The Trump administration praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” for releasing a detained U.S. citizen, the latest White House move to curry favor with Russia in its efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The release also came with a new willingness by Putin to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and ...Read more

President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine on a potential peace deal, according to the Kremlin.

Putin made the offer during more than three hours of talks in St. Petersburg with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Kremlin foreign policy aide ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Democratic Gov. Josh Stein has urged North Carolina voters to cast their ballots in-person, arguing that a last-minute rule change is causing a surge in rejections of mail-in ballots.

In a social media post Tuesday, Stein said the new policies, approved last month in a party-line vote by the Republican-majority State Board of ...Read more

MIAMI — An American missionary who spent nearly three decades caring for orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti faces federal charges in Miami accusing him of sexually abusing one boy and attempting to sexually abuse another, following an FBI investigation into allegations of misconduct spanning years at children’s homes he operated.

...Read more

Top Democrats in Congress have joined a California immigrant and the Nevada State Democratic Party in suing the Trump administration over its unprecedented voter fraud probes in both states and broader efforts to meddle in state-run elections nationwide — alleging they are a “pretext to seize control over elections.”

The lawsuit, filed in...Read more

For hours before dawn, Paulsboro, New Jersey, police officers searched for a vehicle they had been told had struck a 9-year-old girl. They canvassed for damaged cars and scrambled to find surveillance footage from a nearby school and firehouse — even enlisting a school official to help them access recordings that could lead them to the driver ...Read more

LEWISTOWN, Pa. — The floats had been decorated, the public officials assembled, and now the parade was underway — a convoy of colorful trailers and pickup trucks rolling slowly through downtown.

Firetrucks passed grandmothers in lawn chairs and young children, squealing with delight as they fetched candy tossed by the fistful from passing ...Read more

Police in Corona, California, have arrested two 15-year-old girls on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder after they allegedly planned a school shooting.

Police launched an investigation into a school shooting plot on Oct. 6 when the FBI shared information about social media communications involving a potential threat at Corona High School,...Read more

Russia freed an American teacher four years after he was convicted there of fighting for Ukraine following a decision by President Donald Trump to offer the country sanctions relief.

Stephen Hubbard, 74, has already been taken to Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down an appeal from President Donald Trump and rejected his order to end hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in federal prisons.

The justices denied Trump’s appeal without comment, over dissents by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito.

The ...Read more

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- Few cities in California last week felt the full brunt of the climate crisis more than the small coastal town of San Clemente.

The beach city at the southern end of Orange County for months has been dealing with widespread coastal erosion from El Niño-related Pacific storms that has threatened a crucial rail line and ...Read more

MIAMI — Miami-Dade commissioners on Tuesday advanced a developer’s plan to transform the shuttered Seaquarium theme park into a marina and an entertainment center, waving off requests by environmental groups for a delay.

“This is an iconic property that is important to so many Miamians,” Rachel Silverstein, head of the Miami Waterkeeper...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After two weeks of testimony, a jury found that the Whitley County Detention Center and its corporate healthcare provider were not negligent after an inmate died in their care.

The verdict meant the jail and healthcare provider would not need to pay the family of Terri Beth Mays after her 2021 death. The jury returned the ...Read more

An appointment to a local library commission, reluctantly accepted, may not sound like an auspicious event. For Nancy Pelosi, however, that 1973 appointment launched what would become one of the most influential careers in modern American politics.

Pelosi’s work on the commission led to opportunities for higher office until she ...Read more

Whenever I drive amid the mazelike bustle of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway, where approximately 1 million vehicles transit daily, I see billboard advertisements for all manner of businesses: dentists, hotels, car and tire companies, and affordable funerals. Lots and lots of funerals.

For generations, Japan’s funeral system rested on ...Read more

Lawmakers are calling for a failed attack on the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Aurora, Illinois, to be investigated as a hate crime. On Oct. 11, 2026, as hundreds of Hindu worshippers gathered for the first day of Navaratri, a celebration of the divine feminine over nine nights, a 19-year-old man traveled to the Hindu temple, armed with a ...Read more

California’s coastal bluffs and beaches look rugged, but they can be surprisingly fragile in the face of a powerful El Niño.

The state saw that in 1982-83, when storms amid one of the most destructive El Niño winters in California history battered the coastline with powerful waves and torrential rain, leaving hundreds of millions ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla, — A University of North Florida poll released Wednesday shows Republican Byron Donalds with a two-point lead over Democrat David Jolly in the race to be the state’s next governor, meaning with less than two weeks to go before Election Day the contest is a dead heat.

The survey of 1,471 likely voters also shows Republican ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson is asking aldermen to ramp up spending on community violence intervention and launch a new office aimed at decreasing gun violence, part of an effort he says will help Chicago’s sharp decrease in violence continue.

Johnson’s budget proposal will include a $7 million bump for violence intervention workers to...Read more

NEW YORK — The city has deployed red light cameras to 600 intersections citywide, the maximum number allowed under state law, the Mamdani administration is expected to announce Wednesday.

“Safer streets aren’t a guessing game — we know the tools proven to keep New Yorkers safe,” the mayor said in a statement. “Red light cameras help...Read more