NEW YORK — The New York City Council on Thursday asked a Manhattan judge to dismiss Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s lawsuit to block $10,000 bonuses for public school paraprofessionals.

At issue is whether the Council’s legislation, which was passed to address a perennial shortage of special-education teacher aides, ran afoul of New York state ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A man who sprayed vinegar on Rep. Ilhan Omar while she spoke at a town hall in north Minneapolis has been sentenced to just over one year in federal prison.

Anthony James Kazmierczak, 56, pleaded guilty to assaulting a United States officer during the public event on Jan. 27 at the Urban League headquarters. His prison term will...Read more

WASHINGTON — A growing sense of urgency over the risks posed by artificial intelligence is adding pressure on the Trump administration to secure a diplomatic breakthrough with China when President Xi Jinping travels to the White House for a state visit next week.

Expectations for a deal that establishes guardrails on AI are low on both sides...Read more

DETROIT — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security questioned a Chinese University of Michigan researcher one day before he committed suicide in March, according to a campus police report released Thursday to The Detroit News.

The report by UM Division of Public Safety & Security officers detailed how on the morning of March 18, two DHS ...Read more

As Californians have weathered relentless heat waves, state workplace safety regulators have repeatedly reminded employers to protect employees from heat illness by providing water, shade, cooldown areas, and additional rest breaks when temperatures climb.

But there’s a notable exception in the state’s heat safety rules: Not covered are the...Read more

NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James Thursday urged workers with information about potential dangers at companies developing artificial intelligence to report concerns to her office’s new secure whistleblower site.

With concern about AI rising fast, James said anyone can confidentially report unsafe and illegal conduct that ...Read more

President Donald Trump floated hitting goods imported from the European Union with fresh tariffs or even cutting off some trade if he determined that a push to make Canada a potential associate of the bloc was harmful to the U.S.

“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday ordered a task force composed of members of her administration to explore whether the city should place new regulations on the construction of data centers — and to present her with its findings in about eight months.

The mayor, a Democrat who has not staked a position on ...Read more

Big news on the Sean “Diddy” Combs front.

Three members of the incarcerated rapper’s sizable legal team in NYC have called it quits, TMZ first reported.

The trio, Michael Tremonte, Erica Wolff and Katie Renzler from the offices of Sher Tremonte LLP, were representing Diddy in a civil suit.

They filed a motion Monday to withdraw from the...Read more

NEW YORK — A rotting corpse found stuffed in the chimney of a Queens public school has been identified as an aspiring rapper who went missing, to the bafflement of his family, more than seven weeks before the decomposed remains were found.

It was another month after the gruesome discovery before Matthew Collado‘s desperate mother learned ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices are not allowed inside Maryland’s two federal courthouses, a judge decided this week.

Although video and audio recordings of court proceedings have been barred for years, this week’s standing order prevents the general public from bringing most kinds of “portable electronic ...Read more

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is struggling to strike a deal to fund the Israeli military’s request for $8 billion before next month’s election.

Israel’s military is seeking about $8 billion in additional funding, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is struggling to strike a deal to unlock the money ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — NBC4’s helicopter was one of several news aircraft flying over the scene of a deadly bus crash in Chatsworth Tuesday evening at sunset.

It’s common for multiple news choppers to arrive at the scene of breaking news, beaming live images for newscasts and streaming.

But around 7 p.m., something went horribly wrong and in a ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland health officials are warning residents about possible measles exposure after a person from another state who had the disease visited three Ocean City businesses this month.

The Maryland Department of Health said the person visited the Casablanca Oceanside Inn, 2408 Baltimore Ave., from 4 p.m. Sept. 3 through noon Sept. 6;...Read more

Declining birth rates mean fewer students.

And that means more districts grappling with whether to close or merge schools.

“The big shrink” is how Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab, described what is happening nationally.

“When there are fewer young people, obviously it’s going to change the shape ...Read more