WASHINGTON — The U.S. war effort against Iran was “accelerating” as American and Israeli forces fought for control of Iranian airspace and pressed farther inland to seek and destroy Iranian missile capabilities, top U.S. officials said Wednesday.

“Four days in, we have only just begun to fight,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete ...Read more

BOSTON — Karen Read is pushing back against the O’Keefe family in the wrongful death lawsuit against her, as she claims that she never told Turtleboy, “I’m dead. I’m (expletive) dead.”

That alleged quote was included in a recent court filing from the family of the late John O’Keefe. The family is suing Read for the death of her ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan ballot committee said Wednesday that it collected more than 750,000 signatures in support of an effort to put a proposal before voters that would require individuals to provide proof of citizenship and photo ID in order to vote.

Americans for Citizen Voting planned to turn in its petition signatures Wednesday ...Read more

TROY, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday she would need more information before deciding whether Michigan would join at least 23 other states in opting in to a federal scholarship program giving taxpayers up to $1,700 for private school tuition or other educational uses.

The Democrat governor said President Donald Trump's Education ...Read more

NEW YORK — A parolee with a criminal record that includes 131 prior arrests in New York City was busted Wednesday for setting a homeless man on fire as he slept at Penn Station, according to police and prosecutors.

Damon Johnson, 47, is charged with attempted murder and assault for the attack on Monday that left a 37-year-old man with second-...Read more

WASHINGTON — The White House tried for a fifth day Wednesday to explain why the United States is waging war in Iran — this time it was press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s turn — as Democrats said the president has not made a clear case.

Leavitt led her Wednesday press briefing by dubbing the Iranian government led by Ayatollah Ali ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As Congress prepared to vote on whether to rein in the American assault on Iran, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman joined Pennsylvania Republicans in continuing to enthusiastically support the military effort while other Democrats railed against what they said was an increasingly dangerous and unnecessary war.

Fetterman has spent the days...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A respiratory virus that doesn’t have a vaccine or a specific treatment regimen is spreading in some parts of California — but there’s no need to sound the alarm just yet, public health officials say.

A majority of Northern California communities have seen high concentrations of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, detected in ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has again signaled that he thinks Tina Peters’ prison sentence was too harsh as he considers granting some form of clemency — though not a full pardon, his office confirmed Wednesday.

In a social media post Tuesday night, Polis — who has also faced months of pressure from President Donald Trump to ...Read more

The Federal Aviation Administration is extending its ban on U.S. commercial airlines flying into Haiti’s gang-ridden capital, while also widening the restricted airspace beyond Port-au-Prince to include parts of southern and central Haiti as well as the Artibonite region.

“Gangs have increasingly conducted violent attacks in the Artibonite ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The former actor Leo Grillo met the man in a camper at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank.

“They’ve got ‘em,” the man said. He showed Grillo a photo of a zip tied couple, duct tape over the woman’s mouth, according to a criminal complaint.

But the plan had hit a snag, he said. The kidnappers needed another $...Read more

Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed again Wednesday afternoon, leaving several provinces without electricity.

Cuba’s state utilities company Union Electrica said the blackout was due to “a disconnection of the national power system” affecting provinces from Pinar del Rio in the east to Camagüey in central Cuba due to a breakdown in the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Right-wing radio personality Sid Rosenberg apologized for calling Mayor Zohran Mamdani a “cockroach,” after the host’s hateful remarks sparked a massive backlash, including from Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Tisch both called Rosenberg out publicly and texted him directly about the post, he said.

“I apologize this ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly three weeks after federal officials announced that Operation Metro Surge was over, close to 650 federal agents remain in Minnesota, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified at a Senate Judiciary hearing Tuesday.

It’s a figure higher than the estimates in two declarations filed Feb. 23 by DHS ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dozens of guilty verdicts covering sexual assault and child endangerment were issued following the three-month trial of a former Los Gatos woman accused of organizing raucous alcohol-fueled parties for her teen son and his friends, which authorities say provided an uncontrolled setting for dangerous binge drinking and sexual...Read more

A teacher at a top-tier public high school in San Francisco is under investigation following reports of classroom quizzes that contained inappropriate questions, including sexist and fat-shaming language.

The San Francisco Unified School District said it is aware of the allegations at Lowell High School “regarding inappropriate questions on a...Read more

NEW YORK — Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is slated to go on trial in Manhattan for the third time April 14, with a judge on Wednesday scheduling jury selection in his rape retrial.

State Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber set the trial date at a hearing attended by the convicted Miramax founder and his new legal team from Agnifilo...Read more

NEW YORK — A second suspect has been busted for throwing snowballs at cops in Washington Square Park, sources said.

Eric Wilson, 18, surrendered at the 6th Precinct, accompanied by his lawyer, at 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Wilson, who lives in Harlem, was charged with obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor, and ...Read more