WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to establish a task force intended to eliminate fraud in food stamp and federal child nutrition programs, and other federal programs, addressing a GOP talking point after a fraud scheme was uncovered in Minnesota.

The order would establish a task force, led by Vice ...Read more

BOSTON — Ailing ex-FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly is waging a final battle to clear his name in a bombshell allegation that prosecutors withheld mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s prison manuscripts.

Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder in 2008, largely based on the testimony of Bulger hitmen Stephen Flemmi and John Martorano ...Read more

DENVER — Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was found not guilty of assaulting another inmate after a brief scufffle in January, though she was convicted of a lesser charge, the Department of Corrections said.

Peters had a disciplinary hearing on March 10, nearly two months after she grabbed a fellow inmate and shoved her into the middle of...Read more

A retired Phoenix Police homicide sergeant is shedding light on the errors of investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, over a month-and-a-half after she was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the middle of the night.

Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother to “Today” show co-host Savannah, was last seen on the evening of Jan. 31 ...Read more

All four living former presidents have denied President Donald Trump’s claim that one of them admitted regretting not attacking Iran while in the White House.

Spokespeople for Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden all said the leaders have not spoken to Trump about the conflict, let alone told him they wish they would have ...Read more

Traverse City — More than 105,000 customers were without power in Michigan Tuesday morning after a historic blizzard dumped more than 30 inches of snow in some places, closing schools for a second day and continuing to make roads impassable.

Southeast Mount Arvon area in the Upper Peninsula's Baraga County appears to have broken the one-day ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A group of California trial lawyers is backing a package of bills aimed at policing their industry by ramping up the penalties for attorneys who recruit clients illegally or prioritize the desires of hedge fund investors.

The Consumer Attorneys of California, a prominent trade group, said it is supporting two bills this session ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — With San Diego County under a heat advisory and fire season approaching, Ring is launching a new feature that lets neighbors and first responders share real-time wildfire information through the company’s app, the company announced Tuesday.

The new feature is called Fire Watch. Built into the Ring app, the integration combines ...Read more

NEW YORK — The MTA in New York on Tuesday filed suit against the Trump administration for stalling the release of tens of millions of contractually obligated funds for the second phase of the Second Ave. subway tunnel.

​The complaint filed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the court of federal claims says New York has been ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida’s 2026 regular session ended, and with it, a slew of hotly debated bills.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda for the session this year was thin. But even with the reduced wishlist, many bills died in House-Senate squabbles.

Here is some of the legislation that didn’t make it to DeSantis’ desk.

Vaccine exemptions

Florida ...Read more

Israel said it killed Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, in an overnight attack, intensifying a region-wide war that shows no sign of abating well into its third week.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has been “eliminated,” along with the commander of Iran’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Jewish faculty, students and others are calling on UC leaders to improve how they handle complaints of antisemitism — saying university response has been inadequate — but their viewpoints paint widely differing pictures of the campus climate for Jews.

One letter originated from a national group that works to combat ...Read more

A Denver food and cannabis investigator became suspicious of PolkaDot-branded chocolate bars sitting next to convenience store energy shots and nicotine pouches in January 2026.

Months earlier, California public health officials warned about PolkaDot-branded chocolate bars. California authorities destroyed more than US$3 million of ...Read more

Scientists are making rapid progress toward a long-awaited goal that could help to reshape cancer care: mRNA cancer vaccines with the potential to significantly boost the immune system’s ability to fight and eliminate tumors.

Since the early 2000s, there have been over 120 promising clinical trials testing the use of mRNA vaccines ...Read more

Before launching his war on Iran, President Donald Trump said his most important goal was that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon.” Yet it is not clear what, if anything, his administration has planned for dealing with Iran’s stock of enriched uranium that could be used to make nuclear bombs – or its remaining deeply buried ...Read more

Israel said it killed Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, in an overnight strike, intensifying a region-wide war that shows no sign of abating well into its third week.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the commander of Iran’s paramilitary Basij unit have both been “...Read more

It’s open enrollment season for Medicare Advantage, when people currently enrolled in private managed-care plans can either sign up for a new one or switch to original Medicare through March 31.

But there’s a catch: If people want to move to original Medicare and buy a supplemental Medigap insurance plan to cover some out-of-pocket costs, ...Read more