Senate Democrats are stinging from a trio of high-profile failures to recruit candidates who could help reclaim the majority, including Stacey Abrams’ announcement that she would pass up a U.S. Senate run in Georgia. That decision, announced Tuesday, was a blow to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. After Abrams gained fame from her ultimately unsuccessful effort to become America’s first black female governor last year, Schumer personally — and publicly — urged her to consider challenging GOP Sen. David Perdue. In a particularly notable move, he tapped her earlier this year to deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Abrams follows former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in spurning Senate Democratic leaders’ entreaties to take on incumbent Republicans seen as potentially vulnerable. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is likely to follow suit in rejecting a Senate run as he weighs …

The White House is asking Congress for an additional $4.5 billion in emergency spending for border security. That’s according to two people familiar with the request who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. A summary of the request obtained by the AP says the White House wants $3.3 billion for humanitarian aid to increase shelter capacity for unaccompanied migrant children and the feeding and care of families. Another $1.1 billion would go toward operational support, including personnel expenses, detention beds, transportation and investigative work on smuggling. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Tuesday the department is running out of money amid a spike in migrants crossing the Southern border. …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the United States is prepared to intervene militarily to stem the ongoing unrest in Venezuela. “Military action is possible,” the top U.S. diplomat told the Fox Business Network. “If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.” Pompeo, however, reiterated that the U.S. would prefer a peaceful transition of power in Caracas from socialist President Nicolas Maduro to the self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly who is recognized by the United States and about 50 other countries as the legitimate leader of the South American country. Pompeo’s signal that the U.S. could send troops to Venezuela drew a quick rebuke from Russia, a strong Maduro supporter. Moscow said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Pompeo in a phone call that further “aggressive steps” by the U.S. in Venezuela would be “fraught with the most serious consequences.” The …

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has abruptly canceled plans to travel to Europe. Shanahan’s spokesman is citing the crisis in Venezuela and the situation along the U.S.-Mexico border. The spokesman, Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, says in a statement that Shanahan decided he should remain in Washington to coordinate with the National Security Council and the State Department on Venezuela and the border, where the military is assisting the Homeland Security Department with the migrant crisis. The Pentagon has thus far played no direct role in Venezuela. Buccino’s statement came just three hours after the Pentagon had publicly announced Shanahan’s trip to Germany, Belgium and England.    Shanahan was going to attend ceremonies in Germany and Belgium marking the change of commanders for U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe. …

Federal prosecutors said all along that they expect more people to be charged in the sweeping college admissions scandal. Their secret weapon? The cooperation of some parents and coaches who have already agreed to plead guilty, observers say. “You can rest assured that there is going to be a new wave of indictments,” said former federal prosecutor Bradley Simon. “They wouldn’t need so many cooperators for existing cases. What seems to me is that these individuals who are cooperating are helping the government to make new cases,” he said. The parents and coaches’ cooperation could also spell doom for others who are digging in their heels and still fighting the charges, including actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. They are among 19 parents disputing the allegations. Among those known to be working with authorities is Laura Janke, the former University of Southern California assistant women’s soccer …

Higher salaries, better working conditions, maternity leave, minimum wage and an end to discrimination against temporary or foreign workers: These were among the concerns as hundreds of thousands of union members and labor activists rallied around the world to mark May Day. The tradition of May Day marches for workers’ rights began in the United States in the 1880s. It quickly spread to other countries at a time when industrialization pitted poorly paid employees who had few protections and little power against increasingly dominant factory employers and landowners. Over the decades, the May Day protests have also become an opportunity to air general economic grievances or political demands. Here’s a look at Wednesday’s protests : VIOLENT RADICALS DISRUPT MAY DAY IN FRANCE French police clashed with stone-throwing protesters who set fires and smashed up vehicles as thousands of people gathered for May Day rallies under tight security. About 165 arrests …

Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report WASHINGTON — While the U.S. government has announced efforts to prevent or decrease the flow of Central American asylum-seekers, some migrants find themselves applying for protection, even though they had not planned to do so.   Jason Ma came to the United States from China in 2011 under a student visa. Despite his parents’ “stable jobs and some savings,” they still had difficulty affording all of his expenses in U.S. After graduation, Ma decided to stay in the United States.   “I majored in statistics — both my bachelor’s and master’s — and I did both my degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign,” he told VOA.   He qualified for the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program (MAVNI), launched in 2009 to bring immigrants with medical or language skills into the U.S. armed services, and enlisted in 2016 before the …

Special counsel Robert Mueller expressed frustration to Attorney General William Barr last month about how the findings of his Russia investigation were being portrayed, saying he worried that a letter summarizing the main conclusions of the probe lacked the necessary context, a Justice Department official said Tuesday night. Mueller communicated his agitation in a letter to the Justice Department sent just days after Barr issued a four-page document to Congress and to the public that summarized the special counsel’s conclusions about whether President Donald Trump’s campaign had conspired with Russia and whether the president had tried to illegally obstruct the probe. Mueller and Barr had a phone call the following day. “After the Attorney General received Special Counsel Mueller’s letter, he called him to discuss it,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement. “In a cordial and professional conversation, the Special Counsel emphasized that nothing in the Attorney …

A shooting on a North Carolina university campus left two people dead and four wounded Tuesday, prompting a lockdown and causing panic across campus on the last day of classes.   UNC Charlotte issued a campus lockdown late Tuesday afternoon, saying shots had been fired. Later in the evening, the campus was declared secure after a suspect was taken into custody.   “Shots reported near kennedy. Run, Hide, Fight. Secure yourself immediately,” the university said in an alert, referring to the school’s Kennedy building on campus.   Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency said on Twitter that two people were killed, two others had life-threatening injuries and another two people were treated for less serious injuries. They said the numbers could change.   Aerial shots from local television news outlets showed police officers running toward a building, while another view showed students running on a campus sidewalk.   The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police …

Venezuelan exiles in Florida who oppose their country’s socialist government jubilantly gathered Tuesday and cheered calls by opposition leader Juan Guaido for a military uprising in their homeland.    “Long live Venezuela!” they chanted as dozens from the exile community packed a small diner in the Miami suburb of Doral, glued to news reports on their cellphones of the opposition bid against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Opposition calls for a revolt posed the most serious challenge yet to Maduro’s rule after months of mostly peaceful protests led by Guaido, who had previously declared himself interim president with the backing of the U.S. and other countries. Florida is home to an estimated 190,000 Venezuelans, many having arrived over the past decade as Venezuela slid deeper into economic and political crisis under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Nationally, the number of Venezuelan immigrants has nearly doubled since 2010 to more than …

U.S. government searches of travelers’ cellphones and laptops at airports and border crossings nearly quadrupled since 2015 and are being conducted for reasons beyond customs and immigration enforcement, according to papers filed Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that claims going through electronic devices without a warrant is unconstitutional. The government has vigorously defended the searches, which rose to 33,295 in fiscal 2018, as a critical tool to protect America. But the newly filed documents claim the scope of the warrantless searches has expanded to enforce tax, bankruptcy, environmental and consumer protection laws, gather intelligence and advance ongoing law enforcement investigations. Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement consider requests from other government agencies in determining whether to search travelers’ electronic devices, the court papers said. They added that agents are searching the electronic devices of not only targeted individuals but their associates, friends and …

A proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee equal rights for women on Tuesday got its first hearing in nearly four decades in the U.S. Congress, where leaders said the measure could win approval amid “a groundswell” of activism among women. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was approved by Congress in 1972, but fell short of being ratified by enough U.S. states by a deadline set for 10 years later. Measures before Congress now would lift that deadline or reintroduce the amendment. The U.S. Constitution does not specifically guarantee equal rights for women, and the ERA would ensure women are treated the same as men under state and federal law. Crowds filled the room on Capitol Hill where the House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing opened with a statement by actress and activist Patricia Arquette. “There’s a groundswell in this country,” she said. “Women are being elected in record numbers. Women are rising up …

A former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty on Tuesday of murder for fatally shooting Australian woman from his patrol car while responding to her 2017 report of a possible sex assault near her home. Mohamed Noor, 33, was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing 40-year-old Justine Ruszczyk Damond outside her home near Minneapolis, in an incident that drew international criticism including from Australia’s prime minister, who called the incident “shocking.” He was acquitted of second-degree intentional murder. Noor sat silently through the entire reading of the verdict with his hands cupped, breathing heavily. The packed courtroom remained silent. Noor was handcuffed and taken into custody. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he expected Noor to face 12-1/2 years in prison for the murder charge and four years for the manslaughter charge when he is sentenced. A wave of killings of black men and teens by U.S. …