As Hurricane Kirk gained strength and Tropical Depression Thirteen formed Wednesday but were no threat to land in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center was keeping track of system that could develop in the Gulf of Mexico and turn toward Florida.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. Eastern time tropical outlook, the system that could mean at least ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court starts a new term Monday that includes cases on guns, e-cigarettes and environmental standards that will give the conservative majority a chance to further tame the power of administrative agencies.

The justices in recent terms have expanded the court’s power to review federal government actions and policies, ...Read more

Cheryl Hines has reportedly reached the limits of her marriage to the “egomaniacal” and politically polarizing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and is considering a divorce, according to Kennedy’s biographer.

These limits have been reached following revelations of Kennedy’s allegedly “bizarre” sexting relationship with Olivia Nuzzi, a much ...Read more

Lucky sky watchers across South America will be dazzled by a special space phenomenon on Wednesday, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth to produce a “Ring of Fire” eclipse.

Also called an annular solar eclipse, the celestial event will be most visible in parts of Chile and Argentina around 5:20 p.m. local time, according to NASA....Read more

LOS ANGELES — An unusual October heat wave — still yet to peak across California — has already set records across the state and brought unseasonably hot weather to cities all across the state from Redding through San Diego.

The triple-digit temperatures in many parts of the state have put millions of Californians under heat advisories ...Read more

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey officially declared a gun reform bill she signed into law more than two months ago an emergency measure Wednesday afternoon, arguing the statute is necessary to preserve the “public peace, health, safety and convenience” of residents in the state.

Her signature means many provisions in the 100-plus page bill ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams may face more charges in his historic federal corruption case for allegedly selling his political influence to Turkish powerbrokers in a years-long conspiracy — along with several others in his orbit “likely” to be indicted, prosecutors divulged in court Wednesday.

Hagan Scotten, a prosecutor for Manhattan U....Read more

LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas judge has denied Robert Telles’ request for an additional court hearing over statements jury members made after finding him guilty of murdering Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

Telles, the former Clark County Public Administrator, was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing German ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Maryland State Police — as part of a new consent decree and settlement involving $2.75 million going to prospective troopers who were discriminated against — will relax its physical testing standards for new troopers and develop new hiring tests.

State police Superintendent Roland Butler outlined some of the changes for ...Read more

BOSTON — A “South Boston for Mayor Michelle Wu” fundraiser invite listed a public employee as a member of the host committee, an apparent violation of state law, but Wu’s campaign said it did nothing wrong and the name was listed mistakenly.

Wu’s campaign said the employee, Gregory Lally — listed on city payroll records as an ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal judge on Wednesday denied a motion to toss out key charges against former House Speaker Michael Madigan in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling tightening the federal bribery statute.

In his written ruling, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey said the indictment “explicitly alleges that Madigan performed ...Read more

BEIRUT — As war in the Middle East widens, Iran and Israel on Wednesday traded threats of mutual destruction following the Islamic Republic’s missile barrage against Israel, while the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel reported the first “close-quarter” combat between their forces in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah reported ...Read more

NEW YORK — Alex Spiro, a high-powered celebrity attorney representing Mayor Eric Adams in separate ongoing criminal and civil cases, withdrew Wednesday from defending the mayor in a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a police colleague over three decades ago.

In a motion filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Spiro said he’s withdrawing...Read more

Former President Donald Trump said President Joe Biden was going “out of the way,” to not help people in Republican areas, among other comments against Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the federal response to Hurricane Helene.

On Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Biden told him in a phone call that whatever the ...Read more

ATLANTA — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that said the State Election Board violated state law when it approved new rules at a hastily called meeting in July, but he left the door open for the suit to be refiled.

Three Republican members of the board met to approve two election rules at the meeting despite warnings from the attorney general�...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At least three parents turned their children in to the Los Angeles Police Department for their involvement in multiple flash mob robberies at 7-Eleven stores across the city this summer, according to officials. The parents spotted their children in surveillance footage released by the LAPD, as many of those involved in the ...Read more

Mass deportation of undocumented immigrants on the scale advocated by former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to enact, and would only be possible with the creation of a massive detention camp system.

That’s the finding of a new study by the nonpartisan American Immigration Council.

The...Read more

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden will travel to Georgia on Thursday to meet with people in areas affected by Hurricane Helene and see how the storm upended their lives.

The trip comes one day after Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Augusta today, where she is scheduled to do much of the same.

Biden is also on the road today, viewing ...Read more