National News - Page 26

U.S. Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot

By The Associated Press The U.S. Capitol on Tuesday began displaying a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school, a pointed replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed several years ago. An unveiling ceremony of the statue representing Virginia in the Capitol took place in Emancipation Hall, featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia’s congressional delegation and Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger. Johnson said more than 200 members of Johns’ family were on hand, listening

With federal relief on the horizon, Black farmers worry it won’t come soon enough

By Drew Hawkins NEW ORLEANS – James Davis had the best year in his entire farming career this year. The third-generation Black row crop farmer estimated picking almost 1,300 pounds of cotton, an average of 50 bushels of soybeans, and an average of around 155 bushels of corn on 2,500 acres of his farmland in northeast Louisiana. But with U.S. commodities facing steep retaliatory tariffs overseas, he says he and many other farmers can’t sell their crops for enough to cover the loans they take out to fund the growing season. The tariffs, Davis said, are making it almost impossible to survive.

Trump signs executive order fast-tracking reclassification of marijuana

By Dareh Gregorian, Julie Tsirkin and Sarah Dean President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to fast-track the reclassification of cannabis, which would pave the way for the Food and Drug Administration to study its medicinal uses. “It is the policy of my Administration to increase medical marijuana and CBD research to better inform patients and doctors. It is critical to close the gap between current medical marijuana and CBD use and medical knowledge of risks and benefits,” the order says. Trump said before he signed the directive in the Oval Office that it is “really something having to do with common sense.” The order

Centrist Republicans revolt, signing a petition to force a vote on Obamacare funding

By Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur, Melanie Zanona and Kyle Stewart WASHINGTON — Rebelling against their leaders, four House Republicans on Wednesday signed onto a “discharge petition,” giving Democrats the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on a three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire for millions of people on Dec. 31. If the enhanced premium tax credits expire, as is expected, insurance costs are projected to double, on average, for about 22 million people who get their coverage through Obamacare. The discharge petition, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has all 214 Democrats on board. The four Republicans who signed on Wednesday

HHS Creates Fellowship and Career Fairs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today launched an agency-wide initiative to strengthen engagement with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), following President Trump’s Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HHS is launching the Roy Wilkins Fellowship for HBCU students interested in public service. Named for longtime National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leader and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Roy Wilkins (1901–1981), the fellowship recognizes his achievements in advancing equality and strengthening democratic institutions. Wilkins worked closely with Senator Robert F. Kennedy during the pivotal

U.S. government admits errors in deadly midair collision near D.C.

By Phil Helsel, Gary Grumbach and Jay Blackman The U.S. government admitted in court documents to failures that led to the January midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter that killed 67 people in all. The government made the admission in a court filing Wednesday about liability for the Jan. 29 crash between American Eagle Flight 5342, which was on approach to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. “The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident,” attorneys for the government said in the filing. The

Former top vaccine official sues Trump administration over her firing

By Michael Kaplan A former top official at the National Institutes of Health sued the Trump administration Tuesday, alleging she was illegally fired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after she blew the whistle on internal clashes over vaccine research at the agency. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo ran the NIH division responsible for vaccine research until late March, when she was placed on indefinite leave. In a formal whistleblower complaint, she said she was sidelined because she pushed back against NIH officials appointed by President Trump who questioned the importance of childhood flu vaccines and canceled long-running clinical trials. She was terminated in

Trump seeks to defend his economy in prime-time speech to the nation

By Peter Nicholas Amid slumping approval ratings, President Donald Trump used a prime-time speech Wednesday to deride his predecessor, assert that his economic plan is working and suggest that Americans need to be patient as his policies start to kick in. Trump, in an 18-minute address from the White House, rolled out no new proposals apart from what he called a $1,776 “warrior dividend” that will go to nearly 1.5 million military service members in honor of the nation’s founding almost 250 years ago. “And the checks are already on the way,” he said. “No one understood that one until about 30 minutes ago; we

White House installs plaques mocking former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden

By Sarah Dean, Garrett Haake, Alexandra Bacallao and Rebecca Shabad WASHINGTON — The White House has installed plaques on the exterior of the building bashing President Donald Trump’s predecessors, including Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and promoting disinformation about their administrations. The plaques were hung up below presidential portraits that have been on display on Trump’s recently added “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the White House colonnade. The one placed under the portrait of the “Autopen,” which stands in for President Joe Biden’s portrait, refers to him as “Sleepy Joe Biden” and calls him “the worst President in American History.” The plaque contains a number of derisive statements

House Republican leaders ditch vote on ACA funding, all but ensuring premiums will rise

By Sahil Kapur, Julie Tsirkin and Brennan Leach WASHINGTON — It’s official: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he won’t call a vote to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, effectively guaranteeing they will expire at the end of this month. That means higher insurance premiums will go into effect for millions of Americans who get coverage through Obamacare next year. The speaker made the announcement Tuesday after a closed-door Republican caucus meeting, saying that leadership failed to reach a deal with centrist members to bring up an ACA amendment on a health care bill set for a vote on Wednesday. “There’s about a dozen members in the conference

1 … 24 25 26 27 28 … 221
Close

Never Miss A Story

Covering HBCUS
and The African American Community