BOSTON — The Bay State’s ongoing fight against the second Trump administration went another round on Thursday, when the U.S. District Judge overseeing a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of several states ordered a halt to the president’s widespread plan to freeze federal funding.

According to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted a permit to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, nearly one year after a container ship struck its center span and caused its devastating collapse into the Patapsco River.

The permit grants the Maryland Transportation Authority “permission to construct the bridge that will reconnect ...Read more

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat who represents Chester County, Pennsylvania, joined nine other members of her party Thursday in a vote to censure fellow Democratic Rep. Al Green for his outbursts during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

Green, of Texas, stood up at the very beginning of Trump�...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he directed Cabinet secretaries to use a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet” to make personnel cuts, a directive aiming to quell blowback after waves of job cuts have roiled the federal workforce.

“I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and ...Read more

Armed men affiliated with Syria’s toppled regime carried out surprise attacks on the port city of Latakia and other Mediterranean areas, killing dozens in the fiercest confrontations since the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.

The “pre-planned” offensive singled out multiple security sites in Jableh and the surrounding ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — The on-again, off-again threat of U.S. tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took another dizzying turn Thursday, when President Donald Trump declared that Washington would temporarily reverse some of the sweeping taxes that he imposed just two days earlier.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would pause for one month ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For several days, excitement has grown around the two new hatchlings of Jackie and Shadow, Big Bear’s celebrity bald eagles.

On Thursday, a pip — or the first sign of hatching — was seen in the third egg in the avian couple’s clutch. Triplets would be unprecedented for the eagles in a decade of observation.

“Earlier ...Read more

SEATTLE — Washington's system of verifying signatures on ballots before they are counted does not violate the state constitution, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

Three liberal nonprofit groups sued the state in 2022, arguing the signature checks are unconstitutional and error prone, leading to thousands of legitimate votes getting tossed ...Read more

ATLANTA — A rush of voting at the Georgia Capitol moved tax cut, marijuana and school safety proposals closer to passage Thursday before the final weeks of this year’s lawmaking session.

Dozens of bills advanced before the Crossover Day deadline for measures to clear either the House or Senate, setting them up for final votes.

The voting ...Read more

Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate claims free speech in the United States has its limits because messaging “against Jews” is frowned upon.

The 38-year-old former kickboxer — who faces rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, along with his brother Tristan — said on the Wednesday episode of the “Full Send” podcast that every ...Read more

A federal grand jury in Tacoma, Washington, has indicted an active-duty U.S. Army sergeant on charges of espionage, bribery and theft of government property.

A three-county indictment alleges Sgt. Jian Zhao, who was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as a supply sergeant for the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, sold computer equipment and other...Read more

ATLANTA — Farmers, timber producers and other Georgians still suffering the effects of Hurricane Helene will get some relief under a budget signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday.

The amended 2025 budget also includes hundreds of millions of dollars to improve security at state prisons, expand access to fresh water along the Georgia coast, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom — an outspoken champion of LGBTQ+ rights since he was mayor of San Francisco — publicly criticized the “unfairness” of transgender athletes participating in women’s sports in his new podcast Thursday, splitting from his party on an issue that Republicans capitalized on in the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a member of the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, finding her firing without cause violated federal law.

Trump officials in January fired Gwynne Wilcox, who was serving as chair of the board, without stating a reason. The firing left the five-...Read more

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. — A Chicago Heights crematory has been shut down after the Illinois Comptroller’s office received a complaint last month of the facility mishandling human remains, according to the state agency.

Heights Crematory, 230 E. 11th St., faces penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation found during the comptroller’s ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan unveiled an initiative Thursday that would ratchet up the pressure on homeless people to accept shelter or face jail time.

"Homelessness can't be a choice," Mahan said during a news conference to announce his proposed ordinance. "I'm proposing that after three offers of shelter, we hold people ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Republican lawmakers called Thursday on the Michigan High School Athletic Association to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump that aims to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports.

A group of GOP legislators held a news conference inside state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt's ...Read more

CHICAGO — The votes are in — the people of Illinois would like to keep the state flag as it is.

The public had nearly a month to vote on 10 proposed state flag designs, along with two former state flags and the existing flag, as part of the Illinois Flag Commission’s contest that could have led to a new flag to represent the Land of ...Read more