Trump nominates government economist to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he is nominating the government economist Brett Matsumoto to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after having previously accused the federal agency of releasing low monthly jobs numbers in order to make him look bad. There is no evidence the Bureau of Labor...
Judge blocks additional citizenship provisions in latest setback to Trump’s election executive order
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge Friday blocked certain federal agencies from requesting citizenship status when distributing voter registration forms, the latest blow to a wide-ranging executive order on elections President Donald Trump signed last year. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington ruled that the Constitution’s separation of powers,...
U.S. approves arms sales to Israel, Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth $9 billion. Both sets of sales were announced by the State Department late Friday as tensions rise in the Middle East over the possibility of U.S....
Venezuela announces amnesty bill that could lead to mass release of political prisoners
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the United States-backed opposition. It is the...
Senate passes government funding deal despite GOP backlash
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Friday to fund most of the government through the end of September after President Donald Trump made a deal with Democrats to carve out Homeland Security funding and allow Congress to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country. With a weekend shutdown...
Texas A&M shutters women, gender studies department amid new policy crackdown
Texas A&M University said Friday it is ending its women’s and gender studies programs, and that hundreds of course syllabuses have been or will be altered under a new policy regulating how race and gender can be discussed in class. The university wrote in a statement Friday that six courses...
Cubans scramble to survive as U.S. vise on island tightens in push to oust government
HAVANA — Cubans are hustling to become more self-sufficient as the U.S. government tightens its economic noose over the communist-run island in a move experts say is meant to force a popular uprising and usher in a new government. A sharp increase in U.S. sanctions was already suffocating Cubans when...
Tens of thousands face another arctic blast without power
BELZONI, Miss. — As tens of thousands of people endured nearly a week with no electricity, another storm loomed on the East Coast where residents braced for near-hurricane force winds, heavy snow and potential flooding. More than 230,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Friday, with the vast majority of...
NASCAR’s Greg Biffle wasn’t flying his plane before crash that killed him and 6 others
WASHINGTON — Retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle was not flying his own jet when it crashed last month, killing him and six others, according to a Friday report from federal safety officials who also concluded that while an experienced pilot was at the controls, no one else on board was...
Justice Department says it’s releasing 3 million pages from its Jeffrey Epstein files
NEW YORK — The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people including Donald...
DOJ has opened a federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed Saturday by Border Patrol officers, federal officials said Friday. “We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks...
Protesters call for nationwide strike against Trump’s immigration policies
Protesters across the U.S. are calling for “no work, no school, no shopping” as part of a nationwide strike on Friday to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The demonstrations are taking place amid widespread outrage over the killing Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, who was shot...
York County GOP Rep. Seth Grove to leave office, 5th opening in the House this year
A former state House Republican leader who served as the caucus’ budget watchdog announced he would resign from office effective Sunday. Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) revealed in May that he would not seek reelection for a 10th term, ending the announcement with “Lets get back to work,” but no indication...
Israel reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday after long closure
JERUSALEM — Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in both directions over the weekend, marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza,...
What is the fate of some 2 dozen ICE bills before Pa. state lawmakers?
About two dozen proposals related to immigration enforcement are percolating in the state legislature in response to the Trump administration’s crackdown and tactics – including increased reliance on county jails and local police departments. Lawmakers acknowledge it’s a long shot to enact reforms in a federally-governed arena and with a...
Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested after he covered a Minnesota church protest
WASHINGTON — Journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested Friday in connection with an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and federal officials. Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the...
Senate leaders scramble to save bipartisan deal and avert partial government shutdown at midnight
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders were scrambling to save a bipartisan spending deal and avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday as Democrats have demanded new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country. Democrats struck a rare deal with President Donald Trump Thursday to separate funding for the Homeland...
Trump’s choice of Warsh to lead Fed could reshape the world’s most influential central bank
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve could bring about sweeping changes at a central bank that dominates the global economy and markets like no other. Warsh, if approved by the Senate, will be under close scrutiny from financial markets and Congress given...
Masked agents, face scans and a question: Are you a citizen? Inside Trump’s Minnesota crackdown
Luis Martinez was on his way to work on a frigid Minneapolis morning when federal agents suddenly boxed him in, forcing the SUV he was driving to a dead stop in the middle of the street. Masked agents rapped on the window, demanding Martinez produce his ID. Then one held...
Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over leaked tax info
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president’s tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includes...
New cold snap adds urgency to winter storm recovery across the SouthVideo
BELZONI, Miss. — Hundreds of National Guard troops in ice-stricken Mississippi and Tennessee mobilized Thursday to clear debris and assist people stranded in cars or stuck at homes still without electricity as Southern states raced to recover from a crippling winter storm before another blast of dangerous cold hits. The...
Mexico’s Sheinbaum reiterates sovereignty in Trump call after Olympic snowboarder detained
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated that operations on Mexican soil are always carried out by Mexican forces, in her latest attempt to assuage concerns of U.S. encroachment on Mexican sovereignty. The comments made at her daily press conference Thursday come after questions surrounding the case of a...
Trump threatens Canada with 50% tariff on aircraft sold in U.S., expanding trade war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Canada with a 50% tariff on any aircraft sold in the U.S., the latest salvo in his trade war with America’s northern neighbor as his feud with Prime Minister Mark Carney expands. Trump’s threat posted on social media came after he threatened...
Trump’s options for Iran strike grow even with goals unclear
WASHINGTON — The arrival of a U.S aircraft-carrier strike group in the Middle East has given President Donald Trump new, more forceful options to carry out his threats to attack Iran, but the choices carry serious risks of retaliation from Tehran. At the same time, Trump’s shifting messages about his...
Venezuela’s acting president signs oil industry overhaul, easing state control to lure investors
CARACAS — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday signed a law that will open the nation’s oil sector to privatization, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades. Lawmakers in the country’s National Assembly approved the overhaul of the...
