Author: Robert Jones

A fingerprint on the scope of a rifle found near where President Donald Trump was playing golf last year matches that of a man accused of trying to assassinate Trump that day, an FBI analyst testified Monday in a Florida courtroom. Monday was the third day of testimony in the trial of Ryan Routh, who prosecutors said spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deadline looming, Congress charged Monday toward a federal government shutdown as Republicans brush back Democratic demands to save health care funding from cutbacks, while Democrats are flexing a newfound willingness to play hardball, even if it means closing offices and services.Republican leaders are ready to call the Democrats’ bluff, possibly as soon as this week, with a test vote before the end-of-the-month deadline to keep government running.GOP leaders said they could tee up a vote on a short-term spending bill that would keep the federal government fully operational when the new budget year begins Oct. 1.…

OREM, Utah (AP) — Less than two weeks before Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah, a sheriff’s department in central California conducted three days of reconnaissance to prepare for a speech by the conservative firebrand at a local church in politically friendly territory. Officials researched potential escape routes and identified local activists opposed to Kirk. On the day of the indoor event in Visalia, which drew 2,000 people, some 60 law enforcement officials monitored Kirk’s movements to and from the church, even deploying a drone to secure surrounding rooftops, said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux. Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and founder…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would have ordered flags lowered to half-staff following the assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker this summer had he been asked by the state’s governor. But Trump at the time refused to even call Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to express his condolences, saying it would only “waste time.”The president made the remark during an unrelated Oval Office event as he defended his decision to lower U.S. flags after last week’s slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.After announcing that he was deploying the National Guard to Memphis, Trump was asked…

U.S. indices were mostly higher Tuesday after Wall Street set new records and investor expectation grew that the Federal Reserve will announce its first interest rate cut of 2025.S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% before the bell Tuesday while Big Tech stocks pulled Nasdaq futures 0.3% higher. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials were unchanged.Oracle shares jumped 5% on speculation that it would play a major part in the U.S.-China deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. after the Trump administration announced the framework of a trade deal on Monday.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after the latest round of…

A swarm of Russian drones flies into Poland in what officials there regard as a deliberate provocation. NATO responds by bolstering the alliance’s air defenses on its eastern flank.Moscow showcases its conventional and nuclear military might in long-planned exercises with Belarus, as it warns the West against sending foreign troops into Ukraine.These events — all taking place in the month since the U.S.-Russia summit meeting in Alaska failed to bring peace to Ukraine — have only heightened tensions in eastern Europe.When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it came days after joint maneuvers…

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Days after an assailant’s bullet tore through two of his limbs, Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo hobbled out of the hospital on crutches.Hernandez had nearly died in the early morning of June 21 when, police say, a troubled young man shot him during an attempted robbery in Muscatine, Iowa. A quick emergency response saved his life, but the shooting left the 28-year-old father wounded where a bullet traveled through his arm and leg.Police had seized the car Hernandez was driving when he was shot and the $462 cash it contained as evidence. A friend took him…

LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in the United Kingdom on Tuesday for a state visit during which the British government hopes a multibillion-dollar technology deal will show the transatlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of the Western alliance.State visits in Britain blend 21st-century diplomacy with royal pageantry. Trump’s two-day trip comes complete with horse-drawn carriages, military honor guards and a glittering banquet inside a 1,000-year-old castle — all tailored to a president with a fondness for gilded splendor.King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday before…

HONOLULU (AP) — After water polo practice at her school atop a hill overlooking Honolulu Harbor, Kapua Ong marvels at the sunset.“I do feel proud of myself for getting in because not everyone gets accepted,” said Kapua, 14, a freshman at Kamehameha Schools, a competitive private school with affordable tuition that gives preference to Native Hawaiians. “I’m just, like, grateful for being able to have those opportunities.”Kapua was just a baby when her parents set the stage for her acceptance at the school by adding details of her Native Hawaiian ancestry to a genealogy database. As an incoming seventh grader,…

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Three years ago, the story of Michigan was one of Democratic success. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic state lawmakers held complete control of the executive and legislative branches of government. This year, the story of Michigan is one of enormous partisan divide. Partisan politics have resulted in a monthslong legislative stalemate over the state budget that might send Michigan into a government shutdown. Whitmer, who is in her second-to-last year as governor, is expected to call on state lawmakers to break the deadlock in a speech Tuesday focused on Michigan’s economy. The standoff has high stakes…