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In the news today: Another shooting by federal immigration agents, as Minnesotans mourn Renee Good; Trump's $200 billion plan to try to bring down mortgage rates; and Iran's Supreme Leader lashes out at growing protests. Also, how hundreds of lost hubcaps became art. |
A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) |
Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say |
Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said. Read more. |
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Trump says he wants government to buy $200B in mortgage bonds in a push to bring down mortgage rates |
President Donald Trump said on social media Thursday that he is directing the federal government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, a move he said would help reduce mortgage rates at a time when Americans are worried about home prices. Read more. |
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Trump and the White House have been trying to show they are responding to voter concerns about affordability ahead of midterm elections in November. Home prices have generally risen faster than incomes because of a persistent construction shortfall, making it harder for renters to buy their first home and for existing owners to upgrade to a new property — a challenge that dates back to Trump's first term and the recovery from the housing market collapse that triggered the global financial crisis in 2008.
"At a high level I feel this is putting a Band-Aid on a deeper issue," said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at the real estate brokerage Redfin. The purchases wouldn't address other factors such as a chronic shortage of homes on the market, which has helped make homeownership unaffordable for many Americans, she cautioned.
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Growing protests sweep Iran as state TV warns of casualties |
Iranian protesters shouted and marched through the streets into Friday morning after a call by the country's exiled crown prince for demonstrations, despite Iran's theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls. Read more. |
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Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a brief address aired by state television, signaled authorities would crack down on demonstrators. Protesters are "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy," Khamenei said, referring to President Donald Trump. The snap speech by Khamenei shows how seriously authorities are taking the protests.
The protests represent the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran's ailing economy.
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Cyclist Barnaby Wickham poses for a portrait in front of his art structure made from hubcaps, Dec. 11, 2025, at his home in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) |
Cyclist finds joy in collecting lost hubcaps and stringing them into art
Cyclist Barnaby Wickham has collected more than 700 lost hubcaps, mostly on bike rides around Baltimore. They have inspired a quest to turn litter into art, including Christmas wreaths, a giant fish and a large head of Snoopy. "It starts a lot of conversations, and it's just something that people love to talk about," he said. |
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