Articles for category: Politics

April 19, 2026

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USA, New Zealand win in KC and break a rugby record

Lightning flashed. Thunder rolled. Storms came and went. And although the matches were delayed by three hours, women’s rugby fans were boisterous while watching four of the best teams in the world. In the second appearance of the Pacific Four Series at CPKC Stadium, players from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States got to experience playing in Kansas City. Last year, USA and Canada squared off to begin the tournament in the first stadium purpose-built for a professional women’s soccer team — in front of the largest crowd ever for an American women’s rugby match. Purple skies from

April 19, 2026

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Breaking Down MSU’s Fears’ Current NBA Draft Status

Jeremy Fears put together the best season of his Michigan State career, leading the team in both points and assists while also pacing the entire country with 9.4 assists per game. Now he is testing the NBA waters. Fears has declared for the 2026 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility, a move that allows him to gather feedback from professional evaluators without fully committing to leaving East Lansing. The declaration comes as a natural next step for a player who arrived at Michigan State as a McDonald’s All-American with NBA potential, provided he continued to develop his game at

April 18, 2026

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Virginia strips tax breaks for organizations connected to the Confederacy | Virginia

On Monday, Virginia’s governor, Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat and the state’s first female governor, signed into law a bill that eliminates tax exemptions for organizations connected to the Confederacy. HB167, passed by Democrats in the Virginia house and senate, specifically removes the Virginia division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Stonewall Jackson Memorial, the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, along with other groups, from the state’s list of organizations that are exempt from state property taxes. Founded in 1894, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is a non-profit

April 18, 2026

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Trump discloses Florida Republican’s ‘terminal’ diagnosis in meandering talk | Donald Trump

Donald Trump on Monday publicly revealed details about a Republican congressman’s “terminal” diagnosis that could have left him “dead by June”, prompting Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, to say: “That wasn’t public.” Trump touched on Neal Dunn’s health during a meandering press conference at the White House held alongside leaders of the Kennedy Center and other top Republicans, in which he also discussed topics including the performing arts venue’s upcoming renovation, the breast cancer diagnosis of Susan Wiles, his chief of staff, and the war with Iran. His comments about the 73-year-old Florida representative came as Republicans struggle to

April 18, 2026

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US judge orders Trump to halt $400m White House ballroom project | Donald Trump

A US judge has halted the construction of Donald Trump’s $400m White House ballroom. The US president demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make way for the project. US district judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization that brought a lawsuit alleging that Trump had exceeded his authority by razing the East Wing and beginning construction without approval from Congress. The decision by Leon, an appointee of George W Bush, leaves the 90,000-sq-ft ballroom project on hold unless it

April 18, 2026

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Iranian gunboats open fire upon tanker hours after closing the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian gunboats have opened fire on a tanker attempting to pass the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the Iranian military said it would close the Strait due to “repeated breaches of trust”. The UK Maritime Traffic Organisation (UKMTO) issued an advisory that two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gunboats had fired upon a tanker as it passed the strait. The crew and the ship are safe but it’s unclear if there’s been any damage. The UKMTO did not report which nation the tanker was flagged to. UKMTO warning that two IRGC gunboats had opened fire on a tanker. (UKMTO) The

April 18, 2026

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USDA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Break Ground on New Texas Sterile Fly Production Facility

(Edinburg, TX, April 17, 2026) — Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins and Lieutenant General William H. “Butch” Graham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) commanding general, led the groundbreaking for the new sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas. USDA is partnering with USACE to construct this facility, which is a cornerstone of Secretary Rollins’ five-pronged strategy (PDF, 1005 KB) to combat New World Screwworm (NWS), expanding the nation’s domestic capacity to protect livestock, wildlife, and public health from this serious pest. “Breaking ground on this facility marks a major investment in safeguarding

April 18, 2026

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BREAKING: Cade Horton Timeline Set After Tommy John Surgery

The Cubs know how long Cade Horton will need to recover after Tommy John surgery on Thursday. It will be a while. Cade Horton underwent a full Tommy John surgery on Thursday, per Taylor McGregor. Horton left his second start of the season for the Chicago Cubs in Cleveland after feeling discomfort in his throwing forearm. After receiving a second opinion, it was decided that surgery would be the best option. It was unknown how invasive the surgery would be. We now know it’s a full Tommy John, and the recovery time will be 15-16 months. If recovery goes as

April 18, 2026

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Trump’s mass deportation plan has broken the quiet of small US towns: ‘We have to take care of each other’ | US immigration

J, a Venezuelan immigrant with his daughter, doesn’t feel safe leaving home after his wife was taken by federal agents while driving near their home in St Croix county in February. The Mexican restaurant where multiple workers were taken in February still sits dark, across the road from a travel plaza where people were also arrested by federal agents. An Ecuadorian market in a nearby town targeted by immigration agents is back open again, with a sign on the door telling people to ring the bell before entering. And J was still staying inside – the federal agents had already

April 18, 2026

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Iran war’s “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump says

President Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social network on Wednesday that Iran’s president had “just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Mr. Trump said Iran’s “New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors,” had requested the ceasefire. Iran currently has the same president it’s had since July 2024, however, when President Masoud Pezeshkian took office.  Pezeshkian, long viewed as a more moderate figure than the Islamic clerics and Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders who’ve long wielded most of the power in the country, did say Tuesday that Iran had the