Nation
Air conditioning battery program for renters could help cities manage grid stress during heat waves
NEW YORK | When a heat wave hits, millions of air conditioners switch on at once, straining the electric grid and driving up the risk of outages — and residents’ power bills. To ease that strain, power companies may ask customers to do something many probably won’t: Set the air conditioner a few degrees higher. […]
FDA’s new playbook: Lots of media announcements but not much rulemaking
WASHINGTON | In one of his first major announcements as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called a news conference to unveil a plan to “phase out” synthetic food dyes. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary opened the event by saying his agency was “removing all petroleum-based food dyes” from U.S. foods. But the […]
Georgia officials knew chemicals from carpet mills were polluting local water. The people did not
CALHOUN, Ga. | Growing up in northwest Georgia, Stormy Bost lived her life in the water. During summers she plucked crawdads from the neighborhood creek and played in its cool depths, racing home for dinner to beat the setting sun. Waiting for her were pitchers of sweet tea, which her family brewed using tap water. […]
Indigenous people honor and raise awareness for relatives who are missing or have been killed
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. | Across the country, Indigenous people are gathering this week to honor loved ones who are missing or have been killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer. From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds […]
Tennessee lawmakers to vote on new US House map sought by Trump that carves up Memphis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. | Republican lawmakers in Tennessee forged ahead with a plan Thursday that could carve up a majority-Black congressional district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to try to hold on to a slim House majority in the November midterm elections. Protesters shouted “No Jim Crow” outside […]
Vatican and State Department stress solid ties after Rubio’s fence-mending visit over Trump attacks
VATICAN CITY | The Vatican raised the “need to work tirelessly in favor of peace” in talks Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came to Rome on a fence-mending visit after President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war. Both the Vatican and the U.S. State Department stressed […]
Dozens of passengers left hantavirus-stricken cruise ship after 1st fatality
MADRID | More than two dozen passengers from at least 12 different countries left a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak without contact tracing nearly two weeks after the first passenger died on board, the ship operator and Dutch officials said Thursday. Health authorities on at least four continents are now tracking down […]
Clarence Thomas becomes the second longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history
WASHINGTON | The first baby boomer on the Supreme Court hit a milestone on Thursday, becoming the second-longest serving justice in history at a time when his influence has never seemed greater. Once an outlier on the nation’s highest court, Justice Clarence Thomas has become a towering figure in the conservative legal movement over the […]
In Gaza, some Palestinian children find respite and catharsis in breakdancing
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip | As the music comes on in a Gaza refugee camp, a group of boys and girls start showing off their breakdancing moves, kicking and spinning with intense focus on their fast footwork. Two young girls grin at each other as they nailed a tricky part of the routine. It’s a […]
Southern Poverty Law Center attorneys make first court appearance in fraud case
MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center will appear in court Thursday for the first time since the civil rights group was charged with defrauding donors by failing to disclose that money would be paid to informants inside extremist groups. The grand jury indictment filed April 21 by the U.S. Justice Department […]