WASHINGTON — Senate leaders plan for the chamber to vote next week to clear the bicameral compromise National Defense Authorization Act for President Donald Trump’s signature.

As the fiscal 2026 bill edges closer to enactment, one of the few last-minute controversies shadowing it concerns whether the measure goes far enough to restrict ...Read more

Congress appears poised to spend money in 2026 on beach replenishment projects in wake of the zero dollars it allocated this year.

But bills proposed in the House by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and in the Senate by U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., appear to still fall woefully short of what’s needed, a coastal advocacy group says. U.S...Read more

MIAMI — The U.S. Southern Command, the Pentagon’s combatant outpost based in Miami-Dade County that is at the center of escalating tensions in the southern Caribbean, has a new commander.

Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey officially relinquished his duties Friday, passing command responsibilities to his deputy, Lt. General Evan L. Pettus, an Air Force...Read more

A quintessential holiday spice made by a single manufacturer has been recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for possible contamination.

The FDA recalled Lucky Foods brand cinnamon powder on Tuesday after an analysis conducted by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets found high levels of lead.

It's unclear how the...Read more

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday said President Donald Trump “just sits in the Oval Office and just hurls 1980s tropes about Baltimore” — the latest jab in a months-long feud between the two leaders.

Moore chastised Trump in an appearance on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” show, where one of the show’s hosts asked him to react to Trump ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that would allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives after the controversial bill barely cleared the Senate during the fall legislative session, where one skeptic said it could bring “a culture of death” to Illinois.

Illinois now joins at least 10 ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday blocked efforts by an immigrant rights group seeking workers compensation benefits for undocumented immigrant workers in Michigan.

The high court, which held a hearing on the case in October, ruled 4-3 that Michigan Immigrant Rights Center should not be allowed to appeal the case, which ...Read more

BOSTON — Jurors will have to weigh whether the absence of Ana Walshe’s body leaves enough reasonable doubt to acquit her husband, Brian Walshe, of murdering her.

The jury, composed of six men and six women, began deliberating at around 12:20 p.m. Friday and ended the day at 4:17 p.m. without a verdict.

In closing arguments at Norfolk ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brian Cahill had never been to a protest caroling event in his life, he admitted.

Cahill, who is 66 and lives in Fair Oaks, was among 45 people who walked around downtown Sacramento on a chilly Thursday evening. The group sang a medley of traditional songs and modified Christmas carols that protested Donald Trump’s ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging President Donald Trump’s plans to construct a ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing.

The trust, a congressionally chartered nonprofit, argued in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Trump and ...Read more

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday took a step toward eliminating four childhood vaccine mandates — a move the department can take without the Legislature’s sign-off or the governor’s signature.

The proposal, which was debated during a Friday workshop in Panama City Beach, is the first tangible step ...Read more

WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Friday released 19 photographs from Jeffrey Epstein's private email server showing a collection of powerful men in politics, media and Hollywood in the convicted sex offender's orbit.

The photographs — which were released without information on the timing, location or context of the events portrayed — do ...Read more

A long list of powerful people, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, are shown with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in more than a dozen photographs released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.

The photographs are among 95,000 images that Epstein’s estate turned over to the Committee, which has ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that would allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives after the controversial bill barely cleared the Senate during the fall legislative session, where one skeptic said it could bring “a culture of death” to Illinois.

Illinois now joins at least 10 ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed, a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times investigation has found.

Much of the state money was ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Richard Baker remembers the feathers: bright white and striking.

Just 20 days earlier, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had exploded, killing 11 people and igniting one of the worst environmental disasters in modern history. A pelican and a Northern gannet were the first two birds plucked by wildlife rescuers from the oily waters ...Read more