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The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a high school English teacher who called on them to "take out every single person who supports" President Donald Trump, according to the Bangor Daily News.JoAnna St. Germain, of Waterville, Maine, posted to Facebook this week that the Secret Service “has the perfect opportunity, if they choose to step up and take it. Coordinate. Take out every single person who supports Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts.”It wasn't clear whether St. Germain was calling for the assassination of Trump.She claimed she was “not talking about assassinating a president,” before writing, “If I had the skill set required, I would take them out myself."ALSO READ: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentOn Wednesday, St. Germain "appeared to retract her initial statement, saying she didn’t mean that all Republicans should die," the paper reported.In another Facebook post, she wrote, “I meant that those in the room with Trump, who are permitting and approving his egregious actions, need to be held accountable." She later wrote, “I’m not sorry. I’m not backtracking. I said what I said and I meant it.”Local police responded to parental concerns, saying, “Rest assured that we have collaborated with our partners in federal law enforcement and at the school to ensure the safety of everyone in the community, especially our young people."Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the Bangor Daily News that the Secret Service is aware of St. Germain’s posts, but wouldn't comment further.Despite authorities' awareness of her violent viewpoint, St. Germain posted again, this time clarifying that she had President Trump in her sights. “Apparently, I have made the news. People are quite angry with me for stating openly that Trump and his cronies need to die,” she wrote Wednesday afternoon.Read the Bangor Daily News story here.

Cyril Ramaphosa sets up inquiry as victims’ families allege interference from ‘highest levels of government’South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is setting up an inquiry into whether past ANC governments interfered with the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, amid criticism from the families of victims.A group of 25 relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence sued the government in January, claiming that interference from “the highest levels of government” blocked investigations into cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Continue reading...

An immigration expert was taken aback by a CNN report that the Trump administration is looking beyond El Salvador for a "safe third country" to ship undocumented migrants. CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez posted to X on Wednesday afternoon, "Trump admin has discussed with Libya and Rwanda the possibility of sending migrants who have criminal records to those two countries, sources tell me + @kylieatwood. Trump officials are also hoping to enter negotiations with Libya to strike a safe third country agreement." Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration lawyer and senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, responded, "Whoa. Using Libya and Rwanda as a deportation spot for people from the Western Hemisphere would be unprecedented, and declaring LIBYA a 'safe third country' to deport asylum seekers to would be the height of absurdity."Libya remains dangerously unstable due to "political divisions and cascading security crises," since the United States helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, according to Global Conflict Tracker.ALSO READ: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentThe Trump administration has shipped hundreds of migrants to El Salvador under a deal with dictator President Nayib Bukele, who actually questioned whether deportees being flown to his notorious Cecot prison were members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang, according to The New York Times.Bukele had agreed to house "only what he called 'convicted criminals' in the prison. However, many of the Venezuelan men labeled gang members and terrorists by the U.S. government had not been tried in court," the report said.Attorneys have challenged the Trump administration's failure to give migrants and even student protesters their constitutional due process, with one judge ordering the release Wednesday of a Palestinian college student from Columbia University.Trump and his Cabinet shared a laugh on Wednesday when the president claimed, "We're having a little difficulty" with judges getting on board with his deportation program."We're having some judges that don't like, you know, killers, murderers, being thrown out of the country. So, I don't know what their problem is, but we have a little difficulty," Trump said.

CNN's Daniel Dale dissected President Donald Trump's Cabinet meeting Wednesday, during which his secretaries took turns lavishing praise and even touting Trump's presidency as one of the best "ever." Trump's exaggerations were par for the course, Dale said. "Well, he kind of vaguely repeated his frequent claim that the U.S. had a trillion-dollar trade deficit with China under President Biden," Dale began. "It did have a big trade deficit, but he's grossly exaggerating it — it was about $263 billion last year — so, he's about quadrupling it." ALSO READ: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentDale continued, "And, while he blames Biden for letting it get out of control, that was actually a lower figure than the trade deficit with China in each and every year of Trump's first presidency, so it did not 'explode' under President Biden." Dale then commented on something he claimed was "subjective," but something he, as a Canadian, felt the need to speak up about. "He said, in the Canadian election, he said it was the one who 'hated Trump the least' who won. I don't know how to measure hate," Dale said, "but certainly Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney was much harsher in his public rhetoric than his main opponent, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. So, I don't know about the one who hated Trump the least." Dale said it was interesting that Trump did "a kind of self-fact-check of his previous rhetoric." "He made a comment about imported dolls, and he said, 'Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30. Maybe those two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more.' So that acknowledgment that imported products like dolls might cost a couple of bucks more is sharply at odds with what we heard him say over and over — certainly on the campaign trail, even more recently — when he said, 'It's foreign countries who pay those tariffs, consumers aren't going to pay them at all.' So here, at least briefly, he acknowledged that, yeah, stuff might cost more money here for Americans." Watch the clip below via CNN.

President Donald Trump's complaint that he has problems with judges who don't like his immigration and deportation policies drew laughter from members at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. Trump called out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan for doing an "amazing job" getting undocumented immigrants deported. The administration has been under fire for deporting migrants for being "criminals" without Constitutional due process. "For two months in a row, we have set the all time records for the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded," Trump said. "The number of illegal border crossers released into the United States is down 99.999 percent. That is usually 100%. So, I think it's an amazing tribute...it's an amazing job actually, and it was done very quickly.""We officially designated Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and we're expelling these monsters from our country rapidly, and working with the Department of Justice. Pam, you're doing fantastic," he said, calling out Attorney General Pam Bondi. Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituent "Your people are amazing. We're having some judge problems," Trump said, eliciting laughs from the Cabinet. "We're having some judges that don't like, you know, killers, murderers, being thrown out of the country. So, I don't know what their problem is, but we have a little difficulty." Trump then claimed that immigration, not the economy, was the reason he won the election. "We won on the basis of a great border and of getting criminals out of our country. That was why we won every swing state. We won by millions of votes. We won everything, every metric. We won by a lot. It was a massive victory, and we won, I think, largely because of this issue. I put this issue as number one issue, and they don't want us to do what we're supposed to do. And I don't think that can be. I hope the Supreme Court is going to fully understand what's going on. We have to get the criminals out of our country and that's the basis under which we won the election." Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) admitted that an "imbalance" of powers between his legislative branch and President Donald Trump's executive branch could prompt Congress to take action on disruptive tariffs that have contributed to the weakening economy, according to a new report in Politico.Johnson made the statement at an Axios "News Shapers" event in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.“I think the executive has a broad array of authority that’s been recognized over the years” related to trade, Johnson said. “If it gets close to where the imbalance is there, then we would step in.”Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentBut Johnson made clear he didn't think Trump's tariff strategy and the economic downturn warranted action right away, according to reporter Meredith Lee Hill.Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituent“I mean, what are we, about three weeks into the tariff policy of this new administration? I don’t think it’s appropriate for Congress to jump in the middle of that and try to legislate," Johnson said, adding that he would “call the president and talk with him ... and tell him our concerns” before doing anything to curtail the tariffs.“Right now, I think ultimately, this policy is going to achieve the desired outcome, and it’s going to be good for the country,” Johnson said.Hill added that "Johnson...has undertaken a procedural move to effectively block any House effort to cancel Trump’s tariffs, despite several Republicans backing legislation to do so."The Dow Jones fell 500 points, or 1.25%, Wednesday morning after news of the shrinking economy, prompting Trump to post on social media, “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th."He continued, "Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”Read the Politico article here.

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang is urging Washington to prepare for artificial intelligence to upend the global economy.

Russia expects to open its first embassy in the Dominican Republic as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defined the Caribbean country as a “promising partner."