WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is stripping tens of millions of dollars in U.S. military ******* istance from countries in Europe and the Middle East to support conservative-leaning governments in Central and South America.
The State Department on Tuesday notified Congress that it will reprogram $52 million in foreign military financing from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador and Peru last week and pledged to them additional support as the Trump administration has prioritized the Western Hemisphere in its foreign policy with an emphasis on combating drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
It is just the latest in a series of moves that have reduced either money or troop deployments to Europe in response to President Donald Trump's complaints about NATO allies not spending enough on their defense budgets and other matters. Both North Macedonia and Slovakia are NATO members.
But it also comes as the administration has put particular attention on the Western Hemisphere, aligning deeply with right-wing governments as Trump celebrates a renewal of the 19th century Monroe Doctrine establishing Washington's dominance in the Americas.

#Trump #Europe #slovakia

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash after giving a ceremonial pen from a 9/11 remembrance ceremony to a top aide who once represented a convicted al Qaeda member whose brother-in-law hijacked the plane that struck the Pentagon.
Mamdani signed executive orders Friday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, designating the date a citywide day of remembrance and service and strengthening efforts to prevent future terrorist threats.
After signing the final order, Mamdani handed the pen to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and asked her to pass it to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, who pleaded guilty to war-crime charges tied to al Qaeda plots against commercial ships and was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, killing 184.
Mamdani Faces Growing 9/11 Backlash As Old Post Resurfaces Ahead Of Ground Zero Ceremony: 'Is This Real?'
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch hands a ceremonial pen to Ramzi Kassem, who once represented a convicted al Qaeda member tied to a 9/11 hijacker.

#qaeda #jessica #tisch

The biological parents of a baby born after their surrogate refused their request for an abortion are now seeking more than $100,000 from the woman who carried their child, alleging she breached their surrogacy agreement.
TMZ reported Wednesday that it obtained the countersuit filed by Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed against surrogate McKenna West, weeks before she gave birth in Texas Aug. 12.
The couple is seeking more than $100,000 for alleged breach of their surrogacy agreement, along with unspecified damages over what they call West's "malicious, outrageous conduct."
The couple alleges they paid West $60,000 during the pregnancy under the surrogacy agreement, which included provisions addressing termination, TMZ reported. The counterclaims accuse West of breaching that deal and causing the couple emotional distress.
Surrogate Gives Birth In Texas To Baby With Heart Defect After Parents Requested Abortion

#surrogate #couple #abortion #birth

By Parisa Hafezi and Katharine Jackson
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Iran has decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the United States, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.
Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker ‌traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the U.S. ‌and Israel launched on February 28.
"Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
There was no immediate response to those comments from Washington, but U.S. President Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Monday that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender".

#Iran #washington #Monday #hormuz

A socialist candidate for governor in Wisconsin with an extensive history of inflammatory online posts once described America as "an abundance of suffering," Fox News Digital has found.
"I want this country to stop being an abundance of suffering but a wealth of opportunity," reads a Jan. 20, 2022 X post from Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong, who is running in the Democratic Party's primary election to become the state's top official.
"We can do this by providing equal rights to Black and Brown folks," the post continues. "Elect more Black and Brown folks who won't be racist obstructionists. We can all be better and do so much more."
Wisconsin Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong waves as she acknowledges the crowd during a campaign rally on August 2, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Socialist Frontrunner In The Hot Seat After 'Cancel Thanksgiving' Post Emerges Online

#francesca #brown #online #abundance

(NewsNation) — A well-liked floor installer walked out of his house in North Dakota in May of 2024 and never came back.
Keith Schmidt's family doesn't know if he just decided he didn't want to live that life anymore or if something else happened to the 53-year-old.
Without a death certificate, they can't sell his house or any of his belongings, so they're using their own savings to keep the case going and hoping someone will finally get them answers.
Scarlet Sims is missing: Woman last seen in Frankfort unheard from for months
Schmidt's sister, Laura Scherer, told NewsNation that from a young age, Schmidt seemed to love farm life in North Dakota.

#without

By Karen Brettell and Sruthi Shankar
July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded from earlier lows on Tuesday ahead of key corporate earnings releases and the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated interest rate decision on Wednesday.
World stocks had earlier fallen to a one-month low as ‌investors dumped chipmakers on concerns about Chinese competition and the funding of the AI boom.
But gains in other sectors offset a decline ‌in chip stocks in the U.S. session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29% to 52,881.21, the S&P 500 rose 0.37% to 7,440.40 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04% to 24,940.99.

#earlier #brettell #sruthi

Republican Sen. Deb Fischer (Neb.) on Wednesday objected to a request from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) for unanimous consent to prohibit President Trump from using taxpayer money to further retrofit a luxury Boeing 747 gifted to the president from Qatar.
The GOP senator blocked Schumer's request to pass his Presidential Airlift Security Act, which would stop the Pentagon from spending more taxpayer money to modify Trump's new jet.
Schumer said Trump's decision to accept the jet to serve as the new Air Force One was another example of what he called "corruption" in the administration.
"Now he wants the taxpayers to fund his palace in the sky as well. Trump's $400 million foreign jet, the biggest gift a president has received from a foreign government ever, is anything but free. Taxpayers will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to outfit Trump's luxury jet with the security upgrades it needs to serve as Air Force One," Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Fischer rose to object and pointed out that that Schumer's proposal had already been considered and voted down by the Senate earlier this year.

#president #fischer

The camp where 28 people died last summer during the July 4 flash floods has filed for bankruptcy.
Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at 1 a.m. Wednesday, June 24, in the Southern District of Texas, with documents showing that its total debts exceeded $10 million.
The bankruptcy filing comes days after the Texas legislature released its investigation findings into what had happened on that deadly night, with the report showing that the camp failed to provide adequate emergency plans and preparations.
Visual investigation: See how the Texas floods unfolded and why Camp Mystic was in a hazardous location
The camp had intended to open this summer, but faced public backlash from parents of those who were killed and faced hurdles in trying to obtain its license from the state.

LONDON (AP) — A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death.
The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.
Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree's gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said.
The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive.
That is no longer the case.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Police in Vietnam rescued more than 400 cats in a major bust of a cat meat crime ring last week in Ho Chi Minh City, and at least 40 of them have been reunited with their owners.
However, following the dayslong police operation, several of the cats died because of the harsh conditions they were found in, animal welfare groups said. They didn't elaborate or provide an exact number on the cats who didn't make it.
Since the operation, veterinarians and volunteers have flocked to care for the cats at a temporary rescue center set up at a facility run by the Ho Chi Minh City Criminal Police Division.
"People who lost their cats can come to the police station to identify their pets and help the police with the investigation," police official Nguyen The Bao told the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper.
This operation is "a sobering reminder of the enormous scale of Viet Nam's cat meat trade," according to Karanvir Kukreja, who leads a campaign against dog and cat meat consumption for the international nonprofit Humane World for Animals.