A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security is stalling out again in Congress. Republicans invoked the war in Iran and the prospect of retaliatory terrorist attacks as they tried Thursday to pass a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. But Democrats blocked the legislation as they insist on changes to immigration enforcement operations. While the House will also take up the bill later in the day, the vote will be more about putting lawmakers on the record again about where they stand. In the end, a bipartisan compromise will have to be reached to end a DHS shutdown that began Feb. 14.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says she hopes to deepen her relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. She wants to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in rare earths development and other areas of economic security when she visits Washington next month. Takaichi was reelected as prime minister Wednesday after a landslide election victory last week. She is gearing up to work on policies she says are needed to make Japan stronger and more prosperous. She is using her Liberal Democratic Party’s two-thirds supermajority in the lower house. She hopes to bolster Japan’s military power, government spending and social conservatism.

The abduction of 10 mine workers in Mexico's Sinaloa state has raised questions again about the government's touted security improvements. In late January, gunmen abducted workers from a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine near Panuco. Authorities have identified five bodies and are working to identify five more. Since September 2024, two Sinaloa Cartel factions have fought across the state. President Claudia Sheinbaum points to lower homicide rates but analysts say episodes like this undermine her message. Security forces have added troops and made arrests, yet residents say fear, displacement and the numbers of missing people keep rising.