WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to confirm former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as the nation’s education chief, a role that places her atop a department President Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle. McMahon will face the competing tasks of winding down the Education Department while escalating efforts to achieve the Republican president’s agenda.…… MORE
ROME (AP) — The Vatican says that Pope Francis has suffered two new episodes of acute respiratory crises and has been put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation. Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs in another setback in what has become a more than two-week battle to overcome a complex respiratory infection and…… MORE
Israel has introduced what it said was a new U.S. ceasefire plan and is trying to force Hamas to accept it by imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip. The plan is different from the one the two sides agreed to in January. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to it as the “Witkoff proposal.” He…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war. He announced the coming tariffs at the White House on Monday. He says the tariffs are to force the two U.S. neighbors to step up their fight against…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The typically tight-lipped CIA is peeling back the curtain on some of its secrets with an upcoming presentation at South By Southwest festival. America’s preeminent spy agency plans to deliver a talk at this year’s edition of the SXSW music festival and tech conference held in Austin, Texas. According to the CIA,…… MORE