NEW YORK — A Florida man set himself on fire in a park across from Manhattan Criminal Court Friday where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues, according to a report.

Court officers and cops monitoring the press outside raced over to help put out the fire, which erupted in a penned-off section of Collect Pond Park ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — New polling released Friday indicates Idaho’s abortion laws are out of step with what residents prefer, imposing more restrictions than most survey respondents find necessary.

The poll was commissioned by Idahoans United for Women and Families, a fledgling nonprofit that announced Friday its intent to run a ballot measure to ...Read more

NEW YORK — A man set himself on fire in a park across from Manhattan Criminal Court Friday where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues, according to a report.

Firefighters and emergency medical technicians were called to the scene about 1:15 p.m. after the man burst into flames inside a barricaded area at the park.

“...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday finalized new rules designed to bolster legal protections at colleges and universities for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students and victims of sexual misconduct.

The new rules do not address the politically contentious issue of transgender athletes competing on women’s sports teams, however. Last year...Read more

Democratic Party leaders have been flooding the zone with optimistic outlooks, insisting they have a chance to produce some November surprises in Florida and arguing there’s no reason for their party to give up on the state.

On Thursday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden would travel soon to Tampa for what the Tampa Bay Times...Read more

Trump back at court, complains gag order is ‘unfair’

NEW YORK — Jury selection at Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial is expected to enter the home stretch Friday, with only five alternates to be seated before prosecutors make their case against the former president to a panel of his peers.

Trump returned to the lower Manhattan ...Read more

South Korea’s parliamentary election of April 10, 2024, was widely seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first two years in office.

That being the case, the nation collectively expressed its strong disapproval.

With a relatively high turnout of 67%, voters handed Yoon’s conservative People’s Power Party ...Read more

The second week is wrapping up in former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial on charges from the state of New York related to paying hush money to an adult film star. So far, the jury has been selected, but no other proceedings have begun.

The Conversation U.S. interviewed Tim Bakken, a former New York prosecutor and now a...Read more

Joe Biden famously ran a basement campaign during his successful 2020 presidential bid. But he emerged to participate in two debates with his opponent, Donald Trump. Will he agree to share the stage this fall? He’d better.

Last week, five major TV networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox — sent a joint letter to Biden and Trump urging the ...Read more

Arizona’s Supreme Court opened a new front in the war on women’s reproductive rights last week when it resurrected an obscure 1864 law that bans abortion in almost all cases. Critics of the ruling say the court has thrown Arizona back into the 19th century.

That isn’t entirely fair to the 19th century.

The irony of last week’s ...Read more

The 49 Senate Republicans spent Wednesday afternoon furiously sputtering that they weren’t allowed to debate if Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, duly and formally impeached by the House, should be tried in the upper chamber.

It’s their own fault, having blocked a chance to engage in several hours of debate, so they ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is poised to hear its most important case ever on the homelessness crisis, and to decide whether cities in California and the West may enforce laws against camping on sidewalks or other public property.

Homelessness has often been cited as the most intractable problem for cities in the West, and it has grown ...Read more

NEW YORK — The 12 New Yorkers who will decide whether or not Donald Trump is a felon before this year’s presidential election were seated during a dramatic day of proceedings Thursday, leaving the court to find five alternates before his historic hush money trial begins in earnest.

“We have our jury,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As the recount in the Congressional District 16 race entered its fourth day, more than 20 ballots excluded from the original count in Santa Clara County have been uncovered — a development that could swing the results of the election and break the tie for second between Assembly member Evan Low and Santa Clara County ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The mayor and commissioners of Wildwood, Pa., announced that former President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally on the beach on May 11.

“What a great boost to our town at the start of the summer season! We host hundreds of large capacity events annually, so the city is ready to welcome the crowds and looks forward to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul formed a noisy alliance with Rep. Thomas Massie this week that scrambled Congress’ plans to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without additional privacy protections for Americans and threatened the six-month tenure of the Republican speaker of the House.

The libertarian duo scored a ...Read more

NEW YORK — A full jury was sworn in Thursday for Donald Trump’s historic hush money criminal trial in Manhattan.

The seven jurors selected late in the day join the five panelists chosen earlier this week, and comes after two were dismissed Thursday morning.

The newest selections include someone who follows Trump on Truth Social and former ...Read more

Ralph Puckett Jr. of Columbus, who died April 8 and was the last living person to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Korean War, would lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda under a bipartisan resolution pending in Congress.

Last week, a measure was introduced that aims to honor all those who served in the U.S. military during ...Read more

NEW YORK — Two jurors in the Donald Trump hush money trial were excused Thursday, one after telling the court she was too scared and intimidated to serve, as prosecutors renewed their request to hold Trump in criminal contempt over alleged gag order violations.

The first juror, one of seven initially chosen to serve on the case, told Judge ...Read more