US sanctions

Díaz-Canel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals. The action Thursday is the latest move by the Trump administration to pressure the island’s leadership, and it drew immediate condemnation from Havana.

Included in the sanctions are the son and grandson of former President Raúl Castro as well as the current Cuban president’s stepson. The new penalties come as U.S. President Donald Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba and then ordering an energy blockade.

Díaz-Canel says “these measures are aimed at reinforcing the blockade and escalating the conflict between Cuba and the United States.”

Senators clear

first hurdle

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have cleared a first hurdle as they try to pass legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans rejected a Democratic effort to permanently block Trump from creating a $1.776 billion settlement fund for allies who claim government persecution.

Republicans still face a gauntlet of Democratic amendments before the bill can advance, setting up a daylong test. More votes on the settlement fund are expected. The bill would provide roughly $70 billion to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

Democrats say any funding bill should place restraints on federal immigration authorities.

Hezbollah

rejects deal

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah has rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Thursday’s announcement came as local authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least four people. A U.N. peacekeeper was also killed in the crossfire.

Hezbollah’s leader said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean surrender and defeat.

The ongoing fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Center removes

Trump’s name

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center is removing references to President Donald Trump after a federal judge ruled they were added illegally. A memo to staff Thursday from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The changes must be completed by June 12. A federal judge ruled on May 29 that Trump’s name had been illegally added to the venue. The judge also blocked the administration from closing the venue for major renovations planned for July.

Families

separated

(AP) — An Associated Press investigation reveals that dozens of children who were separated under the first Trump administration have been re-separated, despite a judge’s order to reunite them.

Some of their parents have been locked in immigration detention facilities for months, others deported back to their home countries after being taken from their families once again.

Ederson Galicia Alva, now 11, was separated from his mother twice. After nearly a year in Guatemala, his family returned to Florida last week under a federal judge’s order.

The Trump administration’s push for mass deportations has led to more separations, with some families deported despite legal protections.