LOS ANGELES — California voters are sharply divided over a ballot measure to impose a one-time tax on billionaires to help fund healthcare programs, a proposal already triggering a fierce and expensive political fight as the November election approaches, according to a poll released Friday.

More than half of likely voters oppose a separate ...Read more

CHICAGO — Why does a big-shot trial lawyer want an unpaid gig leading Chicago’s school board?

Victor Henderson, a longtime white-collar civil litigation attorney, points to his time on the board of Urban Prep Academies. The troubled charter school network was on the brink of closure in 2023 amid allegations of financial mismanagement and ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Friday continued to track two tropical waves in the Atlantic with a chance to become the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the leading wave, Invest 92, was about 400 miles east of the Caribbean’s Windward Islands with gusty winds and a ...Read more

The U.S. will soon announce unprecedented economic measures against Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, intensifying the Trump administration’s effort to force Tehran’s capitulation after almost six months of war.

“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been...Read more

Yeiner Mena had only recently finished building a new home with his wife in the remote Colombian city of Quibdo when the strongest earthquake in 50 years reduced it to rubble.

“We lost everything,” Mena, 30, said. “We are alone.”

The challenge facing new President Abelardo de la Espriella is to prove to families like Mena’s that they...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The long-awaited Automated People Mover train at Los Angeles International Airport is expected to transform traffic ahead of the 2028 Olympics. Visitors to the airport have been able to watch the trains in action, but travelers have yet to benefit.

Despite months of test runs and finishing touches near completion, the people ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The letters were hand-delivered in the January cold, slid into mailboxes along Sugar Lake Road by an unknown person who had signed them, “A Concerned Citizen.”

A second data center is in the works for Franklin County, Missouri, the letters said.

“Please do your homework on what these data centers bring to the area,” the ...Read more

Several regions of Russia are facing fuel shortages again after Ukraine resumed almost daily attacks on oil refineries in the country.

The Kaluga region neighboring Moscow will introduce a rationing system for cars from Saturday based on license plates, according to regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha. The Astrakhan region on the Caspian Sea ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff’s request for $32 million in emergency funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to combat California’s growing glassy-winged sharpshooter problem has been rejected.

Glassy-winged sharpshooters were found on grapevines and ornamental plants sold at Costco stores in dozens ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The best-selling body bag on Amazon is just $24.43.

With eight handles, the shiny black sack is capable of holding up to 300 pounds. The item is described as leak-proof, “impervious to blood,” and it can be used to transport goods and carry supplies for hiking. But it’s also helpful for “decomposed body transfer if ...Read more

Democratic lawmakers proposed nearly 250 bills in state capitols this year seeking to limit federal immigration efforts as they sought to push back against what they view as federal government overreach.

In a new report tallying 2026 action, State Futures, a nonprofit coordinating hundreds of Democratic lawmakers across the states, tracked 242 ...Read more

Nigel Farage is returning to Parliament after winning an election designed to turn the page on questions over his personal finances that saw the Reform UK leader go head-to-head against a satirical candidate dressed as a trash can.

Farage got 22,239 votes in the constituency centered on the English resort town of Clacton-on-Sea to retain his ...Read more

President Donald Trump ordered the Navy to return to using steam catapults to launch planes off of aircraft carriers, acting on a longtime complaint despite opposition from many naval officers.

In a presidential memorandum, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to come up with a plan within 60 days on what would be needed to use ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and peace envoy, is planning to travel to Israel next week for talks on the situation in Gaza as Washington continues to push for diplomatic progress on its long-delayed peace plan, according to a U.S. official.

The trip comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Placer County Board of Supervisors urged California lawmakers to quickly address a wage disparity between sheep and goat herders that county officials said threatened prescribed grazing programs used to reduce wildfire risk.

In a letter to the county’s representatives in the state Legislature, board chair and ...Read more

CHICAGO — They sang and they cried and embraced along the concrete steps of the church. They wore black and red, clutched carefully crafted programs and remembered their brother, their uncle, their cousin for his infectious laugh and compassion.

They said goodbye, just like they were supposed to six days ago.

After the funeral services for ...Read more