Appeals court overturns $8.2 million defamation win for Roy Moore
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An appeals court on Friday reversed an $8.2 million defamation verdict awarded to Alabama politician Roy Moore, who sued a super PAC over a 2017 political ad detailing misconduct accusations against him. The panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Moore failed to...
Growing wildfires blamed for death of Florida firefighter, destruction of 120 Georgia homes
NAHUNTA, Ga. — A volunteer firefighter died battling a wildfire in northern Florida while more than 120 homes have been destroyed in southeast Georgia and thousands more remain threatened by two large blazes, one of which investigators suspect was sparked by a foil balloon touching power lines, officials said Friday....
FDA plans ultra-fast review of 3 psychedelic drugs following Trump directive
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it will offer ultra-fast review to three psychedelic drugs being developed to treat mental health conditions, including depression, the latest step by the Trump administration toward possible approval of the experimental treatments. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last weekend...
Authorities arrest teen-ager and search for another suspect, following deadly shooting at mall in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana authorities have charged a 17-year-old with murder, and they are searching for another suspect after bystanders were caught in the crossfire of a shooting at a mall in Baton Rouge on Thursday that killed one teenage girl. During a news conference Friday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff...
Camp Mystic warned of safety plan problems as it seeks to reopen this summer after deadly flood in 2025
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas state regulators found nearly two dozen deficiencies in the emergency operations plan submitted in Camp Mystic’s bid to reopen less than a year after 27 children and counselors were killed in a devastating flood. Camp Mystic’s owners have applied for a license to reopen the all-girls...
Top Republican lawmaker signals GOP openness to pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell
The top Republican on the U.S. House Oversight Committee said that some of his party colleagues are open to convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell receiving a presidential pardon. Chair Rep. James Comer told Politico that while he did not support it, a “lot of people” believed that a pardon...
Police identify the body of 1 missing USF student, second still missing as roommate is charged
The body of one of the two Bangladeshi doctoral students missing from the University of South Florida was found on a bridge over Tampa Bay, and his roommate has been taken into custody, law enforcement authorities said Friday. Zamil Limon’s remains were found on the Howard Frankland bridge Friday morning,...
U.S. Army major in Virginia is charged with plotting to assist separatist fighters in Cameroon
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Army major employed as a nurse on a military base near Washington, D.C., has been charged with conspiring to provide financial and tactical support to separatist fighters in his native Cameroon, according to court records unsealed earlier this week. Maj. Kenneth Chungag, a nurse who lives...
Justice Department to allow firing squads for executions in move to ramp up capital punishment
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases, officials said Friday. The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry...
U.S. imposes sanctions on a China-based oil refinery and 40 shippers over Iranian oil
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The move, announced Friday and first reported by The Associated Press, makes good on the Trump administration’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on...
Appeals court rules that Trump’s asylum ban at the border is illegal
WASHINGTON — An appeals court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border of the U.S., a key pillar of the Republican president’s plan to crack down on migration. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...
Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing the way for Kevin Warsh
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as his successor. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on X Friday that her office was ending its probe into the...
Drugmaker to seek FDA approval of Ozempic pill for diabetic kids
Novo Nordisk said Thursday it will seek federal approval to expand the use of its Ozempic and Rybelsus pills to kids and teenagers with Type 2 diabetes. The Danish drugmaker expects to file its request with the Food and Drug Administration in the second half of this year. The agency’s...
Palestinians mourn 3rd teenager killed in occupied West Bank this week
TELL, West Bank — Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week in a spike of renewed violence, the latest shot dead by Israeli forces during a mid-week raid. Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Tell mourned the death of Youssef Shtayyeh on...
After last year’s fighting with Thailand, Cambodia readies new conscription law for men aged 18-25
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A law requiring Cambodian males aged 18 to 25 to serve in the military for two years has gained Cabinet approval following two spates of deadly combat last year with neighboring Thailand. The new draft law on conscription will replace an existing law dating from 2006...
‘2 ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, who helped push the term “fake news” into the mainstream, now seems to have a new favorite subject: fake math. During a Thursday event announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices...
Congress keeps holding all-nighters, creating dysfunction after dark
WASHINGTON — Just as the Senate prepared to launch into a late-night vote series, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana went to the floor to vent. Frustrated and seemingly exhausted Wednesday, Kennedy said he wanted more time to debate his amendments to a budget resolution to fund immigration enforcement agencies....
Violent tornado tears through Oklahoma town, damaging 40 homes but sparing livesVideo
ENID, Okla. — Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community. “It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity. Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8 foot concrete shelter with her husband, brother-in-law and a...
Trump dispatches Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan for new talks with Iran’s foreign minister
ISLAMABAD — President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran’s foreign minister, the White House said Friday, as officials in the South Asian nation pushed to revive ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran. The talks planned for Saturday come...
Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa starting at $1 million granted to just 1 person so far, White House says
President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. After it launched...
Cuban diplomat denies that releasing political prisoners is part of U.S. negotiationsVideo
UNITED NATIONS — Havana will not abide by any American “ultimatums” to release political prisoners as part of new talks, a Cuban diplomat said Thursday, while asserting that leaders are “preparing for all scenarios” if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on threats to intervene in the island nation. In...
Federal officials charge U.S. soldier with using classified intel to win over $400K bet on Maduro raid
WASHINGTON — A U.S. soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyk was part of the operation to...
Trump says Lebanon, Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. Trump said the meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States went “very well.” The meeting...
Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog announced a review Thursday of the department’s compliance with the law mandating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stepping into a politically sensitive saga that has shadowed the Trump administration for the past year. The review from the inspector general’s office will...
Exchange of gunfire inside Mall of Louisiana leaves 1 person dead and 5 wounded
BATON ROUGE, La. — An exchange of gunfire at a food court inside a Louisiana mall on Thursday killed one person and wounded five others and sent workers and shoppers scrambling for safety, police and witnesses said. Authorities described the shooting inside the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge as...
