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Trump led Republicans to power in 2024. But 2026 could be a different story

President Donald Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House — and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate. Republicans have lost a series of elections over the past month, some resoundingly. The latest setbacks came this week when a Democrat won the Miami mayor's race for the first time in three decades. Democrats also won a special election in a historically Republican di

Spectacular loss by Honduras' governing party spurs reflection and criticism

New judicial panels to hear Wisconsin redistricting lawsuits for the first time

Americas|Crime|Political|World

Abrego Garcia won release from detention. He must check in with immigration officials 14 hours later

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was due to check-in with immigration authorities on Friday, some 14 hours after he was released from detention on a judge's orders. Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown earlier this year when he was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. He was last taken into custody in August during a similar check-in. He's scheduled to appear in the morning at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore. The agency freed him just before 5 p.m. on Thursday in

Lawmakers urge Education Department to add nursing to 'professional' programs list amid uproar

Ryan Crosswell quit Trump's DOJ. Now his resignation letter is part of his stump speech for Congress

Business|Economy|World

Black-market oil buyers will push Venezuela for bigger discounts following US seizure – starving Maduro of much-needed revenue

The U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast looks designed to further squeeze the economy of President Nicolás Maduro’s country. The Dec. 10, 2025, operation – in which American forces descended from helicopters onto the vessel – follows months of U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and was immediately condemned by the Venezuelan government as “barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy.” But what exactly is the Trump administraion’s aim in going after the tanker, and how could this impact the already beleaguered economy of Venezuela? The Conversation

Trump pardons former Colorado elections clerk, but it alone won't free her from prison

US sanctions Maduro’s nephews and shipping companies it says move Venezuelan oil

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Political|US|World

Indiana Senate Republicans reject Trump’s redistricting push

The Indiana Senate on Thursday voted down a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to produce two more GOP-friendly seats, rejecting President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign to pressure the Republican supermajority in the deep-red state to bend to his will.The 31-19 vote saw 21 Republicans join 10 Democrats in voting down the proposed map that would have positioned the GOP, which currently holds seven of Indiana’s nine US House seats, for a sweep of all nine seats in next year’s midterm elections.The vote comes with significant ramifications for the 2026 midterm electi

Crime|Environment|US|World

Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area damages homes, 6 taken to hospitals

A gas explosion set off a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood on Thursday after obliterating at least one home, blowing out windows and shaking nearby houses. Six people were taken to hospitals for injuries, fire officials said. Dramatic video footage showed a home in the Hayward area sitting under a blue sky when it suddenly exploded, spewing jagged wood and other debris into the air as smoke billowed. Brittany Maldonado, who lives across the street from the home, was in her bedroom with her husband when she heard the blast. “Box

Alleged Charlie Kirk assassin makes first in-person court appearance

Justice Department fails to reindict Letitia James for a second time

Crime|Political|US|World

Navy delivers report to Hegseth on potential of punishment for Sen. Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video

The US Navy has submitted its recommendations on potential punishments, if any, for Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his participation in a video that reminded US troops they have a duty to refuse illegal orders, a Pentagon official told CNN on Thursday.Those recommendations have been submitted to the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel “where they are providing a legal review and input,” the official said.It was not immediately clear what recommendations were included in the report.A spokesperson for Kelly told CNN in a statement that the senator was “never notified or contacted” ab

Crime|Political|US|World

Trump administration adds militarized zone in California along southern US border

The Trump administration is adding another militarized zone to the southern U.S. border to support border security operations — this time in California. The Department of Interior on Wednesday said it would transfer jurisdiction along most of California's international border with Mexico to the Navy to reinforce “the historic role public lands have played in safeguarding national sovereignty." The newly designated militarized zone extends nearly from the Arizona state line to the Otay Mountain Wilderness, traversing the Imperial Valley and border communities in

Senators clash over Trump's National Guard deployments as military leaders face questioning

US proposes ‘free economic zone’ in parts of Donbas after Ukrainian pullback, Zelensky says

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Arts|Environment|Political|World

Trump takes steps toward demolishing four federal buildings, preservationist alleges

After demolishing the White House’s East Wing, President Donald Trump is now eying four federal buildings for the same treatment and is circumventing a key government agency with his plans, according to a historic preservationist raising the alarm.Mydelle “Mina” Wright, a former senior official at the General Services Administration, wrote in a sworn court declaration this week that the White House is “acting on its own and not through the GSA,” which oversees government property, to solicit bids “to analyze and recommend for demolition four historic federal buildings in DC.” The

World

White House officials abruptly postpone final meeting of Trump-created FEMA task force

White House officials abruptly postponed the final meeting of a Trump-created task force charged with shaping the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, roughly two hours before it was set to begin on Thursday, according to three sources familiar with the decision.Members of the FEMA Review Council, all appointed by the Trump administration, had been expected to vote on a final draft report recommending sweeping changes to FEMA, before sending it to the president for review. But in recent days, White House officials reviewed the report and objected to its recommendations, arguing i

Venezuelan opposition leader says US helped her travel to Norway to accept Nobel Prize

NATO chief warns European allies they could be Russia’s next target

Environment|Political|Science|Travel|World

A day out in the Death Strip: How a symbol of communist paranoia became a wild paradise

Germany’s most peaceful landscape owes its existence to one of its most paranoid.The Grünes Band — the Green Belt threading 860 miles along the former border between West Germany and communist East Germany — is now a sweep of orchids, wetlands and bird-rich moorland.It began life as a fortified no-man’s land, wired with mines and patrolled day and night to keep citizens in the East from escaping.Walk it today, and the Cold War feels impossibly far away. There’s birdsong, frogs and a boardwalk over the Cheiner Torfmoor’s marsh orchids.But the quiet is only possible because people w

Education|Health|Science|World

Covid-19 vaccination substantially lowered risks for children last season, CDC report says

Children who were vaccinated against Covid-19 last season had a “substantially lower risk” of emergency department and urgent care visits related to the virus, according to a report published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The vaccines were about 76% effective in preventing these outcomes among healthy children ages 9 months to 4 years and about 56% effective among children ages 5 to 17 compared with those who did not receive an updated vaccine for the 2024-25 respiratory virus season, the report said.The federal analysis was based on data from about 98,000 c