NEW YORK — The city’s Department of Investigation has launched a probe into accusations that top NYPD officials flouted local laws by thumbing out what have been criticized as politically charged social media posts, a spokeswoman for the watchdog agency told the New York Daily News on Wednesday.

The spokeswoman, Diane Struzzi, said the ...Read more

Two former students of a high school in Mountain View, California, were awarded $1 million and tuition reimbursement after they were expelled for wearing acne face masks, which were interpreted as "blackface," and sued.

A Santa Clara County jury sided with the former Saint Francis High School students who claimed the district was in breach of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The body that represents the University of Southern California’s faculty voted on Wednesday to censure the university’s president, Carol Folt, and provost, Andrew Guzman, citing both leaders’ mishandling of events around commencement.

In the USC Academic Senate’s vote, 21 members favored censuring the president and ...Read more

A bipartisan bill that would outlaw all child marriages in Missouri has run into resistance from Republicans in the Missouri House that could prevent it from becoming law.

The legislation, filed by Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, a Scott City Republican, and Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, would prohibit anyone under 18 from obtaining a...Read more

WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly voted to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday evening, with nearly all Republicans and most Democrats coming to Johnson’s rescue.

The final tally was 359-43, with 11 Republicans and 32 Democrats voting against the motion to table Greene’s resolution. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Occidental College's Board of Trustees has agreed to hold a vote on pro-Palestinian protesters' calls to divest from Israel, bringing the encampment on the Los Angeles campus to an end after nine days.

Leaders of Occidental's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter agreed the encampment would be taken down by Friday, the group...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Just weeks after its launch, Ada County’s new online elections transparency tool has drawn national attention, with a prominent technology publication saying that it will give election deniers “exactly what they’ve been asking for.”

The tool, Ballot Verifier, will give users free and direct access to every ballot cast ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is navigating one of his biggest budget shortfalls since taking office in 2019.

Tackling the state’s finances – with an economy that is the fifth largest in the world – is a tall order and Newsom is at the threshold of a critical moment in his political journey, a sliver of time that...Read more

Ex-Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s legal group has sued IBM Corp. subsidiary Red Hat Inc. claiming the company’s diversity goals led to the discriminatory treatment and termination of a former White male employee.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, America First Legal said that Allan Kingsley ...Read more

UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman in a Tuesday night email sent to the campus community reiterated there are some demands being made by students who have formed a solidarity encampment with Gaza that the university can accommodate, but not others.

Meanwhile, a similar encampment that formed at Chapman University entered its seventh day, with...Read more

WASHINGTON — Less than six months out from Election Day, the 10 most vulnerable House members are a mix of Republicans and Democrats, including two progressives facing tough primary challenges.

The other eight members to make the list will be battling to keep their seats in November. Taking over the No. 1 spot — after its occupant in our ...Read more

For years, scientists have listened to the clicks of sperm whales and wondered what they were saying.

While previous research scratched the surface of understanding, a new study — published May 7 in the journal Nature Communications — uses machine learning to pinpoint specific patterns in their speech.

With the help of artificial ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, California — Appearing at a memorial service for fallen officers, Gov. Gavin Newsom this week praised the “unprecedented” work done by the California Highway Patrol after he dispatched officers across the state to help combat organized retail theft rings and fentanyl trafficking.

The Newsom administration, facing increased ...Read more

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn woman who was repatriated from Syria with her family faces criminal charges for getting AK-47 training from ISIS — though she maintains through her lawyer that she was drummed into joining the terrorist group at age 17 by her father.

Halima Salman, an American citizen, flew into Kennedy Airport with her mother and ...Read more

SAN JOSE, California — Paul N. “Pete” McCloskey, a decorated Korean War combat marine who beat celebrity Shirley Temple to win a seat in Congress representing California in the late 1960s, then became the first Republican in the House to call for Richard Nixon’s resignation and a co-chair of the first Earth Day, died Wednesday. He was 96...Read more

WASHINGTON — An overwhelmingly bipartisan coalition has put a stop to U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's effort remove Mike Johnson as House speaker.

The vote to table the Georgia Republican’s motion to vacate was 259 in favor and 43 opposed. Greene and 10 other Republicans voted against the motion to table. So did 32 Democrats.

But the ...Read more

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made various claims about his health over the years, but the most shocking came Wednesday when it was revealed that Kennedy once insisted that a worm died in his brain over a decade ago.

Kennedy’s assertion, which was reported by The New York Times, was made during divorce proceedings from his ...Read more

Campus police arrested one person after disbanding a pro-Palestine protest Tuesday at the University of Kansas.

KU Student Affairs interacted with protesters multiple times in the past week, warning them police would get involved if they didn’t voluntarily remove tents from the KU Palestine Solidarity Encampment, said Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, ...Read more

Sacramento State’s chapter of Students for Justice Palestine said the university has agreed to meet demands to investigate and divest in Israel-tied investments that the group and others have protested on campus since late last month.

The agreement to change its investment policy language came late Tuesday night between the protesters and ...Read more