Politics

Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ July 18 The Washington Post says conspiracy theories abound when the government misleads For decades, the CIA downplayed the extent of its knowledge about Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities before he assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Documents newly unearthed by a House task force prove […]
1 year ago

NTSB: Heavy plane, drag from antlers contributed to crash that killed ex-Rep Mary Peltola’s husband

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A small plane that crashed in 2023 while carrying moose meat for hunters in remote western Alaska, killing the husband of former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, was overweight for takeoff and encountered drag from a set of antlers mounted outside, federal investigators said in a report released Tuesday. The National Transportation […]
1 year ago

What’s happening with forgiveness for student loans on income-based repayment plans?

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid a federal overhaul of student loan plans, many borrowers have been left wondering what it means for their hopes of loan forgiveness. In particular, those who are enrolled in a repayment plan known as income-based repayment, or IBR, have wondered if forgiveness will still be available to them. A recent […]
1 year ago

Florida signs $245 million in contracts for ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Here’s a look by the numbers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ administration has already signed contracts to pay at least $245 million to set up and run the new immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” according to a public database. The amount — to be fronted by Florida taxpayers — is in line with […]
1 year ago

Speaker Johnson refuses to allow Epstein vote as House set to recess early

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early for a month-long break from Washington after the week’s legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamoring for a vote. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said Tuesday morning that he […]
1 year ago

Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba faces uncertain future as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Alina Habba — who served as President Donald Trump’s defense lawyer and a White House counselor and has become one of the most high-profile U.S. attorneys in the country — could see her 120-day interim term as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor expire Tuesday. Habba, 41, could stay on in the […]
1 year ago

Georgia Ethics Commission won’t investigate source of Republican Burt Jones’ $10M loan

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s State Ethics Commission on Monday declined to investigate whether Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones broke state law when he loaned $10 million to a campaign committee after showing far less cash on an earlier financial disclosure. However, a request for a legal opinion on whether such loans are legal is still […]
1 year ago

Colbert jokes about ‘cancel culture’ and has a very pointed message for President Donald Trump

Stephen Colbert returned for his first full program after last week’s announcement that CBS was canceling his “Late Show” with some supportive late-night guests, a joke about cancel culture and an extremely pointed remark directed at President Donald Trump. “I’m going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture’s gone way too far,” Colbert said […]
1 year ago

Hunter Biden accuses George Clooney of undermining his father in 2024 presidential election

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter isn’t hiding his feelings about actor and Democratic Party donor George Clooney’s decision to call on the elder Biden to abandon his 2024 reelection bid. In a rare online interview, Hunter Biden used a string of expletives to describe Clooney when discussing the actor with Andrew […]
1 year ago

UN says booming solar, wind and other green energy hits global tipping point for ever lower costs

NEW YORK (AP) — The global switch to renewable energy has passed a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread, according to two United Nations reports released Tuesday, describing a bright spot amid otherwise gloomy progress to curb climate change. Last year, 74% of the growth in […]
1 year ago

Justice Department wants to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice wants to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, who was convicted of helping the financier sexually abuse underage girls and is now serving a lengthy prison sentence, a senior official said Tuesday. If Ghislaine Maxwell “has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the […]
1 year ago

The Latest: Trump deflects questions about Epstein files and revives old grievances

President Donald Trump on Tuesday deflected questions over the Justice Department’s decision to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of helping the financier sexually abuse underage girls and is now serving a lengthy prison sentence. Trump instead lashed out at old grievances following a new report from his intelligence director aimed […]
1 year ago

US says it’s leaving UN cultural agency UNESCO again, only 2 years after rejoining

PARIS (AP) — The United States announced Tuesday it will again pull out of the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias, only two years after rejoining. This will be the third time that the United States leaves UNESCO, which is based in Paris, and the second […]
1 year ago

In the Bronx, the nation’s poorest Congressional district, federal funding cuts create perfect storm

NEW YORK (AP) — On a sweltering summer day, children leap between rocks along the Bronx River while cyclists pedal on newly paved paths. Kayaks rest on what was once an industrial dumping ground, now transformed into a bustling promenade along the city’s only freshwater river. The Bronx River Greenway, a series of stitched-together waterfront […]
1 year ago

McDowell County, West Virginia, birthplace of food stamps, faces a disappearing safety net

For nonprofits in McDowell County, West Virginia, the federal cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act threaten a lifeline. Many of McDowell’s 17,000 residents rely on federal programs and the nonprofits they fund to get by. The county’s tax base and population have significantly declined since 1950, when McDowell was the top coal-producing county […]
1 year ago

Takeaways from AP’s report about cuts to government grants for nonprofits

President Donald Trump’s policies are poised to upend decades of partnerships the federal government has built with nonprofits to help people in their communities. Since the 1960s, presidential administrations from both parties have used taxpayer dollars to fund nonprofits to take on social problems and deliver services. A vast and interconnected set of federal grants […]
1 year ago

The government was once a steady partner for nonprofits. That’s changing

Dawn Price signs rent checks worth about $160,000 every month for 79 people that her nonprofit helps house in Laguna Beach, California. Usually, she logs into an online portal to withdraw enough from an account funded by a grant from the federal housing agency. But in February, she couldn’t. Access had been temporarily cut off […]
1 year ago

Trump and Philippine leader plan to talk tariffs and China at the White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday at the White House, as the two countries are seeking closer security and economic ties in the face of shifting geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region. Marcos, who met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on […]
1 year ago

There are many illegal marijuana farms, but federal agents targeted California’s biggest legal one

LOS ANGELES (AP) — There are thousands of illegal marijuana farms around the country. But when the federal government decided to stage one of its largest raids since President Donald Trump took office in January, it picked the biggest legal grower in California. Nearly two weeks later, the reason for the federal raid at two […]
1 year ago

US immigration says it did not deport Chilean man living in Pennsylvania, refuting report

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. immigration authorities on Monday denied reports that they detained or deported a Chilean man living in the country on a green card. The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reported that Luis Leon, 82, ended up in Guatemala after being handcuffed in a Philadelphia immigration office, where he went to replace his […]
1 year ago

Trump’s Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to deregulate workplaces

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances. If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would affect working conditions […]
1 year ago

Texas GOP lawmakers lead summer sprint to redraw US House maps and address deadly floods

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats showed up Monday for a special session but left open the possibility of walking out as a means to derail an unusual summer redrawing of U.S. House maps that would help protect Republicans’ slim majority in the 2026 elections. President Donald Trump wants Republicans in the coming weeks to […]
1 year ago

Banishing a reporter: Trump escalates battle with Wall Street Journal over Epstein story

President Donald Trump on Monday followed up his lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over last week’s Jeffrey Epstein story by banishing one of the newspaper’s reporters from Air Force One for an upcoming Scotland trip. The moves reflect Trump’s aggressiveness toward media who displease him — even a media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, with outlets […]
1 year ago

Budget office says Trump’s tax law will add $3.4 trillion to deficits, leave 10 million uninsured

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law will add $3.4 trillion to federal deficits through 2034, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday, a slight increase in the projection that takes into account the final tweaks that Republicans made before getting the legislation over the finish line. More than 10 million people will […]
1 year ago