Surprise, embarrassment, unease in Japan after Trump uses Pearl Harbor to defend Iran war
TOKYO — Senior U.S. and Japanese officials tend to shy away from anything but very careful public comments about Japan’s 1941 sneak attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor. So there was embarrassment, confusion and unease on Saturday in Japan after President Donald Trump casually used the World War II...
Congress looks for Trump’s exit plan as the Iran war drags on
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took the United States to war without a vote of support from Congress, but lawmakers are increasingly questioning when, how and at what cost the war with Iran will come to an end. Three weeks into the conflict, the toll is becoming apparent. At least...
What to know about Diego Garcia after Iran targets the remote island’s key U.S. military base
LONDON — Iran has launched missiles at Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean island that is home to a strategic U.K.-U.S. military base. Britain condemned “Iran’s reckless attacks” after the unsuccessful attempt to hit the base. It’s unclear how close the missiles came to the island, which is about 2,500 miles...
Hawaii suffers its worst flooding in 20 years and forecasters warn more rain is coming
HONOLULU — Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said Friday while warning that still more rain was expected during the weekend. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s...
Denmark was ready to blow up airfields to stop a U.S. invasion of Greenland
LONDON — As tensions with President Donald Trump peaked in recent weeks, the Danish military developed detailed plans to blow up airfields in Greenland in the event of a U.S. invasion, two Europeans officials said Friday. Danish soldiers were sent to Greenland equipped with explosives and blood supplies, underscoring the...
Bill to fund Homeland Security fails again as concern grows about airport lines
WASHINGTON — A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance Friday in the Senate amid growing concerns about long lines to get through screening at some of the country’s biggest airports. Democrats declined to provide the support needed to move the funding measure toward final passage....
Supreme Court allows street preacher’s lawsuit
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously agreed that a sidewalk preacher from Mississippi could challenge a local ordinance that he said interfered with his religious rights. The issue before the justices was whether the preacher should be allowed to sue — not the validity of the ordinance itself....
In rare move, ICE drags criminal defendant out of a federal courtroom
LOS ANGELES — As part of an ICE operation, plainclothes agents on Thursday pulled an accused MS-13 shot-caller out of a downtown federal courtroom, catching attorneys and the judge off guard, and casting uncertainty over the fate of his pending criminal trial. Mark Sedlander, a defense attorney, said the agents,...
Georgia appeals court rules Fulton County can reject GOP election board picks
ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals court ruled on Friday that the state’s largest county doesn’t have to appoint two Republican nominees to the county election board, a decision that could tamp down GOP challenges to how elections are administered in predominantly Democratic areas. The state Court of Appeals found that...
Jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter purchase, absolves him of some fraud claims
SAN FRANCISCO — A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter’s stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. But it absolved him of some fraud allegations, finding that he did...
Judge sides with New York Times in challenge to policy limiting reporters’ access to Pentagon
WASHINGTON — A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy limiting news reporters’ access to the Pentagon, agreeing with The New York Times that key portions of the new rules are unlawful. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with the newspaper...
Missouri judge strikes ballot summary for Trump-backed congressional redistricting plan
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — If Missouri voters get to decide whether to adopt new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump, the ballot proposal presented to them won’t say a word about gerrymandering. A state judge on Friday ordered a new, toned-down description of the redistricting plan after Missouri’s...
Over 5,500 told to evacuate flooding in Hawaii as officials warn 120-year-old dam could fail
HONOLULU — Muddy floodwaters from severe rains inundated streets, pushed homes off their foundations, swallowed vehicles and prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents in towns north of Honolulu on Friday as officials warned of the possible failure of a 120-year-old dam. Emergency sirens blared along Oahu’s North Shore, where...
Pentagon orders 2,500 troops, 3 warships from California to the Middle East
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is reportedly sending three California-based warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East, the second significant deployment in a week. The three warships are part of the San Diego-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group. The Marines are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at...
Mexican teen migrant dies in a Florida jail holding ICE detainees
MIAMI — A 19-year-old Mexican migrant died at a county jail in Florida that has been holding immigrant detainees, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to ICE, Royer Perez-Jimenez “died of presumed suicide,” although an official cause of death remains under investigation. The death of Perez-Jimenez on Monday...
Feds move to dismiss charges against officers accused of falsifying warrant in Breonna Taylor raid
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Federal prosecutors asked a judge Friday to dismiss the charges against two Louisville officers accused of falsifying the warrant that led police to raid Breonna Taylor’s apartment the night she was killed six years ago. Prosecutors said in a court filing that their review of the case...
Trump officials announce 10-gigawatt data center, gas plants for former Ohio uranium site
PIKETON, Ohio — The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday announced a public-private partnership to develop a major data center with its own power supply on the site of a decommissioned uranium enrichment plant in southern Ohio, as it pushes commercial development of artificial intelligence technology. The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion...
5 things to know about Afroman’s defamation case and victory
This week, rapper Afroman scored a courtroom win, closing out a defamation trial sparked by the songs he made about a police raid on his home. Here are five things to know about Afroman’s case: 1. His Ohio home was raided by police in 2022 Police raided and searched Afroman’s...
Nearly 90,000 bottles of children’s liquid pain medication recalled
WASHINGTON — Nearly 90,000 bottles of a children’s pain reliever have been recalled due to reports of black specs and other contaminants, according to federal regulators. The Food and Drug Administration posted an online notice about the recall of Taro Pharmaceuticals’ Children’s Ibuprofen Oral Suspension. The company’s website states that...
Trump administration sues Harvard, saying it violated civil rights law and seeking to recover funds
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department filed a new lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, saying its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus, creating grounds for the government to freeze existing grants and seek repayment for grants already paid. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, is another missive in...
Judge rules U.S. government overreached with transgender health care declaration
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge said the government overreached by issuing a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, according to a ruling Thursday in Oregon. Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy...
CBS News shutters its storied radio news service after nearly a century, ending an era
NEW YORK — CBS News said Friday it is shutting down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation as part of a round of layoffs, blaming a shift in radio station programming strategies and challenging economic times. When it went on the air in September 1927,...
Democrats aim to turn Trump’s tariffs against GOP in campaigns for governor
WASHINGTON — Less than a week after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul listened as one of the plaintiffs in the case recounted the financial toll of the levies on his wine importing business. “This is a heavy tax and you...
Pete Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric draws renewed scrutiny after the U.S. goes to war with Iran
WASHINGTON — Since becoming defense secretary, Pete Hegseth has found no shortage of ways to bring his strand of conservative evangelicalism into the Pentagon. He hosts monthly Christian worship services for employees. His department’s promotional videos have displayed Bible verses alongside military footage. In speeches and interviews, he often argues...
Clergy seek court order to allow pastoral access to immigrants held at Minneapolis ICE facility
MINNEAPOLIS — Protestant and Catholic clergy are asking a federal judge to order that they be allowed to minister to immigrants in a holding facility at the headquarters of the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell will hear Friday from attorneys for Minnesota branches of...