- NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ended more than 60 years of federal oversight of a Louisiana school system that had been ordered to eradicate segregation. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a decades-old desegregation mandate for the Concordia Parish School Board, handing a victory to President Donald Trump’s […]
- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One person died, two people were missing and 16 others were rescued from the waters off San Francisco after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people sank Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen reported the toll and said crews that arrived on the scene near Alcatraz Island found […]
- Heavy downpours in South Texas washed out highways and stranded motorists Tuesday as forecasters warned that a threat of more severe weather could bring dangerous flooding to already drenched counties near the border with Mexico. Storms dumped up to a foot of rain in some rural areas of Texas, leading to dozens of high-water rescues […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military will leave Iraq by the end of September, American and Iraqi officials said Tuesday, following a 23-year presence that started with the 2003 invasion against Saddam Hussein and ended with much smaller operations against the Islamic State group. President Donald Trump, standing alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm […]
- Biden will publish ‘Promise Me, America’ memoir after the November midterm elections
on July 15, 2026 at 10:18 amNEW YORK (AP) — Former President Joe Biden will publish a memoir this fall, publisher Little, Brown and Company told The Associated Press. “Promise Me, America,” which Biden says will touch upon everything from the economy to his decision to drop his bid for reelection, is scheduled to come out Nov. 17. The timing of the book — two weeks after midterm elections in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress — could raise concerns within his party. Many Democrats remain divided on Biden’s legacy and his ill-fated determination to seek a second term in the White House, and leaders hope to keep the fall campaign focused on the record of Republican President Donald Trump. “’Promise Me, America’ is about the challenges we faced as a nation. It’s about the decisions I made and why I made them,” Biden said in a video statement accompanying Wednesday’s announcement. “Most of all, it’s about my faith in the promise of America.” Reports of Biden’s book have circulated for more than a year, and the former president himself has referred to it during public remarks, appearing to suggest it would be released before November’s election. Biden, who will turn 84 three days after the publication of “Promise Me, America,” has long presented himself as an upholder of standards and traditions; presidential memoirs are one of them. With a handful of exceptions, modern presidents since Harry Truman in the 1950s have published books about their White House years. Little, Brown declined to release financial details for ”Promise Me, America,” although presidents have usually reached deals worth at least seven figures. The book’s title echoes a 2017 memoir by Biden, “Promise Me, Dad,” which centered on the death of his son, Beau Biden. Vowing as a candidate to “restore the soul” of his country, Biden was sworn into office in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop his certification as president. Biden’s term was defined by a wide range of conflicts and achievements, from his handling of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to the passage of ambitious infrastructure and economic aid bills. But many readers will likely want to know more about his health while president, including the disastrous debate in June 2024 against Trump that led to his giving up his reelection bid. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran instead, lost decisively to Trump. Former first lady Jill Biden wrote in her own book that her husband seemed so weak and disoriented during the debate that she feared he was having a stroke. In “View from the East Wing,” published in June, she noted that the White House had initially said he was suffering from a cold. “The biggest lesson for us, I think, was that if you don’t explain something well enough then the question won’t go away,” she wrote. “There was never a satisfying enough explanation offered for Joe’s debate performance, and a lot of people never got over it.” Biden was the oldest man to serve as president and his health was a source of speculation for much of his term; Biden and his White House advisers have faced intense criticism from Democrats and Republicans for allegedly concealing the extent of his problems. A notable book release from 2025, Jake Tapper’s and Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin,” was subtitled “President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” That same year, Biden announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Biden’s previous books also include “Promises to Keep,” a campaign work published to boost his run for president in 2008, when Barack Obama was the eventual nominee and Biden his running mate. ”Promise Me, America” comes out during a year when nonfiction sales have declined and few political books have caught on, although recent bestsellers have included Vice President JD Vance’s “Communion” and an inside account of Trump’s second term, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, “Regime Change.” A Little, Brown spokesperson said that Biden plans to tour on behalf of the book and give interviews. In his video announcement, Biden said that many people had been asking him how he was doing. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family. I’m dealing with a cancer diagnosis, been getting treatment, and it’s going really well,” he said. “I want to thank all those who have offered their prayers and support and well-wishes. It’s meant the world to me and to Jill.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Goldman Sachs lawyer Ruemmler to face House panel on Epstein
on July 15, 2026 at 9:05 amNEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs senior counsel Kathryn Ruemmler will face tough questioning from members of Congress on Wednesday over her links to Jeffrey Epstein, as lawmakers probe the late convicted sex offender’s ties with the political and business elites. Ruemmler will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of its investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Ruemmler stepped down as chief legal officer and general counsel at the end of June, pending a replacement, after documents published by the U.S. Justice Department showed she had extensive communications with Epstein and had also accepted gifts from him. Epstein, who died in a New York City prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, had extensive ties to many prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business, including President Donald Trump. His death was ruled a suicide. The hearing has pushed Goldman back into the spotlight over its decision to keep Ruemmler, despite her links to the convicted sex offender. Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Ruemmler did not respond to a request for comment. The oversight committee has interviewed political leaders such as former President Bill Clinton, current Commerce Secretary and former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a CNBC interview at the time that Ruemmler told him the press coverage of the work she had done put “her in a position where it was hard for her to execute on her job and her responsibilities, and she just thought it was time to step away.” She agreed to continue in an advisory role as senior counsel until the company appointed a new chief legal officer, Solomon said in June, a decision that has been criticized by some lawmakers. Her spokesperson reiterated an earlier statement that she had done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on Epstein’s part when she interacted with him as a practicing criminal defense attorney. Ruemmler had a large number of communications with Epstein from 2014 to 2019, even after his 2008 guilty plea for procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, U.S. Justice Department documents showed. The documents showed she accepted gifts from Epstein and advised him on how to address media inquiries regarding his crimes. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar; editing by David Gaffen) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump to press defense executives to boost weapons production
on July 15, 2026 at 9:05 amBy Jarrett Renshaw CARLISLE, Pennsylvania, July 15 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is expected to urge top defense executives on Wednesday to accelerate weapons production and expand manufacturing capacity as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East strain U.S. stockpiles and expose bottlenecks in the nation’s industrial base. Trump is scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion capping a two-day Defense and Innovation Summit hosted by Republican Senator Dave McCormick at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania. The event gathers senior military leaders, defense contractors, investors and technology executives to discuss strengthening the U.S. industrial base and speeding the delivery of advanced weapons systems. Trump’s appearance underscores a broader focus by the administration on defense production as prolonged conflicts have consumed large quantities of missiles, interceptors and other weapons, while highlighting the limits of the U.S. military supply chain and production capacity. Trump is expected to make several Pennsylvania-based defense investment announcements. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine urged defense companies on Tuesday to accelerate production and innovation, saying the military needs industry partners to help deliver capabilities faster as warfare evolves. “What I need you to know, and I know this is simple for me to say, but hard to do, is to go faster. Please go faster. Think bolder,” Caine said. BROADER INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY For Trump, expanding defense manufacturing has become part of a wider economic strategy to revive U.S. industrial capacity, with the Pentagon increasingly viewed as a catalyst for factory investment, advanced manufacturing and domestic supply chains. In late June, Trump met with munitions makers at the White House to urge the industry to move faster. The United States has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while also using munitions in its own military operations, raising concerns about inventories of key air-defense and precision-guided weapons and increasing pressure on contractors to boost output. Soaring demand for rocket motors used to power missiles and other weapons has spurred new thinking about supply chains. Seeking big returns, Silicon Valley-style startups are now taking on defense companies that have long dominated the industry, pulled into the competition by a need for production speed, high volume and lower costs. Legacy solid rocket motor makers Northrop Grumman and L3Harris say they have been pushing their own research and development to pull in new technologies like 3D printing and new mixing technologies. Michael Duffey, who oversees buying for the Pentagon, told the summit audience that the department is using long-term procurement contracts to give defense companies the confidence to invest billions of dollars in expanding factories, citing roughly $20 billion in private investment tied to plans to boost production of Patriot missiles and other high-demand weapons. “The global environment now demands that we produce at this scale, at this speed, at this volume,” he said. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Additional reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Matthew Lewis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump’s ICC order violates free speech, advocacy groups say in lawsuit
on July 15, 2026 at 9:03 amBy Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) – Two U.S.-based advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, arguing that sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court (ICC) violate constitutional free speech protections after U.S. officials launched a diplomatic campaign this week aimed at dismantling the court. President Donald Trump and other U.S. politicians have long said that the ICC should not have the authority to investigate or prosecute Americans, particularly members of the military. On Monday, the administration said the court posed a threat to U.S. sovereignty and pledged to expand sanctions, including travel bans for ICC staff, while increasing diplomatic pressure on the Hague-based court, drawing criticism from European allies. In a lawsuit filed at a federal court in New York, Democracy for the Arab World Now and the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide sought to block Trump’s February 2025 executive order, under which sanctions have been imposed on ICC judges and prosecutors and Palestinian human rights groups who called for the court to investigate allegations that the U.S. and Israel may have committed war crimes during the war in Gaza. The groups say they have refrained from filing submissions with the ICC and coordinating advocacy with those hit by the sanctions, including Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine, for fear of fines and potential prison terms, according to a copy of their complaint seen by Reuters. “The Trump administration is using the blunt instrument of economic sanctions not only to punish human rights defenders but to police the political expression of millions of Americans,” Omar Shakir, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said in a statement. Trump’s opposition toward the ICC goes back to his first term. A similar executive order Trump issued in 2020 was blocked by a judge, who said it likely violated the First Amendment, before being rescinded by President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021. EU, NETHERLANDS BACK COURT Trump officials last year launched a new effort to penalize ICC officials after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for his ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Three ICC judges have separately sued the Trump administration over the sanctions. In March 2020, ICC prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by U.S. troops, but since 2021, it has deprioritized the role of the U.S. and focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and Taliban forces. The court, which is based in the Netherlands, has taken no steps to investigate U.S. personnel in recent years. The EU on Tuesday reiterated its support for the ICC and said it was committed to the fight against impunity. “Attacks or threats against the court, elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court are simply not acceptable. And let’s also recall that the ICC does not target sovereign states, nor does it constitute a threat to their sovereignty, ” EU Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said in a briefing. The Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands said independent courts and tribunals must be able to carry out their mandate unimpeded. “We have noted the U.S. statements, the position is not a new one, but we are worried about the hardened tone,” the ministry said in a message to Reuters. (Reporting by Simon Lewis in Washington; additional reporting by Bart Meijers in Amsterdam; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Blanche to face Senate grilling in bid to be Trump’s attorney general
on July 15, 2026 at 9:02 amBy Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) – Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to face tense questioning from a Senate panel on Wednesday as the president’s former personal lawyer seeks to become the chief U.S. law enforcement official. Blanche, Trump’s attorney general nominee, will likely be grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee over a since-abandoned plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies for alleged prior government mistreatment, along with an associated agreement to give Trump broad tax audit immunity. The Justice Department’s rollout of investigative files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Blanche oversaw as the DOJ’s second-in-command, is also expected to be a central topic of conversation. Advocates for Epstein’s victims have opposed Blanche over what they contend was a botched release of the files that exposed some victims’ identities. Senators in Trump’s Republican Party lambasted Blanche over the “anti-weaponization fund” only weeks ago and the backlash sparked questions about whether Blanche could win support in a closely divided Senate. But Blanche allies and Republican insiders now expect the acting attorney general will be confirmed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Tuesday that Blanche’s meetings with Republican senators were “really strong” and he hoped there would be a “path forward” for him. Some Republicans on the Senate panel have remained non-committal about supporting Blanche and their questioning could reveal any potential opposition in a Senate that has in recent weeks become more willing to defy Trump. One of those lawmakers, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, said on Tuesday that he was still undecided and planned to question Blanche about the tax immunity agreement after Blanche gave him a briefing on the matter. “I’m still weighing,” he told Reuters on Tuesday. Blanche, who defended Trump in three criminal cases he faced in his years out of power, took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi. Blanche, a former career prosecutor who some in the DOJ expected would be a moderating influence, has shown a willingness to deliver on Trump’s demands to prosecute adversaries. The DOJ has brought criminal cases against a prominent liberal civil rights group and former FBI Director James Comey over a photo of seashells that the prosecutors argue threatened Trump. Blanche has won support from law enforcement groups as he has focused on combating public benefits fraud and violent crime while reducing the DOJ’s historic focus on corporate misconduct and corruption. His experience defending Trump in court endeared him to many in the president’s orbit. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said Blanche was doing a “phenomenal job” as acting attorney general, crediting him for lowering violent crime and making good on a slew of Trump’s culture war priorities. Trump, who called on each Republican senator to vote for Blanche, also praised the acting attorney general for defending him as his personal lawyer when he was federally indicted. Democrats have assailed Blanche, arguing that he has acted as Trump’s personal defender at the expense of protecting the public interest. More than 1,200 former DOJ staffers have signed a letter opposing him. The anti-weaponization fund emerged as a particular flashpoint. Blanche signed off on a plan to settle a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS, which he oversees as president, by creating the fund and granting Trump and his family businesses sweeping protection from tax audits. The deal immediately drew allegations of self-dealing. A federal judge on Monday concluded that Trump and lawyers in his administration improperly used the case to benefit Trump and his allies and referred lawyers involved, including Blanche, to state bar authorities to investigate any legal ethics violations. Cornyn called the judge’s finding “troubling” and said he planned to ask Blanche whether there truly were two sides to that case. Blanche has said the fund will not proceed and previously brushed off allegations of a conflict of interest, saying he has complied with all ethics rules. (Reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Andrew Goudsward. Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Editing by Alistair Bell) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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