As Guatemalan kids sit in planes on tarmac, judge orders they stay in the US, for now

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — With migrant children waiting on tarmacs to be sent to their native Guatemala, a federal judge Sunday temporarily blocked the flights, siding with attorneys for the children who said the government was breaking laws and sending their clients to potential peril.

The extraordinary drama played out overnight on a holiday weekend and vaulted from tarmacs in Texas to a courtroom in Washington. It was the latest showdown over the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration — and the latest clash between the administration's enforcement efforts and legal safeguards that Congress created for vulnerable migrants.

Guatemalan children who arrived at the border without their parents or guardians will stay for at least two weeks while the legal fight unfolds, according to the ruling.

“I do not want there to be any ambiguity,” said U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan.

Minutes after her hastily scheduled hearing, five charter buses pulled up to a plane at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, a hub for deportation flights. Hours earlier, authorities had walked dozens of passengers — perhaps 50 — toward the plane in an area restricted to government planes. Passengers wore colored clothing typically used in government-run shelters for migrant children.

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Rudy Giuliani injured in New Hampshire car crash, his spokesperson says

Rudy Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in New Hampshire in which he was a passenger, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said Sunday.

Giuliani was being driven in a rented Ford Bronco by his spokesperson Ted Goodman when their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman late Saturday evening, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement.

Troopers witnessed the crash, which caused both vehicles to hit the highway median and left them “heavily damaged,” state police said. Goodman and the 19-year-old suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” and were taken to hospitals for treatment, the agency added.

State police said they are investigating the crash and no charges have been filed.

Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security.

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DHS Secretary Noem confirms more ICE resources are heading to Chicago for immigration crackdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday said that the Trump administration will soon expand immigration operations in Chicago, confirming plans for a stepped up presence of federal agents in the nation's third-largest city as President Donald Trump continues to lash out at Illinois' Democratic leadership.

Noem's comments come after the DHS last week requested limited logistical support from officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes to support the agency's anticipated operations. The military installation is about 35 miles north of Chicago.

“We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago... but we do intend to add more resources to those operations,” Noem said during an appearance CBS News' ”Face the Nation."

Noem declined to provide further details about the planned surge of federal officers. It comes after the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles.

Trump lashed out against Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in a social media posting Saturday, warning him that he must straighten out Chicago's crime problems quickly “or we're coming.” The Republican president has also been critical of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

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Government shutdown looms as Congress returns after monthlong August recess

Congressional Republicans scored a massive victory this summer when they passed President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” of tax and spending cuts without a single Democratic vote. But as they return to Washington this fall after a monthlong August recess, they will have to find a way to work with Democrats — or around them — as a government shutdown looms.

The annual spending battle will dominate the September agenda, along with a possible effort by Senate Republicans to change their chamber's rules to thwart Democratic stalling tactics on nominations. The Senate is also debating whether to move forward on legislation that would slap steep tariffs on some of Russia’s trading partners as the U.S. pressures Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.

In the House, Republicans will continue their investigations of former President Joe Biden while Speaker Mike Johnson navigates a split in his conference over whether the Trump administration should release more files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

A look at what Congress will be doing as lawmakers return from the August break:

The most urgent task for Congress is to avoid a government shutdown on Sept. 30, when federal funding runs out. And it’s so far unclear if Republicans and Democrats will be able to agree on how to do that.

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How the Fed losing its independence could affect Americans’ everyday lives

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve's governing board has raised alarms among economists and legal experts who see it as the biggest threat to the central bank's independence in decades.

The consequences could impact most Americans' everyday lives: Economists worry that if Trump gets what he wants — a loyal Fed that sharply cuts short-term interest rates — the result would likely be higher inflation and, over time, higher borrowing costs for things like mortgages, car loans and business loans.

Trump on Monday sought to fire Lisa Cook, the first Black woman appointed to the Fed's seven-member governing board. It was the first time in the Fed's 112-year history that a president has tried to fire a governor.

Trump said he was doing so because of allegations raised by one of his appointees that she has committed mortgage fraud.

Cook has argued in a lawsuit seeking to block her firing that the claims are a pretext for Trump's true goal: Gaining more control over the Fed. A court may decide next week whether to temporarily block Cook’s firing while the case makes its way through the legal process.

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Democrats see crime as a major problem. Their party is struggling to address it

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Eric McWilliams doesn't approve of Donald Trump sending National Guard troops to cities like Washington, D.C. And he's certainly not supportive of most of the president's policies.

But the 63-year old retired handyman and U.S. Navy veteran does praise Trump for one thing. “When it comes to crime," he said, “He’s alright. He's doing pretty good. How he’s doing it is another matter.”

“Crime is a big problem,” he went on. “At least he is doing something.”

McWilliams' views reflect the thinking of a lot of Democrats, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It finds that while most disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue, a large majority, 68%, see crime as a “major problem” in large cities. That's despite the fact that statistics show crime, overall, is down across the nation, with some cities reporting 30-year lows.

The findings underscore the challenge facing Democratic leaders. They must thread the needle between criticizing Trump's policies, which are deeply unpopular among their base, while at the same time not dismissing widespread concerns about safety, which are amplified in many news sources and in online forums like Facebook and the popular Nextdoor app.

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PBS, NPR stations struggle with Trump-fueled government funding cuts

NEW YORK (AP) — Coping with a sudden loss in federal funding, PBS affiliate KSPS in Spokane, Washington, faced a surprise extra hurdle. Many of its contributing members — at one point almost half — lived in Canada, and they were withdrawing support out of anger at President Donald Trump's desire to make the country the 51st member of the United States.

When Congress decided this summer to eliminate $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, it left some 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations, each with unique issues related to their communities and history, to figure out what that means.

Many launched emergency fund drives and are heartened by the response. The national NPR and PBS networks are reducing expected dues payments, and a philanthropic effort focused on the hardest-hit stations is taking shape. No stations have shut down, but job and programming cuts are already beginning.

In Spokane, KSPS has always tried to keep its requests for member donations separate from appeals for public funding. Not anymore. Congress left the station with a $1.2 million hole to fill, about 18% of its budget, and the station is using that as a pretext to seek help from listeners.

“We have definitely seen some attrition from our Canadian members,” said Skyler Reep, the station's interim general manager.

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Israel kills Hamas spokesperson as security cabinet meets to discuss expanding offensive in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military announced Sunday that it killed the longtime spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing, as the country's security cabinet met to discuss the expanding offensive in some of Gaza 's most populated areas.

There were no plans to discuss negotiations for a ceasefire at the meeting, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz identified the spokesperson as Abu Obeida, the nom de guerre for the person who represented Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. He was killed over the weekend. Hamas has not commented on the claim.

Abu Obeida’s last statement was issued Friday as Israel began the initial stages of the new offensive and declared Gaza City a combat zone. His statement said the militants would do their best to protect living hostages but warned that they would be in areas of fighting. He said the remains of dead hostages would “disappear forever.”

Israel’s military said the spokesperson, whom it identified as Hudahaifa Kahlout, had been behind the release of videos showing hostages as well as footage of the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war. The military also reiterated a threat against remaining Hamas leaders abroad.

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Flotilla leaves Barcelona in biggest attempt yet to break Israeli blockade of Gaza

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A flotilla of ships departed from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip Sunday with humanitarian aid and activists on board in the largest attempt yet to break the long Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea.

This comes as Israel has stepped up its offensive on Gaza City, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies in the north of the Palestinian territory. Food experts warned earlier this month that the city was in famine and that half a million people across the strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying food, water and medicine. Activists on board demanded safe passage to deliver the much-needed aid and the opening of a humanitarian sea corridor, according to a statement. The almost 23-month war has killed more than 63,000 people, with at least 332 Palestinians dying of malnutrition, including 124 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The maritime convoy of about 20 boats and delegations from 44 countries is claimed to be the largest attempt to date to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip by sea, which has now lasted 18 years. They will be joined by more ships from ports in Italy and Tunisia in the coming days, on the route from the western end of the Mediterranean to the Gaza Strip, organizers said.

Thousands of supporters flocked to the Barcelona pier, some of them wearing kaffiyehs and chanting “Free Palestine!” and “Boycott Israel!” to send off a wide variety of boats, flying Palestinian flags, from rundown old luxury yachts to tiny wooden sailboats and industrial-looking vessels. One of them, the Sirus, is more than 100 years old.

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Jessica Pegula is back in the US Open quarterfinals after a fourth-round romp, will face Krejcikova

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, which used to be her roadblock.

The way Pegula is playing at this U.S. Open, it may be just another stop on the way back to the final.

The No. 4 seed rolled into the last eight by routing fellow American Ann Li 6-1, 6-2 in just 54 minutes on Sunday. She will face Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday after the two-time Grand Slam champion fought off eight match points in a second set that ended with a 25-minute tiebreaker and beat Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6 (13), 6-3.

Townsend was trying to reach her first quarterfinal in her 31st Grand Slam appearance.

Pegula hasn’t dropped a set this year at Flushing Meadows, and only once was she even kept on court for more than 1 hour, 15 minutes.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025