AP-Newswatch

Trump grants one-month exemption for US automakers from new tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. The announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis on Wednesday. Asked if 30 days was enough for the auto sector to prepare for the new taxes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump told them: “He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff.”

Supreme Court reinstates order for the Trump administration to un-freeze foreign aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided Supreme Court has rejected a Trump administration push to rebuke a federal judge who imposed a quick deadline to release billions of dollars in foreign aid. By a 5-4 vote Wednesday, the court told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done. Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent, saying Ali lacks the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he is stunned the court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris.”

White House confirms direct talks with Hamas officials amid ceasefire uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says U.S. officials have engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials. Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha come as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance. It’s the first known direct engagement between the U.S. and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. Leavitt declined to provide detail on the the substance of talks. Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries have served as mediators with Hamas for the U.S. and Israel since the group launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Vance visits the US-Mexico border to tout Trump’s immigration crackdown

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Vice President JD Vance has participated in an aerial tour of the U.S.-Mexico border and met with law enforcement officials. It’s part of a trip Wednesday meant to highlight tougher immigration policies that the White House says has led to dramatically fewer arrests for illegal crossings since President Donald Trump began his second term. Joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Vance viewed the Eagle Pass area by helicopter. The trio also visited a detention facility before holding a roundtable discussion with local and national participants. Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 39% in January from a month earlier, though they’ve been falling sharply since well before Trump took office

The pope has increased his physical therapy and marked the start of Lent in the hospital

ROME (AP) — The Vatican says that Pope Francis has increased his physical activity, called the Catholic parish priest in Gaza and marked the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead. The Holy Father suffered no respiratory crises during the day, receiving oxygen through a nasal tube. He will resume the use of a non-invasive mechanical mask for the night. He remains in stable condition. During the morning he participated in an Ash Wednesday celebration, receiving ashes and Holy Communion. He later set to work, which included a call to the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the Argentine priest who is the parish priest of the Holy Family church in Gaza.

Trump administration moves to drop Idaho emergency abortion case with national implications

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dropping an emergency abortion case in Idaho in one of the administration’s first moves on the issue since President Donald Trump’s second term began. The Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the Biden administration lawsuit in a reversal that could have national implications for urgent care. The lawsuit had argued that emergency-room doctors treating pregnant women had to provide terminations if needed to save their lives or to avoid serious health consequences in Idaho, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans. The state argues that its law does allow life-saving abortions and the Biden administration wrongly sought to expand the exceptions.

Powerful US storms create blizzard conditions and threaten to spawn more tornadoes

ATLANTA (AP) — Powerful storms that killed three people in Mississippi and ripped roofs from buildings in a small Oklahoma town are charging across the nation, threatening more communities in the central to eastern United States with wide-ranging weather. Forecasters also are warning that a Pacific storm was expected to bring widespread rain and mountain snow across California and other parts of the West into Friday. Blizzard conditions in Nebraska and parts of southern Minnesota made travel there dangerous on Wednesday morning. A tornado watch was issued for portions of North Carolina and Virginia until Wednesday evening.

US charges Chinese hackers, government officials in broad cyberespionage campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve Chinese nationals, including mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers and employees of a private hacking company, have been charged in connection with global cyberespionage campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities. That’s according to the U.S. Justice Department, which announced a set of criminal cases Wednesday that add new detail to what U.S. officials say is a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing in an arrangement meant to provide Chinese state security forces cover and deniability.