Colorado lawmakers must immediately cut or find nearly $1 billion to fill a massive hole blown in the budget by the federal tax bill signed by President Donald Trump, state officials told legislative leadership Wednesday.

“It is significant, and every day we wait, the deeper the cuts we will have to make as we go through this,” said Mark ...Read more

When the Trump Administration accused Duke University of racist practices and threatened to pull federal funding this week, no specific allegations were made public.

Federal officials only said that “allegations have been brought” to their attention that, if credible, could “render Duke Health unfit for any further financial relationship ...Read more

Last week, NYPD Officer Didarul Islam thought he knew exactly where he and his family would be the following Wednesday: enjoying themselves at a New Jersey water park.

But instead of experiencing the fun-filled day with extended family members Islam’s two sons were so looking forward to, the family is planning the hero cop’s funeral.

“...Read more

MIAMI — Weeks after rescinding a $1 million donation to Florida International University, Miami philanthropist Miguel “Mike” Fernandez is now withdrawing another $10 million from Miami Dade College — a direct response to Florida’s recent repeal of in-state tuition for undocumented students.

In a letter dated July 29 to MDC President ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Wednesday shrugged off a Democratic dustup that spilled out into public view on the Senate floor this week, calling it “democracy in action.”

On Tuesday, Klobuchar and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto clashed with New Jersey Democratic colleague Sen. Cory Booker after he blocked the approval ...Read more

The grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal cases — which the Trump administration is trying to get unsealed in a bid to satisfy demands for more transparency — contain testimony from just two law enforcement witnesses that may do little to answer questions surrounding President Donald Trump’s role ...Read more

VANCOUVER, Canada — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations summit in September, following France while setting up a clash with the U.S. and Israel.

Carney said Canada’s long-favored approach of a two-state solution through a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinian...Read more

President Donald Trump said he would impose a tariff of at least 25% on India’s exports to the U.S. starting Friday, though later added that the two sides were still in talks.

Trump on Wednesday said he made the decision because India has tariffs that are “among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-...Read more

SEOUL, South Korea — President Donald Trump said he reached a trade deal with South Korea that would impose a 15% tariff on its exports to the U.S. and see Seoul agree to $350 billion in US investments.

“We have agreed to a Tariff for South Korea of 15%. America will not be charged a Tariff,” Trump said in a post to his social media ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army helicopter involved in the midair collision over Ronald Reagan National Airport in January was flying higher than it was supposed to be when it crashed into an American Airlines flight that was about to land at the airport, investigators found.

A hearing on Wednesday investigating the accident found that the ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Just days after sentencing in the most closely watched and scrutinized case of Bill Thompson’s decades-long legal career, he acknowledged that prosecuting Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students, might not have been possible if the killer had not left his DNA at the crime scene.

...Read more

Florida emergency management officials released a heavily blacked-out disaster plan for the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center on Wednesday, just two days after saying they had no document detailing what the camp would do if threatened by a hurricane.

The 33-page draft plan appears to detail alternate facilities that could be used ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights probe into the Duke Law Journal after a conservative news outlet reported the academic publication factored law students’ racial and ethnic identities when selecting editors.

“In some, if not all, cases, select applicants were afforded the opportunity to be awarded extra points ...Read more

A group of Haitians with temporary protected status is challenging the Trump administration’s end of legal protections from deportation for nationals of Haiti.

The class-action lawsuit was filed by five beneficiaries of TPS on Wednesday in federal court in the District of Columbia. The suit argues that returning Haitians to a nation being ...Read more

Angling to move beyond the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, President Donald Trump has escalated his push to enact revenge on political foes with unfounded allegations of intelligence tampering against Barack Obama and top members of the 44th president’s administration — triggering new alarms from Democrats.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters on Wednesday ...Read more

President Trump is reportedly considering granting a pardon to Sean “Diddy” Combs after an official decision has been made on his latest $50 million bail petition.

An administration source told Deadline the president is “seriously” weighing a pardon for the hip-hop mogul ahead of his sentencing in October.

Combs’ legal team filed yet...Read more

The highest ranking Democrat in the Massachusetts Senate said a proposal the chamber plans to debate Thursday that would largely ban the use of cellphones in public school classrooms addresses the “greatest distraction device ever created.”

Supporters of a bill that would implement a “bell-to-bell” prohibition on personal electronic ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Speakers at Los Angeles City Council meetings will be banned from using the N-word and the C-word, the council decided Wednesday.

The ban comes after years of tirades by a few speakers who attack officials’ weight, sexual orientation or gender and who sometimes use racial slurs.

Speakers will now receive a warning for using ...Read more