The revelation by the Air Force this week that the U.S. now has a weapon in space stoked speculation — but few answers — about the weapon’s capability.

“As much as you want to know, Beijing wants to know even more,” Lieutenant General Greg Gagnon, commander of the Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, which trains personnel to ...Read more

Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston’s housing crisis is so bad that in addition to enticing developers with $100 million in tax breaks, the city is now considering funding part of their construction costs to kickstart stalled projects.

Wu said the city is in negotiations with developers about reworking mitigation agreements, which could result in �...Read more

Amid powerful economic headwinds, President Donald Trump rallied loyalists Wednesday in North Carolina, aiming to drive up the Republican vote in a key Senate race in which his chosen candidate has been trailing in the polls.

Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair, has so far failed to gain traction against Democratic ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Whether it’s a sleek, low-slung Impala, a candy apple red Monte Carlo or a roaring T-top Trans Am — the classic cars of the late 1970s and the ’80s are an iconic part of California’s automotive heritage.

But many of these vehicles have been relegated to driveways and garages due to the challenge of passing a smog check. ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday that South Carolina’s effort to improve the economy and educate the state’s children should be balanced with protecting a scenic landscape that includes ancient trees, significant salt marshes and an abundance of wildlife.

At a luncheon in Columbia, McMaster said protecting the state’s...Read more

Minnesota law enforcement arrested an ICE agent Wednesday in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge last winter, culminating months of delays and legal maneuvers in efforts to bring him to the state to answer to charges.

Christian Castro, 52, was stopped by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal...Read more

GASTONIA, N.C. — President Donald Trump returned to the Charlotte region to campaign Wednesday evening alongside Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley in Gastonia.

Trump delivered remarks focused on crime and the economy at the Gastonia Municipal Airport, where he also rallied during his 2024 presidential campaign. Whatley, a ...Read more

President Donald Trump said he still had confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh and criticized what he said was a “hostile” board even after the central bank unanimously defied his calls to lower borrowing costs.

“I do, I mean I’m relying on Kevin,” Trump told reporters about his hand-picked Fed chief, speaking Wednesday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday evening to pass sanctions legislation targeting Russia and Iran, sending the long-delayed package to the Oval Office.

The vote was 262-159 on the bill, which includes a childhood education measure that the Senate had used as a vehicle for the sanctions text. The Senate passed the sanctions package last ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in Sacramento has ordered the Trump administration to designate critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada red fox, a species so rare it was erroneously thought to be locally extinct.

The bushy-tailed foxes, which once were plentiful at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains of California ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with two subpoenas issued in a committee’s investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The matter now goes to the Justice Department, which can decide whether to pursue charges against the co-founder of Apollo Global ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump floated hitting goods imported from the European Union with fresh tariffs or even cutting off some trade if he determined that a push to make Canada a potential associate of the bloc was harmful to the U.S.

“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Wednesday granted emergency relief for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, allowing him to be released from jail amid a 60-day sentence in Louisville Metro Corrections.

Online records on Wednesday night showed the court granted Bevin’s request for emergency release, but did not include details ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles federal judge has ordered immigration agents to stop making civil arrests without a warrant unless they first determine that a person is likely to escape before one can be obtained.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong said in an order granting a preliminary injunction that the government "is regularly ...Read more

U.S. government agencies are tracking cyberthreats against nearly 20 shipping vessels around the world, according to US officials familiar with the situation.

The Coast Guard has asked for advance notice if any of those ships plan to come into a U.S. port, said the three people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The ramifications of propping up Lake Powell at Lake Mead’s expense are on full display in the federal government’s latest numbers for the two reservoirs along the Colorado River.

While Lake Mead may keep plunging until it’s firmly below 1,000 feet in elevation or close to it in summer 2028, Lake Powell is projected to ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Enrollment in Los Angeles schools has taken another steep dive — about 4% this year — as officials press ahead with a multibillion-dollar modernization and rebuilding plan, raising questions about investing in campuses that may soon be shuttered.

The school closure issue was supposed to move forward Tuesday, as the Board of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Last year, a former military officer in the Russian intelligence services named Yuri Khrameev offered $25,000 to a U.S. citizen to track and kill someone in Lithuania’s capital who was “telling lies about Russia,” according to U.S. prosecutors.

The allegations were laid out as the Justice Department unsealed charges late ...Read more

A Haitian pastor whose wife had received notice that a petition to adjust his immigration status had been approved is facing deportation to Haiti anyway, days after he was arrested during a traffic stop while working as a food delivery driver for DoorDash.

Molis Augustave is among dozens of Haitian nationals expected to be placed aboard an ...Read more