×

Nation and world at a glance

US Justice Dept.

publishes missing

Epstein files

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has released additional Jeffrey Epstein files involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump that the department said had been mistakenly withheld during an earlier review.

The department said last week that it was reviewing to determine if any records were improperly withheld after several news organizations reported that the massive tranche of records that had been made public didn’t include files documenting a series of interviews conducted in 2019 with a woman who made an allegation against Trump

The department said those files had been “incorrectly coded as duplicative,” and therefore were inadvertently not published along with the millions of other Epstein files.

Pentagon labels

AI company

as supply risk

The Trump administration is following through with its threat to designate artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a supply chain risk in an unprecedented move that could force other government contractors to stop using the AI chatbot Claude. The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.”

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in response that the company has no choice but to challenge the Trump administration in court.

Britney Spears

arrested on

charge of DUI

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol near her Southern California home.

Authorities say Spears was pulled over after reports that her BMW was driving fast and erratically on a highway on Wednesday night.

The California Highway Patrol says she was jailed after taking a series of field sobriety tests. A representative for Spears calls the incident “completely inexcusable” and says she plans to comply with the law and seek help.

Jail records show she was booked early Thursday and released later in the morning. The district attorney will decide on charges.

Man from Iowa

charged in three

women’s deaths

TORREY, Utah — An Iowa man faces three counts of aggravated murder in Utah where authorities say he killed three women.

The Utah Department of Public Safety said Thursday that the man killed one woman, stole her vehicle then drove it to a trailhead and killed two other women before fleeing in one of their vehicles. He was arrested early Thursday in southwestern Colorado. A public defender representing the man in Colorado declined to comment Thursday. The Associated Press left a message with a Utah public defender’s office regarding the charges in that state.

The Associated Press

ThAuthorities have not identified the women. They say there’s no indication the suspect knew them.

Nation and world at a glance

Futures open lower, oil prices rise

BANGKOK — The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have sent a chill through world markets, with U.S. futures initially falling more than 1% today.

Shares opened sharply lower in Tokyo early today and oil prices soared. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 2.3% shortly after the open and shares also fell in Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, disrupt the region’s ability to export oil.

Prolonged attacks would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline.

Medicaid rules to cost states millions

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — New Medicaid work requirements signed into law by President Donald Trump are meant to save money. But states first will have to spend millions of dollars to implement them.

An Associated Press analysis finds that states are projected to spend over $1 billion on technology improvements and additional staff needed to carry out the requirements.

The Medicaid changes were included in Trump’s big tax-cut law passed by Congress last year. States are still waiting on federal rules to provide further guidance. But they face a time crunch because the Medicaid work requirements are supposed to be enforced next January.

Worries grow on Israel-Hamas ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians in Gaza are reacting to a possible shift in the world’s attention from the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to a new regional conflict with Iran.

Israel closed all crossings into the territory of over 2 million people in the wake of its new strikes on Tehran. It’s not clear how long they will be closed. Palestinians fear new lack of access to food and other basic necessities from the outside world.

Memories of hunger during last year’s Israeli blockade remain fresh. The latest conflict comes days after President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza’s reconstruction.

Trump touts high hopes for economy

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, his Treasury secretary and his choice to lead the Federal Reserve believe they can coax the U.S. economy into partying like it’s 1999.

They are putting their faith in artificial intelligence to duplicate what happened when another technology arrived in the 1990s: the internet. Back then, the American economy surged as businesses became more productive, unemployment tumbled and inflation remained in check. Trump is confident that his nominee to become Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, can unleash an even greater economic bonanza by jettisoning what the president sees as the central bank’s hidebound reluctance to slash interest rates.

But many economists are skeptical.

Starting at $3.23/week.

Subscribe Today