MEXICO CITY — The United States has struck an eighth alleged drug vessel, this time in the Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.

Hegseth said the airstrike in the eastern Pacific killed two people, bringing the death toll in the recent string of U.S. military attacks on alleged drug boats to 34.

In a short video clip...Read more

Four years after the “Rust” movie shooting, New Mexico officials have moved Alec Baldwin’s lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution to federal court.

This week’s filing is the latest twist in the long legal saga following the October 2021 on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin, the 67-year-old star and a producer of the...Read more

NEW YORK — The head of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Wednesday warned New Yorkers to expect more Canal Street-style crackdowns as President Donald Trump expands his mass deportation push to New York City.

Acting Director Todd Lyons said ICE plans to dramatically expand its activities in the five boroughs after the ...Read more

As President Donald Trump prepares to send National Guard troops — from either Oregon, California or possibly Texas — into Portland, Oregon, entrepreneur Sarah Shaoul watches with deep concern.

A three-decade resident of the Portland area, Shaoul leads a coalition of roughly 100 local small businesses, including many dependent on foot ...Read more

With the federal shutdown entering its fourth week, spurred by a stalemate over the cost of health insurance for 22 million Americans on Affordable Care Act plans, a new report shows that over 154 million people with coverage through an employer also face steep price hikes — and that the situation is likely to get worse.

Premiums for job-...Read more

WASHINGTON — Thirteen moderate House Republicans are urging party leadership to find a path toward extending enhanced expiring health care tax credits once the government reopens.

“Let us be clear: significant reforms are needed to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most,”...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will pour $80 million into food banks and send members of the National Guard and California Volunteers corps to pass out food as public benefits dry up due to the ongoing federal shutdown, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.

Newsom said he was expediting $80 million in food aid and dispatching volunteers on ...Read more

Before she became the most visible face among Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre was betrayed, repeatedly, by people who were supposed to protect her.

In her new memoir, "Nobody’s Girl," she recounts a traumatic childhood in South Florida, during which she was sexually abused by her father and a neighbor, to whom her father “...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a new congressional map intended to pick up another seat for Republicans, undercutting the influence of Black voters in a district they have historically dominated and heeding President Donald Trump’s nationwide demand for more favorable maps ahead of the 2026 ...Read more

NEW YORK — Author Michael Wolff is suing first lady Melania Trump in a Manhattan court over her effort to block publication of his planned tell-all book that could include details about her ties to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Daily News has learned.

Wolff, who has penned four bestselling books about President Donald ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday said she will not wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in before deciding how to proceed on her restraining order barring President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Illinois.

At a status hearing before U.S. District Judge April Perry, both sides said they had agreed to ...Read more

Forecasters said Wednesday that Hurricane Melissa will likely form within 24 hours and intensify into a Category 2 hurricane by Sunday, with some models showing it even reaching major hurricane strength.

Experts said South Florida should be keeping an eye on the long-range tracking models even though forecasters say the odds of U.S. impact are ...Read more

NEW YORK — A woman has been arrested for abandoning her newborn daughter on a rush hour subway platform at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, police said Wednesday.

Assa Diawara, 30, was nabbed late Tuesday for allegedly leaving the infant at the foot of a staircase on the downtown No. 1 train platform at the 34th St.-Penn Station stop about ...Read more

CHICAGO — Ofelia Torres has spent almost every day of the past month at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where the 16-year-old Lake View High School student is fighting cancer.

After a tough few weeks where the disease spread through her body and doctors inserted a drain in her abdomen to relieve fluid, the Torres family worked with her ...Read more

Russia launched multiple drone and missile strikes on Ukraine as the latest peace attempts by President Donald Trump appeared to be floundering.

The attack killed at least seven civilians, including children, with more than a dozen injured across the country in the early hours of Wednesday, according to reports from Ukraine’s President ...Read more

The Trump administration is quietly sending hundreds of Cubans and other immigrants with significant criminal records in buses across the border to Mexico, in an expansion of third-country deportations.

Although Cuba accepts deportation flights from the U.S., its longtime practice has been to reject deportees who have been convicted of certain ...Read more

As the federal shutdown continues, states have been forced to fall back on their own resources to spot disease outbreaks — just as respiratory illness season begins.

The shutdown has halted dashboards and expert analysis from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors indicators such as wastewater to provide early ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Archie Collins went to sleep the night of the raid like he often does: on the floor and hungry. He was up on the fifth floor of the five-story brick building at 7500 S. South Shore Drive, in Apartment 502. He had no gas for his stove. No electricity, except for that provided by an extension cord from a neighboring unit. The U.S. ...Read more