Category Archives: US News

Judge bars Trump administration from deporting Indian academic over political views

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Badar Khan Suri, who teaches at Georgetown University, being held incommunicado in Louisiana ‘staging center’

A US district judge has barred Donald Trump’s administration from deporting an Indian academic from Georgetown University after the Department of Homeland Security accused him of having ties to Hamas.

On Thursday, US district judge Patricia Giles in Alexandria, Virginia, prohibited federal officials from deporting Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at the university, in an order that is to remain in effect until it is lifted by the court, Reuters reports.

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Dismantling of education department casts US student loans into uncertainty

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Doubts that whatever remains of department can govern student debt as one in four US adults under 40 has loans

Donald Trump ordered the dismantling of the US Department of Education on Thursday, prompting uncertainty for those holding student debt and questions about what happens next.

Trump’s press secretary told reporters earlier on Thursday what remained of the department would continue to govern student debt.

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Two men convicted of murder-for-hire plot against Iranian American journalist in New York

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Masih Alinejad had incurred the wrath of Tehran by campaigning for Iranian women to reject strict dress codes

Two men have been found guilty of plotting to assassinate the Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by the Iranian government.

The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America.

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US women’s justice group launches campaign to get Andrew Tate extradited

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UltraViolet attacks Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow him to fly to Florida

A prominent women’s justice organization launched a campaign on Thursday to have the accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate extradited from the US.

The group, UltraViolet, also attacked the Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow Tate to fly to Florida last month.

This story was updated on 20 March 2025 to correct that the women’s justice group is attempting to have Andrew Tate extradited, not deported; Tate is a US citizen and cannot be deported.

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US rejects Mexico’s request for water as Trump opens new battle front

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State department turns down special request to supply city of Tijuana in drought-affected north for first time ever

The United States has refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor, as Donald Trump ramps up a battle on another front.

The state department said on Thursday it was the first time that the United States had rejected a request by Mexico for special delivery of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana.

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Trump’s demand that US could take over Ukraine’s reactors is not credible

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US president’s plan for American firms to run power plants is unrealistic and is opposed by Putin and Zelenskyy

As a demand, it is Donald Trump at his most confusing. The American president appears, at least according to Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, to have told Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that “American ownership” of Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants would be their best protection in future – although the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that “the issue of property, we did not discuss”.

Of the four, the most significant, and the one that Trump has repeatedly referred to in the past week, is the vast, six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. It is Europe’s biggest nuclear generator, located on the southern bank of the Dnipro River. Before the full-scale Russian invasion it produced about 20% of the country’s electricity but it is now on the frontline of Europe’s largest war since 1945.

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Minnesota Republican charged with soliciting a minor resigns from state senate

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Justin Eichorn, 40, faces federal charge after allegedly trying to meet with underage girl found through sex ad

A Minnesota state lawmaker who is accused of trying to buy sex from an underage girl resigned from the state senate on Thursday before his colleagues were set to vote to expel him.

Justin Eichorn, a Republican, was charged with a felony in federal court Wednesday for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor after responding to online sex ads and trying to arrange a meetup with a 17-year-old.

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Trump to dramatically downsize education department but it will still handle student loans, says White House – live

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Press secretary Karoline Leavitt says DoE will be ‘much smaller’ due to executive order Trump will sign as critics say it is ‘dark day’ for US children

Another, perhaps more worrying sign, of the Trump administration’s approach to economic policy was revealed yesterday, when commerce secretary Howard Lutnick recommended in a Fox News interview that people buy Tesla stock.

That’s the electric car company led by Elon Musk, who is busy right now cutting down the US government at the behest of Lutnick’s boss, Donald Trump.

I think if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again. When people understand the things he’s building, the robots he’s building, the technology he’s building, people are going to be dreaming of today, and … thinking gosh, I should have bought Elon Musk’s stock.

The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S.Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy. Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!

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Oklahoma executes man by lethal injection amid spate of judicial killings

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Wendell Grissom, executed for fatally shooting a woman, will be one of four people put to death in US this week

Oklahoma executed a man on Thursday for fatally shooting a woman during a home invasion and robbery 20 years ago.

Wendell Grissom, 56, was declared dead by lethal injection at the Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester at 10.13am, a prison official told the Associated Press. It was Oklahoma’s first execution of 2025.

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White House says Trump is right to call for impeachment of ‘partisan judges’

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Chief justice issued rebuke after Trump called for removal of Judge James Boasberg over immigrant deportation case

Donald Trump is right to call for the impeachment and removal of a federal judge who ruled against his hardline immigration policy, a deputy White House chief of staff said, amid predictions of a constitutional crisis should the administration continue to defy the courts.

“I think the president is right we should impeach activist partisan judges,” James Blair told Politico. “The question is, will that happen. I think that remains to be seen. We’ll see.”

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‘Not for sale’: USPS workers hold day of action to warn of Trump’s ‘illegal takeover’

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Employees brace for president to transfer or privatize Postal Service, which they say will slash jobs and boost prices

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices.

Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service.

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US man released after being held by Taliban for more than two years

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George Glezmann was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist

A US man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist has been released by the Taliban in a deal brokered by Donald Trump’s hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, and Qatari negotiators.

George Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, is the third American detainee to be released by the Taliban since January. He was seized by the Taliban’s intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated by the US government as wrongfully detained the following year.

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Fired FTC commissioner raises concern over Trump ties to tech billionaires

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Alvaro Bedoya points to ‘interesting coincidence’ that he was dismissed after criticizing Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

A day after his abrupt firing by Donald Trump from the Federal Trade Commission, Alvaro Bedoya raised questions about the US president’s relations with some of the country’s richest men.

Appearing at a hearing of the joint judiciary committee of the state legislature in Colorado on Wednesday, the ousted Democratic commissioner said it was an “interesting coincidence” his final public statement in post had blasted Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder.

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University of California imposes hiring freeze in response to Trump cuts

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President Michael Drake also directs campuses to cut costs, such as delaying maintenance and reducing business travel

The University of California has imposed a system-wide hiring freeze and made additional cuts, its president said on Wednesday, as part of efforts to mitigate the expected impact of sharp cuts in federal funding under the Trump administration.

In a letter to staff and students, the school’s president, Michael Drake, said he had also directed all UC locations to implement cost-saving measures, such as delaying maintenance and reducing business travel, to help conserve funds.

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First thing: Russia attacks Ukraine hours after partial ceasefire agreed in Putin-Trump call

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Zelenskyy says he will contact US president to discuss the call with Russian leader following the attack. Plus, dolphins welcome Nasa astronauts back to Earth

Good morning.

Russia attacked Ukraine with kamikaze drones and S-300 surface-to-air missiles overnight, Ukrainian authorities said, hours after Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he would sign up to a partial and temporary ceasefire.

What has Volodymyr Zelenskyy said? The Ukrainian president said he would reach out to Trump today to discuss the call with Putin, adding that the “next steps cannot be done without us”.

What could be repealed? One of the most consequential actions will see the EPA reconsider a landmark 2009 finding that greenhouse gases harm human health, which has been used to underpin laws aimed at addressing the climate crisis.

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Value of Elon Musk’s X ‘rebounds to $44bn purchase price’

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Dramatic reversal of fortune for platform since billionaire owner became key ally of Donald Trump

The value of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has reportedly soared back to the $44bn he paid for it, in a dramatic reversal of fortunes since the billionaire became a key ally of Donald Trump.

Investors valued the site formerly known as Twitter at $44bn (£33.9bn) in a secondary deal earlier this month, in which they exchange existing stakes in the company, according to a Financial Times report.

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Pentagon reportedly planning to cut workforce by at least 50,000 – US politics live

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Cuts are expected to come from hire freezes, dismissing some probationary workers and by people taking up an offer to resign

The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is planning additional tariffs on imports to the US running into “trillions” of dollars.

Speaking anonymously to the paper, a person described as familiar with the planning confirmed the sum involved would be in the “trillions” of dollars.

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Debunked myths that vaccines cause autism are increasing stigma

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As parents resist vaccines over vague potential harms, advocates call it a case of ‘morals more than science’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning to devote research dollars to the debunked myth that vaccines cause autism – legitimizing stigma not only around vaccines, but around autism itself.

Matthew Shallenberger, father to an 11-year-old autistic son in Tennessee, says this myth is harmful because “it treats autism as some dreadful disease to avoid at all costs.”

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Semisonic denounces White House use of ‘Closing Time’ in deportation video

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Grammy-nominated band says Trump administration ‘missed the point’ and song is about ‘joy, possibilities, hope’

The band Semisonic has said the Donald Trump White House “missed the point” of its hit Closing Time “entirely” when the administration used the Emmy-nominated song in a social media post showing a shackled person being deported.

A statement from Semisonic also said the White House did not have permission to use the song in that manner.

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Trump waging ‘sickening’ psychological war, deported Venezuelan’s lawyer says

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One detained man’s lawyer says he is gay artist who had fled persecution in his home country, not a gang member

A lawyer for one of the Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador has accused the Trump administration of waging a “sickening” campaign of psychological warfare against asylum seekers and migrants.

“In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, a California-based lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) group.

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