Tropical Storm Melissa forecast to be major hurricane; effect on Florida uncertain

Tropical Storm Melissa continued its slow push north in the Caribbean Thursday and is expected to grow into a major hurricane as it nears Jamaica. But its long-term path including what effects it might have on Florida remain uncertain, according to the National ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Thursday issued a tentative ruling ordering that the government ensure immigrant detainees held in a downtown Los Angeles processing center have access to legal counsel.

The preliminary injunction would essentially extend a temporary restraining order that U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the White House announced, as the leaders of the world’s two largest economies look to deescalate a simmering trade war.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced ...Read more

A new lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that an upcoming Missouri ballot measure attempts to deceive voters into overhauling the state’s key mechanism for direct democracy.

The lawsuit was filed by Missourians for Fair Governance, a campaign group formed by the Missouri Association of Realtors, the main advocacy organization for the state’s ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is soon slated to be 5,000 miles from Washington talking soybeans and tariffs, possibly hamstringing any efforts to end the government shutdown.

With Republican and Democratic lawmakers digging into their positions about how to revive the federal machine, perhaps only presidential prodding could help end ...Read more

At least two traces of DNA have been found in the investigation into the shocking heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, authorities confirmed Thursday.

The DNA samples were taken from a glove and a helmet left behind by the robbers, investigators told ABC News. They have not yet been matched to any suspects.

Also on Thursday, video emerged of ...Read more

DETROIT — U.S. Secret Service agents have arrested a Michigan man and accused the former U.S. Air Force airman of threatening to kill President Donald Trump over the administration's LGBTQ+ policies, according to federal court records unsealed Thursday.

Joshua Levi Young, 21, of Ishpeming, is accused of issuing several threats since January ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is opening the entire coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, reversing a Biden administration decision that put the pristine wilderness area off limits.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced Thursday the agency was opening the 1.56-million-acre expanse of ...Read more

Chad Meredith will be Kentucky’s newest federal district judge.

After being tapped by President Donald Trump over the summer, Meredith passed the last trial of the judicial nomination process Thursday afternoon: full U.S. Senate confirmation.

Meredith was confirmed to join the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in a 48-...Read more

Hunters will soon be allowed to kill mute swans as part of an effort to cull the "destructive, non-native" species statewide, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Starting Jan. 1, anyone with a valid hunting license will be able to kill the invasive waterfowl at any time, according to an agency news release. Landowners ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip to Asia caps a whirlwind stretch that includes jetting to the Middle East to mark the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, escalating a trade clash with China, redoubling efforts to send troops to U.S. cities and overseeing construction of a $300 million White House ballroom.

Seemingly absent from his...Read more

WASHINGTON — Three Texas GOP lawmakers are alleging that the Smithsonian Institution illegally lobbied Congress to block the transfer of the space shuttle Discovery from a Virginia museum to Houston, home of NASA’s Mission Control, and called on the Justice Department to investigate.

Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz along with Rep. Randy ...Read more

President Donald Trump bulldozed ahead Thursday with the total demolition of White House’s historic East Wing to make room for his glitzy giant new ballroom

After days of construction equipment clawing down chunks of the century-old East Wing, photos showed the traditional home of the first lady’s offices reduced to nothing more than dusty ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The daughter of a former county sheriff charged with killing a judge last year took to social media this week to deny rumors the judge had an inappropriate relationship with her.

Lila Stines posted a pair of TikTok videos Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 urging people not to spread the rumor and claiming that any stories about her and “...Read more

NEW YORK — Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo came under fire Thursday over his role in an exchange during which conservative talk show host Sid Rosenberg said Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, would be “cheering” for a second 9/11.

As he sought to make a point about Mamdani’s lack of experience, Cuomo posed ...Read more

NEW YORK — Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Thursday praised NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani for sticking with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and suggested he’ll make a long-awaited endorsement by Saturday.

Asked about his oft-repeated vow to take sides in the contentious race before early voting starts this weekend, Jeffries said he is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After the Palisades fire broke out in January, the head of the powerful firefighters union, Freddy Escobar, quickly got on the news and continued to say what he always had: The Los Angeles Fire Department was underfunded.

With millions around the world paying attention to the dire situation in Los Angeles, Escobar had a much ...Read more