Politics

FILE - Traffic enters lower Manhattan after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Feb. 8, 2024, in New York...

New York’s congestion toll into Manhattan upheld by a federal judge over Trump’s objections

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to halt New York’s first-in-the-nation congestion fee meant to reduce traffic and pump revenue into the region’s aging transit system. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation lacked the authority to unilaterally rescind approval […]
8 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Of...

Trump threatens to cut off trade with Spain after it disallowed US use of joint bases in Iran war

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end trade with Spain, citing a lack of support over the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the European nation’s resistance to increase its NATO spending. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with […]
8 months ago
Smoke rises up behind Azadi, or freedom tower, following a U.S.-Israeli military strike in Tehran, ...

Iran war taxes US diplomatic work and leaves Americans in the Mideast in limbo

WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest U.S. diplomatic drawdown in the Middle East since the Iraq War began more than two decades ago is creating an apparently unplanned-for crisis for the Trump administration as the United States and Israel strike Iran in a widening conflict. The State Department has been forced to close several embassies to […]
8 months ago
A banner showing President Donald Trump is hung from the Department of Justice, Thursday, Feb. 19, ...

After abandoning law firm executive orders, Trump administration reverses course and pursues fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after abandoning its efforts to enforce executive orders that targeted some of the world’s most elite law firms, President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly reversed course on Tuesday and said it would proceed with the court fight. The unexplained about-face represents the latest development in a yearlong effort by the Republican […]
8 months ago
The U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, speaks with reporters during a news conference at th...

Courtroom ‘testy and frosty’ exchanges highlight wave of confrontations between judges, prosecutors

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge clashed Tuesday with Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor in what he called a series of “testy and frosty” exchanges, in an unusual contempt hearing that highlights a growing wave of confrontations across the U.S. between increasingly frustrated judges and Department of Justice officials. U.S. Attorney for the District […]
8 months ago
FILE - New York Attorney General Letitia James attends a news conference, Dec. 15, 2025, in New Yor...

NY attorney general demands hospital resume gender-affirming treatment for trans youth

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is ordering one of Manhattan’s largest hospitals to resume providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, weeks after the hospital ended such treatments amid funding threats from the federal government. In a letter sent to NYU Langone, the attorney general’s office said the hospital’s decision to […]
8 months ago
FILE - The Ticketmaster logo is seen along the sideline of the field before an NFL football game, S...

Justice Department lawyer says concert ticket industry is broken because of Ticketmaster

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Justice Department lawyer told jurors at a civil antitrust trial Tuesday that the concert industry is broken because Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation Entertainment have monopolized the market, driving up prices for consumers, but the companies say the government’s wrong. David Dahlquist, an attorney with the Justice Department’s […]
8 months ago

Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ March 2 The Washington Post says DHS remains unfunded despite heightened terror threat As America’s conflict with Iran continues, the Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement about the heightened risk of lone wolf attacks. Yet the agency tasked with keeping Americans safe […]
8 months ago
FILE - An election judge arranges "I Vote, I Count" stickers on a table in the Marion County Clerks...

The Latest: Primary voters head to the polls in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas

The midterm elections officially begin Tuesday with primaries in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas. As war with Iran breaks out, Democrats and Republicans are figuring out who they want to lead their party into November’s general election, when control of Congress and statehouses around the country will be up for grabs. The most hotly contested […]
8 months ago
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as th...

Starmer says Britain is sending a warship to Cyprus after drone strike on UK base

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that Britain is sending a warship and helicopters to Cyprus after a drone hit a U.K. base there. Starmer said he had told the island’s president that the U.K. is deploying helicopters with counter-drone capabilities and the air-defense destroyer HMS Dragon to the region. It comes […]
8 months ago
A display in the arrivals terminal of the Henri Coanda International Airport shows cancelled flight...

Tens of thousands of people are stranded in the Middle East as Iran war complicates routes home

BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people, from Romanian religious pilgrims to tourists and diplomats’ family members, are stranded across the Middle East as the Iran war spreads throughout the region. Major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region, and airspace across the Gulf is closed. Some of those who are stuck […]
8 months ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to press Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz....

Noem will testify in the Senate in her first appearance since 2 Minneapolis protesters’ deaths

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is set to testify Tuesday in the Senate, her first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump administration was executing its mass deportation agenda. Noem’s appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes on the […]
8 months ago
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks during a Senate Homeland Committee hearing on Capit...

Minnesota sues to block Trump administration’s withholding of Medicaid funds

Minnesota on Monday sued President Donald Trump’s administration in an attempt to stop it from withholding $243 million in Medicaid spending, warning it may have to cut health care for low-income families if the funding is held back. The lawsuit asked a U.S. court in Minneapolis to issue a temporary restraining order to block the […]
8 months ago
FILE - Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill i...

GOP congressman enters Texas primary fighting to keep his job after allegations of an affair

Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas sought to fend off a primary challenge Tuesday that comes as he faces calls to resign following allegations of an affair with an aide, who later died after setting herself on fire. Gonzales, who has said he won’t step down, entered the nation’s first big primary of 2026 […]
8 months ago
Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper, who is running for U.S. Senate, speaks to reporters after castin...

North Carolina primary could mean Roy Cooper vs Michael Whatley in pivotal fall Senate race

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s primary will be the official starting gun for one of the country’s most closely watched U.S. Senate campaigns, likely pitting former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper against former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. Each candidate is the most high-profile contender for their party’s nomination, which should be sealed on […]
8 months ago
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, greets supporters du...

A mess in Texas? What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries

NEW YORK (AP) — The 2026 midterm season begins in earnest on Tuesday with two of the nation’s most consequential Senate primaries playing out in Texas, a political behemoth that Democrats have been fighting to flip for decades. Is this the year? Republican leaders in Washington openly fret that a victory by conservative firebrand Ken […]
8 months ago
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in The Woodlands, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 28...

Texas GOP Sen. Cornyn tries to hold his seat while Democrats Crockett, Talarico face off for Senate

DALLAS (AP) — Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn is trying to hold on for a fifth term in Tuesday’s GOP primary, while Democrats will choose whether to send Rep. Jasmine Crockett or state Rep. James Talarico to a November general election where the party once again hopes it has a chance. Texas is one of […]
8 months ago
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, addresses supporters...

War in Iran jolts final day of campaigning in Texas primary

WACO, Texas (AP) — Candidates in Texas’ tightly competitive U.S. Senate primary were treading carefully in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, with some giving the war a glancing mention in the final hours of campaigning before Tuesday’s election. Others didn’t raise it at all. Asked about the strikes Monday, Republican candidates and […]
8 months ago
FILE - U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino walks with federal agents outside a convenience stor...

Minnesota launches investigation that could bring charges against federal immigration officers

A Minnesota prosecutor announced an investigation Monday that may lead to charges against federal officers, including Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, for misconduct during an immigration enforcement crackdown. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a news conference that her office is already looking into 17 cases, including one where Bovino threw a smoke canister […]
8 months ago
FILE - The Supreme Court is photographed, Feb. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)C...

Supreme Court blocks law against schools outing transgender students to their parents in California

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group. The order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns […]
8 months ago
President Donald Trump arrives for a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, M...

Trump takes unconventional approach to communicating to the public about its war in Iran

Typical of an unconventional presidency, the Trump administration waited more than 48 hours to make any live, public communication to the American people about why it had decided to go to war with Iran. President Donald Trump discussed why he launched the attack prior to a White House ceremony honoring military heroes on Monday but […]
8 months ago
Matt Bennett of Third Way speaks during the "Winning the Middle" conference Monday, March 2, 2026, ...

Democratic moderates warn that leaning too far left in midterms sets up presidential loss in 2028

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Across the country, progressives are lighting a fire that they hope will catapult Democrats back to power in Congress this year. But here in a hotel ballroom, the party’s beleaguered moderates have another message — not so fast. Leaders at Third Way’s conference talked over and over about how Democrats can’t […]
8 months ago
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Wa...

Democrats’ newfound unity faces a test after US and Israeli strikes on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Democrats demoralized at being shut out of power in Washington, the past several months have offered reason for optimism. A party often beset by ideological division has largely been unified in opposition to President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration tactics, particularly after two U.S. citizens were killed in Minneapolis. Heading into a […]
8 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks about Iran before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the W...

Trump pushes back on mounting criticism about his Iran war battle plan as conflict spreads

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday pushed back against mounting criticism that he hasn’t done enough to explain why it was necessary to start a war with Iran now or to articulate his vision for an endgame to the escalating conflict. The frustration is coming not just from the political left but also […]
8 months ago