Rescue crews and civilians painstakingly searched through rubble Tuesday in the hopes of finding survivors trapped under debris after a powerful earthquake left thousands missing in dozens of cities and towns in western Colombia.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said at least 181 people died in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Monday. He said around 2,595 more were injured and at least 195 remained missing. Civilian-run databases suggest the number of missing could be as high as 3,900.

Read more, via AP:

Thousands of pounds of raw beef coming from Argentina into the U.S. was recalled after it was imported without being reinspected.

The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recalled 29,629 pounds of beef imported from Argentina. The products, produced in May, were distributed to distributors and retailers in Florida and Texas.

“There have been no confirmed reports of illness or injury due to consumption of these products,” the inspection service agency said in a statement. “Anyone concerned about an illness or injury should contact a healthcare provider.”

The Trump administration is asking the Justice Department to consider bringing a new charge against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool memorial, as President Donald Trump has raged against D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the charges, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Now, Justice Department officials are reportedly working to determine if building a new case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn is possible, likely relying on misdemeanor allegations.

In a statement to the Journal, a DOJ spokesperson said the department “follows the evidence when determining if crimes have been committed.”

“We always evaluate any case based on the facts and the law,” the statement continued.

Pirro admitted in court documents last month that a botched installation job was responsible for the memorial’s ripped pool liner, not vandalism, as Trump asserted.

Read more:

The president keeps reaching new lows.

President Donald Trump’s approval rating reportedly reached an all-time low Tuesday on Silver Bulletin, the polling aggregator run by Nate Silver.

Trump’s net approval rating now sits at -20.6. That’s not only the lowest of his second term (so far), it’s also lower than the lowest net approval rating of his first term: -19, after his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt.

Earlier this month, Trump responded to dismal polling by CNN with outright denial, so it’s unlikely this new low will crack his reality-distortion field.

“My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been,” he proclaimed on social media. “Don’t believe the Radical Left’s Fake Poll numbers.”

The FDA failed to inspect Taylor Farms de Mexico for nearly a decade before it was recently tied to a cyclospora outbreak that has infected thousands of Americans, CBS News reported.

The U.S. agency responsible for ensuring disease-ridden foods don’t reach American consumers reportedly completed fewer than 1,000 foreign food safety inspections last year, even when federal law requires it to complete nearly 20 times that.

The FDA last inspected Taylor Farms de Mexico seven years ago, but had previously visited the farm in 2013 due to another cyclosporiasis outbreak, CBS News reported.

Read more:

Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison under abusive conditions and was said to be gravely ill and at risk of dying, a group advocating for him said Tuesday.

Robert Gilman is on his way to a U.S. military hospital in Texas, where he will be medically and psychologically assessed and treated, said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, a group that’s been working to free him and other American detainees abroad.

Read more from The Associated Press:

President Donald Trump ripped New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive “pied-á-terre” luxury property tax on Tuesday, repeating his Islamophobic attacks against the Muslim American leader and questioning whether the federal government can intervene.

“Financial, and then Social, RUIN, is a 100% certainty - And then the Radical Left Jihadists charge Congestion Pricing on top of everything else,” the president posted on Truth Social, referring to the tolling program charging motorists to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan. The program is meant to reduce traffic while raising money to improve the city’s public transit system.

“This doesn’t work in America, and must be stopped, NOW!” Trump wrote. “I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn.”

Trump has upped his Islamophobic attacks against Muslim American politicians, particularly after progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s recent Senate primary win in Michigan. Describing those public figures as threats to the country puts “a target on the back of Muslim elected officials across our nation,” according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) civil rights group.

Alabama is having its second primary (should that be called a secondary?) of the 2026 election cycle, having tossed the results of its first primary in May after the U.S. Supreme Court decided the state could use a redistricting plan that intentionally discriminates against Black people.

In Connecticut, in addition to a handful of House seats, Democrats will pick between Gov. Ned Lamont and challenger Josh Elliott. It’s the first time in 50 years a sitting Connecticut governor has been primaried by someone in their own party.

Minnesota’s Democratic primary has a now-familiar storyline of an establishment-backed candidate going up against a more progressive rival. In this case, Rep. Angie Craig (D) plays the role of the former, while Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is politically to her left.

Voters in South Carolina are voting in a packed primary to fill the Senate seat held by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R). Among them: Graham’s sister, Darline, who was chosen to serve out his term after his death.

In Vermont, Democrats are voting for governor and lieutenant governor, and hoping to unseat Republican Gov. Phil Scott in the general -- which may be a tall order.

And in Wisconsin, Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong and moderate rival David Crowley are facing off for the governorship in a race that’s making the Democratic establishment there awfully nervous.

The Trump administration has awarded a more than $244 million no-bid contract to an anti-trafficking group that years earlier was roiled in controversy after its founder was accused of sexually abusing and trafficking multiple women.

Our Rescue, previously known as Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), was given the contract last week to provide legal services for unaccompanied migrant children in the custody of the government’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to a notice posted by the federal System for Award Management on Friday. It’s unclear how many children the group will represent.

Our Rescue gained notoriety for its global sex trafficking sting operations, which became the inspiration for the 2023 film “Sound of Freedom” portraying the life of founder and then-CEO Tim Ballard. Soon after, multiple former employees accused Ballard of engaging in sexual abuse and trafficking during operations. Ballard resigned as CEO, but denied the allegations.

The contract comes after President Donald Trump awarded a similar contract for the same work to a small Houston-based law firm with ties to the administration. Both organizations were hired after the administration failed to pay $65 million to legal aid groups that previously assisted the migrant children. A judge last week ordered the funds be paid to those groups.

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a healthcare CEO, appeared in court Tuesday for what is likely his final pretrial hearing before his state murder trial begins next month.

Mangione, 28, walked into court wearing a gray suit and a white collared shirt. He is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, in the back and leg as Thompson left a Manhattan hotel on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024.

Read more here:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled his openness to declaring a national emergency ahead of November’s midterms, suggesting he could embrace MAGA media figures’ pitch of a federal takeover of elections.

Real America’s Voice host and conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root, in a post-midnight interview with Trump, tried to “put an idea” in the president’s head that he has the “right” to make such a declaration if the Senate can’t pass the SAVE America Act. That bill would require Americans to prove their citizenship upon registering and to show photo ID to vote in federal elections.

Read more here:

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel has issued a memo stating that President Donald Trump has the right to block the release of “sensitive” communications he has with private advisers and citizens under the banner of “executive privilege.”

“Executive privilege can apply to presidential communications with private advisers so long as the communications relate to official presidential decisionmaking, involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and are confidential,” states the opinion dated Monday and first flagged by Punchbowl News.

The memo is attributed to Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser of the Office of Legal Counsel.

Credible medical groups like the American Medical Association and the American Association of Immunologists are raising extreme concern over President Donald Trump’s new executive order calling for overhauled childhood immunization recommendations and for breaking up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

“Vaccines are among the most thoroughly studied, effective tools we have to protect children from serious vaccine-preventable diseases,” Dr. Willie Underwood III, president of the AMA, said in a statement. Underwood also noted that extensive evidence spanning decades concludes there is no link between vaccines and autism, debunking the White House’s repeated lies.

“As immunologists, we have confidence in the rigorous research that demonstrates the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and we know that public confidence in them depends on trust in science,” AAI President Avery August said in a statement. “Policies that depart from longstanding scientific and medical consensus without clear, transparent justification severely risk undermining that trust.”

AMA and AAI said they will continue advocating for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ science-based vaccine recommendations, and joined a growing number of doctors and other health care professionals imploring parents to learn more about the evidence behind child immunizations.

Ebola deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo have surpassed 2,000, the country’s government said Tuesday, in what is being described as the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record.

There are now 4,381 confirmed cases, including 2,011 deaths, since the outbreak was officially declared in May, Reuters and The Associated Press reported, citing a government report. For comparison, it took the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa — the worst in history — nearly five months to hit half of that death toll after it was declared.

Health officials have blamed delayed detection, local violence and insecurity, and strained health services for the virus spreading more rapidly than previous outbreaks. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

Many patients are also seeking treatment too late, with 60% to 70% of patients dying at home, the World Health Organization’s director for Africa said on Monday.

“The Bundibugyo virus continues to outpace us,” said Dr. Mohamed Janabi at a press conference.

A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.

The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus are the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five decades in power came to an end 20 months ago.

“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a court session that was aired live on state TV.

Read more from the AP:

White House officials have urged Ohio Republicans in recent days to avoid publicly pressuring Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) to drop out, according to a Politico report that cited three anonymous sources.

Officials reportedly argued that any efforts to boot Miller, who faces serious domestic abuse allegations, would be beside the point given the Republican lawmaker’s refusal to leave the race. Miller has denied the allegations.

“They basically told us to back off and let the voters decide,” one Ohio Republican told Politico.

President Donald Trump also publicly said he wouldn’t be getting involved in the conversations about Miller’s possible withdrawal and noted that he felt “badly” for the congressman.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to Politico’s request for comment.

Read more from Politico:

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) on Monday signed legislation that expands abortion access in the state, lifting restrictions that patients faced for obtaining medical care later in their pregnancies.

Previously, Massachusetts limited abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy to a narrow set of circumstances. The new law now allows abortions to occur after 24 weeks “based upon the professional judgment of the physician.”

The law is aimed at guaranteeing that patients who need care for “devastating fetal diagnoses, serious pregnancy complications or other complex medical circumstances” later in pregnancy are able to receive it in the state, according to a release from Healey’s office.

During Monday’s bill signing, Kate Dineen and her husband Alex Lawton described how they had to travel to Maryland for an abortion after their son experienced a “catastrophic stroke” in utero at 33 weeks of pregnancy. Although that meant that he would either die or survive with a spectrum of “devastating outcomes,” the diagnosis didn’t qualify for an exception under Massachusetts’s prior policy, Dineen said.

“I’ve heard heartbreaking stories from women and families who were preparing to welcome a healthy baby into their family, only to receive devastating news later in their pregnancy. Instead of being able to rely on the doctors they knew and trusted at home, they were forced to travel hundreds of miles and pay out of their pockets while navigating unimaginable grief,” Healey said in a statement. “That should never happen in Massachusetts. This law continues our efforts to have the strongest abortion protections in the country because in Massachusetts, we believe health care decisions should be made between women and their doctors.”

Army Under Secretary Michael Obadal purchased stocks from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has billions of dollars in contracts with the Department of Defense, NOTUS reported.

Obadal’s reported purchase of between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of SpaceX stock has raised ethical questions about whether he violated conflict-of-interest rules. He is responsible for managing the Army’s business operations.

A spokesperson for Obadal defended the purchase, telling NOTUS in a statement that the secretary has never personally interacted with SpaceX.

Read more from NOTUS:

Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Manuel Hernandez, captain of the boat that capsized in New York Harbor over the weekend, with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death.

Hernandez was helming the vessel last Saturday when it overturned near Liberty Island, killing a 27-year-old woman and her 5-month-old child.

Prosecutors allege that Hernandez transported paying customers on a commercial vessel without the appropriate licenses, that he overcrowded the boat and that he embarked on the trip without infant life vests onboard.

Hernandez did not comment after a hearing on Monday, The New York Times reported.

Republican officials in North Carolina selected a new candidate Monday to replace GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards, who dropped out after a House Ethics investigation found he acted inappropriately toward two young female staffers.

State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, representing the Henderson County area, will face off against Democratic nominee Jamie Ager in November.

Edwards ended his bid for reelection last week after increasing calls for him to resign following the committee’s findings and recommendation of censure.

Balkcom announced her plans to seek the Republican nomination on Sunday, writing in a social media post that “Western North Carolina needs a strong voice right now.”

“This race is too important to sit out,” she wrote. “We must hold this seat, preserve our mountain values, and make sure Washington never forgets the people who call these mountains home.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday urged the heads of three of the country’s most prominent artificial intelligence companies to pause development amid growing concerns about the risks that their technologies pose.

In a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sanders sounded the alarm over recent instances when companies, including OpenAI, have seen their models go rogue.

“In the interest of humanity, stand by your words. Pause AI development. It is not too late to avoid disaster. Stop building machines that humans cannot control,” Sanders wrote in the letter, which was first obtained by Axios.

Sanders also warned that Congress would take steps to address the issue if Silicon Valley leaders failed to do so. “Let me be very clear: If you do not take appropriate action now, my colleagues and I in the U.S. Senate will,” he wrote.

On Friday, OpenAI paused some activities involving one of its models due to security concerns. That model, however, was different than the one involved in a cyberattack earlier this year.

Sanders’ letter adds to congressional scrutiny of AI behemoths. In a separate letter on Monday, several House lawmakers including Reps. Greg Casar (D-Tex.) and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to schedule Congressional hearings with the CEOs of the countries’ largest AI companies.

“Unfortunately, Congress has so far completely failed to respond to the threats posed by AI development. That must change,” the House members noted in their letter, which was first obtained by CNBC. “The CEOs of the largest AI companies should answer questions under oath, and Americans should have a chance to hear from independent experts on the dangers posed by this technology.”

Spokespeople for Anthropic and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and an OpenAI spokesperson did not provide additional comment. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.