Whether cities or villages, many communities across Europe spend the day and night of June 24 celebrating Midsummer. Congregating around bonfires, or sometimes maypoles, sporting handwoven wreaths of wildflowers or oak leaves, they’ll sing, jump, dance, eat, drink, catch up and celebrate the arrival of the longest day of the year. As a ...Read more

In Maine, state health officials hoped to steer a slice of $190 million in new federal rural health funding to shield hospitals and clinics from the fallout caused by cuts to federal health programs.

Their plan would have helped pay to treat low-income, uninsured patients.

But federal leaders overseeing the five-year, $50 billion Rural Health ...Read more

President Donald Trump defended the interim peace deal he’s reached with Iran and said it could get signed as soon as Thursday, amid pushback from Republicans at home who object to the deal and the billions of dollars set to flow Tehran’s way.

The so-called memorandum of understanding could be signed “shortly, tomorrow, maybe the next ...Read more

Muslims in the United States often face negative stereotyping and suspicion. Especially in the years following 9/11, Muslims have been frequently cast as outsiders.

What many may not know is that Muslims have been part of the American story since its founding. Scholars estimate that as many as 30% of Africans who were enslaved and ...Read more

Throughout history, rulers and political movements have used public spectacles of combat to evoke courage, sacrifice, collective strength and national purpose. From Roman gladiator contests to modern mixed martial arts, combat spectacles have served not merely as entertainment but as public rituals through which people experience belonging to...Read more

During the first Trump administration, states and cities, tired of waiting for the federal government to deal with energy and climate challenges, started writing their own laws.

New York passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, setting mandatory renewable energy and emissions reduction targets. Virginia ...Read more

Cancer in the United States experienced a dramatic turnaround in 1991. Prior to that year, cancer deaths had been increasing for decades, peaking at 215 deaths per 100,000 people, meaning about 1 in 4 deaths were attributed to cancer. Then it began to consistently decline, decreasing by 34% between 1991 and 2022. This amounted to an estimated...Read more

When heat waves hit the Western United States, the risk of wildfires quickly rises. The prolonged heat dries out vegetation, but that’s only part of the cause – heat waves also play other roles in spreading wildfires.

In a new study, our team of fire and climate scientists looked at two decades of wildfire activity in the West, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s new flag has dismal support, trailing even President Donald Trump’s lagging approval rating.

Just a third of likely Minnesota voters approve of the new blue-and-white design adopted in 2024, while half are opposed. Another 20% are not sure if they liked the new flag, according to a new Star Tribune/KARE 11/...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A judge has ruled that a Los Angeles mother was insane at the time she killed her 7-year-old daughter and newborn baby in 2017, according to medical reports made public in court Tuesday.

The ruling means the woman will not stand trial for the killings and will be sent to a state mental institution rather than prison.

In a ...Read more

President Donald Trump defended the interim peace deal he’s reached with Iran and said it could get signed as soon as Thursday, amid pushback from Republican hawks at home who object to the billions of dollars set to flow Tehran’s way.

The so-called memorandum of understanding could be signed “shortly, tomorrow, maybe the next day,” ...Read more

DETROIT — Police were dispatched to the homes of Michigan State University trustees who received threats following their phone numbers and home addresses being posted on social media Tuesday night, Trustee Rebecca Bahar-Cook confirmed to The Detroit News on Wednesday.

Officers with the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety are continuing...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday complicated Senate Republican plans to quickly revive a key surveillance authority, delaying a scheduled confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton and pressing for the inclusion of a controversial voter ID measure.

Trump, in an early morning social media post, said he was “cancelling” the ...Read more

MIAMI — During the boat crash that killed a 17-year-old girl, Doral real estate broker George Pino sustained a brain injury, which may have led him to have false memories associated with the crash, a doctor testified Wednesday morning.

Dr. Diana Barratt, a Boca Raton neurologist, testified that she evaluated Pino and determined he had a ...Read more

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione plans to mount a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial this fall, an attempt to justify killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the grounds he was experiencing an extreme emotional disturbance, a Manhattan judge said Wednesday.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro revealed the stunning ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for third-degree rape.

The "Danger" rapper was arrested in the summer of 2022 and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail in Louisiana and charged with first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery–strangulation, false imprisonment and simple ...Read more

The Trump administration hailed its interim peace deal with Iran that’s meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as hawks in the U.S. pointed to the billions of dollars of economic gains set to come Tehran’s way.

Iran will be allowed to restart oil exports immediately under the so-called memorandum of understanding, with the U.S. granting...Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump’s emerging nuclear accord with Iran risks securing fewer restrictions than the deal negotiated by the administration of Barack Obama — one he derided and later scrapped.

The potential agreement, set to be negotiated over a 60-day period, will build on a memorandum of understanding that states only that Iran’s ...Read more