WASHINGTON — The Virginia Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Monday over a challenge to the validity of the redistricting referendum, the latest step in a fast-moving court battle over the commonwealth’s congressional map.

Monday’s oral arguments, stemming from a challenge brought by Republican Virginia Senate Minority Leader ...Read more

A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 8½ years in prison for trying to join the terrorist group ISIS.

Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, a 23-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, received his sentence Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul after previously pleading guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department watchdog office announced Thursday it will audit the department’s compliance with a bipartisan law that ordered the release of records on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

For months, lawmakers and survivors of Epstein’s abuse have slammed the Justice Department’s messy handling of the files and ...Read more

The prospect of Iran agreeing to more in-person peace talks with the U.S. is being hindered by President Donald Trump’s threats and brash social media posts, according to several officials with knowledge of the diplomatic efforts to end their war.

Trump’s Truth Social posts — as well as his decision to continue with a naval blockade of ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — The pivotal piece of evidence that tied Bryan Kohberger to the Moscow crime scene changed hands several times among law enforcement before it arrived for lab testing, and may have been challenged at his murder trial over its documentation.

Forensic scientist Brent Turvey, who worked as a crime scene analysis expert for ...Read more

Amal Khalifa "felt human" for the first time after she fled Egypt in 2019 for the United States and found kind treatment from police when she reported being a victim of domestic violence.

"When I walked into that precinct I felt like a human being for the first time in my whole life," Khalifa said. "I like the system here — it is there to ...Read more

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read wants access to “staggeringly” offensive texts between disgraced former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor — who investigated her for murder — and Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode.

That is to support her lawsuit against the MSP and one she will be filing “in the coming weeks,” according to ...Read more

Nearly one-fifth of Americans relied on drinking water systems with elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrate in recent years, according to a new study released Thursday.

The nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined test data collected by water systems across the country between 2021 and 2023, the most recent data available.

...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno City Council unanimously approved reverting Cesar Chavez Boulevard to the streets’ original names three years after the signs were hung in honor of the late civil rights leader.

The vote Thursday came one month after The New York Times investigation reported that Chavez, who died at 66 in 1993, allegedly groomed ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — When federal, state and local law enforcement agencies descended on the small town of Wilder, Idaho, last year as part of an investigation into an illegal horse gambling operation that was used to round up scores of immigrants, four protesters were also arrested.

And when these protesters showed up to try to get answers about ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner’s mother shared details of his troubled childhood in a Tarrant County courtroom Wednesday as defense attorneys began presenting their case in Horner’s capital murder trial.

Horner, 34, has already pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Athena Strand after delivering a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would investigate federal employees placing bets on event-betting platforms, indicating concerns with prediction markets amid worries that individuals are using confidential government information to profit.

Trump was asked Thursday about reports that federal authorities had arrested a special ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Some of the nation’s top Black business leaders want to see Gov. Wes Moore return for a second term as Maryland’s governor.

In its first round of 2026 endorsements, the political arm of the Black Economic Alliance PAC (BEA PAC) on Thursday endorsed Moore’s reelection bid, a week ahead of the governor’s official campaign ...Read more

A Virginia Beach judge halted the city from enforcing its Oceanfront curfew, which had been set to resume Friday night.

Circuit Judge Tanya Felton made the ruling after nearly seven hours of argument and testimony.

Three business owners had asked the court Monday to issue a temporary restraining order on Monday, citing what they called severe ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Trump administration on Thursday launched a civil rights probe into New York City’s public schools over claims that pro-Palestinian teachers discriminated against Jewish students.

In a news release, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, said it received reports about a coalition of teachers ...Read more

RICHMOND, Va. — The General Assembly met briefly Thursday for a special session, but they left without a budget deal in place.

“No white smoke,” Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, told reporters Wednesday. That’s a reference to the process of selecting a new Pope — when the smoke pouring out of the ...Read more

NEW YORK — In the oil market, volatility recently spiked to levels not seen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Commodities and stocks globally have whipsawed in response to every twist and turn in the Iran war: A strike, a pause, a threat to wipe out a civilization, a ceasefire; then a deal, no deal, and the prospect of one again.

One ...Read more

BAISARIYEH, Lebanon — The coffin of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil floated above the crowd, draped in the red, white and green of the Lebanese flag, with Khalil's press vest and helmet balanced on top.

Khalil, a veteran 43-year-old journalist for the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, was killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on the house she was ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — It started out as a well-planned law-enforcement operation that culminated in the successful take-down of an illicit drug laboratory deep in the mountains of Mexico’s northern Chihuahua state.

But last weekend’s raid has now become a flash point inflaming U.S.-Mexico tensions as officials on both sides of the border ...Read more

When a couple marry in a church, synagogue or mosque, the ceremony does more than sanctify a union. Often, it binds two families to an institution.

For centuries, marriage and child-rearing have been among the main ways adults are integrated into congregational life. Couples who share the same faith tend to be more observant, and they...Read more