WASHINGTON — When the white smoke began drifting from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman clued the former speaker in on the news.

“I have never heard her more excited about anything,” Ian Krager later wrote on X.

The famously Catholic Pelosi is one of more than 150 Catholics serving in the 119th Congress, a ...Read more

President Donald Trump is believed to be considering Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

The president’s naming of a replacement for outgoing interim prosecutor Ed Martin could come as early as Thursday, sources told ABC News.

Martin’s nomination was pulled earlier in the day after ...Read more

DEDHAM, Mass. — A primary investigator of the death of John O’Keefe testified that Karen Read was “questioning” hitting O’Keefe with her vehicle — a disclosure made on the same day that text messages that ruined another trooper’s career were read in court.

“We had statements from the defendant, she was questioning whether she ...Read more

India said it “neutralized” Pakistani drone and missile attacks targeting several military sites on Thursday night, marking an escalation in hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Military stations in the northern cities of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur near the border with Pakistan were targeted, India’s Ministry of Defence...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager announced he is introducing an emergency bill draft request that would cap the cost of insulin at $35 for people on private insurance.

“Nevadans should never have to sacrifice life-saving medication because it is not affordable,” Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said Thursday at a press conference. “...Read more

For years, President Donald Trump has campaigned on and popularized the slogan “Make America Great Again.”

But when, specifically, was America great? Not too long ago, according to a new poll.

In a YouGov survey, respondents were asked to assess 16 periods of time throughout U.S. history — starting 400 years back — based on quality of ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Death Valley National Park is an iconic day trip from Las Vegas, but some advocates are warning of a less-than-pleasant summer season — and this time, it’s not just because of the heat.

A pro-labor and left-leaning advocacy nonprofit, More Perfect Union, has put up 19 billboards in Reno and Las Vegas, calling out the Trump ...Read more

DETROIT — Michigan State University has agreed to undergo an institutional assessment about its structure, policies and culture related to relationship violence and sexual misconduct, guided by three survivors of disgraced MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar.

Trinea Gonczar, Sterling Riethman and Rachael Denhollander, along with retired MSU police...Read more

Pope Leo XIV, who was known as Cardinal Robert Prevost before becoming the first American selected to lead the Catholic Church on Thursday, has reposted online content critical of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on immigration and religious issues.

A Chicago native and Villanova University graduate, Leo XIV speaks English, ...Read more

Researchers are hoping they can tackle the mystery of how to diagnose CTE in the living.

The Boston University CTE Center and other research centers have received a $15 million NIH grant to diagnose CTE during life, as the scientists recruit hundreds of former football players for the new study.

Former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is among ...Read more

The prime minister of the Bahamas says his country is renegotiating an agreement to hire health care workers through Cuba’s official medical missions and that his government will pay all foreign workers directly, following a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.

“Anyone we hire, we’ll say, ‘Look, we have to pay you ...Read more

CHICAGO — Catholics across the region are celebrating the historic announcement that the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the church was born and raised in the Chicago area.

In his first words as Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost announced “peace be with you,” invoking a message of dialogue and care for those in need ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ordered that rapper Lil Durk remain behind bars pending his trial on murder-for-hire charges, citing a report that he is violating jail rules by using other inmates’ phone accounts and engaging in three-way calls.

During a bail review hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue said the rapper, ...Read more

President Donald Trump Thursday congratulated Pope Leo XIV, calling it a “great honor” that the Chicago-born pontiff has become the first pope born in the U.S.

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.”

Trump ...Read more

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel changed his tune Thursday on a White House proposal to cut his agency’s budget, giving his “full support” to a request that, a day before, he said he was working to avoid because it would force him to fire 1,300 of his employees.

The controversial FBI director in his opening remarks before the Senate...Read more

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will replace Ed Martin, the former Missouri GOP chair whose controversial nomination to be Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor has been in question since his Jan. 20 appointment as interim U.S. attorney.

Trump praised Martin but told reporters that he would be announcing a replacement for the ...Read more