The stage is now set in Virginia for the most important down-ballot election of 2023 -- a battle for control of the split legislature that will offer an important window into the mood of swing-state voters as next year's presidential race kicks off.

Scorching temperatures meteorologists say were brought on by a heat dome have taxed the Texas power grid and threaten to bring record highs to the state before they are expected to expand to other parts of the U.S. National Weather Service Forecaster Bob Oravec said Monday that the heat dome is expected to reach north to Kansas City and east to the Florida Panhandle and continue at least until the July Fourth holiday

Airbnb has named Ron Klain, former White House Chief of Staff for President Joe Biden, as its chief legal officer

A “fired-up” Max Verstappen sent a warning to the rest of the grid that Red Bull are back on form as he set a searing pace to top the first two practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to a shuddering halt last weekend in Singapore, where the team admitted they did not understand their struggles with the car’s set-up around the street circuit. The 25-year-old was confident of a return to form around the high-speed corner track at Suzuka, where Lewis Hamilton predicted the Red Bull would be “phenomenal”, but all eyes were on the Dutchman who is closing in on a hat-trick of world titles. His response to the struggles of Singapore was immediate and emphatic, finishing 0.626 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz in P1 before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “He dealt with (Singapore) very maturely. “It was a difficult weekend but he raced very hard. It was what it was. He knew at some point we were going to get beaten and he dealt with the situation well. “He has certainly come here pretty fired up as you could see from his outlap in P1 today. “Max knew it was always going to come to an end at some point. That 10th victory meant a lot to him and certainly to the team so I’m glad Singapore wasn’t the 10th in that succession of races. I think he has just shown great leadership and great maturity.” The second session was red-flagged with a little over two minutes remaining when Pierre Gasly crashed heavily into the barriers at Degner Two, bringing a premature end to the session. McLaren had been tipped to be the closest challengers to Red Bull and Verstappen this weekend, with Mercedes’ George Russell even suggesting the British team could be favourites. Lando Norris showed strong pace to finish the day third, albeit 0.464sec off the pace, while Oscar Piastri, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, claimed eighth in the second McLaren. Red Bull will almost certainly clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend at the home race for their engine supplier Honda. But Sergio Perez was over a second off the pace of his team-mate, finishing 11th in P1 and ninth in P2. Fernando Alonso claimed sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon. Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton struggled in the opening session, finishing a lowly 13th and 16th respectively, with chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin admitting the team had work to do on the car setup. Russell claimed fifth in P2 but Hamilton was only 14th, with the seven-time world champion a huge 1.141sec adrift off the pace. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lance Stroll to sit out Singapore Grand Prix after huge crash in qualifying ‘You can forget about that’ – Max Verstappen rules out another win in Singapore Lance Stroll crashes into barrier at 110mph in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying

Five former Memphis police officers involved in the deadly police beating of Tyre Nichols have been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to court filings.

A legal showdown over the derailed plea deal for Hunter Biden is continuing as prosecutors assert that an agreement on a gun charge is dead along with the rest of the deal as the case makes a major shift into a special counsel investigation

Joe Jonas is reportedly preparing to file for separation after his relationship with the actress suffered 'serious problems'

U.S. wireless carrier AT&T said on Friday it would close its flagship store in downtown San Francisco, deepening

Gazing up from K2 Basecamp, Sajid Ali Sadpara sees Earth's second-highest mountain, his father's final resting place, and a blight of litter on the furthest...

Residents, environmentalists and opposition politicians in eastern Hungary are worried that a sprawling battery factory will exacerbate existing environmental problems and hit the country’s precious water supplies

Lex Fridman and Mark Zuckerberg’s conversation used photorealistic avatars in the metaverse, facilitated through Meta’s Quest 3 headsets

From turtle mating to what really turns big cats on, animal sex can be a lot weirder (and funnier) than you probably expected.