U.S.

After a chance encounter with a dog in need of a home while on her “Denim and Rhinestones Tour,” country superstar Carrie Underwood adopted the shelter puppy, adding a new furry member to her family. “Meet Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Nilla Fisher,” Underwood wrote in an Instagram post earlier this week, sharing …

A 24-year-old man now linked to an unusual string of crimes that kept the Dallas Zoo on the lookout for missing animals told police that after he swiped two monkeys from their enclosure, he took them onto the city’s light rail system to make his getaway, court records show. Davion …

Authorities in New Mexico’s largest city said a suspect believed to be linked to at least one of the five shootings at or near the homes or offices of several elected officials was in custody Monday, but they declined to release his name. Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said in …

Washington — More than 3,000 teenagers and young boys have been blackmailed online in what federal law enforcement officials called a “staggering” sextortion scam that has been tied to more than a dozen suicides by minors who were lured into sending explicit images. In a briefing with reporters Monday, officials …

Holiday shopping could extend another month for Twitter’s biggest fans. In mid-January, the social media giant will auction off some of the surplus office items at its San Francisco, California, headquarters — including statues, kitchen items, furniture and more.  Along with standard office furniture, the auction will include some more …

San Francisco supervisors voted Tuesday to put the brakes on a controversial policy that would have let police use robots for deadly force, reversing course just days after their approval of the plan generated fierce pushback and warnings about the militarization and automation of policing. The Board of Supervisors voted …

Her music may be the unofficial anthem of the holiday season, but officially, Mariah Carey is not the “Queen of Christmas” – or even the holiday’s “princess” – the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled on Tuesday.  Carey, whose 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” has …

It has been exactly 12 weeks since a Powerball ticket sold in Pennsylvania won the last grand prize. The jackpot grew quite a bit in the meantime, and, after 35 consecutive rounds without a grand prize winner, stood at an estimated $700 million for Wednesday night’s drawing. The winning numbers Wednesday were …

Seattle Public Schools canceled Wednesday’s first day of school after teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike over issues that include pay, mental health support, and staffing ratios for special education and multilingual students. Seattle Education Association President Jennifer Matter announced Tuesday that 95% of ballots returned by the union’s …

One person was killed and four others were injured following a shooting at New York City’s historic Coney Island boardwalk, police said.  At 11:57 p.m. on Saturday night gunfire erupted on the boardwalk, leaving a 42-year-old man dead after suffering a bullet wound to his back and two male and …