Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came under intense scrutiny Thursday for allegations that he knowingly violated the U.S. embargo on Cuba in the 1990s, a report that could hurt him among Cuban-Americans in the crucial state of Florida.

A story published in Newsweek said Trump's firm spent as much as $68,000 on a "foray" exploring business possibilities in Cuba in 1998, which would be a clear violation of the strict embargo in place at the time.

The report could become a significant political liability for Trump among Cuban Americans in Florida.

WASHINGTON – A team of top scientists is telling world leaders to stop congratulating themselves on the Paris agreement to fight climate change because if more isn't done, global temperatures will likely hit dangerous warming levels in about 35 years.

Six scientists who were leaders in past international climate conferences joined with the Universal Ecological Fund in Argentina to release a brief report Thursday, saying that if even more cuts in heat-trapping gases aren't agreed upon soon, the world will warm by another 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit by around 2050.

WASHINGTON – The Senate's top Republican said Thursday that the sweeping 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal championed by President Barack Obama will remain on ice until another president revives it.

And with both current presidential nominees opposed to the deal's ratification, that could be the death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a crucial strategic initiative in the fast-growing Asia Pacific.

Associated Press & Washington Post