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In the news today: Trump’s Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is exiting amid multiple allegations of misconduct; speculation over U.S.-Iran talks grows as the ceasefire deadline looms; and The Onion launches a new bid to take over Alex Jones’ Infowars. Also, a look into the tranquil and transporting settings of Belgium’s beguinages.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

POLITICS

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving amid misconduct allegations

Chavez-DeRemer faced multiple allegations of abusing the power of her position, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job. Read more.

Why this matters:

• Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month. 
  
  

• Late Monday, on her personal X account, Chavez-DeRemer posted, “The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump’s mission.” Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged.

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• Justice Department files complaint against Washington and its sewage authority for massive spill
  
  
• Trump’s Federal Reserve nominee is set to face a tough hearing before Senate panel 

WORLD NEWS

Iran-US talks speculation grows

With the 14-day ceasefire set to expire Wednesday, Pakistan is laying the groundwork for a second round of talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad, even as Iranian state television says that no delegation has visited so far. Read more.

Why this matters:

• On Monday Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline.
  
  

• Meanwhile Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands. Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Live updates: Doubt surrounds Iran-US talks as ceasefire is set to expire
  
  
• Driven by the pressures of war, Iran gives its field commanders more power over militias in Iraq 
  
  
• A long-shuttered Iraq-Syria border crossing reopens for the first time in more than a decade 
  
  
• Iranian extradited to US to face 2014 smuggling indictment over export of military sonar gear 

US NEWS

The Onion launches new bid to take over Alex Jones’ Infowars and turn it into a parody platform

Jones’ company faces liquidation over more than $1 billion in defamation judgments owed to relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Under a proposal submitted Monday to a state judge in Texas, The Onion would be granted an exclusive, temporary license to the intellectual property of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, allowing the outlet to put its own content on the Infowars website and social media accounts. Read more.

Why this matters:

• CEO Ben Collins said The Onion has already hired people to run Infowars as a parody site including Tim Heidecker, one half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric, known for their work on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” shows. 

   

• Collins also said Sandy Hook families would receive profits from the new operations. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, Jones called it a hoax staged by “crisis actors” in an effort to increase gun control. Many relatives of the victims, along with an FBI agent who responded to the shooting, sued Jones and his company for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Virginia voters deciding on redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in Congress 
  
  
• Pennsylvania court overturns limits on Medicaid coverage for abortions 
  
  
• Another Democrat exits crowded campaign for California governor 
  
  
• US Justice Department demands 2024 Detroit-area ballots in latest move for local election records 
  
  
• Former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi, the 1st US governor of Asian American descent, dies at 100 

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IN OTHER NEWS

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Teotihuacan pyramids shooting: Gunman shoots several tourists in Mexico, killing a Canadian 

Pacifist policy shift: Japan scraps a ban on lethal weapon exports

Energy crisis: Cuba confirms meeting with US officials on island, wants blockade lifted 

K-pop tycoon: South Korean police seek to arrest mogul behind BTS 

Today in History: In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, but was later exposed as having cheated

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