The girlfriend of a 17-year-old arrested in connection with a massive wildfire in New Jersey last month allegedly admitted to a friend that her group started the blaze, court documents show.

“We started the fire,” she wrote to a classmate in a Snapchat message, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by NJ Advance Media.

The ...Read more

Around two dozen California State University students say they have started an “indefinite” hunger strike in support of Palestinians facing starvation in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Students are demanding each CSU campus and the California State University system as a whole adopt policies divesting from companies that “supply weapons,...Read more

President Donald Trump’s international trade war may not be as popular as he might wish, but his approval rating hasn’t suffered as a consequence, new polling shows.

According to a Morning Consult survey of more than 2,200 registered voters, Trump’s approval rating has “stabilized” but remains underwater.

“Sentiment about Trump’s...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to require school districts to develop their own policies on the use of cellphones by students, avoiding a stricter statewide ban that had been sought by some lawmakers.

The Senate supported the bill in a vote of 28-9, with nine Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — An official from Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration said Tuesday that they are prepared to go to court if federal authorities identify Philadelphia as a so-called “sanctuary city” and decide to revoke its federal funding under a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

City Solicitor Renee Garcia on ...Read more

DETROIT — A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied the Oxford High School shooter's requests to withdraw his guilty plea or be resentenced after an Oakland County judge declined to do both.

In a brief order issued Tuesday, Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Randy Wallace wrote that the requests were denied for a "...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said the U.S. would stop its bombing campaign against Houthis in Yemen after a ceasefire was facilitated by Oman, even as the group pledged to keep targeting Israel over its Gaza campaign.

“They just don’t want to fight,” Trump said in an Oval Office Tuesday morning during a meeting with Canadian ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A proposal by the Trump administration to reorganize the Environmental Protection Agency targets divisions that house its climate change offices as well as Energy Star, a widely popular program designed to help lower energy costs for American households.

A chart of the proposed reorganization reviewed by the Los Angeles Times on ...Read more

A new Washington state law requires Catholic priests and other religious community leaders of different faiths to report potential child abuse to state authorities.

But does the law signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2 raise constitutional issues?

The question is central to a new federal civil rights probe launched under President Donald Trump...Read more

DEDHAM, Mass. — Jurors heard Karen Read’s furious and jealous voicemails left among 52 calls she made to her boyfriend John O’Keefe in the hours after she had allegedly killed him.

“John, I (expletive) hate you!” Read screamed in the first voicemail at 12:28 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.

In all there were eight voicemail messages over 52 ...Read more

BOSTON — President Donald Trump’s campaign-promised plan to send millions of immigrant residents back to their home countries and his administration’s proposals to sharply curtail the number of immigrants legally allowed to enter the U.S. will have severe economic impacts on Massachusetts, according to a pair of experts.

Academic work ...Read more

A Russian man with a North Carolina address is at the center of a “bizarre” grand theft case involving two boats stolen within hours of each other in Florida, including a $2.5 million luxury yacht, according to investigators.

Nikolai Vilka was arrested Monday, May 5, during a dramatic boat chase that ended when multiple patrol boats ...Read more

Google last year began offering some artificial intelligence firms a way to anchor chatbot responses in its search results, but still reserves key features for its own AI service, Gemini, a company executive testified.

Liz Reid, Google’s head of search, was describing in court Tuesday how the Alphabet Inc. unit handles requests for its data ...Read more

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators in Sacramento released a letter urging California's congressional delegation to protect the embattled Head Start program and reject any proposed Trump administration cuts.

The letter, which was signed by over three-quarters of state lawmakers, said they are "deeply alarmed" by a growing list of cuts...Read more

Fresh off shutting down rampant divorce rumors, Michelle Obama says she “fully believe(s)” in therapy, both for individuals and couples, and is taking advantage of that as she navigates her life post-White House.

The 61-year-old former first lady recently told Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast why she’s currently in therapy.

“We ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will travel later this week to Switzerland for trade talks with China led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, jump-starting negotiations between the two nations.

The travel was announced in statements Tuesday from the Chinese and U.S. governments. It will ...Read more

Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that Canada is “not for sale” in a cordial but tense White House meeting over the trade war and Trump’s push to annex the northern neighbor as a 51st state.

Carney, who won election last week on a platform of confronting Trump’s threats, sought to strike a...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Assembly Democrats walked back opposition to a controversial bill that would increase the penalty for soliciting a minor aged 16 or 17, a change that comes after they faced a barrage of criticism from Republicans and a rebuke from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The new amendments to the legislation, AB 379, would allow ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — A drug that gained international attention for its controversial off-label use during the COVID-19 pandemic could soon be available in North Carolina without a prescription.

House Bill 618, titled the “Ivermectin Access Act,” would require the state to issue a standing order by Oct. 1 allowing licensed pharmacists to ...Read more