Supreme Court allows Trump to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans who risk deportation

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation.

The court's order, with only one noted dissent, puts on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month. The justices provided no rationale, which is common in emergency appeals.

The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.

The high court's order appears to be the “single largest action in modern American history stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, one of the attorneys for Venezuelan migrants.

“This decision will force families to be in an impossible position either choosing to survive or choosing stability,” said Cecilia Gonzalez Herrera, who sued to try and stop the Trump administration from revoking legal protections from her and others like her.

___

Democratic Rep. McIver charged with assault after skirmish at ICE center, New Jersey prosecutor says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault after a skirmish with federal officers outside an immigration detention center, said New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, who also announced Monday that she was dropping a trespassing case against the Newark mayor whose arrest led to the disturbance.

Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba wrote on social media that McIver is facing a charge of assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement, but court papers providing details were not immediately released or publicly available online.

The prosecution of McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. The case instantly taps into a much broader and more consequential power struggle between a Trump administration engaged in a sweeping overhaul of immigration policy and a Democratic party scrambling for ways to respond.

Within minutes of Habba’s announcement, McIver’s Democratic colleagues cast the prosecution as an infringement on lawmakers’ official duties to serve their constituents and an effort to silence their opposition to an immigration policy that helped propel the president back into power but now has emerged as divisive fault line in American political discourse.

At the same time, Habba announced that her office agreed to dismiss a misdemeanor charge against Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested after he attempted to join McIver and two other members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation inspecting the facility in their oversight capacity. Habba said the decision was reached “for the sake of moving forward" and said she has invited the mayor to tour the Delaney Hall detention center and will join him herself.

___

First few aid trucks enter Gaza but allies threaten Israel with sanctions and urge more

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The first few aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday following nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and other supplies, Israel and the United Nations said, as Israel acknowledged growing pressure from allies including the United States.

Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered the territory of over 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT.

The U.N. humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called it a “welcome development” but described the trucks as a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” Food security experts last week warned of famine in Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March, some 600 aid trucks entered Gaza each day.

Fletcher said an additional four U.N. trucks were cleared to enter Gaza. Those trucks may enter Tuesday, COGAT said. Fletcher added that given the chaotic situation on the ground, the U.N. expects the aid could be looted or stolen, a growing problem as resources became increasingly scarce.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume “minimal” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support Israel’s new military offensive if there are “images of hunger” coming from the Palestinian territory.

___

Trump says Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin immediately following call with Putin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, President Donald Trump said Monday after separate calls with the leaders of both countries meant to spur progress toward ending the three-year war. The conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough.

It was not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Trump’s announcement came days after the first direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. Those negotiations Friday in Turkey brought about a limited exchange of prisoners but no pause in the fighting.

Ahead of the calls, the White House said Trump had grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the continuing war. Vice President JD Vance said Trump would press Russian President Vladimir Putin to see if he was truly interested in stopping the fighting, and if not, that the U.S. could disengage from trying to stop the conflict. Trump later told reporters that he believed Putin was serious about wanting peace.

“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in a social media post.

Trump said the call with Putin was “excellent,” adding, "If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.”

___

After a political career shaped by cancer, Biden faces his own grim diagnosis

WASHINGTON (AP) — In Joe Biden’s family, there’s a saying that the three worst words anyone can hear are “you have cancer.”

One decade ago, his son Beau died from a brain tumor. Several years later, his wife Jill had two cancerous lesions removed in her own brush with the disease.

Now it is the former president’s turn. Biden’s office disclosed his prostate cancer diagnosis over the weekend, saying it has already spread to his bones.

Although the cancer can possibly be controlled with treatment, it is no longer curable. The announcement is a bitter revelation that a disease that has brought so much tragedy to Biden’s life could be what ends it.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.”

___

Trump alleges 'genocide' in South Africa. At an agricultural fair, even Afrikaner farmers scoff

BOTHAVILLE, South Africa (AP) — Days before South Africa's president meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House this week, Afrikaner farmers at the center of an extraordinary new U.S. refugee policy roamed a memorial to farm attacks in their country's agricultural heartland, some touching the names of the dead — both Black and white.

Here in Bothaville, where thousands of farmers gathered for a lively agricultural fair with everything from grains to guns on display, even some conservative white Afrikaner groups debunked the Trump administration's “genocide” and land seizure claims that led it to cut all financial aid to South Africa.

The bustling scene was business as usual, with milkshakes and burgers and tow-headed children pulled in wagons.

The late President Nelson Mandela — South Africa's first Black leader — stood in Bothaville over a quarter-century ago and acknowledged the increasing violent attacks on farmers in the first years following the decades-long racial system of apartheid. “But the complex problem of crime on our farms, as elsewhere, demand long-term solutions,” he said.

Some at the agricultural fair said fleeing the country isn't one of them.

___

More severe weather pummels the central US as thousands recover from deadly tornadoes

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — More tornadoes plowed through the central U.S. on Monday and thousands were without power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service.

In McAlester, in southeast Oklahoma, officials reported downed power lines and debris, with multiple roads blocked. About 28 miles (45 kilometers) east, in Wilburton, the city's Facebook page reported a tornado on the ground and heading its way. “Take cover now!” the post warned residents.

Nearly 130,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas, according to PowerOutage.us.

In northwest Arkansas, severe weather caused a Halsey concert to be canceled. And in Oklahoma, Tulsa Public Schools canceled all afterschool activities.

___

Singer Dawn Richard says Sean 'Diddy' Combs threatened her with death after she saw him beat Cassie

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Dawn Richard told jurors at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial on Monday that the hip-hop mogul threatened to kill her if she told anyone she saw him physically abusing his longtime girlfriend.

Richard testified that Combs made the threat the day after she witnessed the Bad Boy Records founder punch and kick Casandra “Cassie” Ventura after taking a swing at her with a skillet. Richard said he told her and another woman who saw the attack that “we could go missing” if they didn't stay quiet.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner asked Richard what she took “we could go missing” to mean.

“That we could die,” Richard responded, saying she was shocked because all of this happened just as she was beginning to record with Diddy — Dirty Money, a musical trio with Combs and another R&B singer.

Richard disclosed the alleged threat as she returned to the witness stand to kick off the second week of testimony in Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court.

___

Trump looks to unite Republicans with visit to Capitol before key votes on tax cut bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will look to build momentum for his sweeping tax cut and immigration bill on Tuesday, taking a trip to Capitol Hill to address House Republicans as they try to work out their differences before a planned floor vote later this week.

Trump will attend the GOP's weekly conference meeting, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet made public.

Republicans can afford only a few defections to get the bill through the House, and it's clear differences remain. Some deficit hawks are insisting on quicker cuts to Medicaid and green energy programs before giving their full support. Others are seeking a large increase in the state and local tax deduction.

Trump has been pushing hard for Republicans to unite behind the bill, which would enact many of his campaign promises. The bill carries his preferred title, the “ One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

House Republicans narrowly advanced the sprawling 1,116-page package in a rare weekend vote late Sunday, but just barely, as GOP leaders promise more negotiations ahead.

___

NFL owners set to discuss tush push again, along with playoff and flag football proposals

The fate of the tush push will be up for discussion again along with the NFL's history of giving division champions with mediocre records home field in the playoffs.

There will be a new topic as well when NFL owners gather Tuesday and Wednesday at the headquarters of the Minnesota Vikings after the league issued a proposal that would allow its players to participate in flag football when the sport makes its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.

“There’s more work to be done there,” NFL executive Jeff Miller said when the flag football proposal was released last week. “It will certainly be an important topic of conversation. ... I would expect it to be an engaging and robust conversation on that topic.”

Philadelphia's famous play has been a topic of conversation for years, reaching a new level when owners agreed to consider a proposal from Green Bay to ban a short-yardage scheme that has helped the Eagles win one Super Bowl — this past season — and reach another.

Owners were set to vote last month but instead tabled the topic for more discussion of a play where Jalen Hurts takes the snap on a quarterback sneak while two or three players line up behind him to try to push him past the first down line or into the end zone.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025