The Spectrum & Daily News
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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Anthony Nel was surprised when his voter registration was revoked in Texas after he cast an early ballot for the November 2025 election.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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘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...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
6 U.S. service members killed in plane crash
Six more U.S. service members were killed when their refueling aircraft crashed after a midair collision over western Iraq, officials said March 13, as the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran reached the two-week mark with few signs of slowing down. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MALARIA FIGHT MOVES FORWARD
Every year, malaria kills more than 600,000 people worldwide. Most of them are children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa. But the disease isn’t confined to poor, rural areas – it’s a global threat that travels with people across borders. For decades, the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump juggling war and midterms
Can President Donald Trump run both a war and a midterm campaign at the same time? He is discovering just how difficult that can be. In week two of the biggest military operation of his presidency − a conflict that already has ensnared the Gulf...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Experts weigh in on U.S. approach to Iran
The United States’ bombing campaign in Iran amounts to a war launched without congressional authorization, according to many legal and defense experts. But they also say courts likely won’t step in, leaving Congress as the only potential check on the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Oil prices soar as Iran names leader
As the U.S.-Israel war with Iran entered its 10th day on March 9, oil prices soared over fears of a prolonged conflict, President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” and the Pentagon made public the name of the seventh U.S. service member...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump: No interest in Iran negotiations
As the United States-Israeli offense in Iran advanced into its second week, President Donald Trump said that he is not interested in negotiations. Instead, he raised the possibility that the war would continue until the Middle East country no longer...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SOLAR STANDOFF
After wind turbines came to Ford County, Kansas, in 2006, the roads got fixed, schools were rebuilt and for the first time in decades, dozens of new houses were constructed. ● “We just added another crop,” said Deloyce McKee, 76, whose family has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump demands Iran’s surrender
President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” in a social media post the morning of March 6, insisting “there will be no deal” to end his 7-day-old war with the battered Persian Gulf power. The president added in a social media post...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ballroom vote delayed
A vote on President Donald Trump’s plans for a $400 million White House ballroom was rescheduled, as a commission in charge of deciding the project has been deluged with more than 35,000 written comments and 104 people who wanted to testify at a March...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Drone strikes hit U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia
The United States ordered nonemergency government personnel and their family members to leave Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan and closed several diplomatic missions across the Middle East on March 3 as the war with Iran escalated. The move...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
U.S. fighter jets crash in Kuwait
The Trump administration’s conflict with Iran will not be “endless,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on March 2, as the United States and Israel’s joint air strikes against Iran expand, the death toll rises and a congressional debate over President...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Tehran retaliates after leader killed in strikes
Three U.S. service members were killed amid the ongoing conflict in Iran and five were seriously wounded, according to American military officials. “Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions – and are in the process of being...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Doctors weigh in on the measles vaccine
MILWAUKEE – After a quarter century in which the United States was considered free of endemic measles, it’s back. As of Feb. 19, 982 confirmed measles cases have been reported in the country in 2026, according to the latest data from the Centers for...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Clinton depositions show changed Democratic Party
WASHINGTON – In late February 2016, Hillary Clinton cruised to an overwhelming victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary – an unambiguous statement of the former first lady and secretary of state’s dominance over her party as she...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Iran floats talks for non-nuclear issues
GENEVA – The United States and Iran could reach a framework for a deal if Washington separates “nuclear and non-nuclear issues,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that remaining gaps need to be narrowed during a third round of talks in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)