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A defiant Sheinbaum refuses to extradite Mexican officials on US drug charges

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MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denounced the U.S. prosecution of a sitting Mexican governor and other officials on drug trafficking charges as “political,” and said Thursday that Mexico would not comply with Washington’s demands that the accused be arrested and extradited to the United States.

“We are not ...Read more

John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

'We have to work together': Canada's UN envoy visits Haiti, pledges continued support

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Like most high-level visitors to Haiti, David Lametti recently arrived in Port-au-Prince with grim statistics in hand: mass killings, widespread gang-driven displacements and the steady erosion of public institutions.

But four days into his first visit to the gang-torn country earlier this month, the immediacy of those challenges came into ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Washington Gov. Ferguson agrees to $4,000 settlement in ethics probe

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SEATTLE — Gov. Bob Ferguson has agreed to a $4,000 settlement to resolve an ethics probe into his decision to invite a former top aide to fly with him on a state plane last year.

Under the proposed stipulated settlement with the Washington State Executive Ethics Board, Ferguson admits violating state ethics law and agrees to pay the civil ...Read more

Sen. Gillibrand grills Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Iran war

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the unpopular war with Iran as he spent a second day on the Capitol Hill hot seat.

The New York Democrat called out Hegseth for the administration’s refusal to seek approval of Congress for the war.

“I would like to know why you have not sought ...Read more

Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group/TNS

'Chonkers,' the massive sea lion, is drawing crowds at San Francisco pier

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A particularly massive sea lion has Bay Area tourists and residents flocking to Pier 39 in San Francisco to spot the mammal affectionately named "Chonkers."

"Chonkers" is a Steller sea lion, which is a heftier variety of the species, compared to his California sea lion counterparts.

The animal first showed up at Pier 39 about a month ago and ...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

DeSantis does a Hakeem Jeffries impression amid redistricting jabs

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MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday intensified an already heated political clash with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, mocking the New York Democrat’s speaking style during a public appearance while celebrating the passage of his newly drawn congressional map.

Speaking in Ormond Beach, DeSantis took aim at Jeffries’ ...Read more

U.S. Department of Justice/Getty Images North America/TNS

White House media dinner defendant to remain in custody

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WASHINGTON — The alleged gunman accused of trying to breach a Washington ballroom in a failed attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump last weekend will remain in custody for the time being after a court appearance Thursday.

Cole Allen, the California man who authorities say rushed toward the White House Correspondents’ Association ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA council member pushes plan to let noncitizens vote in city elections

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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles voters could be asked this year to take the first step toward giving noncitizens the right to vote in city and school board elections.

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents an Echo Park-to-Hollywood district, released a proposal Wednesday to ask voters in the Nov. 3 election to give the council the ...Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Alleged shooter in killing of Chicago cop at hospital back in court for detention hearing

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CHICAGO — The man accused of killing a North Side police officer and critically wounding his partner while escaping from Endeavor Swedish Hospital on Saturday is set to return to court for a full detention hearing Thursday morning.

Alphanso Talley will come before Cook County Judge Thedford D’Anthony on Thursday for the judge to rule on ...Read more

U.S. Department of Justice/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cole Tomas Allen, Calif. man accused of trying to kill Trump at press gala, to remain jailed until trial

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Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Torrance, California, man charged with trying to kill President Donald Trump at last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, will remain in federal jail pending trial.

Allen agreed to his ongoing detention during a brief hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “He’s ...Read more

Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Analysis: Mexico's dilemma: Extradite officials to US or risk angering Trump

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MEXICO CITY — The stunning U.S. indictment of 10 current and former Mexican officials for alleged links to the Sinaloa cartel has put Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in an extremely tight corner.

Most of the those accused, including Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya and a senator, Enrique Inzunza Cázarez are members of Sheinbaum’s ruling...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Southern California man laundered millions for 'crypto kids' who used stolen loot to live lavishly

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LOS ANGELES — A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to federal prison for laundering money for a group of young con artists who prosecutors said stole $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the loot to purchase luxury cars, rent out mansions and private jets and spend as much as $500,000 at nightclubs.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Colleen...Read more

The governing structure of the National Science Foundation partially insulated science from political control. Evgeny Gromov/iStock via Getty Images Plus

How much should politics influence science, and vice versa? National Science Board’s ousting resurrects an existential debate

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“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump,” read 22 emails sent from the White House Presidential Personnel Office on Friday afternoon, April 24, 2026, “I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately.”

The email was signed “Thank you for your service...Read more

Decisions made now can affect people far into the future. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

Americans care more about future generations than many think – and that gap could matter for policy

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Caring about future generations means believing that people who will live decades or centuries from now deserve ethical consideration. In practice, that means taking their interests into account when making all kinds of decisions across a range of issues – from aggressively cutting carbon emissions to investing in pandemic preparedness ...Read more

Exposure to ticks can be a downside to spending time in the woods. skaman306/Moment via Getty Images

Warmer temps bring soaring tick populations – here’s how to stay safe from Lyme disease

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Spring’s warmer weather lures people outdoors – and into possible contact with ticks that spread Lyme disease.

Already, the 2026 tick season is booming. On April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that emergency room visits due to tick bites are at their highest level since 2017. That may portend an ...Read more

State governments have had trouble regulating what crisis pregnancy centers should tell their clients and donors. AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

Supreme Court bolsters donors’ free speech rights in unanimous crisis pregnancy center ruling

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The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a chain of crisis pregnancy centers based in New Jersey to challenge a subpoena from New Jersey’s attorney general.

First Choice Women’s Resource Centers operates at several locations throughout New Jersey. There are more than 2,500 of these Christian-led nonprofits in the United ...Read more

The Supreme Court issued a significant ruling that could limit minority voting rights in states across the country. Bloomberg Creative via Getty Images

Supreme Court ruling: The latest in history of diminishing minority voting rights

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Divided along ideological lines, the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2026, issued a ruling that severely weakens a provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. That provision, known as Section 2, prohibited any discriminatory voting practice or election rule that results in less opportunity for minority groups to exercise their ...Read more

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 22, 2024, in Arizona.  Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

What Trump’s post as a Jesus-like figure tells us about political messianism

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President Donald Trump sparked immediate outcry on April 12, 2026, when he posted an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure. The post, which Trump later said was supposed to depict him as a doctor, came shortly after the president criticized Pope Leo XIV as “weak” and “terrible.”

Three days later, Trump posted an image ...Read more

Orthodox Jewish women attend an event celebrating the completion of the 7½-year cycle of daily study of the Talmud, the central text of Jewish law, on Jan. 5, 2020, in Jerusalem. AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov

Three women sit for Israeli Rabbinate’s exam, amid growing recognition for Orthodox Jewish women’s religious leadership

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When people picture a rabbi, they may imagine a man standing in front of a congregation in a synagogue. But “rabbi” means much more than that. For example, a rabbi could be a teacher, a nonprofit executive for a Jewish organization, or a scholar of Jewish law – and, increasingly, some of those roles are held by Orthodox women.

...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California billionaire tax proposal attracts 1.5 million signatures. Here's what happens next

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LOS ANGELES — California, home to the ultra-rich in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, is embroiled in a heated fight over whether to tax billionaires to fund healthcare.

This week, supporters of the proposed billionaire tax began submitting nearly 1.6 million signatures, nearly twice the number needed to qualify for the November ballot.

...Read more