Politics

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street after meeting Britain's Prime Minister Kei...

Johnson says no quick House vote to end partial shutdown and blames Democrats for their ICE demands

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday it will be a few days before a government funding package comes up for a vote, all but ensuring the partial federal shutdown will drag into the week as Democrats and Republicans debate reining in the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement operations. Johnson signaled he is […]
7 months ago

5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and father return to Minnesota from Texas detention facility

A 5-year-old boy and his father detained by immigration officers in Minnesota and held in Texas have been released following a judge’s order. They have returned to Minnesota, according to the office of Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro. The two were detained in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility […]
7 months ago
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as Hamtramck Mayor Amer...

Trump’s failed bid to elevate an Arab American ally shows cracks in his political coalition

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Donald Trump won his comeback campaign, he credited the mayor of a small Detroit suburb with helping him make inroads with Michigan’s Arab American community. As a reward, Trump nominated Amer Ghalib to serve as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. But Ghalib is not on his way to the oil-rich nation in […]
7 months ago
A protester holds American flag while waving at motorists Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, from an overpas...

What a swing House district in Colorado shows about Republicans’ immigration fallout in the midterms

GREELEY, Colo (AP) — Like many Donald Trump voters, Miranda Niedermeier is not opposed to immigration enforcement. She was heartened by initial moves from the Republican president in his second term that she saw as targeting immigrants who were in the United States illegally and had committed crimes. But Niedermeier, 35, has steadily become disillusioned […]
7 months ago
Samsam Khalif plays with children at her home-based child care center Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in San...

Right-wing influencers are targeting Somali child care centers, leaving some fearing for safety

It all began after a viral video alleging fraud in Somali-run child care centers in Minneapolis: strangers peering through windows, right-wing journalists showing up outside homes, influencers hurling false accusations. In San Diego, child care provider Samsam Khalif was shuttling kids to her home-based center when she was spooked by two men with a camera […]
7 months ago
Angelique Roche, author of an upcoming Book "First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth," ...

Black history centennial channels angst over anti-DEI climate into education, free resources

For academics, historians and activists, the past year has been tumultuous in advocating the teaching of Black history in the United States. Despite last year proclaiming February as National Black History Month, President Donald Trump started his second term by claiming some African American history lessons are meant to indoctrinate people into hating the country. […]
7 months ago

Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas state Senate on Saturday, flipping a reliably Republican district that President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024. Rehmet, a labor union leader and veteran, defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist, in the Fort Worth-area district. With almost […]
7 months ago
A protester sits on the street with his arms up in front of federal agents in Minneapolis, on Satur...

In Minneapolis, all-encompassing immigration story tests a newsroom in midst of digital transition

With the eyes of a nation fixed on the unrest in Minneapolis, the events haven’t left local journalists overmatched. Over the past month, the Minnesota Star Tribune has broken stories, including the identity of the immigration enforcement officer who shot Renee Good, and produced a variety of informative and instructive pieces. Richard Tsong-Taatarii’s ICE actions […]
7 months ago
FILE - Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Offi...

From Elon Musk to the former Prince Andrew, a who’s who of powerful men are named in Epstein files

NEW YORK (AP) — From tech titans to Wall Street power brokers and British royalty, a who’s who of powerful men make appearances in the huge Jeffrey Epstein. Many have denied having close ties to the late financier, or at least having anything to do with his alleged sexual abuse of girls and young women […]
7 months ago
From left, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Labor Secretary L...

Trump says feds won’t intervene during protests in Democratic-led cities unless asked to do so

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration’s immigration crackdown. On his social media site, Trump posted that “under no circumstances are […]
7 months ago
Government supporters carry a cutout of former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores ...

US ambassador arrives in Venezuela to reopen diplomatic mission after 7 years

CARACAS (AP) — U.S. Ambassador Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas on Saturday to reopen the American diplomatic mission in Venezuela after seven years of severed ties. The move comes almost one month after a military action ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump removed the South American country’s then-leader Nicolás Maduro from office. “My team and […]
7 months ago
FILE - Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant listens to oral arguments for a case cha...

Utah governor signs bill adding justices to state Supreme Court as redistricting appeal looms

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Saturday that expands the state Supreme Court from five justices to seven as frustration has mounted among Republican lawmakers over a string of defeats before the tribunal. Advocates for the change argued that it would help improve the court’s efficiency, but legal experts […]
7 months ago

Judge orders US to release 5-year-old and dad taken into custody in Minnesota crackdown

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A judge on Saturday ordered the U.S. to release a 5-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb last month. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack being surrounded by U.S. Immigration and […]
7 months ago

In the latest Epstein files are famous names and new details about an earlier investigation

NEW YORK (AP) — Newly disclosed government files on Jeffrey Epstein are offering more details about his interactions with the rich and famous after he served time for sex crimes in Florida, and on how much investigators knew about his abuse of underage girls when they decided not to indict him on federal charges nearly […]
7 months ago

Louisiana authorities say they’ve captured all 8 inmates who escaped from a jail

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. (AP) — Louisiana authorities say all eight inmates who escaped from a rural jail were captured less than 24 hours after they were reported missing. Officials have not said how the escape unfolded from the Riverbend Detention Center in Lake Providence, located in East Carroll Parish — a rural area that borders […]
7 months ago
A person holds a sign, during an Anti-ICE demonstration, ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Mila...

Demonstrators in Milan protest ICE unit at Winter Olympics, criticizing ‘creeping fascism’

MILAN (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of ICE agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, unbothered by the fact that agents would be stationed in a control room and not operating on the streets. The protest in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named for the date of Italy’s […]
7 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 3...

Trump moved fast to cut a funding deal. It’s a striking change from the last shutdown fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to try and avert a lengthy government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding, a sharp departure from last year’s record standoff, when he refused to budge for weeks. Some Republicans are frustrated with the deal, raising the possible of a […]
7 months ago

The Latest: Huge cache of Epstein documents includes his emails with wealthy and powerful

NEW YORK (AP) — A huge new tranche of files on millionaire financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has revealed details of his communications with the wealthy and powerful, some not long before he died by suicide in 2019. The Justice Department said it was disclosing more than 3 million pages of documents, as well […]
7 months ago
The U.S. Capitol is photographed Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)Credit:...

What to know about the partial government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The partial government shutdown is vastly different from the record closure in the fall. That is mostly because this shutdown, which started Saturday, does not include the whole of government and may not last long, even as it now drags into the new week. The House had hoped to pass funding legislation […]
7 months ago
This undated photo provided by shows Sabrina Morley shows Sabrina Morley and Steven Devereaux in Sp...

The Carolinas emerge as new population boom states. Affordability and lifestyle drive growth

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Move over Floridaand Texas. The United States has new hot spots for growth, and they both have Carolina in their name. North Carolina last year attracted more new residents, 84,000 people, from other parts of the country than any other state, a title held by Texas in 2024 and Florida in […]
7 months ago
FILE - Democratic 18th Congressional District candidate Christian Menefee greets voters near a poll...

Democrats Menefee and Edwards compete for a House seat that will narrow GOP’s slim majority

Democrats Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards are competing Saturday for a vacant U.S. House seat from Houston, a special election that will narrow the GOP’s already slim House majority. Voters are deciding a runoff between Menefee, the Harris County attorney, and Edwards, a former Houston City Council member. The winner will replace the late Democratic […]
7 months ago
First lady Melania Trump arrives for the premiere of her movie "Melania" at The John F. Kennedy Mem...

From stilettos to safety concerns on Inauguration Day: 4 takeaways from Melania Trump’s new movie

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new documentary “Melania” opens on a close-up of the trademark stilettos of first lady Melania Trump as she walks the halls of Mar-a-Lago, her Palm Beach home, in early January 2025, following her as she climbs into a dark SUV for the short drive to the airport and a flight aboard […]
7 months ago
Hiring sign is displayed at a grocery store in Arlington Heights, Ill., Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (...

Trump nominates government economist to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that 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 that the Bureau of Labor Statistics sought […]
7 months ago
FILE- Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Ro...

Judge blocks additional citizenship provisions in latest setback to Trump’s election executive order

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge on 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, giving states and […]
7 months ago