NEWS - FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2025 - NEWS
Can one federal judge block Trump's plan to deny citizenship to babies whose parents are not U.S. citizens? LA Times
VOA VIEW: The answer is no.
"It's a streamlining move," a source close to the situation said. New York Post
VOA VIEW: Lack of viewers.
The inquiry continued even after the commission dropped a lawsuit accusing Coinbase of illegally marketing digital currencies to the public. New York Times
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The technique used on a 9½-month-old boy with a rare condition has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases. New York Times
VOA VIEW: Hopefully it works.
The president addressed troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a hub for U.S. air operations across a vast region from Northeast Africa to Central and South Asia. New York Times
Controllers switched frequencies and planes were “safely separated,” officials said. The 90-second outage on Monday followed communications problems at Newark’s airport. New York Times
Lower courts had been divided over whether judges must limit their scrutiny of challenges to police shootings to the seconds preceding them. New York Times
VOA VIEW: A judgment call.
The agency moved this week to ban the products, which are used to prevent cavities. New York Times
VOA VIEW: A good move that should come fast.
Donald Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, has given birth to a baby boy. OANN
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The Wisconsin judge accused of assisting an illegal alien evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pleaded "not guilty" in a Wisconsin courtroom on Thursday. OANN
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he wasn’t surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to skip the peace talks with Ukraine, stating that nothing will happen until he, himself, is there to meet with Putin and Zelensky personally. OANN
VOA VIEW: Putin is playing games.
Governor Gavin Newsom's recent proposal to scale back healthcare benefits for illegal aliens in California has elicited significant backlash from far-left immigration activists and members of his own party -- though conservatives say they are not persuaded by Newsom's attempts to project a more moderate stance. OANN
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. rose above 6.8%. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: The average is not the norm.
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Cristeta Comerford, a longtime White House executive chef who recently retired after nearly three decades of preparing meals for five presidents and their guests, says first families are "just regular people" when they're at home in the private living areas of the executive mansion. Washington Times
Walmart said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: It's not as bad as it could be.
The vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army said this week that upcoming budget cuts should be seen as an opportunity to modernize that will leave future forces better equipped. Washington Times
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What Harvard University thought was a cheap, unofficial copy of the Magna Carta it owns is in fact a rare original of the document from an updated edition issued by King Edward I of England in 1300. Washington Times
Households earning $75,000 can afford only 1 in 5 for-sale homes, down from half of all listed properties before the pandemic. CBS
As the government looks to trim spending, the EPA's long-running Energy Star program known for labeling energy-efficient appliances is on the chopping block. CBS
VOA VIEW: As they should be.
More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas at 75 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday, protesting the coffee giant's new dress code. CBS
The Environmental Protection Agency says it will roll back limits on several types of "forever chemicals" in drinking water. CBS
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The heart of the Republican budget legislation targets key climate and energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. CBS
Powell said Thursday that longer-term interest rates are likely to be higher as the economy changes and policy is in flux. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Powell has no clue.
Apple has been ramping up production in India with the aim of making around 25% of global iPhones in the country in the next few years. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Apple is making a big mistake.
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Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor U.S. President Donald Trump look likely to attend peace talks that were due to be held in Turkey on Thursday. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Trump is making a mistake by placating to Putin.
The move comes days after the U.S.-China trade deal was announced, significantly de-escalating the tariff war that has roiled the global economy. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Key rare earths are crucial to the US.
Leah Foley, Massachusetts' top federal prosecutor, threatens legal action against those hindering ICE, following a disruptive incident in Worcester. FOX News
Crime rates on cruise ships have reached a two-year high, according to recent data from the United States Department of Transportation. FOX News
A former Michigan Army National Guard member was arrested for allegedly planning a mass shooting at a military base in Warren, Michigan, on behalf of ISIS. FOX News
Customs and Border Protection officers reportedly seized nearly $60,000 worth of illegally imported cigarettes from two cruise passengers in Southern California. FOX News
U.S. April wholesale inflation measured by the Producer Price Index fell 0.5%, seasonally adjusted. That's the biggest drop since 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. UPI
U.S. President Donald Trump told U.S. troops in Qatar his mission was to end conflicts, not start them, but warned he would never hesitate to use American military might to protect the United States or its allies. UPI
VOA VIEW: It was a good gesture by the commander -in-chief.
The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday told a House subcommittee that his agency won't run out of money before the fiscal 2026 budget is approved. UPI
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday sanctioned two senior Hezbollah officials and two financial facilitators for what it said were roles in coordinating financial transfers to the group. UPI
For a third straight day, the United States on Wednesday issued sanctions targeting Iran as the Trump administration attempts to negotiate a new nuclear arms deal with the Middle Eastern country. UPI
VOA VIEW: The US has been more than patient with Iran.
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Schools should not be teaching gender identity, sexuality. A sharply divided Supreme Court appeared likely to require a Maryland school board provide parents with the ability to opt their elementary school-age children out of instruction featuring storybooks that address gender identity and sexual orientation.
At issue in the court fight between a group of families and the Montgomery County Board of Education is whether public schools unconstitutionally burden parents' First Amendment right to exercise their religion freely when they require children to participate in instruction on gender and sexuality that violate the families' religious beliefs. After more than two hours of arguments, the court's conservative majority seemed ready to side with the families.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who lives in Montgomery County, Maryland, invoked the state's founding and said the county in particular has been a "beacon" of religious liberty and tolerance. He told Alan Schoenfeld, who argued for the school board, he was "surprised" given that history that "this is the hill we're going to die on in terms of not respecting religious liberty." "What is the big deal about allowing them to opt-out of this?" Justice Samuel Alito asked, noting that the county allows parents to request their children be excused from other areas of instruction, such as sexual education or Halloween or Valentine's Day celebrations. "What is infeasible about doing that?"
Kavanaugh echoed Alito, saying, "I'm not understanding why it's not feasible" for schools to excuse children from instruction that violate their families' religious beliefs. Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia allow for parental opt-outs or require opt-ins before students participate in sex education. Montgomery County, home to Maryland's largest public school system with more than 160,000 students, also had an opt-out policy for parents with religious objections to classroom instruction or activities so long as the requests did not become "too frequent or burdensome," according to court papers.
After Maryland enacted rules seeking to promote "educational equity," the Montgomery County Education Board introduced "LGBTQ-inclusive" storybooks for elementary school students into its English Language Arts curriculum. The district said it supplemented its language arts books with a handful of stories "in order to better represent all Montgomery County families." Among the five books incorporated, which are at issue in the case, were "Born Ready," about a transgender elementary-aged child, and "Prince & Knight," about a prince who falls in with and marries a knight.
Several of the justices acknowledged that they had read the picture books that were included in the curriculum, and Alito at one point even read from one, "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," which discusses gay marriage.
