WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court hears oral arguments Wednesday in a dispute over a Tennessee ban on certain medical treatments for transgender children, in a case that could set the boundaries on gender identity policies for states and Congress.

The state’s law prohibits prescription of puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors, but ...Read more

French lawmakers will hold a no-confidence vote Wednesday, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen expected to join forces with a left-wing coalition to topple the government.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier used a constitutional mechanism on Monday to force through an unpopular budget, leading to a leftist coalition and Le Pen’s National Rally to ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The woman on the telephone, Sylvia — too frightened to want her last name revealed — entered the United States illegally 20 years ago when she was 13, brought across the southern border by her mother, fleeing domestic abuse.

Her memories of Guatemala are faint.

Now, 33, with two teenage sons of her own, born as ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Russell Vought is well-known on Capitol Hill and thus far at least looks like a shoo-in to be confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s budget director, as he was during Trump’s first term on a party-line vote in 2020.

The hard-charging Vought is a revered figure on the right with his pledges to upend the “deep state” ...Read more

Within days of Donald Trump’s election victory, health care entrepreneur Calley Means turned to social media to crowdsource advice.

“First 100 days,” said Means, a former consultant to Big Pharma who uses the social platform X to focus attention on chronic disease. “What should be done to reform the FDA?”

The question was more than ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Cannabis-related emergency room visits are on a downward trend in Carroll County, according to Maryland Department of Health statistics.

The health department’s interactive dashboard, which debuted last week, displays data for cannabis-related emergency room visits since 2019. The data are based on visits when the patient’s ...Read more

In mid-May, Mandi Rokx had a 3-month-old baby and a letter from a Florida agency warning that they both would be cut from Medicaid, the health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities.

Under a Florida law passed in 2021, Rokx was supposed to receive 12 months of continuous coverage after giving birth. But the letter from ...Read more

Weeks before Election Day, more than 150 volunteers boarded early morning buses in Sacramento and traveled east, through the towering mountains of the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest and across the Nevada border to convince voters to approve a ballot measure that they, as Californians, could not vote on themselves.

When the group of mostly ...Read more

BALTIMORE – Given that more than $1 of every $10 in wages paid in Maryland comes from the U.S. government, many residents will be closely watching to see whether President-elect Donald Trump’s administration moves to fullfill his campaign promise of cutting back on the federal workforce and relocating some agencies from the DMV to other ...Read more

Nearly a fifth of office space across the country sits empty, a record high vacancy rate that’s expected to keep growing.

Seeking both to boost their economies and ease their housing shortages, cities are taking steps to encourage the conversion of unused office space into much-needed housing. They include reductions in approval times, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers have a duty to balance taking on the incoming Trump administration with making the state a more affordable place to live, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said Monday.

Rivas, who was again elected speaker by his Democratic colleagues at the start of a new legislative session, called housing affordability...Read more

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was taken to Bellevue Hospital for “emergent treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention,” according to his lawyer.

“It is expected that he will remain there until his condition stabilizes,” attorney Imran Ansari said in a statement.

The test was taken at Rikers...Read more

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been a frequent critic of Elon Musk, clashing with the billionaire on numerous issues, including wealth inequality, foreign relations and space travel.

But, now the pair are on the same page — at least when it comes to one issue.

“Elon Musk is right,” Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats from ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Temple University has agreed to provide antidiscrimination training to all students and staff by May 1, conduct a campus survey about the prevalence of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian incidents and review its handling of complaints over the last two years as part of a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department...Read more

President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden was not well received, especially after after months of saying that he would not interfere as the legal process played out.

Biden’s Sunday evening announcement that he would use his presidential authority to forgive felony tax and gun charge convictions against his son drew swift...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Monday the latest arms package for Ukraine drawn from U.S. inventories, this one totaling $725 million and including the second shipment of anti-personnel mines that President Joe Biden has authorized.

The 71st Presidential Drawdown Authority package is the largest since April, when the administration ...Read more