AURORA, Colo. — Fatumo Osman, a 65-year-old Somali refugee who speaks limited English, was in a bind. She made too much money at a meal prep service job so she no longer qualified for Medicaid. But knee pain kept her from working, so her income had dropped. She could reapply for Medicaid, get her knee fixed and return to work, at which point ...Read more

FALFURRIAS, Texas — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent scrutinized video of a dying migrant on her cellphone, trying to match the background to the ranch she was searching for his body last month.

"Can I see the picture real quick, the background?" another agent asked.

Agent Nancy Balogh held out her phone. In the two minutes of ...Read more

ZHENGZHOU, China — The mayor of this flooded city arrived at the tunnel at midnight. Muddy water poured across the road as workers drained the six-lane-wide underpass. Dozens of onlookers gathered, hoping to glimpse what lay beneath the water. Police shooed them away.

Chen Yuanqiu lived nearby. He had witnessed the flood and knew that during ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The tunnel linking a Tijuana warehouse to another in Otay Mesa was equipped with a hydraulic elevator, electric rail cars, lighting, wooden floors and a storeroom.

The subterranean passage discovered in 2011 was designed to secretly move tons of marijuana north — a feat of engineering that U.S. authorities would later marvel at ...Read more

MIAMI — A month after Champlain Towers South in Surfside collapsed on June 24, survivors who have been living in hotels and temporary apartments are now facing a pressing question: Where will they live after their homes were leveled?

Oren Cytrynbaum, a self-employed real estate agent, was a resident of Champlain Towers South. He’d left his ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Border Patrol has held newborn U.S. citizens in custody unnecessarily — sometimes for multiple nights — according to a government report released this month.

The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Border Patrol, reviewed the agency's treatment of pregnant women and births in...Read more

With a sales technique honed as a sidewalk hustler, hypnotic TV pitchman Ron Popeil made a fortune hawking such offbeat yet oddly clever contraptions as the Veg-O-Matic and Mr. Microphone.

As he pioneered, in the middle of the 20th century, what became known as the infomercial, both Popeil and his fervently promoted products became part of the ...Read more

SEATTLE — Naturalist Jeff Brown bounded up a ladder, cradling a baby hawk into his torso as if it were a delicate football.

Brown, who helps rehabilitate wildlife for the PAWS Wildlife Center, stopped about 10 rungs up on this July morning, leaned his weight against a towering maple and slowly stretched out his hand.

The hawk's talons curled...Read more

Upon first inspection, the mutations in the highly contagious delta COVID-19 variant don’t look that worrisome.

For starters, delta has fewer genetic changes than earlier versions of the coronavirus.

“When people saw that the epidemic in India was driven by delta, they did not suspect it would be so bad or overtake other variants,” said ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — In early 2020, Florida’s legislative session wrapped up but the Black Caucus kept meeting.

At first, the group focused on what could be done about the pandemic. But as summer began and the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor brought renewed attention to the issue of police brutality and disparate treatment of Black ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Federal regulators will allow Emergent Biosolutions to resume production of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after production woes, officials said Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration ordered the plant to pause production of the vaccine in April after ingredient mix-ups ruined 75 million doses. The FDA’s review of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Democrats’ increasing focus on defeating Republicans in next year’s midterm elections as the best way to push voting rights forward is angering progressive activists and civil rights leaders, who say the strategy risks backfiring and overlooks the need for immediate action.

The disagreement is the latest example of the ...Read more

If you’re going to Disney World, you will have to mask up.

Starting Friday, Disney guests will have to wear masks while indoors and on resort transportation, regardless of vaccination status. Face coverings are optional when outside, and visitors younger than 2 will not be required to wear a mask.

The updated guidelines, announced by the ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page defended the county's mask mandate Wednesday morning — and insisted it remained in effect — after County Council members voted the previous night to end the new public health order.

But state Attorney General Eric Schmitt sided with the council. Late Wednesday afternoon, he said he filed for...Read more

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order Wednesday mandating residents wear a mask when indoors in a public place, even if they have been vaccinated, amid rising COVID-19 infections and the spread of the delta variant.

The order applies to private businesses as well as public property, the mayor’s office said in a ...Read more

Georgia asked a judge Wednesday to throw out a federal lawsuit against the state's new voting law, saying the case by the U.S. Department of Justice is based on "political posturing rather than a serious legal challenge."

The motion to dismiss by Republican Attorney General Chris Carr said Georgia's voting laws are nondiscriminatory and ensure ...Read more

China dispatched a veteran diplomat known for pushing back against Western criticism to serve as its next ambassador to the U.S., an appointment that suggests Beijing is bracing for a period of prolonged tension with Washington.

Qin Gang, 55, who most recently served as vice foreign minister, arrived in the U.S. Wednesday to fill the post ...Read more