US news

US news

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... South Carolina prison guards posted a photo of a special delivery they claim to have intercepted en route to inmates at Lee Correctional Institution. Seems some folks were planning an early holiday Old Bay crab boil and steak dinner along with their marijuana and cigarettes all dropped by a drone at Lee CI, South Carolina Corrections officials captioned a photo posted to social media on Monday.

NEW YORK -- A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department's request to publicly release grand jury transcripts and other material from Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking case, citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime confidant, but he cautioned that people shouldn't expect to learn much new information from them.

At the Dec. 2 hearing, Commissioner Todd Olsen issued a protective order prohibiting Smith from any in-person, written or electronic contact with the children. When Smith asked the court to consider pretrial release, Olsen asked the state's opinion, and prosecutor Clifford Ross opposed the request unequivocally. "That's a hard no, your honor," Ross said. He directed the court to the probable cause declaration, citing safety concerns, and maintained that a no-bail warrant remained appropriate, given the severity of the allegations against Smith.

Alameda County prosecutors have struck plea deals with two alleged robbers, both of whom were accused of luring their victims into a false sense of security with the help of a suspected prostitute. In one case, Nicholas Lewis, 31, was sentenced to nine days he already served in jail plus probation after pleading no contest to grand theft. In another, Luis Silva, 24, also pleaded no contest to grand theft for a two-year probation term, court records show.

The US Department of Justice has detained two men for allegedly violating export control laws by attempting to smuggle at least $160 million worth of Nvidia Corp. AI chips to China. A third, the owner of a Houston company, has already pleaded guilty. The department alleges the men operated a smuggling network that spanned the Houston business, run by Alan Hao Hsu, and several warehouses across the US, which replaced Nvidia labels from H100 and H200 AI chips with the fictional Sandkyan brand before shipping them.

The photo of the students went viral and showed eight students laying on the ground, forming the symbol. According to KNTV-TV and the Los Angeles Times, the social media post also had an antisemitic 1939 quote from Adolf Hitler. Silbergeld told SFGATE that the photo was "a disturbing and unacceptable act of antisemitism." She said school officials identified the students but they can't be named publicly because of federal law.

State Police forensic scientist Matthew Sheehan spent Monday afternoon walking jurors through blood and bloody items he said stretched from the basement of the Walshe home in Cohasset to a trash bin outside Brian Walshe's mother's home in Swampscott. Walshe is standing trial for allegedly killing his wife, Ana, on New Year's Day 2023. Prosecutors say he then dismembered her body and tossed her remains in dumpsters around the region, including one near his mother's home. Investigators never found her body.

Between July 2017 and May 2018, Mary Carole McDonnell, 73, falsely claimed to be the heir to the McDonnell aircraft family and said that she would have access to an $80-million secret trust fund, according to an FBI news release. The FBI is now appealing for the public's help in locating this fugitive who remains on the run. McDonnell is accused of fraudulently obtaining about $14.7 million from the Banc of California

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 7.67 million vacancies in October, close to September's 7.66 million. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which was delayed by the extended government shutdown, also showed that the layoffs rose and number of people quitting their jobs - a sign of confidence in the labor market - fell in October.

Briles, a longtime offensive coordinator, has been at TCU since 2023, following stints at Arkansas, Florida State, Houston, FAU and Baylor. The 2015 Broyles Award finalist mentored TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, who set a school record last year with 3,949 yards passing with 27 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as the Horned Frogs ranked eighth nationally in passing offense at 312.9 yards a game.

Two Tribal communities in New Mexico - the Santa Clara Pueblo in Rio Arriba County and the Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache Tribe in Luna County - each received a maximum $100,000 planning grants from the state's Grant Writing, Engineering and Planning Program (GWEP). GWEP is funded and administered by The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE), which has provided $5 million in funding. GWEP helps Tribes, local governments and cooperatives win grants to bring broadband to unserved areas.

I have always been fond of Judi Dench. She is an extraordinary person who played an important role in my career. I've now spent more than six and a half years incarcerated, including a year and a half in Rikers, which counts as double time. I am grateful for the kind words that have been expressed, and all I want is the chance to return to my family and children.

With there being little sign of the Pokémon TCG bubble bursting any time soon, and many Pokémon cards literally worth more than their weight in gold, it's becoming all too normal to hear stories of thieves breaking into stores and stealing the shiny cardboard. A particularly audacious example happened in California this weekend, where around $100,000 worth of cards were stolen by a masked gang in a matter of minutes-a gang who could well be responsible for a number of other similar crimes.

The woman allegedly pushed another woman onto the Green Line tracks in an "unprovoked" attack, The Boston Globe reported. Nyleamah Kinsey, 50, was charged with assault and battery of a person over 60 and disorderly conduct, according to court documents. Kinsey reportedly followed the victim, who is from Revere, into the station, before pushing her with both hands onto the tracks.

As we wrap up 2025, we're looking at the year's biggest winners: the people, companies, products and trends that made the most impact over the year. Almost at the top of the pile, of course, are the tech billionaires. According to a recent report by Oxfam, the 10 richest US billionaires (who are all tech leaders, save for Warren Buffet) increased their wealth by $698 billion in 2025. Some of that has been spent treating and lavishing donations on President Trump.

WILBON: By the way, how hypocritical is Notre Dame? Let me muah, muah, muah the ACC as long as I get my paycheck, and then behave like this! KORNHEISER: To be fair, you've hated Notre Dame your whole life. WILBON: And you loved them, and you stumped for him. I admit to [hating them]. KORNHEISER: You hate them! WILBON: Now, I hate them today! I'm glad they're home! I'm glad they're going nowhere! No playoff KORNHEISER: The show is going to end. We're not do

Layoffs have hit American workers hard in 2025, particularly in the government and tech sectors. Already this year, well over a million jobs have been lost due to layoffs-and unfortunately, it doesn't look like a cessation of job cuts is on the horizon. Reports say that beverage and snack giant PepsiCo is the latest major American company getting ready to announce layoffs.

Bevacqua said the ACC, in the process of promoting football member Miami for College Football Playoff inclusion, also damaged Notre Dame, which lost the season opener to the Hurricanes. Miami made the CFP field as the No. 10 seed, while Notre Dame dropped from No. 9 to No. 11 in the final standings and was left out. The Irish on Sunday declined an invitation to play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, through an ACC tie-in, and ended their season at 10-2.

Silver rose on Tuesday, trading near all-time highs as markets priced in a nearly 90% probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut this week. Investors remain focused on whether Chair Powell will deliver a "hawkish cut" by signalling caution about further easing in 2026. The updated FOMC Economic Projections will also be closely watched for guidance on the policy path. Expectations for additional cuts next year point to two rate cuts.

As interest rates ease and bond rates soften to follow suit, you may be looking for ways to continue generating steady income in your investment portfolio. To that end, you may want to look at ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, which allow you to own a collection of stocks with a single investment. If you have a reasonably healthy appetite for risk, it pays to focus on high-yield ETFs that reward you with regular income.

With only a knife, some food, water, and a sleeping roll, Kat Pringle headed into Nevada's rugged White Mountains alone. She was barely a teenager, but it was her turn to spend the night - to survive - on her own, as part of a coming-of-age initiation dreamed up by her father, who ruled over his family with a mix of ideology and impossible expectations.

"Everybody has eyes on Marcus," Bevacqua said. "College has eyes on Marcus, NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus. ... He's the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop, one of the greatest college coaches in the country."

The cost of home insurance in the United States rose by ~89% between 2014 and 2025, as rapidly climbing home prices, more frequent extreme weather events and inflation impacted insurers and homeowners. ICE analysts share key insights from their recent 10-year study into the forces propelling rising insurance costs across the nation. Over the past decade, home insurance costs have risen rapidly in many parts of the United States.

The Royals picked up both arms in a trade sending backup catcher Freddy Fermin to the Padres. It was a nice bit of business for Picollo and his staff. Bergert combined for a 3.66 earned run average with a solid 22.6% strikeout rate over his first 19 MLB appearances. He sits in the 93-94 MPH range and has an above-average slider. If he can develop a better changeup or add a cutter against left-handed hitters, he could be a mid-rotation arm.

Responding to a report of multiple unresponsive individuals at 44 Liege St., Providence emergency personnel found four people on the front lawn and three more being carried outside the house. First responders treated the students with Narcan and transported them to nearby hospitals, where they were deemed "conscious and alert," the Providence Police Department said. On Saturday, detectives identified a suspect believed to have supplied narcotics to one of the students who overdosed, Providence police said.