WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Chances that a grievously ill Florida woman will be given an unproven drug to battle COVID-19 appeared to dim Tuesday when a judge — for a second time in three days — rejected a petition asking that a hospital be ordered to administer the medication.

In a brief order, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Nutt ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is expected to vote Tuesday night to hold former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon in contempt for not cooperating with its inquiry, a significant escalation in its efforts to get answers about the insurrection from the firebrand political operative.

The ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The police officer who was shot in the face and killed Sunday night was trying to take a stolen gun out of the hands of an 18-year-old who told investigators he was trying to shoot himself.

Jason Banegas, 18, pulled a stolen 9 mm semi-automatic handgun from his pocket during a violent fight with Officer Yandy Chirino. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After more than two weeks of breathing noxious fumes that can cause headaches and nausea, Carson-area residents are now being advised to avoid prolonged outdoor exercise at night and in the early morning.

The amount of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from decaying vegetation and marine life in the Dominguez Channel has exceeded ...Read more

Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is 93% effective in preventing COVID hospitalizations in 12 to 18-year-olds, according to a new study.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study looked at 464 hospitalized adolescent patients — 179 of whom had Covid-19 and 285 who were hospitalized for other reasons.

Of those 179 hospitalized ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Elizabeth Stout was a victim of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but you won’t hear her name called out on Wednesday when the confessed gunman pleads guilty for his crimes.

There are dozens more like her. The shots from Nikolas Cruz’s AR-15-style rifle rang in their ears. They cowered in ...Read more

Global approval of U.S. leadership rebounded to match a record during the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, snapping back from all-time lows hit in 2020, according to Gallup’s newest Rating World Leaders report.

Median approval of U.S. leadership surged to 49%, matching the high set in 2009, the Gallup survey across 46 countries and ...Read more

U.S. school enrollment dropped 2.9 million from 2019 to 2020, with those under age 35 attending school dipping to the lowest level in more than two decades.

College enrollment also fell to the lowest since 2007, according to U.S. census data released Tuesday. Most of the decline took place in two-year colleges, which dropped to a 20-year low.

...Read more

DETROIT — An informant who helped the FBI infiltrate an alleged plot to abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty to a federal gun crime Tuesday, marking the second conviction of a key figure involved in the kidnapping conspiracy investigation.

Wisconsin resident Stephen Robeson is not expected to spend a day in prison despite pleading ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that congressional Democrats aim to seal a deal this week on Joe Biden’s economic agenda, as feuding liberals and moderates meet with the president at the White House.

“The pace has picked up,” Schumer said after a closed-door lunch with other Senate Democrats. “The ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is expected to vote Tuesday night to hold former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon in contempt for not cooperating with its inquiry, a significant escalation in its efforts to get answers about the insurrection from the firebrand political operative.

The ...Read more

ATLANTA — A Utah lab known for work with aged DNA evidence will soon examine materials from the decades-old Atlanta child murders cases.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the development this week on Twitter, more than two years after she announced that investigators would review evidence in hopes that advances in technology could bring ...Read more

SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office has filed two misdemeanor criminal charges against Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer over his controversial January confrontation with a Black newspaper carrier.

Troyer faces one count of false reporting and one count of making a false statement to a civil servant for claiming to an ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The stout waves off the Kona coastline on Hawaii’s Big Island were still the domain of stand-up surfers as Tom Morey fiddled in his garage with a 9-foot plank of polyethylene foam, an electric carving knife and an iron he’d borrowed from a neighbor.

By morning, he’d sliced the board in half, rounded the nose and whittled ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggesting residents in all eight Connecticut counties wear masks indoors to protect against COVID-19, a growing number of Connecticut towns have begun lifting mask mandates they imposed this summer.

West Hartford on Tuesday became the latest town to ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Democratic research and political advocacy group wants some of America’s most powerful companies to stop donating to Florida abortion opponents. But local television markets won’t air the group’s ad.

Last week, American Bridge 21st Century planned to launch a six-figure ad blitz — the group wouldn’t specify the...Read more

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated people against coronavirus in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a milestone celebrated by local officials, who hail the island’s vaccination campaign a success.

“This means hundreds, if not thousands, of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Californians used 5% less water statewide in August than during the same month last year, an improvement in conservation that state regulators said they hope to see redoubled to address one of the most severe droughts on record.

People saved more water in cities and towns across the state during August than in July, when they ...Read more

Citizens are afraid to leave their homes. The security forces are weak. Armed gangs, known for kidnappings, extortion and random killings, act with impunity as they tighten their grip throughout Haiti.

With the brazen kidnapping of 16 Americans and one Canadian over the weekend on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince highlighting Haiti’s ...Read more