CNN – National

By Dakin Andone, Denise Royal and Carlos Suarez, CNN The defense team in the trial of Parkland, Florida, school shooter Nikolas Cruz abruptly rested its case Wednesday, leading the judge to admonish his attorneys for what she described as a “level of unprofessionalism” she had never before experienced. The defense team planned to call 80

By Alexandra Meeks, CNN A railroad strike — and the economic damage it could cause — is getting closer to reality. About 60,000 union members who work for the nation’s freight railroads, including engineers and conductors, are set to go on strike Friday if an agreement isn’t reached on new contracts. Without them on the

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN Power outages in the US are climbing, researchers reported Wednesday, as extreme weather gets worse due to the climate crisis, the demand for electricity climbs and the country’s energy infrastructure gets older and more vulnerable. The analysis from Climate Central, a nonprofit research group, revealed that from 2000 to 2021, 83%

By Nouran Salahieh, CNN The Mosquito Fire burning in Northern California flared up Tuesday afternoon, charging toward a mountain community and torching more homes as it burned dangerously close to a high school. The inferno — the largest wildfire currently burning in California — began west of Lake Tahoe amid extreme heat September 6 and

By John Miller, Brynn Gingras, Rob Frehse, Aya Elamroussi and Holly Yan, CNN Northeastern University in Boston reopened Wednesday after an employee reported being injured by an exploding package. Boston police and the FBI are now investigating the incident as a likely “hoax,” multiple law enforcement sources tell CNN. On Tuesday evening, an employee said

By Mark Morales, CNN A former coach of the 7-year-old who was found dead with two of his siblings on a Brooklyn beach Monday remembered him as a quiet, expressive boy who was always excited to play football. Allen McFarland, a youth football coach and New York City Department of Education employee, said the boy

By Matthew Friedman and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN The Texas Department of Public Safety referred two more officers to the agency’s Office of Inspector General late last week for formal investigation over their responses to the Robb Elementary massacre in Uvalde, a department spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. This brings the total number of officers under

By Rob Frehse, Sharif Paget and Zenebou Sylla, CNN A Northeastern University staff member was injured Tuesday when a package he was opening detonated on the Boston campus, officials said, “The staff member sustained minor injuries and is being treated,” Shannon Nargi, a spokesperson for Northeastern University, told CNN in an email. The package was

By Laura Ly and Rob Frehse, CNN A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a woman at the Philadelphia playground where she worked, city officials confirm. The teenager was charged with murder and other offenses related to the Friday shooting of Parks and Recreation employee Tiffany Fletcher

By Alta Spells, Maria Cartaya, Martin Savidge and Theresa Waldrop, CNN Prominent Georgia attorney Page Pate, a frequent CNN guest, died Sunday afternoon, his law firm told CNN. He was 55. Pate died after being swept out into a rip current off the coast of St. Simons Island, Georgia, Glynn County Fire-Rescue acting Chief Vinnie

By Melissa Alonso, CNN Cleotha Henderson, the man accused of kidnapping and killing Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher earlier this month, has been indicted on rape charges in a separate case from 2021, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Henderson was indicted Thursday on charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping and unlawful possession of a weapon in

By Eric Levenson, CNN A sexual assault victim filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging San Francisco Police violated her constitutional rights by relying on DNA taken from her rape kit years ago to arrest her in an unrelated burglary case. The woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” alleges that law enforcement officers took her DNA

By Scottie Andrew, CNN Mark David Chapman, the man who fatally shot John Lennon in 1980, has been denied parole for the 12th time, New York corrections officials told CNN. Chapman, who is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York, appeared before the parole board on August 31, the New

By Nouran Salahieh, CNN Burning intensely and choking the air with smoke, California’s raging Mosquito Fire has destroyed 46 structures and continues its unrelenting spread through dry forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The blaze — the largest currently burning in California — began amid extreme heat September 6 and has grown to about 50,000

By Aya Elamroussi, Kristina Sgueglia and Dakin Andone, CNN Authorities are investigating the deaths of three children who were found unresponsive along a New York City shoreline early Monday after a family member reported concerns about their safety. The children — a 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 3-and-a-half-month-old girl — were found in