WASHINGTON — A federal judge denied President Donald Trump’s request to dismiss a lawsuit over comments he made last year about five men who were wrongly convicted in the 1989 jogger rape case and came to be known as the “Central Park Five.”

U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Thursday ruled that the case accusing Trump of defaming...Read more

ATLANTA — It was the middle of the night, and Walmart employees were just a few hours into their overnight shifts in an otherwise empty Newton County store when horror broke out.

One of their co-workers went on a multisite shooting rampage that would leave two people dead and seriously injure a third, the sheriff’s office said. The ...Read more

Officials from the U.S. and Iran are set to meet Saturday in Oman for the highest-level talks on the Islamic Republic’s advancing nuclear program since 2022, a sign of Tehran’s eagerness for sanctions relief and to avoid the crippling military attack that President Donald Trump has threatened.

Each side’s distrust of the other runs deep, ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida House Republicans on Friday issued letters to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, demanding text messages, emails and records that stretch back years as the chamber tries to investigate possible wasteful government spending in the executive branch.

The House is demanding administration officials turn over the ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on April 3 signed a law banning government entities, including cities, from flying non-“official” flags on their property.

In lawmakers’ debates over the bill, supporters shared pictures of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag outside Boise’s City Hall as an example of the flags they hoped the law would bring ...Read more

NEW YORK — An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled Friday the Trump administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who served as a negotiator on behalf of his classmates at Columbia University with the school administration.

Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23 to seek a ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Some immigration advocacy groups are beginning to move away from popular apps like WhatsApp and toward Signal, an encrypted app seen by many as more secure, amid growing uncertainty surrounding new anti-immigration policies.

At least that’s what happened with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, a well-known group that defends ...Read more

NEW YORK — A day after a tourist helicopter crash in the Hudson River killed six people including a Spanish CEO, his wife and three children, many local elected officials renewed their calls to outlaw non-emergency chopper traffic above New York City — but Mayor Eric Adams, whose support would be key to achieving any such prohibition, argued...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge denied Friday a request by 27 organizations representing Christian and Jewish denominations to block a policy from President Donald Trump’s administration that allows for immigration enforcement agents to enter houses of worship without a warrant.

The ruling comes less than two months after a different federal...Read more

LOS ANGELES — More than 150 miles of electrical power lines damaged by the Palisades and Eaton fires in Malibu and Altadena are slated to be replaced with underground lines, Southern California Edison announced Friday. The years-long project would reduce the future risk of wildfire in the devastated communities, officials said.

The company’...Read more

NEW YORK — A tourist couple next in line behind a Spanish family that died in a Hudson River helicopter crash said visitors to New York might start thinking twice about taking flights around the city.

“We are really shocked. I was shaking,” said Melissa Maertem, 23, who is visiting Manhattan from the Netherlands with her partner, Melissa ...Read more

President Donald Trump on Friday backed switching the U.S. to permanent daylight savings time, a move that would eliminate the often disruptive moving of clocks back and forth twice a year and offer more sunlight later in winter afternoons.

Trump weighed in on the controversial topic as Congress considers whether to keep the current system, ...Read more

The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking the court to reinstate four international students at Michigan universities whose student immigration status were terminated by the Trump administration.

The lawsuit asks the court for an temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the government to reinstate the ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday asked President Donald Trump to make a presidential emergency declaration for 12 northern Michigan counties and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.

The designation could qualify the state for "up to $5 million in immediate public assistance to support emergency efforts" in the wake ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump made clear this week his second-term strategy for governing is based largely on his own gut instincts, but stock markets have rejected that unorthodox approach and congressional Democrats call it reckless.

Democrats have criticized Trump over what they say is a seat-of-the-pants stewardship of the economy, ...Read more

Nearly half of all Venezuelans are still considering leaving their homeland, desperate to escape a country ravaged by economic collapse, political persecution and relentless violence under the rule of strongman Nicolás Maduro, according to a recent poll.

According to the poll by Venezuelan market research firm Meganalisis, 44% of respondents ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Campus police at the universities of Florida and South Florida are among those that have signed on as law enforcement partners with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

UF spokesperson Steve Orlando confirmed that the school’s police department, like hundreds of other agencies, has signed a 287(g) agreement which allows ...Read more

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In an action cheered by state environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission has voted to fine a Texas-based oil firm $18 million for failing to obtain necessary permits and reviews in its controversial push to revive oil production off the Gaviota Coast.

After hours of public comment Thursday, the commission ...Read more

Kilmar Abrego Garcia alleges he was arrested in 2019 and accused of affiliation with the notorious MS-13 gang based on two pieces of evidence.

First: a tip from an unidentified informant that Abrego Garcia vehemently denied.

Second: the fact he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie.

That wasn’t enough evidence to detain or charge ...Read more

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Three people are dead after a small plane crashed and burned when trying to return to the Boca Raton Airport on Friday morning after reporting mechanical issues, officials say.

The plane crashed short of the airport a little after 10 a.m., hitting a car and pushing it into a tree and onto the railroad tracks near Military ...Read more