Two Guyana businessmen involved in a lucrative construction deal with Exxon Mobil face a U.S. investigation into suspicions of drug trafficking and other crimes. Now they may face U.S. sanctions.

In January, a 23-year-old woman sat in Phoenix Municipal Court listening to a prosecutor lay out the evidence against her. On the night of her arrest, she was scantily dressed, the prosecutor told the judge. She also had condoms in her purse and got into a car with a man. In Phoenix, that was enough to charge her with a crime. “Given the way the defendant was dressed, as well as a statement as to a date, and her getting in the vehicle with this witness — there is evidence of manifesting prostitution," a prosecutor told Municipal Court Judge Alex Navidad. Or, more specifically, “manifesting an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution.” An obscure city ordinance in Phoenix makes this act a crime with a mandatory sentence of at least 15 days in jail. The woman, whose name Phoenix New Times is withholding to protect her privacy, is one of more than 450 people in Phoenix who have been charged with manifestation of prostitution over the past eight years. The ordinance, which has been called unconstitutional by the ACLU of Arizona, allows the act of flagging down a car or wearing provocative clothing to be used as grounds to cite someone. In 2014, the city’s prosecution of Monica Jones under the ordinance drew national outcry. Civil rights organizations condemned the arrest of Jones, a transgender activist and social work student. Even celebrities spoke out against the city’s use of the law. But Phoenix has not stopped using the ordinance, according to data obtained by New Times.

A suspect in custody in the Gilgo Beach murders, a case that captured national attention and confounded investigators on Long Island for more than a decade, was identified Friday as Rex Heuermann, sources said. He was expected to be arraigned Friday after his arrest Thursday night in Manhattan, said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison. "We anticipate an indictment later on this afternoon," said Harrison, whose agency and the Suffolk County district attorney are leading the investigation. Heuermann is a New York City-based architect who lives in Massapequa, which is in neighboring Nassau County.

Before screaming “Fire in the hole!” and detonating a cache of confiscated fireworks on a residential street two years ago, Los Angeles police Det. Damien Levesque repeatedly walked away from critical discussions about the safety of the operation. He was the supervisor on the scene, yet he brushed off a warning from a senior bomb technician that too many fireworks were being discharged at the same time, according to the Los Angeles Police Department inspector general’s report which referred to Levesque only as “Supervising Detective A”. The resulting blast destroyed much of the surrounding South L.A. neighborhood and displaced dozens of people. Levesque was later moved out of the bomb squad — reassigned but not fired. Despite repeated demands from residents who lost their homes to the blast, Levesque’s name and formal discipline in the matter had largely remained veiled, thanks to the LAPD’s secretive disciplinary system and its refusal to discuss personnel matters. Other members of the LAPD who were involved in the disaster have also remained anonymous, their discipline under seal. In the inspector general’s report, the bomb squad personnel on scene were referred to only by letter designations. However, through investigative records, court documents and interviews, The Times was able to determine their names and how the LAPD dealt with some of the officers involved. The Times corroborated the identity of each bomb tech with at least two sources close to the department.

Woody Guthrie was born 111 years ago today. At the heart of his music and activism was a commitment to socialism, a condemnation of capitalism, and a belief that our society could help rather than hurt average people.

Billionaire Ronald Lauder met with the South Carolina senator. Others in the check-writing class are also showing interest.

Apartment construction has reached a 50-year high, but the amount of units affordable to the lowest income groups has decreased nationwide.

For the second time in a week, the Los Angeles sheriff’s department is facing scrutiny over a brutal force incident, this time after a deputy was caught on camera punching a mother twice in the face as she held her newborn baby. The LA county sheriff, Robert Luna, on Wednesday released footage of the July 2022 incident in Palmdale, north-east of the city of Los Angeles.

A viral TikTok sees a Swift fan playing the US artist's new record, only for a Cabaret Voltaire track to play instead.

An investigation by THE CITY has unearthed multiple fraud and forgery allegations against Elliot and Joseph Ambalo and their partner Etai Vardi who target unsuspecting homeowners and unprotected tenants in Black and Latino neighborhoods.

Riikka Purra says she will not resign after being linked to racial slurs and threats of violence made in 2008

'So knock on wood, we won't have a big storm this summer.'

Thailand's Pita Limjaroenrat vowed on Thursday not to quit in his quest to become prime minister, after suffering defeat in a parliamentary vote fraught by abstentions and no-shows as conservative forces closed ranks to keep him at bay. The leader of the progressive Move Forward Party, the surprise winners of the May 14 election, was unopposed in the showdown in the bicameral parliament, but fell 51 votes short of the top job after being thwarted by a Senate appointed by the royalist military after a 2014 coup. Another vote is expected next week, which 42-year-old Pita can contest if nominated again by his eight-party alliance. To win he needs the votes of more than half of parliament's 749 members.

“Fueled by hubris and, perhaps, desperation, Neff…stood at the window and pleaded his case for making the huge wager to the book’s staff, the sources say. He indicated that he had inside information on the game—and he did, in the palm of his hand.” (Come on, you have to let me place this bet! I have inside information on the game!)

Lawsuit alleges Michael Reinoehl had no “opportunity to surrender” before being gunned down

Rachelle Williams was sick of delivering mail in Indiana winters, so in 2019, she put in for a transfer to Arizona and joined the flood of newcomers who have made Phoenix one of the country’s fastest-growing cities. She was questioning her move this week as the temperature hit 110 degrees for an 11th straight day on Monday, with no end in sight. (On Wednesday, the temperature was heading toward 110 degrees for a 13th straight day, with even hotter temperatures forecast for the weekend). Ms. Williams wore long sleeves, black gloves and a broad-brimmed visor with flaps covering her neck to deflect the sun as she walked her route. But no matter how much water or electrolyte solution she drank, her legs tingled and her head spun. “I don’t even know how I do it,” Ms. Williams, 35, said. Summers in Phoenix are now a brutal endurance match. As the climate warms, forecasters say that dangerous levels of heat crank up earlier in the year, last longer — often well past Halloween — and lock America’s hottest big city in a sweltering straitjacket. In triple-digit heat, monkey bars singe children’s hands, water bottles warp and seatbelts feel like hot irons. Devoted runners strap on headlamps to go jogging at 4 a.m., when it is still only 90 degrees, come home drenched in sweat and promptly roll down the sun shutters. Neighborhoods feel like ghost towns at midday, with rumbling rooftop air-conditioners offering the only sign of life.

State wildlife biologists say a beaver attack is very rare.

The October 2021 leaks of Jon Gruden's toxic emails triggered a series of events that forced Dan Snyder to sell the Commanders. Sources interviewed by ESPN connect the leaks to Snyder, but they also say a larger cast of people might have been involved.

The mock tombstone displayed in the East Precinct has outraged the mother of the young man killed by Seattle police in 2017.

A colleague recently suggested to me that we might be experiencing a hot Zuck summer, a phrase that caused me to briefly lose consciousness.