U.S.

April 16 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Thursday announced visa restrictions on 26 people across the Western Hemisphere as the State Department unveiled a “significant expansion” of an existing policy to deny entry to those accused of working with U.S. adversaries to undermine Washington’s interests in the region.

Those blacklisted were not identified in the State Department release, which said they were being punished for destabilizing U.S. regional security efforts, undermining U.S. economic interests, conducting influence operations targeting the sovereignty and stability of nations in the region or enabling adversaries to acquire or control key assets and strategic resources in the hemisphere.

“President Trump’s National Security Strategy makes clear: this Administration will deny adversarial powers the ability to own or control vital assets or threaten the security and prosperity of the United States in our region,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The Department of State is working to advance American leadership in our hemisphere, protect our homeland and ensure access to vital routes and areas throughout our region.”

The blacklisting was permitted as the State Department said it was announcing “a significant expansion” of an existing visa restriction policy, one first announced in early September, permitting the Trump administration to deny visas to Central American nationals accused of undermining the rule of law in the region on behalf of China.

The move comes as the Trump administration seeks to expand its influence in the Western Hemisphere. Under what some administration officials have called the “Donroe Doctrine,” Trump has sought to reassert U.S. dominance in the region in the Western Hemispher and push back on foreign influence, invoking a modern corollary to the Monroe Doctrine of the 1820s.

That initial policy specifically targeted those in Central America who collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party, while the expansion includes anyone in the Western Hemisphere who aids any of the United States’ adversaries.

China protested the earlier version of the policy in November. In a statement from its embassy in Washington, Beijing said the United States imposed visa restrictions on nationals from Panama and other Central American nations over their ties to China.

“Turning visas into political leverage runs against #UN Charter and the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference,” the embassy said. “Central America is no one’s backyard.”

April 16 (UPI) — The House on Thursday passed a bill to extend temporary protected status for people from Haiti who are living in the United States through 2029.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who is co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, introduced a discharge petition to advance a bill to extend protection for Haitian nationals.

The legislation was initially introduced by Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., whose Long Island district — as well as the rest of Long Island and New York City — have large Haitian populations, and is the first bill she introduced after her election to the House.

After the discharge petition succeeded, with bipartisan support, the bill passed the full House with 10 Republicans voting in support of it.

“This is a critical step forward in our fight for immigrant justice and delivering our Haitian neighbors the protections they deserve — and it’s a testament to the strength of our broad, diverse and bipartisan coalition,” Pressley said in a statement after the motion to discharge was agreed to.

“I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported our discharge petition,” she said.

After the vote, Gillen in a statement encouraged the Senate “to take up this measure and show the compassion and good sense to protect our Haitian community members.”

“Not only would this threaten the lives of our neighbors, it would also have a devastating effect on our economy,” Gillen said, noting that the extension protects “law-abiding and tax-paying Haitians who would face horrific condition if forced back to Haiti.”

The bill, however, faces a battle in the Republican-run Senate and, if it does get passed, the White House has indicated that it will veto the legislation, reports have said.

Although former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had attempted to end TPS for at least half a million Haitians last Fall, a judge in February blocked the Trump administration from carrying it out.

As a result of the ruling, TPS for people from Haiti expired on Feb. 3, its original expiration date, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which Pressley said made the discharge petition to force a vote on the bill so crucial.

The Supreme Court also is due to rule on the Trump administrations efforts to end TPS for Haitians, as well as for people from Syria, who have protected status because of the dangerous situation in that country.

The Army’s top official pointed to low-cost interceptor drones first sent to Ukraine as one defense against Iranian barrages of Shahed-136 one-way attack munitions. During Congressional testimony on Thursday, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll lauded the Merops interceptor and the process to get it quickly into the hands of troops in the Middle East.

The Merops is a small, relatively inexpensive drone built specifically to zip through the skies and intercept long-range one-way attack drones. As we have previously reported, Ukraine has been using several locally produced drones, as well as Merops, to counter Russian Shaheds successfully for some time now, proving-out the concept.

“When the conflict kicked off, within about eight days, we were able to purchase…13,000 Merops, which are incredible,” Driscoll exclaimed. “They’re about $15,000 a piece right now. We think as they scale, they’ll get less than [$10,000] and we’re able to take Shaheds down that cost $30,000 to $50,000, which is amazing because that puts us on the right end of the cost curve, and we will make that trade all day long.”

The U.S. has its own interceptors that have been in service for years, such as Raytheon’s Coyote, but they cost roughly 10 times more.

A new system to identify and take down Russian drones is deployed to NATO’s eastern flank

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Driscoll said that larger orders could drive that to $3,000 to $5,000 per interceptor. Given the success in Ukraine, it is likely that the Pentagon and other customers would see far less risk when it comes to ordering large numbers.

As we noted in a story last month, the Pentagon sent thousands of these drone interceptors to the Middle East. Iranian strikes on U.S. military facilities killed U.S. troops and caused damage to bases and equipment. Driscoll did not offer more specifics about how often they were used, how many Shaheds they downed or exactly where they were deployed.

Merops was “developed as part of the US-backed Project Eagle initiative, which includes contributions from Swift Beat, a company associated with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt,” according to the Ukraine Defense Tech Community (DTC), a marketplace for modern weaponry. “The system is built around Surveyor drones, which act as airborne interceptors capable of destroying enemy UAVs mid-flight.”

Each Merops unit “includes a command station, launch platforms, and a fleet of Surveyor drones,” DTC explained. “These interceptors can operate autonomously or be remotely piloted and are equipped with onboard sensors for target tracking.”

While full technical specifications remain undisclosed, they can reportedly reach speeds of over 280 km/h (175 mph). “The platform is considered fast enough to intercept jet-powered drones such as the Russian Geran-3, which can exceed 300 km/h,” DTC pointed out.

The interceptor can carry an explosive warhead and destroys targets either through a direct collision or a proximity detonation.

Driscoll said the ability to field Merops so quickly is because the Army streamlined its acquisition process.

“Fundamentally, one of the core problems was our own bureaucracy, our own infrastructure, our own decision-making organizations had decayed from any sort of speed and rationality,” he testified. “The reason we’ve been able to move fast since the conflict in Iran started is because of work 10, 12, 14 months ago to reorganize our acquisitions department.”

“And practically,” he added, “what that did is it took us from a 16-step decision-making process – where each of the bodies along those 16 steps could veto it and start it back over, and it could take two to seven years to purchase something.”

“We put everybody into a group who could make decisions on the fly,” the secretary noted. “And so a lot of the things the Army has worked on in the previous year are paying dividends as we try to make decisions quickly.”

You can watch Driscoll’s testimony on Merops at the 36-minute mark of the video below.

Budget Hearing – The United States Army

In Ukraine, Merops has proven to be a far cheaper alternative to munitions like Patriot interceptors and even far less advanced missiles for downing Shahed drones which have caused widespread destruction across that country. While these drones have neither the payload nor range of the far more expensive Patriot munitions, they can be deployed in great numbers giving them the ability to cover larger geographical areas. That helps keep the magazine depth of more sophisticated effectors from being quickly depleted and turns the disastrous ‘exchange ratio’ between cost of target versus effector on its head. In many cases, these systems would still need to be part of a layered defense, especially when used as point defense at high value installations and infrastructure.

Now that these weapons have helped save American lives and equipment, Merops success means we will likely be seeing more low-cost drone interceptors like it in the future.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

April 16 (UPI) — Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez has hired U.S. attorney and lobbyist Jihad M. Smaili to represent her interests in Washington and support groundwork for a possible presidential campaign, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Records filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show Smaili will act as a foreign agent for Rodríguez, including assisting with her “future political campaign” ahead of Venezuela’s next presidential election, though no date has been set for the vote.

According to the filing, Smaili will represent Rodríguez in pending and future litigation involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., Citgo and creditor claims. He will also provide daily advice on matters involving the U.S. State Department and the White House, independent news organization Efecto Cocuyo reported.

The contract said Smaili will “provide daily advice and counsel to the foreign principal on matters involving the Department of State and the president of the United States, including advice on how to strengthen and advance the current relationship for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”

The agreement also describes Rodríguez as a candidate in Venezuela’s upcoming presidential elections and includes support for her “future political campaign.”

The move comes shortly after the United States lifted personal sanctions on Rodríguez and recognized her as a legitimate authority in Venezuela’s political transition.

According to Infobae, Smaili also will advise on retaining law firms involved in litigation tied to oil companies, as well as creditor claims related to cases involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Citgo, PDVSA’s U.S.-based refining and marketing subsidiary, is at the center of multiple creditor disputes as international claimants seek to seize the asset to satisfy unpaid Venezuelan debts. A federal court in Delaware has authorized the sale of shares in the company to help cover claims totaling about $20 billion.

U.S. victims of FARC-related violence are also seeking to participate in the auction and recover about $318 million in damages.

WASHINGTON — If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that the U.S. plans to ramp up economic pain on Iran, and said the new moves will be the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.

The threat of secondary economic sanctions on countries doing business with people, firms, and ships under Iranian control — including allies like the United Arab Emirates and competitors like China — represents an escalation of sanctions that the U.S. is already employing.

Bessent said the administration has “told companies, we have told countries that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure. And the Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities.”

Treasury Department warns China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Oman

The warning comes the day after the Treasury Department sent a letter to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Oman, threatening to levy secondary sanctions for doing business with Iran, and accusing those countries of allowing Iranian illicit activities to flow through their financial institutions.

It’s part of an economic playbook that President Trump still can use to pressure Iran to accept U.S. proposals to limit its nuclear ambitions, a person familiar with the administration’s thinking told the Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private discussions on the record.

Privately, the argument being made to Trump is that the Iranians think they can weather the storm — but if they cannot pay their loyalists, that could pressure Iran to the table.

And some in the administration believe there are still more economic targets that can be hit that would put the economic hurt on Iran, including bonyads, the charitable trusts that account for a significant percentage of the Iranian economy.

Bessent told reporters that two Chinese banks have received warnings about handling Iranian money. Trump is preparing to visit Beijing next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bessent also said that Iran’s Gulf neighbors are now willing to look at freezing Iranian money in their banks because of Iran’s aggression during the war.

Daniel Pickard, a sanctions attorney, said imposing secondary sanctions could result in “diplomatic and economic blowback” from allies that could hurt efforts to build coalitions against Tehran.

“A lot of our trading partners have been outspoken in regard to their opposition to the conflict in Iran,” Pickard said. “Most economic sanctions professionals would agree that when you get more people on the team, the chances of your economic sanctions being effective are greater.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on an oil smuggling network connected to the deceased senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, who was a close advisor to the former Supreme Leader of Iran. Sanctions include dozens of individuals, companies, and vessels involved in secretly transporting and selling Iranian and Russian oil through front companies, many of which are in the UAE.

“Treasury will continue to cut off Iran’s illicit smuggling and terror proxy networks,” Bessent said in a statement. “Financial institutions should be on notice that Treasury will leverage all tools and authorities, including secondary sanctions, against those that continue to support Tehran’s terrorist activities.

The administration believes the momentum has shifted

Trump administration officials have also signaled growing confidence that the ceasefire and a blockade of shipments from Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz have shifted momentum in Trump’s favor.

Iran has endured tens of billions of dollars in damage during the bombardment to the country’s infrastructure — including setbacks to its oil industry, the heart of its fragile and long-isolated economy — that could take years to repair.

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said Trump “doesn’t want to make, like, a small deal. He wants to make the grand bargain.”

“That’s the trade that he’s offering,” Vance said. “If you guys commit to not having a nuclear weapon, we are going to make Iran thrive.”

The president’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, offered a more caustic assessment of the moment, suggesting that Trump had “played the checkmate move” on Iran by implementing the blockage in the strait.

“If Iran chooses the path of a deal that’s great for the world, that’s great for everybody. If Iran chooses the path of economic strangulation by blockade, then the world will pass Iran by,” Miller said in a Fox News appearance Tuesday evening. “New energy routes will be established. New supply chains will be established. Other nations throughout the region — throughout the world, and especially America — will power the world and Iran will become a footnote.”

Some Republicans are skeptical that more sanctions will work

Some Republicans believe that any tactic to exert more pressure on Tehran is worth trying.

“I would support anything,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “If the administration came up with the ideas, I would support all of the above. More pressure, the better.”

Others were skeptical, noting that Tehran was already facing a litany of economic penalties that had little impact on its behavior.

“I’m not sure if it’s sanctions that’ll do it. I think we’re putting some pretty heavy sanctions on right now,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Banking and Armed Services Committees. “I personally am just not optimistic that we actually can fix this thing without a regime change.”

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, a think tank that has been critical of Trump’s decision to launch the war, says that Trump had been “politically cornered and strategically constrained” before he announced the ceasefire. But now, Parsi argues, Trump may have altered the difficult dynamic and created a situation where “Iran now appears to need an agreement more than the United States does.”

“The window now open offers Tehran a chance to convert battlefield leverage into lasting strategic gain,” Parsi wrote in a new analysis. “To let it close would mean forfeiting not just incremental progress, but the possibility of reshaping its economic and geopolitical position. By contrast, the United States, having already secured a tenuous exit ramp through the ceasefire, has less at stake in the short term.”

Hussein, Madhani, Weissert and Kim write for the Associated Press.

April 16 (UPI) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has delayed a special session he called for the state legislature to work on redrawing the state’s U.S. congressional districts.

The session was scheduled to take place next week, but DeSantis said Wednesday it would now happen on April 28 to give the governor’s office more time to work on its proposal, The New York Times reported.

He also called legislators back to work to vote on a bill to give parents more freedom to opt out of giving their children school-mandated vaccines and one to protect minors from artificial intelligence, Politico reported. DeSantis called on lawmakers to return to Tallahassee from April 28 to May 1.

DeSantis issued a proclamation in January calling for the special session to reconsider the state’s congressional map.

“Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” he said at the time.

DeSantis said the redistricting would better ensure that race was not a predominant factor in determining congressional districts. He referenced a Supreme Court case in which Louisiana lawmakers were accused of creating a congressional district comprising mostly racial minorities.

Florida has 28 seats in the U.S. House, gaining one in 2022 after the 2020 census. Republicans hold 20 seats and Democrats have 8.

April 16 (UPI) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and his wife, Cerina, are dead from an apparent murder suicide in their home in Annandale, Va.

Justin Fairfax, 47, shot and killed Cerina in the home and then shot himself, police said. The couple’s two teenage children were home, and their son called 911 shortly after midnight Thursday.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the same gun appears to have been used in both shootings.

The couple had been in an ongoing domestic dispute from “what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said. Fairfax had recently been served paperwork that said when he was next scheduled for court in the divorce, Davis said.

Detectives have reviewed footage from inside the home that came from “a lot of cameras” that were set up as part of the divorce, Davis said. He added that a January call to police alleging his wife assaulted him were not corroborated.

“So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said. “Certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”

Family members are caring for the children with help from the Fairfax County Police Department’s victim services division, Davis said.

“Half of America probably goes through divorce proceedings at some point in time and very, very rarely, thankfully, does it ever end up like this,” Davis said. “So, very sad for this community … a lot of people who know the Fairfax family — everybody’s shocked. We’re shocked.”

Fairfax, a Democrat, was lieutenant governor under Gov. Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022. He ran for governor in 2021. He faced sexual assault allegations in 2019.

After his time in office, he returned to practicing law. Cerina Fairfax was a dentist.

Secretary of State Bill Jones, lagging in the polls for the Republican gubernatorial primary, on Monday asked the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento to investigate possible conflicts of interest between energy companies and the administration of Gov. Gray Davis.

For months, Jones has criticized Davis for hiring consultants during last year’s energy crisis who owned stock in companies that the governor alleged were gouging the state. Davis’ spokesman held $12,000 of stock in Calpine, a firm that won state contracts.

On Monday, Jones said the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the attorney general’s office, both controlled by Democrats, were not investigating aggressively enough.

Seizing upon recent reports that Davis met with then-Enron Chairman Kenneth L. Lay during the crisis, Jones called for a federal investigation.

“It is now time that the U.S. attorney’s office actively engage in this scandal and open an investigation into the conflicts of interest and insider dealings of Gov. Gray Davis and his administration,” Jones said at a Sacramento news conference. “Because we cannot get to the truth and we cannot get the entities entrusted by the people to do their jobs, we must now go to a higher authority.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.

Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the Davis campaign, said the governor had taken appropriate action against consultants who had conflicts, dismissing four last summer.

The chairwoman of the FPPC responded coolly to Jones’ allegations. “We do not comment on complaints or any investigative actions taken in response to those complaints,” Karen Getman said. “Nor do we allow the timing of our activities to be influenced by upcoming elections.”

Though Jones called for more disclosure into Davis’ contacts with the energy industry, he has different standards for the Bush administration.

Spokeswoman Beth Pendexter said Jones believes Vice President Dick Cheney does not have to disclose whom he met with while forming the national energy policy last year.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department recovered $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom that Colonial Pipeline paid to hackers whose cyberattack last month shut down its major East Coast pipeline, leading to gas shortages up and down the East Coast, authorities said.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Lisa Monaco said the FBI on Monday seized the majority of the ransom that Colonial Pipeline paid to hackers who used malware developed by DarkSide, a Russia-linked hacking group, to encrypt and lock up the company’s computer systems. The company, which Monaco credited with quickly alerting the FBI to the attack, said it paid the hackers $4.4 million in bitcoin to regain access to its systems.

“Today we turned the tables on DarkSide,” Monaco said, calling such ransomware attacks an “epidemic” that poses a “national security and economic threat” to the U.S. “This was an attack against some of our most critical infrastructure.”

Though the malware did not affect systems that operate the company’s pipelines, which stretch from New Jersey to Texas, Colonial discovered the hack on May 7 and closed its spigots for five days out of an abundance of caution. The pipeline supplies about 45% of the jet fuel, gasoline and heating oil consumed on the East Coast, and the shutdown sparked panic from drivers, who raced to top off tanks, leading gas stations to run out of fuel.

The Justice Department did not disclose how much Colonial paid in ransom, but the company’s chief executive told the Wall Street Journal last month that it made a $4.4-million payment in bitcoin. Colonial CEO Joseph Blount said the company paid the extortion demand because he was concerned a prolonged disruption of the pipeline would hurt the nation.

“I know that’s a highly controversial decision,” Blount told the newspaper. “I didn’t make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn’t comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this.”

Ransomware hackers typically trick unwitting employees into opening an email and clicking on an attachment or a link, which then infects computer servers with malware that encrypts data and locks the systems. Victims must pay a ransom to the hackers to obtain a decryption key to unlock and recover the information. DarkSide’s malware poses a double whammy — it can also siphon out information, giving hackers more leverage because they can threaten to disclose sensitive data if they are not paid.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said DarkSide produces ransomware that it sells to hackers who conduct cyberattacks and share a percentage of their proceeds with the malware’s developers. DarkSide’s product is one of about 100 ransomware variants the FBI is investigating, Abbate said.

The bureau has been investigating DarkSide since last year, Abbate said, and has identified more than 90 victims of its ransomware in manufacturing, legal, insurance and healthcare industries. Working with other U.S. government agencies, the FBI identified “a virtual currency wallet” that the DarkSide hackers were using to collect payment from a victim, Abbate said.

The Justice Department then obtained a warrant to seize those bitcoins, officials said.

“The old adage ‘follow the money’ still applies,” said Monaco, the deputy attorney general. “That’s exactly what we do.”

The Colonial Pipeline attack was the latest in a series of ransomware assaults that has crippled government agencies, hospitals and businesses, including a major meat producer that was forced last week to idle plants, sparking concerns about potential increases in meat prices and shortages. A task force of more than 60 experts from industry, government and nonprofits issued a report in April that calls ransomware “a flourishing criminal industry that not only risks the personal and financial security of individuals, but also threatens national security and human life.”

The report, published by the nonprofit Institute for Security and Technology, estimates that nearly 2,400 governments, healthcare facilities and schools were victims of ransomware attacks last year. Ransom payments rose to $350 million last year, a 300% increase over 2019, the report says. The average such payment topped $300,000.

Cybersecurity experts and former federal prosecutors and agents blamed several trends for the increase. The rise of difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency has made it far easier for criminal gangs to collect payments, the experts said. Cybercriminals have also begun to increasingly operate within the borders of U.S. adversaries, particularly Russia. The Kremlin, for example, allows hackers to operate with impunity if they do not target Russian businesses or citizens and focus their energy on sowing chaos and confusion in the West.

The Biden administration is seeking to find ways to combat the rise. President Biden said he will discuss ransomware attacks this week with U.S. allies during a European trip, and bring up the subject during a June 16 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Justice Department has launched a task force to better coordinate its approach to the crime wave. Justice Department officials said the Colonial Pipeline ransom seizure was the first such payment recovery by the task force. Justice Department officials could not say how many other ransoms they have recovered.

“This is a big deal,” said Scott Jasper, a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School and author of “Russian Cyber Operations: Coding the Boundaries of Conflict.” “The question is: Will this be big enough to change the behavior of DarkSide or of other cyber actors? It’s too early to tell. It’s a slow game, a long-term game. This is a significant, big business. This is a big enterprise.”

April 15 (UPI) — Nevada and the online gaming platform Roblox have reached a unique settlement that will help protect young online gamers and pour money into the state’s youth programs, the state’s attorney general said Wednesday.

“This settlement will create a safer environment for our children online,” Attorney General Aaron Ford told reporters during a press conference. “I hope that it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms allow our state’s youth to use the products.”

Nevada opened an investigation into children’s safety on the popular online game creation platform in 2024. There have been lawsuits in that state and others alleging that Roblox has failed to protect young gamers from online predators and other issues.

As part of the settlement, Roblox will spend about $10 million on non-digital youth programs in the state, plus contribute toward an online safety awareness program.

In addition, the company will start using stricter age-verification measures, which will restrict what children under certain ages can see and with whom they can communicate. These measures will include facial age-estimation technology, robust parental controls, expanded parental oversight and dedicated law enforcement support.

Roblox has also committed to using government-issued ID for age assurance as well as behavioral monitoring to identify users who may have been assigned the wrong age, Ford said during the press conference.

Roblox will also include tighter controls for parents and a ban on encrypted messaging involving minors. If a parent account isn’t linked to a child account, the latter will be limited to a restricted child mode. Adults must have a “trusted friend” label, which requires parental consent, before they can chat with those under the age of 13. The changes will also include limits on notifications during nighttime hours.

Roblox told UPI in a statement that while it disputes the claims in the complaint it is “pleased” to have reached a settlement with Ford, stating it reflects the company’s “continued commitment to fostering online health and safety for kids.”

“Roblox is proud to have worked alongside Attorney General Ford to reach this landmark agreement, which builds on our work to establish a new standard for digital safety,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said.

“This resolution creates a blueprint for how industry and regulators can work together to protect the next generation of digital citizens.”

Roblox told UPI that the agreement helped shape several safety measures, including two new age-based accounts announced Monday: Roblox Kids for users between the ages of 5 and 8 and Roblox Select for users ages 9 to 15.

Beginning in June, the accounts will “more closely align content access, communication settings and parental controls with a user’s age,” Roblox said Monday in a statement.

April 15 (UPI) — U.S. advertising companies Dentsu, Publicis and WPP settled Wednesday with the Federal Trade Commission, which claimed they colluded over anti-misinformation policies that affected ad money for conservative publishers. The companies did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

In a press release, the FTC said the agencies “distorted America’s modern public square” and worked together to establish “brand safety” policies that limited the ads that could run on sites with content designated as misinformation. This affected ad revenues for conservative political websites and made it more difficult for them to make money from “disfavored political viewpoints,” the FTC release said. The commission filed a complaint Wednesday in the U.S.District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

A court must approve the settlement. The companies agreed not to collude to restrict ad-buying services over “news and political and social commentary content,” the FTC said.

The New York Times reported that a representative for Dentsu said the company was “fully committed to operating transparently, with integrity and in strict compliance with all applicable laws.” A representative for WPP told that Times the agreement “reflects our existing and ongoing commitment to provide our clients with unbiased advice as they decide where to place their media.” The companies own multiple ad agencies and buy digital ads on behalf of advertisers.

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in the release that the agencies’ brand safety policies “turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head.” The collusion, he said, “distorted the marketplace of ideas by discriminating against speech and ideas that fell below the unlawfully agreed-on floor.”

This follows a longstanding claim by the Trump administration that the media and websites treat conservatives unfairly. Ferguson and the FTC in 2025 also opened other inquiries into alleged anti-conservative censorship through online content moderation.

April 15 (UPI) — Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday filed articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leveling serious criticisms of his handling of the Pentagon and the U.S. attacks on Iran.

As Republicans control the House, this move is unlikely to have an effect in 2026. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., introduced the resolution, which says Hegseth has “demonstrated a willful disregard for the Constitution, abused the powers of his office and acted in a manner grossly incompatible with the rule of law,” CBS News reported.

The six articles of impeachment cite offenses including waging unauthorized war in Iran and reckless endangerment of U.S. service members, as well as breaking the laws of armed conflict and targeting civilians. Civilian casualties in Iran have included more than 160 people killed in an attack on a girls school in February.

They further accuse Hegseth of mishandling sensitive military information, which refers to his use of a Signal group chat on his personal phone to share information on a military operation in Yemen last year.

The resolution also says Hegseth obstructed congressional oversight by withholding information on military operations and abused his power by using it for political retribution.

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson dismissed the resolution and its claims as “just another Democrat trying to make headlines,” The Hill reported.

“Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland and project peace through strength,” Wilson said in a statement. “This is just another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War.”

Multiple Democrats are cosponsoring the resolution. These include Reps. Dave Min of California, Brittany Petterson of Colorado, Sarah McBride of Delaware, Nikema Williams of Georgia, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Dina Titus of Nevada, Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Jasmine Crockett of Texas.

April 15 (UPI) — A jury found Wednesday that Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster maintained an illegal monopoly in ticketing.

The case was heard in a Manhattan federal court over five weeks and saw testimony from dozens of witnesses. The jury began deliberations Friday.

The complaint was brought by the Department of Justice and several state attorneys general in 2024. It said that the company engaged in “anticompetitive conduct” and controlled all ticketing, concert booking, venues and promotions.

Because of this, fans paid higher fees, and artists had fewer options for touring and venues.

Live Nation denies acting as a monopoly.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the verdict “a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans and the venues that support them.”

“In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans,” Bonta said in a statement.

The Justice Department struck a settlement deal in March, but states decided to continue with the lawsuit instead.

The Justice Department settlement with Live Nation required Ticketmaster to divest up to 13 amphitheaters, reserve 50% of tickets for nonexclusive venues and cap ticketing service fees at 15%. A senior Justice Department official said it would lower prices by expanding choices.

“This settlement will resolve all remaining matters with the DOJ, without any admission of wrongdoing,” Live Nation said in a statement.

The verdict does not mean prices will drop soon, CNN reported.

Judge Arun Subramanian now must have a second trial to decide on remedies. The states requested a breakup of the company, or he could order a sale of the business.

“It will be an earthquake in the industry in terms of people’s perception in feeling validated,” Scott Grzenczyk, a lawyer with law firm Girard Sharp, told CNN.

“There’s a big difference between people complaining about Goliath and getting a jury verdict that Goliath was a monopolist and doing something wrong,” he said.

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the states, pleaded with jurors during closing arguments to “apply your common sense,” NBC News reported.

“You’re New Yorkers,” he said. “I trust that you know when someone is blowing smoke or being straight with you.”

“It’s time to hold them accountable,” Kessler said.

April 15 (UPI) — President Donald Trump again threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he doesn’t step down from his position in May.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” the president said on Fox Business. “If he’s not leaving on time — I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial. I want to be uncontroversial.”

Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15 and Trump does not have the authority to fire him without cause. But his nominated replacement, Kevin Warsh, hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate. If he doesn’t get confirmed, Powell could stay on as chair pro tempore.

“That’s what the law calls for. That’s what we’ve done on several occasions,” Powell said.

He said he plans to stay on the board.

“I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality,” Powell said.

The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to have hearings on Warsh’s nomination on April 21.

Powell’s term as a Fed governor goes until 2028, but he said he hasn’t decided if he’ll serve out that term.

Complicating matters, the Trump administration has been trying to prosecute Powell for his role in the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed headquarters. The building went far over budget, and Trump has implied that something illegal is happening.

U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro tried to subpoena Powell over the renovation, but a judge denied it. Pirro admitted she had no evidence.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-S.C., who is on the Senate Banking Committee, said he will continue to block Warsh’s confirmation until the investigation into Powell ends.

But Trump said he isn’t worried about Tillis.

Tillis “is an American; he knows what to do,” he said.

Trump said the investigation must happen.

“What they’ve done to that, so it is probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetent, and we have to show the incompetence of that,” he said.

Trump has wanted Powell out of the Fed since he was elected to office for the second term. He has said he wants interest rates dropped, but Powell has taken a more conservative approach. Powell has lowered the rates, but not fast enough for the president.

“Does that mean we stop a probe of a building that I would have done for $25 million that’s going to cost maybe $4 billion? Don’t you think we have to find out what happened there?” Trump said in the interview at the White House. “I have to find out.”

He called Powell “a disaster.”

“Here’s a man who took this little, tiny building and a couple of other little, tiny complex, and he’s spending more than $3 billion. I want to know who the contractor is, because that contractor is making billions of dollars, perhaps.”

The Fed said the building’s cost overruns are due to “unforeseen conditions” requiring more spending, including “more asbestos than anticipated, toxic contamination in soil, and a higher-than-expected water table.”

Trump has also tried to oust Fed governor Lisa Cook on the allegation that she committed mortgage fraud.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators made significant progress in talks on Tuesday, moving closer to a framework agreement to end the war, according to a report by Axios citing two U.S. officials.

Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are working urgently to bridge

Top naval commanders of South Korea, the United States and Japan gathered in Seoul on Wednesday to hold a series of talks aimed at strengthening their trilateral maritime security cooperation, the South’s Navy said.

The gathering brought together Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Kyung-ryul, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Stephen Koehler and Adm. Akira Saito, chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, for bilateral talks and a trilateral dinner meeting, according to the armed service.

The meetings came amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, raising speculation over whether their talks would address the ongoing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier called on South Korea, Japan and others to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure shipping lanes.

In the bilateral talks between Kim and Koehler held earlier in the day, both sides exchanged opinions on the robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture as well as cooperation in the area of naval maintenance, repair and operations, the Navy said.

Kim and Saito, meanwhile, held in-depth discussions on expanding personnel exchange and resuming joint maritime search and rescue exercises (SAREX) as discussed in a ministerial meeting between their defense chiefs earlier this year, it added.

In January, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, met in Japan and agreed to resume joint SAREX drills for the first time in nine years as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation.

The top admirals of the three countries were set to attend a dinner meeting later Wednesday to likely discuss trilateral coordination measures to respond to and deter North Korea‘s advancing nuclear and missile threats.

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April 15 (UPI) — The U.S. military’s maritime blockade of Iran has “completely halted” sea-based trade with the Middle Eastern country, U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday.

President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran collapsed.

The blockade of 12 U.S. warships, more than 100 fighter and surveillance aircraft and more than 10,000 soldiers began at 10 a.m. EDT Monday, an effort to prohibit maritime traffic to and from all Iranian ports.

According to U.S. military officials, it covers the entire southern coastline of Iran, including ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, between which lies the Strait of Hormuz.

“A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East,” Adm. Brad Cooper, Central Command commander, said in a statement.

“In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”

Central Command said earlier Tuesday that no ships had made it through during the blockade’s first 24 hours and that six vessels had complied with U.S. forces’ direction to return to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.

“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas,” Central Command said.

The blockade comes amid a two-week cease-fire between the United States and Iran that Trump announced on April 8. During the fragile truce negotiations on a permanent end to the war were to be conducted.

However, negotiations with Iran collapsed in Pakistan on Sunday, seemingly over disagreements on Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Not long after the war began with the United States and Israel attacking Iran on Feb. 28, Iran sharply restricted vessel traffic to the Strait of Hormuz, an important trade route through which flows roughly 27% of the world’s maritime trade in crude oil and petroleum products as well as 20% of global liquefied natural gas trade, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Iran’s control of trade through the strait has caused gas prices to spike, threatening countries with energy crises.

The U.S. blockade appears aimed at financially squeezing Iran by cutting it off from maritime trade revenue.

According to Maid Maleki, senior fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., research institute, the blockade could cost Iran about $435 million a day.

“The blockade makes continued resistance economically impossible,” he said in a statement.

April 14 (UPI) — A budget resolution to fund federal immigration enforcement could hit the Senate floor by next week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday, as Republicans seek to bypass Democratic demands for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

Federal funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol lapsed on Feb. 14 after Republicans agreed with the Democrats to remove the Department of Homeland Security from a larger spending package and avert a government shutdown.

Neither agency has been funded through regular DHS appropriations since, though they continue operating through other, emergency funding.

Democrats began demanding reforms to the federal immigration enforcement agencies before agreeing to restore funding after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal immigration officers amid President Donald Trump‘s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Amid a stalemate in negotiations, Republicans are considering passing three years of funding for the agencies through a complicated legislative mechanism called a budget reconciliation bill that permits certain spending legislation to pass with a simple majority rather than 60 votes, Thune told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol.

“Republicans are going to stand with our Border Patrol, with our law enforcement agencies and we’re going to ensure that they are funded, not only today but well into the future,” Thune, R-S.D., said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is preparing the resolution to fund the agencies that will be followed by the reconciliation bill “to ensure the job gets done,” he said.

Democrats have blocked funding for ICE and Border Patrol until reforms — including requiring judicial warrants and banning officers from wearing masks — are made, but the reconciliation bill tactic could ensure funding without any votes from Democratic lawmakers.

The same tactic was used last year to pass Trump’s sweeping spending and tax cut bill, which provided $75 billion for ICE.

“All of the things that the Democrats made this about, which was supposed to be about reforms to the way that ICE and Border Patrol operate — they get none of that,” Thune said.

“And now, we’re going to fund those agencies for three years into the future. The only thing the Democrats got out of this was they now own the issue of open borders and defund law enforcement.”

Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, with two independents caucusing with the Democrats, as well as a 218-213 majority in the House.

The Senate has twice passed bipartisan bills to fund DHS aside from ICE and Border Patrol, which the House has balked at. Democrats blame the Trump administration’s influence on the lower chamber.

“Republicans are dragging the Senate through a partisan circus just to avoid basic accountability for ICE and Border Patrol,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at the Capitol during a separate press conference on Tuesday.

He said Democrats will continue to push for immigration enforcement reforms.

“So, the pattern, unfortunately, with this administration is clearer and clearer,” the veteran New York Democrat said. “Chaos abroad — the war; chaos at home with not funding DHS with reforms. A failed war overseas, a manufactured crisis here in Washington — in both cases Republicans aren’t leading, they are following orders.”

April 14 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal court to dismiss the convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who were found guilty of leading and organizing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The request includes 12 former members of the groups, all of whom prosecutors said were ringleaders of the attack. After his return to office in 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned most of those who were convicted for their parts in the riot, a move affecting more than 1,000 people. However, the sentences of some, including these 12, were commuted to time served instead, freeing them from prison though the convictions remained.

The group involved in the Justice Department request on Tuesday includes Stewart Rhodes, a leader of the Oath Keepers who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges. Prosecutors said Rhodes and other Oath Keepers “began plotting to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power” after the 2020 election, CBS News reported.

Others whose sentences were commuted are Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola and Joseph Biggs, who were also convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role.

Appeals involving this group have continued, and the Justice Department requested Tuesday that federal appeals panels vacate the earlier convictions and drop the cases in whole.

“The United States has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Lenerz in the filing, Politico reported.

Greg Rosen, former chief of the Justice Department’s Capitol Siege Section, criticized the move, CBS News reported.

“It’s a reminder of what drove the pardons in the first place-the political violence is acceptable as long as your politics align,” he told CBS News. “And it’s a continuing and sad commentary on the current state of the department.”