Politics
- WorldReuters
US says Israel's use of weapons may have violated international law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law during its military operation in Gaza, in its strongest criticism to date of Israel. But the administration stopped short of a definitive assessment, adding that due to the chaos of the war in Gaza it could not verify specific instances where use of those weapons might have violated international law. The conclusion came in a State Department repo
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump will face Michael Cohen in court as prosecution nears the end of its case
Stormy Daniels is done testifying, but another target of former President Donald Trump is set to take the stand in his criminal trial, his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, multiple sources have told NBC News.
6 min read - USAssociated Press
Kansas' governor vetoes a bill for extending child support to fetuses
Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed a bill aimed at ensuring that child support payments cover fetuses, a measure critics saw as a move by anti-abortion groups toward giving them the same rights as the mothers-to-be carrying them. The measure scuttled by Gov. Laura Kelly was similar to a Georgia law and measures introduced in at least five other states, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. Supporters in the Republican-controlled Kansas Leg
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden faces new Democratic divisions after Israel shift
President Joe Biden significantly shifted his policy toward Israel this week by threatening to withhold U.S. weapons if the Israeli government moves forward with a full-scale invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, while also pledging “ironclad” support for the Jewish state in a speech condemning the rise of antisemitism.
6 min read - USNBC News
Appeals court upholds Steve Bannon's conviction for contempt of Congress
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld Steve Bannon’s conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress.
1 min read - EntertainmentThe Hill
Kendrick-Drake beef reaches Congress: ‘Gonna back the American’
They hold national hearings and craft legislation. They represent millions of constituents across the country and are some of the biggest decisionmakers in the world. This week, they voted on whether to vote to oust the government official who is second in line to the presidency. But even members of Congress say they are closely…
7 min read - PoliticsThe Hill
How Trump, RFK Jr. and Biden are trying to motivate apathetic voters
There’s one thing both Republicans and Democrats agree upon when it comes to the 2024 election: Voter apathy is real, and it’s a problem both campaigns are quickly trying to solve. Voters seem increasingly tuned out of the election between two candidates they know well and a third party candidate who might not fit all…
7 min read - WorldAssociated Press
The Flores agreement has protected migrant children for nearly 3 decades. Changes may be coming.
The Biden administration is expected to try to partially end a 27-year-old agreement that provides court oversight of how the federal government cares for migrant children in its custody, according to an attorney with Children's Rights, which represents children in the case. The anticipated move comes weeks after the Health and Human Services Department published its own rule on safeguards, effective July 1, that Secretary Xavier Becerra said will set “clear standards for the care and treatment
5 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden faces his next campus test over Gaza: From the Politics Desk
President Joe Biden is facing blowback at Morehouse College ahead of his commencement address over the Israel-Hamas war.
5 min read - WorldNBC News
Biden’s arms threat to Israel ‘better than nothing’ but too late, say U.S. officials who resigned over Gaza policy
Several former Biden administration officials who resigned over the U.S. approach to Israel's deadly offensive in Gaza say they welcome President Joe Biden's threat to suspend arms shipments as a "step in the right direction."
6 min read - USAssociated Press
Louisiana court may reopen window for lawsuits by adult victims of childhood sex abuse
Louisiana’s Supreme Court agreed Friday to reconsider its recent ruling that wiped out a state law giving adult victims of childhood sexual abuse a renewed opportunity to file damage lawsuits. The law was passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2021 and amended in 2022. At the time, its chief sponsor, Rep. Jason Hughes, a New Orleans Democrat, cited research that showed the average age for child sex abuse victims to report the crimes is 52.
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Morehouse faculty set to vote next week on whether to award Biden an honorary degree
A group of Morehouse College faculty members are pushing to stop the school from conferring an honorary doctorate on President Joe Biden at its commencement ceremony on May 19.
6 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Will Trump take the stand in his criminal trial?
As prosecutors near the home stretch of their criminal case against Donald Trump, one of the biggest questions looming over the historic trial is whether the former president will take the stand in his own defense.
6 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Trump’s hush-money trial: here’s what’s happened in the case so far
Catch up on latest news out of Donald Trump’s criminal trial for hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels
4 min read - WorldBusiness Insider
Despite Biden's warning, Israel's Netanyahu tells TV personality Dr. Phil there's 'no other choice' but to assault Rafah
Netanyahu insists on defeating Hamas, even if it means standing alone without US weapon support, amid tensions with the Biden administration.
2 min read - WorldReuters
Biden's Israel weapons pause won't dent Gaza protests, organizers say
U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to pause shipments of thousands of bombs to Israel over the U.S. ally's attacks on Rafah won praise from some critical Democrats, but won't stop protests about Gaza that have dogged his reelection effort, strategists and organizers say. Biden's decision last week marks the first time he has withheld U.S. military aid from Israel since the country began attacking Gaza seven months ago, pursuing Hamas militants. Republicans and some Democrats have accused Bide
4 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Republican who voted twice against Israel aid wants to impeach Biden for threatening to hold it back
Rep. Cory Mills has voted against Israel aid twice in recent months. Now, he wants to impeach Joe Biden for threatening to withhold some of it.
3 min read - WorldReuters
Netanyahu defiant after Biden warning on arms supplies to Israel
U.S. President Joe Biden's warning to Israel that he could withhold some arms supplies has shaken Israelis used to relying on their main ally at a time when the country faces widening political splits and growing isolation over the war in Gaza. Biden threatened on Wednesday to halt supplies of bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces go ahead with a full-scale assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which is packed with Palestinians uprooted by Israel's war on Hamas. Prime Minister Be
4 min read - WorldAssociated Press
US says Israel’s use of US arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but that wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes. The finding of “reasonable” evidence to conclude that the U.S. ally had breached international law protecting civilians in the way it conducted its war against Hamas was the strongest statement that the Biden administration has yet made on the matter.
7 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Appeals court upholds Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction
A federal appeals court panel on Friday upheld the criminal conviction of Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Bannon's challenges to his contempt of Congress conviction for which he was sentenced in 2022 to four months in prison. The judge overseeing the case has allowed him to remain free while he pursues his appe
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
US announces a new $400 million package of weapons for Ukraine to try to hold off Russian advances
The U.S. announced a new $400 million package of military aid for Ukraine on Friday, as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the northeast Kharkiv region. This is the third tranche of aid for Ukraine since Congress passed supplemental funding in late April after months of gridlock. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned Thursday that his country was facing “a really difficult situation” in the east, but said a new supply of U.S. weapons was coming and “we will b
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
Trump ally Steve Bannon loses appeal of conviction for defying Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to former President Donald Trump, for defying a subpoena from the congressional panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The ruling brings Bannon a step closer to serving a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress, but he can still mount additional appeals. Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress f
2 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Pro-Israel Pac pours millions into surprise candidate in Maryland primary
United Democracy Project backing Sarah Elfreth, even with Harry Dunn, former US capitol officer, as fellow Democrat in House race
6 min read - WorldAssociated Press
A campaign ad by a South African party showing a burning flag is called treason by the president
A campaign video for South Africa’s opposition party showing the country’s flag in flames has stoked tensions just weeks ahead of national elections that are seen as the most pivotal since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation 30 years ago. The opposition Democratic Alliance says the ad is a symbolic depiction of what it claims will befall the country if the ruling African National Congress, or ANC, forms a coalition with two other parties to remain in power after the May 29 ele
3 min read - USHuffPost
Sen. Bob Menendez Doesn’t Rule Out Testifying In His Bribery Trial
“That’s to be determined,” the New Jersey Democrat told CBS News.
2 min read - USReuters
School board in Virginia votes to restore Confederate names
The education board for a rural Virginia county voted early on Friday to restore the names of Confederate generals stripped from two schools in 2020, making the mostly white, Republican district the first in the U.S. to take such an action. By a 5-1 vote, the Shenandoah County board overturned its 2020 decision that stripped a public high school and elementary school of their original names honoring three military leaders of the pro-slavery South in the Civil War. Under the board's action, Mou
4 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
Stormy Daniels, Echoing Trump’s Style, Pushes Back at Lawyer’s Attacks
NEW YORK — Donald Trump, the onetime president, and Stormy Daniels, the longtime porn actor, despise one another. But when Daniels returned to the witness stand at Trump’s criminal trial Thursday, his lawyers made them sound a lot alike. He wrote more than a dozen self-aggrandizing books; she wrote a tell-all memoir. He mocked her appearance on social media; she fired back with a scatological insult. He peddled a $59.99 Bible; she hawked a $40 “Stormy, saint of indictments” candle, that carried
8 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Nebraska's presidential and state primaries
Nebraskans will cast presidential primary ballots Tuesday in a reliably Republican state that could nonetheless be a decisive one in the race for the White House. Voters will also decide several contested state primaries, including the U.S. Senate, where both Republican incumbents are on the ballot. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump should easily win their primaries, as they already unofficially secured their parties’ nominations on March 12.
6 min read - BusinessReuters
Analysis-Tesla's EV charging team layoffs threaten to slow Biden's program to electrify highways
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Elon Musk's decision to gut Tesla's electric-vehicle charging team is scrambling plans for rolling out new fast-charging stations and may delay President Joe Biden's efforts to electrify U.S. highways. Last year, the Biden administration announced rules for an ambitious plan to expand the country's charging infrastructure and jump-start EV adoption. Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, the government is doling out $5 billion to states over
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Biden White House highlights a coming showdown with GOP over 2017 tax cuts that are due to expire
The winner of November's presidential election will face an epic challenge next year with the coming expiration of nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts — an issue that the Biden White House is highlighting in the runup to November. Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, in a speech Friday emphasized the administration's differences with Republicans over taxes. In her address at the Brookings Institution, Brainard made a case for higher rates on corporations and the ultr
5 min read - USNBC News
Two political operatives struck plea deals in Rep. Henry Cuellar's bribery case
Mina Colin Strother and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon agreed to cooperate in the Justice Department's case against the Texas Democrat, according to unsealed documents.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump gets Barron's age wrong when asked about his youngest son's convention role
Former President Donald Trump misstated the age of his youngest son in an interview, saying that Barron Trump was 17 years old — even though he turned 18 in March.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Judge directs Michael Cohen to keep quiet about Trump ahead of his hush money trial testimony
With Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen expected to take the witness stand Monday, the judge in the former president’s hush money case issued prosecutors a stern warning: Get Cohen to stop his taunting posts and jabs at Trump. The prosecution could rest its case by the end of next week, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said. Prosecutors have been building up their case ahead of important testimony from Cohen, who arranged the $130,000 payout to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from
6 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump's lawyers imply Daniels' work in porn industry undermines her testimony
Adult film star Stormy Daniels returned to the stand in Donald Trump's criminal trial Thursday, pushing back during cross-examination against his defense attorney's attempts to discredit her in sometimes bizarre and uncomfortable exchanges.
11 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Facing Hill pressure, tech group kicks out TikTok
NetChoice, a right-of-center tech lobbying group, dumped the video app following scrutiny from GOP leadership on Capitol Hill.
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
New Biden tariffs on China's EVs, solar, medical supplies due Tuesday - sources
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce new China tariffs as soon as next week targeting strategic sectors, including a major hike in levies on electric vehicles (EVs), according to three people familiar with the matter. The full announcement, expected Tuesday, will maintain existing tariffs on many Chinese goods set by former President Donald Trump, according to one of the people. In revising the so-called "Section 301 tariffs," the Biden administration
3 min read - WorldPolitico
‘We would need to make choices’: Why Biden is threatening Israel now
Biden’s announcement is an unintentional admission that his efforts to privately sway Netanyahu have had limited effects.
6 min read - USAssociated Press
1 lawmaker stops South Carolina health care consolidation bill that had overwhelming support
A bill that would have consolidated six South Carolina heath care agencies and was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of the General Assembly died on the session's final day Thursday in a procedural move by a member angry he was mocked by his colleagues. Republican Rep. Josiah Magnuson has been against the bill from the start, saying it would create a health care czar who could take over like a dictator if there was another pandemic emergency like COVID-19.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden is caught in a no-win situation on Israel: From the Politics Desk
President Joe Biden is in a no-win situation after his threat to cut of certain weapons to Israel amid the Jewish state's war with Hamas.
6 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
The Biden-Netanyahu relationship is strained like never before. Can the two leaders move forward?
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have long managed a complicated relationship, but they're running out of space to maneuver as their views on the Gaza war diverge and their political futures hang in the balance. Netanyahu, for his part, is brushing off Biden’s warnings and vowing to press ahead, saying, “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.” Biden has long prided himself on being able to manage Netanyahu more with carrots than sticks.
7 min read - PoliticsYahoo News
Trump trial updates: After Stormy Daniels wraps testimony, judge denies motions to declare mistrial and loosen Trump's gag order
When asked by lawyers for Donald Trump whether she had made up her story about a sexual affair with the former president, adult film actress Stormy Daniels had an emphatic, one-word answer: “No!”
3 min read - WorldBusiness Insider
Withholding US weapons from Israel could force changes in how it fights but may not stop its devastating assault
The US paused one shipment of bombs to Israel last week, but President Joe Biden has threatened to block additional weapons over Rafah concerns.
6 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Donald Trump spends day off from his hush-money trial attacking Biden's crypto knowledge and pushing mugshot NFTs
Donald Trump hosted supporters who bought NFTs from his "Mugshot Edition" collection at a dinner in Mar-a-Lago, Axios reported.
2 min read - USAssociated Press
US utility pledges more transparency after lack of notice it empowered CEO to make plant decisions
The nation's largest public utility on Thursday pledged to be more transparent after it took months to disclose that a general budget vote by its board last year also gave the CEO the final decision over several proposed natural gas power plants. The decision followed an August meeting in which the federal utility's board cast the budget vote that quietly gave President and CEO Jeff Lyash the final say over the projects, including the replacement of the aging coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant wi
4 min read - BusinessReuters
Biden concerned over Boeing firefighters' lockout
(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he is concerned that Boeing has locked out its unionized firefighters, raising pressure on the U.S. planemaker to resolve the contract dispute. Earlier this month, Boeing locked out nearly 130 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-66 who have rejected two contract offers. "I’m concerned by reports that Boeing locked out IAFF I-66 members," Biden wrote on the social media site X. "I encourage folks to return to the
2 min read - USAssociated Press
Pennsylvania to ban cell phone use while driving and require police to collect traffic stop data
Pennsylvania will join the majority of states that ban motorists from handling a cell phone for almost any purpose while driving, as backers of the legislation hope to reduce distracted driving accidents and deaths after nearly two decades of pressing the measure. Gov. Josh Shapiro's office said Thursday that the Democrat will sign the bill, 18 years after he first introduced a similar bill when he served in the state House of Representatives. The bill also includes a provision long-sought by
4 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Biden's threat to cut off weapons for Israel isn't the same as what got Trump impeached
There are numerous differences between Biden's comments and how Trump handled Ukraine aid.
6 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
A new rule aims to speed up the removal of a limited group of migrants who don't qualify for asylum
A new Biden administration rule announced Thursday aims to speed up asylum processing at the southern border for a limited group of people believed to have committed serious crimes or who have terrorist links and ultimately more quickly eject them from the country. The change comes as the administration has been struggling to demonstrate to voters during an election where immigration is a key issue that it has a handle on the southern border. Republicans have consistently slammed the Biden adm
4 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump's 'Access Hollywood' tape prompted RNC to discuss replacing him as a candidate, his former assistant testifies
Donald Trump's ex-executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout described the top-of-the-ticket tumult on Thursday at his criminal hush-money trial.
3 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Judge denies Hunter Biden‘s bid to dismiss gun charges
Separately, a federal appeals court panel ruled against Biden earlier Thursday in another bid to have the charges against him tossed.
2 min read
