A Southern California judge convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife after the couple had been arguing was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years to life in prison. Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson faced a maximum potential sentence of 40 years to life in prison. The 74-year-old has been jailed since a jury found him guilty in April. Prosecutors said Ferguson shot his wife in their home in August 2023 after he had been drinking and the couple arguing. Ferguson admitted to shooting his wife but said it was an accident.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A pair of North Carolina brothers testified Wednesday about a box left with them by a man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course last year.

A Utah sheriff says the 22-year-old man charged with killing with Charlie Kirk was afraid of being shot by police and agreed to surrender as long as it was done peacefully. Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby says Robinson appeared quiet and somber when he turned himself in with his parents last Thursday. He surrendered a little over a day after Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. Robinson is now charged with murder. He faced his first hearing in the case Tuesday where prosecutors said they’ll seek the death penalty. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from Robinson’s public defender.

A trail remains closed in Yellowstone National Park after a bear attacked a hiker. Park officials say the attack happened Tuesday on the Turbid Lake Trail northeast of Yellowstone Lake. The 29-year-old man suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries to his arm and chest. Medics walked out with the hiker, who was then taken to a clinic and then to a hospital where he was treated and released. It was the first bear attack on a person in Yellowstone since 2021. Park officials suspect it was a grizzly bear and not a more common black bear because of the animal's size, location and behavior.

Authorities say three police officers were fatally shot and two wounded in southern Pennsylvania, and the shooter was killed by police. Gov. Josh Shapiro says Wednesday the state is grieving and that “we need to do better as a society.” The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, west of Philadelphia and not far from the Maryland state line. Officials would not say which police department the officers belonged to, but shared they were following up on a domestic-related investigation that began the previous day.

The House declined late Wednesday to punish one of its own over commentary in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination, but the effort showed the reach of President Donald Trump's push for political retribution and set the stage for more to come.

During his first term, President Donald Trump enacted immigration policies aimed at a group normally safe from scrutiny: immigrant service members. Now, as the second Trump administration engages in its campaign of mass deportations, military experts and veterans say immigrant troops and their relatives are once again targets. A lawyer who helps veterans facing deportation says the policy harms military recruiting and readiness. Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation to protect immigrant service members and their families. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois says it's about doing the right thing for people who were promised a chance at citizenship in exchange for their service.

President Donald Trump ran on a platform of detaining and deporting criminal immigrants – those he has called terrorists, drug dealers and gang members. However, his administration’s policies are targeting noncriminal immigrants, too, and even those in the U.S. legally under student visas, Temporary Protected Status and other measures. For immigrant communities across the country, the result is a climate of fear where even legal compliance offers no guarantee of protection. An immigration attorney says it's very clear that the goal is to make things harder, to discourage people from coming here and to increase fear in our communities.

OREM, Utah. (AP) — The 22-year-old man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University has been charged with capital murder, prosecutors announced, saying they will seek the death penalty.

3 police officers killed and 2 more hurt in shooting in southern Pennsylvania, authorities say.

Students returned to classes at Utah Valley University on Wednesday for the first time since the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on the school's campus, as authorities released more details about the arrest of the man charged in the killing of the conservative activist.

Man is put to death for killing his wife’s family in record 12th execution in Florida this year.

Officials say a man who rammed a car into an FBI security gate in Pittsburgh and covered it in an American flag Wednesday said he was making a statement. An FBI official says Donald Henson of nearby Penn Hills was taken into custody several hours after he fled the crash. An assistant special agent says Henson had visited the field office weeks ago with a complaint. The FBI says the attack was targeted but not terrorism. A message left at a phone number linked to him was not immediately returned and court records did not list a defense lawyer.

ALLENTOWN, PA. (AP) — Junior Clase’s cluttered kitchen table paints a picture of his life in the United States. Scattered across it are bottles of deodorant and conditioner that he sends back to the Dominican Republic, a Spanish-language Bible and a plastic medical brace for his wife, Solibe…

Southern California judge is sentenced to 35 years for fatally shooting his wife.

Four Democratic-led Western states announced joint recommendations Wednesday about who should be vaccinated for seasonal respiratory viruses, including the flu and COVID-19, saying the Trump administration has jeopardized public health by politicizing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii early this month formed the West Coast Health Alliance in an effort to combat what they describe as the “weaponization” of federal health agencies to advance antivaccine policies, despite decades of scientific research showing that vaccines are safe and effective. Their recommendations came a day before a panel of CDC advisers was due to begin meeting to review recommendations for some vaccines.

Charlie Kirk murder suspect feared being shot by police at home and agreed to surrender if it was peaceful, sheriff says.

France announced Wednesday that it has selected the Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winning drama “It Was Just An Accident” as its submission to the Academy Awards. The selection gives an Oscar pathway to a film that Iran was certain not to select, itself. Panahi, who has spent much of the last 15 years either under house arrest, banned from travel or incarcerated, made “It Was Just An Accident,” like his previous films, in his native Iran without government permission. “It Was Just An Accident” is Panahi’s first film since he was released from jail two years ago, following a hunger strike. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

At least 2 seriously injured in Pennsylvania shooting involving police, with Gov. Shapiro on way to scene, officials say.

The Atlantic Ocean has claimed another beach house on the fragile Outer Banks. The home that collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Buxton, North Carolina, is the 12th to succumb to the surf since May 2020. An official with the Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the house was unoccupied. The other 11 were all in the village of Rodanthe, a few miles north. The barrier islands have been eroding amid sea level rise for years. The famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved inland in 1999.

Fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Susan Monarez is warning senators America’s public health system is headed to a “dangerous place” under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaccine advisers. Monarez and ex-CDC official Debra Houry describe exchanges in which Kennedy or political advisers rebuffed data supporting vaccine safety and efficacy. Monarez told the  Senate health committee Wednesday deadly diseases including polio are poised to make a comeback in the U.S. Monarez says Kennedy demanded she "preapprove" recommendations from a CDC panel or face termination. The panel is expected to vote on new vaccine guidelines this week in Atlanta. Kennedy denies Monarez’s accusations he ordered “rubber-stamped” vaccine recommendations.

NEW YORK (AP) — It's Bad Bunny's world once again. The Puerto Rican superstar leads the 2025 Latin Grammy nominations this year.

Former President Barack Obama says that the United States is at “an inflection point” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that President Donald Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together.

A San Francisco supervisor has been recalled after he successfully pushed to turn part of a coastal highway into a car-free park. Supervisor Joel Engardio conceded in Tuesday's special election. He says he's proud of the new park, which is called Sunset Dunes. Recall backers say Engardio failed to listen to constituents who worried that closing the highway would result in added traffic and erode their quality of life. In 2022, voters citywide tossed out three liberal school board members as well as a politically progressive prosecutor. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie will name a replacement for Engardio's seat.

University of California faculty, staff and student organizations and labor unions have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, saying the federal government is using civil rights laws to wage a campaign against the university to curtail academic freedom and undermine free speech. The coalition is led by the American Association of University Professors union and represented by Democracy Forward, a legal group that has brought other lawsuits against the Trump administration over frozen federal funds. The Trump administration last month fined UCLA $1 billion after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus and other civil rights violations.

Driver suspected of ramming car into Pittsburgh FBI building gate and leaving US flag is now in custody, authorities say.

President Donald Trump’s call to redraw U.S. House districts before the 2026 elections has led to a wave of political maneuvering among state-level Republicans and Democrats. Texas Republicans were the first to take up redistricting intended to help their party win more seats. Then came Democratic-led California and Republican-led Missouri. More states could be following, including Republican-led Indiana. Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, after each census. The current mid-decade redistricting is being driven partly by the close political margins in Congress. Democrats need to gain just three seats in next year's elections to take control of the House from Republicans.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says he’s running for governor in 2026. The Republican made the announcement Wednesday. He famously rejected Donald Trump’s request to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, a state he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Raffensperger is likely to aim his appeal at Republicans who have at times been lukewarm on Trump. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Attorney General Chris Carr are already seeking the GOP nomination. Raffensperger won reelection in 2022 despite Trump’s opposition. Although he starts later than other major candidates, voters already know who Raffensperger is. Plus the engineering entrepreneur can self-finance his campaign.

President Donald Trump is escalating threats against what he calls the "radical left" after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump's Republican administration is considering classifying some groups as domestic terrorists and revoking tax-exempt status for certain nonprofits. These actions are fueled by anger over Kirk's death at a Utah university campus last week, even though there's no evidence linking these groups to the killing. Nonprofit political groups worry Trump's words and actions will send a chill through the donor community. Critics argue this could suppress opposition, while supporters see it as a necessary crackdown on political violence.

Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to run for governor after tangling with Trump over 2020 voting.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lorie Lee Sekayumptewa, a former administrator with the Navajo Nation Film Office, remembers seeing Robert Redford at traditional cultural dances at the Hopi village of Hotevilla in New Mexico. It was more than 30 years ago and he was serving as executive producer of the 1991…

Hollywood figures and fans of movies mourned the death of Robert Redford, expressing affection and admiration for the Oscar-winning director, liberal activist and godfather for independent cinema. Actor Coleman Domingo says Redford had an “everlasting impact” on movies and director Ron Howard calls his Sundance Film Festival a “game changer.” “Reservation Dogs” director Sterlin Harjo says Redford empowered filmmakers. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump say they admired his work. Redford died Tuesday at his home in Utah. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox commended the actor and activist for making “Utah a home for storytelling and creativity.”

PHOENIX (AP) — President Donald Trump has vowed to do away with voting by mail, but some of his Republican allies in two Western battleground states are taking a more cautious approach.

President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement intervention in the nation’s capital has led to federal charges against more than 50 people over the past month. A frustrated judge says prosecutors already have dropped charges in at least 11 of those cases. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh expressed concern on Tuesday that the flurry of dismissed cases is wasting the district court’s resources. He questioned whether Justice Department prosecutors are making charging decisions before cases are properly investigated and vetted. Trump claims his emergency 30-day deployment of federal agents and National Guard members is making the streets safer for District of Columbia residents.

From Utah to New York, political violence has rocked the U.S. multiple times over the past several months, culminating with the open-air killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last week while talking to college students.

Democrat Xp Lee wins Minnesota House special election to fill assassinated legislator’s seat and preserve tie in chamber.