Federal judges have varied their commutes, hired private security and fortified their homes, including with panic buttons, amid a barrage of threats and harassment in recent months that has left many of them anxious about their safety, according to two new studies. In an astonishing admission, one judge acknowledged considering an alternative ruling to avoid […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the school system in Kansas City, Kansas, over its policies on transgender students. The lawsuit comes more than a year after the Education Department first said it was investigating four districts in Kansas following a complaint from the Defense of Freedom […]

The U.S. Postal Service is poised to launch a hastily built, error-riddled computer system that could jeopardize the process of mail voting relied upon by one-third of all voters, according to a whistleblower statement released Tuesday by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. The effort is part of the implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting […]

Of the child safety measures agreed to in Meta’s landmark legal settlement, no category contains more detailed requirements than its commitments on age assurance — and for good reason. No matter how well the protections work, they are of little use if Meta can’t tell which users are kids. Determining which accounts belong to children […]

In 2023, the Texas Legislature unanimously passed a law raising auto insurance costs for Texans by $1 to combat rampant catalytic converter theft. Three years later, a little-known state agency has devoted at least $30 million of that fee toward supercharging the state’s Flock surveillance network, placing cameras along highways and streets from El Paso […]

MIAMI (AP) — A controversial policing tactic that permitted staggering amounts of deadly fentanyl to reach the streets as federal authorities sought to build bigger drug cases is now under investigation by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. The committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, sent a letter Monday to Attorney General […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is dropping a categorical hiring ban on applicants who have had sexual encounters with prostitutes and will instead consider in a more holistic manner at least some candidates who have engaged in the practice in the past, according to people familiar with the matter. The move away from an automatic […]

CHICAGO (AP) — A beluga whale died days after it was transported hundreds of miles to a Chicago aquarium from a shuttered Ontario park as part of an ongoing effort to rescue Canada’s last captive whales. The whale, a 23-year-old female named Peekachu, died suddenly Tuesday as caretakers tried to rehydrate her, Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium […]

Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime task force in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back, according to an autopsy report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, contradicting police accounts that said the man was facing the troops when they fired. Authorities have said that Tyrin Johnson turned toward […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Lively will get just over $400,000 of the $8 million she sought in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after they settled their fight over the production of their 2024 film “It Ends With Us,” a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Judge Lewis J. Liman explained in a written […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At 71 and a few years into retirement, Linda Henry felt like she was in good health, and only went to her doctor in Southern California for the occasional checkup. So it was a shock when she found out in 2024 that she had been enrolled in hospice, a specialized end-of-life […]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kids under 18 will soon see a host of changes to their Instagram and Facebook experiences thanks to a historic $18 billion settlement Meta Platforms reached Wednesday with 48 U.S. states. Besides the money, which will be paid out over a decade, Meta has agreed to strengthen its age estimates to […]