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In win for Trump, Supreme Court allows ban on transgender troops to take effect

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will allow President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military to take effect while court challenges continue.

In a win for the president's efforts to curb rights for transgender people, an ideologically divided court on May 6 agreed to the administration's request for help after lower courts paused the ban.

The court’s three liberal members − Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson − said they would have rejected the request.

Trump says U.S. will immediately stop bombing Houthi militants in Yemen

WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said the U.S. will end airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen effective immediately.

"We will stop the bombings," Trump announced from the Oval Office.

Trump ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who he tapped as his acting national security adviser last week, to pass on the message to the Iran-backed militant group.

The Trump administration began a costly bombing campaign on March 15 in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shippers in the Red Sea.

'Occupation': Israel readies plan to seize all of Gaza, officials say

JERUSALEM − Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an expanded offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas would be "intensive" after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

However an Israeli defence official said the operation would not be launched before U.S. President Donald Trump concludes a visit next week to the Middle East.

A conclave like no other: How papal pick gathering is different this year

The conclave that begins May 7 to pick a successor to Pope Francis will feature many long-established rituals, as befits a church that has been around for nearly 2,000 years.

Cardinal electors will be sequestered from the outside world until a new pope is chosen. Every person involved – including support staff – will be required to take an oath of secrecy. Smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney – black for no, white for yes – will announce whether a decision has been made.

Virginia prison guards injured in 'premeditated' attack by MS-13 members, officials say

BIG STONE GAP, Va. – Five guards were injured in an apparent "premeditated" attack by inmates affiliated with the MS-13 and Sureno 13 gangs at a Virginia prison, state corrections officials said.

The attack occurred at about 9:45 a.m. on May 2 at the Wallens Ridge State Prison, a super-maximum security prison located in Big Stone Gap, a remote town in southwest Virginia, according to the state Department of Corrections. Five guards were injured in the incident, including three who were stabbed, and were transported for outside medical treatment.

Trump says 'highly unlikely' US uses military force to annex Canada

WASHINGTON — In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press", President Donald Trump said he still wants to make Canada the 51st U.S. state and does not envision the United States using military force to seize the neighboring country.

During the interview, which aired on May 4, Trump said he's still interested in annexing Canada but does not label it in the same category as Greenland, a Danish territory Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. could one day be compelled to acquire.

Undocumented immigrants can't get a REAL ID, but may still qualify for other state papers

One of the key provisions to the REAL ID law is that a compliant document establishes a person's status as a lawful resident in the United States. In order to get a REAL ID-compliant identification document, applicants will have to provide their state ID issuer with proof of residence and proof of their lawful status in the U.S.

That means undocumented immigrants will not be able to lawfully obtain a REAL ID-compliant document, but it doesn't mean they will be completely ineligible to receive IDs from the state in which they live.

Alabama sues TikTok: State AG accuses app of fueling youth mental health crisis

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced last week that the state is filing a lawsuit against TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Inc. to hold the companies accountable for a mental health crisis on the youth of Alabama.

Here's what we know:

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media app best known for short-form videos that keep users scrolling for hours. Creators can upload videos that are just a few seconds long or up to 10 minutes long.

Vatican reveals the complex system that will signal a new pope

Stoves used in a complex, but not quite ancient, tradition have arrived in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

In a few days, they will be used to generate smoke that will mark the progress of the conclave in its mission to choose a new pope.

Workers have been preparing for the meeting of cardinals, set to begin May 7, which will end with the election of a new pope. Pope Francis died April 21 at the age of 88.

Photos released by the Vatican Media show two stoves and a series of chimney pipes installed within the Sistine Chapel and workers installing a chimney on the roof.

In these cities, you can earn a six-figure income and still be broke

In one of every four large American cities, a family can earn six figures and still feel broke.

That’s the takeaway from an analysis by LendingTree, the personal finance site, which measured monthly expenses in the 100 largest metropolitan areas.

In 25 of those 100 cities, average monthly spending on basic expenses exceeds monthly income for a family of three that is earning $100,000, the report found. San Jose tops the list, with average monthly expenses of $10,540.