LOS ANGELES — A fire ignited in the Covington Flats area of Joshua Tree National Park on Friday afternoon and burned 165 acres in a region that experts say is critical to the species' future in a warming climate.

Meg Rockwell, a spokesperson for the national park, said it wasn't immediately clear if any Joshua trees in the area had burned, ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Louisville woman who sued Kentucky late last year in an effort to overturn the state’s near-total abortion ban withdrew her lawsuit on Friday without explanation.

Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, the plaintiff — referred to with the pseudonym Mary Poe — was roughly seven weeks pregnant ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Scott Peterson’s hope that the California Court of Appeal would overturn his murder conviction were dashed this week when it instead directed his lawyers to return their case to the same Redwood City courthouse where he has had no luck over the past two decades convincing a jury or a string of judges he is innocent of ...Read more

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Three transgender senior cadets earned their diplomas from the Air Force Academy on Thursday, but they did not commission as officers with their peers.

Hunter Marquez is among the three, earning degrees in aeronautical engineering and applied math and meeting the Air Force’s physical standards for men.

The cadets ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Donald Trump-Elon Musk partnership ended much like it began, with plenty of mutual flattery and a little awkwardness — capped off by a surreal Oval Office send-off.

The president bid farewell to the tech billionaire on Friday with an hourlong media appearance to mark the end of his service as the head of the Department of ...Read more

CHICAGO — Calling former House Speaker Michael Madigan “steeped in corruption,” federal prosecutors on Friday asked for a whopping 12 1/2-year prison term and $1.5 million fine for Madigan’s conviction nearly four months ago on bribery and other conspiracy charges.

“The crimes charged and proven at trial demonstrate that Madigan ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom's office sent a letter on Friday requesting that the Trump administration remove California from its list of sanctuary jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law.

The Department of Homeland Security issued the list this week in accordance with an executive order President ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has led an effort in the Trump administration to cut jobs and programs across the federal government, stood by President Donald Trump’s side on Friday in the Oval Office, officially for the last time as a government employee. But neither man was clear whether Musk’s active hand in ...Read more

President Donald Trump on Friday said he’d consider pardoning embattled rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who’s currently on trial in the same Manhattan courtroom where Trump was found liable for sex abuse in 2023.

“Nobody’s asked, but I know people are thinking about it,” he told a Fox News reporter in the Oval Office.

Combs faces ...Read more

Russia said it’s sending a delegation to Istanbul on Monday for a second round of talks with Ukraine amid wrangling over Kyiv’s insistence that Moscow outline its peace proposals before any meeting.

The warring sides have tussled over the parameters of negotiations after Turkey hosted the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since...Read more

Entrepreneur and mega MAGA donor Elon Musk allegedly used mind-altering drugs on a frequent basis while campaigning for President Donald Trump in 2024, according to a detailed report.

The conspiracy theory-peddling billionaire, who spent nearly $300 million to put back Trump in power — often garnering headlines of his own on the campaign ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk said he will continue to advise President Donald Trump even after stepping away from the Department of Government Efficiency effort he has spearheaded.

“I expect to remain a friend and an adviser, and hopefully, if there’s anything the president wants me to do, I’m at the president’s service,” Musk said ...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is accused in a new lawsuit of violating state law after allegedly omitting data from the state’s annual vehicle stops report that shows whether minority drivers were stopped by police more frequently than white drivers.

The lawsuit, filed this week by the Missouri NAACP, also ...Read more

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is firing Kim Sajet, the longtime director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, for being "a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI."

The announcement, made on Truth Social, comes as Trump pushes to remake some of the highest profile national arts institutions so they ...Read more

Minnesota colleges and universities draw nearly 15,000 international students, who bring an estimated $488 million to the state — critical revenue schools could lose if fewer international students enroll next fall after major changes by the Trump administration.

That would also reshape the makeup of campuses. College officials say ...Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday cut off a lifeline to more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba and three other countries, as the justices overturned a federal judge’s order that halted the Trump administration’s plan to revoke their humanitarian parole.

The court granted the administration’s emergency request to lift the judge’s ...Read more