Iran said it reached an agreement with Oman on a proposed route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a potential step toward a reopening of the critical waterway for energy supplies.

A joint statement from Tehran and Muscat is under review and in the final drafting stage, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters ...Read more

CHICAGO — Advocates urged the state to invest in community-based alternatives to nursing homes for people with disabilities before attempting to enter Gov. JB Pritzker’s Chicago office in the West Loop on Wednesday.

More than a dozen activists, mostly those in wheelchairs and on mobility scooters, raised a chant of “let us in” as they ...Read more

A South Florida man has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he posted online threats against Trump administration officials Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem, including one in which he wrote, “Both of you will be executed,” court records show.

Jon Christopher Enriquez, 47, of Miami, entered an agreement with federal prosecutors on Friday, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cal Fire has arrested a Valley Springs man on suspicion of starting the Gann fire, the fast-moving wildfire that has burned more than 9,300 acres in Calaveras County, forced hundreds of evacuations and was 10% contained Wednesday morning.

Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, was arrested Monday evening near the fire’s reported ...Read more

A 19-year-old fisherman was bitten on the leg by a beaver in Cunningham Falls State Park in Frederick County on Wednesday morning, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesperson said.

This is the second beaver attack at Cunningham Falls in the past two weeks. The incident occurred in the South Beach Day Use area of the park at about 9:...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Like Wyclef Jean’s hit song, North Carolina lawmakers are gone til November.

The state House of Representatives adjourned Wednesday after passing a flurry of bills over two days, as well as making time to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary with a session in the historic State Capitol building a block away from the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — President Donald Trump addressed a crowd at Red Rock Resort on Wednesday afternoon to promote his administration’s tax policies.

The event, intended to highlight the Working Families Tax Cuts from the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was Trump’s second in Las Vegas this year.

His visit began Tuesday night when Air Force One ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A former Los Angeles Police Department officer was sentenced Tuesday to life plus 15 years in state prison for his role in a 2024 home invasion robbery in Koreatown in which he and a group of co-conspirators stole $350,000 worth of cryptocurrency from a teenager.

The ex-officer, Eric Halem, made a last-ditch request for new ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For nearly a decade, Jeanine John Taele was a U.S. Marine with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Until July 2025, the Downey resident was licensed to work as an armed security guard.

Then, over the last few days, authorities allege he twice roamed the grounds of Trump National Golf Club in advance of a presidential visit, ...Read more

CHICAGO — Just a year after his career took off, Omar David Panqueva, known as DJ TUNJO, made it to one of the largest music festivals in Chicago earlier this summer. It was a dream come true for the Colombian native to play a set at Sueños Music Festival at Grant Park in May. He had arrived in the U.S. with his husband, Santiago Paez, just a...Read more

SEATTLE — Firefighting crews are making progress containing wildfires burning hundreds of square miles across Washington, including the catastrophic trio of fires in Spokane.

But winds are predicted to pick up this weekend while temperatures rise, increasing fire risk even as containment percentages have grown among the largest and most ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was in Lexington Wednesday to announce the federal government is ending its contract with Kentucky’s organ donation organization.

Network for Hope has come under scrutiny in recent years after a Health Resources and Services Administration investigation in ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Mooresville police officer accused of misusing a controversial license plate reader database to search for a person’s vehicle was arrested Wednesday, according to court records.

Elizabeth Anne Snowman was charged with accessing computers to search for a vehicle using a Flock program “for purpose other than official law...Read more

DETROIT — Cyclosporiasis cases continue to rise in Michigan, with cases now up to 12,218 as of Wednesday, an 8.8% increase over Monday's case count.

The new cases come as the outbreak of the parasitic illness that causes explosive diarrhea has widened nationally from nine states to 15. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added ...Read more

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, in perhaps the most in-depth and toughest interview he has faced in recent memory, defended his unwavering support for Israel and his harsh criticisms of fellow Democrats when pressed by Jon Stewart in a podcast episode released Wednesday.

The liberal comedian and political commentator repeatedly accused Fetterman, D.,...Read more

DURHAM, N.C. — Two Durham teens charged in an alleged medication abortion attempt appeared in court for the first time Wednesday morning.

Syeisha Johnson, 18, and Elijah Speight, 19, were arrested Tuesday, six days after Durham police say Johnson gave birth to a 31-week-old baby in a toilet at her home, The News & Observer previously ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For the second time, Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi has been found guilty of killing a spouse — both times with a knife.

On Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court, Olejniczak Marodi, 54, confessed to killing her wife, 49-year-old Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, at their Ramona home on Feb. 17, 2025, according to Tanya Sierra, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A man arrested in advance of President Donald Trump’s trip to the Trump National Golf Club had visited the facility twice in three days, wore a radio earpiece and took photographs of Secret Service agents at the Palos Verdes Peninsula facility, authorities allege.

After arresting him Sunday, authorities said they discovered a ...Read more