The Trump administration has announced a new policy that requires most people seeking permanent residency in the U.S. return to their home countries to apply, one of the biggest blows President Donald Trump has dealt to legal migration since returning to the White House.

In a memo issued Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Even before Memorial Day Weekend marked the beginning of Yosemite National Park’s high season, many visitors experienced hours-long wait times at entrance gates that led to jam-packed parking lots before mid-morning.

Known for its soaring views and rushing waterfalls nestled in the Sierra Nevada, California’s most visited...Read more

A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the human smuggling case against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant, after concluding the government had brought the case as retaliation for his legal fight against being deported.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. said in his 32-page ruling Friday the evidence showed the government ...Read more

WASHINGTON — For much of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republican senators have largely stayed in line, wary of the consequences of defying a president with a history of targeting those who cross him. This week, that dynamic noticeably shifted.

Senate Republicans blocked two of Trump’s legislative priorities, angered by the push ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — An attempt to cap debate early on redrawing the state’s congressional maps for 2026 failed in the South Carolina Senate, making it more challenging for the General Assembly to pass the redistricting bill before in-person early voting begins.

GOP state Sen. Larry Grooms asked to suspend typical Senate rules in order to limit...Read more

NEW YORK — Lawyers for Palestinian Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil on Friday said they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Trump administration from deporting him after a federal appeals court declined to revisit the issue.

In a split 6-5 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Khalil’s request for a ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Former President Joe Biden will keynote the Maryland Democratic Party’s 2026 Fight Back & Win Gala, the party announced Friday.

“It’s going to be a special night, and I’m honored to spend it with the folks who are fighting to move Maryland — and this country — forward,” Biden said in a statement.

The June 27 event ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from her post as director of national intelligence because of her husband’s cancer battle, President Donald Trump announced Friday.

The commander in chief said Principal Deputy DNI Aaron Lukas would take over after Gabbard departs on June 30. Trump described Lukas as “highly ...Read more

DENVER — A district attorney on Colorado’s Western Slope dismissed more than 30 criminal cases and is reviewing nearly 100 more because of newly discovered credibility issues with the deputy who investigated the alleged crimes.

Sixth Judicial District Attorney Sean Murray is reviewing every case in which Jermal Ball is or was a witness, the...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe on Friday moved to the Aug. 4 ballot a pair of proposals that seek to replace the income tax with expanded sales taxes and overhaul the state’s form of direct democracy, a major decision that could determine the measures’ chances of passage.

The Republican governor made the announcement in a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose anti-war views spurred tension with the White House, said she was resigning from the post to help her husband confront a bone-cancer diagnosis.

Gabbard notified President Donald Trump during an Oval Office meeting of her decision and her last day is expected to be June 30, ...Read more

SeaWorld is giving the people what they want: sharks and beer.

Starting this summer, SeaWorld is reopening the immersive Shark Encounter exhibit and offering $1 beer, seltzer and IPAs, among other new promotions, aiming to grow attendance.

Few San Diegans can remember the heyday when, under the leadership of Anheuser-Busch Co., guests — 21 ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The parents of Caleb Vazquez, one of two teens who killed three people in a hate-fueled rampage at San Diego’s largest mosque this week, broke their silence Thursday, issuing a statement mourning the victims and condemning their son’s actions as those of “an immensely lost, troubled, and misguided soul.”

“We want to ...Read more

CHICAGO — The incident on a sunny September morning outside the ICE processing facility in Broadview may have never been remembered, lost in all the turmoil surrounding Operation Midway Blitz and the resistance that grew out of it.

Instead, federal prosecutors went to a grand jury and secured felony conspiracy charges against six protesters ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Parking at one of California’s most iconic stops on Highway 1 could be closed after a vote by the board of supervisors in Monterey County.

The board this week voted to move forward with a plan to restrict parking around Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, which has seen an uptick in traffic following the long-awaited reopening of an ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters came to the aid of a family whose home was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire this week in Simi Valley.

A Los Angeles Fire Department crew sifted through rubble on the property and found a wedding ring, along with other precious belongings, authorities said in a news release. A video shared on social media showed ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The two hours before Monday’s deadly attack at the San Diego Islamic Center were marked by a series of frantic calls by the mother of one of the attackers as short-staffed police struggled to assess the seriousness of the threat and scramble officers to find the gunmen.

The mother of 17-year-old Cain Lee Clark first called ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — In recent days, the U.S. Navy stationed an aircraft carrier off the coast of Cuba, the White House expanded sanctions on Havana's leaders and federal prosecutors charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters, said what to many is becoming obvious: that the ...Read more

MIAMI — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime personal assistant testified Thursday that she was sexually assaulted by former Miami Beach mayor and 2018 Florida gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine, the Miami Herald has confirmed.

Sarah Kellen, a key member of Epstein’s inner circle, told the House Oversight Committee she was assaulted by Levine, ...Read more