BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, will make his first appearance in an Ada County courtroom next week.

Idaho 4th District Judge Steven Hippler, who was recently assigned to the high-profile case, scheduled a status conference for Kohberger for Sept. 26. The Idaho ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Two years after a viral video mired the Bucks County amusement park Sesame Place in a firestorm of racial controversy, a lawyer for families alleging their children had been discriminated against by the park’s costumed characters hurled a startling accusation in court.

“Big Bird, you’re a … racist,” attorney Martell ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — On the stone sidewalk in front of the National Constitution Center, a crowd of roughly 30 people gathered Thursday to wave the Haitian flag, cheer, and chant in support of the Haitian community amid increasing attacks from former President Donald Trump and allies.

As the sun beat down and cars drove by — some honking in ...Read more

Thousands of pagers and other devices exploding in Lebanon this week mark a new and deadly escalation in the use of supply chains against adversaries, giving new urgency to global leaders’ drive to reduce their dependence on technologies from rivals.

Lebanese officials believe the gadgets were rigged with explosives as part of an elaborate ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice Thursday night is visiting Madison County and evaluating compliance with a settlement agreement to resolve race-based discrimination complaints in public schools.

Madison County Schools spokesperson Erin Stewart said Wednesday the Department of Justice has been very involved in the district over the past year.

...Read more

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court is set to rule on whether the archipelago should abolish the death penalty, a key test of its reputation as one of the most progressive societies in Asia.

The announcement Friday afternoon in Taipei follows a legal challenge by roughly three dozen petitioners on death row, who argue the penalty violates Taiwan�...Read more

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Coast governments and groups filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over dolphin deaths after the corps opened the Bonnet Carré Spillway, releasing Mississippi River water that found its way into the Mississippi Sound.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola ruled that the Coast entities don't have ...Read more

An Eastern Kentucky sheriff was charged on Thursday with shooting and killing a district judge in the judge’s courthouse chambers in Whitesburg, according to Kentucky State Police.

Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, of Jackhorn, was shot around 3:05 p.m. Thursday, said Letcher County Coroner Perry Fowler. He had multiple gunshot wounds, state police ...Read more

Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will “inexorably” accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists. The researchers warn the faster melting could destabilize the entire West Antarctic Ice sheet, leading to its eventual collapse.

The massive glacier — which...Read more

A Kentucky sheriff is under arrest and a district judge is dead after the law enforcement officer allegedly shot the judge in his office at the Letcher County Courthouse on Thursday.

The county coroner confirmed that district judge Kevin Mullins had died after being shot, according to local station WKYT.

The shooter was identified as Letcher ...Read more

BOSTON — An effort to repeal a new gun law in Massachusetts has managed to secure roughly half of the signatures needed to immediately suspend the enforcement of the statute and place a question before voters in the 2026 election, according to a top organizer.

The campaign to strike down a law that — among many things — bans people under ...Read more

The cause of death for a body believed to be Joseph Couch, accused of shooting five people on Interstate 75 in Kentucky nearly two weeks ago, was a gunshot wound to the head, officials said late Thursday afternoon.

An autopsy was conducted by the state medical examiner. The 32-year-old Couch is accused of shooting five people Sept. 7.

“At ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The House Rules Committee held a Member Day hearing Thursday, allowing the rank-and-file to propose changes to how the chamber conducts its business — and in one case, to make a personal announcement.

“I have a current vested interest,” Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., said as she advocated for allowing members to vote by ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Navy’s new Virginia-class submarines are projected to run $17 billion over their planned budget through 2030, a problem emblematic of a crisis in the program, the House’s top lawmaker on defense spending disclosed.

“It’s clear that the Navy and shipbuilders have known about this shortfall for at least 18 months” but...Read more

BALTIMORE — Dr. Joshua Sharfstein took over the Baltimore City Health Department in 2005 at a time when heroin-related overdose deaths were declining, and one of his chief responsibilities under then-Mayor Martin O’Malley was to further reduce them.

Sharfstein spearheaded an initiative to expand access to buprenorphine, an opioid drug used ...Read more

A new COVID-19 variant, XEC, has arrived just before fall.

The new variant has sprouted from the omicron variant that developed in late 2021. Although XEC is new, Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told the BBC that he would be surprised if it became the dominant variant throughout winter.

...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper on Thursday called for the California Legislature to pass stricter laws that punishes those selling fentanyl as a large amount of the deadly synthetic opioid is smuggled into his jail facilities.

The sheriff, who spoke at a news conference at the Main Jail in Downtown Sacramento, said ...Read more