NEW YORK — Steve Bannon convinced a Manhattan judge Wednesday to let a “more aggressive” attorney defend him against charges similar to those President Trump pardoned him for and won a weeklong delay of his upcoming trial.

At a brief hearing, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge April Newbauer granted a request from Bannon to retain attorney ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Panama as part of a trip to Latin America as soon as next week, a person familiar with the matter said, underscoring President Donald Trump’s seriousness about taking back the Panama Canal.

Rubio also plans to visit Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, according to the person,...Read more

The wheels of democracy are turning — and most Americans are not impressed, according to new polling.

In the latest Gallup poll, released shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, 61% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the way democracy functions in the U.S.

In contrast, only about one-third of respondents, 34%, ...Read more

Wearing a fake beard and unnatural lock curls, a Tennessee man entered a Jewish community center as part of an “internet prank” that ultimately landed him in jail, police said.

As 31-year-old Travis Garland walked into the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville at about 7:45 p.m. Jan. 13, he was stopped by a front desk staff member who...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump downplayed the national security risk posed by TikTok in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, days after offering the social video app a reprieve from legislation that would have forced it to shut down.

“Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids, watching crazy videos?...Read more

Among the slew of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, he signed one order calling to reinstate the death penalty for federal death row inmates.

However, only three individuals remain on federal death row after former President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 people on Dec. 23 and instead ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Six people were struck by gunfire and three are in critical condition Wednesday following a gang-related shooting in MacArthur Park, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The shooting was reported to police shortly before 1 a.m. in the 600 block of South Alvarado Street, where officers found multiple gunshot victims in...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A snow goose in Philadelphia’s Carroll Park neighborhood is the city’s first suspected case of a highly contagious avian flu spreading among birds and cattle across the country, Philadelphia health officials said Wednesday.

The goose was found on Jan. 11 on the 1200 block of North 59th Street, officials said in a news ...Read more

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman told President Donald Trump that his country is willing to expand its investments and trade with the U.S. in the coming four years by $600 billion, or even more if opportunities arose, according to the state-run news agency SPA.

The crown prince, known as MBS, spoke to the American president in a ...Read more

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Wednesday that he would seek out a conversation with President Donald Trump about his decision to rename Denali, the tallest mountain in the U.S.

Trump ordered on Monday to change the name of the peak to Mount McKinley.

The mountain was named after President William McKinley, an Ohioan who had ...Read more

CHICAGO — Elizabeth, a Chicagoan in the U.S. without legal permission and mother of three, is used to being involved in her community on the Northwest Side through volunteering at her children’s school and helping students. But after this week, she no longer feels safe even going near the school doors.

A day after President Donald Trump ...Read more

A day after the Trump administration moved to vastly expand its powers to carry out fast-track deportations as part of a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to try to stop it.

The new policy, known as “expedited removal,” empowers immigration officials to swiftly deport those who have entered ...Read more

NEW YORK — Seven people from New York City and Long Island have been busted in a massive COVID relief fraud scheme that netted $44 million — and one of the defendants was so brazen he rapped about his crime in a song named after the IRS, the feds alleged Wednesday.

The suspects scammed the money through thousands of bogus tax returns, ...Read more

BOSTON — Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch has been tapped to serve on a subcommittee of the new Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, vowing to protect “hardworking federal workers from the threats of mass layoffs.”

House Democrats have named their members to serve on the DOGE Subcommittee on Oversight, with Lynch ...Read more

SEATTLE — A conservative think tank filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two Washington state agencies over delays in reporting the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Washington Policy Center said in a news release that it filed the lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Department of Commerce to force the agencies...Read more

A reportedly suicidal suspect and a 4-year-old girl were killed, and an officer was critically wounded, after the suspect opened fire Wednesday on two cops who tried to help him, Ohio authorities said.

The incident unfolded just after 2 p.m. when cops in St. Clair Township were called about a possibly suicidal man, police said in a statement. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A rapidly growing fire near the Castaic jail complex sparked alarm Wednesday morning, as attorneys urged the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to evacuate the nearly 5,000 inmates in the county’s northernmost jails.

By midafternoon, sheriff’s officials began moving several hundred inmates from a barracks-style ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A new fire exploded Wednesday north of Castaic, quickly charring more than 9,400 acres and forcing thousands to flee their homes amid a month of extreme fire conditions that have plagued Southern California.

The Hughes fire started off Lake Hughes Road just before 11 a.m. and quickly prompted evacuations orders in and around ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — More than a dozen migrants took sanctuary inside Philadelphia churches during President Donald Trump’s first administration, the most of any city in the country, blocking their deportations by putting themselves beyond the reach of ICE agents.

Agency policy deemed houses of worship off limits, except in extraordinary ...Read more

In his first days in office, President Donald Trump signed executive orders that sent many federal employees reeling: looming layoffs, a freeze on federal hiring and and new back-to-office expectations for many remote workers. On Wednesday, he announced that employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles would be put on paid leave.

He’s ...Read more