Image shows Tu-22 "Backfire" ablaze after attack at airbase south of St Petersburg.

A 2-year-old boy is recovering at a Utah hospital after being hit in the head by a stray bullet while playing with other children outside in the fenced area of a day care, police said.

A handful of conservatives in the House are already raising concerns about the length of a short-term budget fix after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday night in a conference-wide call that Republicans would need to pass a measure extending current spending levels in order to have more time to negotiate spending bills and avert a government shutdown.

Danelo Cavalcante’s mother has spoken out in defence of her murder convict son nearly two weeks after he escaped from a prison in northwestern Pennsylvania. Cavalcante’s mother Iracema Cavalcante said in an interview with The New York Times that she believes her son is better off dead than spending the rest of his life behind bars over the April 2021 murder of his former girlfriend Deborah Brandao. “If it’s to go to a place to suffer and die in that place, it’s better to die soon,” Ms Cavalcante told the Times on Tuesday. “You don’t have to suffer so much.” Ms Cavalcante said “everyone is lying” about the convicted killer. Although she acknowledged that her son brutally killed his former ex-girlfriend, Ms Cavalcante claimed that he only did it because he “had to.” “Did it happen? It happened,” Ms Cavalcante told the Times. “But it happened because of the stranglehold she put on him, the stance she took with him ... It wasn’t femicide. He had to, he had no other choice.” This is a developing story ... check again for updates.

Thai police say they have found the dismembered body of a missing German businessman inside a freezer inside a house in southern Thailand

Sydney Sweeney revealed she had to 'fight' for her roles in 'Reality' and 'The White Lotus' after being typecast as Cassie Howard of 'Euphoria'

Commander was removed from the White House just days after he attacked a Secret Service agent in his 11th known biting incident

The US secretary of state is the first American diplomat to visit China in almost five years.

BASEL, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2023--

A parent whose daughter was one of several high school marching band students injured in a fatal bus crash in upstate New York last week has filed a lawsuit against the bus company and the driver, court records show.

The president's statements sparked a backlash on social media, with some questioning the definition of 'winning' in the face of ongoing challenges

Texas would expand what can be defined as sexually explicit material or potentially harmful to children in order to ban books from public and charter school libraries, under a bill given final passage by the state Senate late Tuesday night and sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The Texas move is the latest attempt to ban or regulate reading material in conservative states around the country. Critics say the standards set in the Texas bill are too vague, will snag books that are not inappropriate, and that materials dealing with LGBTQ+ subject matter are more likely to be targeted for bans. The bill passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature defines “sexually explicit material” as anything that includes descriptions, illustrations or audio depicting sexual conduct not relevant to required school curriculum, and prohibits it from school libraries. The bill requires the state’s Library and Archives Commission to adopt standards that schools must follow when purchasing books, and a rating system that would be used to restrict or ban some material. “What we’re talking about is sexually explicit material ... that doesn’t belong in front of the eyes of kids,” said the bill sponsor, Sen. Angela Paxton, a Republican. “They shouldn’t be finding it in their school library.” Abbott, a Republican, previously joined a former GOP lawmaker’s campaign to investigate the use of books in schools covering topics of race, gender identity and sexual orientation. That inquiry included a list of more than 800 books. In April, leaders of a rural central Texas county considered closing their public library system rather than follow a federal judge’s order to return books to the shelves on themes ranging from teen sexuality and gender to bigotry and race. Under the measure passed Tuesday night, book vendors would have to rate books based on depictions or references to sex. "Sexually relevant” material that describes or portrays sex but is part of the required school curriculum could be checked out with a parent's permission. A book would be rated “sexually explicit” if the material is deemed offensive and not part of the required curriculum. Those books would be removed from school bookshelves. State officials will review vendors’ ratings and can request a rating change if they consider it incorrect. School districts and open-enrollment charter schools will be banned from contracting with book sellers who refuse to comply. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide