A Navy commander overseeing strikes on alleged drug boats off the Venezuelan coast stepped down Thursday as some of the intended targets of the latest U.S. aerial attack appear to have survived.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on X that 37-year veteran Admiral Alvin Holsey will retire by the end of the year.

“Throughout his career—...Read more

The head of the U.S. Southern Command, responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, is stepping down after less than a year on the job.

Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, who took charge of the Doral, Florida-based military command in November, announced Thursday that he will retire from the service effective Dec. 12...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The newest iteration of Philadelphia’s federal appeals court made its public debut this week, as two new judges nominated by President Donald Trump made their first appearances on the storied bench in the Center City courthouse.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit now has a majority of Republican-appointed judges ...Read more

LIMA, Peru — Peru’s new President José Jerí survived a push from left-wing lawmakers to oust him Thursday, following the death of a protester that occurred less than a week after he assumed the role.

Congress voted to dismiss a motion filed earlier in the afternoon that had the backing of just 20 of 130 lawmakers. Still, that it was ...Read more

Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was convicted in the spring on federal corruption charges tied to a City Hall kickback scheme, will report to the Bureau of Prisons Friday to begin her monthlong jail sentence.

Fernandes Anderson, 46, “will be reporting to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons” to “serve her ...Read more

Washington is among the states suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for ending a $7 billion program intended to help low-income and disadvantaged households install solar power.

The program was created in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, and Washington state was awarded $156 million in April 2024. However, after President ...Read more

CHICAGO — Cook County barred the use of county-owned buildings, parking lots, garages and vacant lots for civil immigration enforcement activities, implementing similar measures enacted in Chicago and most recently neighboring Lake County.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle signed an executive order Thursday that will prevent U.S. ...Read more

Two cases of a potentially more severe strain of mpox have been confirmed in Los Angeles County this week.

It's the first time this particular type of mpox, known as "Clade I," has been found in the United States among people who had no history of traveling overseas to high-risk areas.

The first case, reported publicly on Tuesday, involved a ...Read more

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker offered a simple explanation on Thursday for how he took home more than $1.4 million in gambling winnings last year.

“I like to play cards,” the billionaire governor told reporters at a news conference in downtown Chicago, adding that he won the money during a single trip to Las Vegas.

Pritzker’s ...Read more

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The father of missing baby Emmanuel Haro has pleaded guilty to murder in Riverside County.

Jake Haro pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his 7-month-old son, Emmanuel, several weeks after the boy’s parents falsely reported him missing in Riverside County.

Haro appeared in a Riverside courtroom ...Read more

MIAMI — Smartmatic, a London-based company with roots in Venezuela and a subsidiary in South Florida, was charged Thursday with foreign corruption by conspiring to pay more than $1 million in bribes to a Filipino election official to obtain voting machine contracts in the Philippines, according to an indictment filed in Miami federal court.

...Read more

WASHINGTON — As part of an attempt by Republicans to keep the House majority in 2026, North Carolina state lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map and proposed removing one of its four congressional Democrats from the district he represents.

If it becomes law, the map could give Republicans one extra vote in Congress from North ...Read more

The British Library has reinstated the suspended library card of revered Irish author Oscar Wilde, who died in 1900.

Wilde’s access to the British Museum Reading Room was revoked in 1895 after the gay writer was convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to two years in prison. Sexual relationships between men were illegal in the U.K. ...Read more

Publix recalled one lot of ice cream in six states because the product inside doesn’t match the container — and that can be a problem with the worst consequences for some customers.

The container is for Publix Rich & Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream. That doesn’t have egg, which is an allergen. What’s inside the recalled lot might be Rich & ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California on Thursday rejected the controversial education compact the Trump administration offered it and eight other schools, saying it would undermine “values of free inquiry and academic excellence.”

USC interim President Beong-Soo Kim said in a statement that he had sent a letter to the U.S. ...Read more

There’s a new system worth watching in the Atlantic.

Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center began tracking a tropical wave that could form in the Caribbean. As of 2 p.m. Eastern time, forecasters gave it no chance of developing in the next two days and a 20% shot of strengthening into a tropical depression or storm within the next ...Read more

In a simulated natural disaster, robotic drones from the University of Maryland’s RoboScout Team arrived first, scanning the area for survivors. They beamed patients’ locations to robot dogs and medics on the ground to quickly find, triage and treat the most critically injured people first.

“When we talk about robot triage, we’re ...Read more

As the government shutdown inflicts pain on federal workers, Republicans have promised to ease the financial blow for men and women in uniform.

“Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait,” the Office of Management and Budget posted on X this week, drawing a contrast with its plans for mass layoffs at other departments...Read more

The Institute of Behavioral Research at TCU has been awarded a $7.2 million grant from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse to study alternatives to arrest or prosecution that connect people with treatment instead.

The project will work with 20 communities across Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“We know that ...Read more