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USFrance 24

America at 250: From the American dream to book bans and AI

Photo: France 24

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, its founding promises, identity and place in the world are being fiercely debated. As the Festival America in Vincennes gets underway, we're putting that question to two acclaimed novelists: New Yorker Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of "Long Island Compromise", and Lebanese-American writer Rabih Alameddine, whose novel "The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)" won the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction.

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USABC News

Supreme Court allows use of citizenship database ahead of midterms

The Supreme Court has given the Trump administration a green light to use a federal citizenship database to verify voters ahead of the midterm elections. In a 6-3 opinion, the Supreme Court, for now, lifted a lower court order that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from expanding a 40-year-old immigration database -- known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system -- to help states screen voter records for noncitizens. The immediate impact of the ruling is unclear, since states are prohibited by law from purging their voter rolls within 90 days of Election Day.

USNBC News

Wisconsin frat leaders arrested after 30 pledges found in filthy basement, injured and covered in condiments

Two leaders of an underground University of Wisconsin-Madison fraternity were arrested and charged with hazing after dozens of pledges were found injured, shirtless and covered in condiments in a dingy basement. The Madison Police Department said Thursday it received an anonymous tip about an event in the basement of an off-campus chapter house after police received an anonymous tip. Alpha Epsilon Pi was kicked off campus as a recognized chapter in 2015, but the organization maintained a presence at the Madison home.