MIAMI — Venezuelan Americans in South Florida urged the Trump administration on Wednesday to intensify efforts to remove the Venezuelan regime from power, arguing that the recent earthquake has made the need for a democratic transition even more urgent.

The disaster, which struck Venezuela’s central and coastal regions with twin quakes ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to ensure government records are preserved in case he’s criminally indicted so he can seek to prove the charges are “vindictive.”

“President Trump has been condemning and calling for Director Brennan’s prosecution for years,” ...Read more

Donald Trump may have taken over events in Washington around the nation’s 250th birthday, but the president is far removed from most activities in the states that have been part of America from the beginning — the 13 original colonies stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia.

Among the thousands of events planned in those states to ...Read more

If you have ever hiked in the high peaks of Colorado, the Wasatch Range in Utah or the Tetons in Wyoming, you’ve almost certainly seen a rock glacier, perhaps without even knowing it.

Rock glaciers are slow-moving masses of rock debris and ice that flow downhill the same way that glaciers do, but they are covered by a thick layer of...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s Conviction Review Unit, the statewide agency that reviewed potential wrongful convictions, has closed, Attorney General Keith Ellison told board members in a letter Wednesday.

Ellison said he chose to wind down the CRU due to budgetary constraints.

“I am very proud of the work our CRU has done, work which has ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear toured flood damage in two Kentucky communities Wednesday, and said he believes the request for financial relief from the federal government to victims to be a “slam dunk.”

Beshear made stops in Cumberland County and Madison County to get a better understanding of how much damage there was from the ...Read more

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said AI data centers must be prohibited from being built in rural neighborhoods.

Speaking Tuesday at a campaign event in Bullard, Texas, Abbott said he has already made it clear that data centers wanting to build in Texas need to bring their own money, power, and water.

“We must prohibit them from building AI data ...Read more

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Virginia and Virginia State Police saying that the state law banning the purchase and sale of some firearms is unconstitutional.

The law as signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger includes semi-automatic center-fire rifles or pistols with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds in its definition.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Brittany Clark was a “beautiful, unforgettable soul” who fought to survive after an alligator attacked her while she cooled off from a hike in the Econlockhatchee River on Sunday, according a friend with her that afternoon.

Clark, 31, of Orlando died later that day from injuries suffered in the attack, witnessed by her ...Read more

California’s effort to restrict sales of handguns that can be converted into fully-automatic machine guns drew an immediate federal challenge Wednesday, with the Trump administration suing the state over its new “Glock ban” law just hours after it took effect.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a court order to block the ...Read more

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Over 700 sailors and leadership from squadrons and commands based at Naval Air Station Oceana packed into the Globemasters’ hangar Wednesday to hear remarks from Vice President JD Vance about the 250th anniversary of the nation’s military.

“When we talk about the Declaration of Independence that protects life and ...Read more

NEW YORK — A daredevil couple climbed to the top of the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday and unfurled a banner about love during an apparent marriage proposal.

Cops were called to the iconic W. 34th St. skyscraper after Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, stars of a 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The just-approved California state budget strips authority from the elected state superintendent of public instruction, transferring power in January to an appointee of the governor, dramatically changing the oversight and management of a public school system serving more than 6 million students from preschool through 12th grade....Read more

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018, was more than a crime. It was a call to action, to a bipartisan determination to protect those among the most vulnerable — our schoolchildren — and to do it in a way that makes meaningful change and holds power accountable for its failures.

The...Read more

Several laws restricting access to medications that can be used to terminate a pregnancy and others placing limits on minors’ access to sexual and reproductive healthcare — including the HPV vaccine — take effect Wednesday, July 1, in Iowa, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Many bills were considered in state legislatures earlier this year that ...Read more

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell was “unconscious” at his home in Washington, D.C., before he was taken to the hospital around two weeks ago, according to EMS radio traffic shared by media outlets this week.

Punchbowl News reported that a dispatcher directed an Advanced Life Support ambulance to the Kentucky Republican’s address at 8:36 a.m. ...Read more

CHICAGO — After nearly three years at the helm of the country’s second-largest police department, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling will retire on July 15.

“During the past three years, I have had the privilege to lead this department through the 2024 Democratic National Convention and a record-low reduction in shootings, ...Read more

Venezuela’s earthquake catastrophe entered its seventh day Wednesday with the official death toll climbing to 2,295, while a deepening crisis over missing persons, displacements and deteriorating conditions in the hardest-hit areas intensified pressure on the country’s fragile post-Maduro government.

The twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude ...Read more

NEW YORK — Daredevils Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus climbed the Empire State Building Wednesday and unfurled a banner calling for peace.

Nikolau, 33, posted live footage of herself wandering around the skyscraper’s antenna while looking down at the crowds gathered 1,450-feet below. She and her 32-year-old fiance are no strangers to ...Read more