DENVER — Colorado has experienced a surge in walking pneumonia this fall, most notably among very young children who aren’t usually as susceptible to the illness, according to health officials.

Bacterial infections that cause the mild lung infection reemerged nationwide this year for the first time since the start of the pandemic, peaking ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento leaders approved two historic resolutions on Tuesday to continue the city’s efforts toward reparations and racial equity.

The council unanimously passed both items, despite controversy last month that led to a delay in the vote. Councilmember Mai Vang — along with community organizations and residents — ...Read more

NEW YORK — State budget negotiations will not start in earnest until the new year, but Gov. Kathy Hochul is already backing off a push to cut funding to New York school districts losing enrollment.

Last year, Hochul proposed eliminating a provision known as “hold harmless” that ensures districts receive at least as much school aid as the ...Read more

DETROIT — A Warren man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to spray-painting racist graffiti on a predominantly Black church.

David Bluer, 34, entered the plea to one count of damaging religious property — a federal hate crime for which he could serve up to one year in prison and up to a year in supervised release.

Bluer admitted to spray painting ...Read more

Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was killed by a masked gunman early Wednesday in a “targeted attack” outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown where he was expected to speak to a ballroom full of colleagues, officials said.

The shooting, police sources said, was caught on camera and Thompson, 50, was shot in the back. The NYPD released...Read more

South Korea’s opposition ramped up the heat on President Yoon Suk Yeol with an impeachment motion after he plunged the nation into a political crisis by briefly imposing martial law.

The Democratic Party and five other opposition parties submitted the motion Wednesday afternoon, and the impeachment bill was presented to a parliament plenary ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Thousands of Baltimore City students are absent for a large portion of the year, often for reasons inconceivable in most suburban communities.

Some kids live in abandoned places. Some steal food to feed themselves and their siblings, or are asked by parents to make money illegally to keep the lights on. To get to school, kids may ...Read more

Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, was killed by a masked gunman early Wednesday outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown where he was expected to speak to a ballroom full of colleagues, officials said.

Detectives are investigating the possibility that the gunman was lying in wait for Thompson before the shooting.

Thompson, 50, was walking...Read more

ATHENS, Ga. — Less than two weeks after he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Laken Riley, Jose Ibarra’s defense is seeking a new trial.

In a motion filed this week in Athens Superior Court, attorneys John Donnelly and Kaitlyn Beck argue that the verdict is contrary to law and evidence and that ...Read more

A judge in Argentina ruled Tuesday that national prosecutors have the option to charge Liam Payne’s friend Roger Nores with abandonment related to the death of the pop musician.

TMZ first reported the news.

The former One Direction star died Oct. 16 after falling from the balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. Prior to his ...Read more

During a whirlwind few hours in South Korean politics, President Yoon Suk Yeol placed the country under martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, only to lift it just a short while later.

It marked the first time that a South Korean leader has imposed the emergency power since 1979. And although short-lived, the measure provoked concerns of the ...Read more

Parisians navigating the narrow streets of the 4th arrondissement in recent days may have heard a familiar, yet nearly forgotten, sound. The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral have been ringing again after nearly five years, in preparation for the famed building’s long-awaited reopening.

Notre Dame officially reopens on Dec. 7, 2024, ...Read more

The United States isn’t mostly red or mostly blue. It’s mostly purple. That’s what I’ve learned from a quarter-century of making maps based on the results of presidential elections.

The country is, however, becoming more split along party lines.

This work started as a curiosity project. Back in 2000, most maps of ...Read more

This autumn, a Swiss Catholic church installed an AI Jesus in a confessional to interact with visitors.

The installation was a two-month project in religion, technology and art titled “Deus in Machina,” created at the University of Lucerne. The Latin title literally means “god from the machine”; it refers to a plot device used...Read more

I don’t often watch movies in a theater, let alone horror films. But a few weeks ago, I found myself watching “Heretic,” which intrigued me for personal and professional reasons.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s I watched many romantic comedies featuring Hugh Grant. Today, I am a scholar of gender, culture and religion, ...Read more

In the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park,” Dr. Ian Malcolm, a fictional math genius specializing in chaos theory, explains the “butterfly effect,” which holds that tiny actions can lead to big outcomes. “A butterfly flaps its wings in Peking,” Malcolm posits, “and you get rain in Central Park instead of sunshine.”

What about ...Read more

Driving through downtown Dallas, you might see a striking banner hanging at the U-turn bridge, near the Walnut Hill exit on Central Expressway (US 75): “Stop Fluoridation!” Below it, other banners demand action and warn of supposed dangers.

It’s not the first time fluoride has been at the center of public debate.

Since ...Read more