
Tom Perez launches bid for Maryland governor
CNN
Tom Perez, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced Wednesday that he was running for governor of Maryland, seeking to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Perez, who previously led the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and served as Labor Secretary for then-President Barack Obama, made the announcement in a video that touts his biography, his roots in Montgomery County, Maryland, and features him pledging to take on a number of key Democratic priorities, ranging from education to protecting union jobs to tackling climate change. "We did get a lot done," Perez said in the announcement video, referring to his time working for Obama, "but there is so much more to do."
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.

The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.










