ANALYSIS — The scene at the White House on Tuesday was vintage Donald Trump. He welcomed one of the world’s most controversial figures, verbally lambasted a reporter and announced a major arms deal that could shake up the Middle East. And all before lunch.

There was the 47th U.S. president warmly shaking hands with Saudi Arabia’s de facto...Read more

ATLANTA — The strained relationship between Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the State Election Board is fraying.

The latest divide came last week when the board, which Democrat and Republican state lawmakers have described as dysfunctional, found out that secretary of state investigators would no longer attend board meetings...Read more

ATLANTA — The strained relationship between Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the State Election Board is fraying.

The latest divide came last week when the board, which Democrat and Republican state lawmakers have described as dysfunctional, found out that secretary of state investigators would no longer attend board meetings...Read more

CHICAGO — Starting Wednesday, Illinois residents will be able to use their iPhones to show their driver’s license at select airports, restaurants and bars.

Under a major digital shift that Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias cast on Tuesday as a long-promised modernization of government services, Illinois residents will be able to add ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — After the publication of a report this week on the city’s remote voting options, Anchorage officials sought to clarify its offerings, which they say were mischaracterized in a national news story.

Among the options to vote in Anchorage’s by-mail local elections, voters can choose to cast their ballots electronically, ...Read more

President Donald Trump is drawing widespread criticism after lashing out at a female reporter who was pressing for information about files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

While speaking to reporters on Air Force One Friday, Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey attempted to ask Trump about the release of the so-called Epstein files, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A federal court has blocked Texas from moving forward with a new congressional map hastily drawn in recent months to net Republicans up to five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.

The ruling on Tuesday is a major political blow to the Trump administration, which set off a ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The FBI has read or listened to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento lobbyists’ conversations as part of an ongoing corruption investigation that has so far ensnared Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, former Deputy State Attorney General Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell, according to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A panel of federal judges on Tuesday blocked Texas from using its new congressional map in next year’s midterm elections, saying the new lines were likely unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.

The 2-1 opinion from Judge Jeffrey V. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, joined by Judge David C. ...Read more

NEW YORK — Former City Hall aide Mohamed Bahi was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation for helping funnel bogus donations into Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign coffers.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Dale Ho said during a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court that the “elephant in the room” was the fact that President Donald ...Read more

NetChoice, a tech trade association representing companies such as Google, YouTube and Meta, is suing Virginia over a state law that limits how much time kids can spend on social media platforms. The law passed with unanimous support in both chambers this past legislative session.

Set to take effect Jan. 1, the law requires social media ...Read more

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill demanding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files on Tuesday after President Donald Trump abruptly reversed his strident opposition while still maintaining the scandal is a “Democrat hoax.”

Hours after a group of Epstein’s victims made another ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland lawmakers blasted the latest Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild projections Tuesday, after transportation officials revealed the estimates have nearly tripled since last spring and the timeline has been delayed to late 2030.

The original budget for the Key Bridge rebuild, now between $4.3 and $5.2 billion, was between $1.7 ...Read more

NEW YORK — City Comptroller Brad Lander on Tuesday chose to proceed to trial — and risk a possible jail stint — following his arrest for trying to inspect conditions under which the Trump administration is detaining migrants at 26 Federal Plaza.

Following several hours of mediation talks at Manhattan federal court Tuesday, prosecutors ...Read more

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — There are tall, pointy metal tubes aplenty at Port Canaveral, but one is extra large.

The first-ever recovered first-stage booster for Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket arrived to the port Tuesday morning five days after its launch from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 on the NG-2 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as the pair met to announce a deepening of economic ties at the White House.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump ...Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday that marks the first step in releasing the government’s criminal case files involving sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The Department of Justice has kept most of the files under seal for almost two decades — since 2007 when the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office in ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho election officials said they’re investigating missing votes in Elmore County after noticing a discrepancy in the November election tallies.

Elmore County notified the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office on Friday that it found a difference between the number of ballots cast and the number of people who voted in the Nov....Read more

BALTIMORE — Saying the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was entirely preventable, the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday detailed breakdowns both on board the Dali container ship that crashed into it and a lack of a warning system that could have alerted the construction workers to drive to safety rather than plunge to ...Read more

With Jeffrey Epstein’s reputation in tatters following a 2018 Miami Herald investigation into his sex crimes — and how he evaded serious consequences — the financier hit on a plan: He would produce a documentary to present himself in a favorable light.

He had several ideas about who could appear on it and provide favorable testimonies, ...Read more