daily news with update

  Trump poised to offer Saudi Arabia over $100 billion arms package The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the kingdom in May. The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel. The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced U.S. weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing's investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration's proposal includes similar requirements. The White House, Pentagon and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his first term, Trump celebrate...

  Judge blocks parts of Trump’s overhaul of U.S. elections, including proof-of-citizenship requirement A judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from immediately enacting certain changes to how federal elections are run, including adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. President Donald Trump had called for that and other sweeping changes to U.S. elections in an executive order signed in March, arguing the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections" that exist in other countries. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sided with voting rights groups and Democrats to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the citizenship requirement from moving forward while the lawsuit plays out. She also blocked part of the Republican president's executive order requiring public assistance enrollees to have their citizenship assessed before getting access to the federal voter registration form. But she...

  Judge bars Trump from denying federal funds to ‘sanctuary’ cities that limit immigration cooperation A federal judge in California on Thursday barred the Trump administration from denying or conditioning the use of federal funds to “sanctuary” jurisdictions, saying that portions of President Donald Trump's executive orders were unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the injunction sought by San Francisco and more than a dozen other municipalities that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts. Orrick wrote that defendants are prohibited “from directly or indirectly taking any action to withhold, freeze, or condition federal funds” and the administration must provide written notice of his order to all federal departments and agencies by Monday. One executive order issued by Trump directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withhold federal money to sanctuary jurisdictions. The second order directs every federal ag...

  Crowds wait for hours to pay final respects to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Mourners stood in line for hours on Thursday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, whose body is lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday. Huge queues snaked around St. Peter's Square and the surrounding roads, before being funneled through the heart of the basilica in a single column leading to the central altar, where Francis' open-topped coffin is placed on a dais. The viewing started on Wednesday and the Vatican had expected to close the doors at midnight, but ended up letting the faithful in until 5:30 a.m., before reopening again at 7 a.m. "After 3-1/2 hours in line, we had sore feet and tired legs. But we did see Francis, and the experience, while exhausting, was spiritually affirming," said Richard Lamb of New Jersey in the U.S., visiting with his wife Peggy, both devout Catholics. "We walked with groups from Italy, Spain, England, Ge...

  RFK Jr recounts heroin addiction and spiritual awakening, urges focus on prevention and community U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a personal story of his own heroin addiction, spiritual awakening and recovery at a conference on drug addiction Thursday and emphasized that young people need a sense of purpose in their lives to prevent them from turning to drugs. Kennedy called addiction “a source of misery, but also a symptom of misery." In a speech that mentioned God more than 20 times, he pointed to his own experience feeling as though he had been born with a hole inside of himself that he needed to fill. “Every addict feels that way in one way or another — that they have to fix what's wrong with them, and the only thing that works are drugs. And so threats that you might die, that you're going to ruin your life are completely meaningless,” he said. Speaking to about 3,000 people at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, Kennedy did not ...

  Trump tells Putin to 'STOP' after Russian attack kills 12 in Kyiv Russia pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least 12 people in the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year and drawing a rare rebuke from Donald Trump, who told Vladimir Putin: "Vladimir, STOP!" The attack, which the U.S. president said was "not necessary" and "very bad timing" as he pushes for peace, also wounded 90 people, smashed buildings and set off fires, Ukrainian officials said. Rescuers were still recovering bodies from the rubble over 12 hours later. The attack comes at a critical moment in Russia's war in Ukraine, which began with Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. Both Kyiv and Moscow are trying to show Trump they are making progress towards his goal of a rapid peace deal. "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peac...