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'Romance scam on steroids': Woman drugged, robbed victims; 3 died, FBI says

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LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas woman with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship ran a “romance scam on steroids” that caused the deaths of three people, FBI special agent in charge Spencer Evans said during a news conference where, with the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office, he announced the unsealing of a 21-count superseding indictment against her.

“...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Feeding Our Future founder lied to the state to keep fraud rolling, FBI agent testifies in trial

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MINNEAPOLIS — Three months before federal agents burst into her home, Aimee Bock wrote an email that may come back to haunt her.

The founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future didn’t know it at the time, but the FBI was closing in on what it has called one of the largest fraud scams in Minnesota history.

Soon, every email she ...Read more

South Carolina Department of Corrections/South Carolina Department of Corrections/TNS

In first for state, South Carolina death row inmate elects to die by firing squad

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man on death row has opted to die by firing squad. Brad Sigmon, who was sentenced to death for beating his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death with a baseball bat, is the first person in South Carolina to select this method of execution since it was added as an option in 2024.

He is scheduled to be executed on...Read more

John Moore/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump administration reinstates funds for lawyers representing 26,000 children in immigration court

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The Trump administration on Friday restored a program that funds lawyers representing unaccompanied minors in immigration court, days after halting it with little explanation.

“This letter cancels the Stop Work Order issued Feb 18, 2025,” said a memo to Acacia Center for Justice, which is contracted to administer the nationwide program.

...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Supreme Court turns away -- for now -- Trump's appeal seeking to fire agency official

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned down President Donald Trump’s appeal seeking to fire an agency official.

Instead, the justices said they would weigh in on the matter only after a judge rules next week on whether the firing was legal.

The decision is a small but temporary setback for Trump and his lawyers,

Chief Justice ...Read more

Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says he's considering merging Postal Service into Commerce

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he is weighing a move that would absorb the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, into the Department of Commerce, a sweeping change that comes as his administration looks to overhaul the U.S. federal government.

Asked about a move to shift the agency into the Commerce Department, Trump said the ...Read more

Walter Arce/Dreamstime/TNS

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs minimum wage, sick leave laws; here's what they do

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LANSING, Mich.— Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Friday bills that will scale back planned jumps in the minimum wage for workers who receive tips and undo some looming regulations for businesses who now broadly have to provide workers with paid sick time.

The measures, which passed the state Legislature late Thursday night, were...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Kratom to be tested for addiction risk in first-ever study

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Popular for its stimulating and pain-relieving properties, the herb kratom can be as easy to buy as a bag of chips in many parts of the U.S. That’s also raised questions about whether kratom should be more closely regulated.

A new U.S. Food and Drug Administration-funded clinical trial expected to begin this summer seeks to provide more ...Read more

News briefs

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Illegal border crossings down 94%, Border Patrol chief says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ramp up action, and much of the impact of the new Trump administration can be seen at the southern border.

ICE agents are working to apprehend people who are in the country illegally — enforcement efforts that are in line with ...Read more

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

H5N1 bird flu found in four Southern California rats

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has added black rats to the growing list of mammals that have been infected by H5N1 bird flu.

The rats were located in Riverside County, and news reports suggest they were living in an area where two infected poultry farms had recently been identified.

The discovery of H5N1 in black rats — a typically urban...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

Ex-Proud Boy chair Tarrio arrested on assault charge in DC after news conference

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MIAMI — Miami native Enrique Tarrio is in trouble again.

Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys whose 22-year prison sentence was erased by President Donald Trump a month ago, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Friday.

A woman accused him of assaulting her after the group’s news conference on plans to sue the federal government ...Read more

Al Drago/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Brian Fitzpatrick is blasting President Trump's comments on Ukraine -- without naming him

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PHILADELPHIA — On Wednesday morning President Donald J. Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, slamming Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “terrible leader” and claiming that the wartime president is a “dictator without elections.”

Four hours later, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., shot off a one-sentence ...Read more

Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

As Egypt's el-Sissi puts off White House visit, Democrats blame Trump's Gaza plan

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi appears to have put off a White House meeting with Donald Trump, with one leading Senate Democratic voice on foreign policy calling the move a major snub.

The U.S. president drew the ire of several key Middle East leaders, including el-Sissi, when he declared earlier this month that the United States ...Read more

ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/TNS

Kennedy Center says J6 Prison Choir is not a 'confirmed event,' despite what Steve Bannon says

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Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon told a cheering CPAC crowd in Washington, D.C., this week that the J6 Prison Choir — composed of men jailed after the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — would perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"I talked to Ambassador Ric Grenell last night," Bannon said at the Conservative ...Read more

MIKE NELSON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

LA County district attorney opposes a new trial for Menendez brothers

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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Friday that he’s opposing a petition made last year by attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez asking the court to take another look at their case amid new sexual assault allegations they say corroborate a history of abuse.

But Hochman stopped short of shutting down ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Caribbean leaders will invite Trump to visit. They also want meeting on US policies

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Caribbean leaders want President Donald Trump to come for a visit — and along with the invitation they also plan, “as soon as practically possible,” to try to get a meeting with his senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Friday.

“We’re ...Read more

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Longtime Gazan refugees still trapped in dismal Jordan camp warn of Trump resettlement plan

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Izzaat Al-Hindi trudged down a passageway of the Jerash Refugee Camp, navigating potholes, garbage piles and drab, dilapidated buildings. He still remembers the day his family fled here from Gaza, almost 57 years ago.

"I didn't want to come. I jumped out of the car three times. My parents had to chase me down," the 73-year-old recalled. "It's ...Read more

Lawmakers try to tackle the mental and emotional effects of California wildfires

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LOS ANGELES — Insurance providers in California would be required to reimburse patients who seek mental health care after a natural disaster under proposed legislation to address the emotional and mental trauma of wildfire victims.

The Eaton and Palisades fires starting on Jan. 7 burned through large swaths of Los Angeles County, destroying ...Read more

Emily Alpert Reyes/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Children's Hospital LA lifts recent limits on hormonal therapy for transgender youth

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Children’s Hospital Los Angeles said Friday that it is easing its recent restrictions on hormonal treatment for transgender youth, reversing a move that had set off weekly protests outside the hospital.

The hospital earlier this month had paused the initiation of hormonal therapy for “gender affirming care patients” under the age of 19 as...Read more

LA mayor ousts fire chief, saying LAFD needs 'new leadership'

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LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass has fired Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley over the chief’s handling of the Palisades fire. The move comes after the embattled mayor gave a series of increasingly critical public comments about Crowley and adds to the upheaval at City Hall since the fires.

“Acting in the best interests of ...Read more