Associated Press McALLEN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out
Continue ReadingAssociated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s attorney general says the state is under no legal requirement to use taxpayer money to cover the costs of gender-affirming surgeries for people incarcerated in state prisons. The state’s corrections department requested the opinion as it amends regulations regarding medical care for people in prison. Republican Attorney General
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are on strike for a second day at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers at a prominent unionized warehouse in New York will also join. The union has not indicated how many employees
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s top court has agreed to temporarily pause a lower court decision that determined the attorney general overstepped his authority when he took control of the Paterson Police Department. The Supreme Court of New Jersey’s temporary pause on Thursday means Attorney General Matt Platkin’s officer in charge will
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Sports marketer Max Muhleman, who was credited with the concept of developing the permanent seat license in professional sports and helping the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets land expansion teams, has died at 88. Muhleman died on Saturday in Charlotte peacefully after battling some heart-related issues, according to
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is warning that Republicans’ decision to abandon a congressional spending plan will cost more than 2 million troops their paychecks over the holidays unless some agreement is reached before Friday’s deadline to prevent a government shutdown. The Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, says even if they
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A businessman with no experience in public office is taking over as mayor of Oregon’s biggest city as it embraces an entirely new system of government — one that’s so different, the City Council chambers had to be completely renovated. Portland voters last month elected Keith Wilson, a trucking
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — Veteran U.K. Labour Party politician Peter Mandelson will be Britain’s next ambassador to Washington. Mandelson, who served in senior posts in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is expected to take up his job early next year. The announcement is due to come on Friday. The news was
Continue ReadingKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has rejected arguments that a bank mismanaged painter Thomas Hart Benton’s estate by selling his artwork for less than what it was worth and losing more than 100 pieces. Judge Mark Styles ruled last week that there were only five unaccounted-for pieces by Benson. Radio station KCUR
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life without parole for fatally strangling his deaf cellmate while he was in Baltimore’s jail awaiting a murder trial. Thirty-five-year-old Gordon Staron was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty to strangling Javarick Gantt. A jury had already convicted him in the earlier case, which
Continue ReadingPHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers have won city council approval for a $1.3 billion downtown arena despite vocal opposition from nearby residents. The City Council voted 12-5 Thursday to approve the project at a packed City Hall meeting. Owners of the NBA team hope to move in by 2031. Mayor Cherelle Parker says the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Connecticut’s Office of Inspector General says a police officer was justified when he fatally shot a man as he tried to flee in a stolen vehicle while being attacked by a police dog. A report released Thursday found a West Hartford Officer Andrew Teeter was justified in firing five rounds into the torso
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Two more members of Mexico’s armed forces have been killed by an improvised landmine, just days after two soldiers died in a similar blast earlier this week. The blasts mark an unprecedented one-week death toll from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, planted by drug cartels in Mexico. The interior secretary of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press A debate over the debt ceiling is at the center of a dispute over funding that is pushing Washington to the brink of a federal government shutdown. President-elect Donald Trump has demanded that a provision raising or suspending the nation’s debt limit — something that his own party routinely resists — be included
Continue ReadingAssociated Press CAIRO (AP) — Israeli and Hamas appear close to reaching a ceasefire deal to wind down the war in Gaza. But disagreements remain over several issues. According to people familiar with the deal, the agreement is take place in phases and include a halt in fighting, an exchange of captive Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says the United States doubled the number of forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State group before the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government. The U.S. has said 900 troops were in Syria, but Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, announced on Thursday that 2,000
Continue ReadingAssociated Press In the first major flex of his influence since Donald Trump was elected, Elon Musk brought to a sudden halt a bipartisan budget proposal by posting constantly on his X megaphone and threatening Republicans with primary challenges. The social media warnings from the world’s wealthiest man preceded Trump’s condemnation of a measure negotiated
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — American farmers, small business owners and wildfire survivors are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that included more than $100 billion in disaster aid. The money is urgently needed after Hurricanes Helene
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials say FBI agents searched the home of a Los Angeles deputy mayor this week as part of an investigation into whether he made a bomb threat against City Hall. A statement from the office of Mayor Karen Bass says she was notified of Tuesday’s search at the residence of Brian
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — American farmers are hoping that aid to agriculture will be revived as Congress struggles to avert a looming partial government shutdown. A one-year extension of federal farm programs, around $30 billion in economic relief and a break for the ethanol industry were part of a bipartisan deal that collapsed Wednesday
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