Two storm systems could affect outdoor plans across the Sunshine State this holiday weekend, with the latter potentially being more disruptive to those with travel plans Sunday or Monday.

While holiday travel is expected to decline this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Florida Highway Patrol is out in force this week on interstates and major highways, focusing on speeders, seat-belt violations and impaired drivers.

Last year, Florida had more than 10,000 traffic crashes during the Thanksgiving travel period, which starts on the Friday before Thanksgiving and continues through the Sunday after the holiday. Those crashes led to 392 serious bodily injuries and 98 deaths.

TALLAHASSEE --- Florida has seen a spike in Medicaid enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the agency responsible for enrolling and disenrolling people in the health-care program is swamped.

Mark Mahoney, a 16-year veteran at the Department of Children and Families and director of revenue management, told state economists last week that processing Medicaid applications during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as applications for other social service programs, has been an enormous undertaking.

An appeals court in Tallahassee this week heard arguments in a mask mandate challenge, after an Alachua County man’s case had been rejected by lower courts.

The attorney for an Alachua man fighting a local mask ordinance, in a test of mask mandates statewide, argued required wearing goes against rights provided by the U.S. and state constitutions.

Singer Cher was in Pakistan on Friday with a message for "the world's loneliest elephant": There is life after love.

Kaavan the elephant has been languishing in poor conditions in Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad since 1985, according to the animal welfare group Four Paws International. He was brought there as a gift from Sri Lanka at 1 year old.

The Trump legal team has suffered another loss in its continuing attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In a scathing opinion, a federal appeals court said Friday that a lower court acted properly when it threw out the Trump campaign's challenge to the certification of the election results in Pennsylvania.

North Korea is taking increasingly harsh measures to stop the coronavirus from entering the country, including executing an official in August who violated anti-virus rules, South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers on Friday.

Updated at 8:21 p.m. ET

A top Iranian scientist believed to be responsible for developing the country's military nuclear program was killed Friday, causing outrage in Iran and raising U.S. concerns over potential retaliation.

Hailed as heroes during the pandemic, essential workers have cared for the elderly in nursing homes and kept food supplies moving from farms to supermarkets. But thousands of these workers are also undocumented immigrants facing this choice to keep their jobs: ride a crowded bus or drive without license.