Current News

/

ArcaMax

STEFAN ROUSSEAU/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

UK won't take part in Trump's planned blockade of Hormuz Strait

Current News / News & Features /

The UK will not take part in the proposed U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, setting up yet another point of contention between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the conflict in Iran.

The British government said in a statement Sunday that it continued to call for freedom of navigation and the opening of the strait,...Read more

Haiti revises death toll after deadly crush at Citadelle fortress: 25 dead

Current News / News & Features /

Haitians officials on Sunday revised the death toll from a stampede inside the country’s historic Citadelle Laferrière mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti to 25 from an initial estimate of 30. Another 33 people were also injured during the crush.

The revised toll came after judicial authorities in the town of Milot were finally able to ...Read more

HECTOR AMEZCUA/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Why the operators of a California fireworks company were charged with murder

Current News / News & Features /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The eight people charged with felonies in connection with last year’s deadly Esparto, California, fireworks explosion did not set out to kill their own co-workers and employees. So why are five of them being charged with murder?

A 39-page indictment unsealed Friday offers some hints, building a case that the sale and ...Read more

ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says US to sever Iran lifeline with blockade of strait

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will blockade the Strait of Hormuz following the failure of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this weekend, a move that will likely exacerbate oil and fuel shortages globally.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships ...Read more

FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hungarians sweep away Orban after 16 years in seismic vote

Current News / News & Features /

An upstart opposition party in Hungary ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orban after 16 years in a historic election that will redefine the country’s relationship with the European Union, Russia and the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.

Peter Magyar’s Tisza party was headed for a supermajority in parliament that will allow it to ...Read more

FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Hungarian leader Orban concedes loss in landslide election

Current News / News & Features /

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat to Peter Magyar in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Magyar’s Tisza party was on course to win 68% of seats compared with 29% for Orban’s Fidesz, according to the Election Office in Budapest on Sunday with 46% of the votes counted.

Orban told supporters that the result was “painful�...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Illinois governor calls transfer of Asian carp project to Michigan a stunt

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON ― Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is pushing back against the Trump administration's reasoning for reassigning management of a key federal-state project to block invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes after a top Army Corps official called Illinois an "unreliable partner."

Pritzker called the move to shift project oversight to...Read more

Minneapolis public safety debate back in a familiar place: anger, political squabbling

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly six years after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the city’s elected leaders are again locked in a bitter stalemate over the future of public safety.

The City Council narrowly voted on Thursday to reject Mayor Jacob Frey’s community safety commissioner, Toddrick Barnette. The position was ...Read more

Medicaid fraud at Minnesota autism centers was said to be rampant. Two people have been charged

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — At two Minnesota autism treatment centers, any child — autistic or not — could be qualified for services, federal prosecutors allege.

That is one way authorities claim those individual health care providers defrauded a state program, billing the Department of Human Services and insurers roughly $20 million over five years.

...Read more

Peru casting ballots for president, bicameral congress in bid for stability

Current News / News & Features /

Peruvians are heading to the polls Sunday to elect a new president from among a record 36 candidates and to overhaul the legislature, which for the first time in over three decades will return to a bicameral system.

This is one of Peru’s most complex elections, with the largest and most expensive ballot sheets in its tumultuous history. With ...Read more

Hungary opposition has early lead in election to oust Orban

Current News / News & Features /

Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar’s Tisza party took a commanding early lead in elections that may end Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule.

Magyar’s Tisza party was on course to win 64% of parliamentary mandates compared with 31% for Orban’s Fidesz, according to the Election Office in Budapest on Sunday, with 22% of the ...Read more

At least 30 dead in Haiti after visit to mountaintop fortress turns tragic

Current News / News & Features /

At least 30 people are dead, many of them school-age children as young as 12, after a gathering advertised on TikTok turned tragic on Saturday at Haiti’s premier mountaintop fortress.

The deaths were confirmed by Haiti Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who told the Miami Herald “the government is mobilizing” the ministry of health, ...Read more

News analysis: Trump's Strait of Hormuz blockade risks clash with China

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump responded to the collapse of high-stakes negotiations with Iran by escalating the conflict on Sunday, ordering a full blockade of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a risky move that could drive global oil prices higher and provoke confrontation with a far more formidable adversary.

No country ...Read more

ICE agent 'nearly crushed' during stop, DHS says

Current News / News & Features /

BOSTON -- An ICE agent was injured after being pinned by a suspect’s vehicle last week in Quincy, Massachusetts, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. Friday on Bigelow St. during a “targeted arrest” of an illegal immigrant, the DHS said in a statement.

After stopping the ...Read more

Trump says US to sever key Iran lifeline with blockade of strait

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will blockade the Strait of Hormuz following the failure of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this weekend, a move that will likely exacerbate oil and fuel shortages globally.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships ...Read more

LAUSD and teachers union reach tentative agreement days before threatened strike

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles school officials announced on Sunday morning that a tentative agreement has been reached with the teachers union, making it possible that a planned Tuesday strike could be averted.

The tentative two-year agreement with the United Teachers Los Angeles would increase "salary scales by 11.65%" and raise the beginning ...Read more

Here's what's been sailing through Hormuz as Trump vows blockade

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz would halt the nearly 2 million barrels a day of Iranian oil that’s been passing through the waterway, further squeezing global supply and cutting off a vital lifeline for the Islamic Republic.

On Sunday, ship transits remained at greatly reduced levels in the face of Tehran’s...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

No passport. No flights. No easy way home for Venezuelans who want to leave Chicago

Current News / News & Features /

CHICAGO — Drawn by the promise of a free flight back to her native Venezuela, Yessica Torres downloaded the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Home app, believing it would cover the plane tickets for Torres and her family.

But after almost a year of waiting for CBP to arrange their travel, Torres now feels stuck in a country that denied her ...Read more

Tim Henderson/Stateline/TNS

Immigrants who sought asylum during border surge under increasing pressure

Current News / News & Features /

The millions of migrants who were released into the country during the immigration surge that began in 2021 and peaked in 2023 caused a political firestorm when Republican states transported them to Democratic cities. Now, according to a new analysis, many of them are back working in the states that expelled them.

Many of the migrants turned ...Read more

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

More than 16,000 immigrants in Illinois may lose food assistance in the coming months

Current News / News & Features /

CHICAGO — Roughly 16,000 immigrants, including victims of domestic violence, may lose access to crucial food assistance in Illinois as a result of federal eligibility changes that took effect April 1.

Immigrants — including refugees, asylum-seekers and survivors of human trafficking — are no longer eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition ...Read more