Kilmar Abrego Garcia faces new deportation efforts after ICE detains him in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s aggressive effort to remove noncitizens from the U.S., was detained by immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday to face renewed efforts to deport him after a brief period of freedom.

Abrego Garcia's attorneys quickly filed a lawsuit to fight his deportation until a court has heard his claim for protection, stating that the U.S. could place him in a country where “his safety cannot be assured.”

The lawsuit triggered a blanket court order that automatically pauses deportation efforts for two days. The order applies to immigrants in Maryland who are challenging their detention.

Within hours of Abrego Garcia's detention, his lawyers spoke with Department of Justice attorneys and a federal judge in Maryland, who warned Abrego Garcia cannot be removed from the U.S. “at this juncture” because he must be allowed to exercise his constitutional right to contest deportation.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said overlapping court orders temporarily prohibit the government from removing Abrego Garcia, and that she would extend her own temporary restraining order barring his deportation.

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AP freelancer among 5 journalists killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital, health officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza killed five journalists Monday, according to health officials, including one who days earlier had reported for The Associated Press on children being treated for starvation at the same facility.

Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist, freelanced for AP and other news outlets during the war. The news organization said in a statement that it was shocked and saddened to learn of Dagga’s death, as well as the deaths of other journalists.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our journalists in Gaza safe as they continue to provide crucial eyewitness reporting,” AP said.

Two strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in quick succession, medical officials said. In videos, journalists and rescue workers can be seen rushing to the scene of the first one, before a massive explosion hits an exterior staircase where journalists are often stationed.

In all, 20 people were killed, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s records department.

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Trump says he's firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, opening new front in fight for central bank control

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday night that he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that would constitute a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective immediately because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences -- in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta -- in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.

Trump's move is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets, potentially pushing interest rates higher. Stock futures declined slightly late Monday, as did the dollar against other major currencies.

The independence of the Fed is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables it to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

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Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag, an activity that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office acknowledged the court’s 5-4 ruling in a case from Texas in 1989, but said there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words.”

“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month,” Trump said. “You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.”

The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the 1989 ruling, an attempt by Trump to get the issue back in front of the Supreme Court. Today's Supreme Court is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in 1989 and includes three judges Trump appointed in his first term.

Civil liberties advocates and constitutional scholars questioned both the legality and the merit of Trump’s action. A lawyer working for a free speech group said Trump does not have the power to rewrite the First Amendment.

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Some FEMA staff call out Trump cuts in public letter of dissent

More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.

“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.

The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate before locking heads with the White House.

The letter coincides with the 20th anniversary week of Hurricane Katrina, when more than 1,800 people died and profound failures in the federal response prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006.

The letter warns that poor management and eroded capacity at FEMA could undo progress made to improve the agency through that law.

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'Leave our kids alone': Schools reopen in DC with parents on edge over Trump's armed patrols

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public schools reopened Monday in the nation’s tense capital with parents on edge over the presence in their midst of thousands of National Guard troops — some now armed — and large scatterings of federal law enforcement officers carrying out President Donald Trump's orders to make the District of Columbia a safer place.

Even as Trump started talking about other cities — “Do not come to Chicago,” was the Democratic Illinois governor's clipped response — the president again touted a drop in crime that he attributed to his extraordinary effort to take over policing in Washington, D.C. The district's mayor, meanwhile, was lamenting the effect of Trump's actions on children in her city.

"Parents are anxious. We’ve heard from a lot of them," Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference, noting that some might keep their children out of school because of immigration concerns.

“Any attempt to target children is heartless, is mean, is uncalled for and it only hurts us,” she said. “I would just call for everybody to leave our kids alone.”

As schools opened across the capital city, parental social media groups and listservs were buzzing with reports and rumors of checkpoints and arrests.

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Trump envoy says officials working 'very, very hard' on ending Russia-Ukraine war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg said in Kyiv on Monday that officials are “working very, very hard” on efforts to end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, as a lack of progress fuels doubts about whether a peace settlement could be on the horizon.

Officials are “hoping to get to a position where, in the near term, we have, with a lack of a better term, security guarantees” that address Ukraine's fears of another invasion by Russia in the future, Kellogg said.

"That’s a work in progress,” Kellogg said of the potential security guarantees after attending Ukraine’s annual National Prayer Breakfast along with politicians, business leaders and diplomats.

A week ago, Trump said he had set in motion arrangements for direct peace talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy. But Russian officials have signaled that such a summit won’t happen any time soon.

Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.

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Dr Pepper will unwind its merger with Keurig 7 years ago after buying Peet's for $18 billion

Less than a decade after their merger, Keurig and Dr Pepper plan to become separate companies again.

Keurig Dr Pepper said Monday it is buying the owner of Peet's Coffee for $18 billion (15.7 billion euro). Then it will break itself in two, with one company selling coffee and the other selling cold beverages like Snapple, Dr Pepper, 7UP and energy drinks.

The agreement unwinds the 2018 merger of Keurig and Dr Pepper. Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell 11% in afternoon trading Monday.

Investors were concerned about the company's plan to finance the acquisition with a mix of cash and debt. S&P Global placed Keurig Dr Pepper on a credit watch with negative implications Monday, saying it was concerned about the increase in debt and the complexity of the two-step transaction.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Timothy Cofer said the separate coffee and beverage businesses would be more nimble and better able to focus on growth opportunities in their own markets.

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Australian Open champion Madison Keys loses in the US Open's first round to Renata Zarazua of Mexico

NEW YORK (AP) — Pretty much from the get-go at the U.S. Open on Monday, Madison Keys could tell she wasn't hitting the ball well or feeling very much at all like the self-confident player who claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

After 89 unforced errors, including 14 double-faults, the No. 6-seeded Keys was gone from Flushing Meadows in the first round with a 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 loss to 82nd-ranked Renata Zarazua of Mexico.

“For the first time in a while ... my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” said Keys, the runner-up in New York to good friend Sloane Stephens in 2017 and a semifinalist in 2018 and 2023. “I felt like I was just slow. I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”

Her first U.S. Open with the status of major champion — thanks to defeating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final at Melbourne Park — was over just as it began.

“You always kind of feel first-round jitters and, as the day is getting closer, feeling a little bit more and more nervous,” said Keys, who played with her left thigh heavily taped. “But I feel like, for whatever reason, today I just couldn’t separate myself from ... feeling like winning matters just way too much."

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Lil Nas X pleads not guilty to attacking police officers as he walked naked on LA street

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lil Nas X was charged Monday with four felonies after police say he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week.

The musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, pleaded not guilty in a court appearance to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer, the district attorney’s office said.

The charges were far more serious than initial reports that he was being investigated for a misdemeanor, and, with convictions, the counts could collectively bring a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for the singer and rapper whose “Old Town Road” was one of the biggest hit singles in history.

Police said officers found the 26-year-old walking naked on Ventura Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the Studio City neighborhood, shortly before 6 a.m. Friday. They say he charged at the officers when confronted and was arrested.

The criminal complaint filed in court Monday includes few details, but says that for each of the three officers he “did unlawfully use force and violence and inflict an injury” on a person he “reasonably should have known” was a peace officer “engaged in the performance of a duty.”

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