More Democratic presidential candidates than were on a recent debate stage officially entered the March 17 Illinois primary race today, as filing for the office opened at the State Board of Elections.

  WASHINGTON - Iran or its proxy forces may be planning further strikes on American interests in the Middle East, and the U.S. is prepared to take preemptive military action if it gets sufficient warning, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday.

BELVIDERE - Navy veteran Rachel Schultz rang in the new year with a new lease on life thanks to a stranger's gift.

The first day of legal sales of recreational marijuana in Illinois went "extraordinarily well," according to one industry representative, with total sales on Jan. 1 of nearly $3.2 million.  "I just I cannot express the gratitude from the dispensary operators to our customers about their courtesy and civility and patience.

MONSEY, N.Y. - For years, ultra-Orthodox Jewish families priced out of increasingly expensive Brooklyn neighborhoods have been turning to the suburbs, where they have taken advantage of open space and cheaper housing to establish modern-day versions of the European shtetls where their ancestors lived for centuries before the Holocaust.

PERTH, Australia - Prime Minister Scott Morrison was confronted by angry residents who cursed and insulted him Thursday as he visited a wildfire-ravaged corner of the country.

NEW YORK - Lulu Wang, Lorene Scafaria, Melina Matsoukas and Greta Gerwig led Hollywood to a record year for women in the director's chair.

BEIRUT - Interpol issued a wanted notice Thursday for former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon rather than face trial on financial misconduct charges in a dramatic escape that has confounded and embarrassed authorities.

WASHINGTON - Bernie Sanders announced Thursday that his campaign had raised an impressive $34.5 million in the final three months of last year, solidifying him as the quarter's top fundraiser in the crowded Democratic presidential field.