US

Trump cancels Hegseth's plan to livestream Fort Hood shooter's execution

President Trump reversed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to publicly broadcast the Dec. 3 firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, after bipartisan lawmakers warned the footage could become propaganda for extremists.

Florida man charged with murder in ex-fiancée's 2011 disappearance

Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr. and charged him with second-degree murder in the disappearance of Michelle Parker, who vanished nearly 15 years ago in a case that once drew national attention.

Divers Begin Underwater Search for Amelia Earhart's Plane at Remote Pacific Atoll

A Purdue-backed expedition has started mapping a mysterious object in a Nikumaroro lagoon — the most active lead yet in the 89-year search for Amelia Earhart's lost Electra.

Former gymnastics coach sentenced to 90 years for hidden bathroom camera

A federal judge in Mississippi imposed the maximum sentence on Sean Gardner for secretly filming girls in a gym bathroom — a case that surfaced only after separate abuse allegations against him in Iowa, years after the first warnings reached USA Gymnastics.

Judge blocks White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, citing First Amendment and due-process violations

A federal judge found the three outlets are likely to win their constitutional challenge to a September ban on their White House credentials; the Justice Department filed notice of appeal within hours.

US Measles Cases Hit 35-Year High as Outbreaks Surge in Pennsylvania, New York

Measles cases nationwide have already topped last year's total, prompting New York to declare a disaster emergency and Pennsylvania's outbreak to grow past 1,000 cases with five deaths.

Fatal fall from Six Flags coaster in Georgia triggers nationwide ride closures

A 42-year-old Atlanta man died after falling from the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, prompting the company to shut nine similar rides at six parks across the U.S. and Canada while state investigators examine what went wrong.

Treasury hits Bank of America with record $1.2 billion penalty over money-laundering failures

Federal regulators say the bank willfully violated anti-money-laundering law for years, failing to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions tied to Chinese money-laundering networks, fentanyl trafficking and sanctioned entities.

Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, holds first White House briefing

Katie Zacharia, a Trump Media adviser and former DHS spokeswoman, took the podium Tuesday morning, ending a nearly seven-week vacancy left by Karoline Leavitt's August departure.

CDC tracks four separate outbreaks tied to sprouts, raw-milk cheese and pet turtles

Federal health officials are investigating four unconnected multistate outbreaks at once, with recalls issued for contaminated sprouts and cheese while a fourth inquiry traces Salmonella infections to pet turtles sold in violation of a decades-old federal ban.

Isaias weakens to post-tropical cyclone after killing two, cutting power to nearly a million across the Gulf South

The season's first Atlantic hurricane came ashore near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 storm late Friday, then pushed inland through Alabama and Georgia, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and triggering flood and tornado warnings across three states.

Nine dead, including two children, after gunman opens fire in Erie home

A gunman killed eight people, two of them children, inside and outside a house on Erie's east side Friday evening before turning the gun on himself, officials said Saturday — one of the deadliest shootings in Pennsylvania history.

Mortgage Rates Climb for Seventh Straight Week to Highest Level in a Year

The average 30-year fixed rate hit 7.40%, according to Freddie Mac, as a bond-market selloff pushes borrowing costs to their highest point in roughly a year.

At least 37 people died in ICE custody in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 — the most in the agency's history — as the detained population topped 70,000 and the federal offices built to oversee detention conditions were stripped of staff and funding.

Valdosta Police Officer Found Dead Inside City's Municipal Courthouse

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is independently reviewing the death of a Valdosta police officer found inside the city's municipal court complex, a case that has closed the courthouse for a month while basic facts — including the officer's name and cause of death — remain undisclosed.

Durham Firefighter, 24, Dies After Roof Collapse Battling Overnight Blaze

Andrew Brokes, who joined the Durham Fire Department 17 months ago, was fatally injured when part of a multi-story residential building collapsed early Thursday. Two colleagues were also hurt, and state investigators have taken over the inquiry into the fire's cause.

Williston Officer Shoots, Wounds Man During Predawn Roadway Call

Vermont State Police are investigating after a Williston officer shot and wounded a man during a 4:50 a.m. call about downed wires on Route 2A, a case that will ultimately go to the state attorney general for review.

Armed Man Killed by Security After Trying to Shoot His Way Into Nashville Federal Courthouse

A man in his 40s was fatally shot by a courthouse security officer after his handgun jammed at the entrance checkpoint of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse, forcing the evacuation of the public library next door and renewing attention on the strain of threats facing the federal judiciary.

Lansing police investigate whether five deaths of unhoused men along a trail are linked

Five men found dead or dying along a single stretch of Lansing, Michigan's River Trail since October 2025 have investigators weighing whether one attacker is responsible, as outreach workers warn the city's unhoused population is on edge.

Angeles National Forest wildfire 83% contained after evacuations near Santa Clarita

The Bouquet Fire burned 1,048 acres of brush north of Santa Clarita and forced evacuations across several canyon communities before crews halted its growth within a day and spent the rest of the week building containment lines.

Ex-CIA Officer Pleads Guilty to $194 Million Fraud Built on a Fake Secret Program

David J. Rush, a former senior CIA officer, admitted to inventing a classified Special Access Program and using it to divert federal funds into gold bars, watches, real estate and cars, prosecutors said.

FBI Says It Foiled Mall of America Mass-Shooting Plot

Prosecutors say an 18-year-old Richfield man spent nearly two years building toward an ISIS-inspired attack before federal agents posing as arms dealers sold him a disabled rifle and arrested him.

Tennessee death row inmate survives botched execution, remains hospitalized as state halts death penalty

Christa Pike, who would have become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries, is now conscious and speaking nearly a week after a lethal-injection attempt failed to kill her — a failure that has forced the state to pause all executions and open an independent investigation.

FTC Warns 24 Major Hospital Systems Over Deceptive Pricing Practices

The agency says complying with federal price-transparency rules doesn't shield hospitals from liability for incomplete or misleading cost estimates.

Florida declares emergency in 25 Panhandle counties as Tropical Storm Isaias forms in the Gulf

A tropical depression in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico strengthened into Tropical Storm Isaias early Wednesday, and forecasters expect it to become a hurricane by Thursday as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast this weekend.

Underground fire cracks open streets by Florida's Capitol, shuts down county courts

A predawn electrical fire beneath downtown Tallahassee blasted manhole covers into the air and cratered Monroe Street a block from the Capitol, cutting power, knocking out 911 texting and forcing every Second Judicial Circuit Court case to be rescheduled.

Pennsylvania's measles outbreak passes 1,000 cases, its worst in decades

State health officials say the outbreak, centered in Lancaster County's Amish and Mennonite communities, is now the largest in the U.S. this year and the worst Pennsylvania has seen in more than three decades.

Stalled storms trigger flash flooding across Gulf Coast from Alabama to Florida Panhandle

A slow-moving area of tropical moisture dumped repeated rounds of heavy rain on the central Gulf Coast Sunday, prompting flash flood warnings in three states and pushing forecasters to extend flood watches into Monday.

Coast Guard finds debris from missing Bermuda-to-Boston medical jet off Nantucket

A Gulfstream air ambulance carrying six people — a patient, a relative and four Canadian crew members — vanished early Saturday over the Atlantic. By nightfall the Coast Guard had confirmed a debris field matched the missing aircraft; none of the six has been found.

Centuries-Old Hawaii Sea Arch Collapses Into the Pacific After Storm-Battered Summer

The National Park Service says the 90-foot Hōlei Sea Arch, carved by the ocean over roughly 550 years, gave way sometime during a stretch of three tropical systems that battered Hawaii's Big Island this season.

New Jersey Fines Microsoft-Linked AI Data Center $1.07 Million Over Illegal Generators

State inspectors found a Vineland, N.J., data-center campus tied to a $17 billion Microsoft computing deal had quietly installed and run 62 unpermitted gas generators for months, prompting the largest environmental enforcement action against a data center in New Jersey history.

Medevac Helicopter Crash Off Catalina Island Kills Pilot, Flight Nurse and Patient

A REACH Air Medical helicopter went down in the Pacific moments after leaving Catalina Island on Sept. 30, killing the pilot, a flight nurse and the patient they were flying to the mainland, and setting off a 23-hour search by the Coast Guard and Los Angeles County crews.

Wildfire Returns to Same Brunswick County Woods That Burned for Weeks This Summer

A new fire near Shallotte, N.C. forced a brief evacuation and an early school dismissal this week, in the same drought-stricken stretch of coastal forest that burned for nearly a month in July.

FAA Begins Using AI to Manage Air Traffic at Washington-Area Airports

The agency has started testing an $875 million AI tool at three of the nation's busiest airports, drawing pushback from lawmakers less than two years after a fatal midair collision over the Potomac.

Tennessee inmate survives botched execution; state halts death penalty pending review

Christa Gail Pike, who would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries, survived a lethal-injection attempt that dragged on for close to an hour before she was sent to a hospital. Gov. Bill Lee has pulled the state's last scheduled 2026 execution and ordered an outside review.

Hochul strips Cornell rape case from local DA, names state attorney general special prosecutor

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had "lost faith" in the Tompkins County district attorney's handling of an alleged fraternity gang rape, handing the investigation to Attorney General Letitia James.

Two Norfolk Southern trains derail in Alabama hours apart, reviving rail-safety questions

A Norfolk Southern train struck a tractor-trailer and derailed near Birmingham on Thursday, the second of two Alabama derailments the same day — neither involving injuries or hazardous-material releases, but both renewing scrutiny of a railroad still under federal watch since the 2023 East Palestine disaster.

Amber Guyger, ex-officer who killed Botham Jean, granted parole after seven years

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved early release for the former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering her unarmed neighbor in his own apartment, a decision that landed almost exactly seven years after her conviction and reopened a case that drew national attention over race, policing and forgiveness.

Massachusetts Report Finds Catholic Clergy Abused 944 Children Across Three Dioceses

A six-year investigation into the Worcester, Springfield and Fall River dioceses found decades of cover-ups but produced no new criminal charges, as the attorney general renews a push to abolish the state's civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims.

Becerra and Hilton clash over Trump, taxes and immigration in lone California governor debate

In their only televised meeting before ballots go out, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton sparred for an hour on CNN, with President Trump's shadow falling over nearly every exchange.

Treasury Begins Mailing $500 ACA Refund Checks to Nearly 1 Million Americans

The Trump administration started sending one-time $500 payments this week to Affordable Care Act enrollees in 30 states who receive no premium subsidy, a rollout that lands five weeks before the midterm elections and amid the steepest one-year drop in marketplace enrollment since the exchanges opened.

Flash floods push New Mexico dam to the brink of failure, forcing evacuations

An aging flood-control dam near Rincon, New Mexico, was overtopped by rain fed by Hurricane Polo's remnants, forcing evacuations in five communities and capping a two-week flooding spell that has killed at least four people statewide.

Judge weighs bid to acquit Massachusetts mother in her children's deaths

A Plymouth Superior Court judge has not ruled on a defense motion to acquit Lindsay Clancy outright after her murder trial ended in a deadlocked jury; prosecutors have not said whether they will seek a retrial.

Dublin couple charged with murder in parking-lot shooting of son-in-law, a New York Times engineer

Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, are accused of gunning down Jonathan McKinsey, 40, in front of witnesses at a youth sports complex amid a bitter custody battle over his three children with their daughter.

Hackers Claim They Stole Personal Data on Nearly All FBI Employees

A criminal extortion group says it exfiltrated roughly two to three terabytes of records from the FBI's hiring and personnel systems, including Social Security numbers and, in some cases, medical files. The bureau has confirmed a breach but not verified the hackers' full claims.

Jury begins deliberating in Ohio murder trial of former "American Idol" singer

A Miami County jury started deliberating Tuesday in the trial of Caleb Flynn, accused of shooting his wife, Ashley, in their Tipp City home and staging the scene as a home invasion; he faces aggravated murder and up to life in prison if convicted.

Tennessee governor denies clemency for Christa Pike, clearing way for first female execution in 200 years

Gov. Bill Lee said he would not intervene after the state Supreme Court rejected Christa Pike's final appeals, leaving her execution set for Wednesday morning at a Nashville prison.

Cornell Fraternity Rape Case Reopened by Prosecutor After Civil Suit Filing

Tompkins County's district attorney will bring a 2024 gang-rape allegation at Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity to a grand jury, two years after declining to prosecute, following a civil lawsuit that described drugging and a group-chat summons other fraternity members allegedly did not disclose to police.

BNSF train derails after hitting stalled dump truck at Missouri quarry crossing

A locomotive and six rail cars went off the tracks Sunday when a southbound BNSF freight struck an oversized dump truck stopped on a gated private crossing north of Fruitland, Missouri, critically injuring the truck's driver in the second serious derailment on this quarry rail spur in less than a year.

Three killed, four hurt in shooting at unlicensed Detroit after-hours club

A dispute erupted into gunfire at a west-side Detroit venue with a history of police calls, leaving three men dead as the city's homicide rate sits at a six-decade low.

Trump approves sharply lower fuel-economy standards, scrapping Biden-era EV push

The Transportation Department is expected to finalize a rule Monday cutting the 2031 fleet-wide mileage target to 34.5 mpg, down from 50.4 mpg under President Biden, a trade the administration says will lower vehicle prices but critics say will raise costs at the pump.

Brush Fire Near Lahaina Forces Evacuations as High Winds Fan Flames in West Maui

A fast-moving brush fire forced evacuations and shut the only highway through West Maui on Saturday, burning within miles of Lahaina, where a wind-fueled wildfire killed more than 100 people two years ago.

A powerful fall storm brought wind gusts over 80 mph and heavy coastal flooding to the Northeast this weekend, killing one person in Brooklyn and disrupting air travel from Boston to New York.

Third Fatal Teen Shooting in Five Weeks Jolts Houston, as County Data Show Youth Gun Violence Climbing

A Westbury High School senior was killed steps from campus Friday, the third Houston-area teenager fatally shot by another teenager since August, prompting a rare public rebuke from the mayor and renewed scrutiny of county data on juvenile gun crime.

Gunman Still at Large After Five Shot at Arlington, Virginia, House Party

Police say an argument at an overnight gathering in Arlington's Arlington View neighborhood escalated into gunfire early Saturday, wounding five people and prompting a helicopter and K-9 search for the shooter.

Smyrna Man, 18, Charged With Murder After Family Finds Neighbor's Dismembered Remains

Kingston Bradley, 18, now faces a malice murder charge after Georgia investigators say a Friday search of a car turned up more of a missing DoorDash driver's remains — days after her own relatives, not responding police, first discovered part of her body.