CHICAGO A largely white Chicago neighborhood that many police officers and firefighters call home took center stage this week in the city’s tensions over gun violence, race and policing as protests erupted following the fatal police shooting of a black man. Some residents used racial slurs, revved motorcycle engines and yelled “go home” Tuesday night […]

SEATTLE A man opened fire on a crowd outside a convenience store in downtown Seattle, wounding five people and setting off an intense police search, authorities said. Seattle Assistant Police Chief Robert Merner said four men and one woman were hurt after an argument near Pine Street and Third Avenue outside a 7-Eleven store near […]

CONCORD, N.H. Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte conceded defeat to her Democratic challenger, Gov. Maggie Hassan, on Wednesday, ending what for months had been one of nation’s most closely-watched contests. The secretary of state’s office showed Hassan with a lead of 1,023 votes out of 738,420. Ayotte, who was elected in 2010, offered her congratulations […]

LOS ANGELES The number of Americans living in states with recreational marijuana more than tripled after at least three states voted to fully legalize the drug. But the election of Republican Donald Trump and GOP majorities in the Senate and House tempered advocates’ excitement about an easing of federal restrictions. “There is a massive sense […]

Two bodies found on the rural property of a South Carolina man linked to five other deaths were a couple who had a history of panhandling and had been buried there for nearly a year, authorities said Wednesday. One of the victims was 25-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie of Spartanburg, who appears to have died from […]

NEW YORK Instead of looking to its creative team, Starbucks turned to its latte-sipping customers to design its latest holiday red cups. The company asked people to post their designs on Instagram last December, and 1,200 ideas came in from customers who’ve made it clear on social media they care about the holiday cups Starbucks […]

BAGHDAD Iraqi troops consolidated gains in their advance on the northern city of Mosul today, regrouping as they clear neighborhoods and houses once occupied by the Islamic State group. In Mosul proper, where troops have a foothold in a sliver of territory in the city’s east, the special forces control the Zahra neighborhood, once named […]

COTEAUX, HAITI Nathanaelle Bernard was two months short of the due date for her first child when Hurricane Matthew crashed through her town overlooking the Caribbean Sea along Haiti’s southwestern coast. The storm, with its 145 mph winds, destroyed her small home of cinder blocks. Powerful waves carried away most of her belongings, including the […]