President Donald Trump plans to announce in Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two U.S. officials. This weekend’s meeting between
U.S. and Chinese delegations in Switzerland will be their first major talks since Trump imposed on Chinese imports. Trump said only 21 hostages held by Hamas are believed to be still alive. He spoke as Israel approved plans to seize and to stay in for an unspecified amount of time.
And a newly declassified intelligence assessment confirms that between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, undercutting Trump’s justification for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to .
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Attorney General meets with victims’ families after federal death row commutations
Pam Bondi is meeting privately at the Justice Department Wednesday with 10 families whose relatives were killed by people who were awaiting execution until President Joe Biden commuted their sentences to life in prison.
“They need closure,” Bondi told reporters at the White House. “And they do know that going forward, the Trump administration is seeking the death penalty again on future criminal defendants and keeping our streets safe.”
Bondi has lifted a moratorium on federal capital punishment and sharply criticized the Democratic president’s decision to of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row.
Vance talks free speech, Ukraine at security conference
The vice president spoke Wednesday at a meeting held in Washington by the Munich Security Conference, which also hosted a February summit in Germany where Vance ruffled feathers by declaring that free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.
Vance said Wednesday that his comments were not meant to imply “Europe bad, America good,” but that both Europe and the United States under Biden had gotten “a bit off track” when it comes to protecting free speech.
He said the administration’s next goals for brokering an end to the Russia-Ukraine war is to get both sides to start directly negotiating a long-term settlement.
GOP legislators push restrictions on citizen initiatives
Lawmakers in about a dozen states have advanced roughly 40 measures this year that would make it harder for citizen initiatives to get on ballots. Many already have been signed into law. The measures limit who can circulate petitions, add content requirements and in some cases raise thresholds needed for voter approval.
Republican lawmakers are making these moves in states where voters have been able to decide on initiatives proposed by progressive groups.
“This is not a bill to restrict. It is a bill to protect — to make sure that our constitutional system is one of integrity, and that it’s free of fraud,” said state Sen. Jennifer Bradley of Florida, where the new initiative requirements already .
But Dane Waters, chair of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California, sees direct democracy on the retreat in many states. Lawmakers often perceive the initiative process as “an assault on their power and authority, and they want to limit it,” Waters said.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, Disney announces a new theme park in the UAE
The theme park — Disney’s 7th — will be built on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the company said Wednesday.
Trump has promised a series of business deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during his trip to the region next week.
Disney posted solid quarterly profits and revenue from its theme parks and streaming service on Wednesday, boosting its annual profit expectations. But it’s not immune from Trump’s including his threat of a 100% and Trump’s Federal Communications Commission said it’s practices.
Secretary of State celebrates bringing these Venezuelans into the US
Marco Rubio described it as a rescue operation of five members of Venezuela’s political opposition who had sheltered inside the Argentine diplomatic compound in Caracas for more than a year to avoid arrest.
“Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S. soil,” Rubio said on X Tuesday night.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government had no immediate comment.
The group included the campaign manager and communications director of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who called it an “impeccable and epic operation for the Freedom of five heroes of Venezuela.”
China says it agreed to US request for talks, but remains opposed to tariffs
The upcoming trade talks between the U.S. and China have been initiated by Washington, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday in Beijing.
“China’s position of firmly opposing the arbitrary imposition of tariffs by the U.S. has not changed,” said spokesperson Lin Jian. And while Beijing is open to dialogue, he repeated that any talks “must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit.”
“Any form of pressure or coercion against China will not work,” Lin said. “China will firmly safeguard its legitimate interests and uphold international fairness and justice.”
The National Transportation Safety Board’s only Black member is removed without explanation
The Trump administration removed the board’s vice-chairman, Alvin Brown, whose term ends in 2026. The White House didn’t say why and Brown has not publicly commented.
The NTSB is currently investigating nearly 1,250 active U.S. cases and supports more than 160 foreign investigations, according to NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy’s congressional testimony, including the between a passenger jet and Army helicopter that killed 67 people in January.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA accident investigator, said he has never seen an administration remove a member of the board.
By Tuesday evening, Brown’s photo and biography had been removed from NTSB’s website.
Wall Street is poised to open with gains
Futures for the S&P 500, Nasdaq composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly before the bell Wednesday as the Federal Reserve The Fed will despite Trump’s pleas for a rate cut as he pursues a
Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have that they want to see how the duties — including 145% on all imports from China — impact consumer prices.
Uncertainty has made fueling a surge in imports ahead of potentially more severe tariffs that drove the U.S. trade deficit to a record $140.5 billion and shrank the annual pace.
Columbia University lays off nearly 180 after Trump pulled $400M over his antisemitism concerns
Columbia University said Tuesday that it will be laying off nearly 180 staffers in response to Trump’s decision to over the Manhattan college’s handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.
Those receiving non-renewal or termination notices Tuesday represent about 20% of the employees funded in some manner by the terminated federal grants, the university .
“We have had to make deliberate, considered decisions about the allocation of our financial resources,” the university said. “Those decisions also impact our greatest resource, our people. We understand this news will be hard.”
University spokesperson Jessica Murphy declined to say whether more layoffs were expected, but said Columbia is taking a range of steps to create financial flexibility, including maintaining current salary levels and offering voluntary retirement incentives.
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Declassified intelligence memo contradicts Trump’s claims linking gang to Venezuelan government
A newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment confirms that analysts at between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, contradicting statements the Trump administration used to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act and .
The relatives of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. who were flown to a prison in El Salvador by the U.S. government who alleged they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, protest outside of the United Nations building in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The from the National Intelligence Council said there was no indication that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or other senior government officials are directing the actions of , a gang that originated in a prison in Venezuela. That is even as some mid- to low-level Venezuelan officials may have ties to the gang for financial gain, the document says.
Trump has invoked the to speed the deportations of people his administration has labeled members of the gang. The 18th century wartime law was created to give the president the power to imprison or deport noncitizens in a time of war. It has been used three times, most recently when Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.
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Trump says only 21 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now believed to be alive
Trump said Tuesday that three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have died, leaving only 21 believed to be still living.
One American, Edan Alexander, had been among the 24 hostages believed to be alive, with the bodies of several other Americans also held by Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
The president’s comments came as Israel approved plans Monday to seize and to stay in for an unspecified amount of time, in a bid to recover the hostages and try to fulfill its war aims of destroying Hamas. If implemented, the move would vastly expand and likely draw fierce international opposition.
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Top US officials will meet with Chinese delegation in Switzerland in first major talks of trade war
Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since Trump sparked a trade war with stiff on imports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior known conversations between the two countries in months, the Trump administration announced Tuesday. It comes amid growing U.S. market worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of consumer goods.
After plans for the talks had been announced, Bessent said on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that as the U.S. has engaged in negotiations with various trading partners, “China has been the missing piece.”
Trump had claimed previously that the U.S. and China were holding negotiations on lowering tariffs, which Beijing has denied, saying Trump must first lower his stiff tariffs.
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Trump plans to announce that the US will call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, officials say
plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two U.S. officials.
Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the Gulf.
The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf of Arabia” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.
The U.S. military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.
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