DULUTH, Minn. – A couple of minutes into a recent school lockdown drill, a group of 11th-graders huddled in the back of a darkened classroom in complete silence.

The door handle suddenly jiggled, cracking through the quiet and sending a tremor through the students.

Lee Kruger’s international studies class at Duluth East High School had ...Read more

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy codifies the disruptive foreign policies he’s pursued since taking office — including railing against allies as often as traditional foes — but also veers inward with an emphasis on domestic and culture war issues.

Unlike previous national security documents, the one ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department is expected to end the year $19.6 million over budget, which Police Chief Brian O’Hara largely attributes to the hiring of 162 aspiring police officers.

The agency’s overspending of its $230 million budget is expected to be a hot topic during a Monday budget committee meeting. Council Vice ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — SAVE Inc., the nonprofit that reopened Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ youth homeless shelter Teresa’s Place in August, has fired a number of staff members, citing funding issues that have also led to a lack of food at the shelter and other cashflow problems, according to staff.

Ten employees were let go across the organization on...Read more

WASHINGTON — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that she and President Donald Trump had a “cordial” hour-long meeting in Washington that ended with both leaders extending invitations to visit each other’s country.

“We’ll arrange a date later,” Sheinbaum told reporters outside of the Mexican Cultural Institute.

The ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Lester Lewis’ chances of freedom seemed bleak.

The allegations were horrific, even for a rape case, and the prosecution’s evidence appeared to be strong. He was accused of beating, burning and sexually violating a woman as she died of a suspected drug overdose in his Oakland apartment, then coldly dragging her corpse to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pressing their Republican colleagues to summon the Trump administration’s top housing regulator to Capitol Hill for questioning about his turbulent tenure overseeing the nation’s $13 trillion mortgage market.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte should be called to testify before lawmakers ...Read more

Gilbert Clark, the former commandant of the Naval Academy dismissed from his post last month amid concerns over his ability to lead, was seen dancing and drinking alcohol while in uniform with young adults at an Annapolis bar on at least one occasion, according to one witness and a social media video reviewed by the Capital Gazette.

The video...Read more

Negotiators from the White House and Ukraine agreed on a “framework of security arrangements” and discussed what deterrence capabilities would be necessary as part of a peace deal to end the war with Russia, the U.S. said Friday.

“The participants discussed the results of recent meeting of the American side with the Russians and steps ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been cooperating with the city corruption watchdog’s investigation into possible violations of ethics laws, his spokesperson said Friday.

“This is a non-criminal, ethics review, and the Mayor is fully confident it will show he followed the law,” Todd Shapiro said of the Department of ...Read more

Waymo said it will file a voluntary software recall with U.S. federal authorities after its autonomously driven vehicles repeatedly failed to fully slow or stop for school buses.

The Alphabet Inc. self-driving unit expects to file the notice early next week, which will become public on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s ...Read more

NEW YORK — Top charter school leaders are looking to improve ties with Zohran Mamdani as simmering tensions between the mayor-elect and the sector threaten to open a contentious chapter in their relationship with City Hall.

After those differences became apparent on the campaign trail, the heads of 19 charter schools and networks, including ...Read more

Former political journalist Olivia Nuzzi’s tenure at Vanity Fair has come to an end, a year after reports of her alleged relationship with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upended her career.

Vanity Fair and a spokesperson for“American Canto” author Nuzzi said in a joint statement shared Friday that they “...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has ordered more than 260 federal workers it has been trying to fire since March to return to work on Dec. 15 while a court case over their final status drags on.

The staffers at the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigates claims of discrimination in schools, were sent an ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Gov. Gavin Newsom kept a low profile as he swung through the nation’s capital this week, holding meetings with a handful of lawmakers Friday on Capitol Hill as he renewed calls for billions in federal recovery aid following the Los Angeles fires.

For a governor who has spent recent weeks in the spotlight — trailed by cameras...Read more

NEW YORK — The City Council’s Ethics Committee is expected to vote as soon as next week to formally censure Councilwoman Inna Vernikov for openly carrying a gun at an October 2023 pro-Palestinian protest, sources familiar told the Daily News.

The move to censure isn’t expected to come with any concrete penalty, such as a suspension or ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett is retiring after all, bringing an end to a nearly 50-year political career.

“I will continue working with the same urgency and determination as if next year were my last, which in public office it will be,” the longtime Democratic lawmaker said in a statement Friday.

Doggett had first announced he�...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — In a rare display of unity, all 28 of Florida’s Congress members and both U.S. senators joined in a bipartisan letter Thursday urging President Donald Trump to keep offshore oil drilling away from the state’s coastline.

The response comes two weeks after the U.S. Department of the Interior unveiled a five-year proposal that ...Read more