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Bangladesh goes to polls in first election since 2024 revolution

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Bangladesh heads to the polls Thursday in a high-stakes general election that will shape the nation’s transition following the 2024 student-led revolution that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.

All but one of 300 seats in parliament are up for grabs in a contest that has coalesced around two rival blocs: the mainstream Bangladesh ...Read more

New Landmine Blast Tests Thailand-Cambodia Ceasefire

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A landmine explosion wounded three Thai soldiers near the Cambodian border, in an incident that risks undermining a fragile ceasefire between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

One soldier lost a leg and two others sustained minor injuries in the blast on Wednesday in Si Sa Ket province, which borders Cambodia, the Thai army said in a statement...Read more

US House defies Trump and votes to end his Canada tariffs

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WASHINGTON — The Republican-led U.S. House passed legislation aimed at ending President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, signaling a growing anxiety over the White House’s economic agenda before midterm elections focused heavily on affordability.

Trump has threatened to veto similar measures, making it unlikely the legislation will ever...Read more

Immigration attorneys call out dirty conditions, 'disarray and chaos' at Minnesota's Whipple detention facility

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Immigration-rights attorneys said they saw “significant disarray and chaos” this week when they inspected the Whipple Federal Building, where hundreds of immigrants have been detained by federal authorities in recent months, according to court documents filed Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Attorneys for Minneapolis nonprofit Advocates for Human Rights ...Read more

Progressive California lawmakers' new tax proposal targets international corporations

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After months of behind-the-scenes meetings, progressive lawmakers in the California Assembly this week introduced what is likely to be their signature revenue raising proposal for 2026 — a bill targeting large global corporations who they say have shifted profits offshore to lower their tax bills for decades.

The effort, which would rewrite ...Read more

Gallup ending presidential approval ratings as Trump's dips below 40%

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Gallup has scrapped its presidential approval tracking polls for good just as President Donald Trump hits rock bottom in its numbers.

The venerable public opinion firm announced Wednesday that it would no longer publish any approval or favorability ratings of any political figures, but suggested the decision has nothing to do with Trump’s ...Read more

Boston City Council looks to create 'immigrant emergency response fund' amid ICE enforcement

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The Boston City Council plans to explore ways to create an immigrant emergency response fund that uses city and private money to provide legal defense, family stabilization and other support in response to the federal immigration crackdown.

Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune on Wednesday introduced an order for a hearing “on a scalable funding model...Read more

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore emphasizes unity amid ongoing tension with Trump, state Senate leader Ferguson

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday struck a neutral note in his fourth State of the State address, amid an escalated feud with President Donald Trump and brewing tension with Maryland lawmakers on various policy issues, including mid-cycle redistricting and a looming projected $1.4 billion budget shortfall.

Moore delivered his ...Read more

Bill would hold data centers responsible for energy costs and environmental protections

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After passing a series of landmark environmental bills in Illinois over the last few years, advocates and legislators are hoping to use that momentum to push through a new law that would regulate the growing data center industry in the state, ensuring efficient energy and water use and protections for ratepayers from rising utility bills.

“We...Read more

Colorado sues to block Trump administration from cutting public health grants

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DENVER — Colorado filed a lawsuit Wednesday to prevent the Trump administration from canceling more than $25 million in grants for public health.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress it wouldn’t pay $600 million worth of grants already awarded in Colorado, California, Illinois and Minnesota — all ...Read more

Illinois sues Trump administration over more than $100 million in planned cuts to health care grants

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President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to cut more than $100 million in federal health care grants for Illinois, a step that was quickly met with a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul and his peers in three other states.

Illinois, California, Colorado and Minnesota sued the Trump administration Wednesday over the Office ...Read more

Florida state official acknowledges opioid money funded anti-weed campaign

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For the first time on Wednesday, the DeSantis administration acknowledged that it used opioid settlement money to campaign against a recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot.

Shevaun Harris, the secretary for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, made the admission during an appearance before a Senate committee as part ...Read more

Stonewall Monument Pride flag removed by Trump admin was installed under Biden in 2022

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NEW YORK — The Trump administration says their removal of a rainbow Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village is merely reinforcing a decades-old policy — but during the Biden presidency the feds installed a flagpole specifically to fly the LGBTQ flag at the historic site, the Daily News has learned.

On June 1, ...Read more

Trump administration warns Peru that a Chinese port is costing its sovereignty

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LIMA, Peru — The Trump administration warned that Peru is losing sovereignty over a Chinese-owned port near its capital city, after a local judge ruled that the port is exempt from some regulatory oversight.

The sprawling Chancay port on Peru’s Pacific coast was conceived as a crucial new trade link between Asia and Latin America, but its ...Read more

Get more electricity from coal, Trump tells Department of Defense

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President Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order directing the Department of Defense to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants. He also announced new funding to restart and upgrade coal plants in several states.

The executive order directs Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to enter into long-term...Read more

Yale professor removed from teaching classes after Epstein emails surface

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A Yale University professor has been removed from teaching classes while university officials review a six-year correspondence he had with Jeffrey Epstein, which included his description of a student to the accused sex trafficker as a “goodlooking blonde.”

The back-and-forth dialogue was discovered within numerous emails released in recent ...Read more

From private jets to tacos: Florida's immigration spending surged last summer

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The DeSantis administration dramatically escalated spending last summer on a years-old immigration emergency — with expenses ranging from private jet flights and restaurant tabs to custom badges, according to a state accounting of how his office is using an expiring emergency fund.

That spending included more than $166,...Read more

News briefs

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Possible signs of ancient Martian life: What did NASA really discover?

Organic compounds found in Mars rocks are too abundant to rule out the possibility of Martian life in the red planet’s history, NASA scientists say.

In March of 2025, NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered oily chemicals on Mars. These chemicals, called decane, undecane, and...Read more

White House opens meeting to Democratic governors after snub

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is inviting all U.S. governors to meet with him after the White House had sought to keep Democrats out of the annual bipartisan gathering, the National Governors Association said.

The change announced Wednesday came after Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, the NGA’s chairman, held talks with Trump ...Read more

Chicago aldermen opposed to Mayor Brandon Johnson on budget announce 'accountability commission'

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CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s fight with aldermen about the 2026 budget continued Wednesday as a City Council majority said they are organizing themselves to monitor his administration’s execution of the spending plan that passed over his objections.

The announcement from 29 aldermen who labeled themselves the “Budget Accountability...Read more