TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Attorneys for a defiant Scott Israel told a state Senate hearing officer Tuesday that the ousted former Broward County sheriff was the victim of a politically motivated ploy by Gov. Ron DeSantis and he should get his job back.

The governor's removal of Israel "was not for any legal matter, was not for any constitutional ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- A dispute over information-sharing between agencies about potential sponsors for unaccompanied children is holding up a bipartisan deal on border-related supplemental spending ahead of a scheduled Wednesday morning markup by the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to a senior GOP panel member.

Senate Labor-HHS-Education ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A woman whose body was discovered over the weekend in a Costco parking lot in Bakersfield had been mauled by three dogs, according to police.

The woman was found dead in the parking lot of the Costco store on Rosedale Highway about 6 a.m. Sunday with traumatic injuries that investigators determined were wounds from a dog attack, ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has been hectoring the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and financial markets are screaming for a cut. This even though rates are historically low and the economy is sailing along, albeit with some recent gray clouds.

What's a central bank to do?

Fed policymakers are expected to stand pat on rates ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Longtime New York Rep. Eliot L. Engel is getting a primary challenger who has support from the progressive group that backed New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her bid for office.

Jamaal Bowman, 43, a public school principal from the Bronx, announced Tuesday he is challenging Engel in the Democratic primary for New York's ...Read more

LONDON -- Outspoken former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has extended his lead in the race to become the next leader of Britain's Conservative Party.

Johnson won 126 of 313 votes in the second round of voting Tuesday, in which six candidates were vying to become Prime Minister Theresa May's successor as party leader.

His nearest rival, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Three quarters of California voters believe the state should restrain home building in areas at high risk of wildfires, a new survey has found.

The University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll, prepared for the Los Angeles Times, shows bipartisan support for such restrictions after deadly fires...Read more

Climate change is about big things: melting ice sheets, rising seas, the feverish temperature of the planet.

But scientists say it's also about little things -- namely, microbes.

Everywhere you look on Earth, you'll find these single-celled organisms making a living. And in the process, they produce and consume greenhouse gases including ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A key California lawmaker has amended contentious legislation to tighten vaccine exemptions amid a national measles outbreak, sharpening its focus on bad doctors while easing the list of medical conditions that doctors could cite in allowing schoolchildren to skip required immunizations.

The amendments to SB 276 made ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The four top congressional leaders from both parties plan to sit down again Wednesday morning with senior Trump administration officials to try to hammer out an agreement on next year's spending levels.

The talks at the Capitol will include acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Jon Stewart ratcheted up pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reauthorize the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in a late-night television appearance Monday night.

On "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the comedian continued to lobby for restoring payments to 9/11 responders and survivors who face medical...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Documents sought under the Freedom of Information Act were withheld by the Interior Department under a practice that allowed political appointees to review the requests, internal emails and memos show.

The policy allowed high-ranking officials to screen documents sought by news organizations, advocacy groups and whistleblowers, ...Read more

HONG KONG -- With her term likely reduced to lame duck status, Hong Kong's leader offered her most forceful apology yet for championing a massively unpopular extradition bill, but still declined to accede to the demands of 2 million people who took to the streets last Sunday to call for her ouster.

Speaking solemnly at a news conference Tuesday...Read more