Apple Inc. and Google warned U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that bipartisan antitrust legislation aimed at curbing the power of big technology companies will threaten the privacy and security of users.

Escalating its opposition to the legislation, Apple sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin; the panel’s ranking Republican, ...Read more

HONG KONG — Hong Kong activist Edward Leung, who popularized a now-banned protest slogan, was released from a maximum-security prison after serving four years behind bars for his role in a violent protest.

Leung, once a self-described Hong Kong “localist” whose more radical approach to politics won him supporters among protesters, was ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Los Angeles has been chosen by the Biden administration to host this year’s Summit of the Americas, a key gathering that U.S. officials hope will help mend diplomatic fences in the Western Hemisphere.

The White House announced Tuesday night that the meeting — to be held on U.S. soil for the second time since the forum was ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oakland on Tuesday became the latest California city to ban the components for easy-to-assemble and impossible-to-trace “ghost guns,” whose popularity has spiked in recent years, amid a wave of gun violence in the city.

The ordinance, which passed unopposed, takes aim at the rapid proliferation of the firearms, which ...Read more

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Hochul pitched a $216 billion state budget proposal on Tuesday that would increase education spending, fund pandemic recovery initiatives and provide bonuses for health care and frontline workers.

The governor and her top budget officials painted a rosy outlook for Empire State’s fiscal future thanks to federal COVID ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas — More than 250 families in the path of the Rolling Pines fire in Bastrop County were asked to flee their homes Tuesday night, but local officials said no homes had been damaged so far. The fire, which has burned about 640 acres, grew quickly during the day's windy conditions and is still only 10% contained.

Bastrop County and ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE — The Republican majority on the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday advanced a measure that attempts to tackle one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top legislative priorities: barring the influence of critical race theory in schools and businesses across Florida.

But as lawmakers start work on the proposal, they have not yet included a ...Read more

Some U.S. colleges are taking advantage of the convenience of vending machines – supplying them with COVID-19 tests instead of snacks as the infectious omicron variant continues to spread.

This comes as the current seven-day average for new positive cases in the U.S. hit 782,766 as of Jan. 12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dr. Raul Pino, who became a trusted voice of the pandemic response in the nation’s tourist capital, has been placed on administrative leave from his post as the state’s chief health officer in Orange County as the Florida Department of Health conducts an investigation.

Sources who spoke to the Orlando Sentinel on condition...Read more

LOS ANGELES — “I have a bullet wound right here,” the panicked caller can be heard telling a 911 operator, his voice trembling. “I have my best friend shot.”

“I’m in the bathroom,” a young woman whispers, her voice barely audible. “I no longer hear the shots being fired.”

Those and other emergency calls made on Nov. 7, 2018...Read more

The judge overseeing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy approved its debt-cutting plan, a decision that leaves the island poised to exit bankruptcy after hurricanes, political turmoil and the pandemic prolonged the more than four-year process.

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain released the ruling Tuesday, saying “the provisions of the plan...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Three Sharon Hill police officers were charged with manslaughter Tuesday for killing 8-year-old Fanta Bility while firing at a car outside a high school football game in August.

After a grand jury investigation, officers Devon G. Smith, Sean Patrick Dolan, and Brian James Devaney face counts of voluntary manslaughter, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Veteran journalist Margarito Martínez Esquivel climbed into his truck Monday, just after lunch, heading out to cover yet another violent crime in one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Moments later, he was shot dead in his driveway.

Hiram Sánchez Zamora, chief prosecutor for central Baja California, said Tuesday a 9mm ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 model predicts Minnesota's record wave of coronavirus infections will peak Jan. 26 and could be followed by a rapid decline based on other states.

A quick peak to Minnesota's fifth pandemic wave would be welcome news in a state that on Tuesday reported another 10,651 coronavirus infections and 29 COVID-19 ...Read more

MIAMI — A scarce monoclonal antibody for people who cannot build immunity from COVID-19 vaccines will be prioritized for distribution to Florida hospitals with large numbers of organ transplant and cancer patients, the Florida Department of Health said on Tuesday, signaling a change in strategy more than three weeks after the state passed over...Read more

ATLANTA — For more than 150 years, Morehouse College has built a reputation as a leading institution to educate Black men.

It also wants to be known as the go-to place for research that results in better health, professional and societal outcomes for all Black men.

The Atlanta college announced Tuesday that it has launched what officials ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Los Angeles has been chosen by the Biden administration to host this year’s Summit of the Americas, a key gathering that U.S. officials hope will help mend diplomatic fences in the Western Hemisphere, officials familiar with the decision said.

The White House is expected to announce later Tuesday that the meeting — to be held...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's COVID-19 numbers continue to climb as the state set another daily case record for the sixth time in less than three weeks.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported more than 20,000 new cases on Sunday, beating the record previously set on Friday. With the 68,597 cases added over the ...Read more