The U.S. State Department on Monday formally designated Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles a Foreign Terrorist Organization, granting the Trump administration expanded legal authority to take military action against the Nicolás Maduro regime.

The move comes as Washington appears poised to launch a new phase of operations in the coming days amid...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Rosa Martinez isn’t sure what Thanksgiving will look like without her husband, seven months after he was deported.

Typically, about 30 members of their family would gather at their home in Brawley in the Imperial Valley, coming in from Merced and San Diego to celebrate.

But now, with her husband of 15 years stuck in Mexicali, ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — A group that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created with the goal of making policy recommendations to save lives is urging state lawmakers to ban the possession of assault weapons and large capacity magazines.

Whitmer, a Democrat, formed the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in June 2024. The panel released its ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is set to have another interim director start next week, as President Donald Trump’s administration is about to complete a review of a potential agency reorganization.

Interim chief David Richardson resigned and will leave the role on Dec. 1, and Karen Evans, formerly a top official at ...Read more

MIAMI — The grandmother of a young woman whose body was found underneath a bed on Carnival cruise ship earlier this month said the FBI told the family the teen likely died from asphyxia.

Barbara Kepner said on ABC News’ "Good Morning America" in an interview that aired Monday that agents told the family it appears someone applied a bar hold...Read more

In a stunning setback for President Donald Trump’s Justice Department, a judge on Monday dismissed federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey — finding the prosecutor handpicked by the president “had no lawful authority” to file them.

South Carolina Federal Judge Cameron ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Challengers to Texas’ new congressional map urged the Supreme Court not to pause a lower court ruling requiring the state use its old congressional map next year, arguing in a filing Monday the ruling came with plenty of time ahead of the elections.

The court filing is the latest step in a fast-moving legal fight over whether ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will head to his resort in Florida this week for a Thanksgiving celebration by the sea. Perhaps turkey and trimmings at Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, just off the casino-lined Strip, would have been more apropos.

That’s because, on matters foreign and domestic, the president has turned to staking ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday held their first talks since agreeing to a tariff truce last month, discussing trade, Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Trump said the telephone call was “very good” and that the leaders spoke about purchases of soybeans and other farm products ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding that the interim U.S. attorney who secured the indictments was illegally appointed.

In two separate orders, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that Lindsey Halligan has been “...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal authorities have seized thousands of bottles, shots, tablets and packets containing 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, from two facilities owned by CBD American Shaman founder Vince Sanders, The Kansas City Star has learned.

Rumored for weeks, the seizure was confirmed in a civil forfeiture case filed Friday in the U.S....Read more

The criminal cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey were dismissed Monday in a stunning pair of rulings finding the prosecutor handpicked by President Donald Trump “had no lawful authority” to bring them.

South Carolina Federal Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that Lindsey Halligan, Trump...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department on Monday said it was investigating Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy captain, over his participation in a video urging troops and intelligence personnel to disobey “unlawful orders” and that he could face punishment under military law.

Citing “serious allegations of misconduct,” the ...Read more

A growing number of international airlines suspended flights to and from Venezuela over the weekend after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory Friday warning of a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity” in and around the country’s airspace.

The FAA cited increased U.S. military operations in ...Read more

Days after U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the government shutdown proved how unnecessary the Department of Education is, the Trump administration announced plans to transition key department responsibilities to other government agencies — another step closer to eliminating the department completely.

In an opinion piece for USA...Read more

BOSTON — Residents and city councilors in Medford are expressing outrage over a plan to roll back trash service to once every two weeks, as Massachusetts environmentalists consider a statewide ban on residential food waste disposal.

Medford officials say they are prepared to implement biweekly waste collection in July 2027, following ...Read more

Ukraine and its European allies signaled that key sticking points remained in U.S.-brokered peace talks even as senior officials hailed progress in winning more favorable terms for Kyiv from a proposal backed by President Donald Trump.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lauded a meeting in Geneva on Sunday, where Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators ...Read more

Ukraine and its European allies signaled that key sticking points remained in U.S.-brokered peace talks even as senior officials hailed progress in winning more favorable terms for Kyiv from a proposal backed by President Donald Trump.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lauded a meeting in Geneva on Sunday, where Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators ...Read more

CHICAGO — As Mayor Brandon Johnson has shaken hands in church pews and given booming speeches in school auditoriums while selling his 2026 budget plan directly to Chicagoans, one color has been notably muted among his supporters: purple.

That’s the signature hue of the Service Employees International Union, whose local affiliates were ...Read more

CHICAGO — International enrollment dropped at nearly two dozen Illinois universities this fall, with some seeing dramatic declines after the Trump administration tightened student visa policies.

A Tribune analysis of 27 of the state’s largest universities found that foreign enrollment dipped at all but four institutions, including the ...Read more