Iran maintained attacks on energy assets around the Middle East even after U.S. President Donald Trump called for restraint, with strikes on key oil and gas infrastructure triggering a fresh surge in prices.

Tehran’s response to Israel’s assault on the giant South Pars gas field “is underway and not yet complete,” the semi-official ...Read more

The sex abuse allegations against famed labor leader Cesar Chavez has prompted immediate calls that his name be stripped from schools, parks, streets, buildings and holidays.

The claims immediately became a political issue across California and other states, where Chavez has been memorialized in many ways since his death in 1993.

Gov. Gavin ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to announce a new Office of Community Safety on Thursday, a step towards fulfilling his campaign pledge to install a new city department to handle responses to mental health crises rather than leave that largely to the NYPD.

The mayor is slated to announce Renita Francois, a former city official under ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has asked for an additional $200 billion from Congress to pay for the war against Iran, a person familiar with the matter said, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued that the campaign was ahead of schedule and disputed that the U.S. was getting embroiled in a quagmire.

The person, who asked not to be identified ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court broke new ground this month when it ruled the Constitution forbids school policies in California that prevent parents from being told about their child's gender transition at school.

But the reach of this new parental right remains unclear.

Does it mean all parents have a right to be informed if their child is ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new poll shows California voters are sharply divided over two brewing statewide ballot measures stirring up the nation's partisan and economic divides: a one-time tax on billionaires to pay for mostly healthcare and a voter ID mandate that includes citizenship verification.

The survey conducted by UC Berkeley's ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Almost a decade ago, a Simi Valley-based medical supply company began providing the California Department of Justice urinalysis tests for law enforcement agencies around the state that didn't have local forensic labs to test for alcohol.

For most of that time, the test kits Andwin Scientific supplied were faulty, potentially ...Read more

There’s no doubt that raising sales taxes in order to lower property taxes will shift more of South Dakota’s tax burden to lower-income residents, Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff said.

“It is regressive,” he said. “There’s no denying that.”

But Mehlhaff said the state’s modest sales tax increase will bring a much...Read more

Sen. Markwayne Mullin won a committee vote to become the new Homeland Security secretary by a narrow 8-7 margin with a boost from Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.

The nomination of Mullin, who has a bitter feud with Republican colleague Sen. Rand Paul, advanced to the full Senate after Fetterman broke ranks with the rest of his party to advance ...Read more

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday presented several high-powered rifles tied to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, along with a ballistics expert who testified that high-velocity bullets he tested were fired from one of the guns.

“These three ammunition components were all identified as having been fired from the same ...Read more

Sheldon Ekirch is used to being disappointed by her health insurance company.

That’s why Ekirch, 31, of Henrico, Virginia, was stunned when she learned Anthem would finally have to pay for life-changing medical treatment.

For two years, she had battled the company to cover blood plasma infusions called intravenous immunoglobulin, or IVIG. ...Read more

It’s hundreds of miles from the AI boom and tech billionaire class of Silicon Valley.

It maintains an image, at least in some minds, as a beachside mecca for old money, big yachts and conspicuous consumption.

And now, a new Times analysis of the highest home values in California shows Newport Beach perched at the top. Among California’s ...Read more

When Mike McKee thinks about saving money for the future, he has a few priorities. Maxing out his retirement is one. Building up his kid’s college fund is another.

Opening up a health savings account? Not so much, even though he qualifies because of his high-deductible health plan.

“I’m so frustrated with the system that has anything to ...Read more

In a Sierra Nevada canyon all but incinerated in the 2021 KNP Complex fire, a new forest of California's beloved giant sequoias is now growing. Only not yet one that is actually giant.

The seedlings and saplings are mostly knee-high to chest-high and mixed with thickets of ceanothus and other post-fire brush growing amid the true giants that ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Judges in one of the nation's largest court systems have started using artificial intelligence, testing a tool that can rapidly distill hundreds of pages of legal motions and use samples of a jurist's writing style to help reach conclusions and even draft tentative rulings.

The program, which launched last month, gave half a ...Read more

CHICAGO — A recent pledge by President Donald Trump to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp comes as his administration continues to withhold federal funding for a key Illinois project designed to stop the spread into Lake Michigan.

Illinois officials say they welcome the president’s public support but are urging immediate action. ...Read more