ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. — Rebecca “Becky” Hill, whose career as Colleton County clerk of court began in obscurity, rose to stardom and finished in disgrace, capped a bizarre subplot in the Alex Murdaugh murder saga Monday by pleading guilty to state charges of misconduct, perjury and obstruction of justice.

In a brief 35-minute hearing, Hill �...Read more

DETROIT — Outgoing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said one of his biggest accomplishments during his 12 years as mayor was that he eased the often-divisive political tone of race and city versus suburb.

Speaking onstage Monday with Huntington Bank CEO Gary Torgow at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon, Duggan was allowed to spin a friendly narrative ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will address high prices and a stubborn economy when he stops by a Pennsylvania swing county Tuesday to sell his fiscal message to the battleground state. But one key Senate ally acknowledged there’s little he can do with the stroke of a pen or single legislative plan on the issue of affordability.

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CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delivered a public message Monday to aldermen who are threatening an imminent vote on their own 2026 budget plan: Bring it on.

Speaking at a City Hall news conference, the mayor castigated the slim City Council majority and said that if those 26 aldermen are so confident in their counterproposal to his ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready Monday to grant President Donald Trump more power to remove officials from the Federal Trade Commission and similar agencies, despite laws giving them firing protections.

The 6-3 conservative-controlled court heard oral arguments Monday as the U.S. government seeks to ...Read more

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies agreed to continue working on security guarantees for Kyiv following discussions in London, suggesting the talks failed to deliver a breakthrough paving the way to a peace settlement with Russia that Ukraine can accept.

European leaders “aligned a shared position on the importance of security ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's conservatives sound ready to overrule Congress and give President Donald Trump more power to fire officials at independent agencies and commissions.

The justices heard arguments Monday on whether Trump could fire Rebecca Slaughter, one of two Democratic appointees on the five-member Federal Trade Commission.

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WASHINGTON — Sophia Nyazi’s husband, Milad, shook her awake at 8 a.m. “ICE is here,” he told her.

Three uniformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were downstairs at the family’s home on Long Island, New York, last Tuesday, according to a video reviewed by the Los Angeles Times that she captured from atop the staircase.

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday plans to unveil a long-awaited farm aid package, according Trump administration officials, offering $12 billion in assistance to a key base of support hit hard by low crop prices and the impact of the president’s tariff policies.

The aid will include up to $11 billion in one-time payments to ...Read more

CHICAGO — Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is calling on the Trump administration to explain how its recent agreement with Northwestern University could affect protests, community partnerships and immigration enforcement in the city the school calls home, according to a letter provided to the Chicago Tribune.

Northwestern late last month announced ...Read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said negotiators discussing a U.S.-brokered peace initiative remain divided over territory as President Donald Trump expressed disappointment in Kyiv’s handling of the deal.

Elements of the U.S. plan require further discussion on a number of “sensitive issues,” including security guarantees for the...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Monday he plans to move into Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayor’s traditional official residence, upon inauguration in January.

“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City reached a record-tying 12 days with no murders — a streak only ended when a 38-year-old man was shot in the stairwell of a Bronx NYCHA building, police said Monday.

Gregory Stewart was shot in the head about 9:05 p.m. Sunday inside a Sotomayor Houses building on Watson Ave. near Rosedale Ave. in Soundview, cops said...Read more

Colombia’s last major guerrilla force has evolved into a binational armed criminal organization deeply embedded in Venezuelan territory — with support from the Nicolás Maduro regime — according to a newly-released investigation that argues that the suspended peace talks with the insurgency were unlikely to succeed.

The report, Peace ...Read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said negotiators discussing a U.S.-brokered peace initiative remain divided over territory as President Donald Trump expressed disappointment in Kyiv’s handling of the deal.

Elements of the U.S. plan require further discussion on a number of “sensitive issues,” including security guarantees for the...Read more

Thailand launched airstrikes on Cambodian military sites Monday after a deadly border skirmish, the most dramatic escalation in months that endangers a peace deal demanded by President Donald Trump.

The Thai military said it carried out ground and F-16 air operations after Cambodian forces opened fire at multiple border locations using small ...Read more

Maddy Olcott plans to start a career once she graduates from college. But the junior at the State University of New York-Purchase College is so far not planning to start a family — even with the Trump administration dangling inducements like thousand-dollar “baby bonuses” or cheaper infertility drugs.

“Our country wants us to be ...Read more

Alejandro Santillan-Garcia is worried he’s going to lose the aid that helps him buy food. The 20-year-old Austin resident qualified for federal food benefits last year because he aged out of the Texas foster care system, which he entered as an infant.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly referred to as food stamps, or ...Read more

Flavio Bolsonaro never appeared the likeliest choice to inherit his father’s political mantle, even when former President Jair Bolsonaro was thrown behind bars and ruled out of Brazil’s 2026 election for attempting a coup.

Unlike his brother Eduardo, he hadn’t forged ties with global conservatives like Donald Trump. And in contrast to his...Read more