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President Trump pardons mastermind behind illicit drug marketplace Silk Road

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President Donald Trump pardoned the founder of darknet marketplace Silk Road, he said in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday night.

Ross William Ulbricht, known online as Dread Pirate Roberts, was indicted in the U.S. District Court in Maryland on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempted witness murder and using ...Read more

ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Musk says his gestures at Trump inauguration event weren't Nazi salutes

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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a top aide to President Trump, drew and quickly dismissed a raft of condemnation from Democratic lawmakers, left-wing politicians abroad and others across the internet after twice making what to some looked like a Nazi salute from an inauguration stage.

Musk — who has endorsed antisemitic remarks and ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Southern California is about to get its first rain in months. Here's what it means for the firefighting

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LOS ANGELES — After a day of strong winds that helped fuel small scattered fires across Southern California, hope to cut back on wildfire risks may finally be on the horizon.

A small amount of rain is in the forecast for the region beginning late Friday through early Saturday, a much anticipated change of weather for the region, which has ...Read more

Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register/TNS

LA Sheriff's Department launches Looter Suppression Team in Eaton fire neighborhoods

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has promised to increase patrols in Altadena to combat looting as residents begin to head back to their homes nearly two weeks after the Eaton fire swept through the region.

The newly formed Looter Suppression Team will provide more surveillance and a quicker response time to ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says he's open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison purchasing TikTok

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President Donald Trump said he would be open to billionaire supporter Elon Musk or Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison purchasing social video app TikTok as part of a joint venture with the U.S. government.

“I have the right to make a deal,” Trump said at an event alongside Ellison at the White House on Tuesday. “So what I’m thinking ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

'A rough four years': California lawmakers reaffirm pledge to fight Trump policies

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California Democratic state lawmakers and advocates are vowing to “fight back” against President Donald Trump’s opening salvo of executive orders on his first day in office, which target immigration, transgender rights and several California environmental policies.

“We’re in for a rough four years,” said Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, ...Read more

News briefs

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Trump orders wide search for political bias in Biden-era actions

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ordered the attorney general to hunt for instances of campaigns during the Biden administration against perceived political opponents, as the White House on Monday outlined misleading or unproven arguments over government “weaponization.” ...Read more

Ian Forsyth/Getty Images North America/TNS

India set to take back 18,000 citizens from US to placate Trump

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India’s government is prepared to work with Donald Trump’s administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the U.S., an early signal from New Delhi that it’s willing to comply with the incoming American president and avoid a trade war.

The U.S. has identified some 18,000 illegal Indian migrants to be sent ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

New 'wellness court' for drug users launches Wednesday in Philadelphia, as police prepare to ramp up drug enforcement

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PHILADELPHIA — The city on Wednesday will officially launch what it is calling a “neighborhood wellness court” in Kensington, an initiative in which police will arrest people who are openly using drugs, issue them summary citations, and then offer addiction treatment and diversionary services before a judge the same day.

Mayor Cherelle L....Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Firing of Coast Guard commandant by Trump administration is 'politically motivated,' Van Hollen says

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Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan was fired on the second day of the Trump administration, an action Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen called “politically motivated.”

A Department of Homeland Security memo said Tuesday that the agency had “relieved Admiral Linda L. Fagan of her duties as Commandant of the United States Coast Guard” and ...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Trump gives immigration agents power to raid churches and schools for deportations

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The Trump administration has expanded the authority of immigration agents, allowing them to make arrests at previously protected locations such as schools and churches.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman revoked a directive that restricted agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border ...Read more

Jim Watson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Can Trump actually revoke birthright citizenship? Here's what the federal law will do

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Hours into his second presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship despite more than 100 years of legal precedent guaranteeing citizenship to every person born in the country.

Trump’s order Monday declares that future children born to undocumented immigrants will no longer be treated as citizens — a long-...Read more

Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News/TNS

Election reform, transgender athlete ban, age verification for apps: More bills unveiled before Alaska legislative session

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Alaska legislators on Friday unveiled a second batch of measures that were prefiled ahead of Tuesday's start to the legislative session.

Eighty-one measures were announced last week. A further 20 bills were unveiled Friday — 10 are set to be introduced in the state Senate and 10 in the House.

Reforming Alaska's election system is expected to...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Child Victims Act settlements could cost Maryland over $3 billion: 'A potentially enormous liability for the state'

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BALTIMORE — State Senate President Bill Ferguson doubled down on his support Monday of the law that could leave Maryland liable for $3.1 billion in settlement payments to survivors of child sexual abuse — despite the state’s massive budget deficit.

“I think that we understood that there could be a cost,” Senate President Bill Ferguson...Read more

Kevin Lamarque/CNP via ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Trump inauguration draws 24.6 million viewers, a steep drop from 2021 and 2017

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The TV viewership for President Trump’s historic second inauguration fell far short of the audience for his first ceremony in 2017 and former President Biden’s 2021 event.

Nielsen data showed Trump’s festivities averaged 24.6 million viewers across 15 networks from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, a decline of 27% from four years ago. The ...Read more

Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota House Republicans propose fraud prevention measures

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Seeking to curb fraud in government programs, Minnesota House Republicans unveiled a plan Tuesday to establish a new Office of Inspector General, track whether agencies are implementing audit recommendations and require state employees to report suspected fraud to law enforcement and legislators.

The GOP proposals come as the FBI investigates ...Read more

SAUL LOEB/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump to visit Las Vegas soon as part of trip to North Carolina, L.A.

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to visit Las Vegas at the end of a trip he will be making to North Carolina, then California, two states devastated by natural disasters, he told reporters Tuesday.

Las Vegas will be his final stop in a whirlwind trip set to begin in North Carolina, which has yet to recover from last year’s ...Read more

Melina Mara/Getty Images North America/TNS

Immigrant rights advocates prepare to fight Trump's immigration orders

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WASHINGTON — A day after President Donald Trump issued a dozen executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration, advocates and a coalition of states led by California are preparing for court battles against an administration that appears to have learned from previous legal missteps made during Trump’s first term.

Among the many ...Read more

CRAIG KOHLRUSS/The Fresno Bee/TNS

Mexican Consulate 'working tirelessly' to protect immigrants' rights in Central California

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FRESNO, Calif. — In light of the U.S. Border Patrol’s operation in the Central Valley earlier this month, the Consulate of México in Fresno wants to inform immigrants and families of their rights, including the right to “consular notification” if detained by federal immigration enforcement agents.

When foreign nationals are arrested or...Read more

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images North America/TNS

Stefanik mostly impresses at Senate Foreign Relations hearing

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​WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Senate confirmation hearing to be the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations went smoothly on Tuesday, a departure from the frequent partisan tussles with Democrats common in her previous post as a top-ranking House Republican.

The Stefanik who appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...Read more