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Amid ICE raids, bishop tells SoCal worshippers they can stay home on Sundays

Current News / News & Features /

A Southern California Roman Catholic bishop told his diocese of roughly one million parishioners this week that they can stay home on Sundays to avoid Mass while concerns about federal immigration sweeps still loom over the region.

Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino wrote in the decree Tuesday that many church-goers have ...Read more

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS

'Devastating' fallout feared in Idaho as feds freeze billions for U.S. schools

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The federal government froze over $33 million in Idaho education funding, the Boise School District said in a Wednesday news release addressed to staff and parents, forcing school administrators to weigh tough decisions on possible last-minute cuts to language learning, teacher training and after-school programs.

The money, part of $6.9 billion...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

Life expectancy in California still hasn't rebounded since the pandemic

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus caused life expectancy in California to drop significantly. It's now been over two years since officials declared the pandemic-related public health emergency to be over. And yet, life expectancy for Californians has not fully recovered. Today, however, the virus has been replaced by drug overdoses and ...Read more

RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/TNS

Six Colorado facilities pitched for possible ICE detention expansion by private companies, records show

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Several companies have floated at least six Colorado facilities as potential sites to expand detention for undocumented immigrants in the state as the federal government ramps up its mass-deportation efforts.

Documents submitted to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have pitched options that include two proposed sites in Colorado Springs,...Read more

Will Epstein associates be investigated? Poll reveals shift in public opinion

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Public confidence that Jeffrey Epstein’s associates will be brought to justice has eroded over the past year and a half, according to new YouGov polling.

The survey, conducted July 8-9, also found widespread skepticism with the official government narrative surrounding his death.

It comes after President Donald Trump’s Department of ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Trump touts push for Gaza deal as Netanyahu visits Pentagon

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President Donald Trump said negotiators are “very close” to a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, even as a senior Israeli official was less optimistic, indicating a temporary truce could be agreed upon in a week or two.

“We want to have a ceasefire,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “We want to have peace. We want to get the ...Read more

Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

United Nations imposes sanctions on more gangs in Haiti amid growing violence

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Haiti’s most powerful gang coalition and another criminal armed group operating in the country’s breadbasket have been added to a United Nations global sanctions list.

The Viv Ansanm coalition and Gran Grif join other gang members sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council. The listing follows the Trump administration’s decision in May to ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Federal officers' presence at Chicago Puerto Rican museum draws criticism, stokes deportation fears

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CHICAGO — The federal agents on the screen wore black as they entered the museum’s doors. One briefly spoke to a staff member before walking down the hallway and out of the camera’s view, leaving the employees at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood feeling targeted and intimidated.

...Read more

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

George Santos heads to prison, insists foul play is to blame if he dies behind bars

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Disgraced former Congressman George Santos assured fans on Wednesday as he headed to prison that if he dies while serving his sentence, that wasn’t his plan.

“I’m heading to prison, folks, and I need you to hear this loud and clear: I’m not suicidal. I’m not depressed. I have no intentions of harming myself,” the former Republican ...Read more

Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Brazil assets plunge after Trump hikes tariff rate to 50%

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President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods sent the country’s currency plunging as the U.S. leader sharply escalated a dispute with Latin America’s largest nation and leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

In a letter posted to his social media account, Trump cited Jair Bolsonaro — the right-wing former ...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen to Trump on FBI relocation: 'This is a very long fight'

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration wants Congress to reallocate over a billion dollars to move the FBI headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building. Maryland’s senior senator is pushing back.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen held a subcommittee markup on Wednesday night to address President Donald Trump’s recent request to use roughly $1.4...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

The House is revamping its dining options. Will workers keep their jobs?

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As new food vendors prepare to set up shop at the Capitol complex this summer, current workers say many in their ranks have not received offers to keep their jobs.

The House chief administrative officer in May announced that a slate of eateries will take over starting this August, including a Starbucks replacing the existing Dunkin’, a QDOBA,...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Las Vegas police dept. sued for release of immigration enforcement records at county jail

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The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has been sued in an effort to compel release of public records related to expanded federal immigration enforcement at the county jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed the complaint Wednesday in Clark County District Court.

“The Nevada Public Records Act exists to ensure that ...Read more

Chris Torres/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Abbott sets special session agenda. Here's what Texas legislators will discuss

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Gov. Greg Abbott has added several Hill Country flooding items to the special session agenda, which begins at noon on July 21.

Before the July Fourth tragedy, lawmakers were set to discuss the regulation of THC products, protections for human trafficking victims and water project incentives among other things.

Now the agenda has 18 items, ...Read more

AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Houthi attacks in Red Sea sink 2 cargo ships, leave 3 people dead

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Houthi attacks in the Red Sea left three crew members dead and sank two cargo vessels in a fresh wave of assaults by the Tehran-backed group along the crucial maritime trade route.

Liberian-flagged MV Eternity C sank on Wednesday after sustaining “significant damage” and had lost all propulsion, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, a liaison ...Read more

Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald/TNS

Feds move to seize $13K restitution payment from disgraced ex-Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson

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Federal prosecutors filed an order petitioning the court to compel disgraced ex-Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson to pay $13,000 as a penalty for the City Hall kickback scheme she was convicted for this past May.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley filed a motion for order of forfeiture (money judgment) in federal court Wednesday that states ...Read more

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump praises leader of English-speaking African nation for his 'good English'

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President Donald Trump praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai for speaking English articulately, seemingly unaware of the fact that English is Liberia’s national language.

“Such good English, that’s beautiful,” Trump said during a Wednesday meeting at the White House with five African leaders. “Where did you learn to speak so ...Read more

CRAIG KOHLRUSS/The Fresno Bee/TNS

Justice Department sues California over transgender student athletes

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The Justice Department sued California on Wednesday over the state’s policy allowing transgender student athletes to compete on girls sports teams, contending it violates federal anti-discrimination laws.

The lawsuit intensifies an ongoing battle between California and President Donald Trump over the participation of transgender athletes in ...Read more

News briefs

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Hegseth didn’t tell Trump about Ukraine arms pause, report says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly didn’t tell President Donald Trump or seek his permission before ordering a pause in shipments of arms to embattled Ukraine last week.

Trump was unhappy and frustrated to find out about the Pentagon chief’s controversial decision, ...Read more

Alejandro A Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Philly's city worker strike ends after Mayor Cherelle Parker, union leader agree on contract

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PHILADELPHIA — Sorry, rats. The "Parker piles" of trash found around the city are about to disappear.

Philadelphia’s first major city worker strike since 1986 lasted eight days and four hours before Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Greg Boulware, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 33, ...Read more