BALTMORE — Some Maryland prosecutors say heightened federal immigration enforcement is making it harder to hold offenders accountable, as fears of possible immigration arrests leave witnesses reluctant to report crimes or testify in court.

The concerns, voiced by prosecutors in some of the state’s largest jurisdictions, come after changes ...Read more

The window shade rose promptly at 6 p.m. The gallery was silent, apart from the humming of an air conditioning unit. A man lay flat on a gurney, covered in a white sheet and bound by six leather straps.

Twenty-seven people watched as he took his last breath.

On July 28, Dominick Occhicone became the 12th inmate to die by lethal injection in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A brush fire jumped over the 5 Freeway after igniting in Gorman on Friday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders, lane closures and heavy traffic delays through the Grapevine.

The blaze, dubbed the Ridge fire, was reported around 3 p.m. near the 39000 block of Gorman Post Road and quickly burned about 100 acres of surrounding ...Read more

Canadian negotiators are trying to secure a deal with the United States before 50% tariffs on a wide range of goods threatened by President Donald Trump kick in on Aug. 19, while warning of an ugly new phase of the trade dispute if the levies are imposed.

After months with little progress, a flurry of high-level meetings has given some Canadian...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A brush fire that ignited in Gorman on Friday afternoon has jumped over the 5 Freeway, prompting evacuation orders, lane closures and heavy traffic delays through the Grapevine.

The blaze, dubbed the Ridge fire, was reported around 3 p.m. near the 39000 block of Gorman Post Road and quickly burned about 100 acres of surrounding ...Read more

NEW YORK — Travelers flying into and out of LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports Friday evening faced grueling delays as dozens of flights were canceled amid thunderstorms.

Virtually all flights out of the three airports were either canceled or faced hours-long delays as the city’s Emergency Management Department warned of flash flooding in ...Read more

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told staff members at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the U.S. would have done better in the COVID-19 outbreak by listening to “dissenting voices,” according to a recording of the event reviewed by Bloomberg News.

At the one-year memorial for a deadly shooting at ...Read more

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Friday that places guardrails on a drug discount program that hospitals and other healthcare providers say they rely on to help them care for vulnerable patients.

The new law prohibits drugmakers from restricting the number or types of pharmacies that hospitals and other providers can contract ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a ruling that the Trump administration must receive congressional approval before it continues construction on a ballroom on the former site of the White House’s East Wing.

The 2-1 ruling affirmed the preliminary injunction granted in March by Judge...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday passed a bill aimed at punishing Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, a long-delayed effort that senators raced to finish in recent weeks as a tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

The bill, which would also levy penalties on Iran, was passed in a bipartisan 86-11 vote, overcoming Democratic angst ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Huntington Hospital was the scene of a massive law enforcement response Friday morning after a person claiming to be part of a global online network of extremists made a 911 call threatening a bomb and other violence, authorities said.

The threat at the Pasadena hospital was received from an IP address at 5:40 a.m., prompting ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the days since he charged a Los Angeles police officer with a crime for capturing evidence of his co-workers’ racist remarks, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has been the subject of withering criticism from Mayor Karen Bass, former cops and even some of his own prosecutors.

The chorus of voices decrying ...Read more

Amid a crippling energy crisis in Cuba, U.S. companies have exported about $96 million in fuel to the island’s private sector in the first half of this year while the Trump administration has cut off oil supplies to the island’s government, according to U.S. port data.

According to the data compiled by the U.S. Cuba-Trade and Economic ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ramsey County and state officials are suing two Somali gangs to try to stop violence at the Minnesota State Fair, alleging they have previously created a public nuisance in and around the Fairgrounds through fights and shootings.

Two civil complaints filed jointly Wednesday in district court by the Ramsey County Attorney’s...Read more

President Donald Trump has revived his threat to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg, a move that could renew a legal fight over the central bank’s independence.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Cook was told that Trump is “considering removing” her and ...Read more

NEW YORK — A number of homeowners are suing NYC over the Mamdani administration’s rollout of the pied-à-terre tax on expensive second homes, arguing the city “has arbitrarily and capriciously foisted” on city dwellers the responsibility of proving they’re full-time residents who shouldn’t be hit with the surcharge.

The lawsuit, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Reading scores of New York City public school students plummeted this past school year, erasing improvements in the subject recorded a year before, data released Friday showed.

Only about half of all students in grades three through eight scored as proficient in English Language Arts — a drop from about 56% scoring proficient the...Read more

WASHINGTON — Dozens of people who were charged or convicted in connection with the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have filed lawsuits seeking millions of dollars from the U.S. government after the Trump administration walked back the sprawling prosecution effort.

The latest case, filed on Friday in Washington, was brought...Read more

BALTIMORE — The family of a man struck and killed by a Metro train in Pikesville is suing the Maryland Transit Administration, hoping to learn more about what led to his death and compensate his two children for their loss.

According to the lawsuit, which was transferred Tuesday to Baltimore County Circuit Court, Kaseem Malik Ray went to the ...Read more