WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a newly passed congressional map that gives his fellow Republicans four pickup opportunities in this fall’s midterm elections.

A spokeswoman for DeSantis confirmed his action Monday after he posted a photo of the map on social media with the message: “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland state Sen. Arthur Ellis is calling for a special session to review and address Maryland’s congressional maps following the recent Supreme Court decision prohibiting the use of race in redistricting decisions.

“The urgency (of) this issue is underscored by actions already underway in other states,” the Charles County...Read more

BEIRUT — Confusion reigned on Monday over the fate of a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran after a wave of fresh strikes on the United Arab Emirates and Oman, along with reports of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, undermined confidence in the truce.

The drone and missile strikes, the first since a ceasefire halted ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Tribune won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting Monday for its coverage of Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement mission in the Chicago area last fall.

Awarded by Columbia University, the prize – the country’s top journalism honor – recognizes exceptional coverage of ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas have had one of their driest Aprils in state history. Farmers are taking the brunt of it.

The South Carolina Drought Response Committee met Thursday morning to discuss the state’s drought status, now severe. This month’s data shows that it will take months of above-average ...Read more

NEW YORK — Broadway’s famed Eugene O’Neill Theatre caught fire Monday, with the blaze quickly escalating to three alarms and causing substantial damage, FDNY officials said.

The electrical fire broke out in a rear mezzanine of the historic theater on W. 49th Street near Times Square about 10 a.m. The theater is currently home to the hit ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Star Tribune has won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for its newsroom-wide coverage of a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church last summer.

Marjorie Miller, administrator of the Pulitzers, said in announcing this year’s awards Monday that the coverage included “powerful stories marked by thoroughness ...Read more

NEW YORK — A United Airlines flight hit a light pole and a truck on the New Jersey Turnpike as it was coming in for a landing at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday afternoon, sending the truck driver to the hospital with minor injuries, authorities said.

Despite the collision, the aircraft en route from Italy landed safely, and ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law the congressional map his office created.

Within hours, opponents filed a lawsuit.

DeSantis’ plan could add four more seats for the Republican Party. It also threatens to dismantle Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, a voter-approved part of the constitution adopted in 2010....Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court took a first step Monday to consider anti-abortion challenges to medication that has been commonly used to end early pregnancies for 25 years.

The justices moved quickly to put on hold an appeals court ruling that would block the mailing of abortion pills nationwide. Justice Samuel A. Alito issued a temporary "...Read more

Americans’ views on crime often don’t match reality — and a new report suggests those perceptions are shaped as much by personal experiences and economic conditions as by crime itself.

The analysis, released by the nonprofit think tank Council on Criminal Justice, draws on decades of Gallup survey data to examine how people perceive crime...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Charges against two Brooklyn Park women who sprang into action to help save an ICE agent having a seizure have been dismissed.

Despite their heroics in January, Tiffany “Tippy” Amundson, 39, and Heather Zemien, 55, were charged at the time with assaulting, resisting and impeding officers, according to federal court records. ...Read more

Sending humans out past the moon for the first time in more than half a century enticed nearly 350,000 people to descend on Florida's Space Coast for the Artemis II mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center.

NASA’s powerhouse Space Launch System rocket, topped with the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts, shot into space from KSC’s ...Read more

Imagine receiving a test result that tells you your body is biologically five years older than your chronological age. You exercise regularly, get good sleep, eat healthy meals and have a happy personal life. What have you been doing wrong? Can this test be trusted?

Dozens of companies are marketing products that promise to reveal a ...Read more

Somewhere between 5% and 7% of U.S. households have rooftop solar panels. Many more Americans want them, but high costs, building locations and landlord restrictions are key obstacles.

As someone who has designed and evaluated a wide range of building energy efficiency technologies, including integrated photovoltaic systems, I know ...Read more

Not all earthquake faults behave the same. Some stick and snap, causing earthquakes. Others move slowly over time.

For years, the leading explanation for slow-moving faults has been that high-pressure fluids along the fault lubricate it, allowing the slabs to slide steadily rather than building up stress until that stress is ...Read more

As the nation observes its 250th birthday, historians can help settle one present-day dispute: Is the United States a democracy or a republic?

For years, advocates have argued the point.

Yet the question itself is misleading. It assumes that the categories constructed by political theorists neatly describe actual practice.

...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why do you have to wear a helmet when you’re skateboarding? – Artie, age 13, Queens, New York

Back when I was 13, I was an avid skateboarder – the kickflip was my go-to...Read more

DENVER — The U.S. Department of Justice last week demanded Denver end its longstanding ban on assault weapons and threatened to sue should officials fail to comply, prompting defiance from city leaders who on Monday vowed to defend the decades-old municipal law.

“Denver’s law has stood for 37 years because it works, it saves lives and it ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man who was shot seven times by immigration agents in Patterson and then charged with using his car as a deadly weapon pleaded not guilty in Sacramento federal court Monday.

Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez appeared in court in a wheelchair, with a foam block supporting his wounded arm. In a sign, perhaps, of the ...Read more