Murilo Sampaio stood on a camouflage-painted boat on the Amazon, scanning for smugglers, when three oil barges appeared on the horizon.

The military police chief had been told to check for drugs on every vessel coming down the Solimões, the name given to the upper stretches of the Amazon in Brazil. As Sampaio and his crew reviewed the convoy�...Read more

Medical educators and health professionals warn that new federal student loan caps in President Donald Trump’s tax cut law could make it more expensive for many people to become doctors and could exacerbate physician shortages nationwide.

And, they warn, the economic burden will steer many medical students to lucrative specialties in more ...Read more

BALTIMORE — More than a decade of research from multiple sources shows Baltimore’s wealthy homeowners paid less than they owed in property taxes, while poorer homeowners paid more than they owed.

A 2023 study conducted by a member of Strong Towns Baltimore — the group is now known as Baltimoreans for People-Oriented Places, or BaltPOP —...Read more

Racial health disparities may widen as states, universities and nonprofits grapple with federal funding cuts to programs that were aimed at filling gaps in care, public health experts say.

As part of its federal restructuring and crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the Trump administration has been shuttering federal ...Read more

As a child during the Cold War, Sari Tukiainen would climb a hill in her hometown of Imatra and look over the border to the smokestacks of Svetogorsk, wondering about the Soviet Union that lay beyond.

Later, she was among the Finns who earned well from their neighbors, as Russian tourists poured over the frontier and filled Imatra’s streets, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia is directing $7 million in city funds to food pantries, federal workers, and vulnerable families as the federal government shutdown passes the one-month mark, disrupting the country’s largest food assistance program.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed an executive order Saturday allocating the funds as part of a ...Read more

CHICAGO — Candles, candy and colorful flowers adorned the ofrenda, or altar, that a couple of dozen people helped build Saturday to honor Silverio Villegas González, the man shot and killed by an ICE agent in northwest suburban Franklin Park nearly two months ago.

At the intersection of Grand Avenue and Emerson Street, near where the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Rapper Meek Mill was handcuffed early Saturday morning outside a Midtown Manhattan nightclub as police searched his car for a gun, according to police sources.

Cops searched the car of the Philadelphia-born rapper, whose real name is Robert Williams, 38, around 4 a.m. after stopping three men in the vehicle, which matched the ...Read more

After months of tariff threats and brow-beating on defense spending, American allies in Asia had ample reason to be wary of President Donald Trump. But he ended up using a three-nation tour of the region to hammer home a clear message: The U.S. still has your back.

Trump said the U.S. was “wedded” to South Korea, addressed some of its ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nine members of the notorious Pagans motorcycle gang were arrested and charged in connection with a shootout at a Wawa convenience store that left six people injured, including two bystanders, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced Friday.

On Oct. 17 just after 9:10 p.m., the Pagans surrounded two members...Read more

President Donald Trump threatened possible U.S. military action in Nigeria, saying its government “continues to allow the killing of Christians” by Islamic militants.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he’s instructing the Pentagon “to prepare for possible action” and threatened an immediate cutoff in aid to Nigeria, an OPEC member...Read more

LOS ANGELES — On Saturday morning, Genaro Alfonzo pulled up to the Kia Forum in Inglewood wearing his Los Angeles Dodgers hat and jersey, with a flag for his Boys in Blue flapping from a Toyota pickup truck.

But the morning after his beloved Dodgers won Game 6 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Alfonzo was not happy. It was ...Read more

MIAMI — As Jamaica slowly recovers from the most catastrophic hurricane to hit the country, more than two dozen Floridians stranded there have been rescued and returned home Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Hurricane Melissa killed at least 19 people in Jamaica and left thousands in the country without power, water or internet. It leveled ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has said he feels an “obligation” to watch in person as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs his powers to impose tariffs on much of the world. If Trump does, he will make history as the first sitting president ever to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court.

There is no record in the Supreme ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho immigrant who entered the U.S. lawfully 10 years ago but overstayed his visa was among the many people swept up in the FBI and ICE raid on a racetrack last month in Wilder, according to Neal Dougherty, a Nampa lawyer and partner at Ramirez-Smith Law.

The man had no criminal history, but Dougherty said agents told him ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd has asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to issue an emergency order that the two units at the Comanche power plant keep operating because there’s a risk of an energy shortfall if the coal facility in Pueblo County is shut down when planned.

The Republican who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional ...Read more

DENVER — In the last budget that Gov. Jared Polis will usher through from conception to enactment, the term-limited Democrat hopes to wrestle down ever-rising Medicaid costs, he said Friday in unveiling his proposal.

It’s a plan that proposes clamping down on dental benefits, requiring prior authorization for more services and making ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Almost two decades after a series of slayings in Long Beach, authorities say they have identified a suspect: A man already serving multiple life sentences for murder and attempted murder.

The suspect, Glenn Cox, 39, is incarcerated at Avenal State Prison in the San Joaquin Valley, the Long Beach Police Department said in a ...Read more