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May 15 (UPI) — A wide swath of the Midwest and Plains states is under a tornado watch and severe weather conditions are forecast to persist into next week, the National Weather service said Thursday.

The storms could prompt large hail, damaging winds and heavy rain. Tornadoes have already touched down in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where a twister damaged parts of a home and a grain bin in Swift County.

A dark and dominant cloud wall, which often presages a tornado, prompted officials to issue a tornado warning in downtown Minneapolis Thursday. The storms were moving West to East, and severe weather was threatening Chicago and Tennessee. Severe storms were expected in Nashville.

The Chicago metro area and northwest Indiana were under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT., and the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for a wider portion of the region.

Dangerous storms are likely to drop gold ball-sized hail and whip Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville and St. Louis with 75 mph winds which could down trees and power lines Thursday into Friday. The severe weather threat extends to the common border between Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

May 15 (UPI) — Criminals could be using AI to send malicious texts and voicemails impersonating United States officials, the FBI warned Thursday.

“Since April 2025, malicious actors have impersonated senior US officials to target individuals, many of whom are current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts,” a release from the FBI said.

The bureau warned recipients not to assume that these calls and texts are authentic. The techniques are known as smishing and vishing and attempt to establish a rapport with the recipient before trying to get them to divulge sensitive personal information.

Once the scammers have established trust, they attempt to get victims to switch to a different messaging platform via a hyperlink and try to access personal financial and other sensitive information, the bureau said. And also attempt access to other information related to current or government officials.

The FBI did not disclose which officials have been target or whether any were convinced to divulge personal or government information.

May 15 (UPI) — Former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura faced cross-examination from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys during court proceedings on Thursday.

Defense attorneys asked Ventura if she heard “after the fact” about an alleged incident in which Combs, 55, is accused of throwing one of Ventura’s friends into patio furniture while on a balcony.

Ventura said she witnessed it and did not hear about it later.

Combs’ attorneys also asked how taking too much ketamine affected her.

She said it caused her to “disassociate” and made her feel like “you’re not there.”

‘Get-high’ partners

Ventura confirmed she and Combs referred to each other as “get-high partners” and that she was addicted to opiates that a friend supplied to her while she was Combs’ girlfriend.

She said Combs was unhappy about her opiate addiction and called it hypocritical of him.

Ventura also confirmed she tried cocaine and many other drugs with a friend.

Combs told her to stop doing drugs with her friends, but her drug use only was a problem when she wasn’t doing them with Combs.

She said he only wanted her to do drugs with him and would get “explosive” if she did drugs when he did not know about it.

Combs’ attorneys also asked if Combs in 2016 told Los Angeles drug dealers to stop selling drugs to Ventura while he was trying to get her to stop using drugs.

She said he made the request at some time but did not know during which year.

Injured friend’s payout

An attorney also asked if Ventura witnessed Combs allegedly throwing a wooden clothes hanger at one of her friends.

She said she was in the bathroom at the time, heard the commotion and saw her friend was injured when she emerged from the bathroom.

The incident occurred while she was dating the man with whom she now is married, but Combs was unaware of the relationship at the time, Ventura testified.

The friend who was injured later demanded payment for the incident, which Ventura said she paid because she felt responsible.

Documented expressions of love

Combs’ attorneys also showed text messages and emails in which Combs and Ventura expressed their love for one another and she wanted him to give her more attention.

The defense attorneys have accused Ventura of trying to get revenge on Combs and said she wants money.

They say the sex acts were consensual acts among adults.

Ventura was Combs’ girlfriend for about 11 years and during the first two days of his trial testified about ongoing physical abuse and medical problems she experienced due to what she called forced participation in sex “freak offs” that she says Combs organized.

She said Combs, 55, recorded the sex acts on video, used the tapes to blackmail her and others, and provided drugs during orgies and atother times.

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution; and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.

He has pleaded not guilty to the five felony charges that could put him in prison for life if he is found guilty on all of them.

The trial is being held in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in the Manhattan federal courthouse in New York City.

May 15 (UPI) — Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the agency will do more to promote economic activity and protect consumers than it did under the Biden administration.

The challenges before the FTC “are as formidable as ever,” Ferguson told the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee’s FTC budget hearing on Thursday morning.

“Our resources have been spread thin by the previous administration’s mismanagement,” Ferguson said, but he “resolutely believes” in the FTC’s mission.

The FTC chairman said the agency must undertake measures to address its resource constraints to ensure it operates as efficiently and effectively as possible while fulfilling its mission.

“No economic system in history has better promoted the common good than the American free-enterprise system,” he said. “No economic system has contributed more to human flourishing.”

The nation’s free-enterprise system “promotes the common good of all Americans only if we protect it from anti-competitive business practices, anti-competitive consolidation and fraud,” Ferguson told the subcommittee.

Focus on ‘vigorous law enforcement’

He said the Trump administration has taken the FTC back to its “roots,” and “vigorous law enforcement” is the agency’s focus.

The FTC is the only federal agency that protects consumers and promotes competition in most economic sectors, Ferguson explained.

“Congress established the FTC to be a cop on the beat for our markets, not to make the rules,” Ferguson told the subcommittee.

“We don’t get to pick and choose what laws we like and what laws we don’t,” he said. “We enforce the laws that the people, through their representatives in Congress, have decided best promote competition and fairness.”

The FTC’s current budget is $425.7 million, and costs for its 1,221 personnel account for about two-thirds of its budgetary expenses, Ferguson said.

The agency recently eliminated 94 full-time employees to reach its current number of full-time employees.

Ferguson said more reductions will be made until the agency has its fewest full-time employees in a decade.

Eliminating an ‘ideological bent’ against mergers

The FTC under the Biden administration “took an aggressive and unprecedented approach” to rule-making” and “stretched its statutory authority” and at times “took a hostile view of mergers and acquisitions,” subcommittee Chairman Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, said.

He asked Ferguson how the FTC would take a different approach under his leadership.

Ferguson said the FTC had an “ideological bent against mergers and acquisitions” under the Biden administration.

“Mergers and acquisitions are a very critical part of how the economy grows and how we get innovation,” he said. “At the same time, protecting Americans from monopolies and anti-competitive conduct is very important.”

If the FTC thinks a deal is anti-competitive and it can win in court, “we’re going to go to court,” Ferguson said.

If the FTC decides it can’t win in court, he said, “we’re going to get out of the way quickly.”

The FTC under the Biden administration prohibited remedies or negotiations to address complications arising from proposed mergers and acquisitions, Ferguson said, but it will under his watch.

“The remedies have to be real. They have to be enforceable,” he explained, “and we have a strong preference for structural remedies over behavioral remedies.”

He said it’s possible to address anti-competitive aspects of a proposed merger instead of blocking it.

Such an approach is the primary difference in how the FTC will work now compared to how it handled such matters under the Biden administration, Ferguson said.

Addressing problems for workers, small businesses

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., raised several issues that he said “hamstring” workers, small businesses and consumers.

Such issues include right-to-repair equipment by small businesses, click-to-cancel provisions among online businesses, and non-compete clauses that could stop workers from moving on to other employment.

Ivey said he hopes the FTC will address such matters and then pivoted to the recent and unexpected firings of two Democratic commissioners in the FTC by the Trump administration.

The two filed legal challenges to their removals and say there was no reason for their firings.

Ivey said it’s important to ensure independent commissions remain independent and have a partisan balance.

Thorough review of prescription drug prices, pharmacy closures

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, addressed pharmacy closures and said a solution is needed to ensure people have access to prescription drugs and pay fair prices.

She asked if the FTC intends to complete a study on pharmaceutical costs and the effect on consumers that was started under the Biden administration.

Ferguson said the FTC needs to produce a “very, very thorough accounting” of the matter and is “promoting a ton of resources” to the issue so federal and state governments have a full understanding of what is being done.

“I want it done as quickly as possible,” he said, “but I do not want speed to be the enemy of thoroughness.”

During additional testimony, Ferguson said the FTC is working to prevent illegal telemarketing calls, fraud that targets older Americans and service members, deceptive billing and cancellation policies, and unlawful ticket practices.

The FTC also is working to prevent unlawful data security and privacy practices while protecting American consumers.

The Trump administration is requesting another $425.7 million FTC budget for fiscal year 2026.

Ferguson said the FTC returned $333 million in value to consumers during the 2024 fiscal year.

The nearly two-hour hearing concluded just before noon EDT.

May 15 (UPI) — U.S. April wholesale inflation experienced its biggest drop since 2020, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Thursday.

The Producer Price Index fell 0.5% in April and 2.4% annually.

in April and 2.4% for the 12 months ended April 2025.a 0.2% riseEconomists expected

“The April decline in the index for final demand is attributable to prices for final demand services, which decreased 0.7%. The index for final demand goods was unchanged,” BLS said.”

“Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services edged down 0.1% in April, the first decline since falling 0.8% in April 2020. For the 12 months ended April 2025, the index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services advanced 2.9%.”

More than 40% of the April decline in PPI services was due to machinery and vehicle wholesaling, which dropped 6.1%.

“Prices for final demand services moved down 0.7% in April, the largest decline since the index began in December 2009,” the BLS statement said. “Over two-thirds of the broad-based decrease can be traced to margins for final demand trade services, which dropped 1.6%.”

Consumer inflation for April as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in April, an annual rate of 2.3%. That was slightly less than expected.

Core CPI, excluding volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.2% for April and 2.8% on the year.

May 15 (UPI) — More than 1,200 Starbucks employees launched a strike this week as the company has enforced a new dress code.

The Starbucks Workers United union said that the new dress code, which went into effect on Monday, has exacerbated issues with understaffing at stores leading to walkouts at about 100 stores to express opposition to the policy.

Starbucks barista and union bargaining delegate Jasmine Leli has publicly stated that the company did not consult with the union over the dress code.

“The distraction is Starbucks rolling out all of these new changes when all the customer is concerned about is getting their drinks and going about their merry way. They don’t care what color shirt we have on,” Leli said. “Starbucks hasn’t bargained with us over this dress code change, and we just need them to get back to the table so that we can ratify this contract.”

Starbucks Workers United added that the walkouts are also meant to highlight other issues with the company.

“We’re not just walking out over a shirt color. Starbucks is a massive company that refuses to focus on what’s important. Customers and baristas alike want fully staffed stores, lower prices and wait times, and workers to be taken care of,” the union said in a post on Facebook.

“They refuse to staff our stores properly, give guaranteed hours to workers, pay us a living wage, or provide stipends to pay for this arbitrary dress code,” a separate post from the union to X Wednesday claimed.

The dress code as detailed in a press release last month, baristas may wear “any solid black short and long-sleeved crewneck, collared, or button-up shirts and any shade of khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms.

“We’re also making a new line of company branded t-shirts available to partners, who will receive two at no cost,” the company said.

As per the release, the reasoning behind this change is to “allow our iconic green apron to shine and create a sense of familiarity for our customers, no matter which store they visit across North America.”

“Workers shouldn’t need to spend [money] out-of-pocket to replace perfectly good shirts, pants [and] shoes when we’re already struggling to get by,” the union wrote in a social media post Tuesday.

Starbucks claimed that less than 1% of employees are responsible for the action in regard to dissatisfaction with the code.

May 15 (UPI) — A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unconstitutionally retaliated against the American Bar Association when it abruptly canceled millions in grants awarded to the world’s largest association of lawyers and legal professionals.

Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction against the cancelation of the five grants and ordered the Justice Department to fully pay out the $3.2 million previously allocated to the ABA. The grants were intended to train lawyers and judges who work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“The ABA has made a strong showing that Defendants terminated its grants to retaliate against it for engaging in protected speech,” the President Barack Obama-appointed judge wrote in his ruling.

The Trump administration has been accused of retaliating against President Donald Trump‘s perceived political opponents, including law firms associated with Democrats and judges who have ruled against his policies.

The ABA is among those who have described such attacks as threats to the judiciary, and in February, it joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s freeze of international development grants to the U.S. Agency for international Development.

In April, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum calling out ABA over its lawsuit against the government and support for “activist causes,” essentially severing the Justice Department’s interactions with the organization. The department then canceled the grants the next day

The organization filed its lawsuit against the Trump administration on April 23, accusing it of unlawful retaliation for exercising its First Amendment right to petition the courts.

“This lawsuit is necessitated by DOJ’s undisguised efforts to retaliate against the ABA for taking positions that the current Administration disfavors,” the lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of ABA stated.

In his ruling Wednesday, Cooper said the government does not have any “meaningful” arguments to contest ABA’s claims, stating it points to deficiencies in the organization’s performance of its grant obligations while conceding that similar grants administered to other organizations remain in place.

“The government claims that it had a non-retaliatory motive for terminating the grants: They no longer aligned with DOJ’s priorities. But the government has not identified any non-retaliatory DOJ priorities, much less explained why they were suddenly deemed inconsistent with the goals of the affected grants,” he said, adding that similar grants to other organizations continue without the government explaining why those are still being maintained.

“The government’s different treatment of other grantees suggests this justification is pretextual.”

Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman celebrated the ruling in a statement, saying it is “welcome news” for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and for their families.

“For decades, the American Bar Association has provided critical training to lawyers to enable the provision of essential legal services to survivors. The court recognized today that the ABA is being unconstitutionally targeted by the Department of Justice because of their longstanding and unchanged stance on the importance of the rule of law and our Constitution,” Perryman said.

May 15 (UPI) — Authorities in western New Jersey arrested and charged a mother and stepfather after their 18-year-old daughter whom they had chained up and locked in a dog create for years escaped their home last week.

Circumstances of her escape were not made public, but authorities said the unidentified girl had fled her home Thursday and received assistance from a neighbor.

The girl told authorities that she had been physically, mentally and sexually abused by her parents since about 2018, when her mother removed her from school.

The girl’s parents, Brenda Spencer, 38, and Branndon Mosley, 41, were arrested and charged Sunday with a slew of offenses, including kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal restraint and assault with a deadly weapon. Mosley, the stepfather, faces additional charges of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child by sexual assault.

“This is the most abhorrent, heinous crime anyone could commit,” Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay said during a press conference Wednesday.

“You see criminals all over the country doing horrific, horrible acts, whether it’s physical or sexual abuse. When it comes at the hands of a parent to a child, there’s nothing worse.”

Authorities said the 18-year-old girl told detectives that shortly after being removed from sixth grade at Spencer’s discretion to be allegedly homeschooled, she was confined to live in a dog crate, where she lived for one year, before being chained up and forced to live in a padlocked bathroom, where she was let only only when family visited.

She was also forced, at times, to live in a bare room with just a bucket to use as a toilet, according to authorities who said she informed detectives that it was armed with an alarm system that would alert the defendants if she tried to leave.

She informed police that Mosley had sexually abused her and beat her with a belt.

MacAulay told reporters that the girl was “living in squalid, filthy conditions” alongside numerous animals, including large dogs and chinchillas.

During the press conference, it was also revealed that the girl’s 13-year-old sister was also living in the same residence, though it was not stated if she was subjected to the same treatment, but that she, had also been removed from school years earlier at Spencer’s discretion to be homeschooled.

In New Jersey, parents are only required to notify the school district of their intent to homeschool their children without requirements from the state’s Department of Education to follow up or to confirm attendance or accreditation, MacAulay explained.

“Homeschooling may be the right choice for many families. Unfortunately, it can be used by others as a means to hide abuse,” she said.

MacAulay said both girls were safe but did not elaborate on their conditions as they are minors and victims of abuse.

“As you can imagine, anyone who’s been confined for a period of seven years, held in these conditions, living in squalid filth, is going to be damaged psychologically, physically, emotionally, mentally,” she said.

“And as you can appreciate when it comes to cases involving child endangerment and child abuse and sexual assault, confidentiality to protect the victims is paramount.”

Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins explained the several-day gap between the 18-year-old’s escape and her parents’ arrest was due to authorities not knowing the extent of the situation.

He said on Thursday when police were contacted, what the girl had described was “a domestic violence-type situation” and that “she did not want to disclose all this information.

“She did not disclose this information about being held to this level,” he said.

An investigation was conducted Thursday following the girl’s escape, but based on the information they had, their investigative authorities were limited.

“Without a corroborating victim, there’s only so much we could do,” he said. “We offered her services. We gave her some resources at that time. She was looking for homeless services.”

On Saturday, the girl contacted authorities again, at which point they learned to what degree she was being held, Harkins said.

“This is one of the most despicable cases that I’ve ever run across,” he said.

Spencer was described as unemployed, and Mosley worked as a train conductor with the SEPTA Regional Rail system.

Both defendants were being held at the Camden County Correctional Facility, pending detention hearings.

May 14 (UPI) — A Russian Harvard University Medical School researcher held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since February has been arrested and charged with smuggling biological material into the United States.

The one count of smuggling goods into the United States was announced by the Justice Department on Wednesday, marking a dramatic escalation in the case that has garnered attention from academics.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint — which was dated Monday but made public Wednesday — Kseniia Petrova had frog embryos and embryonic samples in her possession when entering the country that she did not declare to immigration authorities.

The document states she arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport from Paris on Feb. 16. A Customs and Border Protection canine alerted its handler to Petrova’s bag, which was removed and brought to an agricultural secondary inspection area for further screening where biological items were found.

When questioned about it, she allegedly denied carrying any biological material, but a search of a plastic bag she was carrying revealed additional biological material.

Under oath, she admitted that the items were biological material and said she was not sure if she was supposed to declare them on her arrival, the document states, adding that a search of her found text messages to the contrary.

“[I]f you bring samples or antibody back, make sure you get the permission,” one text message she received from an unidentified person said.

“What is your plan to pass the American … Customs with samples? This is the most delicate place of the trajectory,” another text message read.

A third message to Petrova’s phone had asked: “what is your plan for getting through customs with samples?”

“No plan yet,” Petrova allegedly replied, according to excerpts of the messages included in the court document. “I won’t be able to swallow them.”

If convicted, Petrova could face up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

“The rule of law does not have a carve out for educated individuals with pedigree,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a recorded statement.

The affidavit states her visa was canceled at the airport.

“The U.S. visa that Ms. Petrova was given — which was revoked by customs officials as a result of her conduct — is a privilege, not a right.”

Her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, told The New York Times that Petrova’s J-1 visa was canceled and that deportation proceedings were initiated.

He said normally, a case like this would be treated as a minor infraction, and that filing the criminal charge three months after the alleged violation, “is clearly intended to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify their efforts to deport her.”

Romanovsky also added that a Vermont hearing held earlier Wednesday had essentially established that his client was detained unlawfully and that the complaint had “blindsided” them, and Petrova’s transfer from immigration to criminal custody was “suspect” as it occurred right after a judge set a bail hearing, signaling she could be released.

During the Vermont hearing, U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss had questioned the government over the legality of its actions.

“Where does a Customs and Border Patrol officer have the authority on his or her own to revoke a visa?” Reiss asked, NBC News reported.

“You cannot be found inadmissible because of the customs violation.”

According to the affidavit, Petrova told customs that she is fearful of going back to Russia.

“She claimed she had protested the Russian Federation,” the affidavit states. “She provided no other details.”

In an opinion piece she wrote for The New York Times — and which was published Tuesday — Petrova states she had left Russia after being arrested for protesting its war in Ukraine.

The charge was filed as the Trump administration has been conducting a crackdown on immigration, including targeting foreign-born academics, particularly over their support for Palestine amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Some of those detained students have been released by judges who have ruled against the Trump administration’s use of immigration enforcement to seek to deport them.

Last week, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said they are “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is the right to challenge the legality of a person’s detention by the government.

May 14 (UPI) — For a third straight day, the United States on Wednesday issued sanctions targeting Iran as the Trump administration attempts to negotiate a new nuclear arms deal with the Middle Eastern country.

The punitive measures imposed by the Treasury Department are secondary sanctions, meaning those aimed and punishing third parties for dealing with previously designated entities, individuals and countries.

The sanctions target six individuals and 12 entities in China and Iran accused of aiding Tehran source the manufacturing of critical materials used in the Islamic state’s ballistic missile program, specifically carbon fiber materials used in the construction of intercontinental rockets.

The State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce explained in a statement that Iran is “heavily reliant on China to conduct its malign activities in the Middle East.”

The targets work with the U.S.-sanctioned elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The United States cannot allow Iran to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“The Iranian regime’s relentless and irresponsible pursuit of advanced ballistic missile capabilities, including its efforts to indigenize its production capacity, represents an unacceptable threat to the United States and the stability of the region.”

The sanctions are the third batch of Iran-targeted punitive measures that the Trump administration has imposed this week as it engages in negotiations with Iran on a new agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from securing a nuclear weapon — a goal long held by President Donald Trump.

In 2018, during his first term in the White House, Trump slapped sanctions on Iran and unilaterally pulled the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational accord, calling it “defective at its core.”

He pursued a so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other punitive measures, but failed to coerce Iran back to the negotiating table, and it instead advanced its nuclear weapons capability to the point the U.S. government estimated in 2022 that it would need just a week to produce enough weapons-grade highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.

In February, Trump reinstated his maximum pressure policy, which includes the recent batches of further sanctions.

The United States and Iran have had four recent negotiations on a new deal, but there does not appear to be a fifth round scheduled yet.

Trump administration officials have said a deal would see Iran dismantle its three enrichment facilities, but Iranian officials have said it will not stop enriching uranium but would be open to restrictions.

Trump is in the Middle East this week for a four-day trip, and has repeatedly voiced optimism that a deal can be made.

“I have a feeling it’s going to work out. I think it’s going to work. It’s got to work out, one way or the other we know it’s going to work out,” Trump said during a press conference Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.

Later to reporters aboard Air Force One, he was more direct with his threats against Iran.

“One way or the other. It’s very simple. It’s going to happen one way or the other. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. So, we will either do it friendly, or we will do it very unfriendly, and that won’t be pleasant,” he said.

The Trump administration has said it has sanctioned more than 250 people, entities and vessels related to Iran and its proxies since February.

May 14 (UPI) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. defended proposed 2026 budget reductions during separate House and Senate committee budget hearings on Wednesday.

Kennedy started the morning by fielding questions from members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

Chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., opened the hearing by acknowledging President Donald Trump‘s efforts to enforce the border and its effect on community health and safety.

“The president’s success in securing our border directly benefits public health by reducing the incoming flow of illicit drugs, like fentanyl, which has fallen by 54% since this time last year,” Aderholt said. “That’s no small thing.”

He also commended the Trump administration for reducing the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border and said he wants to hear Kennedy’s ideas for reforming the Department of Health and Human Services and its sub-agencies.

‘Disastrous’ program funding reductions

Ranking Member Rep. Rose DeLauro, D-Conn., was less conciliatory and referred to the Trump administration’s budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services as “disastrous.”

DeLauro said the proposed budget would reduce funding for health programs by $33 billion.

The proposed HHS budget for the 2026 fiscal year is $93.8 billion, which is a 26.2% reduction from the current budget and includes funding reductions across most programs.

“I view it as a disgrace,” DeLauro said. “Under your budget proposal, Americans would die needless and preventable deaths.”

DeLauro cited funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and accused Kennedy and the Department of Government Efficiency Director Elon Musk of “eliminating entire divisions without consideration for what is being lost.”

The cuts “affect families and communities” and “are dangerous,” DeLauro said.

Kennedy said his goal is to make America healthy again by focusing on the “chronic disease epidemic.”

HHS also seeks to deliver more effective and efficient services for Americans who rely on Medicaid, Medicare and other programs while reducing costs for taxpayers, Kennedy said.

During the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee budget hearing Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy said states and localities can do a better job of responding to disasters at the state and local levels than the federal government.

He cited Florida’s success in handling hurricanes Helene and Milton last year, with no lives lost there, as an example and said the federal government should focus on national disasters.

Drug prices and healthcare as a human right

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., asked Kennedy if he is willing to work to make drug prices in the United States the lowest in the world, to which Kennedy said he is.

Sanders then asked Kennedy if healthcare is a “human right.”

Kennedy said healthcare is not part of the rights enumerated in the Constitution and called it more of a philosophical matter.

Sanders responded by saying “every other country guarantees healthcare” as a right and said Americans don’t want the choice to be uninsured or not have the ability to see a doctor.

Kennedy said “Obamacare” is not working and he and President Trump want to enable everyone to be insured and have access to quality healthcare.

Sanders then cited proposed cuts to programs that serve middle-class and poor Americans and claimed they would end healthcare coverage for 13 million Americans.

Kennedy said the cuts only are for waste and denied they would affect coverage for Americans.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., followed Sanders and cited examples of wasteful programs that the proposed budget would eliminate.

They include a recent study on the effects of cocaine on lab rats and another study that showed about half of biological males who medically transition to female believe they can get pregnant, the senator said.

Gain-of-function research and COVID-19

Paul also said bipartisan support exists for better controlling gain-of-function research on Ebola, avian flu and other infectious diseases and the potential dangers they pose to Americans.

The senator cited a research study that would put Ebola in an aerosol as a potential biological weapon, which he said could be potentially very dangerous to the general public.

Paul asked Kennedy if HHS would be transparent in gain-of-function research regulations and protect Americans from potentially deadly outbreaks.

Kennedy said HHS would be “absolutely transparent” in regulating gain-of-function research and “bring the public in on the debate.”

He also said National Institutes of Health research “almost certainly” caused the COVID-19 pandemic through gain-of-function research.

Lack of access to critical care

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she opposes staffing reductions at the NIH and cited a constituent with stage-four cancer who recently was told her treatment would be delayed by four weeks due to staffing shortages.

Kennedy offered to intervene on that person’s behalf and ensure she receives needed care right away.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., accused Kennedy of “hiding information” from the American people and asked if he believes lead poisoning is a problem.

Kennedy said he thinks it’s a very serious problem, but Baldwin said “the entire lead-poisoning program staff has been fired.”

She asked if Kennedy intends to eliminate the program that helps communities address lead poisoning, which he said will not happen.

She also said HHS has provided about $1 billion less in Head Start program funding and asked why there are funding delays.

“There should not be any delays,” Kennedy said. “The funding is there.”

He suggested staffers who want to make the Trump administration look bad are slowing down disbursements for Head Start and similar programs.

The House and Senate hearings were held before a vote on a proposed 2026 federal government budget measure that Trump has referred to as “one big, beautiful bill.”

Protesters arrested for disrupting hearing

While the Senate hearing was underway, Ben & Jerry’s co-owner and co-founder Ben Cohen and six others were arrested for disrupting the hearing, Axios reported.

Cohen and the others were protesting the United States’ support of Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

The protesters yelled, “RFK kills people with hate!” before Capitol Police escorted them from the room.

They were arrested and charged with crowding, obstructing proceedings or incommoding.

Some protesters also were charged with assaulting a police officer or resisting arrest, but Cohen was not among those so charged.

May 14 (UPI) — Award-winning actress, comedian, television host and entrepreneur Whoopi Goldberg will headline the Cannabis Means Business event next month in New York City.

The Cannabis Means Business trade event is scheduled June 4-5 at the Javits Center, where Goldberg plans to launch her “Whoop-Tea” hemp-derived beverage.

Goldberg will join CNBC’s Tim Seymour at the CMB event’s opening day to hold an “exclusive conversation” in the special events area at the cannabis trade show.

The pair will discuss the rapidly growing cannabis beverage market and her Whoop-Tea product, which is being produced with the help of the Pure Genesis cannabis beverage brand.

“I wanted to create something that’s fun, relaxing and brings people together without the hangover,” Goldberg said in a news release.

“Whoop-Tea is exactly that,” she said. “It’s tea. It’s lemonade. It’s THC, and it’s all about unwinding and enjoying the moment.”

Goldberg said she is “excited” to “be a part of this incredible shift in wellness culture” and unveil her beverage during the cannabis industry event.

CMB organizers said the global cannabis beverage market was valued at $1.16 billion and is projected to top $3 billion in 2025.

Pure Genesis and Goldberg have partnered to produce Whoop-Tea, which is a non-alcoholic beverage that has THC and blends lemonade and iced tea.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Whoopi, a cultural icon who shares our passion for quality, community and breaking stigma,” Pure Genesis co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Faye Coleman said.

Pure Genesis co-founder Priscilla Wynn called the beverage a “testament to what’s possible when visionary women lead.”

Event attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy free samples.

May 14 (UPI) — A lard-covered obelisk is more than a slippery slope for U.S. Naval Academy plebes, who view it as a rite of passage that changes them into midshipmen.

Dozens of freshmen who are called “plebes” were tasked with climbing the 21-foot-tall Herndon Monument on Wednesday, with the mission being to replace a cap placed on top to mark the end of their first year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

They accomplished the feat in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 31 seconds by using the kind of teamwork that is required to effectively operate vessels on the high seas like the U.S. Navy has done for almost 250 years, and as it today carries out missions on land and in the air, as well.

The annual climb is a 75-year tradition that started in 1950 and scales the monument to Commander William Lewis Herndon, who went down with his ship when a hurricane sank it in 1857.

The climb requires Naval Academy plebes to scale the obelisk after it has been covered with 200 pounds of lard, remove a “Dixie cup” placed on top and replace it with the hat of an upperclassman.

The Dixie cup is not a reference to the paper cup that often is used at water dispensers.

Instead, it is a reference to the “low-rolled brim, high-domed item constructed of canvas” cap that was created in 1886 and has represented the U.S. Navy throughout the 20th century and beyond.

The Dixie cup cap is featured in the iconic photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York City’s Times Square on Victory over Japan Day in 1945.

It also was featured in many classic films and was worn by the S.S. Minnow’s first mate Gilligan on television’s “Gilligan’s Island.”

Members of the Naval Academy’s class of 2028 successfully undertook the task of replacing the Dixie Cup with the upperclassman’s hat.

The 2028 class has about 1,187 plebes, who now are referred to as “midshipmen” upon their completion of the annual rite of passage.

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

May 14 (UPI) — U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Indian national and Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri. He had been held by ICE for two months despite not having been charged with a crime.

Suri was in the United States on an academic visa. He was arrested March 17 by masked ICE agents and sent to a Texas detention immigration detention facility.

Judge Giles ordered Suri released without bond on condition that he maintain a residence in Virginia and attend hearings in his case in person. For Texas immigration hearings, Suri can attend virtually.

The judge said at Suri’s hearing his release is “in the public interest to disrupt the chilling effect on protected speech.”

Suri’s defense lawyers alleged he was singled out for revocation of his visa and deportation “based on his family connections and constitutionally protected speech.”

Suri has not been charged with a crime. He was taken by ICE for his social media posts supporting Palestinians.

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin cited the posts as she claimed without including concrete evidence that Suri allegedly had connections to a senior adviser of Hamas.

Suri said in an April statement that he had “never even been to a protest.”

His release petition argued that he was likely targeted by the Trump administration due to his marriage to a U.S. citizen of Palestinian origin.

Also, Suri’s father-in-law Ahmed Yousef was an adviser to Hamas over a decade ago.

Giles ruled in March that Suri “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.”

Suri’s release order follows court-ordered releases from ICE custody of fellow immigrant academics Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University Palestinian student, and Tufts University student Rumseya Ozturk.

Attorneys representing Suri said during his detention he was transferred to five different facilities across three states. They said he at one point slept in a room with no bed and a TV blaring almost all day for nearly two weeks.

In a letter to his lawyers, Suri wrote, “My only ‘crimes’ making me a ‘national security threat’ are my marriage to a United States citizen of Palestinian origin and my support for the Palestinian cause.”

May 14 (UPI) — The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Republican tax package Wednesday, which followed an all-night hearing during which GOP members rejected attempts by Democrats to alter the plan.

The bill was approved on 26-19 party line, which will next move to the chamber’s Budget Committee, where it will be blended with legislation from other committees and presented as part of what President Donald Trump has dubbed the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“We are in hour 14 of a markup where Democrats are fighting tooth and nail,” posted Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R- Mo. to X at 4:29 a.m. EDT Wednesday,” which followed previous update posts at 2:37 a.m. EDT Wednesday and 11:56 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The hearing began at 2:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

Democrats saw all their proposed amendments, which covered items like the expansion of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and green energy, turned down, while also having stumped against the current tax plan, which it called a giveaway to the wealthy.

Democrats also put forth amendments that would have impacted Trump’s tariffs, blocked tax cuts for high earners and expanded child-care incentives among other suggestions, but none were adopted.

The entire package is projected to cost $3.8 trillion, but could still address state and local tax, or SALT, deductions. The Joint Committee on Taxation reported Tuesday that average earners would see their tax bills decrease by double-digit percentages in 2027 under the plan as it stands.

Democrats have also pointed out that under the plan, taxpayers who earn over $500,000 would see a cumulative tax cut of around $170 billion in 2027, while those who will earn between $30,000 and $80,000 that year would only see a collective $59 billion.

The bill is targeted to pass through the enter chamber by Memorial Day, then on to the Senate which is expected to combine the tax laws with the rest of Trump’s “Beautiful” bill, which together would both extend the life of previously set tax cuts and enable Trump’s financial requests.

May 14 (UPI) — Democrat John Ewing Jr. defeated incumbent Republican Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert to become Omaha’s first Black mayor.

Ewing, a former Omaha deputy police chief and current Douglas County, Neb., treasurer, defeated Stothert by an unofficial margin of 48,693 to 37,758, as reported by the Douglas County Election Commission. The commission will canvass and make the election official on May 29.

Ewing will also be the first Democrat to serve as Omaha mayor since 2013. Stothert had won three consecutive terms before this loss. Stothert had been the first woman elected city mayor.

Democrats also won four of the seven City Council seats.

The mayor’s office is nonpartisan, but the candidates’ parties came into play as an ad from Stothert stated that “Ewing stands with radicals who want to allow boys in girls’ sports.” KETV-TV reported that Ewing said in response that “Nobody’s ever brought that question up. So I believe it’s a made-up issue by Jean Stothert and the Republican Party.”

Ewing ran an ad that connected Stothert to President Donald Trump, to which she told KETV that “Donald Trump does not call me and ask for advice.”

Omaha and its suburbs make up Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, and it carries a presidential electoral vote, which can be won by a party different than who may carry the state-wide election and its four electoral votes.

The state generally leans Republican, but Democrats have won the 2nd Congressional District with some regularity, as Kamala Harris did in 2024, Joe Biden in 2020 and Barack Obama in 2008. On the other hand, Republican Donald Trump won in 2016 and GOP member Mitt Romney took the vote in 2012.

May 14 (UPI) — The United States has imposed additional Iran-related sanctions, as the Trump administration negotiates with Tehran on a new nuclear weapons deal.

The sanctions announced Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury target an Iranian oil smuggling network the Trump administration accuses of generating billions of dollars for the Tehran regime’s military and proxy forces.

Fifteen front companies, buyers and facilitators in Hong Kong, mainland China, the Seychelles and Singapore were hit by the punitive measures, along with 52-year-old Iranian national Mohammad Khorasani Niasari and two shipping vessels.

The secondary sanctions were levied due to their links to Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, which the previous Biden administration blacklisted in November 2023 for overseeing the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff’s network of front companies that it uses to sell commodities, including oil, internationally — funds that are used to further Iran’s weapons and nuclear programs and other destabilizing activities.

According to Treasury officials Sepehr Energy obfuscates the origin of these oil shipments through a series of deals involving between multiple front companies it owns. Some of the entities that were blacklisted Tuesday were established in China and Hong Kong.

Among the tactics deployed to conceal the oil’s Iranian origin is the use of ship-to-ship transfers at sea before the cargo reaches China. Once in the country, Sepehr Energy relies on complicit local agencies willing to aid their sanctioned sales.

Khorasani is a financial inspector for Sepehr Energy and its affiliates and was sanctioned Tuesday for helping to manage the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff’s transactions.

“As long as Iran devotes its illicit revenues to funding attacks on the United States and our allies, supporting terrorism around the world and pursuing other destabilizing actions, we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The sanctions are the latest the Trump administration has imposed since early February when President Donald Trump resumed his so-called maximum pressure policy from his first term — an effort that failed to coerce Iran into returning to the negotiating table for a new nuclear weapons deal.

During his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions against Iran and unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational nuclear accord aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Trump applied his maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and political pressure to force Tehran to negotiate a new deal he believed would be better. Instead, the Middle Eastern country ignored its obligations under the accord and escalated its nuclear weapons program to the point where the U.S. government estimates Iran could need as little as a week to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear bomb.

However, talks about a new nuclear deal between the two countries have resumed during the Trump’s second term, with State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott telling reporters in at a Washington press conference on Tuesday that the negotiations “continue to show progress.”

There have been four rounds of informal talks with the fifth round yet to be scheduled.

Trump, speaking in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, called on Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and accept “a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future” or expect consequences. The United States under administration of both Democrats and Republicans have said they will not permit Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“I want to make a deal with Iran,” Trump said. “This is an offer that will not last forever. The time is right now to choose. We don’t have a lot of time to wait.”

The Trump administration is demanding that Iran discontinue its uranium enrichment program and dismantle its facilities. Iran has said it will not compromise on its enrichment capabilities.

On Monday, after the United States blacklisted three Iranians and a related technology firm involved in nuclear weapons research, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi suggested there was a possibility of negotiating on its enrichment allotments.

For a limited period of time, we can accept a series of restrictions on the level and volume of enrichment,” he said, state-run Press TV reported.

“We have not yet gone into details about the level and volume of enrichment.”

According to the Treasury, since Trump announced the resumption of his maximum pressure campaign, the United States has sanctioned 253 individuals, entities and vessels related to Iran and its proxies.

May 13 (UPI) — A federal grand jury in Wisconsin has indicted Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, whose arrest last month on allegations of helping a migrant evade federal arrest prompted dozens of legal professionals to accuse the Trump administration of trying to intimidate the judiciary.

Dugan was charged in a two-count indictment on Tuesday.

The court document accuses her of knowingly concealing a person whose arrest warrant had been issued in order to prevent their apprehension, and corruptly endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the administration of law enforcement.

UPI has contacted her legal representation for comment.

FBI agents arrested Dugan on April 25 for allegedly misdirecting federal agents to allow Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented migrant, to evade arrest earlier that month.

According to the affidavit supporting her arrest, Dugan was presiding over an April 18 hearing involving Flores-Ruiz in a domestic abuse case when agents arrived to arrest him over his immigration status.

After confronting federal agents in the court’s hallway, she is accused of escorting Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of her courtroom.

Flores-Ruiz was able to leave the courthouse, but then led federal agents on a foot chase before being taken into immigration enforcement custody.

The development comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

During the increased law enforcement targeting of undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden administration policy prohibiting immigration enforcement action in or near courthouses.

While the previous administration said such arrests hindered the administration of justice, the current administration has argued that the policy “emboldened criminal illegal aliens” and being able to make arrests at courthouses “is common sense.”

The arrest of Dugan was met with swift condemnation from those in the legal profession, who viewed it as another Trump administration attack on the judiciary.

More than 140 retired state and federal judges sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter earlier this month condemning what they described as attacks against judges who do not rule in the Trump administration’s favor.

“The intent to intimidate Judge Dugan and the judiciary is clear from the circumstances of Judge Dugan’s arrest,” the group said.

“The circumstances of Judge Dugan’s arrest make it clear that it was nothing but an effort to threaten and intimidate the state and federal judiciaries into submitting to the Administration, instead of interpreting the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Dugan has been temporarily removed from her duties by the Wisconsin Supreme Court following her arrest.

May 13 (UPI) — Justice Department nominees won’t be confirmed until the Trump administration provides full transparency on “Qatari influence,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on Tuesday.

The recently announced donation of a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force 1, which Trump has said will be donated to his presidential library after he leaves office, spurred opposition from Senate Democrats.

“This has the appearance of naked corruption” and “is a grave national security risk,” Schumer said Tuesday in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Given reports that you played a central role in approving his proposal, I request answers to the following questions,” Schumer told Bondi.

Schumer wants to know if the aircraft will include secure communications, self-defense systems, shielding and other security requirements that “are ready on day one.”

If so, he wants to know who installed them and how the Trump administration knows the aircraft is not a national security threat.

If not, Schumer wants to know “what modifications would be needed to ensure a foreign-sourced Air Force One is safe to use and free of security threats.”

He also wants to know if taxpayers would have to pay to retrofit the aircraft, if the gift would negate a $3.9 billion 2018 contract with Boeing for two new presidential aircraft, and how much such a cancellation might cost.

If the $3.9 billion contract is not cancelled, Schumer asked Bondi how the Trump administration justifies allocating resources to a foreign-sourced aircraft that only would be used while Trump is president, who negotiated the agreement and its parameters.

“What is Qatar being offered in return?” Schumer asked.

He also wants to know why Bondi in February “deprioritized enforcement” of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and other foreign-influence laws.

“Please explain this decision to weaken FARA, which requires agents of foreign governments, like Qatar, to register and disclose their activities,” Schumer said.

“Until the administration provides a detailed justification of this new program, including complete and comprehensive answers to these and other questions posed by oversight committees, I will place a hold on all political nominees of the Department of Justice,” Schumer said.

Senate rules enable a senator to place a blanket hold on political nominations for matters that are unrelated to the respective nominees.

A White House spokesperson accused Schumer of politicizing the aircraft donation.

“Sen. Schumer and his anti-law-and-order party are prioritizing politics over critical DOJ appointments, obstructing President Trump’s Make America Safe Again agenda,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement to UPI.

“Cryin’ Chuck must end the antics, stop Senate stonewalling and prioritize the safety and civil rights of Americans,” Fields added.

A DOJ spokesperson in an emailed statement to UPI said Schumer and Senate Democrats should stop blocking DOJ nominees.

“The American people overwhelmingly elected President Trump to nominate highly qualified candidates at the Department of Justice who will Make America Safe Again,” the spokesperson said. “The Senate should do its part by confirming these nominees.”

May 13 (UPI) — A routine medical physical revealed a small nodule in former President Joe Biden‘s prostate, but its cause is unknown.

“In a routine physical exam, a small nodule was found in the prostate, which necessitated further evaluation,” a Biden spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday.

The nodule might be benign and could have many potential causes, but additional testing is underway to determine if it is harmless or cancerous.

Doctors removed a cancerous skin lesion from his chest while he was president in February 2023, Fox News reported.

The lesion was discovered during a routine physical examination, and a biopsy showed was cancerous after Biden’s doctor removed it.

The doctor had treated the biopsy site with electrodessication and curettage in case analysis later determined it was cancer. No further treatments were needed.

Such medical issues and suspected cognitive decline prompted some Democratic governors to call on Biden not to seek a second term in office.

Others pledged their support for Biden, who eventually withdrew his candidacy following a poor debate performance against President Donald Trump that raised questions about his cognitive abilities.