ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando officials signed off Monday on a spending plan about $82 million higher than last year as the city braces for a potential reckoning on local budget revenues at the ballot box this fall.

Like the vast majority of Central Florida cities and counties, Orlando also kept its property tax rate flat at $6.65 per $1,000 of ...Read more

Elizabeth Holmes either feels emboldened by or worried about some recent major developments in her life and public image because she got on X on Sunday to lament that she has been “silenced” as she remains behind bars in federal prison.

But the convicted Theranos fraudster said she won’t stop “fighting to prove my innocence and come ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani, facing criticism over views on Israel seen as fostering antisemitism, is unveiling a plan that would expand educational efforts and beef up security at synagogues as part of a new “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism” report released by City Hall Tuesday.

The report’s release is slated to be accompanied by a...Read more

WASHINGTON — Under a light rain on Sunday at the Australian ambassador's residence in Washington, CNN hosted its third annual tennis tournament, the Kangaroo Cup, pitting Beltway journalists against administration officials. The event aims to inject some levity into an historically adversarial relationship, reminding both sides of the spirit ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For Dylan Feierabend, there are few things more life-affirming than fishing for redtail surfperch and smelt at Centerville Beach in rural Humboldt County.

His favorite spot, where the Eel River meets the Pacific Ocean, is a few miles from the main road — too far to walk with fishing poles and an ice chest in tow. He instead ...Read more

Nearly eight months after Nancy Guthrie was snatched from her Arizona home, authorities believe they have uncovered a “new, possible ransom note” linked to the case.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office provided the update on X late Monday night, though they offered few specific details on the matter. It was not clear when the note was sent, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A man with Southern California ties who goes by the alias "Goldy Brar" and is wanted by federal agents for numerous alleged crimes including murder, extortion and drug distribution has been added to the FBI's "Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

Satinderjeet Singh, who is believed to be in his early 30s and is known to reside in ...Read more

From the air, Wainwright, Alaska, looks like a perfectly stable band of homes and roads between the Chukchi Sea and a vast, flat tundra. But just below the surface, the frozen ground that this town was built on contains large bodies of ice. Along the eroding coastal bluffs, that hidden ice is becoming exposed and literally melting away.

...Read more

In 2023, the International Energy Agency predicted that by 2028 the world’s oil companies would produce more oil than people wanted to buy. Prices responded to that and similar projections of slowing oil demand, dropping too low to attract investment for new wells and refineries.

No forecast anticipated that the Strait of Hormuz, ...Read more

People are increasingly turning to AI for advice. A 2026 Pew report found that 10% of Americans are using chatbots for emotional support or companionship. Some even find a charismatic leader in AI.

More broadly, a large-scale study of 1.1 million ChatGPT conversations found that 49% of the messages involved users seeking “...Read more

Iranian officials have privately expressed pessimism about reaching a deal to end hostilities with Washington and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before U.S. midterm elections in November, according to people familiar with the matter.

Iran and the U.S. made little progress during talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General ...Read more

The likely return to power of a separatist political party in Quebec is set to create a new challenge for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, just as he tries to hold the country together in the midst of a trade war with the U.S.

Residents of the French-speaking region will vote on Oct. 5, and surveys show they’re poised to choose the Parti ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Somehow, a Gaboon viper — whose home is the tropics of central and western Africa — was on the loose Monday in a Southern California neighborhood, police say.

The sighting of the extremely venomous viper, which has the longest fangs of any snake in the world, spurred the Santa Ana Police Department to issue a public advisory...Read more

PINEY POINT, Fla. — The end may finally be near for cleanup of a toxic industrial site that triggered a public emergency and environmental crisis on Florida’s Gulf Coast five years ago.

Piney Point, an abandoned fertilizer processing plant in northern Manatee County on the edge of Tampa Bay, is approaching the end of a state-supervised ...Read more

This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction.

Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. Others, such as ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When Nelson Contreras-Gelves arrived at an immigration appointment in June, he worriedly "already saw myself being back in Venezuela."

The threat of deportation had loomed ever since he arrived in the United States in March 2022, surrendering at the border and requesting asylum. It hung over conversations he and Ariel Whaley ...Read more

OAK HILL, W.Va. — Each day at New River Health in Oak Hill, Lisa Emery finds disheartening signs of what she describes as a slow-motion repeat of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster.

Emery is director of New River’s Breathing Center and chair of the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics.

The disaster she’s reminded ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Nearly 300 new laws will take effect Oct. 1, changing rules for Marylanders involving housing, gun ownership, grocery pricing and other areas of daily life.

The measures were passed during the 2026 legislative session and were signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore. Some laws are entirely new, while others update existing laws.

The ...Read more