The Spectrum & Daily News
Trump, Xi exchange toasts, gifts at dinner
Wild mushrooms are in their peak season across the United States in late September – and for a second time, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan were treated to the fungi at the White House. On the menu for the state dinner hosted by...
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Media outlets let back in following judge’s ruling
WASHINGTON – All three media outlets that President Donald Trump had banned from the White House were allowed back in Sept. 24 after initially being blocked despite a judge ruling that the revocation of their credentials probably violated the...
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Control of House hinges on these races
With six weeks until the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Democrats are leading in polls. But in a politically polarized country with mostly gerrymandered congressional districts, a handful of contests will determine whether Democrats can actually win control...
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DIGITAL DETOX
A trove of recent articles bemoan the collapse in recreational reading among younger Americans, with COVID-19 pandemic-related reading declines, artificial intelligence and social media often described as causes. But as the authors of “How Gen Z...
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FROM ASHES TO ILLNESS
Ageneration later data now show that three times as many people have died with a confirmed 9/11-related illness than perished during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. • Some 9,677 people have died since their exposure to the toxic mix of chemicals...
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25th anniversary of 9/11 commemorated
NEW YORK – As the United States marked 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans across the country gathered to honor the nearly 3,000 people who perished and reflect on the day that forever changed the nation. A quarter-century...
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A GENERATION OF AFTERSHOCK
Aquarter-century later, 9/11 still echoes. ● The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history has been followed by other seismic events, from a once-in-a-century global pandemic to the rise of artificial intelligence that is transforming commerce, education...
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U.S. and Iran trade attacks on tankers
CAIRO – Iran said on Sept. 9 it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States sank five Iranian oil tankers, in the biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping by both sides since the start of the six-month-old...
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‘Trumpapalooza’ intends to sway voters
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has a solution for his party’s midterm woes as Republicans struggle to match Democrats’ election enthusiasm and face major headwinds to keep control of Congress: More Trump. It’s almost time for “Trumpapalooza,” the...
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UNPLUGGED
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced in-person classroom instruction to go virtual, students suddenly needed to have their own laptops or tablets in order to interact with teachers and complete assignments. Most states used federal pandemic funding to...
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Iran aims to tackle economic issues
DUBAI – Iran said it will step up efforts to tackle problems created by the U.S. sanctions that are crippling its economy, while a senior Iranian official warned of a “painful response” if it comes under further attack. Six months after U.S.-Israeli...
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GR IT, GRACE &GRATITUDE
Jeffrey Coniglio is dressed in white down to his shoes, his daughter Giada in a flowing pale green gown. They are twirling across the dance floor to music from “The Great Showman” when, suddenly, Giada flips head over heels and then swings out into a...
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AN IDLE THREAT
A bus company that left its buses’ engines running while parked in Boston neighborhoods has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to pay $5.6 million in damages for the resulting air pollution. The settlement came in a citizen-enforcement lawsuit under the...
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Immigration delays separate couples
Nicholas Miller hasn’t tried Taco Bell. Or Whataburger. Not because they are hard to find; they are everywhere in Austin. He is saving them for Irina Miller, his wife, for when her green card clears and she crosses the border for the first time. Until...
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U.S. pounds Iran, Tehran hits bases
WASHINGTON – Iranians and their Arab neighbors feared a return of war on Sept. 2 after the biggest exchange of fire between Tehran and Washington since July, with U.S. forces striking Iran’s southern coast and Iran firing at American bases across the...
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U.S. launches fresh strikes around Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI – The United States launched new air strikes on Iranian targets on Sept. 1, quashing hopes that a recent exchange of fire might not herald a wider renewal of hostilities. Oil prices had already risen after that first exchange of direct attacks...
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Iran is still seeking negotiated end to war
DUBAI – Iran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the United States, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Aug. 31, a day after the two countries resumed hostilities for the first time since late July, driving oil prices up more...
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‘ISOLATED’
Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, flooding out festivals, canceling community events and keeping people indoors. They’re also evidence of how climate change isn’t just changing the environments we...
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Cup of care ambition
In 1973, Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” to soften the blow of leaving her business partner Porter Wagoner after years of producing hit country duets together. Parton was ready to pursue a solo career. So she played the song for Wagoner to...
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Officials call USPS ballot rule impossible
Current and former election officials said it would take something close to “an act of God” for their states and localities to comply with a new U.S. Postal Service mail-in ballot rule just weeks before the midterm elections. The rule, which the...
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Asylum seekers’ visas are at stake
The Trump administration plans to revoke visas from people who entered the United States legally as tourists or business travelers and later applied for asylum – opening a new front in its campaign to restrict access to humanitarian protection. The...
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Trump is learning hard lessons in Iran
The twists and turns of the Iran war, six months in, should come as no surprise. President Donald Trump is just the latest commander-in-chief to see the vision of a decisive military campaign risk becoming a longer and more complicated conflict − one...
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LOVE, ALWAYS
Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country” singing and songwriting icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestone-encrusted outfits, has died. She was 80. Parton’s death was announced by her family on her social media pages and...
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Flock cameras stir concerns
License plate readers have been shot at in Tennessee, hit with a truck in California, beaten with a baseball bat in Virginia, cut down with a saw in Texas and splattered with paint in New York. And they’ve been regularly blocked by a protester in...
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Embryo personhood debate gains notice
About 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in 2024, according to the most recent U.S. data. But IVF commonly involves trying to create multiple embryos, because success is never guaranteed. If unused, those embryos can be frozen,...
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Early access to Trump posts raises concern
President Donald Trump’s social media company is charging clients up to $100,000 a month for priority access to Trump’s own official announcements as well as other “market-moving” government news such as new tariffs and military actions. Just a few...
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Iran vows ‘devastating’ response to recent threat
DUBAI – Iran said on Aug. 21 that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership. Washington prepared for...
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U.S. debt crosses $40T threshold
WASHINGTON – Total U.S. debt has topped $40 trillion for the first time, the Treasury Department said Aug. 19, drawing fresh warnings that a fiscal crisis is brewing as ballooning costs for social safety-net programs and interest payments far outstrip...
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Tribes and Arizona sign economic deal
Amid uncertainty surrounding the future of the coal industry, tribal leaders met with Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Aug. 11 to sign a memorandum of understanding focused on strengthening economic resilience for tribal communities in the Four Corners...
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Rocket launches on the rise in U.S.
Back in April, people around the world paused their days to collectively watch in awe as four intrepid astronauts were launched into space toward the moon atop NASA’s most powerful rocket ever. That mission, known as Artemis II, captivated the public...
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Mass hearings held in immigration courts
Lines have stretched out the front door of courthouses. Overflow seating has been set up in hallways. And there have been classroom-style exchanges, with judges asking people to raise their hands in response to generic questions about their...
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DOJ pressed, dropped officer assault cases
Christian Garcia admits that he threw a water bottle toward officers guarding a federal building near Los Angeles during an immigration protest last summer. • The plastic bottle was empty, he said, and hit no one but Garcia himself – the wind blew it...
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TRACING HISTORY ON THE TRAIL OF TEARS
NEW ECHOTA, GA – Horror lingers in the knotted sweet gum and bent magnolia trees. To stand here is to feel shock, cruelty and despair emanating fromthe red clay of north Georgia. Blood is as much a part of this landscape as the honeysuckle...
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U.S. tells Iran it will step up pressure
LONDON – Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Aug. 14 after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely. A senior Iranian source said...
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Iran, U.S. both claim to control Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI – The Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” the recently appointed head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit said on Aug. 13, a day after President Donald Trump said the United States had “total control” of the strategic...
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Consumer prices ticked up in July
Although U.S. consumer prices ticked up in July, the annual inflation rate again eased a bit, the Labor Department said Aug. 12. From June to July, consumer prices rose 0.1%, in line with forecasters’ expectations. Over the year, they were up 3.4% –...
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Critics take aim at Trump vaccine order
President Donald Trump hailed his new order on childhood vaccines as a win for parental choice as doctors slammed the move, saying it could lead to greater risk of diseases that were rarely seen for generations. Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10...
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Poll shows public opinion shift on ICE
Months of immigration enforcement controversies have taken their toll, and new polling shows it could be a problem for Republicans heading into the midterms. About eight in 10 independent voters say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used too...
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Military bases delay toxic PFAS cleanup
It’s been almost five years since Brandi and Brad Hyatt found out the well at their home next to an Army base in Washington is contaminated with “forever chemicals.” h They started using bottled water for everything from making coffee to rinsing off...
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Immigrants a key role in U.S. economy, experts say
For years, employers from Florida to Ohio have relied on immigrants taking part in a humanitarian program to staff hard-to-fill job openings for construction workers and home health aides. h In recent months, they warned, the Trump administration’s...
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Reports: U.S. missile supply badly depleted
The war on Iran has severely depleted key U.S. missile stockpiles and left the nation and its allies in a vulnerable position for potentially years to come, several experts and reports say. U.S. missile stockpiles were low before President Donald...
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Gunshot detection tech ignites controversy
When gunshots ring out on America’s streets, bystanders face an instant, high-stakes dilemma. ● Do I call the cops? Were those even gunshots? Maybe it was just fireworks. ● Every moment of hesitation risks a delay in medical treatment or gives a...
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Iran, Oman work on Hormuz proposal
DUBAI – A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Aug. 5, in one of the biggest concessions yet to...
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Rubio sees progress in Hormuz talks
DUBAI – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Aug. 4 there has been progress made in discussions with Iran and Oman on getting more ships through the Strait of Hormuz but no final agreement has been reached. “There’s been progress made in those...
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Voters face options in 5 states’ primaries
Voters in five states head to the polls Aug. 4 in primaries that will determine the November options in some hotly contested swing states. Primaries in Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Washington and Missouri will help shape the power balance in Congress,...
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Democratic socialism: What it is, what it isn’t
The national Democratic Socialists of America website says its vision rejects “authoritarian visions of socialism.” The organization believes capitalism must be replaced with “a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces,...
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Governor’s ICE deal fueled medical crisis inside prison
INDIANAPOLIS – Stacks of medical request forms sat in thick piles in the medical building of Miami Correctional Facility, an Indiana prison where the Trump administration is housing hundreds of detained immigrants. Each piece of paper represented a...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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Strike near Suez fuels fears of wider conflict
DUBAI – A drone strike on gas vessels in Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta signaled a potential new front in the U.S.Iran war, raising the prospect of threats to navigation through the Suez Canal, a last remaining safe export route for Saudi...
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U.S., Saudis attack Iran-linked fighters
Saudi Arabia joined the United States in attacking fighters aligned with Iran, the country’s Ministry of Defense announced July 29. Saudi Arabia struck Iran-linked militias based in Iraq, it said. The strikes came in response to attacks from the...
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Oman presents Iran with Hormuz plan
DUBAI – Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on July 28. The plan could serve as a basis to end...
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Another suspect sought after Seattle shooting
Authorities were searching for a second suspect who they believe opened fire at a food festival in Seattle, killing three people and injuring four others. Police said the gunfire erupted when at least two people began firing at one another on July 26...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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Man who filmed police sees growing backlash
Five years ago, Gabriel Bassford saw an online video that changed his life. ● It was 2021, and the aftershocks of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers continued to linger. ● He was on YouTube and stumbled upon an online...
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U.S. strikes shipping point on Red Sea
DUBAI – U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran, reaching as far as its Caspian coast, on July 24 after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the war to a second major shipping...
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House votes to rein in Trump’s power in Iran
In a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives voted on July 23 to end the war with Iran. The war powers resolution passed 214-208, with all Democrats and four Republicans in support: Reps. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky; Brian...
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Trump honors return of fallen U.S. soldiers
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump honored four soldiers recently killed in the war with Iran at their dignified transfer in Dover, Delaware, on July 22 – shortly after making new threats against civilian targets in the Middle East nation. The United...
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No end in sight as U.S., Iran continue strikes
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump welcomed the president of Lebanon to the White House July 21 as he insisted that Iran “desperately” wants to meet to end the war. Trump made the assertion pushing back at a reporter who claimed in a question that...
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Quartz countertops driving health crisis
If you walk into a Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s and order a countertop for your kitchen renovation, the store will likely contract with a local fabrication shop, instructing them to make one from a material called engineered stone. h Often marketed as...
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U.S. responds to military deaths with more attacks
DUBAI – The United States said it had completed an eighth straight night of attacks against Iran after earlier announcing that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan, while U.S. allies in the region reported more Iranian attacks on July...
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Change may mean long separations for families
PHOENIX – In 2007, Mike Brown applied for a green card for his wife, Virginia Carrillo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. They had met several years earlier at the Boeing plant in Mesa, Arizona, where he built Apache helicopters on the assembly...
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Trump revisits election security claims in speech
President Donald Trump in a July 16 prime-time address sought to further sow distrust in U.S. elections, claiming broad vulnerabilities with voting systems and potential for interference from other nations. Trump specifically pointed to China,...
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Blanche grilled at AG confirmation
Todd Blanche faced a tough grilling from Democrats at his Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general, but it’s not clear they have the votes to block his nomination. The former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump was hit with accusations...
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U.S. strikes Iran as sides seek control over strait
President Donald Trump’s war on Iran continued to escalate with no end in sight as the two sides vied for control of the Strait of Hormuz on July 15, the fifth day of the renewed hostilities, as U.S. forces struck Iranian targets again. The 90 minutes...
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Iran strikes back after wave of U.S. attacks
U.S. Central Command said the United States bombed military targets along the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on July 14 as President Donald Trump threatened to escalate attacks on Iran. Iranian state media reported that its...
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Heat waves turn homes dangerous for all ages
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors. When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters...
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Iran expands attacks on several Gulf states
U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Persian Gulf on July 12 and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz. The strikes were the latest in a...
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War redrew southern border, culture remains
Nicholas Natividad’s great-greatgreat-grandfather Juan Velarde was born in a land that, in his lifetime, would be claimed by four different nations. In what is now the desert Southwest, Velarde was born among the remnants of the Spanish Empire and...
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