Officials announced Friday that Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s wife, had died of hantavirus — ending speculation about the circumstances surrounding her death while sparking new questions about the rodent-spread disease.

Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a disease that attacks the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, Dr. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When flames erupted in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was more than 7,000 miles away, on a diplomatic mission to Africa.

Bass headed home shortly thereafter and was in transit for nearly 24 hours as the fire ravaged the Palisades and surrounding communities. She and her office have said she was in ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Efforts to recover the three men who died in an avalanche Tuesday while they were on a guided heli-ski trip in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood were halted because of dangerous conditions and difficult terrain — and may not resume until conditions improve, Alaska State Troopers said Friday.

The incident occurred ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Nearly three years after her arrest on the steps of the Idaho Capitol, abortion rights protester Avalon Hardy said she is still seeking justice for what she alleged were unlawful actions taken by law enforcement.

She won some key decisions in her legal quest earlier this year, while also seeing some of her case dismissed.

...Read more

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s company sued Capital One Financial Corp., accusing it of illegally “de-banking” him for political reasons by abruptly canceling hundreds of accounts for his sprawling real estate business after his first term ended in 2021.

The Trump Organization had been doing business with Capital One for decades ...Read more

The seemingly mysterious deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home were both natural and occurred days apart before they were discovered, authorities announced Friday.

Hackman, 95, had heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease and likely died days after his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, who died of ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Brad Sigmon, convicted in 2002 of the brutal double murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother and father, was executed by firing squad Friday evening at 6:08 p.m. inside of the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, the Associated Press confirmed. It is the first time that a person in South Carolina has been executed ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. —Brad Sigmon, convicted in 2002 of the brutal double murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother and father, was executed by firing squad Friday at 6:08 p.m. inside of the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. It is the first time that a person in South Carolina has been executed by firing squad.

The execution was ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Aimee Bock, the alleged ringleader of an extraordinary $250 million fraud scheme, took the stand in her defense on Friday at the end of the fourth week of testimony in her federal trial.

The founder of the St. Anthony nonprofit at the center of the sprawling FBI investigation has defiantly denied any wrongdoing since the FBI ...Read more

In the weeks after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, investors pumped more than $700 billion into Tesla Inc. shares, betting that Elon Musk’s relationship with the commander in chief and growing political prominence would pay off for the automaker. Barely four months later, that wager is shaping up to be one of the biggest duds ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Mayor Brandon Scott and the Baltimore Police Department on Friday filed a joint motion with the U.S. Justice Department contending the city has fulfilled its obligations with two sections of a federal consent decree.

The city wants to terminate sections of the decree relating to the transportation of suspects in custody and ...Read more

DENVER — University of Colorado, Boulder research shows about 7% of adults in the United States — or 1 in 15 people — have been present at the scene of a mass shooting and 2% have been injured during one, according to a new study published Friday.

The research, published in the JAMA Network Open medical journal, also concluded younger ...Read more

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The return to Earth of Boeing’s Starliner astronauts stuck on the International Space Station inched closer as their replacements arrived to Florida for their relief flight next week.

The quartet assigned to the SpaceX Crew-10 mission arrived to KSC having flown into the former space shuttle landing facility Thursday ...Read more

NEW YORK — The independent lawyer tasked with presenting arguments to Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho as he weighs tossing the case against Mayor Eric Adams on Friday recommended permanent dismissal of the charges, in part finding that even the appearance of the Justice Department’s motion creating a conflict for the mayor is “deeply ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The police department at the University of Central Florida is investigating two fraternities following allegations of hazing, a university spokesperson confirmed Friday.

Police officers visited two addresses matching those for Alpha Tau Omega and Delta Upsilon fraternities this week, according to the crime log on the UCF ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington said he’ll likely order Elon Musk’s government efficiency team to preserve records of its activities amid allegations that staff are using an encrypted messaging platform to communicate.

At a hearing Friday, US District Judge Christopher Cooper told a Trump administration lawyer that Musk’s ...Read more

U.S. measles cases jumped by a third over the past week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, a worrying sign in the outbreak that’s already linked to two deaths.

New Mexico’s health department listed Friday that an adult who had died and then tested positive for measles had succumbed to the disease, though the ...Read more

ATLANTA — President Donald Trump and his fellow defendants in the Fulton County election interference case could eventually receive reimbursement for attorney fees, under a bill that passed the Georgia Senate on Thursday night.

Senate Bill 244 would allow criminal defendants to recover the fees if they successfully argue that a prosecutor ...Read more