U.S./World category, Page 26
Judge says U.S. must help bring back a handful of Venezuelans deported to notorious prison
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to make arrangements to allow some of the Venezuelan migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador to return to the U.S. at the government’s expense. The case has been a legal flashpoint in the administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. It...
New York officials raise rainbow flag at Stonewall in rebuke of Trump administration
NEW YORK — New York politicians defiantly raised a rainbow flag Thursday at the Stonewall National Monument amid a boisterous, cheering crowd, rebuking the Trump administration for removing the well-known symbol of pride from the LGBTQ+ landmark. “We did it,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal after helping raise the...
Top Trump antitrust official leaves post following disputes over big mergers
NEW YORK — The top antitrust official in the Trump administration is leaving her post amid tension about greenlighting big mergers in recent months. Gail Slater, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for antitrust, posted on X Thursday that it was with “great sadness” that she was leaving after just...
Trump’s EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned U.S. fight against climate change
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the president to roll back climate regulations. The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency...
Homeland Security shutdown seems certain as funding talks between White House and Democrats stall
WASHINGTON — A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over Democrats’ demands for new restrictions had stalled. Democrats and the White House have traded...
Judge blocks Pentagon from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly for call to resist unlawful orders
WASHINGTON — A federal judge agreed Thursday to block the Pentagon from punishing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that Pentagon officials not only violated Kelly’s First Amendment free...
Oklahoma carries out its 1st execution of 2026 on a man convicted of double killing
McALESTER, Okla. — A man who admitted to killing two men in a drive-by shooting in 2006 was put to death Thursday in Oklahoma’s first execution of the year. Kendrick Simpson, 45, was pronounced dead at 11:19 following a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, prison officials...
Border czar hails a ‘safer’ Minnesota as he says the state’s immigration crackdown is over
MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration is ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan said Thursday of the two-month operation that led to thousands of arrests, angry mass protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The operation, which the Department of Homeland Security called its “...
2 Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid dock in Cuba as U.S. blockade sparks energy crisis
HAVANA — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. The ships arrived two weeks after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to Cuba, prompting the island in recent days...
Vatican offers dialogue with breakaway Latin Mass traditionalist group, but with a catch
ROME — The Vatican warned a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group on Thursday that it risked going into schism if it goes ahead with plans to consecrate new bishops without papal consent, setting a hard line against a big doctrinal challenge facing Pope Leo XIV. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of...
EU leaders meet to counter pressure from Russia, China and Trump
BILZEN-HOESELT, Belgium — Leaders from across the European Union are meeting Thursday in a Belgian castle as the 27-nation bloc faces antagonism from U.S. President Donald Trump, strong-arm economic tactics from China and hybrid threats from Russia — challenges that have prompted a rethink of Europe’s approach to diplomacy and...
Indian unions and farmers stage a nationwide strike over interim trade deal with U.S.
NEW DELHI — A coalition of major trade unions and farmers’ groups in India mounted a nationwide strike Thursday to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers. In parliament, lawmakers from opposition political parties demanded that...
Timeline: Here’s what happened each day of the Nancy Guthrie disappearanceVideo
Authorities have increased the reward for information in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who they say was abducted from her home outside Tucson. Law enforcement officials have been combing the desert around her house and going door-to-door asking residents for any information that could break open the case. An alert...
Search for Nancy Guthrie now seeks nearby security videos from the month before she vanishedVideo
TUCSON, Ariz. — Investigators in Arizona want residents near Nancy Guthrie ‘s home to share surveillance camera footage of suspicious cars or people they may have noticed in the month before she disappeared. The alert went across a 2-mile radius in neighborhoods close to where the mother of “Today” show...
Kennedy Center head warns staff of cuts and ‘skeletal’ staffing during renovation closure
As the Trump administration prepares to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation, the head of Washington’s performing arts center has warned its staff about impending cuts that will leave “skeletal teams.” In a Tuesday memo obtained by The Associated Press, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told staff that...
Gallup ending presidential approval ratings as Trump’s sinks below 40%
Gallup has scrapped its presidential approval tracking polls for good just as President Donald Trump hits rock bottom in its numbers. The venerable public opinion firm announced Wednesday that it would no longer publish any approval or favorability ratings of any political figures, but suggested the decision has nothing to...
A privacy breach at the IRS: Taxpayer data wrongly shared with DHS, court filing says
WASHINGTON — The IRS erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security, as part of the agencies’ controversial agreement to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S, according to a new court filing. The...
Florida state official acknowledges opioid money funded anti-weed campaign
For the first time on Wednesday, the DeSantis administration acknowledged that it used opioid settlement money to campaign against a recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot. Shevaun Harris, the secretary for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, made the admission during an appearance before a Senate committee as part...
Member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission ousted in dispute over antisemitism
A member of the federal Religious Liberty Commission has been ousted after a hearing this week that featured tense exchanges on the definition of antisemitism. The ousted member, Carrie Prejean Boller, had defended prominent commentator Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories. Prejean Boller, a model turned conservative activist,...
Deluzio says Trump administration abused its power in probe of ‘illegal orders’ video
Lawmakers targeted by the Justice Department after releasing a video telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders said Wednesday they haven’t ruled out taking action against the Trump administration for “weaponizing the government” against them. “I’m not going to litigate and share our legal strategy here,” U.S....
Lawyers of Chicago woman shot by federal agents say documents show how DHS lies about investigationsVideo
CHICAGO — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino praised a federal agent who shot a Chicago woman during an immigration crackdown last year, according to evidence released Wednesday by attorneys who accused the Trump administration of mishandling the investigation and spreading lies about the shooting. Marimar Martinez, a teaching assistant and...
Pam Bondi clashes with Democrats as she struggles to turn the page on Epstein files furorVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a passionate defense of President Donald Trump Wednesday as she tried to turn the page from relentless criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, repeatedly shouting at Democrats during a combative hearing in which she postured herself as...
Russia says it will stick to New START’s nuclear arms limits as long as U.S. does
MOSCOW — Moscow will observe the limits of the last nuclear arms pact with the United States that expired last week as long as it sees that Washington is doing the same, Russia’s top diplomat said Wednesday. The New START treaty expired Feb. 5, leaving no restrictions on the two...
Potential conflicts over celebrating America’s 250th anniversary spill out in congressional hearing
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Tuesday accused the Trump administration of trying to hijack plans to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary and using the nonprofit National Park Foundation to solicit money from private donors for some of the president’s pet projects, including the massive arch he wants to build in the...
The economy is booming. So why is the job market lagging?
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy is on a tear. So why is the American job market limping behind? The Labor Department is expected to report Wednesday that companies, government agencies and nonprofits added 75,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. That would...
