FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The ominous mass of seaweed looming in the Atlantic and creeping our way set size records earlier this spring — it was huge. But last month it actually shrank, according to scientists from the University of South Florida.

The belt is supposed to get bigger at this time of year. In fact, this is the first time since ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden hailed this week’s budget agreement as proof of his ability to secure hard-won bipartisan victories, telling the nation it saved the U.S. from an “economic crisis” brought on by a first-ever debt default.

Biden in his inaugural prime-time address from the Oval Office said he would sign the measure on ...Read more

A Texas judge considering a challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program did not immediately issue a decision on Friday, one day after hearing oral arguments in the high-stakes federal court case.

Judge Andrew Hanen, who ruled two years ago against the legality of the DACA program, is reviewing revisions to the program made ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The testimony was alarming. For more than two weeks, jurors heard about deputy gangs, saw their tattoos and logos, learned about their inking parties and listened to witnesses talk about members’ alleged control over the sheriff’s station in Compton.

At one point, a deputy pulled up a pant leg to reveal a tattoo of a flaming...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used the first Oval Office speech of his presidency to declare victory after a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling passed both chambers of Congress, preventing a debt default and economic chaos.

In the 13-minute speech, the president praised Republican and Democratic negotiators and commended Speaker ...Read more

A prominent right-wing and anti-vaccine activist from New Jersey will serve 10 days behind bars for her role in some of the most brutal fighting during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Federal prosecutors likened Stephanie Hazelton, 51, of Medford — who also goes by the moniker Ayla Wolf — to “a commander on the battlefield�...Read more

BOSTON — The public defenders representing accused military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira have filed a motion for their client to be appointed additional representation at taxpayer expense.

Brendan Kelley and Allen Franco, both of the federal public defender office in Boston, wrote in a Friday filing that their client Jack Teixeira “is ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A top Treasury Department official met Friday with China’s new ambassador to the U.S, part of a series of tentative, recent steps to revive .high-level engagement between their two countries following a contentious period.

The meeting between Jay Shambaugh, the Treasury’s undersecretary for international affairs, and Xie Feng...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden defended a debt limit deal he struck with Republicans as necessary to prevent an “economic collapse” and said he would sign it on Saturday amid frustration from many lawmakers in both parties who backed the agreement reluctantly.

“No one got everything they wanted but the American people got what they ...Read more

The Bible was removed from elementary and middle school shelves in a Utah school district after a parent filed a complaint under the state's new law prohibiting "pornographic or indecent" material in schools.

But the decision is being appealed, a district spokesperson said.

The battle is playing out in the Davis School district in northern ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City’s so-called migrant respite centers are now housing more than 2,000 asylum seekers — and most of them have stayed at the sites for days despite promises from Mayor Eric Adams’ office that the facilities would be used only for short-term accommodations, the Daily News has learned.

The city’s newest respite ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — State senators unanimously voted to outlaw child marriage Friday, making Connecticut one of the last states in the region to ban the practice.

The legislation, which closes loopholes that currently allow probate judges to issue marriage licenses to 16- and 17-year-olds with the written consent of a parent or guardian, now ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — It took a day, but Tropical Storm Arlene became the first named storm on just the second day of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

Florida got a tiny scare as what had been Tropical Depression Two formed in the Gulf of Mexico, but its trajectory showed it would turn away from the Sunshine State and after not spinning up into ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Policy analysts, Democrats, and Republicans dissatisfied with the deal agree: Federal health programs have dodged a budgetary bullet in the Washington showdown over raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

A compromise bill, approved late Thursday by the Senate, includes some trims and caps on health spending for the next two years. ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Police captain introduced herself in city Circuit Court on Friday as the widow of James Blue III, and recounted in chilling detail the day her husband was shot dead, hoping the judge would impose the maximum sentence for the young shooter.

In the afternoon of Jan. 25, 2022, Lekeshia Blue recalled getting a phone call...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Police captain introduced herself in city Circuit Court on Friday as the widow of James Blue III, and recounted in chilling detail the day her husband was shot dead, hoping the judge would impose the maximum sentence for the young shooter.

In the afternoon of Jan. 25, 2022, Lekeshia Blue recalled getting a phone call...Read more

The last-minute deal to raise the debt limit averted a U.S. default, but risks making brinkmanship over federal borrowing a seasonal event as lawmakers wage fiscal war in Washington.

The agreement is expected to be signed Saturday by President Joe Biden just before a June 5 default deadline, capping weeks of bitter negotiations that strained ...Read more

Former President Donald Trump was reportedly hit with a subpoena for a classified document said to describe a potential U.S. plan to attack Iran — with his lawyers telling federal authorities they couldn’t find any such document.

The previously unknown subpoena was served in recent months, CNN reported Friday, as special counsel Jack Smith ...Read more