WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is using the government shutdown to reshape the federal workforce and target detractors. The president says he’ll meet with budget director Russ Vought to discuss potential spending cuts. Trump has already suggested slashing Democratic priorities and mass firings of federal workers. Vought has already withheld funds for projects in…… MORE
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of activists raises questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters. As dozens of boats sailed closer to Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli navy warned them to turn back. Then Israeli military…… MORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. immigration judge has denied a bid for asylum from Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The judge in Baltimore on Wednesday denied an application to reopen Abrego Garcia’s asylum case, but he has 30 days to appeal. The Salvadoran national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for…… MORE
NEW YORK (AP) — On the eve of his sentencing, Sean “Diddy” Combs says he is a new man after realizing he was “broken to my core” and wondering if he was better off dead after his arrest last year. Combs wrote in a letter sent to the judge late Thursday that he is free…… MORE
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the United States that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but will not change the situation on the battlefield. At the same time, Putin hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to help negotiate peace in Ukraine and described…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill, prompting outrage from abortion opponents. Anti-abortion groups quickly criticized the move on Thursday, calling it a “stain” on the Trump administration. The groups have been pushing for a safety review of mifepristone for months. The FDA first approved the drug…… MORE
PAWHUSKA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say the founder of a Texas megachurch has pleaded guilty to lewd and indecent acts with a child after he was accused of sexually abusing a young girl in the 1980s in Oklahoma while he was a traveling minister. Sixty-four-year-old Robert Preston Morris entered the pleas Thursday before a judge…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has announced the cancellation of $7.6 billion in funding for clean energy projects across 16 states. The cuts likely affect battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, and more. The announcement came on the first day of a government shutdown. The Republican administration claims the projects do not align with national…… MORE
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway is buying Occidental Petroleum’s chemical division for $9.7 billion in what may be one of the last big deals of Warren Buffett. Buffett wasn’t mentioned anywhere in materials released by Berkshire Hathaway on Thursday, seemingly signaling the passing of the torch to Greg Abel. Berkshire’s cash pile has been…… MORE
OpenAI could now be the world’s most valuable startup, ahead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and TikTok parent company ByteDance, after a secondary stock sale designed to retain employees at the ChatGPT maker. Current and former OpenAI employees sold $6.6 billion in shares to a group of investors, pushing the privately held artificial intelligence company’s valuation…… MORE
