DENVER — The second of three men who hurled rocks at passing cars in a fatal Jefferson County spree two years ago was sentenced to 32 years in prison Friday.

Zachary Kwak, 20, received the maximum possible sentence on convictions of assault and attempted assault in the April 19, 2023, spree in which he and two other then-18-year-old men threw...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is proposing steep cuts to domestic and foreign aid spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 coupled with hefty increases for defense and border security, with the help of GOP lawmakers already writing separate legislation outside of the annual appropriations process.

The “skinny” version of the ...Read more

MIAMI — A Fort Lauderdale federal judge sentenced a MS-13 gang member to 17 years in prison for running a fentanyl drug-trafficking operation while locked up in a Florida prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 32-year-old Mario Clifford Rivera, who goes by the nickname “Chuky,” was organizing shipments of illegal drugs from Mexico to ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget looks to end the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway space station central to NASA’s existing Artemis program — but only after a successful moon landing as the nation remains in a race with China.

A preliminary overview of the White House’s planned 2026 discretionary budget ...Read more

JOLIET, Ill. — A Will County landlord was sentenced to 53 years in prison Friday for the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the boy’s mother in October 2023, an attack a jury found to be a hate crime spurred by the war in Gaza.

Given his age, Joseph Czuba, 73, will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars ...Read more

ATLANTA — A class-action lawsuit filed Friday is challenging a law passed in 2024 requiring people accused of minor criminal offenses such as trespassing and failure to appear in court to pay bail for their release from jail.

As the bill moved through the legislative process last year, its sponsor, Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson, said ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams is exploring a move to abandon the current plan to close Rikers Island, and instead and turn the borough-based sites intended to replace the notorious jail complex into housing, the Daily News has learned.

The mayor has asked top staffers to look into how many units of housing could be built at the borough sites in...Read more

For the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, NASA officially has its hands on a spacecraft expected to fly humans to the moon.

Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the Orion space capsule, transferred possession of the Artemis II spacecraft Thursday to the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems team base at Kennedy Space Center.

Artemis II is ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The state House of Representatives in Connecticut voted overwhelmingly Thursday night to codify into state law that minors can consent to contraception without parental notification.

After a lengthy debate, the House voted 117 – 27 as four Democrats joined with 23 Republicans against the measure.

The issue of parental ...Read more

The annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research took place in Seattle this week.

The field's premiere scientific conference was scheduled to be held in the Emerald City five years ago, until COVID-19 dashed those plans. This time, U.S. autism researchers face a very different kind of crisis: massive cuts to federal funding, ...Read more

Israel struck a target near the presidential palace in the Syrian capital after the Druze community in both countries called for help following a series of violent clashes between the minority group and Syrian government forces.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on Telegram on Friday that its fighter jets hit an area close to the People�...Read more

The Trump administration has designated a coalition of powerful Haitian gangs and an allied force sowing terror in Haiti’s bread basket as terrorists.

The Viv Ansanm coalition, whose membership consists of more than two dozen of Haiti’s best-armed criminal groups, and the Gran Grief gang have been labeled as both Foreign Terrorist ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When the smoke of the Eaton fire cleared, residents whose homes were left standing believed they had escaped disaster.

But many are finding that blessing comes with a curse. They are now prime targets for opportunistic thieves who prowl their neighborhoods at night.

Jenna and Howard Morris’ home has been burglarized three ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers made nearly 800 requests totaling an estimated $4 billion to fund pet projects for communities and not-for-profit organizations across the state through a new, fully public earmark request process implemented after years of backroom dealmaking that concealed the names of lawmakers seeking earmarks.

The ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota legislators are debating whether to roll back or revise some signature laws passed by Democrats two years ago as they race to reach a budget deal in the final weeks of their session.

The proposed policy pullbacks have opened a glaring partisan divide in the tied Minnesota House, imperiling budget negotiations. ...Read more

DENVER — Sex assault cases made up almost half of the more than 1,000 cases mishandled by a discredited Colorado Bureau of Investigation scientist over her nearly three-decade career, the agency confirmed Thursday.

The count is the first time the CBI has publicly detailed the type of cases impacted by the misconduct of Yvonne “Missy” ...Read more

For years, Damon Noe witnessed abuses within the vast Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area as partyers trashed terrain, off-road-vehicle riders tore through delicate landscapes, and young people ignited towering bonfires.

The destructive acts persisted even after barricades were installed to shield thousands of acres of environmentally ...Read more

CHICAGO — A Will County landlord will be sentenced Friday for the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and attempted murder of the boy’s mother in October 2023, an attack a jury found to be a hate crime spurred by the war in Gaza.

Joseph Czuba, 73, faces up to life in prison for fatally stabbing the kindergartener, who was Palestinian-...Read more

MIAMI — The vast majority of Florida voters are not in favor of changing the age limit for purchasing a firearm, according to a new poll by MediaLab@FAU, working in conjunction with Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab.

The results of the poll, conducted between April 4 and 9 by Mainstreet Research, indicate that despite ongoing efforts...Read more

Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. was working to ensure tensions between India and Pakistan don’t escalate into a broader regional conflict in the wake of an attack last week that killed dozens of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“I’m worried about any time you see a hot spot breaking out, especially between two nuclear powers,”...Read more