U.S./World category, Page 148
A judge has moved the Columbia student activist’s detention challenge to New Jersey
NEW YORK — A Columbia University student activist detained by the U.S. government over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations can challenge the legality of his detention, but the case should be heard in New Jersey, rather than in New York or Louisiana, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Mahmoud Khalil, 30,...
California has a $6.2 billion Medicaid funding gap partly due to expanding immigrant coverage
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California faces a $6.2 billion budget gap in the state’s Medicaid services, which could force Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers to reevaluate future coverage for some of the 15 million people who receive health care through the program, including immigrants. The shortfall comes a year...
Fishermen want to go green but say DOGE cuts prevent that
BREMEN, Maine — Commercial fishermen and seafood processors and distributors looking to switch to new, lower-carbon emission systems say the federal funding they relied on for this work is either frozen or unavailable due to significant budget cuts promoted by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. The changes are...
Social Security in-person identity checks opposed by advocates and retirees alike
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing government offices has sparked a furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are worried that the government is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already...
Dispute between parents’ group, Ohio school district over gender pronoun policy goes before judges
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will hear arguments Wednesday in a legal dispute that pits a suburban Ohio school district’s policy requiring use of students’ preferred pronouns against the free speech rights of classmates who believe there are only two genders. The lawsuit...
Louisiana puts man to death in state’s 1st nitrogen gas execution
ANGOLA, La. — Louisiana used nitrogen gas to put a man to death Tuesday evening for a killing decades ago, marking the first time the state has used the method as it resumed executions after a 15-year hiatus. Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the...
Violent attacks on Tesla dealerships spike as Musk takes prominent role in Trump White House
SEATTLE — Cybertrucks set ablaze. Bullets and Molotov cocktails aimed at Tesla showrooms. Attacks on property carrying the logo of Elon Musk’s electric-car company are cropping up across the U.S. and overseas. While no injuries have been reported, Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have been...
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after 9 months stuck in spaceVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Stuck in space no more, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf...
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from banning transgender people from military service
WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service on Tuesday, the latest in a string of legal setbacks for his sweeping agenda. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from...
Previously classified files related to JFK assassination released
DALLAS — Previously classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday evening following an order by President Donald Trump shortly after he took office. The 1,123 files were posted on the website of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The vast majority...
Semisonic rejects White House use of song ‘Closing Time’ for deportations
“Closing Time” by Semisonic is just one of those songs that — should it come on at a bar — mostly everyone knows the lyrics. But some — like the White House — don’t seem to know the point of the song. The 90s group has come out and criticized...
EPA plans to eliminate scientific research team, could fire more than 1,000 employees
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees who help provide the scientific foundation for rules safeguarding human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists —...
Texas attorney general says 2 more arrested for illegal abortions near Houston
DALLAS — Two additional people have been arrested in connection with illegal abortions at clinics near Houston, the Texas Attorney General announced on Tuesday morning. On Monday, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced the arrest of Houston-area midwife Maria Margarita Rojas. She was charged with providing illegal abortions and practicing...
Roberts rejects Trump’s call for impeaching judge who ruled against his deportation plans
WASHINGTON — In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching judges shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of one who ruled against his deportation plans. The rebuke from the Supreme Court’s leader demonstrated how controversy over...
Louisiana man asks for last-minute court ruling to halt nitrogen gas execution
BATON ROUGE, La. — Hours before a Louisiana man is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday, his attorneys are hoping for a last-minute court ruling to halt the state’s first execution by nitrogen gas. Louisiana plans to use the new method to put Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, to death...
Pope pens letter to the editor while in hospital as Vatican prepares for King Charles’ visit
ROME — Pope Francis said in a letter published Tuesday that his lengthy illness has helped make “more lucid” to him the absurdity of war, as his top deputy shot down any suggestion of resignation and plans progressed for an upcoming meeting with Britain’s King Charles III. Italian daily Corriere...
Hungary’s parliament bans Pride events in a new assault on LGBTQ+ rights
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law banning Pride events and allowing authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attendees, continuing a crackdown by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing populist party on the country’s LBGTQ+ community. The measure passed in a 136-27 vote. The law, supported...
Stuck astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally on their way back to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station — their...
Trump’s funding freeze leaves U.S. allied Afghan refugees struggling for the basics
LAUREL, Md. — The rent is due, but Rahmani has no money to pay it. The Afghan father of two worked for a U.S.-backed organization in Kabul, which put him at risk of Taliban retribution. Now he is among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when the...
Trump says his administration is set to release JFK files with no redactions
DALLAS — President Donald Trump says files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy will be released Tuesday without any redactions, making good on a promise he made during his campaign. Trump told reporters Monday that his administration will be releasing 80,000 files, though it’s not clear...
Trump and Putin spoke for more than an hour as U.S. seeks Russian sign-off on plan to end Ukraine war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone conversation on Tuesday as the White House pushes for Russia to sign off on its 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The White House and Kremlin did not offer any immediate...
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill more than 400 Palestinians and shatter ceasefire with HamasVideo
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 404 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered...
Trump administration guts board of U.S. Institute of Peace. Group says DOGE arrives
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration fired most of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace and sent its new leader into the Washington headquarters of the independent organization on Monday, in its latest effort targeting agencies tied to foreign assistance work. The remaining three members of the group’s board...
Residents pick up the pieces after devastating storms scour the South and MidwestVideo
PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. — Kim Atchison was hunkered down in her grandmother’s storm shelter with her 5-year-old grandson Saturday night in their tiny Alabama hometown of Plantersville when her husband and son raced in. “Get down; get all the way down to the bottom of the cellar,” they told her, saying...
Harvard makes tuition free for families making less than $200K
Harvard will offer free tuition to students whose families make less than $200,000 per year beginning next year, the school announced Monday. Additionally, the entire school experience — including housing, food and other costs — will be free for students whose families make less than $100,000, university leaders said. “We...
