For people whose autumn agenda includes getting vaccinated against respiratory diseases — COVID, flu, and, for some, RSV — this year may be surprisingly routine.

Following several confusing months this summer when federal officials announced and then retreated from changes to COVID vaccine recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It’s been two years since a Santa Cruz sea otter, known as 841, garnered international attention and celebrity by attacking surfers and their surfboards as the human wave-riders alley-ooped over the waves of the legendary Steamer Lane.

It’s happening again.

This time, the identity of the otter is unclear. That’s because ...Read more

The idea that Affordable Care Act marketplaces are riddled with fraud has become a major talking point among Republicans, as lawmakers in Congress argue about whether to extend the enhanced tax credits that are helping offset the cost of health care marketplace coverage for low- and middle-income people. Those ACA subsidies expire at the end of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — On a perfect weekend in late September, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey glad-handed at neighborhood fall festivals and community events, mingled in backyard meet-and-greets, and even stole a chance to spin his daughter and other youngsters on a merry-go-round in a city park. He hit every quadrant of the city.

And no one heckled him...Read more

Amelia Earhart was a superstar long before the term was ever coined.

The famed aviator set multiple flying records, serving as a model of independence for girls and women in a male-dominated world. She was a 1930s-era influencer, starring in radio spots, endorsing products and hobnobbing with the world’s elite. She drew crowds wherever she ...Read more

Donald Trump lodged fresh complaints over Canada’s handling of an anti-tariff commercial and said he was “satisfied” with his current trade arrangement with the country, indicating that the Ontario government’s announcement it would stop running the advertisement had done little to placate the U.S. president.

“I’m satisfied with the...Read more

TEL AVIV, Israel — Two years ago, after Hamas killed and kidnapped its way across southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed finished. “Mr. Security,” as he billed himself, would either resign in shame or be driven out by a devastated public.

Yet this week he promoted his candidacy in next year’s election by saying he’d...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security will require all immigrants and noncitizens to be photographed when entering and leaving the United States under new regulations released Friday.

Photographs and fingerprints were already required for certain immigrants and foreign visitors at designated locations. The regulation from U.S. ...Read more

BOSTON — Hours after police lifted a shelter-in-place warning after a gun was fired near Radcliffe Quad at Harvard University, a person of interest was broadcast.

The Cambridge police issued photos of that person, asking anyone who recognizes him or has any information on the incident to call detectives at 617-349-3121.

It was a tense time ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California mother rented a car this month and drove her 9-year-old daughter halfway across the country, to Nebraska.

Three days later she returned home alone, and has since refused to answer questions about the girl's whereabouts.

Now, Ashlee Buzzard's road trip has become the central focus of the FBI's and Santa ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will look to sign economic agreements and critical minerals deals with trading partners during his trip to Asia, according to senior U.S. officials, as the administration moves to ramp up pressure on China ahead of a crucial meeting with Xi Jinping.

Trump will look for deals that will help unlock the region...Read more

Though the full effects of Tropical Storm Melissa have yet to be felt in the Caribbean, Haiti’s disaster office said Friday three people have already died and another was injured in a landslide attributed to the storm’s heavy rains.

Two people were killed Thursday in Fontamara, a community south of Port-au-Prince, in the West regional ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said it received an anonymous $130 million donation to pay the military during the U.S. government shutdown, a move the administration might not legally be able to carry out.

“On October 23, 2025, the Department of War accepted an anonymous donation of $130 million under its general gift acceptance authority,” ...Read more

A planned increase in federal immigration enforcement in the Bay Area is now on pause throughout the region and in major East Bay cities, not just in San Francisco, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday.

Lee said in a statement that Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez had "confirmed through her communications" with federal immigration ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — UCLA must release the Trump administration document that outlines the terms of the $1.2 billion settlement proposal at the center of talks between the University of California and the federal government, the California Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The decision is a win for UCLA faculty who have pushed for more transparency in the...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House without consulting preservation agencies and organizations is a reflection in part of the unusual position the building has in historical preservation law.

And when it comes time to jump through bureaucratic hoops to construct the actual 90,000-...Read more

NORFOLK, Va. — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to charges accusing her of misleading a bank in an effort to get a lower interest rate for a house she bought here in 2020. Jones asked the court to dismiss the charges in a motion filed afterward.

A tentative trial date was set for Jan....Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Gov. JB Pritzker Friday to weigh allowing Chicago public school students to learn from home because ICE agents are arresting parents and students on their way to and from schools.

Pritzker later took a dim view of the idea, saying kids belong in classrooms and pointing to ways schools and residents have ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8% increase in their retirement benefits in 2026, slightly higher than the 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment provided this year, the Social Security Administration announced Friday.

Monthly benefits will increase by roughly $56 beginning in January, the agency said, in an effort to keep ...Read more