MINNEAPOLIS — The demand from the federal government to Minnesota leaders hasn’t relented for months: Hand over sensitive welfare data.

Starting this summer, the Department of Justice began pressing state officials to share Medicaid, nutrition assistance and voter information with the Trump administration. Attorney General Pam Bondi reupped...Read more

SpaceX’s stranglehold as NASA’s choice for the historic moon landing planned for the Artemis III mission later this decade was loosened last year to allow competitor Blue Origin back into the conversation. Jeff Bezos’ company is now laser-focused on the opportunity.

On Friday, the company announced it would cease launches of its space ...Read more

CHICAGO — A Schaumburg man has been arrested on charges of doxing and threatening an FBI agent whose information was stolen from a government vehicle during a protest over an immigration-related shooting in Minneapolis last month.

Jose Alberto Ramirez, 28, was arrested Thursday in Schaumburg on a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District ...Read more

MIAMI — Beyond questions of legality and oversight, Alligator Alcatraz has faced persistent skepticism from advocates, attorneys and lawmakers over an obvious issue: how an immigration detention camp in the middle of the Everglades would fare against Florida’s unpredictable extremes, from punishing summer heat and heavy storms to sudden cold...Read more

MIAMI — In July 2010, as Jeffrey Epstein’s yearlong probation period was coming to an end as part of a sweetheart deal with federal prosecutors, businessman Philip Levine sent Epstein an email.

“Hi, Just want you to know that I am happy that everything has come to a positive ending for you during these tough times,” Levine wrote, ...Read more

The Cuban government has exchanged its fierce rhetoric and vows to resist President Donald Trump’s “threats” for a more conciliatory offer to renew cooperation on security matters and maintain a “respectful dialogue” amid increasing diplomatic tensions and several incidents of harassment of U.S. diplomats on the island.

“Cuba is ...Read more

Hundreds of organizations, including civil rights groups, labor unions, immigrant rights advocates and faith leaders nationwide are urging President Donald Trump and leaders of the departments of State and Homeland Security to preserve temporary immigration protections for Haitians.

The calls come amid growing fear and anxiety over the fate of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Just as it ruled in the death of Renee Good last month, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office said Monday that Alex Pretti was a homicide victim when he was shot on Jan. 24 during an encounter with federal agents.

The office released the information about the 37-year-old Minneapolis man’s killing in a form that was ...Read more

Stroke survivors often face substantial and long-lasting problems with their arms. Both arms often decline together: When one arm is more severely affected by the stroke, the other becomes more difficult to use as well. Compared with a healthy person’s dominant hand, a stroke survivor may take up to three times longer to complete everyday ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — In the mid-2010s, well after he was already a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein began closely following the sexual assault case against another prominent figure: Philadelphia-born actor and comedian Bill Cosby.

Among the millions of documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice — in the latest tranche of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s expansion of the so-called Mexico City policy restricting reproductive care around the world, to now cover gender ideology and diversity efforts, will impact billions of dollars in foreign aid not previously covered, according to health experts.

The State Department on Jan. 23 announced that the ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal transit authorities called out Charlotte’s transit system for failing to meet multiple mandated safety requirements in a new report triggered by a high-profile killing on the city’s light rail.

The Federal Transit Administration released its audit of the Charlotte Area Transit System on Monday, months after ...Read more

Expect the deep cold that parts of the United States have been experiencing to continue for the next six weeks, at least according to Punxsutawney Phil.

The weather-predicting groundhog saw his shadow Monday outside his hole at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. If you believe such things, that means the entire country — ...Read more

BOSTON — A former political adviser who claims he helped Gov. Maura Healey win her election as state attorney general pitched himself for a job with Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 to help with the pedophile’s burgeoning bad press, according to the latest DOJ files.

James P. McGee sent an email to Epstein, asking for a consulting job and showing ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The year opened with President Donald Trump declaring that “the fraud investigation of California has begun,” a move that quickly set off a barrage of allegations from his administration and Republican allies questioning the integrity of state programs and the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The accusations, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As federal immigration enforcement agents continue to clash with protesters in cities around the country, U.S. mayors gathering in Washington, D.C., last week said they’re anxious about what might be coming next.

At a nonpartisan forum of mayors, elected officials identifying as Democrats and Republicans described an escalating...Read more

SAN RAMON, Calif. — An ongoing string of more than a dozen earthquakes in less than 90 minutes early Monday ended what had been some recent calm from recent weeks of shaking ground in the region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The most violent of the 19 earthquakes measured by the U.S. Geological Survey was a magnitude 4.2 shaker ...Read more

In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally declared that greenhouse gas emissions, including from vehicles and fossil fuel power plants, endanger public health and welfare. The decision, known as the endangerment finding, was based on years of evidence, and it has underpinned EPA actions on climate change ever since.

...Read more

Classes have been called off in the Columbia Heights school district on Feb. 2 due to what officials are calling a bomb threat, police said.

The threat was emailed to several schools in the district serving about 3,400 students in Columbia Heights, Hilltop and Fridley, said Columbia Heights Police Deputy Erik Johnston in a statement.

The ...Read more