A Texas town may offer a preview of a Trump plan to force noncitizens from public housing
PORT ISABEL, Texas — Until recently, young children ran in and out of their public housing homes in this Gulf Coast town, playing on sun-dappled lawns as mothers looked over their shoulders for the school bus to drop off their older kids. Suddenly, couches, dressers and refrigerators started appearing curbside...
NTSB probing what caused a plane to crash into a home in Akron, killing 2
AKRON, Ohio — An investigation was underway Friday into what caused a small plane to crash into a house in northeast Ohio and explode into flames, killing both people aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board was leading the review in Akron, alongside the Federal Aviation Administration and Ohio State Highway...
Democrats test a new red state strategy: Back independents over their own nominees
NEW YORK — Democratic leaders, desperate to compete in red states where their party brand is toxic, are embracing something new this midterm season: not backing Democrats. In states like Nebraska and Alaska, Democratic officials are, in some cases, looking past their own party’s candidates while subtly encouraging — or...
FBI offers $200,000 reward to catch ex-Air Force specialist wanted on espionage charges in Iran
WASHINGTON — The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government. Monica Elfriede Witt, 47, was indicted by a...
Trump says sculpture garden honoring prominent Americans is planned for park along Potomac River
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to build an exhibit of statues featuring prominent Americans in a tightly regulated park along the Potomac River, potentially opening a new legal fight over whether his administration is ignoring the approvals process that typically governs Washington’s monumental core as he muscles through a...
A new Ebola outbreak is confirmed in a remote Congo province, with 65 deaths recorded
KINSHASA, Congo — Africa’s top public health body on Friday confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far. The deaths and suspected cases have been recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centres for...
Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russian attack in the Ukrainian capital rises to 24
KYIV, Ukraine — The death toll from a Russian missile attack that flattened a Kyiv apartment building rose Friday to 24, including three teenagers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he led the mourning for one of the deadliest attacks on the capital in the 4-year-old war. The cruise missile...
Authorities search waters in the Maldives for bodies of Italians who died in cave dive accident
MALE, Maldives — Maldivian authorities conducted a high-risk search Friday for the bodies of four Italian divers who died in a scuba accident in a deep underwater cave a day before. The body of a fifth diver was recovered Thursday, local officials said. Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the group “apparently...
Powell’s legacy at the Fed to be shaped by his misjudging inflation and standing up to Trump
WASHINGTON — When Jerome Powell was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve eight years ago, economists worried that inflation and interest rates were too low and that too few Americans had jobs. Now, as Powell steps down from the post after eight tumultuous years, the U.S. economy is...
Trump, Xi wrap up summit claiming progress stabilizing U.S.-China relations but differences persist
BEIJING — Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up critical talks on Friday, claiming important progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran, Taiwan and more. Xi welcomed Trump at his official residence, Zhongnanhai, on Friday for their final...
Guy, Vodvarka face off in GOP primary in 17th Congressional District
A pair of Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination to try to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio in November. The GOP race in the 17th Congressional District features Beaver County Sheriff Tony Guy of Hopewell and Robinson’s Jesse James Vodvarka, who manages a family-owned manufacturing firm that makes springs...
Lawyers urge judge to block Trump order that would create eligible voter list, limit mail ballots
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he issued an executive order to restrict voters’ ability to cast ballots by mail, attorneys for Democrats and civil rights groups told a federal judge on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols didn’t rule from the bench on the plaintiffs’ request...
In new lawsuit, Justice Department challenges efforts to sanction Trump administration lawyers
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is challenging efforts to sanction attorneys from the first and second Trump administrations, asserting in a lawsuit that the District of Columbia Bar is unfairly playing politics with the legal disciplinary process. The lawsuit represents a direct challenge to the authority of the office that...
U.S. Rep. Max Miller sues ex-wife for defamation in escalation of long-running divorce feud
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The bitter divorce between an Ohio congressman and his former wife, the daughter of one of the state’s U.S. senators, has escalated into new legal action. Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against Emily Moreno, his one-time spouse, on Wednesday in Cleveland, citing “the...
Pennsylvania State Police will create a new unit for threats against elected officials after communication ‘breakdown’ with legislators
The Pennsylvania State Police is creating a new unit to investigate threats against elected officials after a communication failure surrounding violent threats against Pennsylvania legislators. Adam Berryhill, 42, was arrested on May 6 after making “politically violent” threats on social media, including an alleged “hit list” targeting 20 Democratic state...
U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is resigning, in latest DHS leadership change
The head of U.S. Border Patrol, the agency tasked with securing the nation’s frontiers and increasingly tapped by the Trump administration for immigration operations in American cities, announced his resignation Thursday. Michael Banks’ decision, announced in a Fox News interview and later confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security, is...
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Raul Castro’s grandson in Havana, U.S. and Cuban officials say
HAVANA — CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island Thursday, Cuban and U.S. officials said. Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation,...
Supreme Court preserves access to widely used abortion pill, while lawsuit plays out
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The court’s order allows women seeking abortions to continue obtaining the drug, mifepristone, at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person...
Justice Department accuses Yale medical school of illegally using race in admissions
The Justice Department on Thursday accused Yale University of illegally considering race in admissions to its medical school — the second institution to face discrimination allegations by the federal agency this month. In a letter to a lawyer for Yale, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said a...
Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel’s Hawaii trip included ‘VIP snorkel’ at a Pearl Harbor memorial
WASHINGTON — When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel...
Trump administration aims to relax limits on toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants
HARRISBURG — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved Thursday to relax limits that require coal-fired power plants to prevent the release of toxic heavy metals into streams and rivers, saying a three-year-old rule is unduly costly for the energy industry at a time when energy demand is spiking. It is...
Tensions flare near Strait of Hormuz as a ship is seized and another is sunk
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another — a cargo ship near Oman — sank after being attacked, authorities said Thursday, as tensions escalated near the Strait of Hormuz. It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind...
Trump administration pledges $1.8 billion more for UN humanitarian aid
UNITED NATIONS — The Trump administration on Thursday announced $1.8 billion in additional funding for U.N. humanitarian aid, saying the money will be earmarked for life-saving aid to victims of natural disasters, famine and “people who are truly in critical need.” The money will be allocated over the coming year...
Oklahoma’s Richard Glossip, who was nearly executed 3 times, granted bond while awaiting retrial
An Oklahoma judge on Thursday allowed former death row prisoner Richard Glossip to be released on bond while awaiting retrial over a 1997 killing that put him on the brink of execution three separate times. The decision clears the way for Glossip, 63, to leave a lockup for the first...
Vance touts work of his anti-fraud task force in visit to Maine ahead of primary election
BANGOR, Maine — Vice President JD Vance highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to combat fraud in a visit to Maine on Thursday ahead of the state’s primary elections for several high-profile races. The vice president, who was tapped by Trump to chair an anti-fraud task force, said misuse of government...
