Latest Headlines
Federal immigration authorities held an 8-year-old U.S. citizen in a Brooklyn shelter for nearly seven months, ignoring his birth certificate and releasing him only after a lawsuit and a judge's ruling.
Released alone after ninth birthday inside
Source: The New York Focus
June 18, 2026
Oregon Governor Kotek signs a law guaranteeing every child under 5 a free monthly book, codifying the Dolly Parton Imagination Library statewide as the state fights some of the nation's lowest reading scores.
4 million books mailed already
Source: The Oregon Capital Chronicle
June 18, 2026
A federal judge orders the Trump administration to restore climate change and Wabanaki Nations signs removed from Acadia and other national parks, ruling the removals rewrote history "with a white-out pen."
Administration is appealing the order
Source: The Maine Morning Star
June 18, 2026
A Missouri judge strikes down most of the state's abortion restrictions and restores medication abortion for the first time since 2018, enforcing the reproductive-rights amendment voters passed in 2024.
November ballot could reverse it
Source: KSHB Kansas City
June 18, 2026
The State Department will permanently end PEPFAR HIV funding for South Africa, home to the world's largest HIV population, tying the cut to political demands including ending affirmative action.
8 million living with HIV there
Source: Semafor
June 18, 2026
The Pentagon tells lawmakers it needs $80 billion to cover the Iran war and other costs, warning the services could run out of operating money this summer, with no war authorization ever sought.
60 votes projected unlikely
Source: The Wall Street Journal [gift link]
June 18, 2026
