The 2025 Minnesota legislative battle shifted to the state Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Minnesota House Democrats and Secretary of State Steve Simon separately asked the court to nullify the Republicans’ actions on the first day of session Tuesday when the GOP convened and elected a speaker without the DFLers present. The move aims to return ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s out-of-the-blue pledge to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” — as well as some of his other renaming ideas — would likely take more than the stroke of a presidential pen to make good on.

During a wide-ranging press conference last week at his Florida resort, the president-elect said a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Energy secretary, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday that if confirmed he would use the position to “unleash American energy at home and abroad.”

That message and others like it drew universal praise from the committee’s Republicans, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As winds finally died down, there was growing despair and frustration in the vast fire zones on Wednesday as residents demanded to get back into their neighborhoods.

A brigade of firefighters spent the day reinforcing containment lines and cooling hot spots in the Palisades and Eaton fires to lessen the risk that strong winds ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The second of four former Minneapolis police officers convicted in U.S. and state courts for the murder of George Floyd more than 4½ years ago has been released from prison.

J. Alexander Kueng, 31, left the low-security federal prison in Lisbon, Ohio, on Wednesday morning. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) spokesman Donald Murphy...Read more

WASHINGTON — Appointed senators over the past century have been a constant presence in the chamber. More than 10% of current occupants first entered the Senate after being picked to succeed departing members in between elections.

Since 1913, when the 17th Amendment to the Constitution established the direct election of senators and provided a...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna on Wednesday called for a “full and transparent” investigation into the death of Suchir Balaji, the OpenAI whistleblower who gained national attention last year after publicly claiming the company violated federal copyright laws.

Khanna’s request — made in an apparent exchange...Read more

A stricter speed limit isn’t coming to the waters of the North Atlantic right whale calving grounds off the Georgia coast after all.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, on Wednesday withdrew a proposed vessel speed rule meant to protect the endangered whales, which swim near the ocean’s surface and are susceptible ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Sean P. Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Transportation Department, had a light day Wednesday compared with some other Cabinet picks, promising senators he’d work to improve safety and get Boeing “back on track.”

The former Wisconsin lawmaker and Fox News co-host faced little resistance to his ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles, the asking rent for a two-bedroom condo jumped from $5,000 to $8,000 in the wake of the fires that started last week and have left thousands homeless.

In Venice, a single-family house saw a jump of nearly 60%. In Santa Monica, an owner listed a five-bedroom house for $15,000 ...Read more

CHICAGO — Jurors in the Michael Madigan corruption case have heard a lot of evidence about a 2018 meeting between the then-powerful House speaker and incoming Gov. JB Pritzker, where the two Democrats allegedly discussed the topic of state boards.

On Wednesday, however, the jury learned that if he were called to testify, Pritzker would say he...Read more

CHICAGO — An effort by opponents of Mayor Brandon Johnson to water down Chicago’s sanctuary city ordinance faltered in the City Council Wednesday, a victory for the mayor as his administration prepares for the looming threat of deportations under incoming President Donald Trump.

Aldermen voted 39-11 to table the vote on an amendment from ...Read more

NEW YORK — More than a month after their arrests, a federal judge in New York on Wednesday ordered the detention of three wealthy brothers from Miami Beach before trial on sex trafficking charges that allege the Alexander siblings drugged and raped dozens of women over the past two decades.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni reached her ...Read more

ATLANTA — Brian Kemp will seek federal approval to add parents and legal guardians of children six and younger to the state’s Medicaid rolls through a GOP-backed state program, as he unequivocally ruled out a full-scale expansion of the healthcare program during the rest of his second term as governor.

The Republican staked that position ...Read more

Arab and Jewish residents expressed a range of emotions Wednesday after a ceasefire and hostage deal was agreed to by Israel and Hamas following a 15-month war in Gaza.

Some felt relief and were hopeful that the ceasefire would hold. Others called on the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to make sure that Hamas lives up ...Read more

CHICAGO — Several members of the Chicago Fire Department falsified reports and misled investigators after a high-ranking department member was found slumped over the steering wheel over a vehicle in 2022, according to a new report from the city’s Office of Inspector General.

In late May 2022, a civilian called 911 to report a motorist was ...Read more

Donald Trump is treating California Gov. Gavin Newsom “as his punching bag,” triggering an extraordinary battle between a president and a governor at a time when thousands are suffering and dozens are dying from the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.

“He’s treating Gavin Newsom as his punching bag before he’s even in ...Read more

While fishing off the coast of Honduras in 2023, a group of anglers stumbled upon a rare sight: a pod of orcas hunting down a sperm whale.

The underwater attack — which was organized and bloody — unfolded over many minutes alongside the anglers’ vessel.

Now, over a year later, biologists have tracked down eyewitness accounts of the ...Read more

Pam Bondi refused to say President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden in her Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. attorney general on Wednesday, intensifying Democratic concerns that the former Florida attorney general would be a rubber stamp for the White House.

“At issue, I believe, in this nomination hearing is not ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a proposal on Wednesday to limit the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes and some other combustible tobacco products, a final step for the agency before the Trump administration takes over next week.

The FDA first announced it would pursue regulatory changes to maximum nicotine ...Read more