U.S. stocks pared gains as traders assessed the latest reports on the White House’s progress in fleshing out trade deals with top economic partners. Treasuries and the dollar remained steady.

The S&P 500 was 1.6% higher after rising nearly 3% earlier following Bloomberg News’ report of closed-door comments by Treasury Secretary Scott ...Read more

NEW YORK — More than two dozen Venezuelan immigrants linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua street gang have been arrested on federal murder, racketeering, drug and sex trafficking charges, officials said Tuesday.

The takedown by the FBI and the NYPD marks the first time members of the Venezuelan gang are facing charges under the federal ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices sounded ready on Tuesday to give parents a constitutional right to opt out of public school lessons for their children that offend their religious beliefs.

At issue are new "LGBTQ-inclusive" storybooks used for classroom reading for pre-kindergarten to 5th grade in Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, highlighted a new bill this week that would give a tax credit to business owners who say they have to spend money cleaning up after people who camp out on or near their properties.

One of those business owners is Little Saigon’s Tina Nguyen, who joined the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Earth Day environmental activists defaced Lower Manhattan’s iconic Charging Bull statue Tuesday, then rushed to clean it up before cops arrived, officials said.

Videos on social media and photographs from the scene show a handful of Extinction Rebellion activists spray-painting “Greed=Death” onto the flank of the life-size ...Read more

New Jersey prosecutors urged an appeals court to reinstate criminal racketeering charges against Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, arguing that a judge erred in dismissing the indictment without reviewing evidence that was presented to the grand jury.

In his February decision, prosecutors said, Mercer County Superior Court Judge ...Read more

MIAMI — The city of Miami could vote this week to deputize its officers with immigration enforcement powers, joining a growing list of Miami-Dade cities that are aiding the Trump administration’s full-forced crackdown on undocumented migration.

On Thursday, the Miami City Commission is scheduled to vote to authorize the city to enter into a...Read more

NEW YORK — A Manhattan jury heard closing arguments Tuesday in former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s defamation case do-over against The New York Times, a high-stakes suit that First Amendment advocates worry could lead to the paring away of protections for the press.

Palin, who got another chance to try the case she lost in 2022 when New York�...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — UnitedHealth Group significantly upped spending on security for top corporate leaders last year with the Dec. 4 killing of health insurance executive Brian Thompson.

The Eden Prairie-based health care giant said it spent more than $1.6 million on security for five top executives last year, including CEO Andrew Witty, according ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A looming Supreme Court decision could result in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wielding more control over the body that recommends preventive health services insurers must fully cover — a possibility that alarms health advocates.

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in Kennedy v. Braidwood ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The $10 million that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted to a state-created charity last year consisted of Medicaid dollars owed to state and federal taxpayers, contrary to what the governor and other officials have publicly asserted.

Three years ago, lawyers working with the state drew up a settlement agreement ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For almost a week, Gov. Gavin Newsom has come under fire from his fellow Democrats for dismissing the fervor around a wrongly deported Maryland man as a “distraction” while distancing himself from other Democrats who have sought to unify the party around the ongoing legal battle.

At a Wednesday news conference in ...Read more

Lawyers representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge for a hearing after they said Justice Department attorneys provided “nothing of substance” in response to requests for information on how the Trump administration is facilitating the mistakenly deported Maryland man’s return.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had not yet ...Read more

CHICAGO — Jurors on Tuesday resumed deliberations in the federal corruption trial of state Sen. Emil Jones III, after nine days in which prosecutors argued Jones had sold his power as a state senator for the promise of a $5,000 campaign contribution and a minimum wage job for his intern.

Jones’ defense attorneys argued that the South Side ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado has announced the launch of a digital passport as part of the state’s “America 250-Colorado 150” commemoration, allowing residents to access exclusive discounts and offers from a variety of local businesses, parks and landmarks.

The digital passport will soft-launch this summer with a full rollout planned for 2026, ...Read more

ATLANTA — After nine months of detention in a South Georgia immigrant jail, a Venezuelan father of two hoped to finally be deported to his homeland. Instead, he was flown to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, entering what his lawyers described as a “legal black hole.”

Edicson David Quintero Chacón is one of 238 Venezuelan ...Read more

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Tuesday claimed attack plans he shared with pals on a Signal group chat amounted to nothing more than “informal, unclassified” information.

The embattled Pentagon chief insisted he did nothing wrong by using his personal phone to share detailed plans for U.S. strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen with about a ...Read more