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The Trump administration is suing the local government of Washington, DC, over its gun laws, alleging that restrictions on certain semiautomatic weapons run afoul of Second Amendment rights. The US Department of Justice filed its lawsuit Monday in US District Court in the District of Columbia, naming Washington's Metropolitan Police Department and outgoing Chief of Police Pamela Smith as defendants and setting up another potentially seismic clash on how broadly the courts interpret individual gun possession rights. The United States of America brings this lawsuit to protect the rights that have been guaranteed for 234 years and which the Supreme Court has explicitly reaffirmed several times over the last two decades, the Justice Department states. It's the second such lawsuit the administration has filed this month: The Justice Department also is suing the US Virgin Islands, alleging the US territory is obstructing and systematically denying American citizens the right to possess an
President Donald Trump's handpicked board voted Thursday to rename Washington's leading performing arts centre as the Trump-Kennedy Center, the White House said. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the vote on social media, saying it was because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Trump, a Republican, often refers to the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, which is named for a Democratic predecessor, as the Trump Kennedy Centre. Asked on Dec. 7 as he walked the red carpet for the Kennedy Centre Honors program whether he would rename the venue after himself, Trump said such a decision would be up to the board. Earlier this month, Trump talked about a big event on Friday at the Trump Kennedy Centre before saying, excuse me, at the Kennedy Centre, as his audience laughed. He was referring to the FIFA World Cup soccer
The government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army played a role in causing the collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation's capital, killing 67 people. The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims' families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated procedures that night. But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots of the jet and helicopter, also played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for the crash, but those airlines have filed motions to dismiss. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines regional jet while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from the nation's capital, officials said. The
When Eddie Wicks and his wife went to bed in their house next to the Snoqualmie River on a Washington state farm known for its sunflower mazes and Christmas trees, they weren't too worried about the flooding heading their way. After 30 years living in the city of Duvall, northeast of Seattle, their family had plenty of experience with floods and always made it through largely unscathed. But as they moved their two donkeys to higher ground and their eight goats to their outdoor kitchen, the water began to rise much quicker than anything they'd experienced before. It was hours, not days," he said. In four hours, it had to come up 4 feet. As the water engulfed their home on Thursday afternoon, deputies from the King County Sheriff's Office marine rescue dive unit were able to rescue them and their dog, taking them on a boat the half mile (800 metres) across their field, which had been transformed into a lake. They were among the thousands forced to evacuate as an unusually strong ...
Days of torrential rain in Washington state has caused historic floods that have stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped at least two homes from their foundations, and experts warned that even more flooding expected Friday could be catastrophic. Washington is under a state of emergency and evacuation orders are in place for tens of thousands of residents. Gov Bob Ferguson on Thursday urged everyone to follow evacuation instructions as yet another river neared record levels. I understand that many in our state have experienced significant floods in the past," he said on the social platform X. "However, we're looking at a historic situation. About 78,000 residents of a major agricultural region north of Seattle were ordered to evacuate the floodplain of the Skagit River, which was expected to crest Friday morning. The floods were impacting large parts of the state, with several bridges flooded and some major roads inundated or washed out. Some roads had no ...
Residents packed up valuables and prepared to flee rising rivers in Western Washington state on Wednesday as a new wave of heavy rain swept into a region still reeling from a storm that triggered rescues and road closures a day earlier. In the Pacific Northwest, an atmospheric river was swelling rivers toward record levels, with major flooding expected in some areas including the Skagit River, in a major agricultural valley north of Seattle. Dozens of vehicles were backed up at a sandbag-filling station in the town of Mount Vernon as authorities warned all residents who live within the river's floodplain to be ready to evacuate. "We're preparing for what increasingly appears to be a worst-case scenario here," Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan said. In the Mount Rainier foothills southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriff's deputies rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over ...
An Afghan national who worked with the CIA in his native country and immigrated to the US in 2021 drove from Washington state to shoot two West Virginia National Guard members deployed in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House, US officials said Thursday. The suspect had worked in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan, according to a cousin who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon's brazen act of violence, which comes as the presence of troops in the nation's capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint. Pirro identified the guard members at a news conference as Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24. Both remained hospitalised in critical condition. Pirro said that the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, launched an ambush-style att
Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation's capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the Guard members were hospitalised in critical condition. The presence of the National Guard in the nation's capital has been a flashpoint issue for months, fuelling a court fight and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration's use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem. Jeffrey Carroll, an executive assistant DC police chief, said investigators had no information on a motive. He said the assailant "came around the corner" and immediately started firing at the troops, citing video reviewed by investigators. "This was a targeted shooting," Bowser said. West Virginia Gov Patrick Morrisey initially said the troops had died, but later walked back the stateme
Washington state's governor declared an emergency on Wednesday to ensure enough jet fuel gets to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after a leak shut down a major fuel pipeline. The order temporarily waives and suspends state regulations limiting the number of hours commercial vehicle operators can drive when transporting jet fuel, Gov. Bob Ferguson's office said in a news release. The proclamation ensures safe-driving measures are in place, the release said. The Olympic Pipeline was shut down on Nov. 11 because of a leak north of Seattle, between the cities of Everett and Snohomish. Operators notified the state of the leak and were working with state and federal agencies to contain, clean and repair it, the governor's office said. There was no estimate for when the pipeline would resume delivering fuel normally. But if it doesn't start back up by Saturday, the governor's office said airport operations would be significantly affected." The office did not share details on what that
With the combination of the longest government shutdown, the mass firings of government workers and a fresh cut in federal food aid, the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington is bracing for the swell of people who will need its help before the holiday season. The food bank, which serves 400 pantries and aid organisations in the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and two Maryland counties, is providing 8 million more meals than it had prepared to this budget year a nearly 20% increase. The city is being hit especially hard," said Radha Muthiah, the group's CEO and president, "because of the sequence of events that has occurred over the course of this year". The nation's capital has been battered by a series of decisions by the Trump administration, from the layoffs of federal workers to the ongoing law enforcement intervention into the district. The added blow of the shutdown, which has furloughed workers and paused money for food assistance, is only deepening the economic ...
Over the span of 14 days, nearly 200 people marched from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in defense of democracy. From children to the elderly, members of the We Are America march arrived in the nation's capital on a warm and sunny Friday afternoon, tired but joyous, where they were greeted with hugs and cheers from supporters and members of Congress. The mission of their sprawling walk was to unite a movement strong enough to hold America's leaders accountable in the face of mass firings at government agencies, the federal takeover of the District of Columbia's law enforcement and myriad disagreements with actions made by the Trump administration and the president himself. Marchers from across the country gathered in Philadelphia, then trekked through Newark, Delaware; Wilmington, Delaware; Baltimore and beyond. Along the way they were housed in churches, where they slept in pews, or at people's homes. One night the group camped outdoors. Founding member Maggie Bohara said the .
India is one of the top relationships the US has in the world today, and Washington is in a period of extraordinary transition in that relationship with Delhi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday. Introducing US ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio said he has known Gor for a very long time and "who is the nominee to India, which is, I would say, one of the top relationships the US has in the world today, in terms of the future, what the world is going to look like." Last month, President Donald Trump said that he is promoting Gor, Director of Presidential Personnel, to be the next US Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs. When confirmed, 38-year-old Gor will be the youngest American ambassador to India. Rubio said that in the 21st Century, the story is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, it's so important that we've actually changed the