Officials want to strip legal protections from Venezuelan migrants

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.

The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that otherwise would have expired last month.

The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return because of natural disaster or civil strife.

A federal appeals court earlier rejected the administration’s request.

President Donald Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending Temporary Protected Status for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. Temporary Protected Status is granted in 18-month increments.

Sanctions imposed on Mexican cartel

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on three Mexicans and two Mexico-based entities involved in a drug trafficking and fuel theft network linked to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

It is one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it has some 19,000 members in its ranks. The cartel developed rapidly into an extremely violent force after it split from the Sinaloa cartel after the 2010 killing of Sinaloa cartel capo Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villarreal by the military.

The new sanctions against Jalisco New Generation, including top members Cesar Morfin Morfin and his brothers Alvaro Noe Morfin Morfin and Remigio Morfin Morfin, target the group’s fuel theft network. The Treasury Department says that network has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue to the Mexican government and also funds the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States.

The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals or companies have in the U.S. and prohibit U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

Sex assault reports in U.S. military fall

The number of sexual assaults reported across the U.S. military dipped by nearly 4% last year, fueled by a significant drop in the Army, according to a new Pentagon report. It was the second year in a row with a decrease, reversing a troubling trend that has plagued the Defense Department for more than a decade.

Senior defense officials said that although the decline is a good sign, the number of reported assaults is still too high and the military needs to do more to get victims to report the often undisclosed crime.

According to the report, there were 8,195 reported sexual assaults in 2024 involving members of the military, compared with 8,515 in 2023.

To defuse crisis, Rubio calls India, Pakistan

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials in India and Pakistan to defuse the crisis that followed last week’s deadly attack in Kashmir, the State Department said.

Rubio urged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to de-escalate tensions Wednesday.

India has vowed to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the attack, which Islamabad denies.

Trump threatens sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed.

Trump wrote on social media, “All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States “in any way, shape, or form.”

It was unclear how Trump would implement such a ban as he threatened to levy secondary sanctions on nations that import Iranian oil. But his statement risked further escalating tensions with China — Iran’s leading customer — at a time when the relationship is severely strained over the U.S. president’s tariffs.

Trump’s social media threat came after Oman announced planned nuclear negotiations for this coming weekend had been postponed. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X.

Acting leader Han resigns amid reports he’ll run for president

South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on “heavier responsibility” as expectation mounted he will run in next month’s presidential election.

Han has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party remains in disarray over the recent ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Observers expect Han to launch his presidential campaign officially today.

Han, whom Yoon had appointed prime minister, the country’s No. 2 post, is expected to align with the People Power Party to launch a unified conservative campaign against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, observers say.

Nun who was world’s oldest person has died

Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher who was the world’s oldest person, died Wednesday just weeks short of turning 117, her religious congregation said.

Canabarro died at home of natural causes, said her Teresian nun congregation, the Company of Saint Teresa of Jesus. She was confirmed in January as the world’s oldest person by LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks supercentenarians around the globe.

She would have turned 117 on May 27. According to LongeviQuest, the world’s oldest person is now Ethel Caterham, a 115-year-old British woman.

Canabarro said her Catholic faith was the key to her longevity, in a video taken by LongeviQuest in February 2024.

The smiling Canabarro can be seen cracking jokes, sharing miniature paintings she used to make of wildflowers and reciting the Hail Mary prayer.

— Denver Post wire services