During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump spoke at a gathering of conservative Protestants, imploring them to vote for him “just this time.”

In “four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” he said.

As a scholar of religion and public life for...Read more

Pope Francis recently appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a harsh critic of President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policy, to head the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

The move has led to concerns among some Catholics about how he might interact with the new administration, especially since Trump has announced plans to ...Read more

Even after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election, Americans continue to argue about her race.

During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump accused Harris, who is biracial, of toggling between being Indian and being Black. Once, a Fox News reporter suggested she had started speaking like a Southerner, ...Read more

At a news conference in early January 2025, President-elect Donald Trump rambled through a grab bag of grievances and proposals, including his disdain for wind power and low-flow showerheads and his thoughts on the possible acquisition of the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland.

On the latter, he mused, “People really don’t even ...Read more

The Los Angeles fires are a national disaster of epic proportions. City officials, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump have traded accusations about what caused this crisis. But as an engineering professor who lives in Los Angeles and has studied extreme events and natural and human-caused disasters for over 40 years...Read more

Israel and Hamas accused one another of delaying a Gaza ceasefire aimed at exchanging hostages for prisoners and sending aid to the beleaguered Palestinian territory.

While officials say an agreement for a six-week pause in fighting is still likely soon, frequent past failures to get a deal finalized have left everyone cautious and saying ...Read more

South Korean investigators managed to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday while avoiding a violent clash in the middle of Seoul. But the nation’s troubles are far from over.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sending more and more troops to fight Ukraine and testing new missiles at home after striking an alliance with Russia...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Six years ago, Pacific Gas & Electric filed for bankruptcy after it was found liable for sparking a succession of devastating wildfires, including the blaze that destroyed the town of Paradise and led to more than 100 deaths.

Wall Street investors lost confidence and ratings agencies threatened to downgrade California's investor...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Carrie Meyers' home burned to the ground last week when the Eaton fire erupted. So did the North Lake Avenue pet shop she bought from her uncle more than 20 years ago.

The twin loss of her house and Steve's Pets left her mourning the two poles of the community she has been part of her entire life.

"This is the thing: There's no...Read more

Legal experts say it is highly unusual for Rudy Giuliani, once a top federal prosecutor, to be held in contempt of court by two judges in the same week as he defends cases brought by former Fulton County election workers.

Federal judges in New York and Washington, D.C., separately held Giuliani in civil contempt last week in cases stemming from...Read more

ATLANTA — The U.S. has seen a slow surge of norovirus, the country’s leading cause of foodborne illness, with the Center of Disease Control advising caution and higher levels of cleanliness. However, norovirus can defeat most household cleaners, according to a National Institute of Food and Agriculture report.

“While convenient, the ...Read more

The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour.

In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase ...Read more

DENVER — Depending on who’s talking, Colorado’s wolves are an existential threat to ranching, an imperiled native species crucial to a healthy ecosystem, a ruthless predator that kills for sport or a beautiful species that enriches lives.

Despite a full year passing since the first reintroduced canines put paws on the ground, tensions ...Read more

ATLANTA — Four years ago while shopping at an Atlanta Kroger, Chelsea Vincent had a crucial decision to make when nature called.

Men’s or women’s?

“There was a lot of anxiety going into either bathroom,” the 33-year-old recalled. “It was a total crapshoot into which bathroom I was going into that would get me in the least trouble.�...Read more

Throughout her childhood, Julia Lo Cascio dreamed of becoming a pediatrician. So, when applying to medical school, she was thrilled to discover a new, small school founded specifically to train primary care doctors: NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine.

Now in her final year at the Mineola, New York, school, Lo Cascio remains committed ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Free-speech and tech groups are beseeching the Supreme Court to invalidate a law that would effectively ban TikTok after the court appeared inclined to uphold the law during oral arguments.

“A TikTok ban would hurt American businesses and consumers more than TikTok itself ever has,” said Ash Johnson, senior policy manager at ...Read more

Rampant sexual abuse by guards at women’s prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania.

Prisons and jails across the United States are overcrowded and understaffed, jeopardizing the safety of incarcerated people, correctional officers and surrounding ...Read more

Kansas City renters and their advocates celebrated last January, cheering as the City Council approved new protections targeting discrimination on the basis of someone’s income or criminal history.

The rules may not survive another year.

Missouri Republican lawmakers want to overturn the Kansas City ordinance amid a backlash from vocal ...Read more

BOSTON — The Black man who was shoved and assaulted by a white nationalist group in downtown Boston on Fourth of July weekend won nearly $2.8 million in damages against the group, Patriot Front.

Charles Murrell III, a musician and teacher, sued Patriot Front in August 2023 in federal court. The lawsuit targeted both the group itself as well ...Read more