GRIF MAG

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - New Jersey sued the Trump administration on Friday over a proposed ‌federal immigration detention center in its state.

The move ‌follows Maryland, which sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last month ​to stop construction of a similar facility in the state.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport's lawsuit against DHS and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks ‌to halt a ⁠plan to convert a vacant warehouse into a large-scale detention facility, which would have the ⁠capacity to hold 1,500 detainees.

The Trump administration plans to convert the warehouse and operate the immigration detention center without addressing ​the state's ​concerns about water, sewage and ​public safety, New Jersey ‌said.

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It also does not account for the site's sensitive environment or whether the warehouse is "an appropriate place" for detention, according to the state's leaders.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. President Donald ‌Trump, a Republican, returned to ​the White House last year after ​campaigning on a promise ​to carry out an aggressive immigration agenda. ‌His administration sought to ramp ​up immigration apprehensions, ​detentions and deportations in its first year.

Now, in year two, the Trump administration plans to spend more ​than $38 billion on ‌detention centers, a move that would increase ICE's total ​bed capacity to 92,600.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in ​Washington, editing by Michelle Nichols)

By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA, March 20 (Reuters) - Cuba on Friday rejected any suggestion that its political system or the term of its president were subject to negotiation in talks with the United States, following reports that ‌Washington sought to remove Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel from power.

"I can categorically confirm that ... the political system of ‌Cuba is not up for negotiation, and of course neither the president nor the position of any official in Cuba is subject to negotiation with ​the United States," Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told a press conference.

Cuba acknowledged a week ago that it had entered talks with the U.S. government as an oil blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump pushes the Communist-run nation deeper into economic crisis, and as Trump has said he can do "anthing I want" with Cuba, a sovereign neighbor.

USA Today, citing two sources with ‌knowledge of the Trump administration's plans, reported ⁠before Cuba's announcement that Trump was preparing an economic deal with Cuba that would relax trade restrictions but include an "off-ramp" for Diaz-Canel.

The New York Times, citing four people familiar with the talks, ⁠later reported that the Trump administration was seeking to push Diaz-Canel from power with two years remaining on his term as president and five years left as leader of the Communist Party.

Both reports said the U.S. proposal would leave untouched the family of former presidents ​Fidel ​and Raul Castro. Fidel Castro died in 2016 but Raul Castro, ​94, remains highly influential eight years after handing the ‌presidency over to Diaz-Canel, 65.

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Such a deal would resemble what has happened in Venezuela, where the United States deposed President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. Rather than attempt to install an opposition government, the U.S. has cooperated with Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who ascended when U.S. forces whisked away Maduro in an early morning raid.

But authority in Cuba is spread widely among senior Communist Party leaders, other government officials and the armed forces, unlike the concentration of power that characterized the Castro ‌years from the start of the 1959 revolution until Diaz-Canel's term began ​in 2018.

De Cossio, who has led the foreign ministry's office on U.S. ​relations, declined to offer further details of the bilateral ​discussions, leaving unanswered the questions of where and when they are taking place.

But he did say ‌there were plenty of topics of mutual interest, including ​trade between the two countries ​that has been severed by the comprehensive U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.

He also mentioned longstanding economic compensation that each country seeks. Cuba has claims against the United States for damages caused by the embargo, while there are 5,913 claims ​from Americans whose properties were nationalized in ‌Cuba after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

"These are very complex issues that can ​be discussed, but they require dialogue," de Cossio said. "They require sitting down and are legitimate matters."

(Reporting by Daniel ​Trotta in Havana; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)

The U.S. military conducted another strike on an allegeddrug boatin the eastern Pacific Ocean, leaving three survivors, U.S. Southern Command said Friday.

In a post on X showing video of the Thursday attack, SOUTHCOM said, "Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations."

"Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three narco-terrorists survived the strike," the post said.

It did not say how many people were believed to have been killed.

SOUTHCOM said that after the strike, it "immediately notified U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors."

The Coast Guard and Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for more information.

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The strike is at least the second to be conducted during the ongoingwar with Iran.

On March 8, SOUTHCOM said it struck a vessel in the same area of the Pacific and that "six male narco-terrorists were killed during this action."

The U.S. has carried out more than 45 strikes in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September, killing over 140 people.

The Trump administration has argued that the strikes are in the country's national security interest and have saved lives by preventing illicit drugs from entering the U.S. Some lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the strikes as illegal.

The X post on Friday said the strike had been directed by Gen. Francis Donovan, the head of Southern Command. Intestimony Thursdaybefore the Senate Armed Services Committee, Donovan said that, looking forward, "boat strikes aren't the answer."

He said they're working on "a counter cartel campaign process that puts total systemic friction" across various drug networks.

"I believe that actually kinetic strikes will be one of the many tools, and probably not the most effective tool, when we actually look at it as more of a campaign approach," Donovan testified.

Joseph Duggar appeared via Zoom for a court hearing in Arkansas about his extradition to Florida following his arrest on March 18

NEED TO KNOW

• Joseph, 31, is accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in 2020 while on vacation in Panama City

• Joseph is a father of four who has been married to his wife Kendra since 2017

Joseph Duggarmade his first court appearance in an Arkansas courthouse on the morning of Friday, March 20, waiving his right to an extradition hearing and paving the way for him to be extradited to Florida.

The 31-year-old reality TV star appeared via Zoom for an extradition hearing after being accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in 2020 during a family vacation in Florida.

His wife Kendra did not appear in court, nor did any of his family members.

Authorities allege the offense took place in Panama City, and following extradition, Joseph is expected to be charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old conducted by a person 18 years or older, according to the Bay County Sheriff's Office in Florida.

There is also a possibility that Joseph could face additional charges, as Tontitown (Ark.) Police Department Chief Corey Jenison tells PEOPLE, "there is still an open investigation being conducted."

The charges against Joseph were filed by the Bay County Sheriff's Office on March 18 after they learned a 14-year-old girl allegedly reported he sexually molested her in 2020 when she was 9 years old.

Joseph had been asked about the girl's accusations by her father on the night of March 17 and allegedly confessed at that time,according to a statement from the BCSO.

The BCSO said the girl claimed Joseph engaged in "unlawful sexual activity" after asking her to sit on his lap while on vacation in Panama City.

The child alleged that Joseph then "asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket," according to the BCSO statement, then "manipulated the victim's underwear and grazed her genitals" and "would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs."

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The girl also said that "Duggar eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology," according to the BCSO statement.

This is now the third scandal involving underage girls and the Duggar family.

The first two involved Joseph's oldest brother Josh, who in 2015 admitted to molesting four of his younger sisters and in 2021 was convicted ofreceiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conductafter investigators discovered such material on his work computer at a used car dealership he operated.

Joseph Duggar, who appeared on all four iterations of his family's TLC reality series franchise, is a father of four who has been married to his wife Kendra since 2017.

His wedding to Kendra was featured in a 2017 episode ofCounting On.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

Read the original article onPeople

WASHINGTON (AP) — TheSupreme Courton Friday revived a lawsuit from an evangelical Christian barred from demonstrating in Mississippi after authorities say he shouted insults at people over a loudspeaker.

The high courtunanimously ruledin the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious andfree speech rightswere violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater. The city said he had shouted insults like "whores," "Jezebel," and "nasty" at people, sometimes holding signs showing aborted fetuses.

Olivier wanted to challenge the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but lower courts stopped him from suing because he'd been convicted of breaking it. A Supreme Court case from the 1990s found people can't use civil lawsuits to undermine criminal convictions.

But the justices found that doesn't stop Olivier from suing because he only wants to block future enforcement.

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"Given that Olivier asked for only a forward-looking remedy—an injunction stopping officials from enforcing the city ordinance in the future—his suit can proceed, notwithstanding his prior conviction," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court.

Olivier's lawyers said he was demonstrating peacefully when he was arrested for refusing to move to a designated "protest zone." The legal principle, they argued, affects free-speech cases across the political spectrum.

"This is not only a win for the right to share your faith in public, but also a win for every American's right to have their day in court when their First Amendment rights are violated," said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the conservative nonprofit First Liberty Institute.

The decision clears a path for him to file a civil-rights lawsuit, though it doesn't guarantee an eventual win. Local governments have said that a ruling for Olivier could have wide repercussions by allowing a rush of new lawsuits against cities and towns.

The city of Brandonhas saidthe restrictions weren't about religion, and he had plenty of other legal avenues to challenge the law. The ordinance restricting Olivier to a designated "protest zone" has already survived another lawsuit, city attorneys said.