BALTIMORE — Maryland lawmakers passed a voting rights bill in the final days of the 2026 legislative session that could give Gov. Wes Moore a new path to revisit congressional redistricting — despite failing to win approval to redraw maps during the session.

“What is happening at the local level could be an attempt to see what would be ...Read more

LIMA, Peru — The race to take on conservative Keiko Fujimori in Peru’s presidential runoff remained deadlocked Monday, with thousands of Peruvians still voting because of logistical mishaps a day earlier.

A fresh quick count by pollster Ipsos has Fujimori leading the first round with 17.1%. Leftist lawmaker Roberto Sánchez was second with ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump began a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a move intended to raise pressure on Tehran, even as the two countries are weighing another round of talks in hopes of cementing a longer-term ceasefire.

A naval blockade took effect Monday after a Trump-imposed deadline passed, with the United States ...Read more

Maryland is moving to further curb local cooperation with immigration authorities, placing it at odds with Republicans and the Trump administration in a widening fight over federal enforcement efforts.

As its 90-day session wound down Monday, the General Assembly approved legislation restricting when local authorities can detain individuals ...Read more

NEW YORK — A little more than a month after construction of the Hudson River Tunnel resumed, crews are working assembling the specialized machines necessary to dig the first stage of a pair of rail tunnels through the tough rock of the New Jersey Palisades.

The project’s two massive tunnel-boring machines — manufactured in Germany and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO — The big-money backers and Democratic heavyweights who tried to crown Rep. Eric Swalwell as California’s next governor before his scandal-plagued exit from the political arena are now scrambling to find a new favorite among the candidates they either spurned or actively tried to undercut.

Swalwell announced Monday he would ...Read more

While Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was showing the Dutch royal couple around Independence Mall, his general counsel was taking steps to quell a dispute that hit Pennsylvania’s first couple close to home.

Shapiro asked a U.S. District judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by his Abington neighbors over a parcel of land between their ...Read more

A judge threw out Donald Trump’s $10 billion libel suit against the Wall Street Journal and parent company News Corp., dealing a blow to the president’s ongoing campaign of litigation against the media.

The decision Monday in federal court in Miami largely vindicates a 2025 story that suggested Trump sent a lewd birthday note to Jeffrey ...Read more

CHICAGO — Aldermen advanced an ordinance Monday aimed at forcing officers with ties to extremist groups out of the Chicago Police Department.

The ordinance would prohibit police from participating in radical extremist and hate groups like the Three Percenters or Proud Boys and create new investigative powers to vet alleged ties.

It drew ...Read more

A watchdog group has filed a federal complaint alleging that the Johns Hopkins University repeatedly violated animal welfare protocols in its research studies, according to USDA inspection records and internal documents cited in a filing to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The complaint, filed by Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Ramsey County Attorney and sheriff announced Monday that they are investigating federal agents for possible criminal charges, including kidnapping, after they pulled a St. Paul man out of his home in January into below-zero windchill wearing nothing but boxers and Crocs.

On Jan. 18, agents broke open the door for the home of...Read more

The State and federal governments said Monday that they are working to comply with a judge’s order that expanded access to lawyers for people being held at Alligator Alcatraz.

In a federal court hearing, lawyers for the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the state was in the process of purchasing approximately 80 to 100 cell phones...Read more

In a 105–27 vote, the Maryland House of Delegates on Monday approved a sweeping energy package aimed at rising utility costs and surging electricity demand, marking lawmakers’ most comprehensive response this session.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where lawmakers face a tight deadline — just hours before the General Assembly’s 11:59...Read more

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday that they will accelerate the plan for completing the reservoir known as the “crown jewel” of Everglades restoration.

The new plan moves the projected completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir up by five years, from 2034 to 2029.

“We’ve taken on one of the most ambitious ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday defended his now deleted social media post that appeared to depict himself as Jesus Christ, contending that it was meant to portray him as “a doctor” after right-wing figures continued a recent trend of pushing back on the president’s recent comments.

“Well, it wasn’t a depiction. It was...Read more

BALTIMORE — Jet fuel leaks at Joint Base Andrews have spilled an estimated 32,000 gallons since the start of the year — enough to fuel a Boeing 787 — contaminating a tributary of the Potomac River and prompting a state investigation, state officials said Monday.

Potomac Riverkeepers called for the state to investigate potential criminal ...Read more

In his 22 years as a Hillsborough County firefighter, Rob Herrin says he’s never been this busy.

One Sunday earlier this year offers a glimpse: Herrin and his team responded to a 300-acre brush fire, then another fire, and another. All told, they extinguished 22 brush fires in 24 hours.

And it was only February, months from peak fire season....Read more