The Baltimore County bill that aims to ban law enforcement officers from wearing masks to conceal their identities and to require them to identify themselves on the job visibly continues to draw scrutiny from one Republican councilman.

Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat who’s running for county executive, introduced the measure ...Read more

North Korea test-fired cruise missiles from its latest warship, the second time in a week it has launched its new sea-to-surface weapons system as reports grow that the U.S. is shifting air defense assets out of South Korea to help it fight Iran.

Kim Jong Un oversaw the test on TV, accompanied by his daughter, Ju Ae, on Tuesday, a photo ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking full access to conduct a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center after being allegedly denied the opportunity last month.

The legal action was expected after county Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre gave...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Florida woman was criminally charged Tuesday after she allegedly sprayed bullets at the home of star singer Rihanna earlier this week.

Ivanna Ortiz, 35, of Orlando faces one count of attempted murder, nine counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of shooting into an inhabited dwelling and one count of shooting at a motor ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A week after Florida cut nearly 12,000 people off the state program providing affordable access to life-saving HIV/AIDS medication, state senators are making a last-minute move to fund the program in full for the next few months.

The Florida Department of Health blindsided lawmakers in January when it announced a plan to ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said Tuesday that Missouri’s self-defense law imposes a burden of proof that is too high for her office to secure a murder conviction against one of the shooters in the 2024 Chiefs Super Bowl rally that left one dead and dozens of others wounded.

Johnson spoke during a press ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Energy markets whipsawed for a second consecutive day as investors raced to interpret rapidly shifting comments from the Trump administration over the war in Iran.

Oil prices plummeted after Energy Secretary Chris Wright erroneously posted — and then deleted — a message that the U.S. Navy had escorted an oil tanker through ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday defended its refusal to give the federal government names of faculty and students affiliated with Jewish programs, telling a judge that doing so would interfere with their First Amendment rights.

The university, which is facing an investigation into antisemitism by the Equal Employment ...Read more

After five decades of providing medical care to nationals of Guyana and Jamaica, Cuba is withdrawing its doctors and other health specialists that have been a cornerstone of Caribbean health care.

The move comes after both Jamaica and Guyana acknowledge that they have been unable to restructure their respective long-standing agreements with ...Read more

OLYMPIA — What started as an evening debate Monday has turned into a marathon at the state Capitol.

By Tuesday afternoon, the state House was still debating a proposed income tax on high earners, more than 21 hours after lawmakers first took up this bill around 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Bleary-eyed lawmakers cycled through speeches and gulped down ...Read more

A bill to regulate automated license plate readers in Washington state for the first time is heading to Gov. Bob Ferguson for his signature.

The state Senate on Tuesday approved amendments made by the House to Senate Bill 6002, also known as the Driver Privacy Act." At least 23 other states have approved such regulations since 2007.

The bill ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Dozens of missing minors — some as young as 14 and some of whom had been sexually assaulted or trafficked — have been located and rescued in Southern California and nearby states, authorities say.

State leaders are celebrating the four-day operation to combat human trafficking in Southern California that led to the rescue as...Read more

The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. Since the beginning of the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, oil tanker traffic through the world’s most critical oil shipping choke point has collapsed, dropping by more than 90%.

Iran has threatened to destroy any ships, including oil tankers, that ...Read more

With three weeks until Donald Trump meets Xi Jinping, Beijing is frustrated by what it sees as insufficient U.S. preparation that may limit the landmark summit to trade agreements and leave key diplomatic and security matters untouched.

Chinese officials are dissatisfied with what they consider last-minute planning ahead of Trump’s arrival on...Read more

Could Bay Staters get a double refund this tax season?

Gov. Maura Healey has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — calling for a $1,745 tariffs refund for every Massachusetts household after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump admin’s tariffs were unconstitutional.

“On behalf of the people of Massachusetts, I demand a ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — A memorial asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn gay marriage lost some support in the Idaho Legislature.

Idaho lawmakers voted Tuesday on a rerun of a 2025 memorial asking the nation’s highest court to overturn its landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Gay marriage has been legal in Idaho since 2014 under a ...Read more

You complain that Publix is expensive?

Try food shopping on the West Coast at a trendy grocery store with a weirdly unpronounceable name, Erewhon (Air-a-One), an anagram of “nowhere.” It was reportedly inspired by Samuel Butler’s 1872 dystopian novel of the same name.

Safe to say, BOGOs don’t exist at this high-end supermarket, where a...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in San Jose could hear final arguments as soon as May 6 in a major First Amendment lawsuit pitting the Stanford Daily student newspaper against the Trump administration over visa policies that plaintiffs say have silenced noncitizen journalists and students critical of Israel and U.S. foreign policy.

Both ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Energy markets whipsawed for a second consecutive day as investors raced to interpret rapidly shifting comments from the Trump administration over the war in Iran.

Oil prices plummeted after Energy Secretary Chris Wright erroneously posted — and then deleted — a message that the U.S. Navy had escorted an oil tanker through ...Read more