General Politics

An aircraft used by a state-owned Venezuelan natural gas company to evade U.S. sanctions and export control laws for the benefit of the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was seized in the Dominican Republic Thursday, authorities said.

The seizure of the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft used by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), the sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural-gas company, came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation for talks with its president.

"The seizure of this Venezuelan aircraft...

WhatsApp alleged last week that Paragon Solutions spyware was used to target users of the messaging app in two dozen countries.

Pictures and videos show the intensely coloured water flowing into an estuary, the Rio de la Plata.

Teammates of Jenni Hermoso have testified in a trial over a kiss between her and former football chief Luis Rubiales.

Scientists say it is unclear how many more earthquakes will come to the idyllic Greek island.

Militants in the mountains of north-eastern Somalia have become the beating heart of Islamic State in Africa.

The film by a Israeli-Palestinian group follows the fight over home demolitions by the Israeli army.

A very proud cat owner in Kansas City, Missouri, has trained her four felines to eat on designated shelves.

Some Michigan voters who either sat out the election, voted for a third-party candidate or voted for President Trump are now revisiting their decision after he proposed Tuesday that the United States "take over" the Gaza Strip, rebuild it and relocate Palestinians elsewhere.

In the town of Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population per capita in the country, 43% voted for President Trump in the 2024 election. Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris won 37% of the vote, substantially lower than the 68% former President Joe...

The U.S. Agency of International Development is expected to be reduced to about 290 workers of the more than 5,000 foreign service officers, civil servants and personal service contractors currently employed at the agency, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

Most of the approximately 3,000 Institutional Support Contractors have already been fired or furloughed. The status of the approximately 5,000 foreign service nationals serving around the world is not yet clear.

The bureaus of Humanitarian Assistance, Global Health and Management...

Many databases from the U.S. Census Bureau appeared to be unavailable to the public on Thursday, with users being told access was "forbidden" when attempting to download common datasets.

Several data experts told CNBC that they were receiving the same error message on files that are routinely available.

"My staff tried numerous economic releases, and we could not access them through Census.gov," said Maurine Haver, founder of Haver Analytics. The company is a leading global data provider, including to CNBC.

Data experts were able to download some...

A priest was attacked during a prayer service in Spokane, Washington. Security video shows the suspect leaving his pew and charging toward the altar to punch the priest.

President Donald Trump fired the U.S. Federal Election Commission Commissioner and Chair Ellen Weintraub, sending her a letter regarding her "removal."

Trump took office Jan. 20, and since then has taken on a massive government makeover, sidelining and firing hundreds of top agency officials and civil servants as he attempts to install more loyalists and downsize the bureaucracy.

Weintraub, like many others, was in Trump’s crosshairs, but she did not appear to be standing down.

"Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as...

A House lawmaker Thursday jokingly suggested making therapy dogs a permanent fixture in committee hearings after voicing his concern about the "mental stability" of Democrats a day earlier.

On Wednesday, as Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform discussed wasteful government spending, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., asked about bringing in therapy dogs for his Democratic colleagues amid back-and-forth sparring between both sides.

Crane asked committee Chair James Comer, R-Tenn., about bringing in the animals.

GOP LAWMAKER SCRAPS...

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a slew of picks for big jobs, including director of the U.S. Marshals Service and three ambassadors.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced Gadyaces "Gady" Serralta will serve as the next director of the United States Marshals Service.

"Gady is a lifelong public servant, with 34 years of Law Enforcement experience," Trump wrote. "I nominated him in my First Term to serve as the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida, and he has done an incredible job for the past six years."

Serralta...