NEW YORK — Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs on Monday pleaded not guilty to the latest round of sex trafficking charges brought in his sweeping criminal case, a month out from his trial.

Combs, sporting graying hair and a white goatee, told the court he was “not guilty” of a new Mann Act count filed on April 3 and a charge ...Read more

MIAMI — Five people aboard a suspected migrant smuggling boat are presumed dead after the vessel capsized off South Florida over the weekend, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The agency called off its search for the people Sunday night after covering more than 1,240 miles of ocean looking for them throughout the weekend.

Early Saturday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said in the Oval Office on Monday he has no intention of returning a Maryland man mistakenly deported to his country by the Trump administration and being held in a mega prison.

“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,�...Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, and other House Democrats are demanding that Department of Homeland Security officials justify their attempts last week to speak with students at two Los Angeles elementary schools.

Garcia and 17 other Democrats signed a letter sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, requesting a ...Read more

BOSTON — Top Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate pledged to advance sweeping legislation Monday that they argue protects reproductive and transgender health care from “attacks” by entities in other states where some practices have been deemed illegal under local laws.

The proposal, filed by Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington and Attorney ...Read more

A degree of calm returned to Wall Street, with stocks and bonds notching a twin rally after a tumultuous week in the grip of President Donald Trump’s disruptive trade war.

With the White House signaling a tariff reprieve on key consumer electronics, the S&P 500 gained almost 1%. Apple Inc. extended a two-day surge to more than 6% to lead ...Read more

President Donald Trump took a soft line Monday on Russia’s Vladimir Putin even after a bloody Palm Sunday attack that killed dozens of innocent Ukrainians.

Conceding that the Russian strongman was “no angel,” Trump refused to directly criticize Putin for the rocket strike in the city of Sumy that killed 35 days on one of the holiest days ...Read more

Six women recently hurtled into space aboard a Blue Origin rocket, where they glimpsed the Earth from above and briefly slipped the bonds of gravity. But, they weren’t the first female-only crew to voyage into the final frontier, experts said.

The intrepid mission took place on April 14, beginning at a ranch in west Texas, where Blue Origin, ...Read more

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signaled he was open to testifying before a Republican-led congressional committee on the state’s so-called sanctuary policies for protecting immigrants, but hadn’t yet decided whether to accept the panel’s invitation.

“Part of it is scheduling. Part of it is consideration about how ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Saddled with about $2 billion in fire recovery costs and the largest sex abuse case settlement in U.S. history, the Los Angeles County government is facing about $89 million in budget cuts.

To close the budget gap, the county will have to leave hundreds of vacant positions unfilled, but no layoffs are expected, said Fesia ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A suspect is in custody after he apparently made threats from his vehicle outside UnitedHealthcare’s headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota, on Monday morning.

A man, who has had contacts with law enforcement in the past, showed up around 11 a.m. at the health insurance company’s campus, located in the 9700 block of Health ...Read more

The 38-year-old Harrisburg man charged with the attempted murder of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told authorities he hated the Democrat so much, he would have “beaten him with a hammer” had he found him early Sunday morning.

But if politics fueled Cody Balmer’s hate, it was not obvious in his voter registration record — he was not ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The man suspected of raping and killing Rachel Morin on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in August 2023 was found guilty after a nine day jury trial ended Monday.

The jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before finding that Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez was guilty of charges including pre-meditated murder and rape.

...Read more

An American pastor is missing after allegedly being abducted at gunpoint during a church service he led in South Africa this week.

Tennessee-based Fellowship Baptist Church requested prayers on Thursday when announcing that Josh Sullivan, a missionary serving in South Africa since 2018, had been “kidnapped at gunpoint by six men during their ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier offered Monday to provide additional prosecutors to Central Florida to help clear a backlog of cases, the latest development in an ongoing feud between the Gov. Ron DeSantis ally and Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell.

“The cavalry is here,” he said at a news conference in...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Russell Laffitte, the South Carolina banker whose ties to fraudster and killer Alex Murdaugh helped Murdaugh steal millions, has agreed to plead guilty to federal bank fraud charges.

In agreeing to plead guilty, Laffitte — former CEO of family-owned Palmetto State Bank in Hampton County — will avoid going to trial a ...Read more

As United Nations agencies and other humanitarian aid groups in Haiti continue to feel the effects of global aid cuts, Haiti will need to take a more significant role in its humanitarian response, a top U.N. official says.

“Part of the humanitarian response needs to be shouldered by the government,” Ted Chaiban, the deputy director of the U...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The DeSantis administration wants to do for Florida Medicaid recipients what it’s been trying to do for people on food stamps and welfare — use Hope Florida’s network of nonprofits to help wean them off government assistance.

The Agency for Health Care Administration, one of the agencies that falls under the governor...Read more

BOSTON — Harvard University is standing up to the Trump administration, as the feds pressure the Cambridge school to end DEI programs and “audit” the viewpoints of its student body, faculty, and staff.

Harvard on Monday announced that it’s rejecting a list of demands from the Trump admin. This comes as the feds threaten to cut more $8.7...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A portion of Southern California's Pacific Coast Highway that's only been open to locals since January's firestorm could reopen to the public just in time for summer, the governor's office announced.

One lane traveling in each direction on PCH in Pacific Palisades should be opened to drivers by the end of May, Gov. Gavin Newsom ...Read more