Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., National News, Syndicated

Top U.S. drug agency a notable holdout in Biden’s push to loosen federal marijuana restrictions

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN / Associated Press In an isolated part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters known as the 12th-floor “bubble,” chief Anne Milgram made an unusual request of top deputies summoned in March for what she called the “Marijuana Meeting”: Nobody could take notes. Over the next half hour, she […]

Posted inNational News, Syndicated

US border arrests fall in April, bucking usual spring increase as Mexico steps up enforcement

ASSOCIATED PRESS Arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico fell more than 6% in April to the fourth lowest month of the Biden administration, authorities said Wednesday, bucking the usual spring increase. U.S. officials have largely attributed the decline to more enforcement in Mexico, including in yards where migrants are known to board […]

Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy, National News

Biden hiking tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells, steel, aluminum — adding to tensions with Beijing

By JOSH BOAK, FATIMA HUSSEIN, PAUL WISEMAN and DIDI TANG / Associated Press The Biden administration announced plans to slap new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment — an election year move that’s increasing friction between the world’s two largest economies. The tariffs come in the middle of a heated […]

Posted inNational News, Politics & Elections

Pro-Palestinian protests dwindle on campuses as some US college graduations marked by defiant acts

By MORIAH BALINGIT Associated Press A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting “free Palestine” amid a mix of boos and cheers. Some waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian […]

Posted inNational News, Syndicated

Biden administration will seek partial end to special court oversight of child migrants

By ELLIOT SPAGAT / Associated Press The Biden administration will seek to partially end the 27-year-old court supervision of how the federal government cares for child migrants traveling alone, shortly after producing its own list of safeguards against mistreatment, an attorney involved in the case says. The Justice Department has told opposing attorneys it will […]

Posted inNational News, Politics & Elections, Syndicated

Denial and uncertainty are looming over a Biden-Trump rematch 6 months out from Election Day

By STEVE PEOPLES and ZEKE MILLER / ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — This North Carolina voter is nervous. Will Rikard, a 49-year-old father of two, was among several hundred Democrats who stood and cheered for Joe Biden as the first-term president delivered a fiery speech recently about the billions of dollars he has delivered […]

Posted inNational News

Stansbury, Vasquez join 88 Democrats calling for Biden to threaten pause of weapons sales to Israel

88 Democratic members of Congress, including New Mexico’s Melanie Stansbury (D-NM01) and Gabe Vasquez (D-NM02), penned a letter to President Joseph Biden expressing “serious concerns regarding the Israeli Government’s conduct of the war in Gaza” and pressing the president to threaten to withhold the delivery of weapons transfers just approved by Congress. The letter reiterates […]

Posted inEducation, National News, Syndicated

Biden says ‘order must prevail’ during campus protests over the war in Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza. “Dissent is essential for democracy,” he said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.” Tensions have been building for […]

Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy, National News, Politics & Elections, Syndicated

DEA will move to reclassify marijuana in a historic shift, AP sources say

WASHINGTON / ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and […]