A Boston city councilwoman agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to federal public corruption charges after allegedly using an inflated bonus to pay a relative in a kickback scheme.

Democrat Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested by FBI agents in December on six felony charges, including five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning federally funded programs related to the alleged kickback scheme that earned her thousands of taxpayer dollars.

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, although without the strings attached that had been sought by the Justice Department.

U.S. District Judge Dale Ho dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be refiled at a later date. The Justice Department request for a dismissal without prejudice could have left the Democratic mayor beholden to President Donald Trump's administration, which considers Adams an ally in its immigration crackdown. 

New York state prisons will release some inmates early because the system does not have enough corrections officers, weeks after the state fired more than 2,000 guards who went on strike over poor working conditions.

In a memo Monday, corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello directed prison leaders to begin identifying inmates who were convicted of minor crimes and already set for release within 15 to 110 days to be considered for an early discharge.

US prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Tuesday that she had directed federal prosecutors to seek the penalty for the "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination".

A South Carolina death row inmate on Friday chose execution by firing squad, just five weeks after the state carried out its first death by bullets.

Mikal Mahdi, who pleaded guilty to murder for killing a police officer in 2004, is scheduled to be executed April 11.

The U.S. has arrested a top MS-13 gang member, according to a post on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"I'm proud to announce that early this morning our brave law enforcement officers conducted a successful operation that captured a top MS-13 national leader," Bondi posted. "DOJ will not rest until we make America safe again."

Across the United States, recent political protests have taken the form of violence against the car company Tesla – whose CEO Elon Musk is advising the Trump administration in its efforts to radically downsize the federal government.

People have vandalized Tesla charging stations and dealerships, fired bullets into one Oregon showroom, and set cars ablaze this week at a Las Vegas Tesla collision center.

The nation’s political battleground shifted to the stock market this week, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged people to buy shares of Tesla Inc. and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocked the electric-vehicle giant’s share-price drop.

“Buy Tesla — it’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again,” Lutnick said on Jesse Watters’s show on Fox News late Wednesday.

When a White House adviser in the first Trump administration told TV viewers to “Go buy Ivanka stuff,” top government lawyers sprang into action, telling her she had violated ethics rules and warning her not to do it again.

Government ethics experts have varying opinions on whether the 2017 criticism of Kellyanne Conway went far enough, but many agree such violations now might not even draw an official rebuke.