forcing communities to set up more temporary shelters for the homeless. “Some of the coldest temperatures of the entire winter season right...
Pope has pneumonia in both lungs but remains in good spirits, the Vatican says
ROME — Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs, the Vatican said Tuesday, after new tests showed a further complication in the condition of the 88-year-old pontiff. The Vatican said Francis’ respiratory infection also involves asthmatic bronchitis, which requires the use of cortisone antibiotic treatment. “Laboratory tests, chest X-ray,...
Elderberry remedy: Is there any true homeopathic flu antidote?
Sick with the cold or flu and symptoms seem everlasting? With flu cases running rampant, it’s no surprise that Americans turn to alternative remedies to try and feel better in a pinch. However, not all methods work, according to experts. Lately, people have been drinking herbal supplements like elderberry as...
Trump will sign new executive orders while his 1st joint TV interview with Musk airs in prime time
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday was set to sign new executive orders from his Florida home while his first joint TV interview with adviser Elon Musk airs in prime time. Trump’s Florida home will also be the setting for an awards program by a conservative...
Polish president says U.S. assures him it won’t reduce troop levels as he revives ‘Fort Trump’ idea
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that he has received U.S. assurances that Washington will not reduce its troop presence in Poland and elsewhere along NATO’s eastern flank. A conservative who has long had good ties with President Donald Trump, Duda also returned to an idea he...
A treasured Banksy owned by a member of Blink-182 is up for auction; it could fetch $6 million
LONDON — A painting by street artist Banksy with an environmental message and an estimate of up to $6.3 million is going up for auction, with some of the proceeds helping victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. Sotheby’s auction house said Tuesday that “Crude Oil (Vettriano)” is being sold in...
Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Republican had no right to bring lawsuit challenging mobile voting
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Republican Party official lacked the standing to bring a lawsuit challenging the use of a mobile voting van in 2022. The lawsuit sought to ban the use of mobile voting vans in any future election in the presidential battleground...
French lawmakers mull banning headscarves in sport. Amnesty International says it’s discriminatory
Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions. The bill is backed by right-wing senators and will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament. Its aim is to ban all “ostensibly religious” clothing...
Hamas says it will free 6 living hostages and hand over 4 bodies, accelerating Gaza releases
CAIRO — A top Hamas leader says the militant group will release six living Israeli hostages Saturday and the bodies of four others on Thursday, a surprise increase that apparently comes in return for Israel allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip. The six are the...
American arrested in Moscow on drug smuggling charges is freed ahead of Russia-U.S. talks
Russia has freed a U.S. citizen arrested earlier this month on drug smuggling charges, according to Russian media reports and a U.S. official. The move appears to be an effort to ease tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Kalob Byers, 28, was detained...
Cambodia passes bill toughening penalties for denial of Khmer Rouge genocide
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that will toughen penalties for anyone denying that atrocities were carried out in the late 1970s under the rule of the communist Khmer Rouge, whose brutal policies are blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. A statement...
Pro-Russian hackers attack Italian websites after president compares invasion of Ukraine to Nazis
MILAN — A pro-Russian hacker group attacked Italian government websites on Tuesday in what it said was a reaction to a speech by Italian President Sergio Mattarella that compared Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Nazis’ “wars of conquest.” The NoName57 hacker group, which announced the attacks on social media,...
UN human rights chief accuses Rwanda-backed rebels in east Congo of killing and recruiting children
DAKAR, Senegal — The U.N. human rights chief accused Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a second major city in eastern Congo of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid. Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday that his office “confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23...
Top Russian, U.S. officials discuss improving ties and ending Ukraine war — without Kyiv
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The top diplomats from Russia and the U.S. met Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss improving ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine — talks that reflected a major and rapid change in American foreign policy under President Donald Trump. No Ukrainian officials...
Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid, jeopardizing care for millions
WASHINGTON — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program. The signing up of millions of additional Americans for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable...
‘No kings on Presidents Day’ rings out from protests against Trump, Musk
BOSTON — Protesters against President Donald Trump and his policies braved frigid temperatures to demonstrate Monday at rallies corresponding with the Presidents Day holiday. Dubbed “No Kings on Presidents Day” by the 50501 Movement, the latest protests came less than two weeks after a similar nationwide event on Feb. 5...
All 80 aboard Delta flight survive after jet flips upon arrival in TorontoVideo
TORONTO — A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said. Snow blown by winds gusting to 40 mph swirled when the flight from...
Colleges, K-12 schools ordered by Trump administration to abolish DEI or face funding cuts
The U.S. Department of Education has given colleges and schools with race-specific programs — including financial aid and racially themed dormitory floors and graduation ceremonies — until the end of the month to abolish them or risk losing federal funding as educators scrambled over the holiday weekend to interpret the...
Mexico awaits new response from Google on dispute over Gulf of Mexico name before filing lawsuit
MEXICO CITY — Mexico said Monday it’s awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit. President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google’s...
Top Russian and American officials will hold talks on ending the Ukraine war without Kyiv
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its...
Pope will remain hospitalized as doctors treat a complex respiratory tract infection, Vatican says
ROME — Pope Francis’ respiratory infection is presenting a “complex clinical picture” that will require further hospitalization, the Vatican said Monday, as concerns grew about the increasingly frail health of the 88-year-old pontiff. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days and Monday indicate the...
