The Iowa caucuses began Monday night after heavy campaigning by presidential candidates and the turnout is much higher than expected.
Lines were out the door at many sites.
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The Iowa caucuses began Monday night after heavy campaigning by presidential candidates and the turnout is much higher than expected.
Lines were out the door at many sites.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
Authorities say Kirk was shot by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah but was enmeshed in “leftist ideology,” according to the state's Republican governor, Spencer Cox.
Cox said investigators may reveal more about what motivated the attack after Robinson's initial court appearance, scheduled for Tuesday. The governor said the suspect, who allegedly carved memes onto his bullet casings, appeared radicalized by the “dark corners of the internet.”
On Monday, Vance was joined on Kirk’s podcast by Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, who vowed to crack down on what he called the “vast domestic terrorist network” he blamed for Kirk’s death.
Alluding to free speech concerns, Vance said: “You have the crazies on the far left that say, ’Oh, Stephen Miller and JD Vance, they’re going to go after constitutionally protected speech.'”
But he added: “No no no! We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,” — a reference to non-governmental organizations.
The White House did not immediately return a request seeking clarity on the remarks, including which groups might be targeted.
The idea of a retribution campaign against individuals or groups for expressing a particular viewpoint has alarmed many.
“Just having that ideology, just believing differently than some other American is not illegal,” Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said on CNN on Sunday.
Instead, he said any groups that have been involved in illegal or violent acts should be targeted.
On Kirk’s show, Vance talked about the need for unity after the assassination, but then dismissed it as impossible given what he described as the left’s embrace of political violence. Naming two foundations that fund a wide range of liberal causes, Vance said: \"There is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers.”
Democratic officials have roundly condemned Kirk’s murder. Democrats also have been victims of political violence recently, including the June assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and the 2022 beating of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in their San Francisco home.
Caitlin Legacki of Stop Government Censorship, formed to fight the Trump administration’s use of government against its political rivals, said it was one thing for people making abhorrent statements to face consequences.
“When we get concerned is when there appears to be a concerted effort in the government to use this tragedy to punish political opponents,” she said.
___
Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Chris Megerian in Washington; Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina; Juan Lozano in Houston, and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
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The difference, he suspects, was the energy missing during those silent Games."},{"_id":"7Z4BJFNOZNFRRLGZBRVWRXJCRY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"This time, there was noise and fun — the people clapping in rhythm every time Duplantis lined up — and like any great artist, Mondo knew how to play to the crowd."},{"_id":"PIFHMUEOURA6FEJR5U6O6FPTOA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"After clearing 6.10, for instance, he imitated Japanese baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's pre-bat sleeve-tugging routine."},{"_id":"7WQE4HIIEJESXPPIVK2WSNY5GA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“My brother was in the crowd and he plays baseball, so I was trying to fire him up,” Duplantis said. “And the Japanese people, if they understood it, it was just something fun.”"},{"_id":"BOO2GY6MIVF6BIU2HZWSS4SHRI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The Louisiana-born phenom who competes for his mother's native Sweden collected $70,000 for the win — his 49th straight dating to September 2022 — along with the $100,000 bonus that goes to record breakers at world championships."},{"_id":"R6HREL7QRNHKJB6L3GSDTOO3TE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The money isn't the main motivation for a champion who has won every major title — worlds and Olympics — since the Tokyo Games."},{"_id":"2I47CXWQEZCO5EA5FN77YFAQWQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“It's doing what I know I'm capable of,” Duplantis said. “Motivation-wise, it's not that much of a problem. I know the level I can compete at, and I kind of demand that out of myself.”"},{"_id":"XVIAASJVVNCHBO2CB2LG3PXNDM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"It's hard to blame the crowd for expecting it, too. Duplantis started breaking records on Feb. 8, 2020, and has broken them on three continents and, now, in nine counties. This latest feat puts the height at an even 6.30."},{"_id":"MGL2MD3ZOJEBDNOFV7VEBKLTMY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Six-three sounds really nice, really clean, a new barrier for our sport,” he said. “It sounds better than 6.29, for sure.”"},{"_id":"F5I3CLIZ7ZBETKTZ673G67CVIY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But maybe not as good as 6.31."},{"_id":"B62TYDDF6VEH3JGM56CHI2FZOA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Duplantis has, in fact, wondered if 6.5 might be in his future."},{"_id":"O4YGWHM27JBUXLNVYNHO7PYSLI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"At this rate, it would take another few years. The good news is, he’s 25 and, for comparison, the great Sergey Bubka, who won six straight world titles through the 1980s and ’90s, was 31 when he broke the record for the 17th and final time."},{"_id":"5I3AUQ766FC5LGQZKK732QAUZQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Bubka's final record was 6.14, and after France's Renaud Lavillenie topped that once, Duplantis took over. He has improved the record by one centimeter every time, giving him maximum opportunities to pocket bonuses like the one he'll receive from World Athletics for this one."},{"_id":"OMGWGKLMB5HOXPAIRUBIXHF2FE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“What Mondo has in spades is what every pole vaulter is trying to achieve,” said Sam Kendricks, the fourth-place finisher who is the last man not named Duplantis to win a world title (in 2019). “He’s got a jump, he’s got the jets. He’s got a family that really supports him, and then he’s got a field of guys that’s really pushing him up there.”"},{"level":2,"_id":"C6MTEE3CO5E23FQ7S7Z6LU3QVM","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"A Swiss surprise in the hurdles"},{"_id":"FIEWB7OZSBGZZCXNCHUHMXRP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland held off the world record-holder and reigning Olympic champion to win a surprise gold in the 100 hurdles."},{"_id":"HD5RN7S5V5DY3AUQPB72JVKLIA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"After crossing the finish line, Kambundji stared up at the scoreboard waiting to see where her name would wind up. When she saw she was in first, her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth in shock."},{"_id":"SJCVZ7HPDNDY5BG4BQKPHGTJVM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Kambundji finished in a personal-best 12.24 seconds to hold off world record-holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria by .05 seconds. American Grace Stark took bronze while Masai Russell, who won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer, was fourth."},{"_id":"J7IZYHFICVFKFAC6CMG23F2GQM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“You could see on my face how happy I was when I realized I won,” Kambundji said."},{"level":2,"_id":"A6GTYFO4B5ASTAKICY7OW5ILRU","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Heads up (or down) in steeplechase"},{"_id":"CGSJPOOQANFCDAERX44O5VSJBQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The most heartbreaking scene on Monday was steeplechaser Soufiane El Bakkali kneeling with his head on the track and his teammate dwon there with him trying to console him."},{"_id":"JMYIRXMDEFFL7L4LHK32233XUM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The two-time world and Olympic champion was outraced to the line by New Zealand's Geordie Beamish and finished second by .07 seconds."},{"_id":"XMNLG3R5A5F2RAUJKBGCF6234E","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Congratulations for a good race today but, for me, I'm coming here for a different reason,” El Bakkali said. "},{"_id":"PVCF4R4RCBHYJG3KPG5HB6DZEQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Despite his heartbreak, El Bakkali took a traditional steeplechase dip in the water pit with Beamish. "},{"_id":"4LE3E2KOKVAEXBNNOXWUWED6MA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Beamish celebrated a gold medal some 48 hours after another memorable scene. He tripped during qualifying and an oncoming runner stepped on his face. But Beamish got up and made the final."},{"_id":"R3B2KB7ZANH37JYUXBSGF73PX4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“It might have been a blessing in disguise,\" Beamish said. \"That gave me a lot of confidence, just being able to get back up off the ground and qualify pretty easily still. It gave me confidence that my shape was better than what I thought it is.”"},{"_id":"J7P3X6DG5VBJPFV72XWD35WWIQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"EEZJGVQM6BAVVJUJXXBOPN25NY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed to this report."},{"_id":"5F2ZXZ2UBRDMTBSXPM7XILPJVY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"AFK2OOUCMJAY5GEWUERLJVODL4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports"}],"display_date":"2025-09-16T02:26:48Z","credits":{"by":[{"affiliation":"AP National Writer","org":"AP National Writer","name":"EDDIE PELLS","type":"author"}]},"subtype":"Wire","headlines":{"basic":"Duplantis gives Japanese fans what they came for — another world record in pole vault"},"first_publish_date":"2025-09-16T02:32:30.887Z","taxonomy":{"primary_site":{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":null,"sponsor_mobile_banner":null,"sponsor_url":null},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":null,"section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"type":"site","version":"0.5.8"},"sections":[{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent":{"default":"/news"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":"","sponsor_mobile_banner":"","sponsor_url":""},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":"","section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","_website":"ajc","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"_website_section_id":"ajc./news/nation-world","type":"section","version":"0.6.0"},{"path":"/news","parent":{"default":"/"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/","name":"News","description":"Atlanta Georgia News main page: Breaking News, Atlanta Weather Forecast, Crime, Politics, GA Schools, Local Articles - 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Houston went for 2 but C.J. Stroud was sacked."},{"_id":"D4GOAAP45FFWVN4Q27YIWXAMJM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Trailing by one, the Texans got a quick stop thanks to a sack by Will Anderson on third down. Rookie Jaylin Noel returned the punt 53 yards to get Houston inside the 30."},{"_id":"GBCJXQZZ7ZAYBOYV2E3PA52HYY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Two plays later, Chubb slipped through the line and dashed into the end zone untouched for his first touchdown as a Texan after spending his first seven seasons with the Browns."},{"_id":"VCYO4HW4PNBMZJ3DLHWLI6WKRU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Stroud threw for 207 yards and a touchdown but failed to move the offense effectively for much of the second half."},{"_id":"DPAPHC7QCVE35B7JH2OEFIW3VM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Houston trailed by four and hadn’t scored in the second half when Riley Dixon’s punt was blocked by Jakob Johnson and the Texans recovered on the Tampa Bay 35 with about 6 1/2 minutes to go. The Texans failed to move the ball and settled for Ka'imi Fairbairn's 53-yard field goal that cut the lead to 14-13 with just over five minutes left."},{"_id":"5T5H5VESANBJTEVHJWLSQNYVTQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Tampa Bay had a chance to pad the lead late in the third period after both teams struggled offensively after halftime. But Chase McLaughlin’s 38-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the right upright."},{"_id":"NRFVILND7FEKBLGLTDZ4KMZDRA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Houston had first-and-goal at the 8 early in the fourth quarter and Nico Collins was stopped a yard short of the goal line on a first-down catch. Chubb was stuffed for no gain and Stroud threw incompletions intended for Collins on the next two plays to leave the Texans empty-handed."},{"_id":"7RH27ZZ4H5AUNB4N5YIDTJ4ZZM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Houston took an early lead on Collins' 29-yard TD catch. That score was set up when Stroud connected with Chubb for a 27-yard gain on a screen pass the play before."},{"_id":"BPMQ4OEGPNDZLBCJHLLVASHRHY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The Buccaneers tied it at 7-all when Mayfield threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller on their first possession."},{"_id":"ZVYGTJC3HREVRMU4MEQH3O5OXU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Emeka Egbuka had a 15-yard TD catch with about 10 minutes left in the first half to put Tampa Bay up 14-10. Egbuka, a rookie first-round draft pick, became the sixth player since the merger with three TD catches in his first two games."},{"_id":"R5OR3M374VEFZI2HLAPSULR5DA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter forced a fumble and had two sacks to give him 101 1/2 in his 10-year career."},{"level":2,"_id":"HZHFZLM3DZHNVNHDN7GSZURAJM","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Injuries"},{"_id":"Y6LYYLP4YZDUTOXKXGLGCX2FLA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Tampa Bay OT Luke Goedeke left in the first quarter with a foot injury. … DE Calijah Kancey injured a pectoral muscle in the first half and didn’t return."},{"level":2,"_id":"UVUEBR5X4JAPLNX6AHXZN7SW5I","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Up next"},{"_id":"DTW3YWH36FFPFGM6J56YAL5DZU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The Buccaneers host the New York Jets and the Texans visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday."},{"_id":"F3CEZ6ZWJZAT3AI33ULONW6OWM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"7VQUZBN6LVFYLDET4S75RUQKG4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl"}],"display_date":"2025-09-16T02:19:55Z","credits":{"by":[{"affiliation":"AP Sports Writer","org":"AP Sports Writer","name":"KRISTIE RIEKEN","type":"author"}]},"subtype":"Wire","headlines":{"basic":"Baker Mayfield and Rachaad White rally Bucs to 20-19 win over Texans"},"first_publish_date":"2025-09-16T02:23:14.428Z","taxonomy":{"primary_site":{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the 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"},{"_id":"JGPW6Z6GWFHHVK6TYR5CF5RCXE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Nonetheless, it is a major step against one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Latin America, which analysts said could hurt the economy and further hamper efforts to restore security in the countryside."},{"_id":"VSOHM5Q3XVGDRLPB4YYKZH3FHQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"President Gustavo Petro, who has said on several occasions that whisky kills more people than cocaine, lamented Trump's decision during a televised cabinet meeting Monday, saying Colombia was penalized after sacrificing the lives of “dozens of policemen, soldiers and regular citizens, trying to stop cocaine” from reaching the United States. "},{"_id":"I5EP4MNIGJDYFLWU6T4KX53NGM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“What we have been doing is not really relevant to the Colombian people,” he said of the nation’s antidrug efforts. “It’s to stop North American society from smearing its noses” in cocaine."},{"_id":"VH3HLE5JAZEQ3D2AD7J4JDIBIA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The U.S. last added Colombia to the list, through a process known as decertification, in 1997 when the country’s cartels — through threats of violence and money — had poisoned much of the nation’s institutions. "},{"_id":"J5LDBYUY3NFYJIPN2B4PPIUPGA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"\"Decertification is a blunt tool and a huge irritant in bilateral relations that goes well beyond drug issues and makes cooperation far harder in any number of areas,” said Adam Isacson, a security researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America. “That’s why it’s so rarely used.”"},{"_id":"BKGTW74PU5ATRDPJADECAJQMOE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The president at the time, Ernesto Samper, was facing credible accusations of receiving illicit campaign contributions from the now-defunct Cali cartel and a plane he was set to use for a trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session was found carrying 4 kilograms of heroin."},{"_id":"JVFNTWS2R5EKTOKCBQ4FX7QQRE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A remarkable turnaround began once Samper left office. Successive U.S. administrations — both Republican and Democrats — sent billions in foreign assistance to Colombia to eradicate illegal coca crops, strengthen its armed forces in the fight against drug-fueled rebels and provide economic alternatives to poor farmers who are on the lowest rungs of the cocaine industry."},{"level":2,"_id":"YOTZOZIDRZDVPJVEKPUMWBMDFM","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Cocaine production surges"},{"_id":"WUPNVXQMT5HPFISEF4A2WIDFJU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"That cooperation, a rare U.S. foreign policy success in Latin America, started to unravel following the suspension a decade ago of aerial eradication of coca fields with glyphosate. It followed a Colombia high court ruling that determined the U.S.-funded program was potentially harmful to the environment and farmers. "},{"_id":"A4WWT545IVGPZNUFHHKCUBN33A","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation’s largest rebel group known as FARC, also committed Colombia to rolling back punitive policies likened to the U.S. spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in favor of state building, rural development and voluntary crop substitution. "},{"_id":"KCKFFBXAVNF53KANWPNRPZ3FP4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Since then, cocaine production has skyrocketed. The amount of land dedicated to cultivating coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, has almost tripled in the past decade to a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to the latest report available from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. That is almost triple the size of New York City. "},{"_id":"4EJBHLYHQZEKRHZCFWFRVAAE3E","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Along with production, drug seizures also have soared to 654 metric tons so far this year. Colombia seized a record 884 metric tons last year."},{"_id":"LTCGZ7XDNNHXZC7UHFUVUV6GXA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But unlike past governments, manual eradication of coca crops under Petro’s leadership has slowed, to barely 5,048 hectares this year — far less than the 68,000 hectares uprooted in the final year of his conservative predecessor’s term and well below the government’s own goal of 30,000 hectares."},{"level":2,"_id":"FFI7RZJW2FB2VH2KOBNBBC4E3Q","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"A critic of U.S. policy"},{"_id":"QOYCKF222BBQLCK6A4VGTSOMDU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Petro, a former rebel himself, also has angered senior U.S. officials by denying American extradition requests as well as criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and its efforts to combat drug trafficking in neighboring Venezuela. "},{"_id":"E7RGUGFUGBDVZBUMEQMPPW3KHI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Under my administration, Colombia does not collaborate in assassinations,” Petro said on Sept. 5 after the U.S. military carried out a deadly strike on a small Venezuelan vessel in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said was transporting cocaine bound for the U.S. "},{"_id":"PZF7ZCNCTVFE5AVIVEIBOGFOR4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump said in a presidential memo submitted to Congress. “I will consider changing this designation if Colombia’s government takes more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking, as well as hold those producing, trafficking, and benefiting from the production of cocaine responsible, including through improved cooperation with the United States to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice.”"},{"_id":"MMLTVLHPDBFT3ALJONPQYEI624","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Under U.S. law, the president annually must identify countries that have failed to meet their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements during the previous 12 months. "},{"_id":"RZDCW7VLMRD7LNR4PGRHBOFTUU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"In addition to Colombia, the Trump administration listed four other countries — Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Venezuela — as among 23 major drug transit or drug-production countries that have failed to meet their international obligations. With the exception of Afghanistan, the White House determined that U.S. assistance to those countries was vital to national interests and therefore they would be spared any potential sanctions."},{"_id":"GB3GU74BHBHPXNZXDFWRY62Y54","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The redesignation of Venezuela as a country that has failed to adequately fight narcotics smuggled from neighboring Colombia comes against the backdrop of a major U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that has already led to two deadly strikes on small Venezuelan vessels that the Trump administration said were transporting cocaine bound for the U.S. "},{"_id":"32KB5JRK6ZCHRN7GCIMIZWWDEM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“In Venezuela, the criminal regime of indicted drug trafficker Nicolás Maduro leads one of the largest cocaine trafficking networks in the world, and the United States will continue to seek to bring Maduro and other members of his complicit regime to justice for their crimes,” Trump's designation said. “We will also target Venezuelan foreign terrorist organizations such as Tren de Aragua and purge them from our country.”"},{"_id":"B5QJ4BP4S5GQDOJNOAYSNVXJLU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"JR4K5AF7EVA3BKSEEBY63YCZ3A","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia. AP writer Manuel Rueda contributed to this report from Bogota. 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"},{"_id":"WF7IFLT4CJE3RJ7CZSRMU5GK7A","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Nonetheless, it is a major step against one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Latin America, and it could further hamper efforts to restore security in the countryside, according to Adam Isacson, a security researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America."},{"_id":"OMCKYV2CFZGLLPPLLPPLBO7ZJ4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he regretted the decision, which overlooked decades of bloodshed by Colombian security forces and civilians all in the name of a U.S.-led drug war."},{"_id":"C3E7BNS4BVCGTHPNHU3RLOGSXU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Everything we do has nothing to do with the Colombian people,” said Petro in a televised address Monday night. “It is to prevent the American society from smearing its noses in order to work, work and work, because this drug is a stimulant.”"},{"_id":"DYLFUQJU2VAH3H4ODCDW25NXZQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The U.S. last added Colombia to the list, through a process known as decertification, in 1997 when the country’s cartels — through threats of violence and money — had poisoned much of the nation’s institutions. "},{"_id":"WHWXP3QUOBFN7E4XOY4HTKZIDU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"It “is a blunt tool and a huge irritant in bilateral relations that goes well beyond drug issues and makes cooperation far harder in any number of areas,” Isacson said. “That’s why it’s so rarely used.”"},{"_id":"V4AVIJTKKNCPNHQLNZPKL4YZIM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The president at the time, Ernesto Samper, was facing credible accusations of receiving illicit campaign contributions from the now-defunct Cali cartel and a plane he was set to use for a trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session was found carrying 4 kilograms of heroin."},{"_id":"33XQHA4ASRGZZBAUWEURM6AAMI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A remarkable turnaround began once Samper left office. Successive U.S. administrations — both Republican and Democrats — sent billions in foreign assistance to Colombia to eradicate illegal coca crops, strengthen its armed forces in the fight against drug-fueled rebels and provide economic alternatives to poor farmers who are on the lowest rungs of the cocaine industry."},{"level":2,"_id":"J5TQ2MLMKJBFTJVUGS6IWZ2LRU","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Cocaine production surges"},{"_id":"Q4WOQ5X2LZF3NKCTKWAIA2ETNI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"That cooperation, a rare U.S. foreign policy success in Latin America, started to unravel following the suspension a decade ago of aerial eradication of coca fields with glyphosate. It followed a Colombia high court ruling that determined the U.S.-funded program was potentially harmful to the environment and farmers. "},{"_id":"AUTEAQCP7VEYZPLOQ2HNW3WTUQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation’s largest rebel group known as FARC, also committed Colombia to rolling back punitive policies likened to the U.S. spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in favor of state building, rural development and voluntary crop substitution. "},{"_id":"VFCAHGK5Z5E5JLDBAAYRODISF4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Since then, cocaine production has skyrocketed. The amount of land dedicated to cultivating coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, has almost tripled in the past decade to a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to the latest report available from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. That is almost triple the size of New York City. "},{"_id":"QBWF6TR5BJBD7GBZ4XEVWZDAEM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Along with production, drug seizures also have soared to 654 metric tons so far this year. Colombia seized a record 884 metric tons last year."},{"_id":"SC4BKELZMJCF7G6ERF7JRFJ44M","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But unlike past governments, manual eradication of coca crops under Petro’s leadership has slowed, to barely 5,048 hectares this year — far less than the 68,000 hectares uprooted in the final year of his conservative predecessor’s term and well below the government’s own goal of 30,000 hectares."},{"level":2,"_id":"ABO6YR3K7ZCDPJPF4L4T2CN7DQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"A critic of U.S. policy"},{"_id":"QFI2XCWCNNDUHI5YXMIL3AS3BA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Petro, a former rebel himself, also has angered senior U.S. officials by denying American extradition requests as well as criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and its efforts to combat drug trafficking in neighboring Venezuela. "},{"_id":"WVMEZPOSEJEDBNXXOW5GR25P2E","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Under my administration, Colombia does not collaborate in assassinations,” Petro said on Sept. 5 after the U.S. military carried out a deadly strike on a small Venezuelan vessel in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said was transporting cocaine bound for the U.S. "},{"_id":"RXE5KPD66BHRNNCHEMBRPGRJOM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump said in a presidential memo submitted to Congress. “I will consider changing this designation if Colombia’s government takes more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking, as well as hold those producing, trafficking, and benefiting from the production of cocaine responsible, including through improved cooperation with the United States to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice.”"},{"_id":"75YFKMIQWVF7XN6MVK5KTH73DI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Under U.S. law, the president annually must identify countries that have failed to meet their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements during the previous 12 months. "},{"_id":"K4TPCINI5RF4LF6DIMX7OYLBNQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"In addition to Colombia, the Trump administration listed four other countries — Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma and Venezuela — as among 23 major drug transit or drug-production countries that have failed to meet their international obligations. With the exception of Afghanistan, the White House determined that U.S. assistance to those countries was vital to national interests and therefore they would be spared any potential sanctions."},{"_id":"SPSG6SQU2VASPI5FZCMLWQVPFI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The redesignation of Venezuela as a country that has failed to adequately fight narcotics smuggled from neighboring Colombia comes against the backdrop of a major U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that has already led to two deadly strikes on small Venezuelan vessels that the Trump administration said were transporting cocaine bound for the U.S. "},{"_id":"4FBOKA2TGJAVXIIZGMJKAFXGLU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“In Venezuela, the criminal regime of indicted drug trafficker Nicolás Maduro leads one of the largest cocaine trafficking networks in the world, and the United States will continue to seek to bring Maduro and other members of his complicit regime to justice for their crimes,” Trump's designation said. “We will also target Venezuelan foreign terrorist organizations such as Tren de Aragua and purge them from our country.”"},{"_id":"6MTRCKUBXZDZTHSI7VSV2UGG5A","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"O3CHERNWZRDJFM47VKYTLEVY5M","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia."}],"display_date":"2025-09-16T02:07:32Z","credits":{"by":[{"affiliation":"Associated Press","org":"Associated Press","name":"JOSHUA GOODMAN and ASTRID SUAREZ","type":"author"}]},"subtype":"Wire","headlines":{"basic":"US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years"},"first_publish_date":"2025-09-16T02:13:13.864Z","taxonomy":{"primary_site":{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the 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"},{"_id":"ROMJG4LXFJCZPKRMKEJKTRLYZA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Nonetheless, it is a major step against one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Latin America, and it could further hamper efforts to restore security in the countryside, according to Adam Isacson, a security researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America."},{"_id":"K46MQ65OMFBHLATMUXTVXTMCO4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The U.S. last added Colombia to the list, through a process known as decertification, in 1997 when the country’s cartels — through threats of violence and money — had poisoned much of the nation’s institutions. "},{"_id":"HXWOH5R7TBCITAOBXN3FGGFQRQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"It “is a blunt tool and a huge irritant in bilateral relations that goes well beyond drug issues and makes cooperation far harder in any number of areas,” Isacson said. “That’s why it’s so rarely used.”"},{"_id":"5YQ7VNOYTNESTPERTSPJPTDLN4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The president at the time, Ernesto Samper, was facing credible accusations of receiving illicit campaign contributions from the now-defunct Cali cartel and a plane he was set to use for a trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly session was found carrying 4 kilograms of heroin."},{"_id":"RXLZZPOGQNC2JM54C5TGEY533U","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A remarkable turnaround began once Samper left office. Successive U.S. administrations — both Republican and Democrats — sent billions in foreign assistance to Colombia to eradicate illegal coca crops, strengthen its armed forces in the fight against drug-fueled rebels and provide economic alternatives to poor farmers who are on the lowest rungs of the cocaine industry."},{"_id":"IQVPENSQF5C7TCHOMFCG4A7PQM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"That cooperation, a rare U.S. foreign policy success in Latin America, started to unravel following the suspension a decade ago of aerial eradication of coca fields with glyphosate. It followed a Colombia high court ruling that determined the U.S.-funded program was potentially harmful to the environment and farmers. "},{"_id":"IV2TKX2VPZAZLKSD5DDWEO53XA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the nation’s largest rebel group known as FARC, also committed Colombia to rolling back punitive policies likened to the U.S. spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in favor of state building, rural development and voluntary crop substitution. "},{"_id":"7WEU7KV2P5HVBM2RFESVEJWSSI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Since then, cocaine production has skyrocketed. The amount of land dedicated to cultivating coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, has almost tripled in the past decade to a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to the latest report available from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. That is almost triple the size of New York City. "},{"_id":"R562CGA3FREZBG2GXWZAGMRBWI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Along with production, drug seizures also have soared to 654 metric tons so far this year. Colombia seized a record 884 metric tons last year."},{"_id":"ZXQMMUFORZDJDGFH6F5WH2T3KQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But unlike past governments, manual eradication of coca crops under Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s leadership has slowed, to barely 5,048 hectares this year — far less than the 68,000 hectares uprooted in the final year of his conservative predecessor’s term and well below the government’s own goal of 30,000 hectares."},{"_id":"DHCMCOONLBA67ERDJM5FOSLKSI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Petro, a former rebel himself, also has angered senior U.S. officials by denying American extradition requests as well as criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and its efforts to combat drug trafficking in neighboring Venezuela. "},{"_id":"CP24XDG4M5CNRLEPI2ZRPNALSM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Under my administration, Colombia does not collaborate in assassinations,” Petro said on Sept. 5 after the U.S. military carried out a deadly strike on a small Venezuelan vessel in the Caribbean that the Trump administration said was transporting cocaine bound for the U.S. "},{"_id":"HIYF65CF4ZC2PI6EFF2Q3RI5EU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Under U.S. law, the president annually must identify countries that have failed to meet their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements during the previous 12 months. "},{"_id":"35FMEIUG75GA3MKJVAZJXL6UQM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Last year, only three countries — Bolivia, Burma and Venezuela — were added to the list among the 23 nations that were listed as major drug transit or drug-production countries. In all three cases, the Biden administration waived sanctions, saying that programs supporting the countries are vital to U.S. national interests. "},{"_id":"IUMAH52DSBAR3HQRFBYINC4EKI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"___"},{"_id":"DOMDGMEP65G57ESV7VX4XLCOXE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia."}],"display_date":"2025-09-16T01:38:29Z","credits":{"by":[{"affiliation":"Associated Press","org":"Associated Press","name":"JOSHUA GOODMAN and ASTRID SUAREZ","type":"author"}]},"subtype":"Wire","headlines":{"basic":"US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years"},"first_publish_date":"2025-09-16T01:43:09.291Z","taxonomy":{"primary_site":{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":null,"sponsor_mobile_banner":null,"sponsor_url":null},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":null,"section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"type":"site","version":"0.5.8"},"sections":[{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent":{"default":"/news"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":"","sponsor_mobile_banner":"","sponsor_url":""},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":"","section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","_website":"ajc","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"_website_section_id":"ajc./news/nation-world","type":"section","version":"0.6.0"},{"path":"/politics/national-politics","parent":{"default":"/politics"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/politics","name":"National Politics","description":"Latest news about national politics from the AJC","_id":"/politics/national-politics","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":"","sponsor_mobile_banner":"","sponsor_url":""},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/politics","default":"/politics","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/politics"},"site":{"site_url":"/politics/national-politics/","section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"Latest news about national politics from the AJC","site_title":"National Politics"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National Politics"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","_website":"ajc","name":"National Politics","_id":"/politics/national-politics","ancestors":{"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/","/politics"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2006,"default":2006,"SectionMap":1136,"ComposerNav":2005}}},"_website_section_id":"ajc./politics/national-politics","type":"section","version":"0.6.0"}],"primary_section":{"path":"/news/nation-world","name":"Nation & World News"},"tags":[{"text":"natworld.ap"}]},"type":"story","last_updated_date":"2025-09-16T01:43:09.291Z","promo_items":{"basic":{"auth":{"1":"a357b24bacfc97825ba65d20e42d750dc102c09495ea92a5d793fca9cbd096ec"},"credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"AP","type":"author"}],"by":[{"name":"Fernando Vergara","type":"author"}]},"subtitle":"Colombia Amazon Summit","width":7039,"caption":"Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks during a meeting of leaders of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. 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"},{"_id":"K3BWUI3R7VGFZBFJXSMRRZZ5XA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The confusion surrounding the case reflected the dizzying pace at which the Trump administration has moved ahead with its immigration priorities, which lawyers say has come at the cost of immigrants' legal rights and sometimes puts their safety at risk. "},{"_id":"XR2YAZTH5ZBN5KAVFLVI2UQQZA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"News of the West Africans’ deportation to Ghana emerged last week, sparking a lawsuit by U.S. lawyers. They argue the move was an attempt by U.S. authorities to evade their own immigration laws that prevent some of the men from being returned to countries where their well-being could be at risk. "},{"_id":"3JTUDCKPFNH27AQQ5WIFQ6URTU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"On Monday, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Ghana’s minister for government communications, told The Associated Press that all 14 — 13 Nigerians and one Gambian — “have since left for their home countries,” without saying when they were returned."},{"_id":"SQZRWGILKBD2VAR7474LF24QZQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But in a court filing later Monday, lawyers for four of the men said they had last communicated with them Monday evening and they were still at the camp where they were being held in Ghana. Another plaintiff they represent had been sent to his country of origin before the lawsuit was filed."},{"_id":"YKOFYMKXHNHLLNGZ2X3VYM777M","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Plaintiffs believe they still face imminent removal for the reasons set forth in Plaintiffs’ prior filings and (incorrect) statements earlier today from Ghanaian officials that Plaintiffs have already been removed to their countries of origin,” the filing read."},{"_id":"TDHBXJQ6LBHTDOMRGCPE6IMLGQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"It was not immediately possible to reconcile the two versions. Officials in Ghana could not immediately be reached for clarity. "},{"level":2,"_id":"ZR2UHJO4EBD6NKEHMYPJCZC7X4","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Lawyers argue the men have legal protections"},{"_id":"CNUNGTYMGJDNNCCGKXNO6JQRK4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Lawyers have said they're concerned that the Trump administration is deporting people and then trying to distance itself from the repercussions. The case has drawn parallels to that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador despite a court order prohibiting it, then argued it couldn’t get him back."},{"_id":"M7ILXLP7N5GI5HGJSSC4MD6ZZ4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The Trump administration, faced with people in immigration proceedings who for legal and procedural reasons cannot be sent back to their home countries, has increasingly been trying to send them to third countries with which the administration has created agreements to take deportees. "},{"_id":"TJU53TPM7REHXFOWA4L62LVKS4","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Lawyers representing five of the West African men filed a lawsuit last Friday arguing that the men, who’d been sent to Ghana along with another nine people, had legal protections preventing them from being sent home over concerns they’d be tortured or persecuted. The complaint, filed by lawyers for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said the men had been granted fear-based relief from being sent to their countries and asked the judge to immediately halt their deportations."},{"_id":"TFMKBIZKK5EFJPCSQY4I2CALMU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A U.S. federal judge Saturday asked the U.S. government to detail what it was doing to ensure Ghana would not send the immigrants elsewhere in violation of domestic U.S. court orders. The administration’s agreements with so-called third countries like Ghana are part of a sweeping immigration crackdown seeking to deport millions of people from the United States."},{"_id":"RRP6EMFO5BD6XJFXRYD5LJZ3ZQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"A Department of Justice lawyer argued that the judge hearing the case had no power to control how another country treats deportees. The lawyer noted the U.S. Supreme Court this summer ruled that the administration could continue sending immigrants to countries they are not from, even if they hadn’t had a chance to raise fears of torture."},{"_id":"EW7L5MDPTRGOZMOUGBSO2PUFUU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who is part of a legal group representing the five men in the lawsuit, said Monday that the whole situation “reeks of a scam.”"},{"_id":"64ICCU5OGJFU3NP4SPXGIELHMU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“That the United States knew these individuals were headed for grave danger despite an immigration judge order, and still refused to take any action is outrageous. It seems evident that the United States has concocted a scheme to use third countries to circumvent what the United States cannot do directly,” said Gelernt."},{"_id":"BSECBUPOUNFOJEBBSEZ6PUZTAQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The lawsuit filed on behalf of some of the migrants said they were held in “straitjackets” for 16 hours on a flight to Ghana and detained for days in “squalid conditions” after they arrived there."},{"level":2,"_id":"GQDT4FZRMJGELPHHKVCR6X7ANQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"header","content":"Ghana rejects accusation that it endorses Trump’s immigration policy"},{"_id":"QQCO2HHYYZHQPLZ4PDHQPCWXFY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The opposition and activists in Ghana have criticized the decision to accept the third-country deportees. Opposition lawmakers said it raises “serious constitutional, sovereignty and foreign policy concerns which cannot be overlooked.”"},{"_id":"NIAU6UOBDZFVNB35GMGEOCYFAQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"At a press briefing in the capital of Accra, Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pushed back on criticism that the decision was an endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Ablakwa said Ghana did not receive any financial compensation from the U.S. over the deportation."},{"_id":"SHTHAPWYVJBF3HR4RKVYHIVSWY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“We just could not continue to take the suffering of our fellow West Africans,” the minister said of the rationale behind the government’s decision. “For now, the strict understanding that we have with the Americans is that we are only going to take West Africans,” he added."},{"_id":"URHT6AO2JBCX5GC5TLPK5IAXIU","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Nigeria’s government said it was not briefed about its nationals being sent to Ghana and that previously it had received Nigerians deported directly from the U.S."},{"_id":"HCWQAG26GBGCXAEDAJ2K3VMADA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“We have not rejected Nigerians deported to Nigeria. What we have only rejected is deportation of other nationals into Nigeria,” Kimebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the AP."},{"_id":"X2BRGV2UKVEJLLS2X5YEPJMHBE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"The authorities in Gambia did not immediately respond to a request for comment."},{"_id":"XOYGSG2HMBB7PHKA7ASK35UPTA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"None of the 14 deportees were originally from Ghana and the five West Africans who filed the lawsuit did not have ties with the country or designate it as a potential country of removal, according to the complaint."},{"_id":"7YS4SBRTEVAVJGUKOVXVNWCKJI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Lawyers and activists have said the Trump administration appears to be making such deportation requests to the nations most affected by his policies on trade, migration and aid."},{"_id":"OM3S25254NEVRPHUBZPJE74WOE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Ghana joined Eswatini, Rwanda and South Sudan as African countries that have received migrants from third countries who were deported from the U.S., an approach whose legality has been questioned by lawyers and human rights organizations. "},{"_id":"AWZZAEJYAVCPDITSM7S6T4ZYXI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"__"},{"_id":"WF6NPRR2NRCQ5JWWB4KKT6A7QA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Santana reported from Washington."},{"_id":"ILQGENN3C5F7BIHEWQK2XSGX6Q","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"——"},{"_id":"45C3SLU6E5CHBONGZQHPR6PIRA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration"}],"display_date":"2025-09-16T01:27:41Z","credits":{"by":[{"affiliation":"Associated Press","org":"Associated Press","name":"EDWARD ACQUAH, WILSON MCMAKIN and REBECCA SANTANA","type":"author"}]},"subtype":"Wire","headlines":{"basic":"Lawyers say 4 of 14 West Africans deported by US still in Ghana, contradicting official"},"first_publish_date":"2025-09-16T01:33:08.815Z","taxonomy":{"primary_site":{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":null,"sponsor_mobile_banner":null,"sponsor_url":null},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":null,"section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"type":"site","version":"0.5.8"},"sections":[{"path":"/news/nation-world","parent":{"default":"/news"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/news","name":"Nation & World News","description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","_id":"/news/nation-world","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":"","sponsor_mobile_banner":"","sponsor_url":""},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/news","default":"/news","MainMenu2024":"/news","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"subnav_news":"/","TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/news"},"site":{"site_url":"","section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"US and world news updates from the AJC","site_title":"Nation & World News"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National & World News"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","_website":"ajc","name":"Nation & World News","_id":"/news/nation-world","ancestors":{"MainMenu2024":["/news","/"],"default":["/news","/"],"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"subnav_news":["/"],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/news","/"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2017,"default":2030,"MainMenu2024":2003,"SectionMap":1120,"subnav_news":1004,"ComposerNav":2009}}},"_website_section_id":"ajc./news/nation-world","type":"section","version":"0.6.0"},{"path":"/politics/national-politics","parent":{"default":"/politics"},"_website":"ajc","parent_id":"/politics","name":"National Politics","description":"Latest news about national politics from the AJC","_id":"/politics/national-politics","additional_properties":{"original":{"sponsor":{"sponsor_url_open_new_tab":"true","sponsor_desktop_banner":"","sponsor_mobile_banner":"","sponsor_url":""},"parent":{"AmpNav":"/politics","default":"/politics","BottomNav":null,"TopNavRedesign":null,"SectionMap":"/","MainMenuRedesign2021":null,"TopNav":null,"ComposerNav":"/politics"},"site":{"site_url":"/politics/national-politics/","section_comments_enabled":"Yes","site_description":"Latest news about national politics from the AJC","site_title":"National Politics"},"navigation":{"nav_title":"National Politics"},"inactive":false,"node_type":"section","_website":"ajc","name":"National Politics","_id":"/politics/national-politics","ancestors":{"TopNavRedesign":[],"SectionMap":["/"],"MainMenuRedesign2021":[],"TopNav":[],"ComposerNav":["/","/politics"]},"order":{"AmpNav":2006,"default":2006,"SectionMap":1136,"ComposerNav":2005}}},"_website_section_id":"ajc./politics/national-politics","type":"section","version":"0.6.0"}],"primary_section":{"path":"/news/nation-world","name":"Nation & World News"},"tags":[{"text":"natworld.ap"}]},"type":"story","last_updated_date":"2025-09-16T01:33:08.815Z","promo_items":{"basic":{"auth":{"1":"84b58d7a0d94192d8feb0f2be56ebda5ad53f54a3df6795ee6b408922a95ee8d"},"credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"AP","type":"author"}]},"subtitle":"Migration US Ghana","width":1232,"caption":"FILE - 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"},{"_id":"I4QYRJMFSRF2ZJEFNR67ILN2HE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"For now, it's not even clear who will be there. Late Monday, the Senate narrowly confirmed Stephen Miran, a top White House economic aide whom Trump nominated to fill a vacancy on the Fed’s board, which now gives Miran a seat at the table during the Fed meeting."},{"_id":"ANCNLNYGUVGNXBAX7ORABZXAFA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Then there's Lisa Cook, an embattled governor who Trump is trying to remove from office. An appeals court ruled Monday that Cook can remain in her role, which means she, too, will be at the meeting. But the Trump administration is expected to quickly turn to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch bid to unseat her. "},{"_id":"NT67DQXQTNFNZI44YQISLLVQZQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is mired in uncertainty. Hiring has slowed sharply, while inflation remains stubbornly high. "},{"_id":"SW4LGKDC2NBSLPIUXDWUYNZNOA","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"So a key question for the Fed is: Do they worry more about people who are out of work and struggling to find jobs, or do they focus more on the struggles many Americans face in keeping up with rising costs for groceries and other items? The Fed's mandate from Congress requires it to seek both stable prices and full employment."},{"_id":"4SONFB377BGYVDBDGBDEXABCMM","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"For now, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers have signaled the Fed is more concerned about weaker hiring, a key reason investors expect the central bank will reduce its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point on Wednesday to about 4.1%. "},{"_id":"AWKYL43GENHNLIJCBTM7UQGRME","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Still, stubbornly high inflation may force them to proceed slowly and limit how many reductions they make. The central bank will also release its quarterly economic projections Wednesday, and economists project they will show that policymakers expect one or two additional cuts this year, plus several more next year. "},{"_id":"E75QHSED2JD6DP3XKA3LU5A2VQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Ellen Meade, an economics professor at Duke University and former senior economist at the Fed, said it's a stark contrast to the early pandemic, when it was clear the Fed had to rapidly reduce rates to boost the economy. And when inflation surged in 2021 and 2022, it was also a straightforward call for the Fed, which moved quickly to raise borrowing costs to combat higher prices. "},{"_id":"ZD6COZGYOBBNHAWYCHQRAWCZDY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"But now, “it’s a tough time,” Meade said. “It would be a tough time, even if the politics and the whole thing weren’t going on the way they are, it would be a tough time. Some people would want to cut, some people would not want to cut.”"},{"_id":"MXKIV3GPHVA5BM4D7IMXWPRLJY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Amid all the economic uncertainty, Trump is applying unprecedented political pressure on the Fed, demanding sharply lower rates, seeking to fire Cook, and insulting Powell, whom he has called a “numbskull,” “fool,” and “moron.”"},{"_id":"GMX35WXLXRFJTJGZHRVNO3MIJI","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Loretta Mester, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said that Fed officials won't let the criticisms sway their decisions on policy. Still, the attacks are unfortunate, she said, because they threaten to undermine the Fed's credibility with the public. "},{"_id":"EFK6KILLJRGCRHPUQLQ5WFXGAE","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“Added to their list of the difficulty of making policy because of how the economy is performing, they also have to contend with the fact that there may be some of the public that’s skeptical about how they’ve gone about making their decisions,” she said. "},{"_id":"VH7U443NKRBTBEUOGIJVJXKZTY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"David Andolfatto, an economics professor at the University of Miami and former top economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said that presidents have pressured Fed chairs before, but never as personally or publicly."},{"_id":"KMOIE6AW3NGMJA2RAEAROK3TFY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“What’s unusual about this is the level of open disrespect and just childishness,” Andolfatto said. “I mean, this is just beyond the pale.” "},{"_id":"LUZWJBRTEVBRPFTYWSZO3EVR3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"There are typically 12 officials who vote on the Fed's policies at each meeting — the seven members of the Fed's board of governors, as well as five of the 12 regional bank presidents, who vote on a rotating basis."},{"_id":"67T4KW5GABAFPDVGAROQT66UWQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"If the Supreme Court rules that Cook can be fired, then just 11 officials will vote on Wednesday. Either way, there ought to be enough votes to approve a quarter-point cut, but there could be an unusual amount of division. Miran and Governor Michelle Bowman may dissent in opposition to a quarter-point reduction in favor of a steeper half-point cut. "},{"_id":"EQNKMEPWHVDXLKXH5SXZCYY67M","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"There could be additional dissenting votes in the other direction, potentially from regional bank presidents who might oppose any cuts at all. Beth Hammack, president of the Fed's Cleveland branch, and Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, have both expressed concern that inflation has topped the Fed's 2% target for more than four years and is still elevated. If either votes against a cut, it would be the first time there were dissents in both directions from a Fed decision since 2019. "},{"_id":"REWGAODFGBFWDASGPZZ6RB537Q","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“This degree of division is unusual, but the circumstances are unusual, too,\" Andolfatto said. “This is a situation central banks really don’t like: The combination of inflationary pressure and labor market weakness.” "},{"_id":"SCKOGJYZIZFEXFLPSC5XGTXXWQ","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"Hiring has slowed in recent months, with employers shedding 13,000 jobs in June and adding just 22,000 in August, the government reported earlier this month. And last week a preliminary report from the Labor Department showed that companies added far fewer jobs in the year ending in March than previously estimated. "},{"_id":"V3WTUYO4VBEZJMPUNN7YBCPXXY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"At the same time, inflation picked up a bit last month and remains above the Fed's 2% target. According to the consumer price index, core prices — excluding food and energy — rose 3.1% in August compared with a year earlier.."},{"_id":"ML7LBZX67BF63LTELCTLV73T5E","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"With inflation still elevated, the Fed may have to proceed slowly with any further cuts, which would likely further frustrate the Trump White House. "},{"_id":"LTBZFUCVABFB3ICRX633E7YDFY","additional_properties":{},"type":"text","content":"“When you get to turning points, people can reasonably disagree about when to go,” Meade said. 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"},{"_id":"XKWA34NKHNERRED24G4GQX6PBQ","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Soler, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels, earned the Most Valuable Player award in that series, won by the Braves. "},{"_id":"UXXSANRGUJBT3HSXZIGQCACIS4","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"alignment":"left","type":"text","content":"In December 2024, a Cobb County judge dismissed the lawsuit filed the year prior by the fan, Mayra Norris, and her husband, Scott Norris. They alleged they were sitting in Section 109 in the right field corner of the stadium on Oct. 29, 2021, when Soler threw a ball from the outfield with such force and speed that Mayra Norris didn’t have time to react or avoid being hit. 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Of course you have."},{"_id":"7MZCNCGMYBFEDDWLSVFMRTGRN4","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"It could belong to a Joro spider, the large, yellow-and-black orb weavers."},{"_id":"NCD4DHSE5RB2XIGD7MAYG4JYH4","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Atlantans are becoming well acquainted with the invasive species that, to some, seems to be taking over the city. But how prevalent are these East Asian spiders, and are they multiplying as rapidly as it appears? "},{"_id":"GOOFOPJGFZASJEOUPZRM25JCKM","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Perhaps most importantly, how can anyone escape from their tangled webs? "},{"_id":"KPDXGPHGWRGDJFKDWUSMSMS6RM","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"“They’re everywhere,” said Andy Davis, a University of Georgia research scientist who began studying Joro spiders after they invaded his Athens backyard. “They’re pretty much on every building, every outbuilding, my garage, over the trees in my yard.” "},{"owner":{"sponsored":false,"id":"ajc"},"address":{},"syndication":{},"auth":{"1":"bbd90ae9ce6b2f086e5ea6c1ebaba0a09aaf9104b34b746e4a66376ab3cb5fc3"},"caption":"The large, invasive Joro spider is distinctive with black-and-yellow legs and other markings. 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Robert Pemberton, an independent researcher and retired entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, called their growth “dramatic” and “quite impressive.” "},{"_id":"KDSWHGZSQZHOZMOZQUJM4RAI4Y","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"alignment":"left","type":"text","content":"He conducted a census throughout 25 locations, mostly at parks in and around Atlanta within I-285, from 2022 to 2024. His study, published earlier this year, found that Joro spiders roughly doubled every year in the parks he surveyed. He also found that native orb weaver spider populations might be declining, which could be because of increased competition with the Joros. "},{"_id":"XL3UGFJX2FEBFL5T5RXBRFXVMI","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"“There’s no reason to be afraid of them, although the webs are certainly a nuisance when they become really abundant, like in my own yard,” Pemberton said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "},{"_id":"JH5II6JTMZEEJMYZA4TBFKMKRI","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Joro spiders are believed to have come to North America in 2014, likely stowed away in shipping containers, from their homes in Japan and East Asia. They pose no threat to humans — beyond their strong webs blocking doors and paths around homes and in parks during their peak season, from August to mid-fall. "},{"_id":"VO57CZBHFVAUVJH6M7TCLPCQE4","additional_properties":{"nofollow":false,"selectedStory":false,"sponsored":false,"openInNewTab":true},"type":"interstitial_link","content":"Joro spiders and kudzu: Georgia’s odd and alarming invasive species","url":"https://www.ajc.com/news/georgias-invasive-species-the-states-strangest-and-most-concerning-non-native-wildlife/HGNTT2HUI5GMPEJKSH5IKSQWG4/"},{"_id":"I3TPLMZYXZB4BAIFRHPE7HWRZA","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"alignment":"left","type":"text","content":"Joros hatch in early summer and grow to adulthood by early fall. Then, after feasting on insects, they lay eggs in the trees that won’t hatch until the following summer. "},{"_id":"IVPSQ4XG5ZCDHGIZ3I6PHRV3OU","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"And they multiply incredibly quickly."},{"_id":"VO5SW7HTK5HWXNSOGXGLLINZJE","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"They have also spread beyond Georgia, in part by hitchhiking on vehicles. Scientists predict they will eventually be found all along the East coast. Last fall, one was spotted as far north as Boston, researchers say. "},{"_id":"WA2ZIIM42RAXFLSCN6VFLAEJKM","additional_properties":{"nofollow":false,"selectedStory":false,"sponsored":false,"openInNewTab":true},"type":"interstitial_link","content":"Joro spider could cover entire East Coast, study says","url":"https://www.ajc.com/life/joro-spider-could-cover-entire-east-coast-study-says/AHP5E3SNGBFSDGBDMEW4EJAXLA/"},{"_id":"LOFLZHC74VAY3I7Z6R6JWCM6PQ","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Part of what makes them unique is their ability to live in urban and rural environments, undeterred by the noise and bustle surrounding the architectures to which they cling."},{"_id":"LUAN4MYHXFBODHAUNET55EHGIQ","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Despite their bold appearance, these spiders appear to be more afraid of us than we are of them. Davis has studied the Joros in his lab and said he found them to be “one of the shyest spiders of all time.”"},{"_id":"HYGT3FZYNNHW3CZW6R73HIDPBM","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"“They’re not going to jump out of their web and attack you like some people think,” Davis said."},{"_id":"MCKYDN4LKVDMROBYTIALDLIFJY","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"In fact, the Joros aren’t harmful to people or animals. Their bites are very rare and cause only mild swelling, he said."},{"_id":"JDTAZCYTCVHJTCREFMHCQHKFZU","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"“They’re a nuisance to people. Nobody likes them,” Davis said. “And it’s especially not good when you walk into a web, because they’re big webs, and you get a face full of spider web, and it’s not pleasant.”"},{"_id":"PDFODLYA3JGC3ICZWBGE33GKUA","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"But killing them or spraying your yard with pesticides is not the solution, he added. The chemicals would also kill all other insects, which negatively impacts the ecosystem."},{"_id":"JUVJ6D3UJBC75D7RJ5VLY55QGA","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Some birds are already beginning to prey on the Joros. 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But we don’t really know what will happen here.”"},{"_id":"GTYVNVC7DVBQBOS7SPI6UP4SKY","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"So how should someone who is sick of these spiders taking over their backyard handle them?"},{"_id":"4V3DE4B6CZCCRERURALG4ZBP6Y","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"alignment":"left","type":"text","content":"“A lot of people want to vilify these things because they look terrifying. To be fair, it’s a giant spider, and it’s a giant web, and if you’re an arachnophobe, this is the stuff of your nightmares. But really, they are shy,” Davis said. “The only option left to us is to learn how to live with them.”"},{"_id":"JNJPWBX37JCEREHVXGY6M454XQ","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"Instead of killing Joros, Davis recommends simply breaking down their webs in hopes they rebuild in a less bothersome spot."},{"_id":"RANFP2J7NRGWPE2N2GFRBRYXOA","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"alignment":"left","type":"text","content":"Pemberton said he doesn’t think killing the Joro spiders around your home will make a dent in their rapid population growth. People will just have to bear with them while scientists determine their long-term impact on the ecosystem — nuisance or not."},{"_id":"6VJMGFXWOZFEPMNRDD3XSTAVEM","additional_properties":{"inline_comments":[],"comments":[]},"type":"text","content":"“I know a lot of people hate spiders, and I spent most of my career fighting invasive species,” Pemberton said. “But I don’t really want to demonize forms of life unnecessarily.”"}],"credits":{"by":[{"image":{"version":"0.5.8","url":"https://author-service-images-prod-us-east-1.publishing.aws.arc.pub/ajc/be9be9bb-849b-4aa3-8f41-3009cf38329e.png"},"socialLinks":[{"site":"email","deprecated":true,"deprecation_msg":"Please use social_links.","url":"taylor.croft@ajc.com"},{"site":"twitter","deprecated":true,"deprecation_msg":"Please use social_links.","url":"https://twitter.com/taylor_rcroft"}],"social_links":[{"site":"email","url":"taylor.croft@ajc.com"},{"site":"twitter","url":"https://twitter.com/taylor_rcroft"}],"name":"Taylor Croft","description":"Taylor Croft is a general assignment reporter on the breaking news team. 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