India's Modi announces credit worth $565 million to the Maldives and launches free trade talks
Modi is visiting the Maldives, known for its upmarket tourist resorts, to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and diplomatic relations between the two countries. The announcement came during Modi's joint media statement with Maldives' President Mohamed Muizzu.
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Winnipeg Free Press
11 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Colorado deputies disciplined for helping federal immigration agents
DENVER (AP) — Two Colorado deputies have been disciplined for violating state law by helping federal agents make immigration arrests, and their sheriff says officers from other agencies have done the same. One of the deputies, Alexander Zwinck, was sued by Colorado's attorney general last week, after his cooperation with federal immigration agents on a drug task force was revealed following the June arrest of a college student from Brazil with an expired visa. Following an internal investigation, a second Mesa County Sheriff's Office deputy and task force member, Erik Olson, was also found to have shared information. The two deputies used a Signal chat to relay information to federal agents, according to documents released Wednesday by the sheriff's office. Zwinck was placed on three weeks of unpaid leave, and Olson was given two weeks of unpaid leave, Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell said in a statement. Both were removed from the task force. Two supervisors also were disciplined. One was suspended without pay for two days, and another received a letter of reprimand. A third supervisor received counseling. State laws push back against Trump crackdown The lawsuit and disciplinary actions come as lawmakers in Colorado and other Democratic-led states have crafted legislation intended to push back against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Since Trump took office, pro-immigrant bills have advanced through legislatures in Illinois, Vermont, California, Connecticut and other states. The measures include stronger protections for immigrants in housing, employment and police encounters. Trump has enlisted hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies to help identify immigrants in the U.S. illegally and detain them for potential deportation. The Republican also relaxed longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools, churches and hospitals. Zwinck was sued under a new state law signed by Gov. Jared Polis about two weeks before the arrest of the student from Brazil. It bars local government employees including law enforcement from sharing identifying information about people with federal immigration officials. Previously, only state agencies were barred from doing that. It's one of a series of laws limiting the state's involvement in immigration enforcement passed over the years that has drawn criticism and a lawsuit from the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued Illinois and New York, as well as several cities in those states and New Jersey, alleging their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal immigration laws. Officers say they were following established procedures Zwinck and Olson told officials they thought they were operating according to long-standing procedures. However, the internal investigation found they had both received and read two emails prior to the passage of the new law about previous limits on cooperation with immigration officials. The most recent was sent on Jan. 30, 2025, after an official for Homeland Security Investigations, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had asked state and local law enforcement officers at a law enforcement meeting to contact HSI or ICE if they arrested a person for a violent crime who was believed not to be a citizen, the investigation documents said. The email said not to contact HSI or ICE. Zwinck said he didn't know about the new law and was not interested in immigration enforcement. 'When I was out there, I wanted to find drugs, guns and bad guys,' Zwinck said at a July 23 disciplinary hearing. 'And sending that information to HSI they provided the ability to give me real time background information on the person I was in contact with,' he said. Olson, who said he had been with the sheriff's office 18 years, testified at his disciplinary hearing that it was 'standard practice' to send information up to federal agents during traffic stops. 'It was routine for ICE to show up on the back end of a traffic stop to do their thing,' Olson said. 'I truly thought what we were doing was condoned by our supervision and lawful.' A lawyer at a law firm listed as representing both deputies, Michael Lowe, did not immediately return a telephone call or email seeking comment. Rowell said drug task force members from other law enforcement agencies, including the Colorado State Patrol, also shared information with immigration agents on the Signal chat. The state patrol denied the claim. The sheriff faulted Attorney General Phil Weiser for filing the lawsuit against Zwinck before a local internal investigation was complete. He called on the Democrat, who is running for governor, to drop it. 'As it stands, the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office sends a demoralizing message to law enforcement officers across Colorado — that the law may be wielded selectively and publicly for maximum political effect rather than applied fairly and consistently,' he said. Weiser said last week that he was investigating whether other officers in the chat violated the law. Spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said Weiser was presented with evidence of a 'blatant violation of state law' and had to act. 'The attorney general has a duty to enforce state laws and protect Coloradans and he'll continue to do so,' Pacheco said. ___ Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
Toronto Star
26 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Trump revives the Presidential Fitness Test, a rite of passage for schoolchildren for decades
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday reestablished the Presidential Fitness Test for American children, a fixture of public schools for decades that gauged young people's health and athleticism with 1-mile runs, sit-ups and stretching exercises. 'This is a wonderful tradition, and we're bringing it back,' Trump said of the fitness test that began in 1966 but was phased out during the Obama administration.
Winnipeg Free Press
41 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
2026 race for California governor goes into new gear and directions with Kamala Harris out
LOS ANGELES (AP) — After months of uncertainty, the race to become California's next governor started Thursday. Former Vice President Kamala Harris' decision Wednesday to bypass the 2026 contest pushed the campaign into a new phase, lacking its biggest potential star and the presumptive early favorite. Harris' formal exit opens the door for additional candidates to venture in, while scrambling a crowded field with no dominant candidate. Democrats remain favored to hold the seat now occupied by term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a state where Republicans have not won a statewide election in nearly two decades. Democrats hold a nearly 2-to-1 advantage over registered Republicans statewide. 'The starting gun just popped,' said Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta, calling it the first truly wide-open governor's race in over a quarter-century. 'The race is on.' Other Democrats work to position themselves Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter moved quickly to establish herself as a leading contender, as her campaign pleaded for donations to 'solidify Katie as the Democratic front-runner.' Former Biden administration health secretary Xavier Becerra sought to position himself as an heir to the Harris legacy: They both previously served as California attorneys general. 'The vice president and I have been together in this fight to restore the American Dream for a long time,' Becerra said in a statement. ''I'm proud of our shared record — expanding health care for millions of Americans, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, tackling our country's mental health crisis and defending reproductive freedom.' Harris' decision 'reshapes this race for governor, but not the stakes,' he added. Because of Harris' potential candidacy, the contest had been in a slow-walk for months. Now, following her decision, campaigns will be chasing her supporters while reevaluating a field in which Harris will not be taking part. Fundraising emails jammed inboxes. Democratic consultant Michael Trujillo, a former aide to Democratic candidate and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said voters loyal to Harris are going to have to rethink their choices while looking at candidates they might not know much about in a large and growing field. 'I think everyone is picking up points from Kamala's voters now that she is not an option,' Trujillo said. 'There now is more oxygen for everyone else.' California is known as the epicenter of the so-called Trump resistance. The race will unfold with President Donald Trump dominating daily headlines as his administration battles the liberal-leaning state over health care funding for lower-income residents, immigration and environmental protection. More than half of voters think the state is headed in the wrong direction, with many households vexed by inflation, notorious taxes and some of the nation's highest utility bills. Soaring rents and housing prices are driving residents to other, more affordable states. The state budget is expected to be in the red in coming years. And billions in spending on homelessness has done little to check the crisis. But the primary election is not until June 2, so it is impossible to know what will be motivating voters in 10 months. Republicans see glimmers of hope Long-suffering Republicans in the state have been heartened by last year's elections, in which the heavily Democratic state displayed a slight rightward shift. While Harris — a former San Francisco prosecutor, state attorney general and U.S. senator — won the state in a landslide, she fell well short of former President Joe Biden's vote totals in 2020 while Trump picked off a string of counties that eluded him four years earlier. Among the candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a statement that Harris realized 'the status quo is impossible to defend.' And conservative commentator Steve Hilton welcomed Harris' decision and said 'after 15 years of one-party Democrat rule, everyone can see it's time for change in California.' As is the case in high-profile races for governor, a long list of candidates — some known, others not — fills out the ballot. California has what is known as a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same primary ballot regardless of political party, but only the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election, regardless of party. Other Democrats in the mix include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis; former state controller Betty Yee; former state Senate leader Toni Atkins; state schools superintendent Tony Thurmond; and real estate developer Stephen Cloobeck. Rich outsider could shake up race In California, home to some of the nation's richest Americans, it is always possible a wealthy outsider could shake up the race. That was the case in 2010, when billionaire Republican Meg Whitman spent nearly $180 million, much of it her own money, but lost to Democrat Jerry Brown, a former governor. Newsom — who has not endorsed a successor — was asked Thursday what he thought of the possibility that he and Harris, old friends from the San Francisco Bay Area, might meet again in the 2028 presidential race. Harris has not ruled out another run for the presidency after falling short in 2020 and 2024. Newsom is widely seen as positioning himself for a run in 2028 though he has veered away from speculating about his political future. 'We'll see where fate brings all of us,' Newsom told reporters. 'I'm looking forward to what she does next.' ___ Associated Press writer Tran Nguyen in Sacramento contributed.
