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Christine Mai-Duc/KFF Health News/TNS

Newsom walks thin line on immigrant health as he eyes presidential bid

Current News / News & Features /

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eyeing a presidential bid, has incensed both Democrats and Republicans over immigrant health care in his home state, underscoring the delicate political path ahead.

For a second year, the Democrat has asked state lawmakers to roll back coverage for some immigrants in the face of federal Medicaid spending ...Read more

John Autey/Pioneer Press/TNS

A Hmong child bride who killed her husband years ago dreads her next ICE check-in

Current News / News & Features /

If she could go back in time, she never would have married him.

Nou was 15 and living in a refugee camp in Thailand when she was wed to a much older man. She didn’t want to and, with decades of hindsight and regret, she wishes she had pushed back.

Now, she’s 50 and living in St. Paul. She is disabled from what she describes as years of ...Read more

Amy Davis/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

7 inmates died in Maryland state prisons in 2 months. Why?

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Maryland correctional authorities have recorded seven inmate deaths over the past two months, a pattern that criminal justice experts say points to deeper challenges inside the state’s prisons.

“The number of deaths raises more than individual problems. It is time to look at systemic shortcomings,” said Nora Demleitner, a past president ...Read more

Sudok1/Dreamstime/TNS

When the doctor needs a checkup

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He was a surgical oncologist at a hospital in a Southern city, a 78-year-old whose colleagues had begun noticing troubling behavior in the operating room.

During procedures, he seemed “hesitant, not sure of how to go on to the next step without being prompted” by assistants, said Mark Katlic, director of the Aging Surgeon Program at Sinai ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Trump administration to appeal court order on NY-NJ tunnel funds

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The Trump administration plans to appeal a temporary court order that blocks the federal government from withholding funds for a $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

The Gateway Development Commission is building the new tunnel but had to stop construction late Friday because it’s exhausted all of its funding sources.

The Trump ...Read more

Chanakarn Laosarakham/Getty Images North America/TNS

Thailand's royalists set for surprise election victory as progressives push fails

Current News / News & Features /

Thailand’s ruling conservative party clinched a surprisingly solid election win Sunday, marking the first victory this century for a party aligned with the country’s royalist establishment and a clear defeat for an emerging progressive movement.

The Bhumjaithai Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is set to secure ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Gavin Newsom declares 'Bad Bunny Day' on Super Bowl Sunday in California

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Super Bowl Sunday to be “Bad Bunny Day” in California in a social media post mimicking President Trump.

“As many people know, I am a tremendous lover of ‘the Spanish’,” Newsom wrote Saturday. “I am also a huge fan of Puerrrrrrrto Rico. That is why I am declaring [Sunday] in California as ‘...Read more

DREW ANGERER/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Maryland oyster season collapse prompts calls for federal disaster aid

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Maryland officials are asking for federal help after what they describe as one of the worst oyster seasons in state history, a collapse they say threatens both watermen and a cornerstone of the Chesapeake Bay economy.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., this week asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare an economic ...Read more

Federal judge rules against college students seeking on-campus voting sites

Current News / News & Features /

A federal judge on Sunday ruled against a coalition of college students from three North Carolina universities — including the nation’s largest HBCU — who sought to compel the state to host early voting sites on their campuses.

The judge, William Osteen Jr., an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote that it would be potentially ...Read more

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Backers of California governor hopeful drop $1.4 million on Super Bowl ad

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A political ad backing a hopeful for California governor will appear during the Super Bowl.

An independent committee supporting the candidacy of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan bought the 30-second ad on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service for a reported $1.4 million, the Los Angeles Times said.

It’s the only ad in the governor’s race ...Read more

Kevin Richardson/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

U.S. Energy Secretary responds to Maryland lawmakers' concerns on rising electric bills

Current News / News & Features /

The Trump administration is monitoring planned Maryland power plant retirements as state officials warn of rising electric bills and tightening supply, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a Jan. 12 letter to Republican lawmakers.

Responding to concerns raised by members of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, Wright wrote that “the Trump ...Read more

HEULER ANDREY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Philadelphia native Noam Chomsky counseled Jeffrey Epstein on how to handle media scrutiny, DOJ files show

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Noam Chomsky, the Philadelphia-born and educated intellectual, told Jeffrey Epstein to “ignore” negative media attention as the disgraced financier was being accused of abusing women and girls, emails recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice show.

The exchange occurred in early 2019, after the Miami Herald published a series of ...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota AG, Trump administration settle DEI education lawsuit

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Attorney General Keith Ellison settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration over federal funding for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs on Friday, Feb. 6.

The settlement ensures $530 million for Minnesota’s K-12 schools while DEIA programs continue. The agreement is part of a multistate lawsuit originally filed ...Read more

Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Evangelicals wrestle with faith and politics as ICE surge continues in Minnesota

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Some 80% of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

But as the immigration crackdown has unfolded in Minnesota — where federal agents killed observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti and where many ordinary people have risen up in protest — some evangelical Christians find Trump’s actions at odds with ...Read more

Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/TNS

Kansas City, Kansas, officials to vote on jail ban as ICE arrests continue to ramp up in US, metro

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Local officials in Wyandotte County will soon discuss whether they can pass a rule banning any potential future plans for nonmunicipal jails, like a federal immigration detention center, from moving forward in Kansas City, Kansas.

That resolution, proposed by Third District Commissioner Christian Ramirez last month, would put a moratorium on ...Read more

John Autey/Pioneer Press/TNS

Amid immigration enforcement escalation, St. Paul artists respond with surge of creativity

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From protest signs to posters in shop windows to apparel, artists across St. Paul and the greater Twin Cities are responding to the federal immigration enforcement crackdown with a surge of creativity.

In the days after immigration agents shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, live painter Noval Noir created a large-scale portrait...Read more

Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Iran calls US nuclear talks a 'step forward' as caution lingers

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Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian described the Friday nuclear talks with Washington as “a step forward,” even as he pushed back against any attempts at intimidation.

“Dialogue has always been our strategy for resolving issues peacefully,” Pezeshkian said in an X posting on Sunday, referring to the talks that featured Iranian Foreign...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

In 'Melt the ICE' wool caps, a red-tasseled symbol of resistance comes from Minneapolis to Philadelphia

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Some yarn shops around Philadelphia are running low on skeins of red wool, as local knitters and crocheters turn out scads of “Melt the ICE” caps in solidarity with protesters in Minnesota.

The hats don’t feature a patch or logo that says “Melt the ICE.” In fact, they carry no written message at all. What they offer is a deep scarlet ...Read more

STR/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Historic win pits Takaichi's vision of Japan against the markets

Current News / News & Features /

Back in October, Sanae Takaichi struggled to wrangle enough seats in parliament to become prime minister. Now she has the biggest election mandate of any Japanese leader since World War II.

The surprisingly large victory margin allows the staunch conservative to implement her nationalist vision of a more forceful, outspoken, self-sufficient ...Read more

Chanakarn Laosarakham/Getty Images North America/TNS

Thai election win for Anutin gives royalists chance at stability

Current News / News & Features /

Since the turn of the century, election night has usually been great for pro-democracy reformers and miserable for Thailand’s royalists. Now the establishment has finally backed a winner, and the country may see some stability as a result.

Early results from Sunday’s vote show the ruling Bhumjaithai party is on track to secure 191 seats in ...Read more