Politics

A general view of residential areas near the Hsinchu Science Park, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Thursday,...

Trump administration reaches a trade deal to lower Taiwan’s tariff barriers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration reached a trade deal with Taiwan on Thursday, with Taiwan agreeing to remove or reduce 99% of its tariff barriers, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The agreement comes as the U.S. remains reliant on Taiwan for its production of computer chips, the exporting of which contributed […]
9 months ago
FILE - U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the United States District Court for the ...

Judge says US 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 started in March after President […]
9 months ago
From left, Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Rodney Scott, commi...

Trump immigration officials shown video of Minneapolis protester’s death in tense Senate hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The men tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda were made to watch a video of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in a slow, moment-by-moment analysis on Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul, who repeatedly cast doubt on the tactics used by federal officers and warned that the American […]
9 months ago
New York politicians and activists raise a rainbow flag on a pole in Christopher Park across the st...

NY officials raise rainbow flag at Stonewall in rebuke of Trump administration

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 flag near an existing […]
9 months ago
Apple CEO Tim Cook during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tue...

Trump’s FTC chairman chides Apple boss Tim Cook for content of Apple news feed

NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission has written to Apple chief Tim Cook to complain that the company “suppressed” content from conservative news outlets in the Apple News feed that it loads onto many of its devices. Chairman Andrew Ferguson said that while the FTC is not the “speech police,” […]
9 months ago

US Embassy closes DEA office in the Dominican Republic as it condemns corruption

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic said Thursday that she has closed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in the Caribbean country until further notice. Ambassador Leah F. Campos did not provide details except to say that corruption has no place in any government. “It is a disgusting […]
9 months ago
Artwork portraying Frederick Douglass rests on a table during a formal dedication of the House Pres...

House renames press gallery after Frederick Douglass in bipartisan recognition of Black history

WASHINGTON (AP) — The press gallery overlooking the U.S. House chamber has been renamed after the abolitionist, writer and presidential adviser Frederick Douglass in a bipartisan move brokered by Black lawmakers. The renaming of the press gallery, spearheaded by Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., was conceived over the last year after the congressman said he brainstormed […]
9 months ago
FILE - A pedestrian crosses the street in front of a car May 12, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Z...

EPA ends credits for automatic start-stop vehicle ignition, a feature Zeldin says ‘everyone hates’

DETROIT (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced an end Thursday to credits to automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles, a device intended to reduce emissions that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said “everyone hates.” In remarks with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House, Zeldin called start-stop technology the […]
9 months ago
FILE - An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portlan...

Top Trump antitrust official leaves post following disputes over big mergers

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 a year in the […]
9 months ago
FILE - Tourists flock to Mather Point at Grand Canyon National Park, Oct. 1, 2025, in Grand Canyon,...

Trump nominates a hospitality executive to lead the National Park Service

President Donald Trump has nominated for director of the National Park Service an executive from a hospitality company that holds extensive contracts with the agency he would lead. The nomination of Scott Socha late Wednesday follows widespread firings within the Park Service as part of efforts by Trump’s Republican administration to sharply reduce its size. […]
9 months ago
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Thu...

Homeland Security shutdown seems certain as funding talks between White House and Democrats stall

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 offers in recent days […]
9 months ago
FILE - Trucks come and go from the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center in the Florida...

Lawyers say access to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is still hard to get as a judge weighs the case

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for detainees at a state-run immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” said Thursday that they are still facing hurdles in getting access to their clients, despite state claims that those barriers have been removed. Two attorneys filed statements with a federal court in Fort Myers, […]
9 months ago
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks during a news conference at Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026...

Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly for call to resist unlawful orders

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed Thursday to temporarily 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 violated Kelly’s First Amendment free speech rights and “threatened the […]
9 months ago
People march during a rally in support of the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Hai...

Judge won’t pause ruling keeping in place temporary protections for Haitians in US

A federal judge on Thursday refused to pause her ruling blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary immigration protections for Haitians living in the United States. During the hearing in Washington, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes also addressed threats she had received since that decision Feb. 2. She read directly from profane emails and social […]
9 months ago

Top US prosecutor appointed to New York Albany office by judges is immediately ousted

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The appointment of Donald T. Kinsella as the federal government’s top prosecutor by federal judges in northern New York was dead on arrival when word reached Washington’s Justice Department headquarters. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, his smiling picture affixed to his social media feed, ensured that by announcing on Wednesday in […]
9 months ago
FILE - Campers' belongings sit outside one of Camp Mystic's cabins near the Guadalupe River, Monday...

Camp Mystic parents seek stronger camp regulations in other states

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When Patrick Marsh returned to the Bubble Inn cabin at Camp Mystic, he sat in the corner where his 8-year-old daughter Sarah’s bunk had been. The view out the window landed like a gut punch. Safety from the rising floodwater that took her life would have been just a short walk […]
9 months ago
Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin D-Md. Speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies bef...

Key Democrat accuses the Justice Department of ‘spying’ on lawmakers reviewing Epstein files

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Democrat is calling for a watchdog investigation after photographs emerged suggesting that the Justice Department has been tracking the search history of lawmakers who are reviewing files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdo...

Judge blocks Trump administration from moving former death row inmates to ‘Supermax’ prison

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring 20 inmates with commuted death sentences to the nation’s highest security federal prison. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled late Wednesday that the government cannot send the former death row inmates to the “Supermax” federal prison in Florence, Colorado, because it […]
9 months ago
FILE - Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears before the Senate Fina...

RFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here’s what the public doesn’t know anymore

NEW YORK (AP) — A year ago, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wanted to rebuild trust in federal health agencies, and vowed to employ “radical transparency” to do it. But many types of health information that steadily flowed from the government for years or decades has been delayed, deleted and in […]
9 months ago

Federal authorities announce an end to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to mass detentions, protests and two deaths is coming to an end, border czar Tom Homan said Thursday. “As a result of our efforts here Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,” Homan said at a news conference. “I have proposed and […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an event on coal power in the East Room at the White House, We...

The Latest: Trump’s immigration enforcement in cities is unpopular, AP-NORC poll shows

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with his tactics. Views of Trump’s handling of immigration — which fell over the course of his first year — […]
9 months ago
FILE - Observers film while federal agents conduct immigration enforcement operations Thursday, Feb...

Republicans’ edge on immigration shrinks as independents balk at Trump’s tactics, AP-NORC poll shows

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with his tactics. Views of Trump’s handling of immigration — which fell over the course of his […]
9 months ago
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second left, introduces United States Undersecretary of Defense ...

U.S. allies at NATO focus on Europe as the Trump administration steps back

BRUSSELS (AP) — European allies at NATO on Thursday brushed aside concerns that the United States has stepped back from its leadership role of the world’s biggest security organization, leaving them and Canada to do the lion’s share of defending Europe. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend Thursday’s gathering of defense ministers at […]
9 months ago
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at a Jewish community event in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, ...

Israeli president ends a fraught Australia visit to comfort Jews as Gaza war protests follow

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog was due to end a contentious four-day visit to Australia on Thursday that brought comfort to Sydney’s Jewish community traumatized by a recent antisemitic mass shooting, but also attracted large-scale demonstrations protesting the civilian toll of the Gaza war. Herzog has been dogged by protesters who label […]
9 months ago