Page 10 - Us Government

Israeli embassy couple killed in DC shooting days before engagement

The shooting happened close to the FBI's Washington Field Office. Israeli officials called it a "depraved act of anti-semitic terrorism"

US government didn't follow court order on deportations, says judge

The White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to the chaotic African nation of South Sudan, a federal judge said Wednesday, hours after the Trump administration said it had expelled eight immigrants convicted of violent crimesbut refused to reveal where they would end up. The judge's statement was a notably strong rebuke to the government's deportation efforts. In an emergency hearing he called to address reports that immigrants had been sent to South Sudan, Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston said the eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger. Minutes before the hearing, administration officials accused activist judges of advocating the release of dangerous criminals. The department actions in this case are unquestionably in violation of this court's order, Murphy said Wednesday, arguing that the deportees didn't have meaningful opportunity to object to

Most US states now restrict cellphone use in schools, with more to follow

Florida was the first state to pass a law regulating the use of cellphones in schools in 2023. Just two years later, more than half of all states have laws in place, with more likely to act soon. Bills have sprinted through legislatures this year in states as varied as New York and Oklahoma, reflecting a broad consensus that phones are bad for kids. Connecticut state Rep Jennifer Leeper, a Democrat and co-chair of the General Assembly's Education Committee, on May 13 called phones a cancer on our kids that are driving isolation, loneliness, decreasing attention and having major impacts both on social-emotional well-being but also learning. Republicans express similar sentiments. This is a not just an academic bill, Republican Rep Scott Hilton said after Georgia's bill, which only bans phones in grades K-8, passed in March. This is a mental health bill. It's a public safety bill. So far, 26 states have passed laws, with eight other states and the District of Columbia implementing r

New book 'Original Sin' claims Biden, aides hid details of his poor health

US President Donald Trump expressed surprise that the public had not been informed about former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis "a long time ago"

Chicago suburb-area town planning to seize Pope Leo XIV's childhood home

Dolton, a town near Chicago, plans to seize Pope Leo XIV's childhood home via eminent domain and work with the Archdiocese to preserve it as a historic site, officials said in a letter Tuesday

Rubio defends Trump's foreign policy amid Gaza aid, South Africa questions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Democratic senators sparred Tuesday over the Trump administration's foreign policies, ranging from Ukraine and Russia to the Middle East, Latin America, the slashing of the U.S. foreign assistance budget and refugee admissions. Rubio defended the administration's decisions to his former colleagues during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, his first since being confirmed on President Donald Trump's inauguration day. He said America is back and claimed four months of foreign-policy achievements, even as many of them remain frustratingly inconclusive. Among them, the resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine into peace talks and efforts to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. America's top diplomat praised agreements with El Salvador and other Latin American countries to accept migrant deportees, saying secure borders, safe communities and zero tolerance for criminal cartels are once again the guidi

Trump keeps increasing claim of Mideast countries' investment amount in US

President Donald Trump loves big numbers and he's always happy to talk them up. Trump, who coined the phrase truthful hyperbole in his book The Art of the Deal, over the last few days has been steadily increasing the amount of money he says that countries in the Mideast pledged to invest in the US when he visited the region last week. He didn't provide underlying details. The figure has gone from $2 trillion last week to potentially $7 trillion as of Tuesday, according to statements by Trump and the White House. A look at how the number has bounced around: THURSDAY: With his Mideast trip still under way, Trump told reporters on Air Force One: We just took in $4 trillion. FRIDAY: A White House statement said Trump's first official trip was a huge success, locking in over $2 trillion in great deals. MONDAY: We brought back about $5.1 trillion," Trump said in remarks to the Kennedy Centre's leadership. That's not bad. And, it's being credited as one of the, maybe, the most successf

Biden's 'last known' prostate cancer screening was in 2014, says his office

Former president Joe Biden's last known prostate cancer screening was in 2014, and he had never been diagnosed with the disease before last week, his office said Tuesday. Biden's aides released the new details about his diagnosis amid intense scrutiny of Biden's health during his presidency and skepticism that the disease could have progressed to an advanced stage without being detected. Although Biden's cancer can possibly be controlled with treatment, it has spread to his bones and is no longer curable. The brief statement from Biden's office did not disclose the results of his 2014 PSA blood test. PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen. President Biden's last known PSA was in 2014. Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the statement said in its entirety. Biden's cancer was announced on Sunday, prompting a wave of sympathy but also suggestions from some of his critics, including his successor Donald Trump, that the former president and

More severe storms hit central US as thousands recover from tornadoes

More tornadoes ploughed through the central US on Monday, ripping apart buildings and knocking out power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings. At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service. Across Oklahoma, at least 10 homes were destroyed and multiple buildings were damaged, including a fire station that was wiped out, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. A spokesperson for the agency said they have not received any reports of injuries or deaths. Around 115,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us. Parts of several highways were also closed due to flooding or storm damage. In northwest Arkansas, severe weather caused a Halsey concert to be cancelled. And in Oklahoma,

US Secretary of State Rubio urges release of 11th Panchen Lama after 30 yrs

On May 17, 1995, just three days after the Dalai Lama recognised him, the six-year-old Panchen Lama and his family were abducted by the Chinese Communist Party

Trump to enforce tariffs if nations don't negotiate in good faith: Bessent

He did not say what would constitute "good faith" negotiations or clarify the timing to announce any decisions to return a country to the various rates Trump initially imposed on April 2

White House slams Moody's downgrade to US credit as 'political decision'

Trump has argued that his economic agenda, centered on tax cuts, reduced regulations and sweeping tariffs to bring more manufacturing jobs to the US, would promote strong growth

Moody's strips US govt of top credit rating over failure to rein in debt

Moody's Ratings stripped the U.S. government of its top credit rating Friday, citing successive governments' failure to stop a rising tide of debt. Moody's lowered the rating from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1 but said the United States "retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency.' Moody's is the last of the three major rating agencies to lower the federal government's credit. Standard & Poor's downgraded federal debt in 2011 and Fitch Ratings followed in 2023. In a statement, Moody's said: "We expect federal deficits to widen, reaching nearly 9% of (the U.S. economy) by 2035, up from 6.4% in 2024, driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation.' Extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, a priority of the Republican-controlled Congress, Moody's said, would add $4 trillion over the next decade to

Wisconsin judge indicted for allegedly helping man evade immigration agents

A federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday on charges she helped a man in the country illegally evade US immigration authorities looking to arrest him as he appeared before her in a local domestic abuse case. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan's arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Donald Trump's administration and local authorities over the Republican's sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown. Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges. A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough ..

Trump's pardon attorney to review Joe Biden's end-of-term mercy decisions

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 scrutinise 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. Trump pulled Martin's nomination last week amid bipartisan opposition and replaced him with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who is expected to be .

Trump starts his Mideast trip with visit to Saudi amid crush of problems

President Donald Trump is opening his four-day Mideast trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on US efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear programme, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more. The crown prince will fete Trump with a formal dinner and host a gathering of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC+ nations have already helped their cause with Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to Russia's war on Ukraine. But Saudi Arabia's economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of $96 to $98 a barrel to balance its budget. It's ...

House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts of upto $880 bn to help cover tax

House Republicans unveiled the cost-staving centrepiece of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" late Sunday, at least USD 880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of USD 4.5 trillion in tax breaks. Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during Trump's first term in 2017 -- which ended in failure. While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out "waste, fraud and abuse" to generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn 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. Savings like these allow us to use this bill to renew the Trump tax cuts and keep Republicans' promise to hardworking middle-class families, sa

US advocates 'direct dialogue' between India-Pak after de-escalation

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio encouraged 'continued efforts to improve communication' between India and Pakistan

Trump names Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC

President Donald Trump has said he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation's capital after abandoning his first pick for the job. Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, co-hosts the network's show "The Five" on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York's Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county's elected district attorney. Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation's largest US Attorney's office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position earlier on Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was naming Pirro as the interim US attorney in Washington D.C., but didn't indicate whether he would nominate her for the Senate-confirmed position on a more permanent basis. "Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the Histor

Do not travel to Pakistan: US government issues advisory to its citizens

This latest travel advisory for US citizens came after India launched strikes on nine terror sites in Pakistan on Wednesday