J.D. Vance's tour of India was rocked by a deadly terrorist attack that killed 26 people in Kashmir.
The vice president was in northwestern India when extremists ambushed a scenic resort town that is popular with Indian tourists, Pahalgam. The attack is one of the worst in years to hit Kashmir, a disputed region nestled in the Himalayas that is renowned for its natural beauty.
"Usha and I extend our condolences to the victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India," Vance wrote on X.
"Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack."
Indian police said that armed men dressed in military garb emerged from the forests surrounding the Baisaran meadow and began shooting.
The scenic area can only be reached from Pahalgam by foot or horseback, the Indian Express reported.
“I was on a pony, about to enter Baisaran, when there were gunshots. People started to run for their lives,” an officer quoted a survivor as saying. “As I tried to escape, a bullet hit me in the elbow. I don’t know where it came from.”
Most of the people killed were Indian tourists, making it the worst attack on Indian civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
President Trump condemned the "deeply disturbing" massacre and said the United States "stands strong with India against terrorism."
Since 1989, insurgents have been fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim. The separatists want Kashmir to either become independent or merge with Pakistan, which has a Muslim population.
Under India's nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has asserted greater control over Kashmir while promoting tourism in the region.
The militant group claiming responsibility for Tuesday's attack, The Resistance Front (TRF), formed after India revoked Kashmir's partial autonomy in 2019 and reduced it to a territory.
India and Pakistan each control a portion of Kashmir, with India holding the larger share of territory, but they both claim it in its entirety. The neighboring countries, which both have nuclear weapons, have fought two wars over Kashmir since the partition of British India in 1947.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have increased after Tuesday's attack, with India ordering Pakistani nationals to leave India within 48 hours.
Vice president Vance is on a four-day tour of India with his family. He was in the northwestern city of Jaipur on Tuesday after a meeting with prime minister Modi the day before to discuss trade.
The vice president also found time for pleasure, touring the Taj Mahal with his wife Usha and their kids on Wednesday.
The White House dismissed "fake news" about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after left-wing NPR claimed the administration is looking to replace him.
"This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. “As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef.”
Trump has stood by Hegseth since his contentious Senate confirmation battle, which saw Hegseth overcome a flood of anonymous attacks on his character as Democrats and a handful of Republicans questioned his qualifications.
President Trump and his allies are rallying behind Hegseth once again as Democrats make fresh demands for his resignation, citing what they say is his careless handling of sensitive information.
The New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources, that Hegseth included his wife and brother in a Signal chat that included details about an attack on Houthi rebels. The chat reportedly happened around the same time as the previously reported Signal conversation that included a left-wing journalist, leading to criticism of the Trump administration in March.
"Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job," Trump said of Hegseth on Monday. "Ask the Houthis how he's doing."
In addition to the Signal controversies, Hegseth has faced turmoil on his staff as he cracks down on leaks. The Pentagon fired three top Hegseth staffers last week for allegedly sharing information with the press, although the fired staffers deny the claims.
The latest anonymous report concerning Hegseth - from NPR - claims that the White House has lost confidence in him and is looking for a new Defense Secretary.
But Trump and Hegseth have put on a united front, dismissing the latest anonymous reports as a coordinated smear campaign.
The White House says Hegseth, who came to his role as a disruptor to the status quo, is facing backlash from D.C. insiders resistant to change.
“This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement," Leavitt told Fox and Friends.
Meanwhile, Hegseth upped the ante on Tuesday as he warned that "leakers" could be prosecuted.
"If we think you are leaking to the press, that's a very real problem. We take that very seriously at the Pentagon," Hegseth told Fox and Friends. "Disgruntled former employees are peddling things to try to save their a--, and ultimately, that's not going to work."
President Trump's ambitious immigration agenda is causing a dramatic shakeup at the Supreme Court, as the conservative justices split over Trump's deportations.
In a shocking rebuke of Trump, the court issued a ruling just after midnight Saturday that blocks him from using the Alien Enemies Act to remove suspected gang members detained in northern Texas.
Only two justices, neither of them appointed by Trump himself, voiced concern about the court's move. In a fiery dissent, Samuel Alito, joined by Clarence Thomas, said the court issued a hasty and premature ruling without clear jurisdiction.
"When this Court rushed to enter its order, the Court of Appeals was considering the issue of emergency relief, and we were informed that a decision would be forthcoming. This Court, however, refused to wait," Alito wrote.
Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport alleged gang members has led to a dramatic standoff between the judiciary and the executive branch.
The president's critics, including the federal judges blocking his moves, have accused him of ignoring court rulings and suspending due process, while Trump and his supporters say activist judges are trying to thwart Trump's electoral mandate to deport illegal aliens.
Prior to Saturday's midnight ruling, the Supreme Court had allowed Trump to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations but ordered the government to provide "reasonable time" to contest them.
The Supreme Court's midnight intervention came after the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union scrambled to file challenges in Texas, Louisiana, and Washington D.C. all in a matter of hours on Good Friday.
Alito's dissent noted that the Supreme Court did not wait to hear the Trump administration's side of the story, instead relying on "dubious" evidence that a group of Venezuelans being detained in Texas would be imminently deported.
"In sum, literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order," he wrote.
"I refused to join the Court’s order because we had no good reason to think that, under the circumstances, issuing an order atm midnight was necessary or appropriate," he wrote.
Alito concluded, “Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law."
Vice President J.D. Vance made an interesting stop during his travels this week to talk about religion in one of the world's most religiously-centric locations.
According to Fox News, the vice president stopped in Rome to meet with top Vatican officials as part of official travel to Italy and India. The two parties spoke about religion and important topics of the day, including deportations.
The report noted that Vance and the Vatican officials had an "exchange of opinions" on the deportation issue.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with "Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister," Fox News noted.
The issue of deportations and migrants was reportedly a hot topic for the two parties. The Vatican released a statement following the meeting with Vance.
"There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners," the Vatican's statement read.
It added, "Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged."
Fox News noted:
He and Parolin "discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace," Vance’s office said.
It was reported that VP Vance was able to "briefly" meet with Pope Francis on Easter.
Pope Francis met briefly with U.S. Vice President @JDVance on Easter Sunday. The private audience lasted a few minutes. They exchanged Easter greetings, and the pope gave Vance a Vatican tie, rosaries and a set of three large chocolate Easter eggs for his kids. pic.twitter.com/v48BsukaDQ
— EWTN News (@EWTNews) April 20, 2025
The vice president made a social media post regarding his visit with the pope.
"It was an honor to visit the Vatican during Holy Week, and a blessing to experience the beauty and reverence of the Good Friday liturgy at St. Peter's Basilica," Vance wrote on X.
Many across social media offered well wishes to the vice president for Easter.
Others injected politics into the matter, while some criticized the pope.
What would have otherwise been a cheerful and celebratory swearing-in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz at the Oval Office turned into a scary medical situation for one of his young granddaughters.
According to the Daily Mail, Dr. Oz, who was appointed by Trump as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was set to be sworn in at the Oval Office earlier this week until his granddaughter, Philomena, 11, passed out.
The moment came just after Dr. Oz had a question-and-answer session with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Reports indicated that after Trump answered a question about nuclear weapons, Dr. Oz's daughter began yelling, "Philo fainted, Philo fainted. Dad, go!"
Several people, including Dr. Oz, rushed over to where the medical episode took place, while others hurried the press out of the room. One White House aide shouted, "Everybody out!"
Multiple videos and pictures from the moment it happened and the resulting chaos were posted across social media.
🔁 UPDATE: The White House confirms a minor family member fainted during Dr. Oz’s swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office. She has since recovered and is okay, according to officials. pic.twitter.com/xiK5h5J9xC
— Next News Network 🇺🇲 (@NextNewsNetwork) April 18, 2025
"UPDATE: The White House confirms a minor family member fainted during Dr. Oz’s swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office. She has since recovered and is okay, according to officials," Next News Network reported at the time.
It was later reported that the young girl had recovered from the incident and was doing well after being checked out.
"A minor family member fainted during Dr. Oz’s swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office,” the White House said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We are happy to say she is okay."
Users across social media reacted to the situation and Trump's response, with many praising the president for directing attention to what was happening in the room.
"Trump stops everything when someone falls out in his audience, even if that audience has 25,000 people," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Notice how Trump never runs away. He runs to the roar. Whatever is happening, he'll move to help."
Thankfully, all is well and the young girl will be fine.
The White House is looking into whether President Donald Trump can fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, as the administration accuses the central bank leader of "playing politics" with monetary policy.
“The president and his team will continue to study that matter,” economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters at the White House.
Trump is frustrated with Powell's reluctance to lower interest rates even as inflation has fallen from its Biden-era peaks. Inflation fell to 2.4% in March, which is just above the Fed's 2% target.
The Fed hiked interest rates during the Biden presidency to combat historic inflation that surged to 9.1%.
While the Fed started lowering rates last year, Powell is cautious about adjusting them again because of the uncertain impact of Trump's tariffs.
Raising interest rates discourages borrowing and spending, which eases pressure on inflation. At same time, leaving rates raised for too long can slow down the economy.
Trump fired off a broadside on social media criticizing "Too Late" Powell's timing, while pointing to the European Central Bank's recent decision to cut rates again.
"Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!" Trump wrote.
The president's message followed an ominous prediction from Powell about Trump's tariffs. The central bank leader said an economic slowdown could occur simultaneously with increased inflation. That would force the Fed to strike a difficult balance between combating prices - which entails raising rates - and stimulating growth by slashing them.
"The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," Powell told an audience at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Trump's critics have accused him of threatening the Fed's conventional political independence. Powell has insisted he's not going anywhere.
“Our independence is a matter of law,” Powell said Wednesday. “We’re not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms. So we’re protected into law. Congress could change that law, but I don’t think there’s any danger of that. Fed independence has pretty broad support across both political parties and in both sides of the Hill."
Meanwhile, Trump accused Powell of "playing politics" while answering questions from reporters Thursday.
"If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I’m not happy with him.”
The White House has vowed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia will "never" live in the United States again, as the Trump administration releases evidence to back up its claims about the Salvadoran man's gang affiliation.
"He will never live in the United States of America," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt, calling Garcia a "wife beater."
The administration's critics have said Garcia, widely depicted as an innocent "Maryland man" in the media, was wrongly deported to his native El Salvador without due process. Trump officials maintain that Garcia is a gang member, and they have emphasized that he was living in the U.S. illegally.
A federal judge has ordered Trump to bring Garcia, who is being held in an infamous prison in El Salvador, back to the United States. The Supreme Court has been less definitive, saying Trump must "facilitate" the man's return.
The administration has responded to critics with defiance, releasing police records Wednesday detailing Garcia's MS-13 ties. The files revealed that Garcia, while living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested with known MS-13 members outside of a Home Depot in 2019.
A police informant identified Garcia as a member of the gang, providing his rank and nickname, and immigration judges found the evidence convincing enough to deny him bail. Nevertheless, he received a "withholding of removal," shielding him from being sent back to his homeland over fears of persecution by Barrio 18, an MS-13 rival.
The Department of Homeland Security also shared a protective order Wednesday sought by Garcia's American wife, who alleged he severely beat her. She has since changed her story, however, as she fights for his return to the U.S.
"Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process," she said in a new statement. "We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counselling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed."
At a press briefing Wednesday, Press Secretary Leavitt repeated the allegations against "wife beater" Garcia and said he would be promptly deported again if returned from El Salvador.
"If he [Mr Ábrego García] ever ends up back in the United States, he would immediately be deported again," she said.
"He will never live in the United States of America."
The government's lawyers have also said Garcia, if returned to the U.S., would either be removed to a third country, or have his withholding order instantly revoked to facilitate his return to El Salvador.
A Democratic senator from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to see Garcia but was denied entry to the prison where he is being kept.
Some argue that Democrats are walking into a trap by rushing to Garcia's defense. The public is generally supportive of Trump's immigration crackdown, and now that the White House has shared concrete evidence of Garcia's dubious character, public sympathy for the "Maryland man" could soon dry up.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro shared hospital footage of his recovery from bowel surgery, as he continues to deal with the aftermath of a stabbing that almost killed him.
The right-wing leader miraculously survived losing 40% of his blood after he was stabbed in the abdomen while campaigning for the presidency in 2018. He has since undergone multiple surgeries stemming from the attempted assassination.
The latest surgery, a 12-hour operation to treat a bowel obstruction that involved reconstructing part of his abdominal wall, was his most complex and invasive yet. The procedure was successful, and Bolsonaro was sent to the intensive care unit (ICU) for observation.
Bolsonaro shared videos of him moving around with help from a walker and hospital staff at DF Star Hospital in Brasilia.
- Jair Bolsonaro.
- Michelle Bolsonaro.
- DF Star - Rede D’OR.
- Brasília/DF, 15 Abr 15h30 Terça-Feira. pic.twitter.com/97zlDiEiK3— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) April 15, 2025
"This is the period in which the organs that were manipulated during the procedure lasting more than 12 hours begin to deflate, allowing us to observe the first signs of a real situation," he said.
"I remain focused on the recovery process, which from what I understand was the most invasive procedure that took place, seeking strength to get out of bed once again, after facing the sixth surgery resulting from the stabbing suffered by a former member of the PSOL, a historic ally of the PT," Bolsonaro wrote on X, tying the attack to the ruling Workers' Party.
The ex-president was still sharing updates from the hospital Tuesday, his third day in the ICU.
Bolsonaro had been planning to campaign across Brazil's northeastern region when he was hospitalized with severe abdominal pain Friday in Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte.
He was later brought to a hospital in Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, and then transferred to the nation's capital Brasilia on Saturday.
A vocal support of President Trump, Bolsonaro has faced a thicket of legal troubles since narrowly losing re-election in 2022 to current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro was recently cleared of charges for faking a COVID vaccine certificate, but he is still facing trial for an alleged coup attempt, and he is legally barred from running for office until 2030.
The 70-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, saying he's the target of political persecution by his leftist rival, Lula.
The granddaughter of Hillary Clinton's "hero and mentor" was charged with a felony for destroying a university president's office over the Israel-Gaza war.
As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, Stanford University student Zoe Edelman was one of a dozen people charged over the violent break-in last June.
Once inside, the masked suspects barricaded themselves in and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
Zoe Edelman is the granddaughter of Marian Wright Edelman, a liberal civil rights lawyer and founder of the Children's Defense Fund.
Hillary Clinton was a recent Yale Law School graduate when she worked for Edelman's organization in 1973. Clinton has often cited her work for the Children's Defense Fund throughout her career in politics to shore up her progressive bona fides.
Clinton has not always seen eye to eye with her "mentor." Their relationship was strained by President Bill Clinton's enactment of welfare reform, which led to public criticism from Edelman and her husband, Peter Edelman, resigning from the White House in protest.
Despite their past differences, Clinton and Edelman have patched up their relationship in recent years. Edelman's organization honored Clinton as a "voice for children" in 2013, and Clinton called Edelman a "hero and mentor" in 2020.
Zoe Edelman, a senior at Stanford, was pictured with Clinton at a 2022 gala in Washington D.C.
District Attorney Rosen said Edelman and 11 other students "broke windows and furniture, splashed fake blood, and disabled security cameras." They were charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass.
The suspects had a methodical plan to break into the building, hide their identities and conscript "lookouts" to avoid police detection. A search of their cell phones turned up detailed operations planning, which included an "occupation" guide justifying vandalism as a revolutionary act.
“Vandalism? Occupying a space removes the space from the capitalist landscape," the guide said. "A group may decide it is better to destroy or vandalize a space than to return it to its usual role in good condition. The role of vandalism may be different in each situation, but it should not be disowned outright.”
A student journalist who was embedded with the group but did not participate in violence was not charged.
"Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal," said Rosen. "There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices, barricaded themselves inside, and started a calculated plan of destruction."
The radicals involved in the Stanford vandalism were a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students, according to the school's newspaper.
Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Boyd will retire this year, leaving an opening for Republican Governor Greg Abbott to fill.
Abbott, who was a state Supreme Court justice before becoming governor, has appointed six of the nine justices on the top court.
Boyd has deep ties to the state's Republicans, having worked for Governor Rick Perry as a chief of staff and general counsel before the governor appointed him to the Supreme Court in 2012.
In the early 2000s, Boyd worked under Texas' then- attorney general John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator facing a primary challenge from current attorney general Ken Paxton.
Supreme Court elections in Texas are partisan and for six-year terms. Boyd won re-election in 2014 and 2020.
Governor Abbott will appoint a placeholder, who would need to be confirmed by the Texas Senate.
Boyd, who was educated at Abilene Christian University and graduated summa cum laude from Pepperdine University School of Law, announced his retirement with a quote from Scripture.
"There is a season for every activity under the heavens," he wrote on X.
“I am honored and blessed to have served on the Texas Supreme Court these past 12 years," he continued in a statement.
"I’m especially grateful to Governor Rick Perry for appointing me to the Court in 2012, to the many Texans who have encouraged, supported, and voted for me through two statewide elections, to my many Court and campaign colleagues and co-workers for their friendship and inspiration, and to my wife Jackie and our children for reminding me daily of life’s most important blessings."
"It’s now time to let another take the helm. I will not be running for re-election in 2026 and will retire from the Court this summer, near the end of its current annual term. May God continue to bless Texas and this honorable Court.”
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock called Boyd a "model of integrity, impartiality and diligence.”
“His sharp insights and thorough analysis have shaped and strengthened the opinions of the Court, and his abundant good humor around the office have made him a beloved friend and mentor to Justices and staff alike,” Blacklock said. “Justice Boyd leaves the Supreme Court, and the law of our great State, better than he found it.”
Texas has two separate top courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal on civil matters, while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals handles criminal cases.