Erin Casey's Blog

Week 24

6/30/25 

Trump unveils $249 ‘Trump Fragrances’President Trump began hawking a new business venture on Monday: Official Trump fragrances that retail for hundreds of dollars per 3.3-ounce bottle.“These are only official Fragrances by President Trump!” the GetTrumpFragrances.com website reads, noting it’s also the only official place to purchase them.“Trump Fragrances are here. They’re called ‘Victory 45-47’ because they’re all about Winning, Strength, and Success — For men and women,” he wrote Monday evening. “Get yourself a bottle, and don’t forget to get one for your loved ones too.”“Enjoy, have fun, and keep winning!” the president added.https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5378452-trump-launches-victory-fragrances/DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenshipThe Justice Department is aggressively prioritizing efforts to strip some Americans of their U.S. citizenship.Department leadership is directing its attorneys to prioritize denaturalization in cases involving naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes — and giving U.S. attorneys wider discretion on when to pursue this tactic, according to a June 11 memo published online. The move is aimed at U.S. citizens who were not born in the country; according to data from 2023, close to 25 million immigrants were naturalized citizens.At least one person has already been denaturalized in recent weeks. On June 13, a judge ordered the revocation of the citizenship of Elliott Duke, who uses they/them pronouns. Duke is an American military veteran originally from the U.K. who was convicted for distributing child sexual abuse material — something they later admitted they were doing prior to becoming a U.S. citizen.Denaturalization is a tactic that was heavily used during the McCarthy era of the late 1940s and the early 1950s and one that was expanded during the Obama administration and grew further during President Trump’s first term. It’s meant to strip citizenship from those who may have lied about their criminal convictions or membership in illegal groups like the Nazi party, or communists during McCarthyism, on their citizenship applications.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/30/nx-s1-5445398/denaturalization-trump-immigration-enforcement 

7/1/25

US Senate Republicans narrowly pass Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ billAfter hours of stalemate, Republicans in the US Senate have narrowly passed Donald Trump’s mega-bill on tax and spending, meaning the proposed legislation has cleared one of its key hurdles.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed with Vice-President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote after more than 24 hours of debate.It now heads back to the House, or lower chamber, where it still faces more opposition. An earlier version was cleared by House Republicans by a single-vote margin.Trump had given the Republican-controlled Congress a deadline of 4 July to send him a final version of the bill to sign into law.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyzzzdj15vo Trump visits ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, the next step in his immigration crackdownUS President Donald Trump has visited the new Florida detention centre dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”, where around 3,000 migrants are expected to be held as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration.While touring the facility in the Florida Everglades, Trump said it will soon hold the most “menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet”.The administration said alligators, crocodiles and pythons in the surrounding wetlands would keep detainees from escaping.Some state lawmakers, the local mayor, environmental groups and neighbours oppose its construction, saying it could harm an important ecosystem.“We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation,” Trump said on the tour.He added that he “wouldn’t want to run through the Everglades for long” and that anyone who attempted to do so would be met by “a lot of cops in the form of alligators”.The facility is designed to hold 3,000 detainees, with the first expected to arrive as soon as Wednesday. A second facility – meant to house 2,000 people – is going to be built near Jacksonville.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2zzdmrd9qo Laura Loomer, and other MAGA, post heartless tweets regarding Alligator AlcatrazFlorida GOP sells ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ merchandise ahead of Trump visitThe Florida Republican Party is selling merchandise touting the Florida migrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” ahead of President Trump’s visit to the site on Tuesday. The state party is selling men’s and women’s T-shirts retailing for $30, as well as baseball hats going for $27 and beverage coolers for $15. Trump is set to visit the detention facility with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), whom Trump has endorsed for governor next year. “We’re going out to Alligator Alcatraz. It’s an East Coast version,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “It should be very exciting, very good. We worked very hard on it with Ron and everybody, and I think it’s going to be great.” The site includes soft-sided holding units for hundreds of detainees through a partnership in which the federal government will provide the funding. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has overseen its build-out and management. Additional holding units will be added through next month, under the agreement.https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5378520-florida-republican-party-merchandise-migrant-facility/

7/2/25 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia says he was beaten and subjected to psychological torture in El Salvador jailKilmar Abrego Garcia said he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador prison the Trump administration had deported him to in March, according to court documents filed Wednesday.He said he was kicked and hit so often after arrival that by the following day, he had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. He said he and 20 others were forced to kneel all night long and guards hit anyone who fell.Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported and became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The new details of Abrego Garcia’s incarceration in El Salvador were added to a lawsuit against the Trump administration that Abrego Garcia’s wife filed in Maryland federal court after he was deported.The Trump administration has asked a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it is now moot because the government returned him to the United States as ordered by the court.https://apnews.com/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-mistake-salvadoran-prison-40ce4ab7e93517e018715943afa0464e ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Floods Within Day of OpeningThe new migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” faced minor flooding within a day of it opening.President Donald Trump visited the center in the Everglades, Florida, on Tuesday to mark its opening.After he left, a storm caused about an inch and a half of rain to fall on the facility, according to estimates from the National Weather Service in Miami.https://www.newsweek.com/alligator-alcatraz-flooded-opening-day-donald-trump-migrant-detention-center-2093581 Paramount will pay $16 million in settlement with Trump over ’60 Minutes’ interviewNEW YORK (AP) — In a case that became a closely-watched test of whether a corporation would back its journalists and stand up to President Donald Trump, Paramount Global decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS’ storied “60 Minutes” news program.Aftereffects of the deal are likely to linger. Journalists were infuriated Wednesday and a senator wants to investigate whether bribery laws were broken. The company was hoping to put the issue to rest as it seeks administration approval of a merger.https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-harris-minutes-paramount-6415042fe910ae60b432dd8c73ef61b2

7/3/25

200 Marines sent to Florida to support ICE, U.S. Northern Command saysAround 200 Marines are heading to Florida to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities, U.S. Northern Command said Thursday, noting that it was the “first wave” of the organization’s planned support for ICE operations in several states.Service members from Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 will “focus on administrative and logistical tasks” and are “specifically prohibited from direct contact with individuals in ICE custody or involvement in any aspect of the custody chain,” the command said in a statement.The service members, who are coming from North Carolina, will perform case management duties, provide logistical support like vehicle maintenance, and help process detainees at ICE facilities, such as inputting biographical and detention data in Department of Homeland Security data systems, according to Becky Farmer, a Northern Command spokeswoman.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/07/04/marines-deploy-florida-ice-operations/ What to know about Julio César Chávez Jr.’s arrest by U.S. immigration officialsLOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. immigration officials have arrested famous Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. — days after his high-profile fight with Jake Paul — for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application, officials said Thursday.Chávez was detained in front of his home on Wednesday and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, authorities said.https://apnews.com/article/julio-cesar-chavez-arrest-ice-immigration-boxer-mexican-33177521bd54b1fcfd53c28b4a9c3705 Congress passes Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ cutting taxes and spendingThe US Congress has passed Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending bill in a significant and hard-fought victory for the president and his domestic agenda.After a gruelling session on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 214 on Thursday afternoon. It was approved in the Senate on Tuesday by one vote.Trump had given the Republican-controlled Congress a deadline of 4 July to send him a final version of the bill to sign into law.The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could add $3.3tn (£2.4tn) to federal deficits over the next 10 years and leave millions without health coverage – a forecast that the White House disputes.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddz3n6vz0go 

7/4/25

Trump signs sweeping tax and spending bill into lawUS President Donald Trump has signed his landmark policy bill into law, a day after it was narrowly passed by Congress.The signing event at the White House on Friday afternoon enacts key parts of the Trump agenda including tax cuts, spending boosts for defence and the immigration crackdown.There was a celebratory atmosphere at the White House as Trump signed the bill ahead of Independence Day fireworks and a military picnic attended by the pilots who recently flew into Iran to strike three nuclear sites.Trump told supporters it will unleash economic growth, but he must now convince sceptical Americans as polling suggests many disapprove of parts of the bill.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvjlj3n1vmo ICE agents seen urinating on grounds of California school, officials say(KTLA) – School surveillance cameras captured nearly a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents urinating on storage containers near a playground after trespassing on the California school’s property, officials in Pico Rivera said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The incident, according to members of the El Rancho Unified School District (ERUSD), occurred on June 17 after an estimated 10 marked and unmarked vehicles carrying agents entered and parked on the campus of Ruben Salazar High School.  https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5383709-ice-agents-urinated-california-school-grounds-dhs-noem-trump-immigration/ White House to host UFC fight, Trump announcesThe White House will host a UFC bout next year as part of events to mark 250 years of American independence, US President Donald Trump has announced.The event will be a “championship fight” with an audience of 20,000-25,000, Trump told a crowd in Iowa on Thursday.The president, who is a friend of UFC president Dana White, said: “We are going to have some incredible events, some professional events, some amateur events.”Trump has attended several UFC events, including UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, last month, where he was pictured watching a fight with White.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mzxz1m9meo

7/5/25

Musk forms new party after split with Trump over tax and spending billBRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — Elon Musk said he’s carrying out his threat to form a new political party after his fissure with President Donald Trump, announcing the America Party in response to the president’s sweeping tax cuts law.Musk, once an ever-present ally to Trump as he headed up the slashing agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency, broke with the Republican president over his signature legislation, which was signed into law Friday.As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk threatened to form the “America Party” if “this insane spending bill passes.”https://www.npr.org/2025/07/06/g-s1-76292/musk-political-party-americaTexas floods leave at least 51 dead, 27 girls missing as rescuers search devastated landscapeKERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Rescuers scoured a devastated central Texas landscape of mangled trees, overturned cars and muck-filled debris Saturday in an increasingly bleak mission to locate survivors, including 27 girls who have not been seen since their camp was slammed with a wall of water in a historic flash flood.The flooding in Kerr County killed at least 43 people, including 15 children, and at least eight people died in nearby counties.Authorities still have not said how many people were missing beyond the children from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.https://apnews.com/article/texas-floods-missing-hill-country-5044c169b59921b2b4f65a2568c354c0 

7/6/25

Death toll nears 80 as local officials promise ‘full review’ of what went wrongAt least 78 people died in the floods that swept through a region of Central Texas known as “Flash Flood Alley,” touching off a frantic search-and-rescue operation for countless missing people, including 10 girls from a beloved summer camp on the Guadalupe River. Amid questions about evacuation orders, Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice, whose municipality is one of the hardest-hit areas, told reporters that local and regional authorities were “committed to a full review” of the disaster and would take “clear steps to strengthen our future preparedness.” Texas officials said the search would continue into Sunday evening, even as flash flood warnings and watches remain in effect well into the night. Twenty-eight children are confirmed to be among the dead, and authorities expect the toll to rise.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/07/06/texas-flooding-camp-mystic-kerrville-kerr/Donald Trump Signs Disaster Declaration for Deadly Texas FloodsPresident Donald Trump on Sunday approved a “Major Disaster Declaration” for the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country, he announced on Truth Social.The declaration comes as rescue and recovery operations enter a third day following the devastating floods.Why It MattersCatastrophic flooding struck central Texas on Friday as the Guadalupe River surged by more than 20 to 26 feet within 90 minutes, causing widespread devastation and forcing mass evacuations in Texas Hill Country.The deadly floods have taken the lives of at least 80 people across Central Texas, CNN reports.The Trump administration is building a national citizenship systemThe Trump administration has built a searchable national citizenship data system. The tool is designed to be used by state and local election officials to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/30/nx-s1-5450364/the-trump-administration-is-building-a-national-citizenship-systemImmigrants with no criminal convictions represent sharpest growth in ICE detention populationPresident Trump is enacting a mass deportation campaign promised to be the largest in U.S. history. New data is giving a clearer picture of exactly what that looks like: at least 56,000 immigrants are being held in ICE detention.According to the Deportation Data Project, a group that collects immigration numbers, about half the people in detention don’t have criminal convictions. That’s close to 30,000 people in detention, without a criminal record — the group that has grown the most in recent months.“You listen to Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, they’re saying things like they are going after the worst of the worst, the people who are murderers,” says UCLA Professor Graeme Blair, referring to President Trump’s ‘Border czar’ Tom Homan and key White House Aide Stephen Miller. “That’s just not what the data says about the people that they are actually arresting.”https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/nx-s1-5456246/immigrants-no-criminal-convictions-growth-ice-detention-population

Sorry I took so long to get this up. My mental health crashed over the weekend.

Week 22

6/16/25

New VA policy sparks outrage as doctors may refuse treatment to Democrats and unmarried veterans alikeA new VA policy has sent shockwaves through both veteran communities and the medical community. The change, which follows a Trump-era executive order, has already raised serious ethical and legal concerns.A contentious policy change at the Department of Veterans Affairs allows VA doctors to refuse treatment to veterans based on their political beliefs or marital status. Critics describe it as discriminatory and dangerous.https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/new-va-policy-sparks-outrage-as-doctors-may-refuse-treatment-to-democrats-and-unmarried-veterans-alike/articleshow/121886890.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppstTrump is departing the G7 early as conflict between Israel and Iran shows signs of intensifyingKANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly left the Group of Seven summit Monday, departing a day early as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensified and the U.S. leader declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately.”World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of global pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran four days ago.At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran needs to curb its nuclear program before it’s “too late.” He said Iranian leaders would “like to talk” but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said.Asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said Monday morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.“So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility.https://apnews.com/article/trump-g7-carney-canada-trade-iran-75c17fffe96c9031d8ebb22af923d86c Trump says everyone should immediately evacuate TehranJune 16 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.“IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he said in a post on Truth Social.https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-says-everyone-should-immediately-evacuate-tehran-2025-06-16/Children Are Clashing in Anti-ICE Protests and Raids in ‘Roblox’Amid an aggressive escalation of immigration enforcement and country-wide raids that have resulted in mass protests, police brutality, and arrests, young players of one of the most popular video games in the world have taken to the virtual streets to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). What first began as some Roblox players roleplaying as ICE agents has turned into a series of organized protests in the virtual world, filled with Mexican flags, anti-Trump signs, and, often, gunfire. Roblox is an online game platform and creation tool that allows players to create their own “experiences” or “games” on public or personal servers, and disseminate those games to other players. It boasts over 85 million daily active users across the globe, with more than 35 percent of players based in the Asia-Pacific region, 20 percent in Europe, and 19 percent in the United States, according to Takeaway Reality. Most, if not all, of the recent anti-ICE protests have taken place in Brookhaven, a role-playing server set in an idyllic suburb where players can become cops, nail technicians, firefighters, and more, that usually has around 600,00 concurrent players. As first reported by Taylor Lorenz at User Mag, the protests came in response to some players pretending to be ICE agents and harassing others in-game.https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming/roblox-protests-kids-clashing-ice-1235367412/

6/17/25: 

Woman Killed by Trump Military Parade Convoy Carrying TankA woman was struck and killed by a truck that was carrying a U.S. Army M1 Abrams tank away that had been used for President Donald Trump‘s military parade on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., two days previously.The contract truck driver was part of a convoy that was removing tanks from the area on Monday night when the woman was killed, according to USA Today, which cited an internal Army document it obtained.Police identified the dead woman as 39-year-old Sierra Nichole Smith, of no fixed address.A spokesperson for the Army told Newsweek to direct questions to the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. A police department spokesperson told Newsweek they could not provide any additional information about the incident.https://www.newsweek.com/woman-killed-trump-military-parade-convoy-carrying-tank-2087102US to shut embassy in Jerusalem from Wednesday through FridayJune 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will be shut from Wednesday through Friday due to the security situation in the region and to comply with Israeli guidance, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.“Given the security situation and in compliance with Israel Home Front Command guidance, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18) through Friday (June 20). This includes the Consular Sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” the State Department said on X.https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-shut-embassy-jerusalem-wednesday-through-friday-2025-06-17/ How the US has shifted military jets and ships in the Middle EastWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel from Iranian attacks as President Donald Trump warns Tehran to step back from the conflict.Trump’s social media posts saying his patience with Iran was “wearing thin” have raised the possibility of deepening U.S. involvement, perhaps by using the bunker-busting bomb to strike a key Iranian nuclear site built deep underground in the mountains.Israel doesn’t have the massive munition it would take to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, or the aircraft needed to deliver it. Only the U.S. does.As America’s national security leaders discuss the next steps, the Pentagon has moved to ensure that its troops and bases in the region are protected.https://apnews.com/article/us-military-middle-east-iran-israel-a4287f29c84b6eee954011ecd8a670d3Trump threatens Iran’s supreme leader, escalating his rhetoric about the conflictPresident Trump escalated his rhetoric against Iran on Tuesday, issuing a threat on social media against its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and taking credit for having “complete and total control of the skies over Iran.”“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump said in a post — one in a series of statements he made before meeting with his national security team in the White House Situation Room about the conflict.That is a rhetorical step further than Trump had gone on Monday. He had been asked about whether he wanted to see regime change in Iran, and replied: “I want to see no nuclear weapon in Iran, and we’re well on our way to making sure that happens.”https://www.npr.org/2025/06/17/nx-s1-5436819/trump-iran-israelNAACP Announces President Trump will not be invited to 116th National ConventionCHARLOTTE – Today, NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson announced that for the first time in 116 years, the sitting president of the United States will not be invited to the NAACP National Convention, coming up July 12-16 in Charlotte. He shared the following statement: “For 116 years, the NAACP has invited the sitting president of the United States to address the NAACP National Convention — regardless of their political party. There is a rich history of both Republicans and Democrats attending our convention — from Harry Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and beyond. We’re nonpartisan and always welcome those who believe in democracy and the Constitution.“But right now, it’s clear — Donald Trump is attacking our democracy and our civil rights. He believes more in the fascist playbook than in the U.S. Constitution. This playbook is radical and un-American. The president has signed unconstitutional executive orders to oppress voters and undo federal civil rights protections; he has illegally turned the military on our communities, and he continually undermines every pillar of our democracy to make himself more powerful and to personally benefit from the U.S. government.“The NAACP Convention has always been a place where people across the country come together to map out our advocacy and mobilization strategies to advance civil rights and democracy for all. Our annual convention is meant to be a safe space for all people — regardless of political ideology — who believe in multiracial democracy and the ideal of building a more perfect union.“To that end, the NAACP has made the decision to break with tradition and not invite Donald Trump or J.D. Vance this year. This administration does not respect the Constitution or the rule of law. It would be a waste of our time and energy to give a platform to fascism, which would be unacceptable.”https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-announces-president-trump-will-not-be-invited-116th-national-convention

6/18/25

Trump administration removing 988 hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth in JulyThe 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will stop providing tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17, according to a statement on a federal agency’s website.The decision preempts the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal to cut funding for 988’s LGBTQ+ youth and young adult services, and is raising alarm bells among LGBTQ+ advocates.Federal data shows the LGBTQ+ youth program has served nearly 1.3 million callers since it started in September 2022. The services were accessible under the “Press 3” option on the phone or by replying “PRIDE” via text.The Trevor Project said it received official notice Tuesday that the program was ending. The nonprofit is one of seven centers that provides 988 crisis support services for LGBTQ+ people — and serves nearly half of the people who contact the lifeline.“ Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement Wednesday. “The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible.”In its statement on the 988 decision, SAMHSA referred to the “LGB+ youth services.”Black called the omission of the “T” representing transgender people “callous.” “Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,” he said.The Trevor Project will continue to run its 24/7 mental health support services, as will other organizations, and leaders of 988 say the hotline will serve anyone who calls with compassion.https://apnews.com/article/988-lgbtq-suicide-prevention-hotline-trump-382342828b381b6a32964f09fe9aa59cTrump approves Iran attack plan but has not made final decision, reports sayDonald Trump has approved plans to attack Iran, but has not made a final decision on whether to use them, the BBC’s US partner CBS reports.The US president held off from strikes in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme, an intelligence source said. Trump is reportedly considering strikes on the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo.Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday that the Wall Street Journal, which carried a similar report, had “no idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran”. He did not address whether plans had been approved.Speculation mounted about Trump’s intentions on Wednesday after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected his demand for surrender.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8r8rj87voTrump says he’s ‘not looking for a fight’ with Iran but stands ready to act if necessaryWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he doesn’t want to carry out a U.S. strike on Iran but suggested he stands ready to act if it’s necessary to extinguish Iran’s nuclear program.Trump continued his increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Tehran’s nuclear program as Iran’s leader warned anew that the United States would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it attacks.The stakes are high for Trump — and the world — as he engages in a push-pull debate between his goals of avoiding dragging the U.S. into another war and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”Trump pondered his next steps as the U.S. embassy in Israel began evacuating a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave Israel.“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said of a potential U.S. strike. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”“Nothing is finished until it is finished,” he added, signaling a decision could soon. “The next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week.”https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nuclear-us-strike-israel-eeaad923bb2df019b05f31f2e11d486c

6/19/25

Iran preparing to strike US bases across Middle East if Trump joins war, NYT reportsIran is preparing to attack American bases in the Middle East if the United States joins Israel’s war, American officials who have reviewed intelligence reports told The New York Times on Tuesday.In the days since Operation Rising Lion began, over 40,000 American troops have been put on high alert at bases throughout the region, including the UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.Fears of a wider war are growing among American officials as Israel presses the White House to intervene in its conflict with Iran. “If the United States joins the Israeli campaign and strikes Fordow, a key Iranian nuclear facility, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia will almost certainly resume striking ships in the Red Sea,” officials told the Times. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-858113 On Juneteenth, Trump complains about ‘too many’ holidaysWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it “very famous.”But on this year’s Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for marking the end of slavery in the country he leads again.No words about it from his lips, on paper or through his social media site.Asked whether Trump would commemorate Juneteenth in any way, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today. I know this is a federal holiday. I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here. We’re working 24/7 right now.”Asked in a follow-up question whether Trump might recognize the occasion another way or on another day, Leavitt said, “I just answered that question for you.”In the evening, Trump complained on the site about “too many non-working holidays” and said it is “costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed.” But most retailers are open on Juneteenth while most federal workers get a day off because the government is closed.https://apnews.com/article/trump-juneteenth-slavery-statement-holiday-28afec7cd532295437d53d3ec29f549fDodgers say immigration agents denied entry to Los Angeles stadiumThe Los Angeles Dodgers say they blocked federal agents from entering their stadium on Thursday, as immigration enforcement continues in the city.In a post on social media, the baseball team said “ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots”, and were subsequently turned away.Los Angeles is among the cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have ramped up raids to find undocumented migrants, which has caused protests in the region and across the US.ICE denied that its agents were at the stadium. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said other personnel were in the stadium parking lot “very briefly”.Dozens of federal agents arrived near one of the main stadium entrances on Thursday morning. Several protesters arrived shortly after, according to local media reports.When asked by the BBC whether their agents were at the scene, ICE responded saying: “False. ICE was never there.”In a separate statement, the DHS said that vehicles belonging to a different agency that it oversees – Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – were at the stadium “unrelated to any operation or enforcement” and that the agents’ presence “had nothing to do with the Dodgers”.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp86m3j10vpoTrump says he’ll decide whether US will directly attack Iran within 2 weeksBEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, as the two sides attacked one another for a seventh day.Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. His statement was read out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.Earlier in the day, Israel’s defense minister threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Iranian missiles crashed into a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people. Israel’s military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.As rescuers wheeled patients out of the smoldering hospital, Israeli warplanes launched their latest attack on Iran’s nuclear program.https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-attacks-nuclear-news-06-19-2025-b508817b78ed8d2f6067c1516215cf94Trump extends TikTok ban deadline for a third time, without clear legal basisWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social platform Thursday morning.“He’s making an extension so we can get this deal done,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “It’s wildly popular. He also wants to protect Americans’ data and privacy concerns on this app. And he believes we can do both at the same time.”https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-trump-delay-executive-order-3211a98113615be44cf92b32dca69a8eU.S. will review social media for foreign student visa applicationsWASHINGTON — In yet another twist for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S., the State Department says it will resume processing student and visiting scholar visa applications for foreign citizens but plans to review their social media accounts as part of the process.All students applying for a visa will need to set their social media profiles to “public,” according to a post Wednesday on the State Department’s website, saying that the additional screening was part of the vetting process to exclude applicants who “pose a threat to U.S. national security.”The State Department said failure to allow access to social profiles could be grounds for rejection, and that consular officers have been instructed to look for any indication of “hostility” toward the U.S. or its people, although it did not provide further details of what exactly that could mean.The announcement comes after the department had previously suspended all student visa application interviews in May, at the time noting it was temporary to prepare for this new social media vetting procedure.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/19/g-s1-73572/us-resumes-visas-foreign-students-access-social-media

6/20/25

Trump Considering Asbestos Ban Reversal Sparks Warning: ‘Lives at Risk’he Trump administration will “reconsider” a ban on the use of asbestos in the U.S. that took a decades-long battle to be finalized, sparking concern among health advocates.“This is another attempt by industry, going back to when they blocked the first EPA asbestos ban in 1989, to allow for continued use of a deadly material responsible for some 40,000 U.S. deaths and some 250,000 worldwide deaths each year,” Dr. Arthur L. Frank, a professor of public health and medicine at Drexel University, told Newsweek.“We know in some settings as little as one day of exposure can give some individuals cancer,” he added.Newsweek has contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) via email for comment.Asbestos was used by building and construction industries for strengthening cement and plastics as well as for insulation, roofing, fireproofing and sound absorption. Since 2000, more research uncovered the health risks associated with the mineral, and it has been classified by various U.S. departments as a known human carcinogen.Exposure to asbestos is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the EPA under the Biden administration.Chrysotile asbestos, also known as white asbestos, is banned in 50 countries because of its association with lung cancer, and in 2024, the Biden administration finalized its own ban, meaning the last type of asbestos used in or imported into the country would be prohibited.https://www.newsweek.com/trump-rolling-back-asbestos-ban-sparks-warning-lives-risk-2088221 

6/21/25

U.S. enters Israel’s war against IranThe U.S. military conducted airstrikes on Iran‘s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan on Sunday morning local time.The big picture: In a historic address from the White House, President Trump called the operation a “spectacular military success” and claimed Iran’s key uranium enrichment sites “have been completely and totally obliterated.”“Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” Trump said, flanked by Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.“This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump warned.Why it matters: Trump’s decision to intervene directly in support of Israel’s effort to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program marks a historic escalation in the Middle East.It’s an intervention fraught with risks and uncertainty — one that Trump and many of his predecessors had sought to avoid, including through diplomacy with Iran.The attack, which came on the ninth night of the unprecedented war between Israel and Iran, could provoke retaliation from Tehran against U.S. troops and military installations across the region.Trump posted on Truth Social: “ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT.” https://www.axios.com/2025/06/21/us-strike-iran-nuclear-israel-trump  U.S. strikes 3 nuclear sites in Iran, in major regional conflict escalationThe U.S. military has joined with Israel to launch military strikes against Iran, a dramatic escalation in the years-long effort by both nations to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday.“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”Late Saturday evening, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House, joined by Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat,” Trump said. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”As he praised the troops on Saturday evening, the president did say he hoped there would be no need for additional action. But, that “this cannot continue” and that Iran has “many targets left.”“If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”https://www.npr.org/2025/06/21/nx-s1-5441127/iran-us-strike-nuclear-trump New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean waterMcALLEN, Texas (AP) — Adults fighting kids for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet denied a medical exam — these first-hand accounts from immigrant families at detention centers included in a motion filed by advocates Friday night are offering a glimpse of conditions at Texas facilities.Families shared their testimonies with immigrant advocates filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from terminating the Flores Settlement Agreement, a ‘90s-era policy that requires immigrant children detained in federal custody be held in safe and sanitary conditions.The agreement could challenge President Donald Trump’s family detention provisions in his “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, which also seeks to make the detention time indefinite and comes as the administration ramps up arrests.“At a time when Congress is considering funding the indefinite detention of children and families, defending the Flores Settlement is more urgent than ever,” Mishan Wroe, a senior immigration attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, said in a statement Friday.https://apnews.com/article/migrants-child-supervision-texas-e4994b2b6786717ea79a4be230e476bf 

6/22/25

Should Americans Cancel Overseas Trips? What The State Department’s ‘Worldwide Caution’ Really MeansOne day after the U.S. bombed Iran, the State Department began advising Americans to “exercise increased caution” while out of the country—but that language signals a relatively low risk.Late Sunday, the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide caution for U.S. citizens abroad, warning of the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad and advising Americans to “exercise increased caution.”The verbiage “exercise increased caution” is consistent with Level 2 on the State Department’s tiered risk assessment scale, which ranges from Level 1, “exercise normal precautions,” to Level 4, “do not travel.”Of the 21 countries under a State Department Level 4 “do not travel” advisory, six are located in the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.Most other Middle East destinations—including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—are under Level 2 advisories, the same as France, Germany, Italy and many Western European nations.https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/06/23/americans-overseas-trips-state-department-worldwide-caution/Satellites show damage to Iran’s nuclear program, but experts say it’s not destroyedU.S. officials say that strikes conducted on three key Iranian nuclear sites have devastated its nuclear program, but independent experts analyzing commercial satellite imagery say the nation’s long-running nuclear enterprise is far from destroyed.“At the end of the day there are some really important things that haven’t been hit,” says Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who tracks Iran’s nuclear facilities. “If this ends here, it’s a really incomplete strike.”In particular, Lewis says the strike doesn’t seem to have touched Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium.“Today, it still has that material and we still don’t know where it is,” he says.“I think you have to assume that significant amounts of this enriched uranium still exist, so this is not over by any means,” agrees David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, which has closely tracked Iran’s nuclear program for years.The independent assessments stand in stark contrast to congratulatory statements from the Trump administration in the wake of the strikes.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/22/nx-s1-5441734/satellites-show-damage-iran-nuclear-program-not-destroyed-experts-sayThreat of sleeper cells in US has ‘never been higher’: CBPThe threat of sleeper cells in the U.S. has “never been higher,” though there are no current specific threats, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).A memo sent Saturday from CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, obtained by The Hill’s sister network NewsNation, said “thousands of Iranian nationals have been documented entering the United States illegally and countless more were likely in the known and unknown got-a-ways.”“Though we have not received any specific credible threats to share with you all currently, the threat of sleeper cells or sympathizers acting on their own, or at the behest of Iran has never been higher,” Scott added.The memo urged CBP personnel to remain “vigilant.”On Saturday, President Trump announced that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, stepping into an ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations slammed the U.S.’s involvement in its conflict against Israel and said his nation’s military would figure out its response to the strikes.https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5363528-us-border-patrol-iranian-sleeper-cells-threat/ Trump speculates about regime change in Iran after US strikesUS President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a change in leadership in Iran, after his country joined Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities.On Sunday, Trump posted on social media to ask “why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”His remarks came after other top US officials stressed that toppling Iran’s leaders was not the aim of Saturday’s military action, during which US bombers targeted three sites in an effort to curtail Tehran’s nuclear programme.Trump has previously criticised US involvement in overseas conflicts, including in Iraq, where the US and its allies toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.In Sunday’s post, Trump wrote: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”It appeared to put him at odds with his top allies. Over the weekend, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “mission was not and has not been about regime change” – a message that was echoed by Vice-President JD Vance.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8m3861637o Republican Says Abortion Law Fear Delayed Her Care for Ectopic PregnancyA Florida Republican is blaming fearmongering from abortion-rights groups about the state’s abortion law for doctors hesitating to treat her ectopic pregnancy last year.Representative Kat Cammack went to the emergency room in May 2024 and needed a shot of methotrexate to help expel her ectopic pregnancy.Though doctors estimated that she was just five weeks pregnant, there was no heartbeat and her life was at risk, Cammack told the Wall Street Journal that staff had resisted giving her the drug because they were worried about losing their licenses or going to jail after Florida’s near-total abortion ban took effect. Hours later, doctors agreed to give her the drug, she told the newspaper.Newsweek has contacted Cammack’s office and abortion-rights groups for comment via email.She told the newspaper that she did not blame the Florida law for what she experienced. Rather, she lay the blame on messaging from abortion-rights advocates, which she said made hospital staff afraid of giving drugs even in circumstances where it was legal.“It was absolute fearmongering at its worst,” Cammack, who is pregnant again, said. But she added that she knows that abortion rights advocates might view her experience differently.“There will be some comments like, ‘Well, thank God we have abortion services,’ even though what I went through wasn’t an abortion,” she said.https://www.newsweek.com/kat-cammack-florida-abortion-law-ectopic-pregnancy-2089248 US asks China to stop Iran from closing Strait of HormuzUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on China to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.His comments came after Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that parliament had approved a plan to close the Strait but added that the final decision lies with the Supreme National Security Council.Any disruption to the supply of oil would have profound consequences for the economy. China in particular is the world’s largest buyer of Iranian oil and has a close relationship with Tehran.Oil prices rose following the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites, with the price of the benchmark Brent crude reaching its highest level in five months.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c056pyv723vo

6/9/25

Trump’s posts remarking on the LA protests. Pentagon draws up rules on possible use of force by Marines deployed to LA protestsWASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon was scrambling Monday to establish rules to guide U.S. Marines who could be faced with the rare and difficult prospect of using force against citizens on American soil, now that the Trump administration is deploying active duty troops to the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles.U.S. Northern Command said it is sending 700 Marines into the Los Angeles area to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines are coming from Twentynine Palms, California, and will augment about 4,100 National Guard members already in LA or authorized to be deployed there to respond to the protests.The forces have been trained in deescalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force, Northern Command said.But the use of the active duty forces still raises difficult questions.https://apnews.com/article/marines-protests-california-deployed-trump-503e1de25b45c760218d8ae879c8d2d3 

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Trump authorizes additional 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles, US officials sayLOS ANGELES (AP) — Another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 Marines are headed to Los Angeles on orders Monday from President Donald Trump, escalating a military presence local officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom don’t want and the police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.An initial 2,000 Guard troops ordered by Trump started arriving Sunday, which saw the most violence during three days of protests driven by anger over Trump’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families.Monday’s demonstrations were was far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel even though police say they don’t need the help.https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-protests-national-guard-trump-14c9dda32663d7d2c45f2b1c5a1d219c Trump’s travel ban is now in effect. Here’s what to knowPresident Trump’s extensive new travel ban took effect just after midnight on Monday, barring nationals of 12 countries from entering the U.S. and partially restricting those from another seven.Trump announced the policy last week after a firebombing attack in Colorado, saying it is necessary for national security. It revives a controversial travel ban that Trump had enacted during his first term and promised to restore while on the campaign trail.“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Trump said in a Wednesday video introducing the ban. “We don’t want them.”The ban mostly affects countries in Africa and the Middle East. The man charged in the Colorado attack is from Egypt, which is not on the restricted list. Trump says countries can be added or removed over time.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/09/nx-s1-5427998/trump-travel-ban-countries-immigration-enforcement 

6/10/25

Donald Trump Issues Warning For Protesters At His Military ParadePresident Donald Trump has issued a warning for anyone planning to protest at his birthday military parade on Saturday.Trump told reporters, during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday, that any demonstration at the parade “will be met with very heavy force.”The president added that he hadn’t heard about plans for protests at the event, but he appeared to expect some dissent on the day, adding, “these are people who hate our country.”https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-issues-warning-protesters-his-military-parade-2083567 Trump news at a glance: Gavin Newsom declares ‘democracy is under assault’ in blistering attack on presidentThe California governor, Gavin Newsom, has declared that “democracy is under assault” in a blistering evening address in which he accused Donald Trump of “pulling a military dragnet” across Los Angeles.On another day of mass protests over immigration raids and the federal deployment of military forces to the state, Newsom said Trump’s immigration crackdown had gone well beyond arresting criminals and that “dishwashers, gardeners, day labourers and seamstresses” are among those being detained.In an extraordinary ratcheting of tensions with the White House, Newsom recounted how in recent days Ice agents had grabbed people outside a Home Depot, detained a nine-months pregnant US citizen and sent unmarked cars to schools.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/trump-administration-news-updates-todayNational Guard troops in LA, the latest in long history of deployments during civil rights protestsPresident Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles to stop protests against his immigration crackdown isn’t the first time an elected U.S. official has sent troops to thwart unrest over civil rights.But National Guard troops are typically deployed — for a variety of emergencies and natural disasters — with the permission of governors in responding states. Trump, a Republican, sent about 1,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles despite the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats.Confrontations began Friday when dozens of protesters gathered outside a federal detention center demanding the release of more than 40 people arrested by federal immigration authorities across Los Angeles as part of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.Trump said he had to federalize the troops to “address the lawlessness” in California. Newsom said Trump’s order was a “complete overreaction” that was “purposely inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-national-guard-protests-watts-riots-ce79302269291672444e34ab8ab4563a LAUSD will deploy school police to set up safe zones around campuses, graduations amid ICE raidsLos Angeles school police will set up a safety perimeter around campuses and school events — including graduations — to keep federal immigration agents away from students, employees and families, school officials said Monday.The announcement by Supt. Alberto Carvalho comes amid widespread immigration raids in Los Angeles — including one on Monday at a Home Depot adjacent to Huntington Park High School — after a weekend of isolated but intense downtown clashes between police and protesters, some of whom set self-driving Waymo cars on fire and threw rocks and fireworks.The move is among the most notable actions taken by the nation’s second-largest school district, whose leaders said at a news conference Monday that they will deploy their own police force to protect students and their families so they can enjoy in peace the many graduation ceremonies that will unfold this week as the school year concludes Tuesday.https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-09/los-angeles-unified-school-police-set-up-safe-zones-amid-graduations-ice-raids Latinas for Trump co-founder criticizes president’s immigration arrests: ‘Unacceptable and inhumane’A co-founder of a group for Latinas who support Donald Trump has excoriated the president on some of the immigration-related arrests being carried out by his administration, which she called “unacceptable and inhumane”.In a statement posted on X over the weekend, Ileana Garcia wrote: “This is not what we voted for.”The post from the Florida state senator asserted that she had supported Trump, her fellow Republican, “through thick and thin” and understood the need to remove from the US undocumented people who had committed crimes.But she criticized how federal authorities had arrested people at immigration courts across the country despite “credible fear of persecution claims” as the Trump White House ramped up his mass deportation campaign after his second presidency began in January.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/florida-republicans-criticize-trump-immigration-arrests 

6/11/25

US to partially evacuate embassy in Iraq as Iran tensions riseNon-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are to be evacuated from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources have said.Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, but have been told Israel was ready to launch an operation into Iran, the BBC’s US partner CBS reported.This was part of the reason some Americans were advised to leave the region, officials said, adding that they anticipated Iran could retaliate on certain US sites in Iraq. US officials have also restricted the movements of staff within Israel itself.It comes as US talks over Iran’s nuclear programme appear to have stalled in recent days.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c629yk5z07vo 

6/12/25

Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites and kills top generals. Iran retaliates with missile barragesDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched blistering attacks on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure Friday, deploying warplanes and drones previously smuggled into the country to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientistsIsrael asserted the barrage was necessary before its adversary got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Iran was actively working on such a weapon before the strikes.Iran retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions flared in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the earlier wave of missiles, to head to shelter, as missiles damaged homes and killed two people.https://apnews.com/article/iran-explosions-israel-tehran-00234a06e5128a8aceb406b140297299 Sen. Padilla is forcefully removed from Noem’s news conference on immigration raids and handcuffedLOS ANGELES (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and around the country.Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing the California senator by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to speak up during the DHS secretary’s event. Padilla interrupted the news conference after Noem delivered a particularly pointed line, saying federal authorities were not going away but planned to stay and increase operations to “liberate” the city from its “socialist” leadership.https://apnews.com/article/alex-padilla-noem-immigration-protest-california-f67d220a0254473c53c16aa96f554239 Army Officials Pushed Back on Pop-Up MAGA Shop Ahead of Fort Bragg Trump SpeechAhead of President Donald Trump’s rally-style appearance at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Army officials raised alarms over a vendor planning to sell Trump-branded merchandise on site.They feared selling the merchandise could undermine the military’s carefully maintained image of political neutrality, according to two officials familiar with the internal pushback. But on Tuesday, the vendor, 365 Campaign, was on the Army base anyway, and soldiers purchased clothing and items like “Make America Great Again” chain necklaces and faux credit cards labeled “White Privilege Card: Trumps Everything.”https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/06/12/army-officials-pushed-back-pop-maga-shop-ahead-of-fort-bragg-trump-speech.html

6/13/25

Iran threatens to strike US bases in region if military conflict arisesDUBAI, June 11 (Reuters) – If nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises with the United States, Iran will strike American bases in the region, Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday, days ahead of a planned sixth round of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks.“Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all U.S. bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh said during a weekly press briefing.https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-threatens-us-bases-region-if-military-conflict-arises-2025-06-11/A raid in Montebello, Calif., has stirred fears that federal agents are detaining and racially profiling U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent.They swept into the Southern California car lot last Thursday at 4:32 p.m. — masked and armed Border Patrol agents in an unmarked white S.U.V.One agent soon twisted Jason Brian Gavidia’s arm and pressed him against a black metal fence outside the lot where he runs an auto body shop in Montebello, a working-class suburb east of the Los Angeles city limits. Another officer then asked him an unusual question to prove whether he was a U.S. citizen or an undocumented immigrant.“What hospital were you born at?” the Border Patrol agent asked.Mr. Gavidia, 29, was born only a short drive from where they were standing, in East Los Angeles. He did not know the hospital’s name. “I was born here,” he shouted at the agent, adding, “I’m an American, bro!”Mr. Gavidia was eventually released as he stood on the sidewalk. But another U.S. citizen, Javier Ramirez, 32 — Mr. Gavidia’s friend and co-worker — had been forced facedown to the ground by two agents in the car lot. Mr. Ramirez was put inside a van and driven to a federal detention center, where he remains in custody. Mr. Ramirez’s lawyer said that officials at the detention center had denied his request to speak to his client.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/hispanic-americans-raids-citizenship.html#:~:text=%E2%9CWhat%20hospital%20were%20you%20born,m%20an%20American%2C%20bro!%E2%9D ‘We will kill you’: Florida sheriff warns protesters not to attack deputiesA Florida sheriff warned immigration enforcement protesters that law enforcement would “kill you, graveyard dead” if they become violent toward deputies.“If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital and jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said at a June 12 news conference.“If you throw a brick, a fire bomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains, because we will kill you, graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”The comments came after a week of protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, as Florida officials warned would-be protesters in advance of expected rallies around the nation June 14 that Florida is not California. The state leaders said any rioting would be “nipped in the bud right away.”https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/13/protests-violence-florida-sheriff/84186122007/Marines take over some security in LA while cities across US prep for ‘No Kings’ ralliesLOS ANGELES (AP) — After a week of protests over federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines moved into Los Angeles on Friday to guard a federal building in the city while communities across the country prepped for what’s anticipated to be a nationwide wave of large-scale demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s polices this weekend.The Marine troops wearing combat gear and carrying rifles took over some posts from National Guard members who were deployed to the city after the protests erupted last week. Those protests sparked dozens more over several days around the country, with some leading to clashes with police and hundreds of arrests.On Friday, Marines started to replace Guard members protecting the federal building west of downtown, so the Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement officers on raids, the commander in charge of 4,700 troops deployed to the LA protests said.https://apnews.com/article/immigration-raids-national-guard-lawsuit-los-angeles-f4809c7f39d09e4fdfa01982f44ec995 Pope Leo’s First US Bishop Takes Action Against Trump Migrant CrackdownThe first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV has called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them.Rev. Michael Pham, who was named bishop of San Diego, California, by Pope Leo in May, wrote a letter about the action on Wednesday, along with Rev. Felipe Pulido and Rev. Ramón Bejarano, both appointed by the previous pontiff, Pope Francis.“On the morning of June 20th, which is International Refugee Day, a group of priests and faith leaders are planning to visit the federal court building to stand in solidarity with migrants who are making their court appearances,” they wrote.https://www.newsweek.com/pope-leos-first-us-bishop-against-trump-ice-migrant-crackdown-2084985 

6/14/25

Iran launches new strikes on Israel as Israeli attack widensIsrael and Iran launched strikes against each other for a third day on Sunday, with both countries vowing to continue responding to attacks.On Sunday evening, there were explosions in the sky above Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as Israel’s defence system shot down missiles fired from Iran.In overnight strikes on Saturday, ten people, including two children, were killed and more than 100 injured in Israel, authorities said.Israel said its strikes had hit dozens of targets in Tehran. Iranian media, quoting the health ministry, said 224 Iranians had been killed and 1,277 injured as of Sunday evening.Israel initially launched an attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure and other targets on Friday.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7575lv4ddo Anti-Trump demonstrators crowd streets, parks and plazas across the US. Organizers say millions camePHILADELPHIA (AP) — Masses of demonstrators packed into streets, parks and plazas across the United States on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump, marching through downtowns and small towns, blaring anti-authoritarian chants mixed with support for protecting democracy and immigrant rights.Organizers of the “No Kings” demonstrations said millions had marched in hundreds of events. Governors across the U.S. had urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard ahead of marchers gathering.https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-trump-philadelphia-los-angeles-immigration-raids-a3b67d23733cd060f8d01aef1e391dbf Protester shot and killed at ‘No Kings’ rally in Utah, police sayA man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday.Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa.Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.Redd said the man believed to be part of the peacekeeping team, dressed in a neon green vest, fired three shots from a handgun at Gamboa, inflicting a relatively minor injury but fatally shooting Ah Loo. Redd did not share the man’s name.https://apnews.com/article/utah-no-kings-protest-shot-killed-75c777eeedd59c80c85695c45385c507 3 takeaways from the military parade and No Kings protests on Trump’s birthdayThe U.S. Army celebrated its 250th anniversary on Saturday with a massive military parade in Washington, D.C., against a backdrop of political division and protests savaging President Trump rippling across the country.Trump, whose 79th birthday corresponded with the Army anniversary, had long dreamed of holding such a display of America’s military might.The parade stirred up controversy for what opponents view as a politicization of the nation’s armed forces and a break from U.S. democratic norms, and sparked an organized No Kings protest movement across the country on Saturday.Organizers estimated that more than 5 million people participated in more 2,000 planned protests, according to spokesperson Eunic Ortiz. While protests were peaceful, police in Culpeper, Va., arrested a man who “intentionally accelerated his vehicle into the dispersing crowd,” at the end of a protest. One person was hit, but no one was hurt, police said.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/15/nx-s1-5433765/3-takeaways-from-the-military-parade-and-no-kings-protests-on-trumps-birthday Man suspected of shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers is in custody after surrendering to policeBELLE PLAINE, Minn. (AP) — The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge.Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Authorities say he also shot Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away.“One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference after Boelter’s arrest.https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-lawmakers-shot-8ce70a94c9eb90688baaa1a71faef6cc ‘No Kings’ protesters in Virginia and San Francisco struck by motoristsProtesters at “No Kings” events in Culpeper, Virginia, and San Francisco, California, have been struck by motorists, according to local news reports.The protests are taking place at about 2,000 sites nationwide, from big cities to small towns. A coalition of more than 100 groups planned the protests, which are committed to a principle of nonviolence.Police in the northern Virginia city of Culpeper identified 21-year-old Joseph R Checklick Jr as the motorist there. No injuries have been reported; police said that they have filed reckless driving charges against Checklick, and that more charges may be filed. Organizers estimated that more than 600 protesters showed up in the town of 21,000.In San Francisco, at least four “No Kings” protesters in San Francisco were struck by a motorist who then fled the scene, according to NBC News. Law enforcement detained the individual, and stated that the protesters suffered non-life-threatening injuries.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/no-kings-protests-vehicles-struck-injuries Texas capitol evacuated after officials warn lawmakers of ‘credible threats’The Texas department of public safety warned state lawmakers and legislative staffers of “credible threats” to their safety, hours after two Minnesota politicians were targeted early on Saturday.An alert was issued just before 1pm local time, alerting legislators planning to attend a “No Kings” anti-Trump rally at the capitol in Austin. The area was evacuated soon after, according to the Texas Tribune, which first obtained a copy of the warning.The alert said the state capitol had been evacuated “out of an abundance of caution” after the DPS received a “credible threat” against state lawmakers. Both the capitol building and surrounding grounds were closed temporarily, and officials did not immediately indicate when they would be reopened.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/texas-capitol-threatsTrump curbs immigration enforcement at farms, meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurantsWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after President Donald Trump expressed alarm about the impact of aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday.The move follows weeks of increased enforcement since Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump’s immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump’s second term.Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels, according to The New York Times.A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Associated Press the contents of the directive. The Homeland Security Department did not dispute it.https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-arrests-pause-hotels-restaurants-farms-aa8f503a8d6d797021a70601e6a1d918 

6/15/25

Trump says US could get involved in Israel-Iran conflict, he’s open to serve as a mediatorPresident Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is not involved in Israel’s military strikes against Iran at this moment, but “it’s possible we could be involved”. In an interview with ABC News, Trump declined to comment on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to get the US more involved. “We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” the president said.Trump also shared that he had a lengthy call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday to discuss, in large part, the conflict in the Middle East. He said he would be open to Putin’s idea to serve as a mediator between Israel and Iran.“I would be open to it. [Putin] is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved,” Trump stated.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trump-says-us-could-get-involved-in-israel-iran-conflict-hes-open-to-serve-as-a-mediator/articleshow/121868912.cms Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, undeterred by protestsWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, a move that comes after large protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.Trump in a social media posting called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials “to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”He added that to reach the goal officials ”must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-ice-deportations-protests-65fa8d64ea12a78a0ee0ebeea008ee4d  Trump encourages ICE to do whatever they have to do to facilitate deportation.

6/3/25

Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from ShipDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy — the official who holds the power to name Navy ships — that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk.A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement — occurring during Pride month — was intentional. Musk turns on Republicans – and gives Trump’s big bill a harder pathIn a series of social media posts on Tuesday, he took aim at Trump’s signature tax and spending bill that is being considered by the Senate after House Republicans passed it last month. After saying he couldn’t “stand it anymore”, Musk called the bill a “disgusting abomination”.“Shame on those who voted for it,” he said. “You know you did wrong.”And on Wednesday afternoon he went a step further, calling on voters to contact their representatives in Congress to voice their opposition. “Bankrupting America is not OK!” he wrote on X. “KILL the BILL.”Musk’s diatribe against the Trump-backed bill, which includes huge tax breaks and more investment in defence, comes after he spent months pushing for cuts to government spending.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5zpn9vkwo Trump appears to undercut US proposal to Iran, declaring he won’t allow any uranium enrichmentWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to undercut a proposal that was offered by his special envoy to Iran, saying he will insist that Tehran fully dismantle its nuclear enrichment program as part of any deal to ease crushing sanctions.Trump and Steve Witkoff, who is leading the negotiations for the U.S., have repeatedly offered inconsistent public messages about whether Iran would be allowed to retain the capacity to enrich uranium to lower levels for civilian purposes. The Trump administration maintains that it will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.The negotiations have been framed by Trump as both countries’ best chance to avoid direct military conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran, which denies seeking a nuclear weapon, has insisted that it will not agree to any deal that fully scraps its enrichment program.The proposal, reported by Axios and confirmed by a U.S. official, called for the creation of a regional consortium to handle uranium enrichment for civilian uses — a plan first studied more than a decade ago in negotiations that led to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.https://apnews.com/article/trump-witkoff-iran-nuclear-israel-881df1c858361798040913c043802c24 China accuses US of ‘seriously violating’ trade truce China has accused the US of “seriously violating” the fragile US-China detente that has been in place for less than a month since the two countries agreed to pause the trade war that risked upending the global economy.China and the US agreed on 12 May to pause for 90 days the skyrocketing “reciprocal” tariffs that both countries had placed on the others goods in a frenzied trade war that started a few weeks earlier. Tariffs had reached 125% on each side, which officials feared amounted to virtual embargo on trade between the world’s two biggest economies.Donald Trump had hailed the pause as a “total reset” of US-China relations. But since then, trade negotiations have faltered, with the US complaining that China has not delivered on promises to roll back restrictions on the export of key critical minerals to the US. The US president said on Friday that China had “totally violated” the agreement.China hit back on Monday, accusing the US of violating and undermining the agreements reached in Geneva in May, and the consensus between Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s president, on their 17 January phone call.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/02/china-us-trade-war-truce-donald-trump

6/4/25

What Trump ordering an investigation into Biden’s actions might mean legally and politicallyWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into pardons and other executive actions issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden — launching an extraordinary effort to show that the Democrat hid his cognitive decline and was otherwise too mentally impaired to do the job.Trump, who turns 79 this month, has long questioned the mental acuity and physical stamina of Biden, and is now directing his administration to use governmental investigative powers to try and back up those assertions. Biden, 82, and now undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, dismissed Trump’s actions as “ridiculous.”Trump directed his White House counsel and attorney general to begin an investigation into his own allegations that Biden aides hid from the public declining mental acuity in their boss. Trump is also casting doubts on the legitimacy of the Biden White House’s use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents.It marks a significant escalation in Trump’s targeting of political adversaries, and could lay the groundwork for arguments by leading Republicans in Congress and around the country that a range of Biden’s actions as president were invalid.“Essentially, whoever used the autopen was the president,” Trump said Thursday.https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-investigation-autopen-pardons-explainer-e033f6a9d8ecc65a68990f73dd0e718a President Donald J. Trump Restricts the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety ThreatsCOMBATING TERRORISM THROUGH COMMON SENSE SECURITY STANDARDS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation to protect the nation from foreign terrorist and other national security and public safety threats from entry into the United States.The Proclamation fully restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 12 countries found to be deficient with regards to screening and vetting and determined to pose a very high risk to the United States: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.The Proclamation partially restricts and limits the entry of nationals from 7 countries who also pose a high level of risk to the United States: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restricts-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals-to-protect-the-united-states-from-foreign-terrorists-and-other-national-security-and-public-safety-threats/ Trump administration threatens Columbia University’s accreditationThe Trump administration is looking to strip Columbia University of its accreditation over claims it violated the civil rights of its Jewish students.Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a letter that the New York City college “acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students” in a manner that violated federal anti-discrimination laws.US President Donald Trump has condemned Columbia and other US universities, arguing they have failed to protect Jewish students amid the war in Gaza and anti-war protests that took place on US campuses.US accreditors play a key role in determining which universities are allowed to access billions of dollars in federal funding.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0j2n0p89go A Florida Weatherman’s Hurricane Plea Went Viral. Here’s Why.A meteorologist who has spent his career warning South Florida about hurricanes had a new warning for viewers last week: He’s not sure he can do it this year.John Morales of WTVJ in Miami said the Trump administration’s recent cuts to the National Weather Service could leave television forecasters like him “flying blind” this hurricane season. “We may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline,” he warned.Clips of Mr. Morales’s comments have spread widely: one posted on MSNBC’s TikTok account has nearly 4,500 comments, and news outlets around the world have written articles about what he said. (This isn’t the first time Mr. Morales has been the subject of viral attention: In the fall, his emotional reaction to Hurricane Milton’s rapid intensification also hit a nerve.)https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/weather/john-morales-florida-hurricane-forecast-nbc-6.html 

6/5/25

Trump administration revokes guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortionsWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would revoke guidance to the nation’s hospitals that directed them to provide emergency abortions for women when they are necessary to stabilize their medical condition.That guidance was issued to hospitals in 2022, weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upended national abortion rights in the U.S. It was an effort by the Biden administration to preserve abortion access for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies and needed an abortion to prevent organ loss or severe hemorrhaging, among other serious complications.The Biden administration had argued that hospitals — including ones in states with near-total bans — needed to provide emergency abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. That law requires emergency rooms that receive Medicare dollars to provide an exam and stabilizing treatment for all patients. Nearly all emergency rooms in the U.S. rely on Medicare funds.The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would no longer enforce that policy.The move prompted concerns from some doctors and abortion rights advocates that women will not get emergency abortions in states with strict bans.https://apnews.com/article/abortion-emtala-biden-trump-emergency-hospital-3640bff165dac1d28b91e8adee7e47dd No ‘going back’ for Elon Musk after calling for Trump impeachment, says Steve BannonElon Musk “crossed the Rubicon” when he echoed sentiments on his social media platform X, calling for President Trump to be impeached, says former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.Trump and Musk have been locked in a very public fight this week after Musk has spent days bashing the “big, beautiful bill” — a multi-trillion dollar spending bill key to unlocking the president’s agenda currently in the Senate. In return, the president threatened to cut the federal government’s contracts with Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.Bannon told Morning Edition that “there’s no going back” for Musk after his feud with the president. The right-wing populist podcaster was an early Trump backer. Bannon served as the 2016 Trump campaign’s CEO and then went on to become chief strategist and senior adviser to the president.https://www.npr.org/2025/06/06/nx-s1-5424732/trump-musk-feud-steve-bannon Trump threatens to sever Musk’s government contracts as stock prices fallPresident Donald Trump threatened to cut Elon Musk’s government contracts as their fractured alliance escalated into a public feud Thursday. The world’s richest man responded in kind, saying he’d decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.Shares of Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla fell 14%, knocking about $150 billion off the company’s market valuation.https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-6-5-2025How bitter Trump-Musk feud escalated – and what happens nextTrump has threatened Musk’s voluminous business dealings with the federal government, which form the lifeblood of his SpaceX programme.“The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts,” Trump posted menacingly on his own social media website.If Trump turns the machinery of government against Musk, the tech billionaire will feel pain. Tesla’s stock price plunged by 14% on Thursday.It’s not a one-way street, however. After that volley, Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and dared him to cut funding for his companies.Musk also said he was accelerating the decommissioning of his Dragon spacecraft, which the US relies on to carry American astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.But hours later, he appeared to back down from that threat, saying in response to a post on X urging him to cool off: “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3wd2215q08o Screenshots from X (Elon Musk) and TruthSocial (Trump) 

6/6/25

SEIU California President David Huerta Arrested in ICE RaidsDavid Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West’s president, was injured and detained by federal agents during a series of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.As reported by Newsweek, hundreds of people flooded the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Friday following a series of reported raids carried out by ICE earlier that day.The raids resulted in the detention of at least 44 individuals and sparked protests, with demonstrators clashing with law enforcement. ICE agents used pepper spray and smoke grenades to disperse the protesters.Reports say Huerta was observing and documenting ICE operations when he was allegedly pushed to the ground by federal agents, resulting in a head injury.ABC News said, at one point, a scuffle broke out involving federal agents, during which Huerta appeared to be pushed and struck his head. In one video, a federal agent is seen pushing him while his hands are at his hips, causing him to fall to the ground.Huerta was hospitalized for treatment and later transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he remained in custody, the Los Angeles Times said.https://www.newsweek.com/david-huerta-arrested-injured-ice-raids-2082271 Supreme Court allows DOGE team to access Social Security systems with data on millions of AmericansWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration two victories Friday in cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency, including giving it access to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans.The agency holds sensitive data on nearly everyone in the country, including school records, salary details and medical information.Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the court’s action creates “grave privacy risks” for millions of Americans by giving “unfettered data access to DOGE regardless — despite its failure to show any need or any interest in complying with existing privacy safeguards, and all before we know for sure whether federal law countenances such access.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined Jackson’s opinion and Justice Elena Kagan said she also would have ruled against the administration.The Trump administration says DOGE needs the access to carry out its mission of targeting waste in the federal government. Musk had been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud. The entrepreneur has described it as a “ Ponzi scheme ” and insisted that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending.But U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland found that DOGE’s efforts at Social Security amounted to a “fishing expedition” based on “little more than suspicion” of fraud, and allowing unfettered access puts Americans’ private information at risk.https://apnews.com/article/doge-social-security-trump-elon-musk-99f3f281154fe0f91e6a6e612bf8e9ba Trump says he has no plans to speak to Musk as feud persistsWASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has no plans to speak with Elon Musk, signaling the president and his former ally might not resolve their feud over a sweeping tax-cut bill any time soon.Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he wasn’t “thinking about” the Tesla CEO.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-musk-bromance-descends-into-brawl-over-contracts-impeachment-2025-06-06/ 

6/7/25

Protesters clash with federal agents near a Home Depot in ParamountTear gas and flashbangs went off in Paramount on Saturday after a large crowd of people clashed with federal agents.People were seen chanting and yelling, walking through the streets near a Home Depot on the 6400 block of Alondra Boulevard. Several flash bangs were being thrown into the street. It was unclear if they were being thrown by the agents or by protesters. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said that the sheriff’s department has over 100 deputies in the area and are asking for more assistance to make sure that they maintain the peace.According to Luna, protesters were throwing objects at the federal agents who were at the location down the street from the sheriff’s department.https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/protesters-clash-with-federal-agents-near-a-home-depot-in-paramount/3717994/ White House security staff warned Musk’s Starlink is a security riskElon Musk’s team at the U.S. DOGE Service and allies in the Trump administration ignored White House communications experts worried about potential security breaches when DOGE personnel installed Musk’s Starlink internet service in the complex this year, three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, said those who were managing White House communications systems were not informed in advance when DOGE representatives went to the roof of the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building in February to install a terminal connecting users in the complex to Starlink satellites, which are owned by Musk’s private SpaceX rocket company.The people said those managing the systems weren’t able to monitor such connections to stop sensitive information from leaving the complex or hackers from breaking in.https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/06/07/starlink-white-house-security-doge-musk/ California Democrat Reacts as ICE Reportedly Held Detainees in BasementRepresentative Jimmy Gomez called reports of immigrants being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the basement of a federal building in his Los Angeles district “scary,” telling Newsweek he has “concerns that this facility is not meant to hold individuals overnight, and that it can actually cause harm to the people that are being held there.”An ICE spokesperson rejected reports of people being held in the basement, telling Newsweek in an email statement on Friday: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement categorically refutes the assertions made by immigration activists in Los Angeles.”Immigration lawyers and impacted families told CBS News that their clients and relatives went to ICE check-in appointments at the federal building this week and were taken into custody and held in the basement. Some people were reported to have spent the night in the basement.A CBS report cited an attorney who said one of her clients—a couple and their two children—spent the night in a room without beds with limited access to food and water. The woman was later released because of medical concerns related to her high-risk pregnancy.https://www.newsweek.com/california-democrat-reacts-ice-reportedly-held-detainees-basement-2082183 The Musk Vs. Trump Feud: Musk Deletes Tweet Linking President To Epstein FilesPresident Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s months-long friendship devolved in spectacular fashion this week as the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man engaged in a nasty, public back-and-forth on their respective social media platforms—but Musk has since taken down some of his tweets that were critical of the president in what marked the most poignant moment of de-escalation between both figures.https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/06/07/the-musk-vs-trump-feud-musk-deletes-tweet-linking-president-to-epstein-files/

6/8/25

What to know about Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to LA protestsPresident Donald Trump says he’s deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.While Trump said that federalizing the troops was necessary to “address the lawlessness” in California, the Democratic governor said the move was “purposely inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”Generally, federal military forces are not allowed to carry out civilian law enforcement duties against U.S. citizens except in times of emergency.Instead, he relied on a similar federal law that allows the president to federalize National Guard troops under certain circumstances. He federalized part of California’s National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, according to Newsom’s office.Notably, Trump’s proclamation says the National Guard troops will play a supporting role by protecting ICE officers as they enforce the law, rather than having the troops perform law enforcement work.https://apnews.com/article/insurrection-act-trump-troops-newsom-military-national-guard-a842f79e1c0e244039be274a6f266a7a Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troopsLOS ANGELES (AP) — Tensions in Los Angeles escalated Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets in response to President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major freeway and setting self-driving cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bangs to control the crowd.It was the third day of demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown in the region, as the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurred anger and fear among some residents. Sunday’s protests in Los Angeles, a city of 4 million people, were centered in several blocks of downtown.https://apnews.com/article/immigration-protests-raids-los-angeles-78eaba714dbdd322715bf7650fb543d7 

5/19/25

Trump rages over Supreme Court DecisionTrump truth Social Tantrums Supreme Court says Trump can strip protected status for Venezuelans for nowThe Supreme Court on Monday allowed, for now, the Trump administration to remove legal protections for roughly 350,000 Venezuelans now living in the U.S., under a program that had protected them from deportation known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).The court’s decision allows the Trump administration to end TPS for this group pending appeal of the case, paving the way for possible deportations soon. A federal judge paused the administration’s plans on TPS a week before it was scheduled to end on April 7, resulting in the Trump administration filing an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/19/nx-s1-5403712/supreme-court-tps-venezuelans Trump officials set new requirements for COVID vaccines in healthy adults and childrenWASHINGTON (AP) — Annual COVID-19 shots for healthy younger adults and children will no longer be routinely approved under a major new policy shift unveiled Tuesday by the Trump administration.Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new requirements for yearly updates to COVID shots, saying they’d continue to use a streamlined approach that would make vaccines available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one health problem that puts them at higher risk.But the FDA framework urges companies conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people. In a framework published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, agency officials said the approach still could keep annual vaccinations available for between 100 million and 200 million adults.https://cbs2iowa.com/news/nation-world/trump-officials-set-new-requirements-for-covid-vaccines-in-healthy-adults-and-children-administration-food-and-drug-fda-shots-medicine-adults-65-and-older-higherreisk-pharmacist-coivd-19-science 

5/20/25: 

DHS secretary misstates meaning of habeas corpus under Senate scrutinyHomeland Security Director Kristi Noem, under sharp questioning from Democratic senators during a Tuesday hearing, incorrectly described habeas corpus as a presidential authority to deport individuals.Noem was on Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the Department of Homeland Security’s budget for fiscal year 2026. She was asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to define “habeas corpus.”The secretary responded: “Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”In reality, habeas corpus is a bedrock constitutional legal principle that safeguards individuals from unlawful imprisonment by enabling them to petition the court to review the legality of their detention.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5405144/habeas-corpus-noem-dhs-senate US to pay $5m to family of 6 January rioter Ashli BabbittThe Trump administration has agreed to pay a $5m (£3.7m) settlement to the family of Ashli Babbitt, a US Air Force veteran who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer while breaching the US Congress on 6 January 2021.Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, he is “extremely disappointed” with the decision. The officer involved in her shooting has been cleared of any wrongdoing.The settlement resolves a $30m wrongful death suit filed by Babbitt’s family and the conservative activist group Judicial Watch.Thousands of Trump supporters descended on the US Capitol on 6 January in an attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gr3kdxkr7o

5/21/25:

Fact-checking Trump’s Oval Office confrontation with RamaphosaDonald Trump confronted President Cyril Ramaphosa during a tense exchange in the White House on Wednesday, with a series of contested claims about the killings of white farmers in South Africa.The meeting – at first warm and light-hearted – quickly changed tone as Trump asked his staff to play a video mostly showing South African opposition politician Julius Malema chanting a song calling for violence against white farmers.The video also included footage showing rows of crosses, which he claimed was a burial site for murdered white farmers, and presented Ramaphosa with copies of articles which he said documented However, the crosses do not mark graves. The video is from a protest against the murder of white farming couple Glen and Vida Rafferty, who were ambushed and shot dead on their premises in 2020. The clip was shared on YouTube on 6 September, the day after the protests.“It’s not a burial site, but it was a memorial,” Rob Hoatson, one of the organisers of the event, told the BBC. He said the crosses were erected as a “temporary memorial” to the couple.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9vxve994ro Target sales drop in 1st quarter and retailer warns they will slip for all of 2025NEW YORK (AP) — Target’s challenge to revive sales and its status as a cheap chic retailer just got more complicated.The discounter announced on Wednesday that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter, and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 year as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending.Target also said customer boycotts did some damage during the latest quarter. The company, long a fierce corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people, scaled back many diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January after they came under attack by conservative activists and the White House. Target’s retreat created another backlash, with more customers angered by the retailer’s reduction of LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for Pride Month in June of 2023.Shares fell 3.5% in midday trading Wednesday.https://apnews.com/article/target-first-quarter-earnings-tariffs-ed5765bac92257a0bab3815ece31f5c1 

5/22/25: 

Trump administration ends Harvard’s ability to enrol international studentsThe Trump administration has moved to end Harvard’s ability to enrol international students, escalating a standoff with America’s oldest university.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration had revoked Harvard’s “Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law.”“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” she wrote on X on Thursday.Harvard called the move “unlawful” in a statement.“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably,” the university responded.“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”The Trump administration’s decisions could affect thousands of international students who study at the university. Over 6,700 international students were enrolled at the institution last academic year, university data shows, making up 27% of its student body.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05768jmm11o Judge blocks Trump’s orders to dismantle the Education Department and fire employeesWASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs. The administration said it would challenge the ruling.U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out plans announced in March that sought to work toward Trump’s goal to shut down the department. It marks a setback to one of the Republican president’s campaign promises.The ruling came in two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump’s plan amounted to an illegal closure of the Education Department.One suit was filed by the Somerville and Easthampton school districts in Massachusetts along with the American Federation of Teachers and other education groups. The other suit was filed by a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general.https://apnews.com/article/education-department-shut-down-layoffs-576eef90c30fdaeb660f7f66644bad10 What we know about the San Diego plane crash and the 6 on board who diedSAN DIEGO (AP) — A private plane approaching an airport crashed in a San Diego neighborhood, killing the six people on board, including groundbreaking alternative music executive Dave Shapiro.The crash stunned the heavy metal and hard rock scene that grew out of the punk movement. The music agency that Shapiro cofounded, Sound Talent Group, represented groups like Pierce The Veil, Parkway Drive and Sum 41, while also venturing into more pop acts such as Vanessa Carlton.It could take a year to sort out exactly what happened to the plane, but investigators know there was thick fog, problems with the runway lights and a broken weather alert system, according to Dan Baker of the National Transportation Safety Board.The pilot and passengers died, but no one on the ground was killed or seriously injured.https://apnews.com/article/dave-shapiro-plane-crash-san-diego-5137ffeb69394b1d3fe84451a84df47b Police respond to shooting outside CIA headquartersWASHINGTON (AP) — A security incident outside CIA headquarters early Thursday led to a shooting, authorities said.Officers with the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia responded to what they described as a “nonfatal” shooting at the agency’s headquarters in McLean around 4 a.m. to assist CIA police with traffic control.The officers remained in the area “providing traffic support while the CIA conducts its investigation,” the department said.The FBI said it was helping with the investigation. The bureau declined to respond when asked to identify any suspects or whether authorities had discovered a motive for the incident.https://apnews.com/article/cia-headquarters-shooting-virginia-police-b26fed36b82d5dcfa02cfd16c876abc3 Suspect charged with murder of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington DCThe suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staff members outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC has been charged with first-degree murder, as well as murder of foreign officials and related firearm charges.Wednesday night’s attack is being investigated as a hate crime, and more charges are expected, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a news conference.“This is a death penalty-eligible case,” she said on Thursday, adding that it is too early to say whether prosecutors will decide to seek a death sentence.Steve Jenson, from the FBI’s Washington DC field office, called the killings “an act of terror and directed violence against the Jewish community”.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mr8x9vjwgo US House narrowly passes Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill, sends on to SenateWASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a sweeping tax and spending bill that would enact much of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda and saddle the country with trillions of dollars more in debt.The bill, passed by a single-vote margin, would fulfill many of Trump’s populist campaign pledges, delivering new tax breaks on tips and car loans and boosting spending on the military and border enforcement.It will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.“This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!” Trump wrote on social media.The package passed in a 215-214 vote after a marathon push that kept lawmakers debating the bill through two successive nights.All of the chamber’s Democrats and two Republicans voted against it, while a third Republican voted “present”, neither for nor against the bill. Another Republican missed the vote because he had fallen asleep.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-republicans-set-pre-dawn-votes-get-trump-tax-bill-over-finish-line-2025-05-22/ 

5/23/25:

Trump shrinks National Security Council in major foreign policy shakeupPresident Trump has ordered massive cuts to the White House National Security Council, sending dozens of policy experts packing on Friday, one of the officials who was let go told NPR.The official said that the dismissals were abrupt. Staffers were notified at 4:30 p.m. and asked to leave by 5 p.m. “We’re all talking among ourselves,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. The cuts went deep. For example, in the Middle East section, headcount went from 10 staffers to five.The goal of the overhaul is to eliminate bureaucracy and duplication, with most parts of the operation shifting back to their home departments and agencies, a second source with direct knowledge of the plans told NPR. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to protect private conversations.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5409610/trump-national-security-council Trump says his tariffs on Apple will also apply to SamsungWASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that a 25% tariff he says he will impose on Apple will also apply to Samsung and other smartphone makers.Trump, talking to reporters in the Oval Office, also said he was fine with leaving a 50% tariff in place on the European Union absent a trade deal.https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trump-says-his-tariffs-apple-will-also-apply-samsung-2025-05-23/ Trump threatens steep tariffs on trade with the European Union — and on iPhonesPresident Trump on Friday said he had run out of patience with trade negotiators from the European Union and has decided to set the tariff on imports at 50% starting on June 1.“I just said, ‘It’s time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game,'” Trump told reporters.It is the latest whipsaw move in Trump’s chaotic rollout of tariffs. Trump had first announced his decision on social media early Friday morning, a post that set back stock markets and the value of the U.S. dollar.The president warned in a separate post that he would put a tariff of at least 25% on imported iPhones, and said he had warned Apple CEO Tim Cook to move his manufacturing to the United States. He suggested the tariff could begin at the end of June.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5408573/trump-tariffs-eu-apple-iphones Harvard foreign students face uncertainty as Trump plan to block enrolment is halted – for nowA judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s plan to strip Harvard University of its ability to enrol foreign students.The ruling came after Harvard filed a lawsuit – the latest escalation of a dispute between the White House and one of America’s most prestigious institutions.The university said the administration’s decision on Thursday to bar international students was a “blatant violation” of the law and free speech rights.The Trump administration says Harvard has not done enough to fight antisemitism, and change its hiring and admissions practices – allegations that the university has strongly denied.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cje7ledqvyqo 

5/25/25:

Masked Patriot Front white nationalists march Saturday in Kansas CityScores of masked white nationalists descended on Kansas City Saturday, holding a rally outside the National WWI Museum and Memorial and marching downtown carrying flags and chanting. Police said the event, carried out by the Patriot Front, did not result in any arrests. Talk about the march spread rapidly on social media throughout the afternoon and evening. The Patriot Front is a white nationalist “and avowedly fascist nationwide organization” that was formed in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. On Saturday, the group’s members — faces covered and dressed in their signature navy shirts, khaki pants and tan caps — marched down the sidewalks chanting, “Life, liberty, victory” and “Reclaim America.” Some carried shields and many carried flags, including upside-down American flags, Betsy Ross flags and Confederate flags.https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article307165496.html Trump again blasts Harvard over international students as judge blocks revocationPresident Trump is again targeting Harvard University, days after his administration’s move to revoke the school’s ability to enroll international students was blocked by a judge.In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the home countries of some of Harvard’s international students are “not at all friendly to the United States” and “pay NOTHING toward their student’s education.”He added that the administration wants to “to know who those foreign students are” and that “Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming.”Harvard did not immediately reply to NPR’s request for comment Sunday morning.Trump’s latest attack against Harvard comes two days after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the administration from being able to revoke the university’s ability to enroll international students.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/25/nx-s1-5411722/trump-again-blasts-harvard-over-international-students-as-judge-blocks-revocation 

5/12/25: 

House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts that Democrats warn will leave millions without careWASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation revealed late Sunday is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried but failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump’s first term in 2017.While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over the decade.https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-cuts-trump-tax-cuts-bill-1e2b12a91a3d12ceb0420ce7053de58e Episcopal Church leader says helping Afrikaners over other refugees is ‘unfathomable’The Episcopal Church is ending its nearly 40-year refugee resettlement partnership with the U.S. government after refusing a Trump administration request to help resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa.The church cited its commitment to racial justice as a moral imperative in a letter sent to its members Monday.Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe explained to NPR’s Morning Edition that the administration’s request crossed a moral line, and that the church would not help while other refugee programs remain largely frozen by the White House“The idea that we would be somehow resettling Afrikaners at this point over other refugees who have been vetted and waiting in camps for months or even years, is unfathomable to us,” Rowe, the church’s youngest presiding bishop ever, said.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/13/nx-s1-5395887/afrikaners-refugees-trump-episcopal-church Pope Leo XIV urges release of imprisoned journalists, affirms gift of free speech and pressVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press” in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff. received a standing ovation as he entered the Vatican auditorium for his first meeting with representatives of the general public.The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary, elected in a 24-hour conclave last week, called for journalists to use words for peace, to reject war and to give voice to the voiceless.He expressed solidarity with journalists around the world who have been jailed for trying to seek and report the truth. Drawing applause from the crowd, he asked for their release.“The church recognises in these witnesses — I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives — the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,” he said.https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-journalists-free-press-121ae0103b771fb3cda71ae03870853d US and China reach a deal to slash sky-high tariffs for now, with a 90-day pauseGENEVA (AP) — The United States and China agreed Monday to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world’s two biggest economies and setting off a rally in global financial markets.But the de-escalation in President Donald Trump’s trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington. The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.https://apnews.com/article/china-us-switzerland-tariffs-negotiations-b3f5174d086e39b2522ab848ddad9372 

5/13/25: 

Trump’s new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize pardons that Biden issued at the end of his termWASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department’s new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House.“These are big moments, and so they have to be able to withstand scrutiny,” Martin told reporters on Tuesday, his last full day as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses in January on his last day in office. He also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.None of them had been charged with any crime. The pardons were designed to guard against possible retribution by President Donald Trump.https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-pardons-ed-martin-de43fc3e38ac1e21461c0f30d93b4186 ICE Agents Abandon Child on Street After Arresting Adult, Video ShowsA child was reportedly left alone on the street during a federal immigration operation in Waltham, Massachusetts, earlier this month, a city official said.In a statement addressing the incident, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: “ICE officers conducted a vehicle stop and encountered an adult male driver and 13-year-old passenger—the adult was not the minor’s parent.“The driver was an illegal alien and was taken into ICE custody. Officers helped the 13-year-old contact a parent. The parent was informed of the situation and the child’s location and declined to pick up their son. The parent confirmed that the residence was nearby and elected for the child to walk home within short walking distance.”https://www.newsweek.com/ice-agents-abandon-child-street-after-arresting-adult-video-2072154 White House correspondents protest lack of wire reporters on Air Force OneThe group representing White House journalists said Monday it was disturbed that the Trump administration barred any wire service news reporters from traveling with the president on Air Force One to the Middle East.No reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg or Reuters were on the plane, where presidents often take questions from traveling members of the press.“Their reports are distributed quickly to thousands of news outlets and millions of readers throughout the world every day, so all have equal access to coverage of the presidency,” the White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement. “This change is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”The White House has been fighting in court with the AP, after the news service was blocked from covering smaller “pool” events when it decided not to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, as Trump had called for in an executive order.https://apnews.com/article/white-house-wire-reporters-trump-administration-press-cc81e76d7d8b7a54848cc9f1117cb02a Kennedy Swims in Washington Creek That Flows With Sewage and BacteriaRobert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.Rock Creek, which flows through much of Northwest Washington, is used to drain excess sewage and storm water during rainfall. The creek has widespread “fecal” contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli, and the city has banned swimming in all of its waterways for more than 50 years because of the widespread contamination of Rock Creek and other nearby rivers.“Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health,” the National Park Service wrote in an advisory on its website, adding “All District waterways are subject to a swim ban — this means wading, too!”https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html Republicans voice concern over Trump’s support for a new Air Force One from QatarRepublican lawmakers are signaling growing concern over President Trump’s openness to accepting a $400 million plane from Qatar to serve as the new Air Force One, an unprecedented move fraught with ethical and legal issues that is testing even his biggest loyalists.The chorus of reservations being expressed by Republican lawmakers represents a rare break with the president, who typically enjoys near total unanimity from the party.On Wednesday, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, was among those taking issue with the idea. McCaul said he certainly received gifts in his former role as chair of the House Foreign Affairs committee and believed countries can gift to other countries, but a luxury Boeing 747 jet may go too far.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5398099/trump-qatar-air-force-one-republicans-congress 

5/15/25: 

Denver air traffic controllers had 2-minute communications outage, FAA official saysPilots flying into Denver International Airport on Monday couldn’t communicate with air traffic controllers for about two minutes due to multiple radio transmitter failures, a leading official with the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to members of Congress on Thursday.Frank McIntosh, the deputy chief operating officer at the FAA, told a House committee that there was a loss of one of the air traffic controllers’ radio frequencies. Controllers have multiple frequencies, so operators turned to their backup frequency in this case, he said.This backup went down “for approximately two minutes,” McIntosh said.As emergency procedures dictate, controllers switched to a 121.5 MHz radio frequency, which is primarily used for aircraft communications and emergency situations, and they were able to connect with the aircraft and inform the pilots to switch to a secondary frequency, he explained.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5399623/denver-airport-air-traffic-control-outage DOGE said 40% of the Social Security Agency’s calls were ‘fraudulent.’ Data suggests it was actually less than 1%An oft-repeated claim that 40% of Social Security calls are fraudulent is wildly overstated, according to a report, which found that less than 1% of calls have any possible link to fraud. However, changes the administration made to combat the alleged problem have led to payment delays and a “degradation” in service, the report found.https://fortune.com/2025/05/16/doge-social-security-fraud/ Case of brain-dead pregnant woman kept on life support in Georgia raises tricky questionsATLANTA (AP) — The case of a pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead and has been kept on life support for three months has given rise to complicated questions about abortion law and whether a fetus is a person.Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother, was about two months pregnant on Feb. 19 when she was declared brain dead, according to an online fundraising page started by her mother. Doctors said Georgia’s strict anti-abortion law requires that she remain on life support until the fetus has developed enough to be delivered, her mother wrote.The law, one of a wave of measures enacted in conservative states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected and gives personhood rights to a fetus.Smith’s mother says it has left her family without a say in a difficult situation, and with her due date still months away, the family is left wondering whether the baby will be born with disabilities or can even survive. Some activists, many of them Black women like Smith, say it raises issues of racial equity.https://apnews.com/article/pregnant-woman-brain-dead-abortion-ban-georgia-80b463f0f398d5a9c62f8888739025cb 

5/16/25: 

US loses last perfect credit rating amid rising debtThe US has lost its last perfect credit rating, as influential ratings firm Moody’s expressed concern over the government’s ability to pay back its debt.In lowering the US rating from ‘AAA’ to ‘Aa1’, Moody’s noted that successive US administrations had failed to reverse ballooning deficits and interest costs.A triple-A rating signifies a country’s highest possible credit reliability, and indicates it is considered to be in very good financial health with a strong capacity to repay its debts.Moody’s warned in 2023 the US triple-A rating was at risk. Fitch Ratings downgraded the US in 2023 and S&P Global Ratings did so in 2011. Moody’s held a perfect credit rating for the US since 1917.The downgrade “reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns,” Moody’s said in the statement.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ge0xk4ld1o Trump Revives Taylor Swift Feud And Calls Bruce Springsteen ‘Highly Overrated’“Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’” Trump said, referencing a post he made on Truth Social in September slamming the singer after she endorsed his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris.The reason for Trump’s attack on Swift is unclear, as Swift has not mentioned him recently, and she has kept a low profile on social media and in public since her blockbuster Eras Tour wrapped up in December.Minutes later, Trump made another post targeting the “Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen” after the musician blasted Trump as “treasonous” and “unfit” for office while on stage in London on Wednesday.“Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy,” Trump said of Springsteen, criticizing him for supporting his former opponent, former President Joe Biden.Trump threatened Springsteen—whom he called a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker”—to “KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country.”Also in his post on Springsteen, Trump renewed his criticism of Biden, whom he has targeted in hundreds of Truth Social posts since retaking office, calling him “our WORST EVER President.”https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/05/16/trump-revives-taylor-swift-feud-and-calls-bruce-springsteen-highly-overrated/ Internal document warns ‘FEMA is not ready’ for hurricane seasonThe Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “not ready” for hurricane season, which starts June 1, an internal document warns as President Trump eyes eliminating the department entirely.Internal slides obtained by The Hill state that, “As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood, thus FEMA is not ready.”The slides also state that per a hurricane season 2025 assessment, “resources are reduced” and the “quality of people lost cannot be replaced right away.”And it says the routine readiness process “has been derailed this year due to other activities like staffing and contracts.”FEMA is the federal agency in charge of coordinating responses to disasters, working alongside states and localities to do so. It also helps communities rebuild after they’ve been hit.https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5304570-fema-hurricane-season-dhs-noem-trump-noaa/ 

5/17/25:

Authorities say suspect in California fertility clinic bombing left behind ‘anti-pro-life’ writingsA 25-year-old man the FBI believes was responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic left behind “anti-pro-life” writings before carrying out an attack investigators are calling an act of terrorism, authorities said Sunday.Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, California, was identified by the FBI as the suspect in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the clinic in the upscale city of Palm Springs in the desert east of Los Angeles.Investigators said Barktus died in the blast, which a senior FBI official called possibly the “largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California.” A body was found near a charred vehicle outside the clinic.“This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” Davis said Sunday. “Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.”The bombing injured four other people, though Davis said all embryos at the facility were saved.https://apnews.com/article/palm-springs-fertility-clinic-explosion-a4040e8b98cc4474a0a5bdc1078033fb Trump administration strikes deal to allow sales of rapid-fire gun modificationThe Trump administration has struck a deal to allow sales of a trigger mechanism that modifies a semiautomatic firearm to allow it to fire more rapidly. Gun-control advocates have argued that the devices convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns, which are banned under federal law.Under the terms of a settlement announced Friday by the Justice Department, “forced reset triggers” can be sold legally so long as their manufacturer, Rare Breed Triggers, refrains from developing similar devices for pistols and enforces its patents to stop copycats.The legal settlement represents a reversal of the Biden administration’s efforts to use the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to confiscate conversion devices, some of which allow semiautomatic weapons to fire at rates approaching those of automatic weapons. The agency had previously threatened charges against anyone manufacturing or possessing the contraptions, which have proliferated throughout the country and are often used by drug traffickers and gang members, according to the bureau. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/17/trump-administration-rapid-fire-device/  Trump Urges Walmart to Absorb Tariffs After Retailer Says It Could Raise PricesPresident Trump scolded Walmart on Saturday after the retail giant warned that his tariffs would force it to raise prices, writing on social media that the discount chain could afford to absorb the costs of the new import taxes without passing them on to customers.“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media site. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected.”He called on Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, to “EAT THE TARIFFS” and keep prices down. “I’ll be watching, and so will your customers,” he wrote.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/us/politics/trump-walmart-eat-the-tariffs-prices.html Is the Department of Homeland Security Considering a Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for U.S. Citizenship?A producer behind reality shows like The Millionaire Matchmaker, Duck Dynasty, and Alpha Dogs has pitched a new reality show idea to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—one in which immigrants compete for U.S. citizenship.“I’m putting a face to immigration. This is a great celebration of America,” Rob Worsoff told CNN in an interview that aired on Friday, May 16, noting that he himself is an immigrant from Canada.Worsoff said that he also pitched this reality show during both previous Democratic Administrations.Meanwhile, Worsoff claimed during his interview that the DHS appears to be “seriously considering” the show—which he said would include a series of elimination challenges across America. Examples he gave of such challenges included a “pizza-making challenge” in New York, a “rocket-launching challenge” in Florida, and a “gold rush challenge” in California. Per his vision, each episode would culminate in a town hall-esque style vote, one he said is akin to a “presidential election.”“The people of Tennessee, let’s say, will get to vote on which one of our future Americans they would most like to represent the state of Tennessee,” Worsoff offered as an example. Then, a winner would be granted citizenship. The show currently has the working title “The American.”https://time.com/7286216/department-of-homeland-security-reality-show-immigrants-compete-us-citizenship-pitch/ 

5/18/25: 

Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ prostate cancerFormer US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.Biden, who left office in January, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options. His office added that the cancer was hormone-sensitive, meaning it could likely be managed. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwywqg7lq1zo  Donald Trump reacts to Joe Biden’s devastating prostate cancer diagnosisPresident Donald Trump released a heartfelt statement on Sunday after Joe Biden revealed he had been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer.The president said he and first lady Melania Trump were ‘saddened to hear’ about former President Joe Biden‘s diagnosis. Despite their bitter rivalry, the president put aside their differences to extend some warm words for his political foe. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14725353/Trump-reacts-Joe-Bidens-prostate-cancer-diagnosis.html 

5/5/25: 

Washington’s Hispanic community fighting fear and rallying help as rumors of an ICE crackdown bubbleWASHINGTON (AP) — Word spread, and fast — as it does in so many moments of rumor and fear.Early Tuesday morning, dozens of concerned parents and staff members gathered outside of Mundo Verde, one of Washington’s most prominent bilingual schools, bracing for a crackdown.A flurry of rumors and unconfirmed media reports had fueled fears that agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be descending on area schools that were known to have large Hispanic immigrant populations.The reports of a crackdown on bilingual schools in the District turned out to be a false alarm that day — but only partially false. While the schools were on high alert, ICE agents reportedly raided several local restaurants, including Millie’s in northwest Washington. On Wednesday, staffers at Millie’s were reluctant to discuss the incident, with one manager — who did not give a name — saying the restaurant had been descended upon by “fascists.”https://apnews.com/article/rumors-immigration-raids-ice-washington-dc-bec65e6fe8f6c5808b1847afabd04eb2 Israel plans to seize Gaza under a new plan, officials sayTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel approved plans Monday to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel’s operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition.The new plan, which was approved in an early morning vote by Israeli Cabinet ministers, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza’s south. That would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-05-05-2025-d22caabfd2cf89e83fe06e649e6438ba Which US Cities Canceled Cinco de Mayo Parades Amid Immigration CrackdownSeveral major cities have canceled Cinco de Mayo celebrations because of increasing fears over President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on immigration.In Chicago, the annual Cinco de Mayo parade, which historically attracts thousands of revelers to the city’s vibrant Pilsen neighborhood, was officially called off after city officials expressed concerns about the safety of participants.In south Philadelphia, the Carnaval de Puebla parade, which has been celebrated for decades, was also canceled amid fears of aggressive immigration enforcement.The cancellations come as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramps up deportation efforts to carry out stricter immigration policies nationwide.https://www.newsweek.com/cinco-de-mayo-parades-canceled-immigration-chicago-2067809 

5/6/25: 

What we know about India’s strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered KashmirTwo weeks after a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, India has launched a series of strikes on sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.The Indian defence ministry said the strikes – named “Operation Sindoor” – were part of a “commitment” to hold “accountable” those responsible for the 22 April attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, which left 25 Indians and one Nepali national dead.But Pakistan, which has denied any involvement in that attack, described the strikes as “unprovoked”, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying the “heinous act of aggression will not go unpunished”.Sharif on Wednesday said the Pahalgam attack “wasn’t related” to Pakistan, and that his country was “accused for the wrong” reasons.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6868pdpw4o Supreme Court upholds Trump’s ban on transgender military members while appeals continueThe U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to begin executing its ban on transgender military service members, at least for now. The justices blocked a lower court order that temporarily halted the ban’s enforcement.The court’s three liberals said they would have denied the application.Shortly after President Trump was sworn in for the second time, he signed an executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the military.The Defense Department promptly barred transgender individuals from enlisting and discharged active duty soldiers as well.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/06/nx-s1-5388507/supreme-court-transgender-military Carney tells Trump that Canada ‘won’t be for sale, ever’Mark Carney has told Donald Trump that Canada “is not for sale” as the president raised the prospect of the country becoming the 51st US state while welcoming the prime minister to the White House.Carney won the election last month promising to “stand up” to Trump, who has imposed tariffs on some Canadian products and sometimes talks about annexing the country.The former central banker responded with a firm but measured tone after the president proposed a “wonderful marriage” of incorporating Canada into the US.Despite a strained relationship recently between the once-close neighbours, the two men also lavished praise on each other in what was a largely cordial Oval Office meeting.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4gw18753o 

5/7/25: 

Student in US Since She Was 4 Faces Potential Deportation19-year-old college student who has lived in the U.S. since childhood is now facing possible deportation after a routine traffic stop in Dalton, Georgia, led to her arrest and detention by federal immigration authorities.Ximena Arias-Cristobal, who has lived in Whitfield County since she was four, was taken to the Stewart Detention Center with restraints on her wrists and ankles, according to WTVC NewsChannel 9.https://www.newsweek.com/ximena-arias-cristobal-student-faces-potential-deportation-2069456 CBO: Millions of people could lose insurance under GOP Medicaid optionsMillions of people would lose health insurance coverage under various Republican options to cut Medicaid spending to pay for President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, according to an analysis the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released Wednesday. For instance, a cap on Medicaid spending for beneficiaries in the expansion population would save $225 billion and result in 1.5 million additional people being uninsured by 2034. Limiting state provider taxes would save $668 billion but would mean an additional 3.9 million uninsured people by 2034.https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5287540-republican-plan-health-insurance-millions/ 

5/8/25: 

Coal miners head to court over Trump cuts to black lung screening staffTwo West Virginia coal miners with black lung disease testified before a federal judge on Wednesday during a hearing on the Trump administration’s decision to effectively shutter a program that provides free screenings to coal miners, a move advocates have said threatens to bring more disease and death to coal-dependent communities across Appalachia.Last month, the Trump administration fired roughly two-thirds of the staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the division of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides the free screenings for the disease through the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, The Washington Post previously reported.Black lung is a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust. NIOSH epidemiologists recently found that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia have black lung, the highest level recorded in 25 years. The fired staff also oversaw a job transfer program called Part 90 that entitles coal miners to transfer to work in a less dusty part of the mine if they develop early signs of the disease.As a result of the layoffs, the health surveillance program is no longer “providing any new medical screenings to coal miners or accepting any new requests for review of medical information to determine coal miners’ rights for transfer to low-dust jobs,” according to a notice posted on the program website.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/08/west-virginia-coal-miners-black-lung-lawsuit/Maga says Pope Leo may be American, but he’s not ‘America first’Catholicism has rarely been more prominent in US politics as the Trump administration openly embraces advisers and officials who proudly say faith has shaped their views.But any jubilation on the American Make America Great Again right about the new Pope this week quickly dissipated as key voices from Donald Trump’s Maga movement came to a disappointed conclusion: the first American Pope does not appear to be “America first”.Little is known about the political leanings of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago.He has voiced concerns for the poor and immigrants, chosen a name that may reference more liberal church leadership, and he appears to have both supported the liberal-leaning Pope Francis and criticised the US president’s policies on social media.But the president so far has said only that Leo’s election was a “great honour” for the US. Still, some of Trump’s most prominent supporters were quick to attack Pope Leo, lambasting him as a possible challenge to Trump and on the perception that he will follow Pope Francis in areas like immigration.“I mean it’s kind of jaw-dropping,” Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon told the BBC on Friday, speaking of Leo’s election.“It is shocking to me that a guy could be selected to be the Pope that had had the Twitter feed and the statements he’s had against American senior politicians,” said Bannon, a hard-right Trump loyalist, practising Catholic and former altar boy.And he predicted that there’s “definitely going to be friction” between Leo and Trump.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyglw20lg2o Robert Prevost, first pope from US in history of the Catholic Church, takes the name Leo XIVVATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic cardinals broke with tradition Thursday and elected the first U.S. pope, making Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church in a moment of global turmoil and conflict.Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of “a disarmed and disarming peace” dialogue and missionary evangelization. https://apnews.com/article/conclave-pope-francis-cardinals-vatican-d7991a37a679f09792ed220cc1f6bbed  Iowa Senate resolution calls to overturn federal same-sex marriage ruling. What to know:An Iowa Republican state senator has introduced a largely symbolic measure calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to end the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, introduced by Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark federal case that legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.“Since court rulings are not laws and only legislatures elected by the people may pass laws, Obergefell is an illegitimate overreach,” the resolution states.Resolutions are a formal expression of a legislative chamber’s opinion but lack the force of a bill.And with time running out as lawmakers race to pass a budget and adjourn the session in the coming days, it’s unclear whether leadership would bring Salmon’s proposal to a floor vote.https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/08/iowa-legislature-senate-resolution-calls-to-overturn-same-sex-marriage-sandy-salmon/83511236007/ 

 5/9/25:

Family With 2 US Citizen Children Deported by ICE After Traffic StopA week after a traffic stop by Texas state troopers, Denisse Parra Vargas and her three children, including two who are U.S. citizens, have been deported, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed in a social media post.DHS also said on X, formerly Twitter, that “when Parra was taken into ICE custody she chose to bring her children with her to Mexico.” However, local immigration advocacy groups have reported otherwise.https://www.newsweek.com/family-2-us-citizen-children-deported-ice-after-traffic-stop-2069741 President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla HaydenWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.Hayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump’s agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children’s books with “radical” content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.“The current #LibrarianOfCongress Carla Hayden is woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids,” AAF said on its X account earlier Thursday, just hours before the firing was made public. “It’s time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!” https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/g-s1-65271/librarian-of-congress-fired  

5/10/25: 

Trump Admin Says ‘Definitely on the Table’ to Arrest Democrats Over ProtestDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS) official confirmed Saturday that arrests of Democratic members of Congress “is definitely on the table” following a confrontation at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey.This statement comes after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on Friday at the Delaney Hall detention center, sparking a dispute over what actually occurred during the incident.https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-threatens-democratic-lawmakers-ice-protests-2070578 US to accept white South African refugees while other programs remain pausedWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will welcome more than two dozen white South Africans to the United States as refugees next week, an unusual move because it has suspended most refugee resettlement operations, officials and documents said Friday.The first Afrikaner refugees are arriving Monday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. They are expected to be greeted by a government delegation, including the deputy secretary of state and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, whose refugee office has organized their resettlement.The flight will be the first of several in a “much larger-scale relocation effort,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters.The Trump administration has taken a number of steps against South Africa, accusing the Black-led government of pursuing anti-white policies at home and an anti-American foreign policy. The South African government denies the allegations and says the U.S. criticism is full of misinformation.https://apnews.com/article/us-south-africa-refugees-a8ef81e11667041f6d87c33f613774a9 Trump team mulls suspending the constitutional right of habeas corpus to speed deportations. Can it?WASHINGTON (AP) — White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says President Donald Trump is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, he says the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border.“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller told reporters outside the White House on Friday.“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”https://apnews.com/article/habeas-corpus-trump-migrants-deportations-constitution-28a598363d03bfc9448b5132c72f2b3d India-Pakistan ceasefire appears to hold after accusations of violationsA ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to have held overnight into Sunday, after the two nations accused each other of “violations” just hours after a deal was reached.Days of cross-border military strikes had preceded the US-brokered deal, marking the worst military confrontation between the two rivals in decades.US President Donald Trump praised India and Pakistan’s leaders for agreeing the ceasefire in fresh comments on Sunday morning, saying millions of people could have died without it.This comes after explosions were heard in Indian-administered Kashmir hours after the deal was announced, with both sides accusing each other of violations.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9d913v20o 

5/11/25: 

Newark Airport Has Another Radar OutageAn air traffic control facility that guides planes at Newark Liberty International Airport had a brief radar outage on Friday morning, the latest technological disruption at one of the nation’s busiest airports.The outage, which affected communications and radar displays at a facility in Philadelphia, occurred just before 4 a.m. and lasted about 90 seconds, the Federal Aviation Administration said.A similar 90-second outage last week, on a Monday afternoon, upended travel at the airport, leaving controllers unable to communicate with pilots and keep planes from crashing into one another. Several controllers working that afternoon were distressed by that episode and took time off, which resulted in several days of low staffing at the facility, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/business/newark-airport-radar-outage.html  Trump has sat for only 12 ‘daily’ intelligence briefings since taking officeSince President Donald Trump was sworn into office in January, he has sat for just 12 presentations from intelligence officials of the President’s Daily Brief.That’s a significant drop compared with Trump’s first term in office, according to a POLITICO analysis of his public schedule.The low number of briefings this time around is troubling to many in and around the intelligence community, who were already concerned about Trump’s act-first-evaluate-after approach to governing.“It’s sadly clear that President Trump doesn’t value the expertise of and dangerous work performed by our intelligence professionals each and every day, and unfortunately, it leaves the American people increasingly vulnerable to threats we ought to see coming,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to POLITICO.https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/09/trump-intelligence-briefing-frequency-00338946 Mexico sues Google over ‘Gulf of America’ name changeMexico is suing Google for ignoring repeated requests not to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America for US users on its maps service, Claudia Sheinbaum has said.The Mexican president did not say where the lawsuit had been filed. Google did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.On Thursday, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to officially rename the Gulf for federal agencies.US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January calling for the body of water to be renamed, arguing the change was justified because the US “do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yk5nj7p7ko 

WEEK 15

4/28/25

Trump: ‘I run the country and the world’President Trump shared his thoughts on how his two terms as president have differed, saying in a new interview with The Atlantic that this time around he’s leading “the country and the world.”“The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” Trump said in the interview published Monday. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5270899-trump-i-run-the-country-and-the-world/ Executive order: ENFORCING COMMONSENSE RULES OF THE ROAD FOR AMERICA’S TRUCK DRIVERSSection 1.  Purpose.  America’s truck drivers are essential to the strength of our economy, the security of our Nation, and the livelihoods of the American people.  Every day, truckers perform the demanding and dangerous work of transporting the Nation’s goods to businesses, customers, and communities safely, reliably, and efficiently.Proficiency in English, which I designated as our official national language in Executive Order 14224 of March 1, 2025 (Designating English as the Official Language of the United States), should be a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers.  They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers.  Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English.  This is common sense.That is why Federal law requires that, to operate a commercial vehicle, a driver must “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.”  Yet this requirement has not been enforced in years, and America’s roadways have become less safe.https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/enforcing-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers/ 

4/29/25

‘Were citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A woman says her family’s fresh start in Oklahoma turned into a nightmare after federal immigration agents raided their home, taking their phones, laptops, and life savings – even though they were not the suspects the agents were looking for.“I keep asking them, ‘who are you? What are you doing here? What’s happening?” she said. “And they said, ‘we have a warrant for the house, a search warrant.’”She said they ordered her and her daughters outside into the rain before they could even put on clothes.“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it’s respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.”https://kfor.com/news/local/were-citizens-oklahoma-city-family-traumatized-after-ice-raids-home-but-they-werent-suspects/ Why Hegseth wants to eliminate the Women, Peace and Security programDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to eliminate the Women, Peace and Security Act. He doesn’t have the power to do so, but what is the act’s goal, and what does this mean for women in combat roles?Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced this week that he wants to get rid of a program designed to promote the contributions and safety of women in global conflict zones. The Women, Peace and Security program was signed into law by President Trump in 2017 and co-sponsored by two members of Trump’s current cabinet. It also passed with bipartisan support. In a post on X, Hegseth initially called the program a woke, Biden-era initiative. He later clarified those comments, saying that its original mission became distorted under the Biden administration.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5382396/why-hegseth-wants-to-eliminate-the-women-peace-and-security-program

4/30/25

Trump says US kids may get ‘2 dolls instead of 30,’ but China will suffer more in a trade warWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that his tariffs could result in fewer and costlier products in the United States, saying American kids might “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” but he insisted China will suffer more from his trade war.The Republican president has tried to reassure a nervous country that his tariffs will not provoke a recession, after a new government report showed the U.S. economy shrank during the first three months of the year.https://apnews.com/article/trump-economy-tariffs-gdp-7494825851dcef94ec81475124f9326fLawmakers demand answers after a Haitian woman dies at an ICE detention centerA woman from Haiti died after spending over two months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the agency announced on Tuesday.Marie Ange Blaise, 44, was pronounced dead on Friday night at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Fla. ICE says her cause of death is under investigation.Speaking on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., suggested that Blaise had not been provided adequate medical care.“Marie had been complaining about chest pain for hours,” said Cherfilus-McCormick, who is the only Haitian-American in Congress. “They gave her some pills and told her to go lie down. Unfortunately, Marie never woke up.”NPR has reached out to ICE for more information. In its Tuesday notice, the agency said that “at no time during detention” is a detainee “denied emergent care.”“All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health screening and 24-hour emergency care at each detention facility,” it said.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5383108/haitian-woman-death-ice-detention Seven takeaways from US-Ukraine resources dealThe US and Ukraine have signed a deal that will give Washington access to some of the war-torn country’s natural resources.Months in the making, it sets up an investment fund that Ukraine hopes will cement US assistance as the country struggles to repel Russia three years after the invasion.The Ukrainians have now published the deal and there have been public statements from both sides. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yg456mzn8o New York Times fires back after Trump threatThe New York Times issued a firm rebuke of President Trump on Wednesday after the president threatened the news outlet with legal action over reporting on the litigation in which he is locked with Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News.“President Trump’s post today follows a long list of legal threats aimed at discouraging or penalizing independent reporting about the administration. The law is clear and protects a strong free press and favors an informed American public,” the Times said in a statement to The Hill.https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5274926-trump-threatens-new-york-times/ Trump tells business chiefs he needs ‘little bit of time’ as US economy shrinksPresident Donald Trump has asked for more time on the US economy as it contracted for the first time in three years, stoking recession fears.He said the figure was misleading because companies had stockpiled imports ahead of his imposition of tariffs.Trump, however, said $8tn (£6tn) of inward investment had been promised, which he argued would restore American manufacturing prowess.The US economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.3%, the US commerce department said, a sharp downturn after growth of 2.4% in the previous quarter. It comes as Trump marks 100 days in office, with opinion polls indicating public discontent over his economic stewardship.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c807n4rnmjyo 

5/1/25

May Day protesters rally nationwide against the ‘war on working people’Protesters took to the streets nationwide on Thursday in May Day rallies opposing the Trump administration, hoping to seize the momentum of recent widespread grassroots protests against policies implemented by the administration.May Day, celebrated by workers across the globe as International Labor Day, occurs on May 1 each year. Protesters used the labor holiday to decry what they view as attacks on the working class and immigrants.As President Trump marked the 100th day of his second term, anti-Trump protesters continued to express a range of concerns with the administration’s recent actions, including the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, immigration raids and billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement in downsizing the U.S. government.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/nx-s1-5382560/may-day-protests-history-trump 

5/2/25

Military parade to honour US Army will fall on Trump’s birthdayThe White House has confirmed a military parade will be held to mark the US Army’s 250th anniversary on 14 June, which falls on the same day as President Donald Trump’s birthday.A “day-long festival” will be held on the National Mall in Washington DC, an army spokesperson said, adding that the event would feature 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft.Trump first floated a military parade during his first term, but he scrapped the idea after reports it would have cost about $90 million (£71m).Earlier on Friday, Trump announced plans to rename Veterans Day – known as Remembrance Day in the UK – as “Victory Day for World War I” to celebrate American contributions to the conflict.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy9vzrxxjdwo CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 yearsNEW YORK (AP) — More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday.The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse the 207 reported last year. It’s the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic.It’s a startlingly high number, given that the flu season is still going on. The final pediatric death tally for the 2023-2024 flu season wasn’t counted until autumn.“This number that we have now is almost certainly an undercount, and one that — when the season is declared over, and they compile all the data — it’s almost certain to go up,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, of the American Academy of Pediatrics.There are likely several contributors to this season’s severity, but a big one is that fewer children are getting flu shots, added O’Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist.https://apnews.com/article/flu-deaths-children-cdc-e79b1e4169d629ad4bc1095d95d82110 Trump says he’s ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can’tPresident Trump issued an executive order late Thursday directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors to “cease federal funding for NPR and PBS,” the nation’s primary public broadcasters, claiming ideological bias.“Neither entity presents a fair, accurate or unbiased portrayal of current events to tax-paying citizens,” the order says. “The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding.”It is not clear that the president has the authority to make such orders to CPB under the law.PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger called it a “blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night.”https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5384790/trump-orders-end-to-federal-funding-for-npr-and-pbs 

5/3/25

Trump posts an AI generated image of himself as the Pope on truthsocial. Sweeping cuts hit NEA after Trump administration calls to eliminate the agencyThe Trump Administration has started canceling National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants.Hundreds of arts groups of various sizes across the U.S. received emails notifying them of the withdrawal and termination of their grants late on Friday. The updates, which came from a generic “arts.gov” email address, appeared in grantees’ inboxes just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency entirely from the federal budget.Among those affected are the Berkeley Repertory Theater, Central Park Summer Stage in New York City, and the Chicago-area arts education nonprofit Open Studio Project.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/03/nx-s1-5385888/sweeping-cuts-hit-nea-after-trump-administration-calls-to-eliminate-the-agency 

5/4/25

Trump places 100% tariffs on movies not produced in the United States, according to Truth Social.Does a president need to uphold the Constitution? Trump says ‘I don’t know’President Trump — when asked if he thinks he needs to uphold the Constitution on “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” — said, “I don’t know,” but added that his lawyers “are obviously going to follow what the Supreme Court said.”The response came after a series of questions regarding the right to due process for people living in the United States and the Fifth Amendment. During this exchange, Trump said he wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants — who he called “some of the worst people on Earth.”“I was elected to get them the hell out of here and the courts are holding me from doing it,” Trump said.https://www.npr.org/2025/05/04/g-s1-64239/does-a-president-need-to-uphold-the-constitution-trump-says-i-dont-know Trump orders reopening of notorious Alcatraz prisonDonald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the infamous former prison on an island near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.In a message on his Truth Social site on Sunday, President Trump said that “for too long America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders”.The reopening of Alcatraz – once notorious as one of the US’s toughest prisons – would serve as a “symbol of law, order, and justice,” he said.Leading Democrats said the proposal was “not a serious one”. The maximum security facility, also known as The Rock, was closed in 1963 and it is currently operating as a successful tourist site.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze17n02gegoCatholic leaders recoil from Trump’s pope post.ROME — As Catholic cardinals prepare to choose a successor to Pope Francis, church leaders, politicians and pundits blasted President Donald Trump on Sunday for sharing an AI-generated image of himself on a throne in the cassock and miter of the pontiff.“It’s sad both for the White House and for the president,” Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the bishop of Stockholm, told The Washington Post. “I mean, he makes themselves ridiculous, right?”“This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown,” former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi wrote in a social media post Saturday.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/04/trump-pope-social-media-post/

Week 14

4/21/25

Colleague of Harvard scientist held by ICE warns that foreign scientists are scaredFear is spreading among some foreign-born academics and scientists working in the U.S. after Russian-born scientist Kseniia Petrova, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, was detained earlier this year when returning from France and had her visa canceled.Leon Peshkin, a research scientist at Harvard who worked closely with Petrova, told Morning Edition that some scientists he knows now fear their immigration status could be at risk as they travel for work.“There are many people on the visas around here just depressed,” Peshkin said.  “People who came here to contribute are now thinking of leaving, of looking for jobs elsewhere. I think it’s going to have a large negative impact when people are intimidated, scared and no longer interested to come.”https://www.npr.org/2025/04/24/nx-s1-5372690/kseniia-petrova-ice-harvard Harvard University sues Trump administration to stop funding freezeHarvard University has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming that its freezing of federal grants worth billions of dollars is unlawful.Its president, Alan M Garber, announced the action on Monday in a letter to the university community which said the $2bn funding freeze would hamper critical disease research.Harvard, the world’s richest university, last week rejected a list of demands that the Trump administration said was designed to curb diversity initiatives and fight anti-semitism at the school.In response to the lawsuit, the White House said the “gravy train of federal assistance” was coming to an end.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4grwkyxgjwoStudent loans in default to be referred to debt collection, Education Department saysWASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will begin collection next month on student loans that are in default, including the garnishing of wages for potentially millions of borrowers, officials said Monday.Currently, roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans.The Trump administration ’s announcement marks an end to a period of leniency that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. No federal student loans have been referred for collection since March 2020, including those in default. Under President Joe Biden, the Education Department tried multiple times to give broad forgiveness of student loans, only to be stopped by courts.“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-debt-default-collection-fa6498bf519e0d50f2cd80166faef32a Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff who ministered with a charming, humble style, dies at 88VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.The Vatican said Francis died of a stroke that put him into a coma and led his heart to fail.Bells tolled in Catholic churches from his native Argentina to the Philippines and across Rome as news spread around the world.“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell said from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-francis-dead-01ca7d73c3c48d25fd1504ba076e2e2a 

4/22/25

Wisconsin governor’s guidance on dealing with ICE agents draws GOP backlashMADISON, Wis. (AP) — Guidance from the Democratic governor of Wisconsin’s administration to state employees about what to do if immigration officials or other federal agents show up at their workplace drew fire Monday from Republicans, who said it was in defiance of the law and President Donald Trump.The memo from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration sent Friday afternoon comes as Trump’s administration has ramped up efforts to deport people living in the country illegally, setting off a string of lawsuits and resistance among Democrats.https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-immigration-ice-evers-4086e2ea77aa4dab8152128cc4bf66bd NIH autism study will pull from private medical recordsThe National Institutes of Health will begin collecting Americans’ private health records as part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial plan to discover a cause and a cure for autism. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told a panel of experts about the plan this week.The NIH plans to gather information from a wide range of private sources, including pharmacy chains, hospitals and wearable devices with health sensors, like smartwatches.“The idea of the platform is that the existing data resources are often fragmented and difficult to obtain. The NIH itself will often pay multiple times for the same data resource,” Bhattacharya told the panel, according to The Guardian. “Even data resources that are within the federal government are difficult to obtain.”https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/nx-s1-5372695/autism-nih-rfk-medical-recordsMusk to reduce Doge role after Tesla profits plungeTesla boss Elon Musk has pledged to “significantly” cut back his role in the US government after the electric car firm reported a huge drop in profit and sales for the start of this year.Musk has led the newly created advisory body – the Department for Government Efficiency (Doge) – since last year, putting the world’s richest man at the heart of cutting US spending and jobs.But Musk said his “time allocation to Doge” would “drop significantly” from next month, adding he would spend only one to two days per week on it after accusations he has taken his focus off Tesla.His political involvement has sparked protests and boycotts of Tesla cars around the world.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0x50yr46loVeterans Affairs asks employees to report ‘anti-Christian bias’ for investigation by new task forceWASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is establishing a task force to investigate employee reports of alleged anti-Christian bias among their colleagues, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to infuse its agenda with religious purpose and champion the rights of Christians.VA Secretary Doug Collins this week sent a rare department-wide email requesting employees to report any allegations of “anti-Christian discrimination” among their colleagues. The email, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, asks for “names, dates, and locations” of any alleged incidents to be reported to an internal email address. The Guardian first reported the email.https://apnews.com/article/trump-veterans-affairs-christian-bias-f7750d2a357f02b250516e12d3eaff0c Trump Calls $5,000 ‘Baby Bonus’ For New Mothers ‘A Good Idea’—What We Know About Incentive ProposalThe $5,000 would be given to every American mother after giving birth, with President Donald Trump saying the concept sounded “like a good idea to me” when he was asked about it Tuesday.The bonus could also be utilized as a form of a newborn supplement to existing child tax credits, The New York Times reported.Trump has not made a final decision on the proposal, which would need to be approved by Congress if it actually materialized.https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/04/23/trump-calls-5000-baby-bonus-for-new-mothers-a-good-idea-what-we-know-about-incentive-proposal/ 

4/23/25

Abrego Garcia’s Wife Forced to Go Into Hiding Thanks to Team Trump The wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, was forced to move to a safe house with her children, after the government posted their home address to social media.White House officials have spent weeks trying to justify their deportation of Abrego Garcia, even after admitting in court that sending him to El Salvador was an “administrative error,” claiming with no evidence that he is a violent criminal and gang member.At one point, the Department of Homeland Security posted online an order of protection that Jennifer Vasquez Sura had sought, but later abandoned, against her husband. That order contained Vasquez Sura’s home address, unredacted.“I don’t feel safe when the government posts my address, the house where my family lives, for everyone to see, especially when this case has gone viral and people have all sorts of opinions,” Vasquez Sura told The Washington Post. “So, this is definitely a bit terrifying. I’m scared for my kids.”https://newrepublic.com/post/194289/abrego-garcia-wife-hiding-dhs-address 

4/24/25

Trump Store Now Selling ‘Trump 2028’ HatsThe official Trump store is now selling red “Trump 2028” hats for $50 amid repeated suggestions by President Donald Trump and his allies that he could run for a third term in 2028.The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”In March, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker he was “not joking” about considering a third term, adding that there were “methods which you could do it.”https://www.newsweek.com/trump-store-now-selling-trump-2028-hats-2063775 Trump orders Justice Department to investigate Democrats’ top fundraising platformWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered the Justice Department to investigate the Democratic Party’s top fundraising platform, the latest example of Trump using the tools of the government to go after his political opponents.Trump, in an executive order signed Thursday, directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate allegations that Republicans have raised that ActBlue allows illegal campaign donations.Democrats, who had anticipated they would be targeted, condemned the move Thursday and ActBlue called it an “oppressive use of power” by the White House.https://apnews.com/article/trump-actblue-democratic-fundraising-9f990e668572709ce0e3260bbdb6f61b In rare rebuke of Putin, Trump urges Russia to ‘STOP!’ after deadly attack on KyivWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday offered rare criticism of Vladimir Putin, urging the Russian leader to “STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying.” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”Russia struck Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. At least 12 people were killed and 90 were injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July.https://apnews.com/article/trump-putin-russia-ukraine-war-kyiv-fb61625d2dee8b1917bb3522e73c2166 

4/25/25

U.S. judge says 2-year-old apparently deported to Honduras ‘with no meaningful process’A Trump-nominated federal judge in Louisiana said that a 2-year-old American citizen appears to have been deported “with no meaningful process.” This comes as the Trump administration has faced growing criticisms for its hurried proceedings to remove as many noncitizens from the country as quickly as possible.U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the toddler, identified as VML, had been sent to Honduras on Friday, alongside her mother and sister, even as the court had sought to clarify the girl’s status. He set a hearing on the case for May 16 “in the interest of dispelling our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.”https://www.npr.org/2025/04/26/nx-s1-5378077/honduras-deported-girl-citizen 

4/26/25

Pete Hegseth’s Signal Phone Number Can Be Found EverywhereThe phone number that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was using to discuss sensitive war plans on Signal was used on multiple other public platforms, according to The New York Times.Hegseth’s number was found on WhatsApp, Facebook, and a fantasy sports website, among other websites. This is another absurd security development for the country’s top defense secretary.https://newrepublic.com/post/194447/pete-hegseth-signal-phone-numberTrump officials deny U.S. citizen children were ‘deported’ to HondurasTom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, insisted Sunday that the Trump administration did not “deport” American children to Honduras — arguing that the White House sent the children to the country because their mothers, who were being deported, wished to bring them.Early Friday, three U.S. citizen children from two families were removed from the United States with their mothers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of them is a 4-year-old with Stage 4 cancer who was sent without medication or the ability to contact their doctors, a lawyer for the child’s family said. The others are 2 and 7 years old. The children’s situations have intensified concerns that the Trump administration is carrying out deportations in a way that violates the legal rights of both citizens and noncitizens.https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/04/27/trump-deportation-citizens-children/Justice Department revokes Biden-era protections for reporters in leak investigationsThe Justice Department on Friday rescinded a Biden-era policy that provided protections to journalists in leak investigations, paving the way for authorities to once again use subpoenas and compel testimony from reporters in probes targeting leakers.“Federal government employees intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to uphold the rule of law, protect civil rights, and keep America safe. This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an internal memo issued on Friday and obtained by NPR.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5377624/pam-bondi-reporters-subpoena-leaks Protesters chant after arrest of judge accused of helping man evade immigration authoritiesMILWAUKEE (AP) — Protesters chanted and marched Saturday outside the FBI after agents arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities. The case has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot.https://apnews.com/article/immigration-judge-arrested-7997186bbca5730e70a25f2347e631f6Homes destroyed and 1,500 detained in Kashmir as India cracks down following attacksPULWAMA, India — Indian authorities have detained at least 1,500 people in India-administered Kashmir after a militant attack killed 26 people last week, a top police officer told NPR. Several homes linked to alleged militants were also destroyed.India accused Pakistan of having a connection to the attack — the worst aimed at Indian civilians in more than a decade — claiming that the group that claimed responsibility was backed by the Pakistani military. That ratcheted up tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries, who both control parts of Kashmir, but claim ownership over the whole region.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/27/nx-s1-5378630/india-kashmir-pakistan-crackdown-homes-destroyed Trump pays his respects to a pope who publicly and pointedly disagreed with him over the yearsROME (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday paid his respects to Pope Francis, occupying a front-row seat in sunlit St. Peter’s Square as more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attended the funeral of the Catholic Church leader who pointedly disagreed with the American on a variety of issues.Trump and first lady Melania Trump were seated next to Estonian President Alar Karis and not far from French President Emmanuel Macron for the outdoor service on a cloudless morning.Diplomacy also was on Trump’s agenda during his eight-hour visit to Italy: Trump had a brief private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside St. Peter’s Basilica before the service. Photos showed them seated on chairs facing one another in a marbled room and hunched over.Trump stood out at the funeral service in a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie in a sea of mournful black attire. https://apnews.com/article/trump-pope-francis-funeral-vatican-rome-italy-9895e156b90aea1dde7f7ea19bf7b3e1 

4/27/25

Trump: Town hall ‘disruptors’ should be ‘immediately ejected’President Trump on Sunday urged Republicans to clamp down on protesters at town halls, saying they should be “immediately ejected” from the room and GOP lawmakers hosting the events “should not treat them nicely.”In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused “Radical Left Democrats” of “paying a fortune to have people infiltrate the Town Halls” of GOP members of Congress.President Trump on Sunday urged Republicans to clamp down on protesters at town halls, saying they should be “immediately ejected” from the room and GOP lawmakers hosting the events “should not treat them nicely.”“These Great Patriot Politicians should not treat them nicely. Have them immediately ejected from the room – They are disruptors and troublemakers,” Trump wrote.Trump urged Republicans holding town halls to push back against the idea that members of the president’s party are voicing concerns at public events.“You must allow your audience to know what you are up against, or else they will think they are Republicans, and that there is dissension in the Party,” Trump wrote in his post. “There is not, there is only LOVE and UNITY. Republicans are happy with what is taking place in our Country. We all love America!”https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5270384-trump-town-hall-disruptors-should-be-immediately-ejected/ Cory Booker and Hakeem Jeffries Are Sitting in to Stand up for MedicaidSen. Cory Booker and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are holding a livestreamed sit-in on the Capitol steps in protest of a forthcoming Republican budget they say will gut Medicaid — a federal and state program that helps to cover medical costs for people with limited income as well as disabled children and adults.The sit-in began at sunrise, shortly after 6 a.m., and Booker and Jeffries promised to stay for “a good number of hours.”The sit-in is a protest of a Republican budget bill that will likely seek to cut spending on public health insurance programs to compensate for the cost of President Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy as the GOP plans to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Committees in Congress are expected to start working on the budget this week after a budget resolution was adopted by both houses. The resolution instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion over the next decade. The biggest targets for those cuts are Medicare and Medicaid.https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/booker-jeffries-capitol-sit-in-medicaid-1235326047/ Trump Approval Rating Tracker: Majority Don’t Approve Of Trump’s Handling Of Inflation, Border And TradeLess than half of voters in a new NBC News poll released Sunday approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance and his handling of major issues—the latest in a string of unfavorable surveys for Trump as he approaches 100 days in office.Net -10 approval rating: A poll from NBC News, which surveyed 19,682 adults from April 11-20, found 55% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of his job, while 45% approved (margin of error of 2.2 points).Furthermore, 60% of respondents said America is on the wrong track, and more respondents disapproved than approved of Trump’s handling of immigration and border security (51% disapproved), his handling of inflation and the cost of living (60% disapproved) and his handling of tariffs and trade (61% disapproved).https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/04/27/trump-approval-rating-tracker-majority-dont-approve-of-trumps-handling-of-inflation-border-and-trade/ 

WEEK 13

4/14/25

Amid $20 billion legal war with CBS, Donald Trump calls to cancel network’s license in fresh attackAmid his $20 billion lawsuit against CBS, US President Donald Trump on Monday unleashed another scathing on 60 Minutes, accusing the show of spreading defamatory content and manipulating interviews for political gain.“Almost every week, 60 Minutes mentions my name in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this weekend’s broadcast tops them all,” he wrote on his social media platform.https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/amid-20-billion-legal-war-with-cbs-donald-trump-calls-to-cancel-networks-license-in-fresh-attack/articleshow/120268486.cms?from=mdr Trump blames Zelensky for starting war after massive Russian attackDonald Trump has again blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia – a day after a major Russian attack killed 35 people and injured 117 others in the Ukrainian city of Sumy.The US president said Ukraine’s leader shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “millions of people dead” in the conflict.“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” he said at the White House on Monday.His comments followed Russia’s strike on Sumy on Sunday – the deadliest attack on civilians this year. Moscow also hit the city’s outskirts on Monday night.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5q0mev07lo El Salvador’s Bukele says ‘preposterous’ to suggest he return Abrego Garcia to U.S.El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said on Monday that he was not inclined to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States.Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years, was deported to El Salvador despite being granted protections by an U.S. immigration judge. He is in custody in Bukele’s mega prison known as CECOT. The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return.During Bukele’s Oval Office visit on Monday, Trump and his team said it was up to the Salvadoran government to decide whether to return him. Bukele said he would not do that.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/nx-s1-5364502/trump-bukele-el-salvador-deportation Trump Wants El Salvador to Build More Prisons to Jail AmericansPresident Donald Trump said that he asked his counterpart Nayib Bukele if El Salvador could build more prisons to jail as many American criminals as possible — US citizens included.Seated next to President Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said the US could help the Central American nation add more prisons, praising them as “great facilities.”Bukele has one of the highest domestic approval ratings among world leaders thanks to his aggressive policing and mass incarceration efforts. He routinely shares videos on social media from the nation’s mega-prison Cecot, which has the capacity to hold 40,000 inmates.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-14/trump-wants-el-salvador-to-build-more-prisons-to-take-americans 

4/15/25

Senate Democrat calls Abrego Garcia case ‘constitutional crisis’Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the case of a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador is a “constitutional crisis.”Murphy, seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, argued that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported because he had been given protected status by a U.S. court, which determined he could be endangered if sent back to El Salvador.“Donald Trump ignored that court order and deported him,” Murphy said in a video posted Tuesday to the social platform X. Murphy noted that Abrego Garcia has a wife who is a U.S. citizen and children born in the United States.“It was such a brazen violation of the law that the Supreme Court weighed in. In a rare 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court said that Trump had to bring this individual back to the United States, but he still didn’t do it. This is the constitutional crisis,” he said.https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5250332-trump-constitutional-crisis-deportation/ 

4/16/26

Hong Kong post office will stop shipping parcels to the US over tariffsHONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s post office will stop shipping small parcels to the United States after Washington announced plans to charge tariffs on small-value parcels from the southern Chinese city, the government said Wednesday.The U.S. government earlier announced that it would end a customs exception allowing small-value parcels from Hong Kong to enter the U.S. without tax, slapping a 120% tariff on them starting from May 2. The “de minimis” exemption currently allows shipments that are worth less than $800 to go tax-free.A government statement said Hongkong Post would not collect tariffs on behalf of Washington, and will suspend accepting non-airmail parcels containing goods destined for the U.S. on Wednesday, since items shipped by sea take more time. It will accept airmail parcels until Apr. 27.https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-post-us-suspend-shipping-goods-tariff-0a52db6fc32e559cb6c5e42b8c9824d7RFK pushes to find ‘environmental’ cause of autism, calls growing rates an ‘epidemic’Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday declared that autism is a rapidly growing “epidemic” in the U.S. and vowed to identify the “environmental toxin” he says is to blame.Swoboda disagrees. “In pediatrics, we really recognize that this is not an epidemic,” she said. “This is just us doing a better job of identifying autistic children that have existed before.”Some of Kennedy’s remarks Wednesday troubled Roth of the Autism Society of America.Speaking of kids with autism, Kennedy said “these are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”Roth said this is stigmatizing and inaccurate. “I know plenty of autistic individuals that do all of those things, and I also know autistic individuals who may require 24/7 care,” she said. “But to dehumanize people and invalidate their experiences or generalize an entire community is incredibly harmful and offensive.https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366676/autism-cdc-rates-rfk-research Temu and Shein will raise prices for US customers due to Trump’s tariffsNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — China-founded e-commerce sites Temu and Shein say they plan to raise prices for U.S. customers starting next week, a ripple effect from President Donald Trump’s attempts to correct the trade imbalance between the world’s two largest economies by imposing a sky-high tariff on goods shipped from China.Temu, which is owned by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, and Shein, which is now based in Singapore, said in separate but nearly identical notices that their operating expenses have gone up “due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs.”Both companies said they would be making “price adjustments” starting April 25, although neither provided details about the size of the increases. It was unclear why the two rivals posted almost identical statements on their shopping sites.https://apnews.com/article/temu-shein-price-increases-trump-tariffs-066a3e729c971fdf9e929bb8a94eea67 

4/17/25

US FDA suspends food safety quality checks after staff cutsWASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for its food testing laboratories as a result of staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.The proficiency testing program of the FDA’s Food Emergency Response Network is designed to ensure consistency and accuracy across the agency’s network of about 170 labs that test food for pathogens and contaminants to prevent food-borne illness.The firing and departure of as many as 20,000 HHS employees have upended public health research and disrupted the agency’s work on areas like bird flu and drug reviews. President Donald Trump hopes to slash as much as $40 billion from HHS.“Unfortunately, significant reductions in force, including a key quality assurance officer, an analytical chemist, and two microbiologists at FDA’s Human Food Program Moffett Center have an immediate and significant impact on the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Proficiency Testing (PT) Program,” says the email sent on Tuesday from FERN’s National Program Office and seen by Reuters.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-suspends-food-safety-quality-checks-after-staff-cuts-2025-04-17/ Florida State gunman used deputy mom’s former service weapon to kill 2 and wound 6, authorities sayTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire Thursday at Florida State University with his mother’s former service weapon, killing two men and wounding at least six others, investigators said.Officers quickly arrived and shot and wounded the shooter after he refused to comply with commands, said Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting, which began around lunchtime just outside the student union, sending frightened students and parents hiding for cover in a bowling alley and a freight elevator inside the building.https://apnews.com/article/florida-state-university-shooter-alert-bf66a24ea91959697c7138089b2ef6fb Republican US Senator Murkowski on threat of Trump retaliation: ‘We are all afraid’WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski disclosed this week that the threat of political retaliation from President Donald Trump is real enough to make her anxious about speaking out about his tariffs, executive orders and cuts to federal agencies.“We are all afraid,” Murkowski told a summit of nonprofit and tribal leaders in her native Alaska.“It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before,” the 67-year-old lawmaker added. “And I’ll tell you, I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-senator-murkowski-threat-trump-retaliation-we-are-all-afraid-2025-04-17/ 

4/18/25

Supreme Court temporarily blocks new deportations under the Alien Enemies ActA new Supreme Court order temporarily blocks the deportations more Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act – we look at what legal experts have been saying about these deportations.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/19/nx-s1-5370007/supreme-court-temporarily-blocks-new-deportations-under-the-alien-enemies-act Harvard says Trump administration doubled down after sending letter reported as unauthorizedWASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) – Harvard said on Saturday the Trump administration was “doubling down” on far-reaching demands on the university despite a published report that government officials had sent a letter spelling out those demands without authorization.The letter from government lawyers, received by Harvard on April 11, was sent before senior officials of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration could approve it or give the go-ahead for its release, the New York Times reported late on Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.Three days after that letter arrived, Harvard rejected numerous demands that it said would amount to the school giving up control over hiring, admissions and instruction to the government.The Trump administration subsequently froze $2.3 billion in funding to Harvard and threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and take away its ability to enroll foreign students. It also demanded information on the university’s foreign ties, students and faculty.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harvard-says-trump-administration-doubled-down-after-sending-letter-reported-2025-04-19/ Head Start advocates brace for possibility of Trump eliminating fundingThe Trump administration is considering eliminating funding for the Head Start program, which is dedicated to free early child care services — a move that one advocate says would be “catastrophic.”“This proposal does not reflect fiscal responsibility — it reflects a disinvestment in our future,” Yasmina Vinci, the executive director of the National Head Start Association (NHSA), said in a statement Thursday. “Eliminating funding for Head Start would be catastrophic. It would be a direct attack on our nation’s most at-risk children, their well-being, and their families.”USA Today cited an official familiar with the plan and The Washington Post cited a document from the administration that outlines a rough budget for the Department of Health and Human Services over the next fiscal year. In it, Head Start’s funding goes to zero. While NPR has obtained a copy of the document, it has not yet been able to verify its authenticity.https://www.npr.org/2025/04/18/nx-s1-5368248/president-trump-head-start US senator says ‘traumatised’ man deported to El Salvador moved to new prisonA Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration has been moved to a new prison, US Senator Chris Van Hollen has said.The Democratic senator was speaking after returning from El Salvador where he met Kilmar Ábrego García, who was sent to the notorious mega-jail Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism) last month.Mr Ábrego García was “traumatised” and fearful of other prisoners while inside the facility, Van Hollen said, adding that he was moved to another facility in the country over a week ago.The Supreme Court has ordered the government to “facilitate” his return, however Trump administration officials have continued to push back against the order.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjdx0gp0kd0o 

4/19/25

Republicans deny Democrats’ requests for El Salvador oversight tripsHouse Republican committee chairs are denying Democrats’ requests to travel to El Salvador and visit its CECOT prison facility as scrutiny builds on the Trump administration’s handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) this week denied requests from Democrats to use official committee funds for Congressional delegation — otherwise known as CODEL trips — to El Salvador, with Comer calling the request “absurd” and Green saying it would “waste taxpayer dollars.”The denials come as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) made a trip to the country this week and met with Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was living in Maryland and whose return the Supreme Court has said the Trump administration should facilitate. But it also comes as House Republicans are visiting El Salvador and the CECOT prison themselves. Several House GOP lawmakers, led by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), visited El Salvador and the CECOT prison this week.https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5256624-democrats-denied-el-salvador-trips/Anti-Trump protesters rally in New York, Washington and elsewhere across the countryNEW YORK (AP) — Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals.The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of “the shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, marking the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.Thomas Bassford was among the demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside Boston. The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believes Americans are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.“This is a very perilous time in America for liberty,” said Bassford, who was with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. “I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”https://apnews.com/article/trump-protests-hands-off-revolutionary-war-anniversary-34218e384bef12bdf3a75a40959f4ede

4/20/25

Surprising reason why two teen girls were jailed and deported while visiting HawaiiA pair of young German travelers were left shocked after they arrived in Hawaii only to be detained and deported due to their loosely planned trip. Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu to begin their trip but were grilled extensively by Customs and Border Protection. The pair planned to explore before traveling on to California and Costa Rica, but they hadn’t booked any accommodation for their five-week stay in Hawaii.Their experience was described as shocking and surreal, according to the outlet, after they were strip searched, had full body scans, and were handed green prison uniforms. Conditions in the facility were said to have left them sleeping on moldy mattresses, rudimentary toilet facilities, and being warned by guards to avoid eating expired food. The following morning, the young travelers were taken back to Honolulu airport and deported.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14630155/reason-two-hawaii-tourists-jailed-deported.htmlTrump posts multiple unsettling remarks on Truth Social on Easter Sunday. Vs Pentagon chief Hegseth shared sensitive Yemen war plans in second Signal chat, source saysWASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in a message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.The revelations of a second Signal chat raise more questions about Hegseth’s use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details and come at a particularly delicate moment for him, with senior officials ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/defense-chief-hegseth-shared-war-plans-second-signal-chat-nyt-reports-2025-04-20/