spokeswoman

When no Americans replied to her ads seeking a dance instructor, studio owner Chris Sabourin looked overseas. But she was stymied again by a federal tightening of visa application rules she and others contend is hampering the ballroom dance industry. Sabourin had to eventually give up after a year and thousands of dollars trying to hire a top ballroom dancer...

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday that he’s ending his Democratic presidential campaign, saying it’s become clear that he won’t have a shot at being his party’s nominee. The two-term governor and former state attorney general tried to make the case that he was the best bet to beat President Donald Trump because he was the only Democratic candidate to...

Independent retailers are gearing up for Small Business Saturday, a day used to promote mom-and-pop retailers, and many towns are doing their best to support the effort. In 2018, an estimated 104 million consumers shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They spent $17.8 billion, the most since the shopping event was created by American Express...

Police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are investigating after a dead fetus was found in the women’s bathroom of a restaurant.

At least 21 people are dead and hundreds more are hurt after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck about 20 miles northwest of Albania’s capital Tirana. Rescue teams were still searching for people trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Rescue crews with excavators searched for survivors trapped in toppled apartment buildings and hotels Tuesday as the death toll from a powerful pre-dawn earthquake in Albania climbed to 21, with more than 600 people injured. The magnitude-6.4 quake was felt across the southern Balkans and was followed by multiple aftershocks, with several above magnitude 5. In nearby Bosnia, another temblor...

A widow is suing Maryland state officials after receiving the wrong remains for her husband who had donated his body to science.

With billions in federal aid and seats in Congress at stake, some states are dragging their feet in carrying out one of the Census Bureau’s chief recommendations for making sure everyone is counted during the 2020 census. Five states — Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas — have not set up “complete count committees” that would create public awareness...

A Rhode Island city employee has been terminated and another suspended after someone reported finding a noose in a vehicle on a job site. A spokeswoman for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza says that the report is under investigation by the Department of Human Resources and a hearing with union officials is planned.

Amid their annual vigils for transgender homicide victims, trans rights activists in the U.S. are trying to maintain long-term optimism even as many hard-won protections are under threat. Just a few weeks ago, President Donald Trump’s administration argued before the Supreme Court that employers should be allowed to fire workers because they are transgender. The administration also has moved to...

Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to gradually move the country to a government-funded health care system has further inflamed the debate over “Medicare for All,” likely ensuring the issue will play a significant role in this week’s Democratic presidential debate.

The Coast Guard says a sailboat that placed a distress call off the Maine coast has been located. The Coast Guard ended a three-day search Monday after the 40-foot boat, Dove, was located safe and sound, nearly 100 miles off the New Jersey coast.

President Donald Trump spent more than two hours at Walter Reed National Medical Center on Saturday for what the White House said were medical tests as part of his annual physical. The appointment wasn’t on Trump’s weekend public schedule, and his last physical was in February. Press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the 73-year-old president was “anticipating a very busy 2020”...

The Coast Guard is searching for three sailors reported missing off Maine’s Mount Desert Island. The Coast Guard tweeted Saturday that the three were reportedly on a 40-foot sailboat, named Dove, about 20 miles south of Mount Desert Island. The missing have been identified as Charlotte Kirby, Nathaniel Davis and Wilfredo Lombardo.

A former California state prison inmate tells her story of sexual abuse by prison staff during her time incarcerated. A closer look at newly released records reveals a culture of sexual misconduct in California’s women’s prisons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday he was certain that the awarding of a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft instead of Amazon was done fairly. The Pentagon awarded the contract to Microsoft in late October, and Amazon said there was “unmistakable bias” on the government’s part and it intended to challenge the decision in court. Esper recused himself...

Three universities and a health care institution are sharing a gift of more than $1 billion that’s one of the largest in the history of higher education, they announced Wednesday. Receiving $260 million apiece will be Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, and the Cleveland Clinic. The institutions are free to use the money...

A Roman Catholic bishop named by Pope Francis to investigate the church’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo, New York, has himself been accused of sexual abuse of a child, an attorney for the alleged victim notified the church this week.

Payment scams, employee thefts and a fire that destroyed a Department of Conservation and Recreation building contributed to more than half a million dollars’ worth of property losses at state agencies in the last two years. Under Massachusetts law, government workers must immediately notify the state auditor if taxpayer-owned property goes missing, whether it was misplaced, stolen or destroyed.

The season’s first cold-stunned sea turtles were rescued from Cape Cod beaches over the weekend. A spokeswoman for Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary says juvenile Kemp’s ridley turtles were found Saturday at beaches in Brewster and Eastham. A third was found Sunday on Great Island in Wellfleet.