NEW YORK — An appellate judge has cleared the way for a man convicted of sexually assaulting and brutally murdering Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano to continue pressing forward with his appeal.

More than a decade after Vetrano’s body was found in Spring Creek Park near Howard Beach in Queens, Chanel Lewis, the man serving a life sentence...Read more

SEATTLE — A Spokane man seen near the starting point of a major wildfire was arrested Monday night for investigation of first-degree arson.

The investigation began at the start of the Old Trails wildfire, one of three fires that have devastated the city since Saturday. In total, the fires have burned about 16 square miles, destroyed hundreds ...Read more

SEATTLE — Federal disaster assistance for those affected by the Spokane wildfires was made available Tuesday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Washington state, authorizing FEMA to coordinate all federal disaster relief efforts and use its resources to “alleviate the ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The property tax proposal initially pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis can’t appear on the ballot the way his office wrote it, a Tallahassee judge ruled late Monday night.

Judge David Frank said the proposed constitutional amendment uses language “more akin to a political slogan” rather than being clear and neutral, which ...Read more

Two suspects were arrested in Peru in the killing of a 32-year-old American Airlines flight attendant from Texas who went missing during a layover in Colombia in March, officials said.

Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina was drugged and killed after he disappeared during a routine layover in Medellín, Colombia, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia said in ...Read more

Amanda DeSimone-Shabrack relies on a home healthcare aide to help her high-needs autistic 12-year-old son. Virginia’s Medicaid program covers the assistance, enabling her to work as both an education technology specialist and a professor, run errands, and keep Mason in the home.

That could change. In June, the Department of Justice issued a ...Read more

The Trump administration credits its fraud control efforts for the disappearance of millions of people from Obamacare rolls rather than a sharp rise in premiums — a claim disputed by policy experts that glosses over the reality that many more Americans now find themselves without health insurance.

Enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans fell ...Read more

NEW YORK — NYC sent out more than over 2,000 offers to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s free childcare program for 2-year-olds on Tuesday out of 5,700 families who applied for sports in the first phase of the program, Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The offers were sent out ahead of 2-K’s launch this fall in select neighborhoods, Families...Read more

Venezuela’s official death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes that struck the country’s north-central region on June 24 has climbed to 6,125, according to a reconstruction bulletin released late Monday, as authorities reported continued progress in evaluating damaged homes while warning that thousands of residences remain unsafe more...Read more

The prospect of a deal between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be gaining traction on Tuesday, after Qatar said a proposal had been drafted and American Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sounded hopeful on an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil reversed earlier gains, and U.S. government bonds rallied, on optimism that mediators will be ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Vandals have been damaging — or outright stealing — license plate-reading cameras in numerous Minnesota cities of late, including one that was swiped from atop a 10-foot-tall pole in Faribault, officials said.

Flock cameras have ignited a privacy debate and faced pushback from officials and vigilantes in the Twin Cities and ...Read more

The global energy crisis triggered by two wars is set to worsen, as Ukraine pummels Russia’s refining industry and Iranian attacks continue on Middle Eastern oil production and refining. Further, the nature of the destruction and the growing number of fronts and warring parties involved may herald a new era of extended vulnerability for ...Read more

The text arrived shortly after James Comey Jr. posted a photograph of seashells he said he had found on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast.

“I have held my tongue for a long time,” the writer, an estranged acquaintance, wrote Comey’s wife, Patrice.

But the photo of the seashells arranged to read “86 47” had compelled the acquaintance ...Read more

After investigators ruled 31-year-old high school counselor and coach Kelsey Harris’ death a suicide in 2021, her mother, Kellee, said she was not convinced the inquiry had answered the most important questions.

About a week before Kelsey died, police had arrested her boyfriend on a strangulation charge after Kelsey reported he attacked her, ...Read more

One of America’s most competitive gubernatorial races could settle a heated argument over whether private insurance companies should run Medicaid.

The race is in Iowa, whose Medicaid program has been plagued with controversy since 2016, when the state hired national insurance companies to manage billions of dollars’ worth of benefits.

That...Read more

A 41-year-old man from El Salvador who was detained at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, has died, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement confirmed Monday evening hours after his family and a member of Congress spoke out about the incident.

Delaney Hall, a privately operated detention center under contract with ICE, has ...Read more