Link Roundup February/March 2026

[wepon]

Barred from running for a third term, Trump keeps talking about it

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn, introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution so Trump can seek a third term. Trump supporters were touting that proposal at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C. this week in an effort dubbed the “Third Term Project.” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House adviser and an influential conservative figure, raised the idea of Trump running in 2028 during his CPAC speech.

Lame duck no more? Trump stockpiles hundreds of millions ahead of midterms.

All together, a web of campaign accounts, some of which he controls directly and others under the care of close allies, within the president’s orbit have $375 million in their coffers. The funds far outstrip those of any other political figure — Republican or Democrat — entering 2026, and have no real historical precedent. And Trump could put them to use this year for the midterms, or to shape future elections, even as he cannot run for president again.

Rare earth miners jump as Trump announces establishment of critical mineral reserve

The proposal, known as Project Vault, would launch a first-of-its-kind strategic critical minerals stockpile designed for the U.S. private sector, the president said, speaking at the White House on Monday afternoon. The plan pairs $1.67 billion in private capital with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, according to a White House official. Trump’s move is aimed at cutting America’s dependence on China for materials essential to electric vehicles, defense systems and advanced technology.

Khanna reads names of 6 men ‘likely incriminated’ in Epstein files on House floor

After Massie’s criticism, the department unredacted the names of 16 additional people on the 20-person list. Two names remain redacted, and photos of all individuals other than Epstein and Maxwell also remain redacted.

The Children of Dilley

Kheilin Valero from Venezuela, who was being held with her 18-month-old, Amalia Arrieta, said shortly after they were detained following an ICE appointment on Dec. 11 in El Paso, Texas, the baby fell ill. For two weeks, she said, medical staff gave her ibuprofen and eventually antibiotics, but Amalia’s breathing worsened to the point that she was hospitalized in San Antonio for 10 days. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 and RSV. “Because she went so many days without treatment, and because it’s so cold here, she developed pneumonia and bronchitis,” Kheilin said. “She was malnourished, too, because she was vomiting everything.”

Slotkin rejects Justice Department request for interview on Democrats’ video about ‘illegal orders’

Meanwhile, security threats mounted. Slotkin said her farm in Michigan received a bomb threat, her brother was assigned a police detail due to threats and her parents were swatted in the middle of the night.

Democrats say DOJ’s indictment attempt over illegal orders video could break the Senate

Schatz was among a string of Democratic senators who spoke a day after a Washington grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, over a 90-second video that drew fierce backlash from President Donald Trump. Her father, who died in January after a long battle with cancer, “could barely walk and he’s dealing with the cops in his home,” she said.

Trump family business files for trademark rights on any airports using the president’s name

Applications filed by the Trump Organization with the federal trademark office are seeking exclusive rights to use the president’s name on airports and dozens of related things found there, from buses shuttling passengers to umbrellas and travel bags to flight suits. The filings come amid debate in Florida over a state bill to name the Palm Beach airport after Trump and a dispute over funding of a tunnel between New York and New Jersey that is tied up with proposals that both it and the Dulles International Airport in Virginia bear his name.

Did a Celebrated Researcher Obscure a Baby’s Poisoning?

The Motherisk scandal threw the Canadian child-protection system into chaos. “The testing was imposed on people who were among the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, with scant regard for due process or their rights to privacy and bodily integrity,” a follow-up commission reported. Many of the children in these cases had been removed from their parents and put into foster care or formally adopted—a process that is practically impossible to reverse. They lived with new families, and in many cases had done so for years. Some biological parents no longer knew where their children were. Two additional years of investigation and a review of nearly thirteen hundred cases resulted in only four instances of children being reunited with their biological parents.

Billionaire Les Wexner tells US lawmakers he was 'naive' and 'conned' by Epstein

Wexner was called before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Wednesday to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein in the wake of the release of thousands of documents related to the financier's wrongdoing. Members of the committee travelled to Ohio, the retail mogul's home state, for the testimony. Only Democratic lawmakers attended the deposition. No Republican lawmakers travelled for it, though some of their staff members did attend.

Democrats send counteroffer on ICE reforms to Republicans as DHS shutdown continues

In the meantime, funding for DHS remains in limbo. ICE and CBP will continue operating due to an influx of funds in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year. But the department also includes the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, all of which are impacted by the shutdown. Most employees at those agencies continue to work during a shutdown, but don't get paid until it's over.

Trump says he signed a 10% global tariff after Supreme Court decision

TRUMP RESPONDS: President Donald Trump called the Supreme Court's decision to strike down his effort to impose sweeping global tariffs under a national security law "deeply disappointing" at a news conference this afternoon. The president said he was "ashamed" of some of the justices over the ruling and that they were "very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution." He also announced that he would impose a temporary 10% global tariff under the Trade Act of 1974, a different law from the one that the court said did not grant him tariff authority.

Louisiana schools can display Ten Commandments, appeals court rules

A federal appeals court cleared the way on Friday for a controversial Louisiana law requiring poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, allowing the state to enforce a law that was previously found to be unconstitutional...Under the law, the Ten Commandments must be displayed “at a minimum … on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches” in each classroom of every public elementary, middle and high school, as well as public college and university classrooms. The text must be the “central focus” and must be printed “in a large, easily readable font”.

‘Tell me what crime this 10-year-old committed’: Governor, local leaders and parents react to immigration detention of Spokane student and her father

As parents queued to pick up their children outside Logan Elementary School on Friday, some were reflecting on the recent immigration detention of 10-year-old Karla Tiul Baltazar, a Logan student, and her father, Arnoldo Tiul Caal...Tiul Caal was detained by Border Patrol agents while on his way back home from dropping his daughter at school the morning of Jan. 9. He does not have a criminal record and was in the country legally during an active asylum case with a court date set for 2027, as well as a valid work permit and a Social Security number, according to Olga Lucia Herrera, who had been volunteering to help the family through court proceedings.

Trump administration widens its 2020 election probe as it obtains records from Arizona

The Republican leader of Arizona's state Senate said Monday he has handed over records related to the 2020 presidential election to the FBI in the latest sign that the Trump administration is acting on the president's longstanding falsehoods about a race he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Rapper Afroman wins lawsuit against police over mocking their 2022 raid in viral music videos

In other music videos, Afroman took aim at the deputies’ personal lives and called them “crooked cops” because of $400 that went missing in the raid.

Thousands of Epstein documents taken down after victims identified

The release of material on Friday included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of potential victims could be identified.

Trump calls on Republicans to ‘nationalize’ future elections

“The Republicans should say, we want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” Trump told Dan Bongino, the former deputy director of the FBI, in a podcast appearance... “We have states that are so crooked and they’re counting votes. We have states that I won, that show I didn’t win,” Trump said. “Now you’re going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order, the ballots, you’re going to see some interesting things come out.”

Trump says Republicans 'should take over the voting' and 'nationalise' US elections

The president tied his desire to federalise voting mechanisms to his key agenda item of deporting undocumented immigrants from the US. "If Republicans don't get them out, you will never win another election as a Republican," he said...In the new podcast interview, Trump claimed he won the 2020 election "in a landslide" and said, without evidence, that people "vote illegally".

Thune rejects Trump’s call for GOP to take over and ‘nationalize’ elections

Thune made his comments when asked about Trump’s call for Republicans to “take over” voting procedures in 15 states to prevent voter fraud in the midterm elections, in which Democrats are projected to pick up Senate seats and flip control of the House.

Tulsi Gabbard accused of trying to 'bury' whistleblower complaint

Andrew Bakaj, the attorney for the intelligence official, said Monday that the complaint was filed with the intelligence community’s inspector general in May and that in June, the whistleblower asked that it be shared with lawmakers. He accused Gabbard of trying to hide the complaint from Congress....Lawmakers on congressional intelligence committees did not learn about the whistleblower’s complaint until November, after Bakaj wrote Gabbard asking why it had not been passed on to Congress as required, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. Former intelligence officials say that it is highly unusual for a government agency to take several months to transmit a whistleblower complaint to Congress and that spy agencies usually are able to resolve security concerns in days or weeks.

HHS unveils program to address homelessness and addiction, part of a set of new initiatives

Over the past year, about a third of SAMHSA’s roughly 900 employees have been laid off. The agency and the organizations it serves are still reeling from the administration’s whiplash-inducing reversal last month that briefly eliminated then abruptly restored $2 billion in grant funding for substance abuse and mental health programs. Advocates and providers have said they don’t feel they can plan for the future because the administration has created an environment of uncertainty.

Will calls to 'abolish ICE' sway voters in 2026? The strategy has Democrats split

But internal divides over what to do about ICE could complicate the effort. Calls to "abolish ICE" have been particularly amplified by progressive candidates, especially among younger Democrats running for Congress and those challenging Democratic incumbents. On Capitol Hill, far fewer Democrats have re-upped support for abolishing the agency, despite many rallying around the issue during President Trump's first term. Instead, many elected Democrats have called for reforms at ICE, wary of appearing out of step with voters who want strong enforcement of immigration laws but who disagree with the administration's tactics.

Trump grants tariff breaks to 'politically connected' companies, Senate Dems say

The letter comes at a time when President Trump is visibly favoring some companies and investors, some of whom have publicly courted him with personal gifts — like the gold-plated desk clock recently presented by Rolex's CEO — and donations to his controversial plans to build a White House ballroom.

Federal Reserve governor Miran steps down from White House post

Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran has stepped down from his position as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, ending a controversial arrangement where he held positions at both institutions...It is unusual for someone to keep a White House position while also serving as a Fed governor, a nonpartisan position. Previous presidents have appointed aides to the Fed, but for decades they gave up their White House positions before joining the Fed. Miran took an unpaid leave of absence instead.

A crisis emerges across the US as ‘forever chemicals’ quietly contaminate drinking water wells

Residents along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina have seen just how far forever chemicals can spread. In 2017, the Wilmington StarNews revealed that PFAS from a Chemours chemical plant in Fayetteville were washing into the river and contaminating the water supply. After being sued, the billion-dollar company agreed to test nearby wells and treat those with polluted water. It did not admit to any wrongdoing. As in Stella, the company tested in a slowly expanding radius that grew by quarter-mile segments from its plant. Chemours agreed to keep testing wells until it reached the edge of the polluted area — a process it expected to take 18 months. Seven years and some 23,000 wells later, testing is ongoing, with the contamination stretching far beyond what state regulators first imagined. Forever chemicals have been found in drinking water along nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the river, from inland Fayetteville to the Atlantic coast.

The Frightening, Very Real Tool ICE Agents Have to Add You to a “Nice Little Database” if You Attend a Protest

Congress has granted administrative subpoena power to federal agencies, like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission, to allow them to access information quickly to make decisions about issues under their purview. A key distinction between administrative subpoenas and civil or criminal ones is that federal agencies do not need a judge’s sign-off. These agencies retain the power to approve administrative subpoenas themselves. This also means that agencies can demand documents without needing to prove that there is an ongoing investigation into or probable cause against a person when issuing administrative subpoenas.

Colorado Democrats demand answers on ICE "death cards" left in cars of detainees, agents' alleged fake traffic stops

They also expressed alarm about something the immigration advocacy group Voces Unidas told CBS Colorado last month: that the ICE agents imitated law enforcement officers by using unmarked vehicles with sirens to conduct fake traffic stops in order to detain people.

Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show

Epstein appears to have been aware of the public relations challenge he posed to people close to him. Emails show in 2017 he agreed to donate $50,000 to a dinner in honor of Lutnick. "hope pr is ok," Epstein wrote to billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, an organizer of the dinner. Epstein declined to take a table awarded to donors of that level, writing that Lutnick could fill the seats.Their relationship continued into the next year, 2018, when Lutnick emailed Epstein apparently complaining about an expansion plan for their neighboring Frick Collection art museum.

Senator, who has repeatedly warned about secret US government surveillance, sounds new alarm over ‘CIA activities’

Tasked with oversight of the intelligence community, Wyden is one of a few lawmakers who is allowed to read highly classified information about ongoing government surveillance, including cyber and other intelligence operations. But as the programs are highly secretive, Wyden is barred from sharing details of what he knows with anyone else, including most other lawmakers, except for a handful of Senate staff with security clearance.

Republicans condemn Trump's racist video portraying the Obamas as apes

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the video, which amplified false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Leavitt said the footage that showed the Obamas' heads edited onto the bodies of apes was part of an "internet meme video" that portrayed Mr. Trump as "King of the Jungle" and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.

Sam Altman touts ChatGPT’s reaccelerating growth to employees as OpenAI closes in on $100 billion funding

The current funding round could close in two parts, as CNBC previously reported. The first would include capital from Microsoft and Nvidia as well as Amazon, which is in talks to invest up to $50 billion in the company. Other contributions from participants like SoftBank, which has discussed putting in another $30 billion, would follow.

Trump says his administration is seeking $1 billion in talks with Harvard

President Trump said late Monday his administration is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University in an apparent response to a New York Times report that said the school had won some concessions in ongoing negotiations to settle its dispute with the government.

Russians feel strain of Putin's war with mobile internet shutdowns

Russian authorities have increasingly enforced a so-called “white list” — a limited registry of government-approved websites that people can still access on their phones during outages, severely limiting the kind of information they get. It comes against the backdrop of increasing restrictions on what Russians can do online, in a wider crackdown on free speech since the Kremlin’s invasion — bans on Instagram and Facebook, YouTube slowdowns, restrictions on foreign messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as virtual private network services many Russians use to access censored content online.

They didn't just ignore audit warnings — California lawmakers quietly killed dozens of audit-backed bills

A CBS News California investigation found lawmakers failed to enact roughly three out of every four state audit recommendations directed at the Legislature, leaving more than 300 outstanding statutory fixes unresolved.

How long do you need to spend in the gym to get strong? Less than you think

Behm and his colleagues reviewed data from studies on resistance training and concluded that a beginner could start with one workout a week for the first three months. This kind of routine would incorporate a handful of multi-joint exercises, doing one set of about 6 to 15 reps for each movement.

Trump warns Netflix of ‘consequences’ unless it pulls top Democrat from board

Trump’s comments herald a fresh intervention in the takeover battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance for the studios and streaming businesses of WBD only weeks after promising not to get involved.

See ChatGPT’s hidden bias about your state or city

Ask ChatGPT which state has the laziest people, and the chatbot will politely refuse to say. But researchers at Oxford and the University of Kentucky forced the bot to reveal its hidden biases. They systematically asked the chatbot to choose which of two states had the laziest people, for every combination of states, revealing a ranking shown in the map above.

Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump

The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.

Where Christian nationalism is most dominant in the U.S.

By the numbers: About one-third of Americans qualify as Christian nationalism "adherents" or "sympathizers," a new survey released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute finds. 56% of all Republicans are Christian nationalism "adherents" or "sympathizers," the survey said. Meanwhile, only 25% of independents and just 17% of Democrats are "adherents" or "sympathizers," according to the survey.

Democratic lawmakers ask watchdogs to probe whether former lobbyists serving in Trump administration violated ethics rules

As of April 2025, there were at least 21 former lobbyists who were appointed to key leadership roles in the government, according to a report by the Campaign Legal Center.

Final report from Trump's classified documents case blocked by judge

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday permanently blocked the release of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on President Trump's handling of classified documents.

FDA proposes new system for approving customized drugs and therapies for rare diseases

The announcement comes a week after Makary said the FDA would drop its decades-old standard of requiring two clinical trials for standard drug reviews. That was the latest in a series of changes to FDA norms and standards, many which have not gone through federal procedures traditionally used to update agency rules.

House rejects air safety bill as families of deadliest U.S. crash in 25 years look on

The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform, or ROTOR, Act would establish “new requirements for virtually all aircraft and helicopters to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B)” — a technology that broadcasts an aircraft’s location.

Read NPR's annotated fact check of President Trump's State of the Union

Since the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last month, the U.S. government has been helping sell some of Venezuela's oil. The U.S. has worked with two Swiss oil trading companies, Vitol and Trafigura. (Both Vitol and Trafigura have pleaded guilty to bribery and settled cases with the Department of Justice during the Biden administration.) Secretary of Energy Chris Wright says that U.S.-facilitated oil sales total more than $1 billion. However, the Venezuelan government has said it has only received $300 million. In a Senate hearing last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said $200 million is in a bank account in Qatar. It's unclear where the rest of the money is and whether and when it will reach the Venezuelan people.

At least 10 FBI agents who worked on Trump investigation fired

Patel did not offer any evidence of wrongdoing by the FBI employees who were fired.

The IRS broke the law by disclosing confidential information to ICE 42,695 times, judge says

Her finding was based off a declaration filed earlier this month by Dottie Romo, IRS’ chief risk and control officer, which revealed that the IRS had provided DHS with information on 47,000 of the 1.28 million people that ICE requested — and, in most of those cases, gave ICE additional address information in violation of privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.

Political storm in Wyoming as far-right activist caught handing checks to lawmakers

The political storm started on 9 February, when Karlee Provenza, a Democratic lawmaker, took a photo showing Rebecca Bextel, a conservative activist and committeewoman for the Teton county Republican party, handing a check to Darin McCann, a Republican representative, on the legislative floor. Marlene Brady, another Republican representative, stands in the photo’s background, a similar piece of paper pinched between her fingers...Questions around the checks were soon swirling, and answers weren’t forthcoming. When asked what Bextel gave to her, Brady told a reporter for local outlet WyoFile: “I can’t remember.”

Trump appears to link Iran attack to his 2020 election loss

This is the second military operation of the Trump administration where he has alluded to allegations concerning the 2020 election. He made similar comments on social media in January, days after Trump ordered the Delta Force “rendition” of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro. Trump reposted links that repeated discredited conspiracy allegations that Venezuela interfered in the 2020 election by controlling voting machines.

5 takeaways from the first primaries of the 2026 midterms

But on Tuesday, the issue at the polls in Dallas County was confusion over where people could vote. Dallas GOP officials changed plans this year, requiring that voters cast their ballot at their local precinct, as opposed to the countywide polling sites. As a result, hundreds of voters showed up at the wrong polling sites on Tuesday. In response, a county judge ordered that the polls close two hours later. Then the state Supreme Court mandated that votes cast by voters who weren't in line at the original 7 p.m. poll-closing time had to be held separately.

Military questioned use of makeshift office space in Kuwait where U.S. troops were killed

But the three U.S. military officials questioned the assertion that the building was adequately fortified. They told CBS News the operations center was a triple-wide trailer made into an office space — a common setup at U.S. bases abroad. The trailer's only fortifications were T-walls, which are steel-reinforced concrete barriers that can range in height from 6 to 12 feet tall, used to protect military personnel from explosions, rocket attacks and shrapnel, the military officials said. But T-walls could not protect the facility from an overhead strike. Two officials told CBS News that the strike appeared to hit dead-center on top of the building.

FBI investigating ‘suspicious’ cyber activity on system holding sensitive surveillance information

The notification, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, says that the FBI on Feb. 17 began investigating abnormal log information related to a system on its network. “The affected system is unclassified and contains law enforcement sensitive information, including returns from legal process, such as pen register and trap and trace surveillance returns, and personally identifiable information pertaining to subjects of FBI investigations,” said the notification reviewed by The Associated Press.

Trump fires Kristi Noem as DHS chief, names Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her

President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and said Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would replace her. Noem "will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida," Trump posted on social media. "I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland.'"

Israel launches huge strikes against south Beirut after mass evacuation order

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Thursday that the decision to assassinate Khamenei was made in November, far predating the breakdown in the nuclear programme negotiations that Donald Trump claimed led to the US launching a preemptive strike on Iran. The original timeline was for Israel to target Khamenei in the middle of 2026 but Netanyahu moved it up the schedule after riots broke out in Iran, Katz said.

Trump says he won't sign any bills until SAVE America Act passes

However, bills automatically become law if the president does not sign them within 10 days of their passing.

NTSB member says he was fired without explanation by the Trump administration

A National Transportation Safety Board member who was a public face of the investigation into last year’s deadly collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter near the nation’s capital said Sunday that he had been fired by the Trump administration without explanation.

Lords a-leaving: Britain is ejecting hereditary nobles from Parliament after 700 years

Centuries of British political tradition will end within weeks after Parliament voted to remove hereditary aristocrats from the unelected House of Lords. On Tuesday night members of the upper chamber dropped objections to legislation passed by the House of Commons ousting dozens of dukes, earls and viscounts who inherited seats in Parliament along with their aristocratic titles.

Microsoft backs AI firm Anthropic in legal battle against Pentagon

The filing comes after Anthropic launched two lawsuits on Monday – one in federal court in California and one in the DC circuit court of appeals – challenging the Pentagon’s decision to label it a supply-chain risk, a designation that has never previously been applied to a US company. The dispute stems from collapsed contract negotiations last month over a $200m deal to deploy Anthropic’s AI on classified military systems just as the US readied for its war on Iran. Talks fell apart after Anthropic insisted its technology should not be used for mass surveillance of US citizens or to power autonomous lethal weapons, which led to Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, dubbing the company a supply-chain risk.

California governor says no imminent threat despite warning about possible Iran drone attack

The alert was posted on X by an FBI spokesperson after a report by ABC News. Separately, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that the message to law enforcement was a tip based on “unverified intelligence.”

New drone maker partly owned by Trump sons hopes to win Pentagon contracts

The Trump family has drawn criticism for expanding its real estate business into foreign countries that are trying to curry favor with the president and for making billions of dollars off cryptocurrency ventures benefiting from his policies. Grabbing less attention are new ownership stakes in federal contractors providing everything from rocket parts and rare earth magnets to AI chips and computer hardware.

Senate passes bipartisan housing bill to improve access and affordability

The bill aims to make homebuilding easier by streamlining some regulations that require environmental reviews and inspections. It also lifts a limit on a grant for emergency shelter beds and street homelessness outreach. As many affordable housing developers are leaning on manufactured and modular homes that can be transported to areas that need housing, the legislation also would eliminate the requirement that they have to be built on a permanent chassis, reducing costs and making them easier to build and design.

Shot by Border Patrol, Then Called a “Domestic Terrorist”

When federal law-enforcement officers arrived to search the Rogue, which was covered in blood, they found the gun in its pink holster in her purse. It didn’t matter that she had never touched it. The gun soon became part of a surreal composite image of Martinez presented by the Trump Administration as fact. Within hours, D.H.S. described her as armed and dangerous, a “domestic terrorist.” Tricia McLaughlin, a D.H.S. spokesperson, wrote on social media that Martinez had “rammed” agents with her car while “armed with a semi-automatic weapon.” The statement about the gun was technically true—most modern pistols are—but misleading. McLaughlin also said that Martinez had recently written a post on social media saying, “Hey to all my gang let’s fuck those mother fuckers up, don’t let them take anyone.” But Martinez had never posted this; the quote, it turned out, came from another person’s Facebook account. Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., shared a video of a black S.U.V. aggressively ramming an agent’s truck, attributing the act to Martinez. But the S.U.V. wasn’t her car, and the video was from an unrelated incident. These posts remain online.

Gemini Is Now Your Permanent Passenger in Google Maps

Google will also be tapping into the information that it knows about you, of course. (You might recall that Google also recently introduced an opt-in feature for Gemini called “Personal Intelligence” that pulls information from your search history and photo library, among other you-specific sources.) According to the company, results are personalized based on your past destinations and searches. So if you frequent vegan restaurants and you ask Google Maps, “My friends are coming from Midtown East to meet me after work, any spots with a cozy aesthetic and a table for 4 at 7 tonight?” the app will default to highlighting spots with vegan options on the menu.

Trump launches the next phase of his trade war with new investigations of key partners

In a process that is likely to result in a fresh round of tariffs in the near future, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative is opening the formal probes into major trade partners that include the European Union, Mexico and China — each of which ranks among the top five sources of U.S. imports. Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Japan and India will also be the targets of investigations under the trade statute known as Section 301.

Trump nominates new head of VOA's parent agency after court ruling against Kari Lake

In a report in November, the Trump administration suggested integrating the “function” of Voice of America into the State Department bureau led by Rogers, rather than its being "a semi-independent agency.”

Trump team applying pressure to media: Tell the war’s story the way we see it

The Republican president has fumed on social media about stories he doesn’t like and berated a reporter on Air Force One. The government’s top media regulator has warned that broadcasters risk losing their licenses if they don’t stay away from “fake news.” Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have questioned the patriotism of news outlets because of their reporting.

Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

During his 2022 congressional campaign, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, for consulting work. He also worked closely with Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer, and attracted support from a variety of far-right figures.

The threats to Minnesota's Medicaid funds are unprecedented. Other states could be next

The federal government partners with states to fund Medicaid. But after widespread fraud allegations surfaced in Minnesota, CMS announced it would halt federal funds for the state's program in two ways — retroactively and going forward. The retroactive move is called deferral. In February, CMS said it would delay reimbursing about $259.5 million that the state spent on Medicaid last summer, citing concerns about potential fraud and coverage for patients without legal status, who are not eligible for Medicaid.

CBS News lays off 6% of staff and shutters radio division, kickstarting a Bari Weiss-led overhaul

It is the second round of layoffs at CBS News since David Ellison took control of Paramount last summer. And it represents the end of an era, since CBS News Radio has a 99-year history delivering up-to-the-minute headlines over the airwaves...Paramount is awaiting regulatory approval for its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN, which may lead to a future combination of CNN and CBS News.

Apple and Google agree to change app stores after 'effective duopoly' claim

According to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the tech giants have committed to not giving preferential treatment to their own apps and will be transparent about how others are approved for sale, among other agreements.

Israeli minister calls West Bank measures 'de facto sovereignty,' says no to future Palestinian state

he measures, approved by Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet on Sunday, expand Israel’s enforcement authority over land use and planning in areas run by the Palestinian Authority, making it easier for Jewish settlers to force Palestinians to give up land. Smotrich and Katz on Sunday said they would lift long-standing restrictions on land sales to Israeli Jews in the West Bank, shift some control over sensitive holy sites — including Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs — and declassify land registry records to ease property acquisitions. They also revive a government committee empowered to make what officials described as “proactive” land purchases in the territory, a step intended to reserve land for future settlement expansion.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski comes out against Trump's election bill, with a warning to her party

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Tuesday became the first Republican senator to speak out against the SAVE Act, a sweeping election bill backed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote nationwide. In doing so, she reminded her colleagues that they roundly claimed to oppose new federal election laws as recently as Joe Biden’s presidency.

Elon Musk's xAI loses second cofounder in 48 hours

Musk launched the AI company in 2023 with 11 other founders. Six have now left the company — five of them within the last year.

Annual governors' gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats

The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.

Grand jury refuses to indict Democratic lawmakers in connection with illegal military orders video

The Justice Department opened an investigation into the video featuring Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and four other Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. service members to follow established military protocols and reject orders they believe to be unlawful. All the lawmakers previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies. Grand jurors in Washington declined to sign off on charges in the latest of a series of rebukes of prosecutors by citizens in the nation’s capital, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth but says she'd 'speak fully and honestly' if Trump grants her clemency

Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee on Monday, but her attorney said she is “prepared to speak fully and honestly” if President Donald Trump grants her clemency.

Trump border czar Tom Homan announces Minnesota immigration surge is ending

On Feb. 4, Homan announced plans to withdraw 700 of the roughly 3,000 agents sent to Minnesota. Further reductions, he said then, would be contingent on more cooperation from local officials. That included giving federal officials greater access to local jails to pick up undocumented people set to be released. In Thursday's briefing, Homan said those agreements have been strengthened.

Judge orders Trump administration to facilitate return of some Venezuelan migrants deported under Alien Enemies Act

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of certain Venezuelan migrants who he found were unlawfully deported to a Salvadoran prison under the Alien Enemies Act last year and then released into other countries. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in a brief opinion that the number of Venezuelans who would likely want to be returned to the U.S. to continue challenging their detentions and removals is small, and acknowledged that they will be taken into immigration custody upon their arrival.

House votes to slap back Trump’s tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke

The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has confronted the president over a signature policy, and drew instant recrimination from Trump himself. The resolution seeks to end the national emergency Trump declared to impose the tariffs, though actually undoing the policy would require support from the president, which is highly unlikely. It next goes to the Senate.

Trump's retribution campaign hits a losing streak

Federal grand juries almost always return indictments — rejecting them only five times out of more than 165,000 cases nationwide in 2013, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Prosecutors need only 12 of 23 grand jurors to secure an inducement, underscoring the gap between Trump's political threats and the legal system's response.

RFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here’s what the public doesn’t know anymore

The Project 2025 blueprint that’s been influential to the Trump administration called for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to enhance its data collection of U.S. abortions, but the agency failed to post its annual abortion surveillance report in November. (Nixon said it will come out this spring.) HHS officials blamed the delay on the CDC’s former chief medical officer, Dr. Debra Houry, saying she directed staff to return state-submitted abortion data rather than analyze it. But Houry — who resigned months before the report was slated to come out — said that claim was false. She says the report was derailed because of HHS cutbacks to the funding and staff needed to get it done.

Justice Department's antitrust chief says she's leaving, effective immediately

This week, her deputy in the Antitrust Division also departed. Mark Hamer, deputy assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, wrote on LinkedIn, "Decided the time is right for me to return to private practice." He praised Slater as a "leader of exceptional wisdom, strength and integrity."

Bondi had list of a Democratic lawmaker's Epstein files "search history" during Capitol Hill hearing

One of the printouts that Bondi referenced during the hearing was a list labeled "Jayapal Pramila Search History," referring to Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington. The document listed out at least eight different files from the Justice Department's trove of Epstein records, including their file numbers and brief descriptions of their contents, according to images snapped by photojournalists who covered the hearing.

Judge blocks Pentagon from downgrading Sen. Mark Kelly's military rank, pay

"This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees," Leon wrote. "After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, 'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.'"

Nebraska to hand over sensitive voter data to the Justice Department

In a written statement released by his office, Evnen said he is dedicated to protecting voters’ personally identifiable information from misuse. But when asked if he was positive that Nebraska voter information would be kept secure and not lead to legitimate voters being kicked off voter roles, Evnen responded, “The only thing I’m positive of is that the sun won’t catch in a tree when it sets tonight.”

Bondi accused of lying about Trump, Epstein at tense hearing

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) asked Bondi how the DOJ is complying with Trump's controversial memo on countering "domestic terrorism and organized political violence" that specifically singles out Democratic Party donors and the "radical left." "Will you commit to provide the committee with your list of entities that you recommend be designated as domestic terrorist organizations?" Scanlon asked...Scanlon noted that when the U.S. designates an organization as a foreign terrorist, it must notify Congress and allow the entity the opportunity to contest the designation.

What to know about EPA decision to revoke a scientific finding that helped fight climate change

The EPA action repeals all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, but experts say it could trigger a broader undoing of climate regulations for stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities. It also could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to address global warming because they would have to restart the scientific and legal process to establish a new endangerment finding, which could take years and face legal challenges, said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council.