Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended his involvement in a $1.8 billion “weaponization” compensation fund at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday in his bid for the top Justice Department job.

Over the course of the hearing, Blanche sparred with Democrats and pushed back on concerns from some Republicans ...Read more

As last week’s meeting between Prince Harry and King Charles III approached, royal watchers wondered whether the family reunion would at some point include Prince William.

The answer was — and appears to remain — a resounding No.

“It’s so broken,” a royal insider told People in an interview, regarding the brothers’ relationship. ...Read more

DENVER — The Ferris fire burning in southwestern Colorado is the 10th-largest wildfire in state history, according to state data.

As of Wednesday, the Ferris fire had consumed 64,869 acres and was 43% contained, according to fire officials. It surpassed the 2013 West Fork fire, which consumed 58,570 acres, and was close in size to the 2002 ...Read more

As Jay Clayton took his seat before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, the scene was starkly different from 28 days ago.

Back in June, just hours before Clayton’s confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence was about to start, President Donald Trump abruptly ordered his nominee not to appear.

This time around, ...Read more

Wildfires burning across northern Minnesota are producing heavy, dense smoke, and light winds from the north are bringing it hundreds of miles south to the Twin Cities and central Minnesota.

A “fog bank” was settling in across northern Anoka and Washington counties in the Twin Cities as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and it’s poised to engulf ...Read more

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced tough questions from both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as he seeks to make his role permanent.

Blanche was pressed about a settlement agreement between the president and the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files, the ...Read more

The U.S. launched more airstrikes on Iran on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump pledged to intensify the bombardment until Tehran stops attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz and agrees to open the waterway.

The American military hit missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island, situated in the Persian Gulf near the strait, in...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS – Federal officials still have not acknowledged turning over their evidence from the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two days after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced state law enforcement officials had finally received it.

Multiple requests by the Minnesota Star Tribune for comment on who authorized the ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s administration has installed its own version of history at the President’s House, swapping storied panels on the brutality of slavery at the site for displays that experts say sanitize George Washington’s role as an enslaver.

The replacement caps a monthslong legal battle that was the first direct skirmish between...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — You don’t just put out a forest fire.

Or at least, humans don’t. Once forest fires reach the scale of those burning in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — reaching temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees — the only fire extinguisher is Mother Nature.

And experts say Mother Nature might not be up to this ...Read more

Todd Blanche fueled widespread concerns about his lack of independence when he committed a gaffe by saying he represents President Trump during a stormy Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination to be U.S. attorney general.

“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche said, referring to Trump, before quickly correcting the “is” to “was.”

Slip...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A small rally in Southern Nevada’s quaintest city had a big message.

Data centers aren’t welcome in the city that built Hoover Dam. But they may be coming anyway despite fierce resident protest — a fact that Boulder City restaurateur and longtime resident Grant Turner said he has come to terms with.

Many Boulder City ...Read more

At 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, federal judges in the Western District of Washington swore in former King County Superior Court judge and federal prosecutor Roger Rogoff as their pick for U.S. attorney.

Fifty-four minutes later, President Donald Trump fired him.

Rogoff, who recently resigned as director of the state office of independent ...Read more

DETROIT — The number of cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan rose to 3,762 as of Wednesday morning, a 13.7% increase over Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said.

That's a smaller percent increase than that between Monday and Tuesday ― 25%. Tuesday's case total was 3,309.

Forty-four people have reportedly been ...Read more

In an unconventional move, Gov. Ron DeSantis has scheduled the execution of death row inmate James Duckett — a former Mascotte police officer who, claiming innocence, pushed for DNA tests this year — on the same day he’s set the execution of another convicted killer.

If both executions are carried out on July 28, it would be the first ...Read more

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former Haitian president Michel Martelly has returned home.

Martelly, who lives in Miami, arrived in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday after traveling from the northern city of Cap-Haïtien aboard a Sunrise Airways flight. His rare visit comes as an investigative judge continues to re-examine the investigation into the ...Read more

CHICAGO — A parasite causing “explosive diarrhea” has caused widespread panic across the country, adding new complexities to safe food handling at home and worrying diners about ordering the wrong leafy green at a restaurant. Health experts in Chicago say caution is warranted either way, but suggest considering several key factors before ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Wednesday began forecasting the potential of a tropical depression or storm forming from a system targeting Florida.

In its 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the NHC said an area of low pressure is expected to form during the weekend over the northeastern Gulf.

“Subsequent slow development of this ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS – A fifth day of dangerous heat comes with a new hazard: poor air quality.

Smoke from several wildfires burning in northern Minnesota and Ontario will continue sliding south Wednesday, bringing another reason to limit time outdoors, the National Weather Service said.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued a ...Read more