NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with claims that white farmers are being targeted and killed in the country. Trump’s main evidence, compiled in a video shown during their Oval Office meeting: Speeches by a politician who was kicked out of Ramaphosa’s party, is not part […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency clashed with Democratic senators Wednesday, accusing one of being an “aspiring fiction writer” and saying another does not “care about wasting money.” Democrats countered that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s tenure will likely mean more Americans contracting lung cancer and other illnesses. The heated exchanges, at […]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that $365 million originally slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to improve the island’s crumbling power grid, sparking an outcry just days before the Atlantic hurricane season starts. The funds had been hanging in limbo in recent weeks, […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday struck down regulations requiring most U.S. employers to provide workers with time off and other accommodations for abortions. The ruling by U.S. District Judge David Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana was a victory for conservative lawmakers and religious groups who decried the Equal Employment […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered the pretrial detention of a man charged with stealing a purse from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem while she dined at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents. U.S. Magistrate Matthew Sharbaugh concluded after a hearing that the suspect, Mario Bustamante Leiva, must […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army on Wednesday started loading up some of the tanks that will take to the streets of the nation’s capital during the 250th anniversary celebration of the service next month, which will feature hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft and thousands of soldiers. The event has grown extensively in scope and […]
The U.S. Coast Guard is facing its largest readiness crisis since World War II, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday as she promised an overhaul of the service that she called the “point of the spear” in the nation’s defense. Noem, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement, outlined the Trump […]
A Louisiana lawmaker is facing criminal charges after striking a concrete barrier while allegedly driving impaired with his three children in the vehicle, state police said on Wednesday. Rep. Kyle M. Green Jr., a Democrat who represents a portion of south Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish, has been charged with a first-offense of driving while intoxicated, a […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The ruling Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ends the lawsuit brought by two of the three fired board members in February. The five-member board is an independent watchdog […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the president. […]
There’s no retreat or surrender from Bruce Springsteen — or from President Donald Trump, for that matter. The rock star released a digital EP on Wednesday with four songs recorded live in Manchester, England last week, along with two of his addresses to the audience that attacked Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” The Boss […]
NEW YORK (AP) — The head of Columbia University gave a commencement speech Wednesday acknowledging the absence of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was due to receive his diploma this week but is instead in a Louisiana jail facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. The brief address drew loud boos and chants […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for White House talks Wednesday at a moment when relations between the two countries are at a nadir, with Trump laying into South African officials on widely rejected charges of allowing a “genocide” against minority white farmers. South African officials have strongly […]
The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa, a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining that environmentalists oppose because they say it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems. The Department of Interior said […]
Bitcoin hit a new all-time high as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency reached price levels not seen since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The digital asset traded above $109,400 Wednesday morning, a huge increase from recent lows of about $75,000 last month. Several other cryptocurrencies have seen similar large gains in recent days. That includes Trump’s […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group. The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been central to President […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump’s tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. House committees have labored for months on the legislation, which exceeds 1,000 pages and is titled the “One […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas. The Treasury Department is targeting Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who allegedly oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for the cartel, and Ricardo […]
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department moved Wednesday to cancel a settlement with Minneapolis that called for an overhaul of its police department following the murder of George Floyd, as well as a similar agreement with Louisville, Kentucky, saying it doesn’t want to pursue the cases. Following a scathing report by the Justice Department in […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has ordered U.S. officials to appear at an emergency hearing Wednesday to answer questions about their apparent deportation of immigrants to South Sudan and other countries. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts ruled late Tuesday that the Trump administration must retain custody and control of those “currently being […]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, an outspoken Democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development to his populous Virginia district, died Wednesday. He was 75. Connolly, who most recently held a prominent position as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, served in Congress for […]
A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that U.S. officials must retain custody and control of migrants apparently removed to South Sudan in case he orders their removals were unlawful. Attorneys for immigrants said the Trump administration appears to have begun deporting people from Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan — despite a court order restricting […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat insisted Wednesday that Tehran will never stop enriching uranium, further underlining the Islamic Republic’s red line in negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi come after multiple rounds of talks between the two nations, including at […]
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey is set to have her first appearance in federal court Wednesday on assault charges stemming from immigration officials’ attempt to arrest the Newark mayor outside a detention facility. The interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, charged McIver, a twice-elected member of Congress, […]
