KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two more tornadoes, including one that traveled more than 36 miles, touched down earlier this week as storms raced across the Kansas City region, the National Weather Service said in survey results released Wednesday.

That brings the total number of confirmed tornadoes from the severe weather that moved through the region ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he was sticking with a naval blockade of Iranian ports even as oil prices hit a wartime high amid concerns the vital Strait of Hormuz would not reopen anytime soon.

“Their economy is crashing, the blockade is incredible,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Their economy is a disaster. So ...Read more

Thermos is recalling more than 8 million of its insulated food jars and beverage bottles because gas expansion within the containers can force a lid stopper to pop explosively.

The April 30 recall includes 5.8 million Stainless King food jars and about 2.3 million Sportsman food and beverage bottles.

From the recall notice, the company writes:...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump dropped Casey Means’ nomination for surgeon general and named radiologist and Fox News contributor Nicole Saphier for the role after Means struggled to clinch the support to advance her nomination.

Saphier is an associate professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She is the ...Read more

Federal authorities have charged a minor in connection with the hoax active-shooter calls that led to widespread panic at Villanova University and a number of other institutions in August.

The juvenile suspect, whose name was withheld due to their age, was a self-identified member of the online group “Purgatory,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump focused on other matters this week as House Republicans struggled to pass measures related to surveillance powers, agricultural policy and immigration enforcement funding, with former officials saying the president’s own priorities are likely to increasingly draw him away from the legislative grind.

The ...Read more

Scientists in Florida have launched a new offensive against the Burmese python invasion, this time using opossums, one of the giant snake’s favorite prey.

The initiative comes from biologists A.J. Sanjar and Michael Cove of the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Key Largo, South Florida.

The researchers attach tracking devices to ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — A group of transgender Idaho residents filed a lawsuit over a new law that bars people from using restrooms or changing rooms that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges the state’s new bathroom ban violates the constitutional rights of transgender people and puts their safety ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denounced the U.S. prosecution of a sitting Mexican governor and other officials on drug trafficking charges as “political,” and said Thursday that Mexico would not comply with Washington’s demands that the accused be arrested and extradited to the United States.

“We are not ...Read more

Like most high-level visitors to Haiti, David Lametti recently arrived in Port-au-Prince with grim statistics in hand: mass killings, widespread gang-driven displacements and the steady erosion of public institutions.

But four days into his first visit to the gang-torn country earlier this month, the immediacy of those challenges came into ...Read more

SEATTLE — Gov. Bob Ferguson has agreed to a $4,000 settlement to resolve an ethics probe into his decision to invite a former top aide to fly with him on a state plane last year.

Under the proposed stipulated settlement with the Washington State Executive Ethics Board, Ferguson admits violating state ethics law and agrees to pay the civil ...Read more

A particularly massive sea lion has Bay Area tourists and residents flocking to Pier 39 in San Francisco to spot the mammal affectionately named "Chonkers."

"Chonkers" is a Steller sea lion, which is a heftier variety of the species, compared to his California sea lion counterparts.

The animal first showed up at Pier 39 about a month ago and ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday intensified an already heated political clash with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, mocking the New York Democrat’s speaking style during a public appearance while celebrating the passage of his newly drawn congressional map.

Speaking in Ormond Beach, DeSantis took aim at Jeffries’ ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The alleged gunman accused of trying to breach a Washington ballroom in a failed attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump last weekend will remain in custody for the time being after a court appearance Thursday.

Cole Allen, the California man who authorities say rushed toward the White House Correspondents’ Association ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles voters could be asked this year to take the first step toward giving noncitizens the right to vote in city and school board elections.

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents an Echo Park-to-Hollywood district, released a proposal Wednesday to ask voters in the Nov. 3 election to give the council the ...Read more

CHICAGO — The man accused of killing a North Side police officer and critically wounding his partner while escaping from Endeavor Swedish Hospital on Saturday is set to return to court for a full detention hearing Thursday morning.

Alphanso Talley will come before Cook County Judge Thedford D’Anthony on Thursday for the judge to rule on ...Read more

Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Torrance, California, man charged with trying to kill President Donald Trump at last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, will remain in federal jail pending trial.

Allen agreed to his ongoing detention during a brief hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. “He’s ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — The stunning U.S. indictment of 10 current and former Mexican officials for alleged links to the Sinaloa cartel has put Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in an extremely tight corner.

Most of the those accused, including Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya and a senator, Enrique Inzunza Cázarez are members of Sheinbaum’s ruling...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Newport Beach man has been sentenced to federal prison for laundering money for a group of young con artists who prosecutors said stole $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the loot to purchase luxury cars, rent out mansions and private jets and spend as much as $500,000 at nightclubs.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Colleen...Read more