Trump dispatches Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan for new talks with Iran's foreign minister
ISLAMABAD (AP) — President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran’s foreign minister as officials in the South Asian nation push to revive ceasefire talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the two would meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday. Araghchi arrived in Islamabad late Friday. Leavitt says the White House hopes the talks will “move the ball forward to a deal.” She says Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s national security team will fly to Pakistan “if necessary.”
US imposes sanctions on a China-based oil refinery and 40 shippers over Iranian oil
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is sanctioning a major China-based oil refinery and about 40 shipping companies. The move announced Friday is part of a campaign to cut off Iran’s oil exports, a key revenue source. The U.S. has also imposed a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for energy exports. Hengli Petrochemical’s facility in Dalian is included in the sanctions. Since 2023, it has received Iranian crude oil shipments. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the agency will continue to restrict Iran’s oil network. The sanctions come amid turmoil in the global energy trade. China has said the use of sanctions “undermines international trade order and rules."
Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing the way for Warsh
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as his successor. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on X Friday her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s inspector general would scrutinize them instead. The move could lead to a swift confirmation vote by the Senate for Warsh, a former Fed official President Donald Trump nominated in January to replace Powell. The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into the Republican president's perceived adversaries. Powell says the investigation was intended to intimidate the Fed.
Appeals court rules that Trump's asylum ban at the border is illegal
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. appeals court has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border. The court ruled Friday that immigration laws allow people to apply for asylum at the border, and the president cannot bypass this. The decision stems from Trump's action on Inauguration Day 2025, declaring the border situation an invasion and suspending asylum. The court found that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't give the president authority to override asylum procedures. The White House says the asylum ban was within Trump's powers, but the Department of Justice plans to seek further review.
Justice Department to allow firing squads for executions in move to ramp up capital punishment
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department will adopt firing squad as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases. The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry out 13 executions during the first Trump administration — more than under any president in modern history. The Biden administration had removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol over concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering.
Growing wildfires blamed for death of Florida firefighter and destruction of 120 Georgia homes
NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — Officials say a volunteer firefighter has died battling a wildfire in Florida, while two large fires in Georgia have destroyed more than 120 homes. The sheriff's office in Nassau County, Florida, said Friday that volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews died Thursday after suffering an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. Meanwhile, crews are battling two large fires in southeast Georgia that Gov. Brian Kemp says have destroyed 120 homes. Fire officials say thousands more remain threatened. Kemp said no other wildfire in Georgia's history have burned so many homes. He said investigators believe the fire in rural Brantley County was sparked by an aluminum party balloon touching power lines.
Violent tornado tears through Oklahoma town, damaging 40 homes but sparing lives
ENID, Okla. (AP) — Officials say a powerful storm churned up multiple tornadoes that barreled through Oklahoma, damaging at least 40 homes and sending emergency crews door-to-door in a hard hit neighborhood. The most extensive damage was in the rural town of Enid in Garfield County on Thursday night, where some homes were reduced to rubble. Video shows a rapidly moving column of air touching down along with totaled homes. The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said there were no immediate reports of fatalities and only minor injuries hours after the tornado passed through. The mayor of Enid says some people were trapped in their homes and had to be rescued.
Police identify the body of 1 missing USF student, second still missing as roommate is charged
Law enforcement authorities in Florida say the body of a Bangladeshi doctoral student who went missing with his girlfriend from the University of South Florida has been found on a bridge over Tampa Bay, and his roommate has been taken into custody. Zamil Limon’s remains were found on the Howard Frankland bridge Friday morning, but Nahida Bristy is still missing. Hillsborough County police says Limon’s roommate, Hisham Saleh Abugharbeih, faces preliminary charges including unlawfully moving a body. The couple from Bangladesh disappeared from campus on April 16.
Intel’s best day since 1987 leads the US stock market to more records
NEW YORK (AP) — A surge for Intel following a blowout profit report led the U.S. stock market to more records, while oil prices kept yo-yoing in the wait for what’s next with the Iran war. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% Friday and topped its prior all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.6% to its own record. Intel led the way and roared to its best day since 1987 after joining the parade of companies reporting stronger quarterly results than analysts expected. Oil prices swung up and down through the day.
FDA plans ultra-fast review of three psychedelic drugs following Trump directive
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says it will offer ultra-fast review to three psychedelic drugs being studied for hard-to-treat mental health conditions, including major depression. The agency announced the move Friday, following an executive order by President Donald Trump calling for the agency to speed up access to the mind-altering drugs. The move reflects growing popular support for the psychedelics among Trump’s supporters, including combat veterans and followers of the Make America Healthy Again movement. The FDA also greenlighted initial testing of a drug related to ibogaine, a potent psychedelic linked to dangerous heart rhythms.
