President Donald Trump has spent the first major overseas trip of his second administration — next stop Wednesday in Qatar — beating back allegations that he was personally profiting from foreign leaders by accepting a $400-million luxury airliner from the Gulf state’s royal family.

Trump has bristled at the notion that he should turn ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida rapper YNW Melly must remain behind bars until his double murder retrial, a has judge ordered.

In a March motion, Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, had sought release for the second time since his 2023 trial ended in a hung jury. By that point, he had been imprisoned for more than 2,000 days, his ...Read more

HARRISBURG, Pa. — After years of opposing such a measure, Pennsylvania Democrats on Tuesday were poised to allow a vote in the state House on a bill that, if passed, would create new ID requirements to vote in the state — acquiescing on a top GOP priority and marking the first step towards breaking a yearslong stalemate over election law in ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Qatar’s offer of a luxury Boeing 747 to President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells within the U.S. intelligence and diplomatic community, where gifts from foreign powers have long been viewed with suspicion.

Aside from any legal and ethical qualms about Trump accepting the plane — an 89-seater with a sumptuous French-...Read more

ATLANTA — With the stroke of a pen Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a measure aimed at ensuring intellectually disabled people aren’t executed in Georgia.

House Bill 123, which passed both legislative chambers with bipartisan support, lowers the legal threshold required to show someone has an intellectual disability in ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Tuesday ruled that state laws that mandate a 24-hour waiting period and informed consent before a pregnancy can be terminated violate the state's constitutional right to abortion.

Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel also found unconstitutional the state's prohibition on advanced practice ...Read more

Christopher “Kit” Bond, a former Missouri governor and U.S. senator who, over 24 years, changed the face of Kansas City, died Tuesday in his native St. Louis at age 86 .

A Republican who was served two terms as Missouri Governor (1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1985) Bond, while in the U.S. Senate, was responsible for supporting or shepherding ...Read more

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Reed D. Rubinstein of Maryland as the State Department’s senior adviser.

Rubinstein was confirmed in a party-line vote, 52-46. No Democrats supported his nomination. Sens. Cory Booker and Lindsey Graham did not vote.

This will be Rubinstein’s second time serving in Trump’s administration. During Trump...Read more

Harvard University expanded its lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration for freezing billions of dollars in federal funds, ratcheting up the high-stakes legal battle between the wealthiest U.S. university and the White House.

University lawyers revised their lawsuit on the same day the federal Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism ...Read more

ATLANTA — An appellate court seemed skeptical that a district court judge considered whether True the Vote was trying to intimidate voters with mass challenges following Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

A three-judge panel at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta considered whether U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones ...Read more

NEW YORK — Casandra “Cassie” Ventura took the stand as the star witness at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial in New York Tuesday, relaying horrific beatings she endured by the multimillionaire hip-hop mogul and being forced to participate in dayslong, demoralizing, and disgusting sexual performances with male sex ...Read more

Weeks before George Clooney called on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, the seemingly “catatonic” commander-in-chief failed to recognize the actor, who he’s known for years.

Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin,” pulls back the curtain on the demise of Biden’s reelection efforts and how ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California became a national pioneer four years ago by passing a law to make ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement. But only months before the policy is to take effect, Gov. Gavin Newsom is withholding state funding — delaying the mandate as the course comes under renewed fire.

The pause has left school districts...Read more

SAN DIEGO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta has opened an investigation into allegations of civil rights abuses at San Diego County’s two juvenile lockups, the East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility in Otay Mesa and the Youth Transition Campus in Kearny Mesa.

The investigation, announced Tuesday, names the County of San Diego, which ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — State political and law enforcement leaders are preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could pardon former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s federal conviction in connection with the murder of George Floyd.

Responding to questions from reporters this week, Gov. Tim Walz said the White House has ...Read more

It’s now been over 100 days since President Donald Trump returned to the White House following his reelection. In that short time, he enacted a whirlwind of wide-ranging policies, including on immigration, trade and federal spending.

In response, his favorability rating among Americans has declined — particularly among one demographic, ...Read more

The Alaska House on Monday narrowly adopted a new pension plan for state employees, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration.

The bill passed in a 21-19 vote, dividing the chamber along caucus lines.

However, the Senate is unlikely to vote on its passage before the end of the regular session next week, Senate Majority Leader Cathy ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando restaurant won a significant court victory against Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday with a federal appeals panel rejecting a Florida law aimed at keeping children out of drag shows, saying it was overly broad and likely unconstitutional.

Judges sided with Hamburger Mary’s, a drag-themed eatery, in a 2-1 decision. The ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 20 states filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration Tuesday seeking to stop policies to withhold grants for transportation and homeland security in jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday during a conference call with ...Read more