Tescha Hawley learned that hospital bills from her son’s birth had been sent to debt collectors only when she checked her credit score while attending a home-buying class. The new mom’s plans to buy a house stalled.

Hawley said she didn’t owe those thousands of dollars in debts. The federal government did.

Hawley, a citizen of the Gros ...Read more

China abruptly ousted two military lawmakers from its national parliament without explanation, as a purge of key personnel in the upper echelons of the nation’s defense establishment shows no sign of easing.

The country’s top legislative body revoked the membership of You Haitao and Li Pengcheng during a Wednesday meeting, according to a ...Read more

President-elect Donald Trump wants a Miami-Dade County commissioner to serve as ambassador to Panama. The nomination comes as Trump is threatening to retake control of the Panama Canal over fees charged U.S. ships in the waterway.

Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, a Republican who won his county election two years ago after an endorsement by Trump, ...Read more

In the weeks after Ballot Measure 1 passed by a hefty margin, many Alaska employers are beginning to understand its impacts.

The measure, effective July 1, will raise the minimum wage and establish the state's first sick leave requirement. It will prohibit employers from holding mandatory meetings about political or religious issues.

The ...Read more

Five board members from the ed tech group Massachusetts Computer Using Educators recently resigned following a MassCUE conference when speakers made “dangerous” anti-Israel and Holocaust comments.

The Herald last week reported on local educators and the Anti-Defamation League calling for an apology from MassCUE after the group’s fall ...Read more

For people living with debt, getting back into the black can be a significant burden.

According to a new report, Virginia falls short in setting up guardrails for debtors to avoid being pushed further into poverty. This session, the General Assembly is expected to take up two pieces of legislation that advocates believe will help tackle the ...Read more

Stormy seas along the California coast calmed a bit for the Christmas holiday, but powerful ocean waves were expected to return to the Bay Area for the rest of the week.

Waves up to 30 feet high were expected to crash ashore in Northern California between Thursday morning and Sunday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued a high-surf ...Read more

BOSTON — A local Massachusetts police officer “likely saved a Christmas headache” after he discovered roughly 80 Amazon packages left behind in the woods, days before the holiday.

Early Sunday morning, Lakeville Police Sgt. Shawn Robert stumbled upon “three large totes full of Amazon packages” that a driver for the e-commerce company ...Read more

NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs and Luigi Mangione spent Christmas Day inside the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where one report online said cornish hen and green beans were on the menu.

However, a Daily News source familiar with the MDC says that culinary option is unlikely.

According to People, Mangioni, who’d ...Read more

Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prompting the country’s grid operator to limit power supplies on Christmas Day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram Wednesday the assault from Moscow included 70 missiles, some of them ballistic, and more than 100 attack drones. Russia ...Read more

CHICAGO — A body was found in a wheel well of a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hawaii, authorities said.

The body was found in the well of one of the main landing gears after flight 202 landed at Maui’s Kahului Airport on Christmas Eve, a spokesperson for United Airlines said. The plane, a Boeing 787-10, left Chicago around 9:30 a.m...Read more

MIAMI — Each March, sea turtle nesting season begins with the females’ slow yet determined scooch onto Florida’s shores, shoveling away sand with her speckled fins, digging a hole to lay eggs.

The season peaks around late spring to summer before tapering off in October, meaning Florida’s thousand-mile stretch of coastlines becomes home ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden signed a bill this week aimed at preventing hazing on college campuses and building transparency around hazing incidents — the first federal law of its kind.

Though most states have enacted laws aimed at curbing hazing with tougher penalties or some sort of public reporting system, the rules are uneven. ...Read more

Alleged mass-murderer Bryan Kohberger was reportedly investigated in connection with another home invasion attack that occurred not far from where he’s accused of slaying four University of Idaho students in an off-campus home.

The 29-year-old suspect was arrested at his parents' Pennsylvania home in December 2022 after four students were ...Read more

A wave of violence spread across Mozambique following the validation of the ruling party’s victory in October’s disputed election, resulting in the deaths of at least 89 people this week.

The death toll has risen to more than 200 since the unrest began on Oct. 21, according to data from Decide Platform, a local monitoring group, and local ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At least eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been relieved of duty amid a federal investigation into the beating of a transgender man last year in a 7-Eleven parking lot, according to several law enforcement sources.

Last week, nearly two years after the incident, Deputy Joseph Benza III agreed to plead guilty to ...Read more

Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prompting the country’s grid operator to limit power supplies on Christmas Day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram Wednesday the assault from Moscow included 70 missiles, some of them ballistic, and more than 100 attack drones. Russia ...Read more

MIAMI — For the first time in nearly 20 years, the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day, marking a rare confluence of Jewish and Christian holidays, which occur on separate calendars.

Many regions of the country are home to a variety of faith groups, with rich traditions and cultures. In South Florida, for instance, though there are...Read more