NEW YORK — Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected Tuesday to name Lillian Bonsignore, the FDNY’s former emergency services chief, as the Fire Department’s next commissioner, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Mamdani, who is taking office Jan. 1, was expected to officially unveil the appointment at a news conference in Queens ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Franklin County grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict a man who shot and killed a 19-year-old student and injured another this month at Kentucky State University.

A “no true bill” was returned for murder and assault charges against Jacob Bard, 48, of Evansville, Indiana. The decision means the grand jury found no ...Read more

Jeffrey Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, told the FBI in 2023 that Epstein was murdered in his jail cell because he was about to “name names.”

Mark Epstein, 71, who has long believed that his brother was killed, also alleged in the tip that President Donald Trump “authorized” the late sex traffickers murder.

The FBI document is part ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican, has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, he announced on social media Tuesday.

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Santa doesn’t just loves snow, he’s a fan of ICE too in a new AI-generated video shared online by the Department of Homeland Security.

It starts off with St. Nicholas suiting up in a red bulletproof vest before he goes out and starts slapping cuffs on undocumented immigrants. Another scene sees Father Christmas processing an ...Read more

ORANGE, Calif. — Carmen Basu, bundled in a red jacket and woolly scarf, stood outside the headquarters of her local health plan one morning after picking up free groceries. She had brought her husband, teenage son, and 79-year-old mother-in-law to help.

They grabbed canned food, fruit and vegetables, and a grocery store gift card. And then ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At first glance, it sounds like a problem that shouldn’t exist.

Since Congress allowed enhanced federal health insurance subsidies to expire, you might expect only people who receive those subsidies to be hurt. After all, Californians who don’t receive federal premium subsidies already pay full price for their ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — With plans to launch the massive Starship from Florida next year, SpaceX defended its commitment to airspace safety after a Wall Street Journal article claimed an explosive mission in early 2025 was a greater danger to some flights than previously reported.

The article published Saturday cited Federal Aviation Administration ...Read more

A letter that appears to have been written by Jeffrey Epstein to serial sex abuser Larry Nassar, a former Michigan State University doctor, is among a batch of documents released this week by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The short message references President Donald Trump and, according to another released file, was submitted by the Federal ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For the 46th consecutive drawing, no one matched all six numbers of the Powerball lottery on Monday, although several new millionaires were created, game officials announced.

Nationwide, nine different tickets matched five of the six winning numbers, missing only the red “Powerball” number. Each ticket is worth $1 million ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A man has been convicted of killing three people at a Minneapolis homeless encampment and remains accused of shooting another man at a sober living facility the next day before being shot and arrested by St. Paul police.

Earl Bennett, 41, was found guilty on Dec. 22 in Hennepin County District Court on three counts of second-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Atop the aerial ladder of a bright red fire engine, a firefighter wrangles a hose. From the spout pours not water but syrup, pumped from an enormous bottle. The stream of viscous liquid is aimed at a giant stack of pancakes 9 feet high.

"Pancake Breakfast" is one of the dozens of floats expected to roll through Pasadena on New ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Fueled by a new viral strain, flu is hitting California early — and doctors are warning they expect the season may be particularly tough on young children.

Concentrations of flu detected in wastewater have surged in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the test positivity rate is rising in Los Angeles County and Orange County, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Democratic member of the House on Monday challenged in federal court the administration’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center after President Donald Trump.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the center’s board stepped outside the law when it ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he will not veto the 2026 budget passed by aldermen, conceding a historic struggle that reached the brink of a government shutdown and burned his goodwill with the City Council.

Speaking to TV cameras from his ceremonial office, Johnson confirmed he will not veto the $16.6 billion ...Read more

MIAMI — A South Florida man who owned a chain of medical equipment companies and an associate were found guilty on Monday of committing healthcare fraud by paying bribes to generate patients so they could bill $34 million to the federal Medicare program for unnecessary services.

Michael Kochen, 42, of Aventura, and Sandro Herek, 55, of Coral ...Read more

The U.S. Justice Department released another tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, including some that add fresh pressure on President Donald Trump over his past relationship with the late, disgraced financier.

The trove includes thousands of additional pages of material related to investigations of Epstein, including a 2020 email from a...Read more

DETROIT — Detroit Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield will host a public swearing-in ceremony for her new job as the city's first female leader at a free event the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 9.

The "public investiture" is free and will also include the swearing-in of Detroit City Council members, police commissioners and City Clerk Janice Winfrey. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A major atmospheric river storm walloping the state with heavy rains, strong winds and major snow has made its way to Southern California, bringing what forecasters say may become the region's worst Christmas storm in recent memory.

"This is a long-duration event, so we're going to be having the cumulative effects of rain," said...Read more

The Department of Justice on Tuesday released its biggest tranche to date from the Epstein Files, the department’s investigative cases into the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The more than 10,000 files show internal deliberations between federal prosecutors, attorneys for victims and attorneys for Epstein.

The files also include ...Read more