An unapologetic President Donald Trump defended his administration's border-protection policies Monday in the face of rising national outrage over the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. Calling for tough action against illegal immigration, Trump declared the U.S. "will not be a migrant camp" on his watch. Images of children held in fenced cages fueled a growing chorus of condemnation from both political parties, four former first ladies and national evangelical leaders. The children are being held separately from parents who are being prosecuted under the administration's "zero-tolerance" policy for illegal border crossings. Get More

President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Trade Representative to prepare new tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports on Monday as the two nations moved closer to a potential trade war. The tariffs, which Trump wants set at a 10 percent rate, would be the latest round of punitive measures in an escalating dispute over the large trade imbalance between the two countries. Trump recently ordered tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods in retaliation for intellectual property theft. The tariffs were quickly matched by China on U.S. exports, a move that drew the president's ire. Get More

President Donald Trump announced Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new "Space Force" as an independent military service branch aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space — though he may have limited power to develop a new military command. While Trump has previously talked about his desire for a space unit, he seemed to take those musings one step further, specifically ordering the Pentagon to begin the creation of a sixth branch of the American armed forces. Get More

The Pentagon on Monday formally suspended a major military exercise planned for August with South Korea, a much-anticipated move stemming from President Donald Trump's nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Dana White, spokeswoman for the Defense Department, said planning for the summer drills has stopped, but there have been no decisions made on any other military exercises with South Korea. Military exercises with other countries in the Pacific will continue. Get More

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed electoral maps that were challenged as excessively partisan to remain in place for now, declining to rule on the bigger issue of whether to put limits on redistricting for political gain. The court issued a pair of unanimous rulings in partisan redistricting cases from Wisconsin and Maryland that decided very little, and ensured that any resolution by the nation's high court would not come before the 2018 midterm elections. Get More

A Turkish court has accepted an indictment charging the father of NBA player Enes Kanter with "membership in a terror group," the country's official news agency reported Monday. The indictment followed an investigation of Mehmet Kanter, and prosecutors planned to seek his conviction and a prison term of five to 10 years at trial, Anadolu Agency said. Get More

Thousands of exuberant Mexican soccer fans took to the streets Sunday to cheer their national team's long-shot win against Germany in Mexico's first match of the 2018 World Cup soccer tournament. The 1-0 stunner, with Hirving Lozano scoring the winning goal, has given Mexicans hope that their team might win the tournament for the first time ever. Mexico has competed in the FIFA World Cup since the sporting event kicked off in 1930. The highest it has ever advanced is to the quarter-finals, placing sixth in both 1986 and 1970. Get More

South Florida rapper XXXTentacion has died after he was shot in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Monday, officials said. The 20-year-old singer, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was shot outside Riva Motorsports at 3671 N. Dixie Highway, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said. Get More

A Garden Grove, California, man pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to smuggle federally protected live corals by packing them into Pringles potato chip canisters and hiding them in his mother's luggage for transport to Mexico. Jorge Vazquez, 40, entered his plea in Los Angeles federal court to unlawfully attempting to export some 70 live invertebrate specimens, including 27 live corals, protected by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora -- known as CITES. Get More

Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets. One teenager told an advocate who visited that she was helping care for a young child she didn't know because the child's aunt was somewhere else in the facility. She said she had to show others in her cell how to change the girl's diaper. The U.S. Border Patrol on Sunday allowed reporters to briefly visit the facility where it holds families arrested at the southern U.S. border, responding to new criticism and protests over the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy and resulting separation of families. Get More

An elephant that once lived at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch briefly escaped its enclosure at a Florida zoo. The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens posted on Facebook that Ali the bull elephant wandered through a gate that was accidentally left open Sunday and wound up in a courtyard behind the giraffe and elephant barn. Get More

Several people riding a roller coaster at Six Flags America needed to be rescued Monday after the ride got stuck near a peak. Workers at Six Flags America, in Bowie, Maryland, were able to get riders off the Superman: Ride of Steel ride, according to Prince George's County fire department spokesman Mark Brady. Get More