Senior US Republican wants probe into Signal chat on Houthi attack
WASHINGTON – A powerful U.S. Senate Republican called on Wednesday for an independent probe of Trump administration officials’ discussion of sensitive attack plans on the Signal messaging app, after critics argued that U.S. troops could have died if the information…
Judge spurns Trump administration request to recuse from law firm case
WASHINGTON -A U.S. judge declined on Wednesday to step aside from a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s order targeting law firm Perkins Coie after his administration accused her of bias in this and other cases involving the Republican president. U.S. District…
Trump SEC pick discloses family fortune of more than $328 million
Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has disclosed personal assets held jointly with his wife valued at more than $328 million, according to a Reuters analysis of ethics documents released on Tuesday….
US Senate confirms Trump’s picks to lead FDA, NIH
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominees Martin Makary and Jay Bhattacharya as heads of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, respectively. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 56-44 to confirm Martin Makary as…
Exclusive-US Democrats move to force House vote on Signal chat leak
WASHINGTON -Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives sought on Wednesday to force the Trump administration to hand over records related to the disclosure of highly sensitive attack plans that were shared over a commercial messaging app, according to…
DOGE staffer ‘Big Balls’ provided tech support to cybercrime ring, records show
WILMINGTON, Delaware -The best-known member of Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service team of technologists once provided support to a cybercrime gang that bragged about trafficking in stolen data and cyberstalking an FBI agent, according to digital records reviewed by Reuters….
US Justice Department backs Trump bid to move hush money case to federal court
NEW YORK -The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday backed Donald Trump’s bid to move his already-decided hush money criminal case to federal court, the second time in less than a week the department has moved to help the U.S. president…
Why target these law firms? For Trump, it’s personal
WASHINGTON -President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting elite U.S. law firms have shared a common theme: his perceived grievance that an attorney linked to the firm has personally done him wrong. The Republican president’s latest order took aim at Jenner…
Pentagon’s Hegseth texted start time of planned killing of Yemeni militant
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted about plans to kill a Houthi militant leader in Yemen two hours before a military operation meant to be shrouded in secrecy, according to screenshots of a chat released by The Atlantic on…
US Social Security agency delays, rolls back some service cuts after complaints
The U.S. Social Security Administration said on Wednesday it would delay planned phone service cuts to retirees by two weeks and abandon a rule that would have required some disabled and elderly people to travel to an office to claim…
Trump selects Georgia state lawmaker Brandon Beach to be next US Treasurer
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had picked Georgia’s Republican state Senator Brandon Beach to be the next Treasurer of the United States, a role that has oversight of the U.S. Mint and involves liaison with the Federal Reserve….
US judiciary launches task force on security, independence after Trump criticism
The U.S. federal judiciary on Wednesday launched a task force focused on ensuring the continued security and independence of the courts as Republican President Donald Trump and his allies ramp up their criticism of judges who block his agenda. The…
US appeals court pauses order forcing Musk’s DOGE to turn over documents
By Jack Queen (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday paused an order that would have forced Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting initiative to turn over records and answer questions under oath about its efforts to slash bureaucracy under President…
Trump names conservative media critic as US ambassador to South Africa
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has named conservative media critic Leo Brent Bozell III as U.S. ambassador to South Africa, the president said on social media late on Wednesday. Bozell’s nomination must still be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
US appeals court upholds block on Trump deportation of some Venezuelans
WASHINGTON -A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s temporary block on the Trump administration’s deportation of some Venezuelan immigrants under a little-used 18th century law. The decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C….
Trump administration spending freeze will remain blocked, US appeals court says
BOSTON -A court order blocking President Donald Trump’s freeze on trillions of dollars in government financial assistance will remain in place for now, a federal appeals court said on Wednesday. The ruling by the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of…
Trump administration detains Turkish student at Tufts, revokes visa
BOSTON – U.S. immigration authorities have detained and revoked the visa of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University near Boston who had voiced support for Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza. Rumeysa Ozturk’s supporters say her detention, late on…
Cuban domestic freight traffic plummets in sign of deepening crisis
HAVANA – Cuban freight traffic plunged 19% in 2024, the government’s statistics agency said this week, the latest sign that a grueling economic crisis which began five years ago is growing worse. The statistic measures transportation by ground, sea and…
UK finance minister Reeves trims her spending plans in face of slowing economy
LONDON – British finance minister Rachel Reeves, facing a weak economy, trimmed her spending plans in a budget update on Wednesday that gave some reassurance to investors, but the risks of a global trade war could put tax hikes back…
US risks default as soon as August without debt-ceiling action, CBO estimates
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government will probably risk defaulting on some of its $36.6 trillion in debt as soon as August – or possibly even by late May – unless Congress acts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, the non-partisan…