HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

“It is painful to see those tiny bodies in that state,” says Panyaza Lesufi, an education official in Gauteng province, where the high school is located.

The Federal Reserve says the big increase in student loan debt is creating a noticeable dent in younger people’s ability to buy homes. But economists say millennials may eventually catch up.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said agents at an Arizona port of entry uncovered over 254 pounds of fentanyl and nearly 395 pounds of methamphetamine in the trailer.

The Massachusetts attorney general alleges that the family behind Purdue Pharma knew that OxyContin was causing overdoses, yet continued to cash in. New documents in the case were released Thursday.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will suspend its obligations under the 1987 INF treaty as of Saturday and pull out in six months if Russia isn’t deemed to be in compliance.

Donald Trump Jr. did not call his father from his cellphone as he was arranging a Trump Tower meeting to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to new reports.

Job growth picked up for the 100th consecutive month even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed during the partial government shutdown. Wage growth held steady.

The 49-year-old New Jersey Democratic senator has long been seen as a likely presidential candidate. Booker, a former mayor of Newark, raised a national profile with an early embrace of social media.

TLC’s 1999 smash was a song women loved about the men they wouldn’t put up with. Two decades later, fans still take its message to heart when scrubs run amok.

It’s the first major court challenge since the Trump administration rolled back Obama-era net neutrality rules. Challengers say the FCC is abandoning its responsibility to ensure an open Internet.

The new guidelines cover everything from police recruitment practices to policies on use of force. The department was harshly criticized by Obama’s Justice Department for civil rights violations.

The U.S. and Russia seem increasingly interested in battlefield nuclear weapons. Arms control advocates fear a return to the darkest days of the Cold War.

“The federal government already has a recruitment problem, right?” said one expert. If “you watch this play out for the last 35 days, are you saying to yourself, ‘Sign me up for that?’ Probably not.”

The FBI and the Justice Department have been criticized for what some Republicans say was an excessive presence. But law enforcement veterans called it standard operating procedure.

Younger girls have been able to join Cub Scouts for nearly a year, and more than 77,000 joined. Now, older girls 11-17 have a path to earn the organization’s highest rank.

The agency said it respects the right to voice opinions and doesn’t retaliate against hunger strikers. “It’s extremely painful and it’s against their will,” a lawyer for two asylum-seekers told NPR.

Behrouz Boochani, who has been detained offshore since 2013, had to compose his debut using WhatsApp messages. Now, that book has earned him the Victorian Prize for Literature

The Bethel Church in The Hague carried on services for 96 days to protect the Tamrazyan family, Armenian migrants who have lived in the Netherlands for nearly nine years, from deportation.

Juan Guaidó accuses Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro of sending police to intimidate his family. The U.S.-backed opposition leader seeks to oust Maduro and replace him as interim president.

By Saturday, the National Weather Service says, the central Plains area will see temperatures in the low 60s — nearly 20-25 degrees above normal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s amendment opposing a “precipitous withdrawal” from Syria was backed by many GOP senators who disagree with the president’s foreign policy.

Space scientists on Earth have improvised a tool on the Mars rover to help them figure out how a giant mountain on the Red Planet came to be. Their surprising conclusion: It’s likely windswept sand.

The judge ruled that Colvin was killed by Syria and “targeted because of her profession, for the purpose of silencing those reporting on the growing opposition movement in the country.”

PG&E is key to helping California meet its ambitious goal of zero carbon electricity by mid-century. Now there’s concern that the utility’s bankruptcy may set that back.

In the search for what triggers sleep, researchers stumbled upon a link between sleep and the immune system. A single fly gene gets turned on in sick flies, inducing sleep and an immune response.

More than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, have arrived at the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria in just two months. The World Health Organization says aid workers are struggling to keep up.

Eight alleged recruiters who were paid thousands of dollars for connecting students to the bogus university — which had an actual office space in Farmington Hills, Mich. — have been indicted.

The gifted songwriter and singer wasn’t a born superstar — but became something of a sleeper hit on the strength of his singing, songwriting and history-making collaborations.

From an economic standpoint, China does not need World Bank loans. So why is it still a top borrower?

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel B. Shapiro and Washington Institute for Near East Policy senior fellow Dana Stroul warn of the consequences of cutting U.S. assistance.

Ghraoui chocolate in Damascus was a place fit for queens — literally. But the family that owned it since 1805 moved from war-torn Syria to Hungary to start over, and ended up thriving.

Millions of residents are being asked to turn their thermostats down to ensure there’s enough gas for everyone. GM and Ford have suspended some operations in Michigan to help conserve energy.