A Florida trading company is in advanced talks to send Cuba the biggest cargo of U.S. fuel since the Eisenhower administration as the island nation contends with an acute energy crisis.

Vanguard Energy already was sending small shipments of gasoline and diesel to Cuba and now is gearing up to expand those volumes, company President Matthew ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Challengers to the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” asked a judge Tuesday to let them seek evidence the Justice Department truly is abandoning the program.

The filing came in response to arguments the Trump administration made in filings last week that the lawsuit is unnecessary because the fund...Read more

A month away from its closure, onetime gambling oasis Primm, Nevada, located along the state border with Southern California, has a new lease on life.

The Primm family, owners of the land that includes three casino resorts and other businesses along the 15 Freeway, announced Tuesday a partnership intended to save the struggling state-line strip...Read more

NEW YORK — A majority of the City Council thinks New York City public schools need to slow down the rollout of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Twenty-nine Council members — out of a total 51 — penned a letter Tuesday asking Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his schools chancellor, Kamar Samuels, to “immediately pause” the use of ...Read more

The lawyer for a Porterville man accused of conspiring with a terrorist group described his client Tuesday as a student with plans to transfer to Fresno State and become a civil engineer.

“He doesn’t even have a criminal record,” said Peter Jones, who appeared with defendant Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, in court.

Shamsaldeen was arrested by ...Read more

WASHINGTON — American forces carried out “self-defense strikes” against Iran on Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump blamed Tehran for shooting down an American military helicopter off the coast of Oman.

“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” U.S. Central Command said in a brief statement on...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Ana Cruz was 13 when she arrived to the U.S. from Mexico with her family. But after 23 years of living in Los Angeles, raising two children and working as a community organizer, she has never been able to vote in any elections because of her status as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, which doesn't offer a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The financial health of Social Security and Medicare has worsened over the past year, with the programs’ trust funds expected to run dry three months sooner than anticipated, according to reports issued Tuesday by the programs’ trustees.

Without any changes, the main Social Security trust fund would be depleted in the fourth ...Read more

CHICAGO — Aldermen advanced a proposed ordinance Tuesday that stiffens penalties for marijuana-related offenses near Chicago schools and parks — and could include sharp punishments for smoking cannabis in public.

The measure would expand the city’s long-standing “safe passage” laws that already place steep minimum fines and jail ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Trump administration is investigating the City University of New York over allegations of racial discrimination, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The agency’s civil rights arm said it received reports alleging CUNY’s Black Male Initiative gives preference to some students over others on the basis of race.

“...Read more

Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his parents — acclaimed director Rob Reiner and film producer Michele Reiner — is asking a Los Angeles court to release funds from a trust his parents established for him, to pay for his legal defense.

A petition filed by Reiner’s civil attorneys in a Los Angeles County court on Monday says that ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military launched fresh airstrikes against Iran hours after President Donald Trump vowed to retaliate for the shooting down of a U.S. Army helicopter.

Forces under U.S. Central Command “began launching self-defense strikes against Iran, at 5 pm ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday�...Read more

The National Mall is being transformed for almost daily events in the weeks leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, with unprecedented security and a request that those planning to participate in some of the main activities register in advance.

Events kick off Friday evening near the Capitol with a watch party for the U.S. men’...Read more

CHICAGO — Property tax bills will be roughly two months late this year, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Tuesday, confirming the county’s long-running tax debacle will continue to stress homeowners and the public agencies like schools and libraries that rely on the money.

In an attempt to head off further uproar from ...Read more

The Cherry Hill school board made national headlines when it became the first New Jersey school system to require students to take a course on African American history to graduate.

Five years later, the board debated whether the course should be dropped as a requirement in light of budget problems in South Jersey’s largest school system.

And...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the Philadelphia Police Department has been improperly revoking people’s gun permits, officials announced Tuesday — a remarkable development that puts one of the nation’s largest police forces under the scrutiny of federal law enforcement.

In a letter ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — He called himself “the Beast,” and he killed six people in six months.

Several of his victims were retail store workers who gave up cash or goods during robberies, and he decided to shoot them anyway. One of the victims was his mother — he shot her at her office because he wanted the payout from her life insurance policy....Read more