LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ordered that rapper Lil Durk remain behind bars pending his trial on murder-for-hire charges, citing a report that he is violating jail rules by using other inmates’ phone accounts and engaging in three-way calls.

During a bail review hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue said the rapper, ...Read more

President Donald Trump Thursday congratulated Pope Leo XIV, calling it a “great honor” that the Chicago-born pontiff has become the first pope born in the U.S.

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.”

Trump ...Read more

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel changed his tune Thursday on a White House proposal to cut his agency’s budget, giving his “full support” to a request that, a day before, he said he was working to avoid because it would force him to fire 1,300 of his employees.

The controversial FBI director in his opening remarks before the Senate...Read more

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will replace Ed Martin, the former Missouri GOP chair whose controversial nomination to be Washington, D.C.’s top prosecutor has been in question since his Jan. 20 appointment as interim U.S. attorney.

Trump praised Martin but told reporters that he would be announcing a replacement for the ...Read more

DENVER — Constitutional lawyers say a lawsuit the Trump administration filed last week to challenge immigration enforcement policies in Colorado and Denver has little chance of success if the courts follow past rulings in similar cases.

But that may not be the goal, they say.

“By using litigation as a way to inflict pain, one might ...Read more

ROME — Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Roman Catholic pontiff, the first ever pope from the United States and a possible bridge between the moderate and hard-line sides of a divided Church.

Prevost, 69, chose the name of Leo XIV for his pontificate and was greeted by thousands of cheering faithful as he stepped out onto a ...Read more

Melania Trump has reportedly spent fewer than two weeks in the White House since President Donald Trump began serving his second term in office on Jan. 20.

While she’s been photographed at highly publicized events like April’s White House Easter Egg Roll, sightings of the enigmatic first lady in Washington, D.C. have been rare in the 109 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he would pull Ed Martin’s nomination to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and would soon announce a replacement for the embattled pick.

The shift comes after a monthslong fight in the Senate to confirm Martin, who currently serves in the role on a temporary basis. Earlier this ...Read more

ROME — Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Roman Catholic pontiff, the first ever pope from the United States and a possible bridge between the moderate and hard-line sides of the Church.

Prevost, 69, chose the name of Leo XIV for his pontificate and was greeted by thousands of cheering faithful as he stepped out onto a balcony ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has agreed in principle to settle more than 100 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed against it last year in San Diego and across California, according to recent court filings in the cases.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the Utah-based LDS church, often referred to as the Mormon ...Read more

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The mistrial of a former Grand Rapids police officer accused of fatally shooting a Black motorist in 2022 evoked mixed reactions on Thursday, with no one calling it a victory, even though the officer involved wasn't found criminally responsible.

Kent County Circuit Judge Christina Mims declared a mistrial Thursday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Days after Judge James E. Boasberg ruled against President Donald Trump’s plans to quickly deport alleged members of a Venezuelan criminal gang, the president called for Congress to remove the judge from the bench.

“HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE,” Trump wrote in a social media ...Read more

The Johnson County Commission in Kansas is taking on a former Jan. 6 defendant in a battle over a web domain he registered more than four years ago.

William Pope, a Topeka man who represented himself in his Capitol riot case — and whose charges were dismissed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office — says the Board of County ...Read more

The number of reported measles cases in Kansas grew slightly over the past week, and while the outbreak has not spread to the Kansas City metro, it is getting closer.

The state saw two new cases, bringing the total number to 48 cases as of Wednesday morning, up from 46 cases a week ago, according to the Kansas Department of Health and ...Read more