Political News

First Day Of 2025 Nebraska Legislature Underscores Conservative Stronghold

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 7:00am

Nebraska lawmakers mingle with newly elected State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of North Omaha. She and others elected in November were sworn into office Wednesday — the first day of the 2025 legislative session.
(Zach Wendling / Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — The conservative stronghold on the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature became clearer Wednesday, as state lawmakers chose Republicans for the top leadership spots on all but one of 17 key legislative committees.

The lone Democrat elected to a chair position was State Sen. Terrell McKinney — and he ran unopposed in his bid to preside over the Urban Affairs Committee for two more years.

Read more about First Day Of 2025 Nebraska Legislature Underscores Conservative Stronghold

The Future – And Omaha

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 6:00am

Horse carriage at Chimney Rock National Historic Site in Nebraska, USA.
(Shutterstock)

In the heat of the summer, the distant cold of the winter seems a smudged dream: hazy, and far off. Unlike a normal dream, it comes with the perfect assurance that the pallid cold will come regardless of how well one does or how many mistakes are made. The slowly arriving, but ever-impending winter may come with a gentle kiss of cool winds, or as a tyrannical father, it should punish all unending – but the winter will come.

Read more about The Future – And Omaha

U.S. House GOP Kicks Off New Session With Border Security Push

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 5:00am

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed its first bill of the 119th Congress Tuesday, a measure that increases migrant detention and is named after a Georgia nursing student whose murder President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly tied to the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a Tuesday press conference that “as promised, we’re starting today with border security.”

Read more about U.S. House GOP Kicks Off New Session With Border Security Push

Trump, The 'America First' Candidate, Has A New Preoccupation: Imperialism

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 4:00am

Charlie Kirk speaks at AmericaFest, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix.
(Rick Scuteri / AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump ran on a return to his "America First” foreign policy platform. The U.S., he said, could no longer afford to be the world's policeman. On his watch, he pledged, there would be no new wars.

Read more about Trump, The 'America First' Candidate, Has A New Preoccupation: Imperialism

Italy's Meloni Hopes To Attend Trump Inauguration As She Downplays His Greenland And Panama Comments

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 4:00am

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thursday she didn’t believe President-elect Donald Trump actually intends to use military force to seize control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, saying she read his comments more as a warning to China and other global players to keep their hands off such strategically important interests.

Read more about Italy's Meloni Hopes To Attend Trump Inauguration As She Downplays His Greenland And Panama Comments

Germany And US Have Long Been Allies - That Could Change With Trump

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/13/2025 - 3:00am

In this photo made available by the German Federal Government, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump (seated at right) during the G7 Leaders Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 9, 2018.
(Jesco Denzel / German Federal Government via AP)

Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in November 2024, the German state-owned news service Deutsche Welle published an article with the headline “Trump’s election victory is a nightmare for Germany.”

Read more about Germany And US Have Long Been Allies - That Could Change With Trump

At Least 15 Dead In New Orleans After Truck Plows Into Bourbon Street Crowd

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/06/2025 - 7:00am

NEW ORLEANS — The death toll from a suspected terror attack on Bourbon Street was updated to 15 Wednesday afternoon after a pickup truck tore through Bourbon Street where crowds were celebrating the arrival of the New Year in the early hours of the day.

Another 35 people were injured, some of them critically, according to authorities.

Read more about At Least 15 Dead In New Orleans After Truck Plows Into Bourbon Street Crowd

Nominees Deserve Senate Deliberation … So Do We

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/06/2025 - 6:00am

The New Year brings a “say so” for Nebraska U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts as the president-elect fills a new cabinet. Advising and consenting on such matters is part of Fischer’s and Ricketts’ responsibilities as members of the “world’s greatest deliberative body.”

Read more about Nominees Deserve Senate Deliberation … So Do We

Trump Has Promised to Build More Ships. He May Deport the Workers Who Help Make Them.

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/06/2025 - 5:00am

Employees of Thoma-Sea Ship Builders pray at the beginning of the christening ceremony at the Port of Terrebonne on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 in Houma, LA.
(Michael Conti / The Houma Daily Courier via AP)

Trump Has Promised to Build More Ships. He May Deport the Workers Who Help Make Them.

by Nicole Foy

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Read more about Trump Has Promised to Build More Ships. He May Deport the Workers Who Help Make Them.

Marco Rubio Is No Friend Of Havana − But Does Trump’s Pick For Secretary Of State Mean Cuba Policy Is Set?

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 01/06/2025 - 4:00am

March 21, 2016, former Cuban President Raul Castro (right) lifts up the arm of President Barack Obama at the conclusion of their joint news conference at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba. Brushing off decades of distrust, Obama and Castro shook hands, a remarkable moment for two countries working to put the bitterness of their Cold War-era enmity behind them.
(Ramon Espinosa / AP Photo)

The U.S. looks set to have its first-ever Cuban American secretary of state in 2025, after President-elect Donald Trump nominated U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for the role. But don’t expect that to mean cozier relations between Havana and Washington.