LANSING, Mich. — Republican Matt DePerno, a Michigan lawyer who has been criminally charged with participating in an alleged scheme to illegally obtain voting machines, encouraged lawmakers Wednesday to "look into" state spending on the case against him.

During an unusual, 90-minute appearance before a state House subcommittee, DePerno of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The image of masked agents in plainclothes and tactical gear, now inextricably linked to the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, is prompting Democrats — here and around the country — to push to bar law enforcement from covering their faces.

In Washington, congressional Democrats have introduced bills to ban the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Weeks after Kansas lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting transgender individuals from using restrooms and changing rooms consistent with their gender identity, Missouri lawmakers are pursuing their own version of the legislation.

Missouri’s proposed bill, like what passed in Kansas, applies to all public buildings, ...Read more

The U.S. war effort against Iran was “accelerating” as American and Israeli forces fought for control of Iranian airspace and pressed farther inland to seek and destroy Iranian missile capabilities, top U.S. officials said Wednesday.

“Four days in, we have only just begun to fight,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

“The ...Read more

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were cautioned against having their adult son Nick living in their home shortly before authorities say he killed his parents in cold blood, according to a new report.

The 32-year-old middle child of the late couple — who also shared son Jake, 34, and 28-year-old daughter Romy — pleaded not guilty last ...Read more

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel’s time as the face of the island’s communist leadership might be coming to an end, as the Trump administration has signaled a replacement may be needed as part of ongoing negotiations to push for economic and political changes on the island, the Miami Herald has learned.

Cuba’s handpicked president, Díaz-...Read more

LOS ANGELES – The judge was perplexed.

"Why were state law enforcement officers excluded?" U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder wanted to know.

The judge pressed California Deputy Atty. Gen. Cameron Bell to explain the thinking behind a pair of trailblazing new laws meant to unmask the federal immigration agents patrolling Golden State ...Read more

In 1991, a simple line appeared in Broom, a Lithuanian satire and humor journal. “A shortest joke: Communism,” it said. A one-liner to celebrate the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, a shortest joke could be told about Russia’s war in Ukraine: “Liberation.”

Since the ...Read more

Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president. But most modern presidents and their legal counsel have asserted that Article 2 of the Constitution allows the president to use the military in certain situations without prior congressional approval – and have acted on that, sending troops into ...Read more

Iran postponed the funeral of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike last weekend, citing expectations of large crowds.

The three-day ceremony had been scheduled to start at 10 p.m. local time at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, a mosque in Tehran, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported ...Read more

CHICAGO — The latest chapter in an ongoing legal battle between Abbott Laboratories and parents of babies born prematurely is slated to play out in Chicago this week — with the beginning of a trial that could have implications for the company and families across the country.

North suburban-based Abbott has been entangled in litigation with ...Read more

ORLANDO — New legislation targeting “terrorist” groups passed the Florida House on Tuesday, a measure some fear could unfairly cast organizations as dangerous, punish politically active college students and cost Islamic schools millions of dollars by cutting them out of state voucher programs.

But supporters of the bill in the Republican-...Read more

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will ensure safe passage of oil from the Middle East to head off a potential energy crisis, as the Iran war continues to reverberate across the region and roil markets.

The conflict has showed no signs of abating five days after it erupted, with Israel and Iran continuing to exchange airstrikes and missile ...Read more

Pakistan is in “no hurry” to end its military operation in Afghanistan, a senior security official said, vowing to continue fighting until it’s certain it’s destroyed militant groups targeting the country from across the border.

The duration of the operation depends on “actions on the ground” by Afghanistan’s Taliban government ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s executive order on artificial intelligence promised a proposal to Congress for a national artificial intelligence law, one meant to unify U.S. policy and address industry fears that conflicting state laws could slow AI growth.

More than two months later, the White House has offered few specifics on what...Read more

A woman with multiple sclerosis wanted to be able to walk up the stairs at home without losing her balance. Her doctor prescribed medicine that helped, but then approval from her insurance plan for the drug expired.

“Why do I need a prior authorization for something that I am already prior-authorized to take? If my doctor says that they want...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Kate Movius moved among a roomful of Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, passing out a pop trivia quiz and paper prism glasses.

She told them to put on the vision-distorting glasses, and to write with their nondominant hand. As they filled out the tests, Movius moved about the City of Industry classroom pounding abruptly on ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — When Minnesota brought in experts to review billions of dollars in social services spending to combat fraud, the assignment had a gaping hole.

The analysis leaves out billions more that flow through health plans like Medica, Health Partners and Hennepin Health. The so-called managed care organizations handle benefits for about ...Read more

With desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson bracing for their allotments of Colorado River water to be slashed dramatically, San Diego County’s water agency could for the first time sell some of its water to other states by drawing on its ample supplies from the nation’s largest desalination plant.

The San Diego County Water Authority’s ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A year into the Trump administration's ratcheted-up mass deportation effort, approval rates for asylum seekers have plummeted as immigrants are too afraid to show up for court hearings.

Fewer than 3% of asylum cases decided in January were approved — a record low, according to Mobile Pathways, a San Francisco nonprofit that ...Read more