Current News

/

ArcaMax

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

NC voters indicted as Trump administration targets noncitizens in fraud cases

Current News / News & Features /

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal grand jury has indicted 10 people on charges of falsely claiming citizenship and of unlawful voting by a noncitizen in North Carolina’s 2024 elections.

Eight of the defendants appeared in court Thursday morning, the same day that early voting began statewide. The men and women were brought into a federal courtroom ...Read more

HOWARD COHEN/Miami Herald/TNS

Oysters linked to a salmonella outbreak have been recalled from Publix stores

Current News / News & Features /

Oysters connected to a salmonella outbreak have been recalled from Publix stores, the supermarket chain announced.

The shellstock oysters, sold at Publix under the brand James River Oysters, were recalled by Virginia’s Little Wicomico Oyster Company. The Virginia Department of Health says this covers oysters harvested from Sept. 18 through ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

NYC judge censured for whipping out gun during NYPD cop's testimony

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — A New York City judge packing heat on the bench was censured for pulling out his firearm in court while an NYPD officer testified during a “little experiment” into whether the cop could tell if someone had a gun in their bag.

The object lesson by Judge Jeffrey Gershuny occurred at an Aug. 5, 2025, suppression hearing in ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump rejects Hegseth's bid to stream firing squad execution

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump rejected plans to livestream the execution of a former Army major who killed 13 people in 2009, overruling Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s proposal after facing intense bipartisan backlash.

Trump said Thursday the execution would proceed, and that it may be viewed in person by the immediate families of ...Read more

Minneapolis City Council wants to subpoena Mayor Jacob Frey and his staff

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis City Council members are exploring whether they could subpoena Mayor Jacob Frey and other city employees to appear before them to answer questions after Frey recently began limiting how much time his staff spends in council meetings.

The council wants to have city attorneys explore legal options to force the Frey ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A little bipartisan bromance as Schwarzenegger, Gov. Gavin Newsom laud California's climate change wins

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, celebrated the 20-year anniversary of landmark climate legislation he signed while in office alongside Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.

“California is the perfect example of what can be done when people work together and when we don’t look at this as a ...Read more

Friends of Big Bear Valley/TNS

Cause of death for Jackie the bald eagle revealed; avian icon has been cremated

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Jackie amassed millions of devoted fans thanks to a nonstop livestream of the aerie overlooking Big Bear Lake she shared with mate Shadow. When Big Bear’s celebrity eagle died in August, questions swirled about what had gone wrong.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday that Jackie died from highly ...Read more

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Zelenskyy orders new Russia refinery attacks in Trump rebuke

Current News / News & Features /

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered attacks on Russian oil refineries to resume in a spiraling confrontation with Donald Trump over restrictions on U.S. intelligence assistance.

Zelenskyy said he’s ending a three-day pause on strikes in response to the U.S. president’s call on Sunday for an “energy ceasefire” after he ...Read more

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images North America/TNS

Matt Bevin's contempt of court not discussed at latest hearing. What's next in the case?

Current News / News & Features /

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former Gov. Matt Bevin was not present for a court hearing in his child support and divorce case Thursday, the first one since his arrest for contempt of court, but his attorneys appeared to make arguments on his behalf.

The case could reach a resolution soon, but the judge in the case is requesting more information before ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ex-Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz accused in suit of sex trafficking young women

Current News / News & Features /

Two women have filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz and two others of participating in an alleged sex trafficking scheme involving young women, drugs and traveling across state lines.

The allegations are the latest chapter in Gaetz’s high-profile sex scandal that ultimately derailed his nomination by ...Read more

U.S. Coast Guard Southeast/U.S. Coast Guard Southeast/TNS

Coast Guard brings 30,000 pounds of seized cocaine and marijuana to Broward County port

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter crew offloaded tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine and almost 4,000 pounds of marijuana Wednesday that were seized during an anti-smuggling tour off South and Central America.

The Cutter Tampa’s crew returned to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale ferrying 29,600 pounds of cocaine and 2,355 pounds of ...Read more

Marra X. Finkelstein/Miami Herald/TNS

Who gave the most to Miami's mayor as she bankrolls a campaign for city bonds?

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI — As Miami’s mayor uses her political war chest to urge voters to approve new borrowing for city police and fire stations, those dollars are coming from developers, city vendors and Airbnb.

The Miami Herald tallied PAC donations for Mayor Eileen Higgins since she took office in December. She’s raised about $525,000 in nine months ...Read more

Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California test scores creep up, but still fail to offset pandemic setbacks 6 years later

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — This year's state test scores provided a mixed send-off for the education legacy of Gov. Gavin Newsom, with incremental gains in English and math, but results that continue to fall short of prepandemic achievement levels.

A clear marker of this mixed picture is English language arts: The percent of students scoring proficient or...Read more

Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

United Nations renews Haiti sanctions, panel of experts, but adds no new names to blacklist

Current News / News & Features /

The United Nations Security Council has renewed travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargo measures for Haiti for another year, but added no new names to its sanctions blacklist, despite a damning report detailing allegations of political figures’ involvement in fueling the country’s deadly gang crisis.

The council also extended the ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

LA voters worry about outside influence in midterm elections, new poll finds

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County voters are concerned about a host of voter fraud issues that could disrupt the Nov. 3 general election, even though they have a high degree of confidence in local elections officials, according to a new poll funded by the nonprofit California Community Foundation.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents expressed...Read more

About 60% of eligible young Americans say they plan to vote in the 2026 midterms. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty

Young voters fear mass shootings but are divided on gun control

Current News / News & Features /

Nearly 50 million Americans ages 18 to 29 are eligible to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, and about 60% say they plan to. If they follow through, it would break midterm turnout records for voters under 30.

Gun control is an issue these young voters care about more than the public at large does, and it’s easy to understand ...Read more

A sticker on a lamppost warns of voter fraud on Nov. 7, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska.  Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Why the GOP’s voter fraud messaging may backfire

Current News / News & Features /

With Election Day 2026 just weeks away and control of Congress hanging in the balance, the results will almost certainly hinge on voter turnout, just as they did in 2024.

Given that genuinely undecided voters are scarce — as little as 5% to 7% of the electorate, according to major polls — both Democrats and Republicans must look ...Read more

Ketamine and many other psychoactive substances can't be detected by most standard drug screens, so it's unclear how often they play a role in sexual assault. D-Keine/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Ketamine’s role in alleged Cornell rape highlights flood of psychoactive drugs on campus

Current News / News & Features /

Former Cornell student Jane Doe, who filed a civil lawsuit in September 2026 alleging that seven fraternity members raped her at a party, said the young men who assaulted her pressured her into taking the drug ketamine.

As an emergency room physician, medical toxicologist and the head of student health services at the University of ...Read more

An engraving from 1826 shows a Scottish traveler fighting witches and demons in a church graveyard. Florilegius/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Americans who go to church and trust science are also more likely to believe in ghosts and curses, new research shows

Current News / News & Features /

Americans who trust science and reason more than their churches’ teachings, but still believe in God or attend services, are also more likely to believe in magic than those who prioritize religious teachings.

This was the central finding of a study my co-authors and I published in the journal Social Forces in July 2026. We analyzed ...Read more

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Zelenskyy defies Trump, orders new Russian refinery attacks

Current News / News & Features /

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered attacks on Russian oil refineries to resume in a spiraling confrontation with Donald Trump over restrictions on U.S. intelligence assistance.

Zelenskyy said he’s ending a three-day pause on strikes in response to the U.S. president’s call on Sunday for an “energy ceasefire” after he ...Read more