US celebrates July Fourth with parades, picnics, fireworks

Americans are celebrating their country's 241st birthday with big-time fireworks, small-town parades and the quirky spectacle of competitive hot dog eating. Tuesday's festivities stretch from a baseball home run derby in London to a picnic at the White House to a Utah ski town where residents initially weren't even sure they'd be home for Independence Day after recent wildfires.

Ethics Issue – Nonsense,’ Said Official Who Cleared Trump Hotel

Shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election, the U.S. official who oversees the lease of his signature Washington hotel offered Trump's company an assessment of a report about its potential conflict of interest: "Nonsense." cleared Trump's company to keep its lease for the Trump International Hotel Washington DC.

The Latest: Hawaii seeks ‘close family’ clarification

The Latest on the Trump administration's revived travel ban for visitors from six mostly Muslim countries : Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin says he's concerned the Trump administration may be violating the U.S. Supreme Court's travel ban ruling. The travel ban temporarily barring some citizens of six majority-Muslim countries from coming into the United States went into effect Thursday.

The Latest: UNHCR hopes for a generousa US refugee policy

The Latest on the Trump administration's revived travel ban for visitors from six mostly Muslim countries : The U.N. refugee agency says it hopes for a "generous approach" from the United States as the Trump administration adjusts U.S. refugee resettlement policies. Spokesman William Spindler of UNHCR noted the U.S. "tradition of generosity toward those fleeing war and persecution" after the administration set new criteria for visa applicants from six mostly Muslim nations and all refugees.

Questions and answers about officers who enforce travel ban

Travelers walk near a sign for international arrivals at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Monday, June 26, 2017, in Seattle. The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that President Donald Trump's travel ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can be enforced if those visitors lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States," and that justices will hear full arguments in October 2017.

President Invents ‘Internet Taxes’ Because, Yeah, He’s *That* Smart

Like what you read below? Sign up for HUFFPOST HILL and get a cheeky dose of political news every evening! Time magazine asked President Trump to remove fake covers featuring the commander-in-chief; if only Smithsonian Magazine would show similar courage about the . The EPA is rolling back regulations on drinking water and, in a totally unrelated development, the population of Flint, Michigan, is roughly the size of Trump's margin of victory in that state.

Washington moves to ban citizens’ travel to N. Korea

South Koreans staged a memorial rally for Otto Warmbier near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea on Friday. The U.S. State Department urges Americans to avoid traveling to more than three dozen nations, including such troubled locales as Libya, Cameroon and Venezuela.

Citing religious refusal of adoption rule,a

Saying that a new Texas law allowing child welfare providers to deny adoptions to parents based on "sincerely held religious beliefs" is discriminatory, California's attorney general on Thursday banned state-funded travel to Texas. The attorney general's office said in a news release that Texas' House Bill 3859 "allows foster care agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBT families from the state's foster and adoption system."

Trump Makes First Trip To Camp David As President

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Marine One with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump, as they depart the White House for Camp David, June 17, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Getty Images. U.S. President Donald Trump boards Marine One with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump, as they depart the White House for Camp David, June 17, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Getty Images.

Trump thrusts U.S., Cuba back toward hostile relations

President Donald Trump cheered violinist Luis Haza, who was born in Cuba, after playing the national anthem during a speech on Cuban policy today. MIAMI>> Pressing "pause" on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility today with a blistering denunciation of the island's communist government.

President pushes U.S., Cuba back toward hostile relations

Pressing "pause" on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility Friday with a blistering denunciation of the island's communist government. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened.

Trump rolls back Obama admina s Cuba policy: a Will not be silent in the face of communist oppressiona

President Trump announced a dramatic reversal Friday of the Obama administration's Cuba policy, restoring restrictions on U.S. travel to the island and new prohibitions on financial transactions that benefit the communist regime's military. "We will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer," Mr. Trump said in Miami.

Trump sued for foreign business profits by Democrats in Congress

A group of nearly 200 Democratic lawmakers filed a federal lawsuit challenging profits that President Donald Trump's global businesses have taken in from foreign entities. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Michigan Rep. John Conyers are filing a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Trump to unveil new Cuba path

Cuba's best friends in the U.S. used to be a smattering of Washington policy wonks and leftists who sent donated school buses and computers to the communist-led island. Five months into the Trump administration, Cuba has a new set of American defenders: a coalition of high-tech firms, farming interests, travel companies and young Cuban-Americans thrown into action by the looming announcement of a new Cuba policy.

Trump reacts on Twitter on 9th circuit Court verdict

New York [U.S.], June 13 : Reacting furiously on twitter to the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against reinstating his revised executive order limiting travel from six-Muslim majority countries, President Donald Trump emphasized that the travel ban is essential at such a dangerous time in America and the world. Trump tweeted "Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again - Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country.

Trump headed to Miami

Trump is preparing to tighten at least some of Obama's changes, including restricting business with the Cuban military and U.S. travel that resembles tourism. Those type of revisions have been endorsed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the only two local GOP members of Congress who backed Trump and as a result have pressured his administration on the issue.

California governor further extends int’l outreach on climate action

Governor Jerry Brown of U.S. state of California met Friday in San Francisco visiting German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, hours after returning from a climate mission to China, and continued his international outreach on climate action. "China and Germany - two of the most powerful countries in the world - are working with California and with other states to deal with climate change," Brown said, noting that "the current withdrawal from the Paris Agreement by the Washington administration is being overcome and countermanded by people throughout the whole world."