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Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke's release from federal prison expected Tuesday

Current News / News & Features /

CHICAGO — Less than 10 months after reporting to federal prison, Edward Burke was expected to begin spending the rest of his sentence in the Chicago area Tuesday, according to sources close to the once-powerful alderman who have knowledge of the matter.

Burke was expected to report to a halfway house as soon as midday. It was not clear ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Senate Democrats advancing 'bell-to-bell' cellphone ban in schools

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BOSTON – Massachusetts Senate Democrats were preparing to advance legislation Tuesday that requires all public schools to implement a “bell-to-bell” ban on student access to personal electronic devices like cell phones during the school day.

Supporters of the proposal argued that students perform better when they are not distracted by ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Man dies after being sucked into plane engine at Milan airport

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All flights at Milan Bergamo Airport were temporarily grounded after a man was sucked into the engine of a departing plane and died, according to reports.

The aircraft involved, an Airbus A319 operated by the low-cost Spanish airline Volotea, was preparing to takeoff from Bergamo for Asturias, in northern Spain, when the incident occurred ...Read more

Judge orders mental evaluation for Jose Ibarra in Laken Riley murder appeal

Current News / News & Features /

ATHENS, Ga. — A judge has ordered a mental competency evaluation for Jose Ibarra, the man convicted of murdering 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, as Ibarra seeks to appeal his conviction.

The evaluation will determine whether Ibarra was mentally competent at the time of the crime and trial — including whether he understood the ...Read more

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman out of ICU after assassination attempt

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Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman has been released from intensive care more than three weeks after he was shot and wounded in a politically motivated attack, that also left fellow Democratic lawmaker, state Rep. Melissa Hortman, dead.

“I can confirm John is out of the ICU and at a rehab facility,” Bess Ellenson, a spokesperson for the ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey approves $5 million for immigrant legal defense fund in FY26 state budget

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BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey approved a $5 million legal defense fund for immigrants as part of the fiscal year 2026 state budget she signed Friday, a pot of money supporters say helps people fight deportations but critics knock as providing protections to those in the country illegally.

The decision by Beacon Hill Democrats to provide state-...Read more

Casey Sykes/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Confederate group appeals Gwinnett monument case to Georgia Supreme Court

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ATLANTA – The Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the organization’s Lawrenceville chapter and two Gwinnett County men have appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court their lawsuit over the county’s removal of the Confederate monument from the square in downtown Lawrenceville.

The filing came days after the Georgia Court of ...Read more

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images North America/TNS

Lawsuit accuses Diddy of masturbating into Biggie's shirt, throwing it at man

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NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs may have been acquitted of federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges last week, but the Harlem-born mogul is already being accused of additional sexual misconduct in yet another in a long line of civil lawsuits, this one claiming he masturbated into a shirt owned by the Notorious B.I.G. and threw it ...Read more

Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman discharged from hospital after shooting, 'long road to recovery' ahead

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — State Sen. John Hoffman has been released from the hospital into a rehabilitation facility after he and his wife Yvette were shot and seriously wounded in their home last month.

The family said he has a “long road to recovery ahead,” but a photo released by a spokesperson late Monday showed John Hoffman smiling and giving a ...Read more

Texas flood deaths exceed 100 with toll expected to rise

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More than 100 people have been confirmed dead in floods that tore through central Texas over the weekend, marking a grim milestone as searchers used boats, dogs and drones to locate victims and authorities debated whether anything more could have been done to prevent the disaster.

Confirmed fatalities reached 104, according to the Associated ...Read more

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

Latest tariff pause shows limits of Trump's frenzied dealmaking

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On “Liberation Day” on April 2, Donald Trump gushed about how trade was finally going to tilt in America’s favor after decades of its workers and companies being “plundered.” For the president, unfettered tariffs would soon make the U.S. “an entirely different country.”

Spelling out his policy of so-called reciprocity with ...Read more

Al Drago/Getty Images North America/TNS

Reconciliation law offers radiation compensation to more people

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WASHINGTON — The reconciliation law signed by President Donald Trump last week will provide greater compensation to more victims of radiation exposure from America’s nuclear weapons programs through 2028, putting an end to a yearslong lobbying effort.

The language in the fiscal 2025 law spearheaded by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would expand ...Read more

Colorado's Copper Creek wolf pack -- with new pups in tow -- is under scrutiny again after cattle killings

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DENVER — Colorado’s first wolf pack since the species’ reintroduction in 2023 is once again under intense scrutiny after a series of cattle depredations in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Cattle killings in Pitkin County this summer have spurred calls in recent weeks to remove the entire Copper Creek pack — comprising two adults, three ...Read more

Nicholas Kamm/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Earthquake swarms are fueling fear of the 'big one' in Japan

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More than 1,300 earthquakes have hit Japan's Tokara Islands in two weeks, prompting evacuations of dozens of residents from the remote archipelago on the country's southern tip.

Although no major damage has been reported and no tsunami warnings have been issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency has cautioned that tremors as strong as a "lower 6"...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Georgia builds new system to compensate wrongfully convicted

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ATLANTA — Michael Woolfolk was exonerated after spending 19 years in prison for a shooting authorities later determined was self-defense.

After serving nearly six years behind bars, Kelvin Bradley’s aggravated assault conviction was overturned and a judge ruled his actions during a 2011 repast were justified.

Both metro Atlanta men could ...Read more

Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois nursing homes ranked among the worst in the nation; residents call for action

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CHICAGO — Ebony Payne knows a thing or two about nursing homes. Paralyzed from the neck down after a violent crime, Payne has lived in at least eight nursing homes over the past 20 years.

She knows that when residents ring the call button for help, they’re sometimes left waiting for hours, even if they’re waiting for assistance getting to...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'Water brings life': Plans to revive Tulare Lake take shape in the San Joaquin Valley

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Tulare Lake was drained by farmers more than a century ago, and it has reappeared only rarely when floods have reclaimed farmlands in its ancient lake bed in the San Joaquin Valley.

Now, a coalition of tribal leaders, community activists and environmental advocates has begun an effort to restore the lake. They have been discussing a proposal to...Read more

Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Why South Korean young men and women are more politically divided than ever

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SEOUL, South Korea — It's a worldwide shift that has taken political scientists and sociologists by surprise: the growing ideological divide between young men and women.

In the recent U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump won 56% of the vote among men ages 18 to 29, according to an analysis from Tufts University's Center for ...Read more

Imago/Imago via ZUMA Press/TNS

Bird flu emergency response ends in US as infections decline

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its emergency response for bird flu as the outbreak that sickened dozens of people, spread to cattle and drove up egg prices has abated.

The emergency designation ended in the last week, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it.

...Read more

Alberto Pezzali/WPA Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

UK is moving to ban NDAs to hide misconduct, Guardian reports

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The U.K. government is moving to ban employers deploying nondisclosure agreements to muzzle workers who have been victims of misconduct on the job, the Guardian reported on Monday.

Under the reforms being prepared as part of broader employee rights legislation by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, any NDA that tried to head off ...Read more