AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT
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.
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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 who arrested the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention center, New Jersey's top federal prosecutor announced Monday.
Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba on social media announced the charge of assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement, but court papers providing details were not immediately released or publicly available online.
At the same time, Habba announced that her office was dismissing a misdemeanor case brought against 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.
"The citizens of New Jersey deserve unified leadership so we can get to work to keep our state safe," Habba said in a statement.
McIver´s attorney, Paul Fishman, the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey, issued a statement calling the decision to charge McIver "spectacularly inappropriate," saying she went to Delaney Hall "to do her job" and she has the responsibility as a member of Congress to oversee U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's treatment of detainees.
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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.
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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."
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The Latest: Putin says Russia is ready to work to end fighting in Ukraine after call with Trump
Moscow is ready to work toward ending the fighting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday following a two-hour phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Putin said that Russia and Ukraine would need to find compromises to suit all parties.
Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia´s invasion in February 2022, and that makes these conversations a serious test of his reputation as a dealmaker after having claimed he would quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not even before he took office.
Here's the latest:
Trump is hosting a dinner at the White House for the members of the performing arts center´s new board of directors.
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More storms threaten the central US as thousands recover from deadly tornadoes
LONDON, Ky. (AP) - Thousands of people from Texas to Kentucky cleaned up Monday from severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in four days as another round of tornadoes struck the central U.S.
At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service.
In Wilburton, in southeast Texas, the city´s Facebook page reported a tornado on the ground and heading its way. "Take cover now!" the post warned residents.
In northern Texas, softball-sized hail was confirmed, according to Scott Kleebauer, meteorologist with the service's Weather Prediction Center.
Earlier Monday in St. Louis, where officials estimated a Friday tornado damaged 5,000 buildings and may cost well over $1 billion, the mayor warned that federal assistance could take weeks.
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Radio calls asked tugs for help 45 seconds before Mexican ship hit Brooklyn Bridge, officials say
The Mexican navy tall ship that struck the Brooklyn Bridge was underway for less than 5 minutes before its masts crashed into the historic span, and radio calls indicating it was in distress went out only 45 seconds before the deadly collision, according to a timeline laid out by U.S. investigators Monday.
With the help of a tugboat, the Cuauhtemoc training vessel backed away from a Manhattan pier filled with cheering people at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, officials said.
Videos showed the ship moving slowly at first, its rigging filled with white lights and naval cadets balanced high on the ship's yards - the spars that hold the sails. The tugboat nudged the ship along, keeping it from drifting upstream toward the bridge in the current as it backed up into the East River toward Brooklyn.
But after a few minutes, the ship separated from the tug and picked up speed, still moving in reverse, heading for the bridge.
Four minutes after the ship left the pier, a radio call went out asking for help from any additional tugboats in the area, followed by other requests for assistance, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brian Young said at a media briefing Monday. Officials did not say whether those radio calls originated from the ship, the tug, or somewhere else.
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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.
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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.
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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.
