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Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald/TNS

Karen Read retrial gets back to forensic evidence

Current News / News & Features /

DEDHAM, Mass. — The Karen Read retrial returned to examining physical evidence in the case after multiple days examining a lack of professionalism by certain case investigators.

The day also included testimony from victim John O’Keefe’s niece, which the media was not allowed to record per a court order. She testified that O’Keefe and ...Read more

Mark Rightmire/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Proposal to limit hunting of coyotes draws ire of California ranchers, farmers

Current News / News & Features /

A proposal to regulate the killing of coyotes in California has drawn fierce opposition from ranchers and farmers, who say they need to be able to control the wild canines to protect livestock and pets.

Dozens of people whose livelihoods rely on California’s broad range lands are expected to pack a hearing in Sacramento on Thursday before a ...Read more

Paul Reeves/Dreamstime/TNS

How a worm perpetuated wildfires in northern Minnesota

Current News / News & Features /

Wildfires are burning through thousands of acres of forest in Northern Minnesota, damaging buildings and forcing residents to evacuate their homes.

The yet-to-be-contained Camp House fire, Jenkins Creek fire and Munger Shaw fire have a small accomplice to thank for their continued destruction: spruce budworms, a well-known pest that has ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Happy with your freedom in the US? Poll finds satisfaction at near-record low

The U.S. is often described as “the land of the free,” but a large number of Americans — and women in particular — aren’t happy with the freedom they have, according to new polling.

In the latest Gallup survey, 72% of respondents said they were satisfied �...Read more

RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs laws ordering universal health care study, emergency abortion protections

Current News / News & Features /

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed a pair of health care bills that will enshrine federal protections for emergency care in state law and potentially start Colorado down the path of universal health care.

The emergency protections law will give Coloradans confidence that they’ll receive emergency care, no matter what’s ...Read more

MIKE NELSON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

What happens next for the Menendez brothers? Multiple paths to release now open

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — When a Los Angeles County judge resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez on Tuesday, he offered the brothers a path to freedom for the first time since they were given life in prison for killing their parents with shotguns in 1989.

The latest development makes Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, eligible for parole — but that is just one of ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

US announces more than $243 billion in deals with Qatar

Current News / News & Features /

The White House said President Donald Trump had secured deals totaling more than $243.5 billion with Qatar, laying the groundwork for a bigger $1.2 trillion economic pledge with the tiny Gulf country.

“The landmark deals celebrated today will drive innovation and prosperity for generations, bolster American manufacturing and technological ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for walking back free health care for eligible undocumented immigrants

Current News / News & Features /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2025-26 revised budget proposal reneges on his signature policy to provide free health care coverage to all low-income undocumented immigrants as costs exceed expectations and the state anticipates challenging economic times ahead.

Newsom's office said the governor's spending plan, which will be ...Read more

Ryan Macasero/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Stanford declines to discuss Israeli divestment as hunger strike protestors vow to grow numbers

Current News / News & Features /

Stanford University officials on Monday rejected a request from student activists to discuss divesting from companies with ties to Israel.

At least 12 students and three faculty members began a hunger strike this week to pressure the university to sever financial ties with companies they say are linked to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

...Read more

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Lawsuit accuses ICE of detaining two women in 'inhumane' conditions in Baltimore

Current News / News & Features /

A lawsuit filed by two immigrant advocacy groups alleges that detainees at ICE’s Baltimore Field Office are “subjected to inhumane and punitive conditions.”

The suit was filed last week in the U.S. District Court by Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and the National Immigration Project on behalf of two women from Guatemala and El Salvador...Read more

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Gift or Grift? Prospect of plane from Qatar hits political turbulence

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump defended the prospect of accepting the gift of a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, even as criticism emerged from both sides of the aisle.

“Only a fool would not accept this gift on behalf of our country” said Trump of the offer.

“The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense,...Read more

Issouf Sanogo/Getty Images North America/TNS

South Africa's Ramaphosa heads to US to ease tensions with Trump

Current News / News & Features /

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa plans to hold talks with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on May 21 and hopes to ease a simmering diplomatic row between the two nations.

Ramaphosa, who will embark on a working visit to the U.S. from May 19-22, will meet Trump at the White House “to discuss bilateral, regional and ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Nationwide or nowhere? Supreme Court weighs power to block Trump's citizenship crackdown

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Thursday in a case that will help frame President Donald Trump’s power to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States whose parents didn’t enter the country legally.

The emergency appeal hearing stems from a January executive order signed by the president and ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump impeachment effort pulled moments before House vote

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — A long-shot effort by Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar to force an impeachment vote against President Donald Trump was abruptly pulled Wednesday evening after a group of Democrats signaled they would vote with Republicans to block the move.

Moments before a planned vote on a motion to table Thanedar’s impeachment resolution — a ...Read more

Florida Dept. of Corrections/Florida Dept. of Corrections/TNS

US Supreme Court denies stay in Florida execution set for this week

Current News / News & Features /

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request to halt the execution of convicted killer Glen Rogers, setting the stage for him to be put to death by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Eastern time Thursday at Florida State Prison.

The Supreme Court, as is common, did not explain the reasons for turning down a last-ditch petition and a motion ...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

Happy with your freedom in the US? Poll finds satisfaction at near-record low

Current News / News & Features /

The U.S. is often described as “the land of the free,” but a large number of Americans — and women in particular — aren’t happy with the freedom they have, according to new polling.

In the latest Gallup survey, 72% of respondents said they were satisfied “with their freedom to choose what they do with their lives.” This is just 1 ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's speedy appeals put Supreme Court on tricky path

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s special sitting for oral arguments Thursday exemplifies a balancing act the justices face in the second Trump administration, as the president and his allies in Congress criticize the courts that have stood in the way of his push to reshape the government.

Since the start of his second term, the federal ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

RFK Jr. admits 'mistake' in slashing 9/11 health program

Current News / News & Features /

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted making a “mistake” in slashing the health program that serves Sept. 11 first responders, but dodged questions about whether he would return it to full staffing.

RFK Jr. told Sen. Andy Kim, D-NJ, that firing many staffers at the World Trade Center Health Program was an error ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts US Attorney: Anyone who attempts to interfere with ICE will be investigated

Current News / News & Features /

BOSTON — Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has warned that her office will investigate anyone who tries to interfere with ICE operations across the Bay State, and that includes elected officials.

The notice comes a week after a chaotic altercation in Worcester that featured activists, including a city councilor, attempting to block ...Read more

Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Kennedy defends budget request but is silent on big HHS changes

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifying on Capitol Hill for the first time since he was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary in February, on Wednesday shot down attempts by lawmakers to probe a wholesale reorganization and slashing of staff at the department, citing a court’s gag order issued just the day before.

Kennedy ...Read more