Authorities investigating the disappearance of a North Carolina girl released video footage this week that appears to show her exiting a school bus on Nov. 21, marking the final time she was definitively seen before going missing. Madalina Cojocari, 11, is now the focus of a widespread search involving detectives …

Mortgage executive Mat Ishbia has agreed in principle to buy a majority stake of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury from the embattled owner Robert Sarver for $4 billion, the sides announced Tuesday. The sale is expected to take several weeks to complete. Ishbia — who is chairman, president and …

Democrats in a Richmond-based congressional district are voting Tuesday to select a nominee for the seat held by the late Rep. Donald McEachin. The party is holding a firehouse primary at eight voting sites throughout the state’s 4th Congressional District. The winner will be a heavy favorite in a Feb. …

Washington — President Biden is throwing his support behind Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to overhaul the federal permitting process for energy projects ahead of an expected Senate vote on whether to include it in a massive defense spending bill. Manchin was hesitant to back Mr. Biden’s climate, health care …

A South Florida woman claiming to be a psychic has been sentenced to federal prison along with her partner for orchestrating a “family curse, fortune telling and swindling a victim out of more than $3 million,” prosecutors announced Thursday. The fraud ran for several years and only ended after the …

Inflation slowed sharply in November, the government reported Tuesday, continuing a gradual decline since price hikes peaked across the U.S. this summer. The Consumer Price Index rose 7.1% over the last 12 months, the Labor Department said, lower than the 7.3% increase economists had expected and the slowest rate of …

A growing number of states are banning the use of TikTok on government devices over possible national security threats posed by the Chinese-owned social media platform.  On Wednesday, Texas became the latest state to ban the popular app, following Maryland, South Dakota, South Carolina and Nebraska.  U.S. officials are concerned …

Nike has ended its eight-year commercial relationship with professional basketball star Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets player recently ensnared in controversy after he posted a link to an antisemitic film on social media.  Nike’s move comes one month after the athletic apparel giant suspended its relationship with Irving over a …

Actor Bob McGrath, who was an original cast member on the beloved children’s show “Sesame Street,” has died at the age of 90, his family said Sunday. “Hello Facebook friends, the McGrath family has some sad news to share. Our father Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at …

A Texas man who authorities say threatened a Boston doctor providing care to transgender people was arrested Friday on federal charges.  The suspect, identified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as 38-year-old Matthew Jordan Lindner of Humble, Texas, was charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats. He made his first …