About 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in 2024, according to the most recent U.S. data. But IVF commonly involves trying to create multiple embryos, because success is never guaranteed. If unused, those embryos can be frozen, discarded, donated to research or donated to another fertility patient.

In the eyes of ...Read more

A little-noticed presidential national security directive is now the legal engine behind a wave of terrorism prosecutions against left-wing protesters.

That domestic campaign now has an international dimension, one that American officials had been planning for months, culminating on July 16, 2026, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio�...Read more

The U.S. and Iran intensified their attacks beyond military targets during a sixth straight day of hostilities, increasing fears of a return to full war with no agreement reached over the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. hit southern Iran overnight, striking six road bridges, according to Iranian state media. There were separate reports of attacks on...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Foreign college students and campuses across California are scrambling after the federal government finalized a rule Friday limiting international student visas to four years — a change that takes effect this fall and clouds the futures of those who typically need to stay longer, including doctoral and medical students.

The ...Read more

Kelly Haggett figures that a mandatory surcharge added to Washington state’s payroll tax cost her about $500 last year. But she doesn’t really mind.

“On a scale of 1 to 10 of my annoyance with taxes in general, this one is about a 2,” she said. “I see the benefits.”

The small surcharge on wages provides the funding for Washington ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rattlesnakes can be found all over California, especially in hotspots such as Lake Berryessa, Carrizo Plain National Monument and the San Joaquin Valley.

In California, a number of animals hunt and kill rattlesnakes — including a particularly ravenous kind of reptile.

Certain snakes “will eat anything,” Cal Poly ...Read more

Definitions of critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion, recently approved by the Kansas Board of Regents, worry some Kansas professors and academic freedom advocates who say they could create a chilling effect in classrooms.

Kansas lawmakers this year passed a provision attached to a large budget bill that prohibits state ...Read more

Wildfire smoke has been pouring across the northern U.S. from fires in Canada and Minnesota, turning skies an eerie shade of orange in several states in July 2026. In the West, smoke has also been spreading into communities in Colorado and neighboring states as more wildfires burn in hot, dry conditions.

University of Colorado ...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis may have announced that Alligator Alcatraz is closed and the tents are gone, but that’s not enough for civil rights lawyers or a Florida federal judge.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation want the state and feds to confirm in federal court that the controversial immigration detention center hastily ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Leaders at Tampa General Hospital welcomed U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday as they vowed to improve patient access to nutritious food.

The announcement came about a week after the Department of Health and Human Services launched "The Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge." The campaign asks hospitals to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a rare prime-time address Thursday night to renew his attacks on the security of U.S. elections, telling Americans that the nation’s voting system is “so broken” that “no one can possibly defend it,” an unprecedented effort by a sitting president to undermine public confidence in domestic ...Read more

The U.S. launched fresh strikes against Iran as hostilities across the Middle East continued to escalate and shipping traffic slumped in the critical Strait of Hormuz.

American forces carried out a sixth consecutive night of strikes intended to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping, hitting coastal surveillance and air defense ...Read more

Roller coasters parked. Beaches empty. Scoreboards blank. A skyline disappeared. As the eerie haze settled in over the city, summer quieted to a standstill.

Local air quality hit hazardous levels Thursday in Chicago and various suburbs, prompting beach and pool closures as day camps and other summer activities moved indoors. Some organizers ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The trunk line that ruptured early Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing down Sunset Strip and surrounding communities, was installed 110 years ago and has emerged as the latest example of L.A.’s struggles to overhaul its aging water system.

The break was on a riveted steel pipe from 1916 that forms the major...Read more

A key figure in the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation who fled the country after his indictment nearly four years ago is now in custody back in Minnesota after his arrest in Somalia.

Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, of Burnsville, was booked Thursday into the Sherburne County jail one week after his arrest in Mogadishu on numerous federal ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota set a record for poor air quality Thursday as large swaths of the state remained under a hazardous air quality warning triggered by smoke from wildfires in the northern part of the state and Canada.

“The smoke’s come back with a vengeance,” said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Meteorologist Ryan Lueck on ...Read more

What’s the most remarkable thing about the not-food-in-your-food recall of frozen Pillsbury Bread Roll dough that might have glass: that it involved 735,840 rolls or that the public didn’t learn about the June recall until this week?

For your discussion and decision information, here’s more on the recall by Pillsbury parent company ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget team put city employee layoffs on the table Thursday to help close a budget deficit they said could reach $90 million through the end of this year.

While acknowledging the final shortfall wouldn’t firm up until next month, Budget Director Annette Guzman told aldermen at a Budget Committee meeting ...Read more