The Spectrum & Daily News
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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Ceasefire falls apart as Iran buries slain leader
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to have fallen apart over continued strife over the Strait of Hormuz as Iranians buried their supreme leader, killed by U.S.-Israel forces at the outset of the war. There were no new...
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Platner exit leaves Dems in disarray
Democrats are racing for the reset button in the pivotal U.S. Senate battle in Maine after Graham Platner announced he will suspend his campaign, throwing the party into a frantic search for a replacement nominee to take on Republican incumbent Susan...
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Trump says Iran ceasefire is ‘over’
President Donald Trump said on July 8 that he considered the ceasefire between the United States and Iran to be over and could resume his bombing campaign after the latest round of titfor-tat strikes, casting uncertainty over efforts to end the...
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Platner weighs future of Senate bid
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the head of Senate Democrats’ midterm operation, told Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, to immediately withdraw after a woman said he...
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Drought, heat wave raise water concerns
Americans across the nation are being asked (or ordered) to conserve water, thanks to widespread drought made even worse by a punishing heat wave. It’s being felt this summer in Virginia, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Jersey and...
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U.S. marks 250th with pomp and pyrotechnics
WASHINGTON − Celebrations across the country marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence included more than 40 tall ships sailing into New York Harbor, crowds gathering in Philadelphia, where the document was drafted, and thousands...
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SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY
The 56 steps, cut from pink granite, ascend to a neoclassical temple that seems plucked from ancient Greece and deposited on a Kentucky hilltop. One for each year of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. ● If the first eight steps, rising amid the site’s...
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Rare copy of Declaration of Independence found
LONDON – A “vanishingly rare” copy of the Declaration of Independence has been found in London, dug up in archives holding documents from the British capture of an American privateer ship in 1776. The text, famous for its rallying cry for “life,...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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Many of court’s rulings favor Trump
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court’s final decision of the term, striking down President Donald Trump’s attempt to limit who is born American, was not what the president hoped for. But the ruling was surprisingly close, given that birthright citizenship...
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High court upholds birthright citizenship
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on June 30 rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine who is an American, striking down the limits on birthright citizenship that were a centerpiece of his hard-line approach to immigration. The ruling landed...
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Court: Trump can’t fire Fed governor
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on June 29 gave President Donald Trump one win and one loss in his efforts to fire people. The justices made it easier for him to fire leaders of independent agencies in a decision that shifts power from Congress to the...
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AI can lead to false arrests and wrongful convictions
In Baltimore County, Maryland, on Oct. 20, a 17-year-old student named Taki Allen was sitting outside his high school after football practice when an artificial intelligence-enhanced surveillance camera falsely identified the Doritos bag in his pocket...
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‘Star-Spangled Banner’ was a controversial choice
ASBURY PARK, NJ – “My County ’Tis of Thee” is easier to sing. “America The Beautiful” is more picturesque. And easier to sing. Yet “The Star-Spangled Banner” is our national anthem. Love it or not – and many people, through the years, have done...
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Trump sees wins on immigration, guns
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump victories in two immigration cases June 25. In the divide between gun rights and gun violence, the justices struck down another state law, this one in Hawaii, aimed at curbing guns in public...
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Strait of Hormuz traffic rebounds; near normal
DUBAI – Oil prices fell to prewar levels on June 25 as the United States said flows through the Strait of Hormuz were nearing normal and its top diplomat wrapped up a Gulf tour aimed at winning support for a preliminary Iran deal. Energy Secretary...
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‘NURTURE HOPE’
A teenager scrolls through their phone at the dinner table, barely looks up and answers questions with one-word replies. For many adults, that image has come to stand for a larger fear: that today’s young people are disconnected from others and may be...
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Trump says Iran has agreed to inspections
DUBAI – President Donald Trump said on June 23 that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into “infinity,” despite Tehran’s denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States. Washington agreed...
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Fire transforming West’s public lands
Colorado’s two largest fires on record, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, burned hundreds of thousands of acres across some of the state’s most visited landscapes in 2020. • The fires scorched trails, campgrounds and beloved ecosystems in...
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Soccer fans finding a warm welcome in U.S.
NEW YORK – Ahead of the World Cup, many international fans were skeptical of the idea of the United States as co-hosts for soccer’s biggest tournament. There were worries over visa access, high costs, gun violence, a lack of local interest in the...
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Scenic trips to celebrate AMERICA’S BIRTHDAY
America is turning 250, but some of its greatest treasures don’t sit behind museum glass. ● The awe-inspiring scenes that take your breath away and remind you of the beauty of our nation are hidden along winding roads, tucked into mountain valleys,...
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Next round of Iran peace talks on hold
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire that was set to begin at 4 p.m. local time June 19 after escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to reach a final peace agreement with Iran. Still, the next...
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Juneteenth pioneer, 99, shares memories, advice
Opal Lee has held many titles in her nearly 100 years – mother, grandmother, teacher, activist. But she’s most heralded as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” the woman behind the momentum to federally recognize the holiday. This Juneteenth marks 161...
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Many Americans think nation’s future is grim
WASHINGTON – As the United States approaches its 250th birthday next month, about 2 out of 5 Americans do not believe it will endure another 250 years beyond that, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that highlighted deep divisions over how the nation...
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Trump: Nuclear ban part of Iran deal
President Donald Trump said June 16 that a secret peace agreement with Iran, the text of which has not been released, dictates that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. A preliminary agreement that was announced last weekend promises...
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U.S. deal with Iran leaves uncertainty
The United States and Iran were set to begin a week of high-stakes diplomacy after announcing on June 14 a framework deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary agreement that has already pushed oil prices lower but leaves the...
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WINDS OF CHANGE
The United States is in a bizarre situation in 2026: It’s facing a looming energy shortage, yet the Trump administration is making deals to pay offshore wind developers nearly $2 billion in taxpayer money to walk away from energy projects. These...
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Trump’s health a growing concern
President Donald Trump wanted everyone to know he didn’t fall asleep on the job. Following a lengthy Cabinet meeting in December during which the president closed his eyes for stretches, giving the appearance he was dozing, Trump offered Cabinet...
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Views split on White House UFC event
It was 2001, and mixed martial arts fighting was on the ropes. Banned in 36 states, booted from cable operators, derided as “human cockfighting” – it was such an outcast sport that it traded hands for $2 million. A song. The new owners of Ultimate...
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