Florida

2 dead after small plane on relief mission to Jamaica crashes near Florida

A small turboprop plane on a hurricane relief mission to Jamaica crashed into a pond in a gated residential neighborhood of the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs, killing two people shortly after takeoff and narrowly missing homes Monday, authorities and a local resident said said. The Coral Springs Police Department confirmed the deaths in a statement Monday afternoon. But police did not provide further details about the occupants of the plane and did not immediately return messages seeking more details. Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Moser said emergency crews responded within minutes of a call reporting the crash. Initially, no victims were located during rescue efforts and they shifted to a recovery operation. Moser said no homes were damaged, but crews spotted some debris near the retention pond. Local aerial televised footage showed a broken fence in the backyard of one home bordering the pond where the plane went down. There was no actual plane

Florida truck crash sparks SC battle over immigrant driver licences

The case has reignited a national debate about road safety, immigration laws, and who should be allowed to operate large commercial vehicles on American highways

Trump says he'll host next year's G20 summit at his Doral resort in Florida

US President Donald Trump on Friday said the US will host next year's Group of 20 summit at his golf club in southern Florida. In his first term, Trump tried to host a separate global summit at the club, located in Doral, but backed down after criticism from his own party about the propriety of doing so. Well, I think everybody wants it there, Trump said Friday when asked if the global summit would be at his golf club and spa. He had previously announced that it would be in the city of Miami. Trump said the organisers had requested the summit be at his personal club.

Florida taxpayers may lose $218 mn as 'Alligator Alcatraz' to shutdown

Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for USD 218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention centre dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. The centre may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely. Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state USD 15 million to USD 20 million immediately, and it would cost another USD 15 million to USD 20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state. The Florida Division of Emergency Management will lose most of the value of the USD 218 million it has invested in making the airport suitable for a detention centre, a state official said in court papers. Built in just a few days, the facility consists of chain-link cages surrounding large white tents filled with rows of bunk beds. An Associated Press analysis of publicly available state ..

Pro-Khalistani terrorist Pannun defends Sikh driver who killed 3 in Florida

Stating that Pannun has been in touch with Singh over the last two days, the former said the incident was not an intentional act but a misjudgment

Alligator Alcatraz must wind down operations, says US federal judge

US District Court Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami on Thursday barred immigration authorities from bringing more detainees to the makeshift facility in the Florida Everglades

Judge strikes down parts of Florida law used to remove books from schools

A federal judge has struck down key parts of a Florida law that helped parents get books they found objectionable removed from public school libraries and classrooms. It is a victory for publishers and authors who had sued after their books were removed. US District Judge Carlos Mendoza in Orlando said in Wednesday's ruling that the statute's prohibition on material that described sexual conduct was overbroad. Mendoza, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also said that the state's interpretation of the 2023 law was unconstitutional. Among the books that had been removed from central Florida schools were classics like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Richard Wright's Native Son and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Historically, librarians curate their collections based on their sound discretion not based on decrees from on high, the judge said. There is also evidence that the statute has swept up more non-obscene books than just the ones referenced here." After t

Judge orders brief halt to construction at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at an immigration detention centre built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed Alligator Alcatraz as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws. The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. US District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the ruling during a hearing and said she will issue a written order later Thursday. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have asked Williams to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars' worth of environmental restoration. Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday in support of the injunction, wh

Cut ties with Epstein for 'stealing people who worked for me', says Trump

President Donald Trump said Monday that he ended his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and threw the now-disgraced financier out of his private club in Florida after Epstein betrayed him more than once by hiring people who had worked for him. Trump did not say what the people's jobs were or where they worked, and the White House had no immediate comment. But with the fresh comments, Trump shed a little light on the reason why he has said he had ended the relationship with Epstein, though Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, recently said on X that, "The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. Epstein killed himself, authorities say, in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump and his top allies stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein's death before Trump returned to power and are now struggling to manage the fallout after the Justice Department said Epstein did in fact die by suicide and that

Tesla on trial in Florida over fatal crash linked to autopilot system

Family members of the woman killed in the crash, Tesla engineers and auto-safety experts are expected to provide testimony in a federal courtroom in Miami during the jury trial

Inside Alligator Alcatraz, Trump's migrant detention camp in Florida swamps

Donald Trump visited 'Alligator Alcatraz', a remote Florida migrant camp built in eight days across 16 km of Everglades, featuring gator-filled swamps, barbed wire, and 400 security personnel

Trump to visit remote immigration detention site in Florida Everglades

President Donald Trump is making a day trip to Florida's Everglades on Tuesday for a firsthand look at a new immigration detention facility that the White House suggests will be especially secure given that it is surrounded by alligators. The detention facility is on an isolated airstrip about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Miami and could house 5,000 detainees. It's drawn protests over the potential impact on a delicate ecosystem and criticism that Trump is trying to send a cruel message to immigrants while some Native American leaders have also opposed construction, saying the land is sacred. But a key selling point for the Trump administration is the site's remoteness, and the fact that it is in swampland filled with mosquitoes, pythons and alligators. The White House hopes that conveys a message to the detainees being housed there and the world at large that repercussions will be severe if the immigration laws of the United States are not followed. Press secretary Karoline ..

Questions raised over deputy sheriff's stepson as accused FSU gunman

Amid the abandoned chemistry notes and other debris left behind after a deadly shooting at Florida State University are lingering questions about how the stepson of a beloved sheriff's deputy tasked with school safety at a middle school became the accused gunman. Political science student Phoenix Ikner was a long-standing member of a sheriff's office youth advisory council and was steeped in the family-like culture of the agency. When officers rushed to the university's student union on reports of gunfire, authorities say it was the 20-year-old who used his stepmother's former service weapon to open fire, killing two men and wounding six others. As people fled in terror, Ikner was shot and taken into custody. He invoked his right not to speak to investigators, and his motive remains unknown as he lies in a hospital bed. The prosecutor's office is weighing possible charges as stories emerge about a darker side. One classmate recalled him being kicked out of a student club over comme

2 killed, 5 injured in FSU shooting, suspect identified as deputy's son

The shooting occurred near the university's student union when a 20-year-old opened fire on students

Small plane crashes near highway in Florida; 3 people dead, 1 injured

The plane was on fire, with a large plume of smoke and firefighters were responding, local media reported

Shooting in Florida kills 1 woman, 3 children; 2 others taken to hospital

A woman and three children were fatally shot Wednesday night in south Florida and two others were taken to a hospital, according to law enforcement. The shooting in Pembroke Park took place at about 8 p.m., Michael Kane, the Broward Sheriff's Office fire rescue battalion chief, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. An adult male and a girl were transported to a hospital. The conditions of the two people taken to a hospital weren't immediately clear. Evan Ross, a spokesperson for Pembroke Park Police, described the shooting as domestic, according to the news report.

DOGE cuts testing conservative voters' faith in poll for Gaetz's old seat

As the Trump administration forges ahead with its dramatic reshaping of the federal government, voters in a northwest Florida congressional district that's home to thousands of veterans will be among the first to put the president's agenda to an electoral test. The state's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump, is widely expected to win the special election in Florida's 1st Congressional District on April 1 and help pad Republicans' narrow majority in the US House of Representatives. The seat became vacant with the resignation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz in a heavily Republican district. In a longshot bid, Democrat Gay Valimont is seeking to hinge the race on the Department of Government Efficiency Service's push to fire federal workers and dismantle federal agencies. A win for her would defy decades of political convention and could send loud signals about how the president's aggressive second term in the White House is playing with

At least 37 dead as tornadoes, wildfires, and blinding dust sweep across US

Residents pounded by unusually vicious weather across parts of the US surveyed damage Sunday from violent tornadoes, high winds and blinding dust storms that decimated homes and other structures and left at least 37 people dead. National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell said tornado watches remained in effect for portions of the Carolinas, east Georgia and northern Florida. He said the main threat would be damaging winds, but there is the possibility of more tornadoes. As we go through the day today, there still is the potential for severe weather from, say, the upper Ohio Valley and western Pennsylvania down through the rest of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast as we have this cold front that's still moving across the country, and it won't clear the East Coast until later on tonight, Snell said. The dynamic storm from Friday through Sunday earned an unusual high risk designation from weather forecasters. Still, experts said it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in ...

US Air Force intercepts aircraft flying in restricted zone near Mar-a-Lago

Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft flying in the temporarily restricted airspace near Donald Trump's Florida home Sunday, bringing the number of violations to more than 20 since the president took office on Jan. 20. North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that Sunday's incident, which took place as Trump finished a round of golf at his West Palm Beach golf course, saw F-16s deploy flares to get the attention of the civilian pilot. Jets also conducted an intercept on Saturday morning shortly after Trump arrived at the course from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence. The airspace intrusions in the heavily congested south Florida airspace have prompted fighter jet intercepts but did not alter Trump's schedule or impact his security, officials said. NORAD says the flares may have been visible from the ground but that they burn out quickly and don't pose danger. Federal officials maintain a permanent flight restriction over Trump's club that

Gunfire reported at naval station, but no shooter found: Florida officials

Florida deputies have responded to reports of shots being fired at Naval Air Station Pensacola, but no shooter or victims were immediately found, officials said. The Escambia County Sheriff's Office received the report Thursday morning, and all available deputies responded to NAS Pensacola's Corry Station sub-installation, officials said. We're still out there, it's still an active scene, but at this time there's no confirmation, Escambia County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Morgan Lewis said shortly after noon.