CHICAGO — A new family of COVID variants nicknamed “FLiRT” is spreading across the country, as vaccination rates in Chicago — as well as nationwide — remain concerningly low for some public health experts.

While symptoms and severity seem to be about the same as previous COVID strains, the new FLiRT variants appear to be more ...Read more

MIAMI — After hours of contentious debate, Doral city council members voted Wednesday to move toward shuttering bars earlier in CityPlace Doral — a month after a mass shooting at Martini Bar killed two people and injured seven others.

Under the newly approved ordinance, most bars, nightclubs and entertainment venues would have a last call ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court refused on Thursday to give innocent owners of seized cars a right to an immediate hearing to reclaim their vehicles.

Instead, the justices in a 6-3 decision said the Constitution requires a "timely hearing" to consider whether the police had properly arrested the driver and seized the vehicle, but that may take...Read more

NEW YORK — Stormy Daniels is facing tough questions from Donald Trump’s defense team as she returned to the witness stand following her bombshell testimony on the alleged Lake Tahoe tryst with the former president as his hush money trial resumed Thursday in Manhattan.

Keying in on a central part of Daniels’ testimony about her encounter ...Read more

ATLANTA — A congressional committee has asked former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade to testify behind closed doors about his relationship with DA Fani Willis.

In a letter dated Thursday, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked Wade to appear for an interview and to produce numerous ...Read more

DETROIT — A Michigan man accused of planning to blow up The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts last year has been indicted, federal officials said.

Luke Isaac Terpstra, 30, of Grant, was charged Tuesday with transporting an explosive and possessing a destructive device, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten said in a ...Read more

MIAMI — A proposed new voting map that will go before the Miami City Commission on Thursday as part of a settlement in a racial gerrymandering case makes minor changes to demographics and political affiliations in districts for the city’s five nonpartisan seats, drawing one commissioner out of his district and affirming the residency of ...Read more

MIAMI — City governments across South Florida moved quickly last October to express support for Israel and condemn an unprecedented and brutal attack by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took another 250 hostage.

In the months since, however, local politicians have largely avoided passing proclamations as ...Read more

The damage to the Orion capsule from the Artemis I mission is already top of mind for NASA as it works to make the Artemis II mission safe for humans. But a new agency report revealed the extent of the problem, including scores of cracks in Orion’s critical heat shield.

The report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General outlined six issues ...Read more

As Kansas lawmakers fail to pass a medicinal marijuana program, nearly 2,000 Kansans have crossed the state line to obtain medicinal marijuana licenses in Missouri, The Star has learned.

Exactly 1,834 Kansans currently hold a medicinal marijuana license in Missouri, according to a report by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services ...Read more

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein appeared in a Queens courtroom Thursday morning as prosecutors fought an extradition request to send him back to California following the stunning overturning of his New York rape and sex assault conviction.

California authorities have requested that New York City law enforcement officials bring the disgraced media...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Superior Court's downtown central division did away with its pretrial motions department last week in a change that appears linked to recent controversy surrounding a judge who was censured by a state judicial oversight body and disqualified from hearing certain racial bias cases.

The change was celebrated by defense...Read more

ATLANTA — Wednesday’s announcement from the Georgia Court of Appeals that it will review a judge’s ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue prosecuting former President Donald Trump will have major implications on the election interference case.

Here’s what the consideration from the state’s second-...Read more

This article was published on Dec. 15, 2023 From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. government has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s war effort. The Biden administration has repeatedly produced emergency spending packages to support the Ukrainian government and military. That funding has so far ...Read more

NEW YORK — Stormy Daniels is expected to return to the witness stand Thursday following her bombshell first day of testimony to be cross-examined by Donald Trump’s defense team as the former president’s hush money trial resumes in Manhattan.

In a brutal day for the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s election, the adult film ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Dec. 4, 2023, that Victor Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. government employee, had been arrested and faced federal charges for secretly acting for decades as an agent of the Cuban government. Rocha joined the State Department in 1981 and served for over 20 years, rising to the level of ambassador. After...Read more

WASHINGTON — Six months after the launch of the Biden administration’s “birthing friendly” designation for hospitals, advocates are questioning the next steps for the tool aimed at incentivizing better care for patients.

Beginning last fall, hospitals that achieved the designation received an icon on Care Compare, a federal website ...Read more