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Modi rolls out the red carpet for Putin in state visit to India

Current News / News & Features /

President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi for his first state visit to India since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, showcasing warming ties that have angered the U.S. and led to hefty trade tariffs.

Putin was welcomed at the airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who embraced the Russian leader after he disembarked from his ...Read more

Suburban Chicago church's Nativity depicts baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE agents

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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Mother Mary wearing a respirator mask to protect herself from tear gas. Baby Jesus with zip-tied hands, wrapped in a thin blanket that looks like aluminum foil. Masked centurions with sunglasses and green vests labeled “ICE.”

This is how the Lake Street Church of Evanston chose to assemble its Nativity scene for the ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Expected loss of federal funds could push thousands of LA County households into homelessness

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LOS ANGELES — Local officials are warning that more than 14,500 L.A. County formerly homeless households in subsidized, permanent housing could be forced back onto the streets or into shelters over the next year, mostly because of a loss of federal funding.

The predicted displacement would wipe away the slight reduction in the local homeless ...Read more

Grigory Sysoyev/Pool/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Modi rolls out red carpet for Putin, defying US pressure

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President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi for his first state visit to India since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, showcasing warming ties that have angered the U.S. and led to hefty trade tariffs.

Putin was welcomed at the airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who embraced the Russian leader after he disembarked from his ...Read more

ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ukrainian envoys head to US as Putin rejects parts of peace plan

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Ukrainian negotiators will join a new round of talks in Florida as Russian President Vladimir Putin said some of the points in a U.S.-backed peace plan were unacceptable to him, the latest sign an agreement likely remains distant.

The negotiations are difficult, and Moscow disagrees with some of what’s been suggested by the U.S., Putin said ...Read more

MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

China rejects Japan PM's reaffirmation of Taiwan stance

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China continued to voice its frustration with Japan after new comments from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reaffirming Tokyo’s long-held position that it understands and respects Beijing’s view on Taiwan.

At a regular press briefing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian questioned Takaichi’s remarks. “Now that Prime ...Read more

ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK/Getty Images North America/TNS

India clinches $2 billion Russia submarine deal as Putin visits

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India will pay about $2 billion to lease a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia, according to people familiar with the matter, finalizing delivery of the vessel after roughly a decade of talks just as President Vladimir Putin makes a visit to New Delhi this week.

Talks for leasing the attack submarine from Russia had stalled over the years ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

South Florida nursing director found guilty for selling nearly 1,000 fake diplomas

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MIAMI — A former administrator at a South Florida nursing school was found guilty Wednesday on charges of collaborating with the owner and recruiters in selling about 1,000 fake diplomas for millions of dollars to students recruited from Texas.

Stephanie Dorisca, the ex-director of nursing at Techni-Pro Institute in Boca Raton, was convicted ...Read more

Samantha Liss/KFF Health News/TNS

New work requirement adds red tape to Missouri's snarled food aid system

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WARRENTON, Mo. — Distributing food stamps soon could get even harder for Missouri’s food aid system, which a federal judge has already called “broken and inaccessible.”

States depend heavily on federal funds to operate their food stamp programs, which help feed about 42 million people nationwide. But a new federal law has restructured ...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Annunciation principal 'called to show the world what healing looks like'

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MINNEAPOLIS — “GOD IS GOOD!” the principal shouted to the 300 students buzzing in the auditorium at Annunciation Catholic School. They quieted immediately. “ALL THE TIME!” they responded.

It was two months after bullets flew through the adjacent church’s stained-glass windows, terrorizing students in their first Mass of the new ...Read more

Courtesy Larry Humphreys/KFF Health News/TNS

After shutdown, federal employees face new uncertainty: affording health insurance

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Larry Humphreys, a retired Federal Emergency Management Agency worker in Moultrie, Georgia, says he and his wife won’t be traveling much next year after their monthly health insurance premium payment increases more than 40%, to $938.

Humphreys, 68, feels betrayed by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. “As federal employees, we ...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California strongly objects to Trump's plan to pump more delta water south

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The Trump administration plans to weaken environmental protections for threatened fish in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and pump more water to Central Valley farmlands, according to letters obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The letters show Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration strongly criticizing the Trump administration ...Read more

Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Blue Origin's wastewater plans add to Florida's Indian River Lagoon concerns

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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has issued a draft proposal that would allow nearly 500,000 gallons of wastewater daily at Blue Origin’s Merritt Island facilities that would affect the Indian River Lagoon.

The permit would allow Jeff Bezos’ rocket company to operate an industrial wastewater treatment facility that could ...Read more

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Commentary: The rising national debt is eroding American wages

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In almost every election cycle, politicians toot their own horn when it comes to rising wages, pointing to higher paychecks as proof that the average worker is thriving. But under the Biden administration, millions of Americans—faced with mounting grocery bills, rising rent, and shrinking savings—could see that these higher paychecks did not...Read more

Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

How college campus organizing has been upended in Florida's political climate

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TAMPA, Fla. — In September, the Turning Point USA chapter at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus held a vigil to honor its founder, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered days earlier.

Thousands stretched down the street and attendees waited in the heat with signs and flowers. The chapter, part of the national ...Read more

Chris Bergin/KFF Health News/TNS

Medicaid work rules exempt the 'medically frail.' Deciding who qualifies is tricky

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Eliza Brader worries she soon will need to prove she’s working to continue receiving Medicaid health coverage. She doesn’t think she should have to.

The 27-year-old resident of Bloomington, Indiana, has a pacemaker and a painful joint disease. She also has fused vertebrae in her neck from a spinal injury, preventing her from turning her ...Read more

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images North America/TNS

4-day school weeks are growing in popularity, despite a lack of data on the effects

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Northeast of the capital city of Des Moines in central Iowa, the 400-student Collins-Maxwell Community School District is one of many across the state shifting to a four-day school week.

Like many rural K-12 schools, the district has struggled to find teachers, and it sees the four-day week as a useful recruiting tool. It also wants to curb ...Read more

Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle traffic worsens amid roadwork and return to office mandates

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SEATTLE — Seattle drivers spent more time in traffic this year than they did in 2024, as construction on major corridors continued and remote work ebbed.

Motorists spent nearly three extra days behind the wheel, as the typical driver in the metro region lost 68 hours to traffic congestion in 2025, up 8% from 63 hours last year, and 19 hours ...Read more

Xinhua/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire/TNS

In Saudi Arabia's green highlands, a different kingdom emerges

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ABHA, Saudi Arabia — From the air, Abha's mountains emerge as a shock of emerald green rising from a sea of sand. Terra firma brings other surprises: a bracing wind that has me grabbing for a jacket — a piece of clothing all but ignored in other parts of Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, so much of Abha, the capital of the southwestern province of Asir...Read more

Jennah Pendleton/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Who's to blame for CA school issues? State bureaucracy, governor candidates say

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As California students continue to lag behind pre-pandemic achievement levels, candidates vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom say that state bureaucracy is to blame for a lackluster education system in one of the most powerful economies in the world.

Teachers and elected officials agree: Education is being underfunded. Organizations such as the...Read more