PHILADELPHIA — Clergy from across Philadelphia erected an altar in front of ICE headquarters on Thursday, decorating it with fruit, flowers and crosses in a prayerful protest against the Trump administration’s decision to let agents make immigration arrests in churches.

The demonstration spilled off the sidewalk and onto Eighth Street in ...Read more

ATLANTA — State legislators and the police could shield more of their work from the public under a surprise last-minute proposal which emerged in the General Assembly.

Under Senate Bill 12, legislators could keep secret their communications with state agencies.

The bill also could make it harder to get basic information from police incident ...Read more

Citing “deep frustration” and a lack of cooperation by officials in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, House budget leaders are issuing demand letters to some state agencies amid a probe into possibly wasteful government spending.

The House’s inquiry into agencies’ finances, ordered by Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, is part of a ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — A months-long review by the Michigan Secretary of State's office has identified 15 individuals who allegedly are not U.S. citizens but still cast ballots in the November presidential election in Michigan.

The findings, released Thursday to The Detroit News, indicated the potentially illegal votes represented less than 0.0003%...Read more

Health clinics throughout the state, including dozens in Western Pennsylvania, are among those impacted by federal funding cuts to a program that directs millions of dollars to help low-income people access family planning services.

Pennsylvania is the third-highest recipient of Title X funding nationally, having received $13.5 million last ...Read more

Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, held his first town hall of the year Wednesday night.

The town hall came as activists across the state and in his district have been urging Emmer and Minnesota’s three other Republicans in Congress to hold an in-person town hall to discuss President Donald Trump’s agenda and tech ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Long before the FBI raids last summer that sent Mayor Sheng Thao’s career into a nightmarish spiral, an army of staffers appeared hard at work getting her governing plans for Oakland off the ground.

Across scores of emails and paperwork, the officials who helped steer the early days of Thao’s administration in 2023 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s inspector general will conduct an investigation of the Signal group chat where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials discussed details of an impending attack on Houthi militants in Yemen.

“We are initiating the subject evaluation” in response to a request from lawmakers for �...Read more

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Donald Trump’s administration has no intention of leaving NATO even as the U.S. envoy demanded members of the military alliance ratchet up spending.

The comments offer a measure of reassurance to European allies reeling from the prospect of American withdrawal and the U.S. president’s punishing ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 53-45, on a party-line vote.

The confirmation of Mehmet Oz, known best for his time as a TV personality and host of the daytime talk show “The Dr. Oz Show,” will put him in charge of the federal agency ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Attorneys for Moscow murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, in their latest attempt to avoid capital punishment for their client if he is convicted, have asked the judge to consider setting a new legal precedent in Idaho regarding how autism is classified in death penalty cases.

The 30-year-old’s public defense team asked 4th ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The White House doubled down Thursday on President Donald Trump’s sweeping worldwide tariffs, as he slapped stiff duties on unexpected allies and threatened an economic upheaval that could put Republicans’ House and Senate majorities at risk next year.

As Marine One lifted the president skyward from the White House South Lawn...Read more

BOSTON — The case to free a Tufts Ph.D. student and vocally pro-Palestine Turkish national after she was detained last week took a step forward in court Thursday, with both defense lawyers and the Justice Department clashing on jurisdiction of the case.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Tufts University Ph.D. student and Fulbright Scholar from ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — As Idaho reels from an exodus of obstetricians, lawmakers have raised the alarm about the state’s doctor shortage — and this legislative session, they’ve put forward a raft of bills they said would address the problem.

Their efforts to do so have included proposals to allow doctors to refuse to perform procedures they don...Read more

President Donald Trump on Thursday defended his shocking plan for massive tariffs by claiming “the patient lived,” a less-than-reassuring message about the American economy as global markets melted down in a stunning sell off.

“The operation is over. The patent lived, and is healing,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “The ...Read more

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech on the Senate floor this week grabbed headlines around the world and garnered positive reactions from his fellow Democrats in Maryland and scrutiny from Republicans.

Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks both aided Booker — who spoke from 7 p.m. Monday to just after 8 p.m. Tuesday — by ...Read more

BOSTON — A cluster of nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital have reportedly been diagnosed with brain tumors, according to hospital officials who are assuring staff and patients that there’s “no environmental risk” at the facility.

But the Massachusetts Nurses Association says the hospital’s environmental testing was “not ...Read more

ATLANTA — Five months after Atlanta rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty in a lengthy gang trial, Fulton County’s district attorney is asking a judge to revoke the superstar’s probation.

In a motion filed Wednesday night, District Attorney Fani Willis said the musician, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, “engaged in conduct that directly ...Read more

DENVER — At least one detainee from the immigration detention facility in Aurora has been sent to an El Salvadoran prison, an immigrant assistance group confirmed Thursday.

Nixon Azuaje Perez, 19, is a Venezuelan migrant who was held at the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center before being transported to Texas, then...Read more