VANDALIA, Mo. — Kathy Briggs slipped her arms through the thick straps of a brand-new baby carrier, tugging it over her beige shirt as two other women stood beside her, tightening buckles and adjusting the padded waistband.

The carrier was still stiff from its packaging, and Briggs shifted her feet as one of the women gently lifted then-6-...Read more

Thailand is gearing up for a general election Feb. 8, which could usher in the fourth prime minister in three years. The snap vote is expected to produce a coalition government, heightening the risk of continued political instability.

Political upheaval has become the norm over the last two decades. A series of short-lived administrations have...Read more

CHICAGO — In Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood on the city’s West Side, a sandwich shop on North Avenue stands as it has for more than 20 years — menu prices taped over and over again on the wall, a door that squeaks and sticks in its groove, a bulletproof service window separating servers slinging Philly subs with a pile of fries and...Read more

DENVER — President Donald Trump’s ongoing pressure campaign against Colorado has left the state’s mostly Democratic leaders on the back foot as they’ve tried to fend off threats to nearly $1 billion in federal funding, financing for a drinking water pipeline, the future of a celebrated research center and more over the past month alone. ...Read more

After escalating incidents of violence involving federal agents taking part in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, officials are looking to create "ICE-free" zones in L.A. County.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to bar immigration enforcement officers from county-owned spaces.

Lindsay ...Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case challenging an Idaho law that bars transgender women and girls from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

The case began in 2020, when Idaho became the first state in the nation to pass such a sweeping law targeting trans athletes. Shortly after Gov. Brad ...Read more

Venezuela’s acting president plans to send an envoy to Washington to meet with senior U.S. officials on the same day that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will be in town for her own talks in the wake of Nicolas Maduro’s ouster.

Ambassador Felix Plasencia, the chief of mission at Venezuela’s embassy in the U.K. and a former foreign ...Read more

The dark fleet of tankers shipping illicit oil around the world is rushing to seek the perceived protection of the Russian flag after the U.S. started seizing vessels involved in the Venezuelan trade.

At least 26 ships have switched registration to Russia since the beginning of last month, with the bulk of those happening after the U.S. ...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday went out of his way during his final State of the State speech to the Florida Legislature to tout his wife’s signature initiative, Hope Florida, despite a year of controversy about the program and its related charity.

In a speech that boasted of his last seven years of accomplishments, DeSantis singled out the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — About 1.4 million fewer people have signed up for Obamacare plans so far compared to last year as a federal tax credit expires and consumers confront significantly higher premiums.

While the dropoff is less severe than projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and others, experts warn more attrition is likely in...Read more

The damage from December's storms and flooding will cost between $40 million and $50 million, Washington transportation officials say.

The estimate, which has yet to be finalized, came Monday, on day one of the legislative session, minutes into the first House Transportation Committee meeting.

The legislators heard from John Himmel, the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Actor Kiefer Sutherland was arrested early Monday after police said he assaulted a ride-share driver in Hollywood.

Sutherland was arrested on suspicion of criminal threats after officers responded to reports of an assault on a driver in Hollywood in the early hours of Monday.

The “24” and “Stand by Me” actor, 59, was ...Read more

The federal spending bill passed by Congress last July known as the One Big Beautiful Bill is set to reshape Medicaid, which provides health coverage to more than 3 million North Carolinians.

State Health and Human Services officials told state lawmakers Tuesday that one of the most urgent questions is how to pay for the new work requirements ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian contractor known as “Fat Leonard” at the center of the worst bribery and corruption scheme in U.S. Navy history, must serve the remainder of his 15-year prison sentence, according to an appeals court ruling that became official Monday.

The 61-year-old Francis, who pleaded guilty in San ...Read more

Roughly 80% of immigrant owned businesses along key corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul have closed in the past week as employees and customers stay home in fear of ICE agents detaining them.

Both Latino Economic Development Center on the east side of St. Paul and the Lake Street Business Council both said businesses have lost at least half ...Read more

California lawmakers Tuesday moved forward a bill that would allow residents to sue federal officials in state courts for constitutional violations.

Although it was first proposed in November, the bill came up for a hearing amid nationwide protests following the shooting death of an unarmed motorist in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would cut off federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities at the end of the month in the latest escalation over immigration policy with Democratic jurisdictions.

Trump said his administration had also given “90-day notices” to states like California who would bill the federal government to ...Read more

The Newsom administration said Friday that it does not plan to use state employee compensation costs as a means to shore up the state’s budget as it did last year when California faced a larger-than-expected deficit.

When asked what actions California might take in the event positive revenue projections don’t hold in the coming months, ...Read more