The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees.

You may have once again noticed that a lot of people on TV, the internet, and in your real life are talking about files. The Epstein files. They want them released! They want Donald Trump in jail! They want to know what the hell is going on! Seriously, though, what the hell is going on? As Defector's chief file-explainer, I am here to once again tell you all you need to know about the latest files.

A group of chimpanzees in Zambia have resurrected an old fashion trend with a surprising new twist.

They say the oil and gas industry is ignoring HAZMAT procedures, endangering them and the communities they drive through.

Bedrock co-founder Geoff Lewis has posted increasingly troubling content on social media, drawing concern from friends in the industry.

It was Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday, and Ghislaine Maxwell was preparing a special gift to mark the occasion. She turned to Epstein’s family and friends. One of them was Donald Trump. Maxwell collected letters from Trump and dozens of Epstein’s other associates for a 2003 birthday album, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Pages from the leather-bound album—assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006—are among the documents examined by Justice Department officials who investigated Epstein and Maxwell years ago, according to people who have reviewed the pages. It’s unclear if any of the pages are part of the Trump administration’s recent review.

TV’s ongoing problems with late night have come for Stephen Colbert, with CBS announcing Thursday that it plans to end his “Late Show” after the next TV season, citing a “financial decision.” There has been growing speculation that both Colbert and Jon Stewart, who hosts one broadcast of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” each week, could be under growing scrutiny from executives at Skydance Media, which is slated to acquire Paramount Global, the parent of both CBS and Comedy Central. David Ellison, who leads Skydance, has projected an image of being intrigued by the politics espoused by President Donald Trump, who Colbert and Stewart routinely skewer in monologues and commentary.

Two federal officials traveled to California to visit the shuttered Alcatraz prison, part of a plan to soon announce the reopening of the infamous federal prison.

The July 23 event on 2nd Street was canceled after the city quoted organizers more than $24,000 for police, sanitation, and inspections — a sharp increase from 2023. The city charges first shot up in 2024, jumping from about $10,400 in October 2023 to more than $22,700 for May 2024, the first Night Market of that year. The increase, Reed and Kamihira said, is largely driven by variability in the price for Philadelphia Police Department traffic controls. Officers patrol the Northern Liberties Night Markets on a voluntary overtime basis, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Miguel Torres said in a statement, meaning that the level of policing — and how much it costs — depends on how many officers want overtime.

The controversial law puts hemp-derived products and retailers under regulation by the Alabama ABC Board.

The malfunctioning xAI chatbot provides some insights into how large language models work.

While progressives often get accused of undermining the Democratic Party, the evidence shows that it’s the moderate wing that most often violates the “Vote Blue No Matter Who” principle.

Sen. Ron Wyden reveals Treasury documents showing Jeffrey Epstein moved nearly $1.1 billion through secret accounts, calling out Trump for dismissing the case as a "hoax."

The living nightmare of Tonya Walker’s disappearance and death is part of an alleged pattern of wrongdoing by a multibillion-dollar health care company that operates dozens of hospitals across California. Dignity Health has been accused of “callous, reckless, and outrageous failure” in multiple lawsuits that allege it lost patients’ bodies, failed to issue death certificates and neglected to tell family members that their loved ones were dead. Some of these cases led to families and law enforcement carrying out monthslong missing persons searches, all while the bodies were left to decompose at an off-site morgue, the lawsuits allege. In two civil complaints recently filed in California, Dignity Health has been accused of gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In response to the damning audits carried out by the California Department of Public Health in 2022 and 2023, seen by SFGATE, the president of the hospital, who retired this summer, told the Department of Health and Human Services, “We assumed the remains being stored did not have families.”

Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.

While the OBBBA guts renewable energy incentives, undercuts US manufacturing, and hands a long-term advantage to China, economics will continue to drive clean energy growth.

A paranormal investigator who was helping lead a national tour of the allegedly haunted Annabelle doll has suddenly died over the weekend. On Tuesday, the New England Society for Psychic Research announced the “sudden” death of 54-year-old Dan Rivera, the organization’s lead paranormal investigator and an army veteran. Rivera’s death occurred on Sunday during his visit to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was leading the Devils on the Run Tour. As part of the tour, Rivers and other NESPR members were bringing the supposedly haunted Raggedy Ann doll across multiple states.

“He’s for New York, and all that other stuff that happened with him doesn’t matter,” Annie Albarian, 65, a registered Republican and Upper East Side resident who plans to vote for Cuomo in November, said, a reference to his 2021 resignation as governor.

Youth organizers expressed gratitude for Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago alderpersons who listened to young people.

Let’s rank bird bills, from best bill to least-best bill.