The Spectrum & Daily News
NY Fed finds rise in food insecurity
NEW YORK – Food-related challenges are surging for America’s least well-off residents, and that likely explains the marked rise in a sour consumer mood despite data showing the economy is overall doing pretty well, new research from the Federal Reserve...
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Trump: Blockade stays until deal signed
President Donald Trump on May 24 said he has told his diplomatic representatives not to rush into a deal with Iran because “time is on our side,” less than a day after announcing that an agreement with Tehran had been largely negotiated. “The Blockade...
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Why many feel bad about the economy
As the impacts from the Iran war spilled over into everyday life, more Americans have said they are worse off today than at most any point in the last 25 years. More than half – 55% – say their financial situation is deteriorating, according to a new...
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Trade court rules against tariff in defeat for Trump
A federal court dealt another blow to President Donald Trump’s trade agenda May 7, ruling against a 10% global tariff the president imposed earlier this year to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court. A panel of judges for the Court of...
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Charting his own path
It’s been nearly 1,000 years since King Henry IV stood barefoot in the Italian snow to beg forgiveness after clashes with Pope Gregory VII, and over two centuries since Napoleon imprisoned Pope Pius VII in France. Now, a battle is underway between a...
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Memorandum hints at possible U.S.-Iran deal
President Donald Trump said Iran could either agree to a framework for peace talks or bombing would resume, after he had paused the military operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said on social media the war that began Feb. 28, with a...
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U.S. says ships sailed through strait
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on May 5 said two U.S. commercial ships and two Navy destroyers sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, embarrassing Iranians who claimed the key waterway was closed and demonstrating it is safe to pass while a blockade of...
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U.S. sinks boats in Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military sunk six Iranian boats on May 4, a military official said, as the United Arab Emirates reported missile fire and drone attacks from Iran, testing a weekslong ceasefire amid Washington’s attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Adm....
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Microplastics could be overestimated
It seems like every day a new study finds tiny plastic particles called microplastics where they should not be: in our bodies and our food, water and air. • Yet finding and identifying microplastics is extremely challenging, especially given their...
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States fighting DOJ over voter data access
Anthony Nel was surprised when his voter registration was revoked in Texas after he cast an early ballot for the November 2025 election. The Denton County resident was born in South Africa in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 2013 when his parents...
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U.S. to close its flagship Gaza mission
TEL AVIV – A U.S. military-run center near Gaza that critics say failed in its mission to monitor the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and boost aid flows to besieged Palestinians is set to be shut by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter...
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Royal visit unlikely to mend differences
In one sign of how much the United Kingdom has worried over the relationship between the two countries, its ambassador to the United States told a group of students in February that the only country that has a “special relationship” with the United...
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Congress grills Hegseth on Iran war
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth faced questions on the war with Iran from Congress for the first time since the two-month conflict began, as President Donald Trump warned the Middle Eastern country to “get smart soon” and make a deal that meets U.S....
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Trump claims Iran is breaking down
President Donald Trump on April 28 said Iranian officials have warned the country is in a state of collapse and want a U.S. blockade lifted, as the White House weighs a peace offer from Iran that seeks to end the two-month war. “Iran has just informed...
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Food aid doesn’t make people loafers
Millie Morales believes in hard work. • “I feel that as an American citizen, we all have a great opportunity to be able to improve our life,” the 58-year-old woman explained in an interview I conducted with her in 2025. “Are you willing to put in the...
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Blanche: Trump ‘likely’ targeted in shooting
WASHINGTON – Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 26 said the gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner appears to have targeted President Donald Trump and officials in his administration. “It does appear...
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After his firing, immigration judge set off on migrant trail
Five months after he was fired as a U.S. immigration judge, Jeremiah Johnson found himself rumbling into the highlands of Guatemala on a crowded bus, a bouquet of flowers in hand. His unusual, if poetic, mission: to visit relatives of an indigenous...
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Lebanon ceasefire extended by 3 weeks
Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire by three weeks, President Donald Trump announced, though reports of salvos continued between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s ally in Lebanon. Also continuing was Trump’s blockade against commercial shipping to...
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Tensions escalate in Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran remained in place April 23 as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continued and negotiations between Lebanon and Israel were expected to resume in Washington.
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Iran seizes 2 ships in Strait of Hormuz
Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on April 22, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway, after President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire “until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified...
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Trump says he’s extending ceasefire
With the U.S.-Iran ceasefire set to expire, President Donald Trump said he did not want to extend the temporary truce, and prospects of more peace talks appeared uncertain. “I don’t want to do that,” Trump told CNBC in an April 21 interview, adding...
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Answers sought after Louisiana massacre
SHREVEPORT, LA – Residents of this historic riverfront city remained shaken a day after a gunman opened fire April 19 and killed eight children in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since January 2024. They were looking for explanations – and...
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Latino vote shifting away from Trump, GOP
In the 2024 election, President Donald Trump dramatically improved his performance among nearly all groups of voters from four years earlier. Trump’s growth among Hispanic voters was especially notable, increasing by more than 10 points from 2020 to...
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Democrats hoping gas prices influence 2026 elections
As rising gas prices force Americans to change their spending habits, Democrats are revving their 2026 midterm messaging on the potentially potent issue. The last time the average retail price to fill up went over $4 a gallon was August 2022....
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National Mall to get Freedom 250 makeover
WASHINGTON – Livestock competitions, rodeo events and a 110-foot Ferris wheel are coming to the National Mall this summer as part of a White Housebacked, “World’s Fair-style” celebration marking the nation’s 250th anniversary. The 16-day event, dubbed...
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Blockade continues on Iranian ports
President Donald Trump announced that Lebanon and Israel agreed to a 10day ceasefire. In a post on social media, Trump said he spoke with the two leaders, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who both agreed to...
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Iranians pledge to retaliate for blockade
Iran on April 15 vowed to retaliate against the U.S. naval blockade by halting all trade in the Persian Gulf region as an intensifying standoff threatens to upend a delicate twoweek ceasefire between the warring nations. Ali Abdollahi, leader of...
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Lebanon, Israel ‘on the same side’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted talks between envoys from Lebanon and Israel on April 14 in Washington, the first diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the Israeli and Lebanese...
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Why third partie e perform best in Northeast U.S.
A majority of Americans say they are “frustrated” or “angry” – or both – with Republicans and Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. But that rarely translates into support for independent or third-party candidates. One exception has been in...
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U.S. to blockade strait, Trump says
A day after failed peace negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad, President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy will start blockading the Strait of Hormuz. In back-to-back social media posts on April 12, Trump said the United States...
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Suit filed over DOJ memo
The nation’s largest organization of historians and a government watchdog group are suing President Donald Trump and his administration over the preservation of presidential records. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, on April 6,...
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Iran sets conditions for further talks with U.S.
Iran vowed on April 10 not to participate in negotiations unless a ceasefire takes hold in Lebanon and Iran’s assets are unfrozen, throwing doubt over high-stakes peace talks set to begin the following day in Pakistan. Iran’s parliamentary speaker,...
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U.S.-Iran ceasefire on tenuous ground
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran was on tenuous ground on April 9 after Israel launched its deadliest day of strikes on Lebanon yet and Tehran vowed not to desert its allies. A day after announcing the Iran war ceasefire, Trump took to...
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U.S. and Iran declare victory with ceasefire
A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran is underway following an eleventh-hour deal struck just before a deadline imposed by President Donald Trump, who threatened to wipe out a “whole civilization” if Iran did not capitulate to U.S....
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Artemis II completes historic flyby of moon
The Artemis II astronauts are on their way home, leaving the moon in the rearview mirror after becoming the first humans in more than 50 years to travel near Earth’s celestial neighbor, setting an alltime distance record and completing the most...
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Public defender shortage ripples across legal system
The Oregon Supreme Court on Feb. 5 issued a ruling that will have a wide impact. More than 1,400 criminal cases had to be dismissed, the justices ruled, due to lack of adequate counsel available for defendants. Like other states, Oregon must provide...
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Trump issues more threats against Iran
President Donald Trump took to social media on April 5 to applaud the U.S. military’s rescue of the second airman whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran – and to issue an expletive-laden threat against the Middle Eastern nation to reopen the Strait...
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Americans impacted as Iran war drags on
It’s been over a month since the United States and Israel jointly began the Iran war, and Brenna Boyde believes President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to end it have fallen flat. Boyde is one of a trio of Americans, of different political...
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1 rescued after U.S. jet downed over Iran
One crew member of a U.S. F-15E fighter jet that went down over Iran on April 3 has been rescued, according to a U.S. official. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the jet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement...
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Supreme Court debates birthright citizenship
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump’s effort to redefine who is an American did not get the quick rejection from the Supreme Court that many expected going into the April 1 oral arguments, but key conservative justices seemed skeptical of the...
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President says Iran asked for ceasefire
President Donald Trump, ahead of his scheduled prime time address to the nation, signaled the United States may soon end its part in the Iran war but sent conflicting messages on his strategy. In a social media post on April 1, Trump said Iran’s “new...
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Pete Hegseth: Expect ‘decisive’ turn in war
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on March 31 said the upcoming days in the war will be “decisive,” as President Donald Trump demanded allies reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves and average U.S. gas prices rose above $4 a gallon. Hegseth, speaking to...
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Iran being threatened with targeted strikes
President Donald Trump on March 30 said the United States was engaged in “serious discussions” with Iranian officials on a deal to end the war – but threatened to launch strikes on the country’s power, oil and water facilities if negotiations...
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Privatizing space brings COMPLICATIONS
Private companies are no longer peripheral participants in U.S. space activities. They provide key services, including launching and deploying satellites, transporting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station, and even sending landers to...
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Study pinpoints surge in heat-related 911 calls
PHOENIX – Extreme heat is increasingly the culprit behind 911 emergency calls among older and lower-income individuals and those living in the Intermountain West, new research out of the University of Arizona has found. The study, published Feb. 4 in...
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Trump delays strikes on Iran power plants
The Pentagon is weighing sending an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East as the war with Iran rages, multiple news outlets reported. It remained unclear when a decision will be made on whether to send the additional combat soldiers, according...
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Envoy: U.S. has sent ‘action list’ to Iran
The Trump administration on March 26 confirmed for the first time that it has passed a 15-point “action list” to Iran through Pakistani officials to end the war. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the diplomatic efforts at a Cabinet meeting, saying...
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Iran appears to reject U.S. plan
Iran on March 25 rejected the United States’ ceasefire plan to end the war, calling the proposal “excessive,” Iranian state media reported, as thousands of U.S. Marines and paratroopers deployed to the Middle East. Iran considers the 15-point plan...
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Opening day dreams
PHOENIX – We could all use a little optimism. Maybe more than a little. We are in so many ways a nation divided, by so many things. Sometimes it seems as if nothing can unite us again. Is there nothing we can rally behind, all of us? And just like...
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Student protester released after year
Leqaa Kordia of Paterson, New Jersey, a protester who demonstrated against the war in Gaza at Columbia University in 2024, was released from immigration detention on March 16 after a judge set bond and federal authorities declined to block the order,...
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Troops deployed to Middle East region
Despite President Donald Trump’s promises of the war with Iran ending soon and broad domestic disapproval of further involvement, the United States is sending more troops to the region, a defense official said. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit,...
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Iran’s path murky after loss of leaders
DUBAI – The killing of Iran’s most influential power broker, Ali Larijani, has pushed the Islamic Republic into a more uncertain phase, complicating decision-making in Tehran and narrowing its options as the war grinds on. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran...
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Israel kills another top Iranian official
Israel said it had killed Iran’s intelligence minister in its second targeted killing of a top leader in two days, as President Donald Trump suggested he might abandon the task of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic, Iran’s huge Pars gas...
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American intelligence official quits over war
The head of the National Counterterrorism Center resigned in protest over the Iran war as Israel said on March 17 it had killed Iran’s top intelligence official. Joe Kent, a conservative politician and decorated former Army Ranger and CIA paramilitary...
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TRUMP DEMANDING BACKUP IN IRAN WAR
President Donald Trump demanded more countries send reinforcements to secure the Strait of Hormuz for international shipping as oil prices stayed at $100 a barrel on March 16, amid the continuing Iran war. U.S. gas prices climbed higher in recent...
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Wanted: Volunteers to host nuclear waste
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s plan to unleash a wave of small futuristic nuclear reactors to power the AI era is falling back on an age-old strategy to dispose of the highly toxic waste: bury it at the bottom of a very deep hole. But there’s...
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‘FAILURE ON OUR PART’
MILWAUKEE – In June 2023, a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl for the first time entered a website known for videos and images depicting publicized death, torture and rape. Eighteen months later, she committed the deadliest school shooting in state history...
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