Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
KYIV, Ukraine—Comedian and political dark horse Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraine’s presidential election by a landslide on Sunday, dealing a blunt rebuke to the country’s post-Soviet political establishment. “I promise I will never let any of you down," Zelensky said during a Sunday night victory speech. Sunday’s runoff election followed a first round vote in March,…
The Student Association at George Washington University has called the school’s nickname and mascot, the Colonials, “extremely offensive” and has urged that it be changed, but it’s not at all clear how widespread support for the move is among the broader student body. A recent referendum question asking GW students whether the university should…
For six years, the only luxuries Bopha Sayavong dreamed of were peace, quiet, food, and shelter. It wasn’t until she landed in Little Rock, Arkansas, as a refugee from communist Cambodia on Oct. 31, 1981, that she began to imagine the luxuries freedom would bring. Even after arriving in the U.S., though, life was not…
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said several U.S. citizens died in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. Terrorists killed over 200 people and wounded 450 others in Sri Lanka using coordinated explosive attacks on churches and hotels. Bombs erupted in churches in Negombo, Colombo, and Batticaloa and in the hotels Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand….
Elisha Doerr would not have had an opportunity to attend Wisconsin Lutheran High School, a Milwaukee-based private boarding school, if it weren’t for a school choice program. The school’s excellent curricula and the religious community were valuable to Doerr, 18, who now attends Harvard University and is deciding between majoring in government or computer science….
The final report by special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, but details in the 448-page document provide fodder for congressional Democrats who want more investigations. The lightly redacted report released Thursday by the Justice Department states that President Donald Trump feared appointment of a…
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report highlights 10 episodes that could be construed as obstruction of justice, although his investigation found no underlying conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Attorney General William Barr held a press conference Thursday morning to lay out the conclusions…
Attorney General William Barr has announced a new asylum policy to curb the government’s practice of catching illegal immigrants and then releasing them into the nation’s interior. The American Civil Liberties Union already has vowed to challenge the change in court even as President Donald Trump seeks to use all legal tools at his disposal…
The Trump administration is exploring the legality of transporting illegal immigrants who the government can’t detain to sanctuary cities, which by definition welcome illegal immigrants. Prominent Democrats say they oppose the idea, and even supporters say President Donald Trump could be trolling Democrats in a public relations move. If Trump moves forward with the…
A Mexican national was sentenced to one month in prison for illegally voting in the 2016 presidential election, a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced Monday. Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, 61, pleaded guilty to illegally voting in the 2016 general election in North Carolina. He was consequently sentenced to one month in prison…
A legal citizen from Togo was reportedly attacked in Maryland for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat on Saturday, as police have taken two suspects into custody. The man, who lives in Germantown, Maryland, was reportedly attacked in his neighborhood by two men because he was wearing the hat, in support of President Donald Trump. He was reportedly hit…
President Donald Trump shared in the world’s horror at news that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a Catholic landmark dating to the 12th century, was being ravaged by fire. “No cathedral in the world like it,” Trump told a crowd at Nuss Truck & Equipment near Minneapolis, where he spoke at a scheduled event, adding…
Actions by Justice Department officials in spying on a Donald Trump campaign adviser in 2016 could be a crime or merely an administrative offense, legal experts say. Crimes could include perjury or misleading a court, they say, while disciplinary action for an administrative offense could mean being fired or losing a law license. Testifying last…
Firefighters stood helpless to stem the blaze Monday at Notre Dame Cathedral, likely because of Gothic engineering techniques that waterproofed the roof, consigning it to destruction. The roof and spire of Notre Dame were all but doomed to burn once flames began to spread, possibly begun by a renovation accident, according to Ted Henderson, who studied archaeology…
Luis Bonilla-Hernandez, an illegal migrant from El Salvador, was sentenced to two years of prison on Friday for running a criminal sex operation right in the heart of the Washington, D.C., area. “Bonilla-Hernandez profited from the sexual exploitation of women who found themselves in difficult and vulnerable places,” G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. attorney for the…
Legislatures in liberal states are advancing bills similar to a New York law allowing mothers to abort their babies up to the time of birth. Although legal experts say such “birthday abortion” measures may not directly violate federal restrictions on abortion, the more radical proposals could justify greater federal scrutiny. “Whenever an inalienable right, such…
As his first legislative session winds down, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—elected five months ago by the narrowest of margins—has soared in popularity while pursuing an aggressive reform agenda that includes reshaping the state’s judiciary, investigating school safety, and enforcing immigration laws. “He’s off to a fast start. He’s a trailblazer throughout the state,” Scott Parkinson,…
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said Sunday that he expects the Justice Department’s inspector general to issue criminal referrals as part of an investigation into the FBI’s possible abuse of the surveillance courts during the Trump-Russia probe. “We’re fully anticipating that the [inspector general’s] report will come out, as Attorney General Barr said, in…
It was Tax Day 2009 when citizens gathered in 850 cities across the nation for tea party rallies protesting the recent $700 billion federal bailouts of banks and automakers, an $800 billion economic stimulus package, and, more broadly, government deficits and debt. On April 15 this year, Tea Party Patriots, one of the largest tea…
President Donald Trump’s executive order to expedite oil and natural gas pipelines could spark another legal battle against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration. Trump pulled no punches against New York when he signed executive orders to expedite pipeline projects Wednesday afternoon. The move sparked a sharp rebuke from Cuomo, who threatened to fight “tooth and…