Nation/World

 Under a stern cross-examination by a defense lawyer for Donald Trump, the first witness in the former president's criminal trial insisted Friday that he was being truthful about a plot to protect Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Former President Donald Trump's tough week showed as well as any to date why he is facing a new and unprecedented reality as a presidential candidate — as he ping-ponged among a dizzying array of court appearances, judicial rulings, competing allegations and subsequent grievances.

The University of Southern California announced Thursday it is canceling its main May commencement ceremony, capping a dramatic series of moves that began last week after it informed valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who had been opposed by pro-Israel groups, that she would not be delivering the traditional speech.

Harvey Weinstein’s accusers and opponents of sexual violence in Hollywood and beyond are speaking out against the reversal of the disgraced movie mogul’s rape conviction in New York.

Ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s testimony Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York included references to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and deals to quash potentially embarrassing stories about Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry and his cabinet officially resigned on Thursday, indicating he will not stay around for the transition to a new era of governance. The decision leaves a political vacuum as the country continues to struggle with a worsening security and humanitarian crisis.

The ruling from Arizona’s highest court reinstating a near-total ban on abortions has catapulted the issue to the forefront in a 2024 swing state that has absorbed an influx of independent voters.

The first of 11 ships trapped for a month behind the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge left the Port of Baltimore Thursday morning using an alternate shipping channel that opened less than two hours earlier.

Former President Donald Trump has downplayed the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where a counter-protester was killed by right-wing extremists.

Israel is stepping up preparations for a potential all-out war with Hezbollah, as the risk of a devastating new phase in the country’s conflict with Iran and its proxy militias grows more acute. 

The EPA on Thursday announced a series of actions to address pollution from fossil fuel power generators, including a final rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired plants that will eventually require them to capture 90 percent of their carbon dioxide emissions.

The Supreme Court’s conservative justices said Thursday they agree a former president should be shielded from prosecution for his truly official acts while in office, but not for private schemes that would give him personal gain.

Ferrin Peterson, 32, is a veterinarian by trade and a professional jockey by preference, trying to break into the ranks of the top riders who fill Keeneland’s daily race cards. She rode and won races in her native California and on the East Coast, but a few years ago, she decided to come to Kentucky to pursue what she loves best with animals she understands inside and out.

Arizona took a major step Wednesday toward scrapping an 1864 law banning abortion, when three Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives broke ranks with their party and voted with Democrats to repeal the ban.

Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday to allow teachers and other school staff members to carry concealed handguns on school campuses.

Five horses from the king’s mounted bodyguard were startled at a construction site and galloped riderless through central London during morning rush hour before being recovered Wednesday.

U.S. students will soon see reduced added sugars in school meals nationwide as part of an overhaul of the nation’s nutrition standards announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  

 President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a $95.3 billion emergency spending bill that will send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Pacific partners, capping a dramatic week that culminated with a rare bipartisan outcome.