Washington, President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed setting U.S. military spending at $1.5 trillion for 2027, citing "troubled and dangerous times." He announced the proposal on Truth Social after ordering a U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and amid U.S. forces massing in the Caribbean Sea. The 2026...
Washington, The U.S. State Department paused all assistance to Somalia recently after alleging Somali officials destroyed a U.S.-funded World Food Programme warehouse and seized 76 metric tons of donor food intended for vulnerable civilians. The department, citing a zero-tolerance policy for diversion of aid, said resumption depends on Somali accountability...
Washington, President Donald Trump ordered US defence contractors to halt dividends and stock buybacks until they increase weapons production and improve maintenance, and capped executive pay at $5 million, the White House said this week. Markets reacted as shares of major contractors fell after his posts. The administration proposed reallocating...
Washington — The Trump administration on Wednesday released the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, urging reduced consumption of ultraprocessed foods and added sugars while promoting protein and healthy fats. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and officials presented a reversed food-pyramid graphic elevating...
WASHINGTON, U.S. officials this week outlined a three-phase plan for Venezuela after U.S. forces seized President Nicolás Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters and senators on Jan. 7. The plan prioritizes stabilisation to prevent chaos, recovery that includes reopening the economy to American and Western firms, rebuilding infrastructure...
United States federal- and state-level employment releases show mixed November 2025 labor-market results. State reports indicated unemployment rates rose in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Washington, Oregon and Ohio while Massachusetts held at 4.7%; payrolls varied by state with pockets of gains in leisure, hospitality, professional services and losses in construction and government....
Washington, The U.S. House Oversight Committee held a Wednesday hearing during a public session examining alleged multimillion-dollar fraud in Minnesota’s social welfare programs, where Republican lawmakers and state witnesses accused officials of suppressing investigations and intimidating whistleblowers. Attorneys and witnesses described administrative changes, alleged retaliation, and claims that oversight units...
CHICAGO — Family members and authorities continued searching this week for Linda Brown, a 53-year-old Chicago Public Schools special education teacher who disappeared Saturday after leaving her. Police said she was last seen in the 4500-block of South Martin Luther King Drive and that surveillance footage later captured her leaving...
LOS ANGELES — Warner Bros Discovery's board rejected Paramount Skydance's revised $108.4 billion bid Wednesday and reaffirmed its continuing support for Netflix's $82.7 billion merger agreement. The board told shareholders the Paramount offer relied on an extraordinary amount of debt financing, described a $30-per-share cash plan that would leave the...
WASHINGTON — U.S. forces seized a Venezuela-linked, U.S.-sanctioned oil tanker in the North Atlantic on Wednesday after a weeks-long pursuit, officials said. The military boarded and took control of the vessel, then transferred it to law enforcement, an official who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity...
