Page 8 - Us Government

US signs agreements with Guatemala, Honduras to take asylum seekers

Guatemala and Honduras have signed agreements with the United States to potentially offer refuge to people from other countries who otherwise would seek asylum in the United States, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday at the conclusion of her Central America trip. The agreements expand the Trump administration's efforts to provide the US government flexibility in returning migrants not only to their own countries, but also to third countries as it attempts to ramp up deportations. Noem described it as a way to offer asylum-seekers options other than coming to the United States. She said the agreements had been in the works for months. with the US government applying pressure on Honduras and Guatemala to get them done. "Honduras and now Guatemala after today will be countries that will take those individuals and give them refugee status as well," Noem said. "We've never believed that the United States should be the only option, that the guarantee for a refugee is

Lawsuit challenges billions of dollars in Trump admin's funding cuts

Attorneys general from more than 20 states and Washington, DC, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging billions of dollars in funding cuts made by the Trump administration that would fund everything from crime prevention to food security to scientific research. The lawsuit filed in Boston is asking a judge to limit the Trump administration from relying on an obscure clause in the federal regulation to cut grants that don't align with its priorities. Since January, the lawsuit argues that the administration has used that clause to cancel entire programmes and thousands of grants that had been previously awarded to states and grantees. Defendants' decision to invoke the Clause to terminate grants based on changed agency priorities is unlawful several times over, the plaintiffs argued. The rulemaking history of the Clause makes plain that the (Office of Management and Budget) intended for the Clause to permit terminations in only limited circumstances and provides no support for a

From Hawaii to Iran: Trump's remark spotlights US history of regime change

Trump's 'Make Iran Great Again' remark reignites debate over the US' long, covert history of regime change, from royal overthrows to Cold War coups and modern-day military interventions

Trump plans to phase out FEMA after hurricane season, alarming experts

President Donald Trump's plan to begin "phasing out" the federal agency that responds to disasters after the 2025 hurricane season is likely to put more responsibilities on states to provide services following increasingly frequent and expensive climate disasters, experts said. "We want to wean off of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and we want to bring it down to the state level," Trump said on Tuesday in an Oval Office appearance with administration officials about preparations for summer wildfires. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have repeatedly signalled their desire to overhaul, if not completely eliminate, the 46-year-old Federal Emergency Management Agency. While there has been bipartisan support for reforming the agency, experts say dismantling it completely would leave gaps in crucial services and funding. "It just causes more concern on how states should be planning for the future if the federal government's not going to be there for them," sai

US arrests Chinese scientist over illegal transfer of biological material

A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at the Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. "The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars," said John Nowak, who leads field operations at US Customs and Border Protection. The scientist was interviewed and arrested on Sunday after arriving on a flight from China, where she is pursuing an advanced degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. She planned to spend a year completing a project at the University of Michigan. Her shipments, including a

Explosion at US air base in southern Japan injures 4 Japanese soldiers

An explosion at a storage site for unexploded wartime ordinances at a US military base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers, though the injuries are not life threatening, officials said on Monday. The four soldiers had injuries to their fingers while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture to store unexploded ordnance found on the island, where one of the harshest battles of World War II was fought, local officials said. Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life threatening, but no other details were immediately known. The Self Defence Force's joint staff said they were looking into reports of an explosion at Kadena Air Base that occurred while a team of Japanese soldiers that specialises in handling unexploded ordnance was working near or at the base. The SDF said they are trying to confirm the cause of the accident and where it occurred. Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs, many of them dropped by the US milit

Trump's new travel ban set to take effect amid immigration enforcement row

President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the US by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries is set to take effect Monday amid escalating tension over the president's unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement. The new proclamation, which Trump signed on Wednesday, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the US and don't hold a valid visa. The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all US diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday. Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport Sunday in Newark, N

Trump banned citizens of 12 countries from entering US; here's what to know

President Donald Trump has banned citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States and restricted access for those from seven others, citing national security concerns in resurrecting and expanding a hallmark policy from his first term that will mostly affect people from Africa and the Middle East. The ban announced on Wednesday applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The heightened restrictions apply to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the US and do not hold a valid visa. The policy takes effect at 12.01 am on Monday and does not have an end date. Here's what to know about the new rules: How Trump justified the ban Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched an unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying

US ends Temporary Protected Status for Nepal, grants 60-day transition

The US has terminated the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) provided to Nepal in the wake of the 2015 earthquake, a media report said. A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice on Saturday said TPS would not be extended for Nepal after its expiration on June 24 this year. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the beneficiaries would be granted a 60-day transition period through August 5, The Himalayan Times reported. TPS allows immigrants from designated countries without another legal status to stay in the US for up to 18 months and get legal work authorisation when social circumstances prevent a safe return. Nepal was initially designated for TPS on June 24, 2015, for a period of 18 months, in the wake of the devastating earthquake that resulted in a substantial, but temporary, disruption of living conditions. The DHS had extended the designation on October 26, 2016, for an additional 18-month period and multiple occasions thereafter. "After reviewing country conditions and ...

US Supreme Court gives DOGE access to sensitive social security data

The decision allows DOGE, once led by Elon Musk, full access to personal data in the Social Security database while the case moves forward on appeal

5 Proud Boys sue US govt, alleging rights violated in Jan 6 prosecutions

Five members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group, claim their constitutional rights were violated when they were prosecuted for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a lawsuit filed Friday. The lawsuit was filed in Orlando federal court by former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean and Dominic Pezzola. It seeks unspecified compensatory damages plus 6% interest and $100 million plus interest in punitive damages. The lawsuit claims the men were arrested with insufficient probable cause and that government agents later found fake incriminating evidence. They also claim they were held for years in pretrial detention, often in solitary confinement. The Plaintiffs themselves did not obstruct the proceedings at the Capitol, destroy government property, resist arrest, conspire to impede the police, or participate in civil disorder, nor did they plan for or order anyone else to do so," the lawsuit

Mediation between two unequals not possible: Tharoor on Trump's claims

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that to suggest one can mediate between two unequals is not possible because there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims, amid repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan. Tharoor, currently in the US leading a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, made the comments in response to a question during a conversation at the Council on Foreign Relations here Thursday. "Mediation is not a term that we are particularly willing to entertain. I'll tell you why not. The fact is that this implies, even when you say things like broker or whatever, you're implying an equivalence which simply doesn't exist," Tharoor said. He said there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. "There is no equivalence between a country that provides safe haven to terrorism, and a country that's a flourishing multi-party democracy that's trying to get on with its business," he

US slams ICC judges with sanctions over investigation into Israel

The Trump administration is slapping sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court over the tribunal's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and in the West Bank. The State Department said Thursday that it would freeze any assets that the ICC judges, who come from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda, have in U.S. jurisdictions. The move is just the latest step that the administration has taken to punish the ICC and its officials for investigations undertaken against Israel and the United States. As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies, Rubio said. This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty a

US declines to label China a currency manipulator, but blasts its policies

The US declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report released Thursday, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America's major trading partners for lacking transparency in its exchange rate policies. Treasury's semi-annual report to Congress called Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States comes as the Trump administration seeks to strike a trade deal with China, averting a trade war that has been brewing between the two nations. A Treasury official told reporters previewing the report that the US could in the future find evidence that China is manipulating its currency and will make a determination in the fall whether China has been manipulating the renminbi, also known as RMB. During President Donald Trump 's first term, the Treasury, which was then led by Secretary Steve Mnuchin, labeled China a currency manipulator in 2019 before then the US had not put China on the currency blacklist since ...

Rising US debt and yields threaten global growth, will keep market on edge

The yield on the 30-year US government bond recently crossed the psychological 5 per cent mark. The yield on 10-year US government bonds has also inched up

US immigration authorities detain family of man charged in Colorado attack

The wife and five children of an Egyptian man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at people in Boulder demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages, injuring 12 of them, was taken into custody Tuesday by US immigration officials who are investigating whether they knew about his plan. The family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and could be deported as early as Tuesday night, the White House said in a post on X. Soliman, who was disguised as a gardener, had 18 Molotov cocktails and had planned to kill all of the roughly 20 participants in Sunday's demonstration in downtown Boulder but apparently had second thoughts and threw just two while yelling "Free Palestine," police said. Soliman, who federal authorities say has been living in the US illegally, didn't carry out his full plan because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before," police wrote in an affidavit. The two incendiary devices he threw were enough to

8 Pro-Israeli demonstrators injured, possibly with burns, in Colorado

Several people were injured, and some may have suffered burns Sunday in what the FBI immediately described as a "targeted terror attack" at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a group had gathered to raise attention to Israeli hostages held in Gaza. One man, who authorities did not immediately identify, was taken into custody. Video from the scene showed a witness shouting, "He's right there. He's throwing Molotov cocktails," as a police officer with his gun drawn advanced on a bare-chested suspect with containers in each hand. The attack took place at a popular pedestrian mall in Boulder where demonstrators with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives had gathered to raise visibility for the hostages who remain in Gaza as a war between Israel and Hamas continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. It occurred more than a week after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington by a ..

Trump officials to visit Alaska for talks on gas pipeline, oil drilling

The Trump administration is sending three Cabinet members to Alaska this week as it pursues oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reinvigorating a natural gas project that's languished for years. The visit by Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin comes after Trump signed an executive order earlier this year aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. It also comes amid tariff talks with Asian countries that are seen as possible leverage for the administration to secure investments in the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas project. Their itinerary includes a meeting Sunday with resource development groups and U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski in Anchorage before heading to Utqiagvik, an Arctic town on the petroleum-rich North Slope where many Alaska Native leaders see oil development as economically vital to the region. T

Judge weighs sweeping remedy proposals in US antitrust case against Google

The fate and fortunes of one of the world's most powerful tech companies now sits in the hands of a US judge wrestling with whether to impose far-reaching changes upon Google in the wake of its dominant search engine being declared an illegal monopoly. US District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday heard closing arguments from Justice Department lawyers who argued that a radical shake-up is needed to promote a free and fair market. Their proposed remedies include a ban on Google paying to lock its search engine in as the default on smart devices and an order requiring the company to sell its Chrome browser. Google's legal team argued that only minor concessions are needed and urged Mehta not to unduly punish the company with a harsh ruling that could squelch future innovations. Google also argued that the upheaval triggered by advances in Artificial Intelligence are already reshaping the search landscape, as conversational search options are rolling out from AI startups that are hoping to

Trump administration 'MAHA' health report cited nonexistent studies

Since taking the role, he has fired thousands of workers at federal health agencies and cut billions of dollars from US biomedical research spending