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Al Diaz/adiaz@miamiherald.com/Miami Herald/TNS

House committee asks DOJ to look into former Miami Beach mayor in Epstein case

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI — The House Oversight Committee on Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate sexual assault allegations made by a former assistant of Jeffrey Epstein against former Miami Beach mayor and 2018 Florida gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine.

The committee called on the Department of Justice to “use all available tools,...Read more

Abbas Fakih/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Progress in US-Iran talks stalls after Hezbollah rejects truce

Current News / News & Features /

There was no sign of progress in ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran after the worst burst of violence in weeks and as the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia rejected on Thursday a U.S.-brokered truce in Lebanon.

President Donald Trump said ceasefire talks are in the “final” stages. Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister said the ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's Medicaid work rules force states to scrap plans and rework systems

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The Trump administration’s rollout of a federal mandate that millions of Americans on Medicaid must work or risk losing health benefits will force states to scrap months of preparation, according to advocates for Medicaid enrollees and consultants advising states.

And they say an overhaul — less than seven months before states must start ...Read more

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

New medical guidance affirms Tylenol safety during pregnancy months after Trump sows doubt

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The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine published new clinical guidance this week affirming that acetaminophen, better known by its brand Tylenol, should be the “first-line” defense against pain and fever during pregnancy.

The directive contradicts the Trump administration’s notice to physicians last year cautioning against the use of the...Read more

Alejandro A Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Philly City Council will reject Mayor Parker's proposed taxes on Uber and Airbnb as it moves to advance $7.1 billion city budget

Current News / News & Features /

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker picked a fight with big tech companies.

In the end, the tech companies won.

City Council on Thursday morning gave preliminary approval to a more than $7.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The plan does not include the mayor’s tax proposals meant to squeeze revenue ...Read more

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America/TNS

Supreme Court sides with FCC power in forfeiture process

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court upheld on Thursday the Federal Communications Commission’s power to issue findings that companies broke the law, turning aside challenges from telecommunications giants that the agency had to go to the courts first.

The 8-1 decision found that the FCC’s forfeiture process does not run afoul of the ...Read more

Rising costs of fuel, other goods squeeze already strained abortion funds

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The increasing costs of fuel for cars and airplanes are adding extra strain to abortion funds that help people pay to travel for care in other states, leaders of several funds said this week.

Abortion funds can help when someone must travel from their home state to a state where care is available. That often includes people living in one of the...Read more

Rural Minnesota bakery promotes 'Nuclear Family Month' as a counter to Pride month

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A west central Minnesota bakery is getting both praise and backlash for special doughnut and coffee sales celebrating June as “Nuclear Family Month.”

Joshua Streblow, who owns Carl’s Bakery in downtown Granite Falls, said he intended to honor nuclear families — a man, woman and children — as a counter to Pride Month, which celebrates ...Read more

Jennifer Briggs/Zuma Press/TNS

Space Force digs in to uncover extent of Blue Origin New Glenn explosion

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The explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was massive, but the response by the Space Force emergency crews was quick and well-prepared.

“I had just gotten home and sat down in the living room, talking to my kids and wife, and looked out the window and saw the explosion,” said Space Launch Delta 45 ...Read more

Tasha Poullard/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

From data centers to child care, groups spent big lobbying Kentucky legislature

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Groups hoping to persuade the Kentucky General Assembly are spending more each year to lobby legislators.

In total, nearly $13.77 million was spent on lobbying during the 2026 legislative session, a 60-day session during which lawmakers set the state budget for the next two years, according to records from the Kentucky ...Read more

Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS

Michigan wholesale marijuana tax revenue lags far below projections

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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana brought in less tax revenue than projected in the first quarter of its existence, generating less money for repairing roads, according to a state treasury report.

When lawmakers voted to implement the wholesale tax last year, a nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analysis estimated it...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Obama Foundation offers first glance of Jackson Park campus: Here is what to know

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CHICAGO — While crews were still putting on the finishing touches — including paving part of the parking garage entrance — Chicago and national media were given a preview of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park Wednesday ahead of it welcoming the public later this month.

The grand opening is set for June 19, following a star-...Read more

CDC/CDC/TNS

How Google's 32-million mosquito project could change California's battle against dengue

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LOS ANGELES — Google took internet searches to the next level. Could it do the same for mosquito control?

The Silicon Valley-based tech giant is seeking to release up to 64 million sterilized male mosquitoes in California and Florida over two years, according to a notice in the Federal Register. It’s part of an ambitious effort to curb the ...Read more

President Trump's 2025 executive order about 'woke AI' put the tech industry on notice about aligning with the administration's views. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

From oversight to coercion: How authoritarian governments are twisting AI safety to get tech companies to fall in line

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When researchers founded Anthropic in 2021, they said the race to build powerful AI was moving too recklessly. They inserted detailed safety measures into their products and marketed their commitment to safety as the corporate quality that distinguished them from competitors – notably OpenAI, the rival company they had left. In March 2026 ...Read more

Bison walk through part of the American Prairie land in Montana.
              AP Photo/Matt Brown

Bison restoration efforts and grazing rights hinge on one question: Are bison wildlife?

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Bison are political animals. A federal decision to revoke grazing leases for bison on public lands on the rolling plains of eastern Montana is the latest manifestation of long-standing contention. The largest land animal in North America, bison are considered a “keystone” species, meaning they have high ecological and cultural importance....Read more

In the past 80 years, at least nine men have survived execution attempts. Bernd Obermann/Getty Images

Tony Carruthers recently survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest man to endure a failed execution

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Tennessee set out to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, but he lived to tell about it.

Carruthers, who was sentenced to death for a 1994 triple murder, survived his date with death when the execution team members could find only one suitable vein in which to secure an IV, but not, as USA Today reports, the “backup line, which ...Read more

Femicide claims more than 1,800 lives in the United States every year. SimpleImages/Getty Images

For Black women in abusive relationships, gun-control loopholes can engender deadly disparities

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In April 2026, Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was shot and killed by her husband while their divorce was pending.

She had done what she was supposed to do. She had initiated the legal process to leave Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia. It didn’t save her.

What happened to Wanzer Fairfax has a name: ...Read more

Did James Comey, former FBI director, 'knowingly and willfully' threaten, kidnap or 'inflict bodily injury upon the President of the United States'? Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

James Comey’s Instagram seashell post sits in a murky legal zone between protected political speech and criminal threat

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In the case of United States v. James Brien Comey Jr., the U.S. president’s security is pitted against the bedrock right to free speech enjoyed by Americans.

Two federal charges have been lodged against former FBI Director James Comey and are based on his Instagram post that depicted seashells spelling out “86 47.”

Comey...Read more

Iran says no progress in US talks as Lebanon sees more clashes

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Iran said there had been no recent progress in talks with the U.S. over an interim peace deal, while fighting persisted in Lebanon despite Washington’s declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and the country.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said late Wednesday that “no tangible progress has been achieved in the negotiation process...Read more

Anne Lebreton/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Activities around the 250th highlight America's disunity

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WASHINGTON — One month from America’s 250th birthday, events and celebrations to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence are as fragmented as the nation’s politics and culture in 2026.

President Donald Trump’s plans for a concert affiliated with the Great American State Fair in the weeks leading up to July 4 have ...Read more