Russia freed an American teacher four years after he was convicted there of fighting for Ukraine following a decision by President Donald Trump to offer the country sanctions relief.

Stephen Hubbard, 74, has already been taken to Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down an appeal from President Donald Trump and rejected his order to end hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in federal prisons.

The justices denied Trump’s appeal without comment, over dissents by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito.

The ...Read more

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- Few cities in California last week felt the full brunt of the climate crisis more than the small coastal town of San Clemente.

The beach city at the southern end of Orange County for months has been dealing with widespread coastal erosion from El Niño-related Pacific storms that has threatened a crucial rail line and ...Read more

MIAMI — Miami-Dade commissioners on Tuesday advanced a developer’s plan to transform the shuttered Seaquarium theme park into a marina and an entertainment center, waving off requests by environmental groups for a delay.

“This is an iconic property that is important to so many Miamians,” Rachel Silverstein, head of the Miami Waterkeeper...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After two weeks of testimony, a jury found that the Whitley County Detention Center and its corporate healthcare provider were not negligent after an inmate died in their care.

The verdict meant the jail and healthcare provider would not need to pay the family of Terri Beth Mays after her 2021 death. The jury returned the ...Read more

An appointment to a local library commission, reluctantly accepted, may not sound like an auspicious event. For Nancy Pelosi, however, that 1973 appointment launched what would become one of the most influential careers in modern American politics.

Pelosi’s work on the commission led to opportunities for higher office until she ...Read more

Whenever I drive amid the mazelike bustle of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway, where approximately 1 million vehicles transit daily, I see billboard advertisements for all manner of businesses: dentists, hotels, car and tire companies, and affordable funerals. Lots and lots of funerals.

For generations, Japan’s funeral system rested on ...Read more

Lawmakers are calling for a failed attack on the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Aurora, Illinois, to be investigated as a hate crime. On Oct. 11, 2026, as hundreds of Hindu worshippers gathered for the first day of Navaratri, a celebration of the divine feminine over nine nights, a 19-year-old man traveled to the Hindu temple, armed with a ...Read more

California’s coastal bluffs and beaches look rugged, but they can be surprisingly fragile in the face of a powerful El Niño.

The state saw that in 1982-83, when storms amid one of the most destructive El Niño winters in California history battered the coastline with powerful waves and torrential rain, leaving hundreds of millions ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla, — A University of North Florida poll released Wednesday shows Republican Byron Donalds with a two-point lead over Democrat David Jolly in the race to be the state’s next governor, meaning with less than two weeks to go before Election Day the contest is a dead heat.

The survey of 1,471 likely voters also shows Republican ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson is asking aldermen to ramp up spending on community violence intervention and launch a new office aimed at decreasing gun violence, part of an effort he says will help Chicago’s sharp decrease in violence continue.

Johnson’s budget proposal will include a $7 million bump for violence intervention workers to...Read more

NEW YORK — The city has deployed red light cameras to 600 intersections citywide, the maximum number allowed under state law, the Mamdani administration is expected to announce Wednesday.

“Safer streets aren’t a guessing game — we know the tools proven to keep New Yorkers safe,” the mayor said in a statement. “Red light cameras help...Read more

A group of Democratic senators is demanding that the federal agency overseeing Medicaid — the health coverage program for people with low incomes or disabilities — institute tougher standards for government contractors running complex computer systems that millions of people rely on to get benefits.

Three Democratic senators issued ...Read more

President Vladimir Putin said Russia’s ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the U.S. and Ukraine on a potential peace deal, according to the Kremlin.

Putin made the offer during more than three hours of talks in St. Petersburg with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri ...Read more

In 15 years abroad, Lital Lee Doron has returned to Israel to vote only once. This week, she’s flying home in the hope of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The October 2023 Hamas attack and the attempts by Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judiciary have both served as a wake-up call, according to the 35-year-old tech sales ...Read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, asking him to set out results of discussions with Ukrainian and European leaders in Norway on a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin also proposed a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in China, where the Russian leader is ...Read more

CHICAGO — Earlier this month, a man walked into a West Side grocery store, according to a police report, and tried to walk out of the shop with two concealed cans of an alcoholic beverage.

Even though the cost of the alleged theft was around $13, the 29-year-old man, who the report notes is a U.S. veteran, is facing a felony retail theft ...Read more