SAN JOSE — After four years, dozens of criminal charges and a superseding indictment, a trial is fully underway for a Los Gatos woman notorious for allegations she hosted boozy and raucous teen parties for her son and his friends, and goaded them into performing inebriated and nonconsensual sex acts with girls who attended.

Shannon O’Connor...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Thursday named Sherif Soliman as his budget director, one of the most consequential roles at City Hall, as his administration seeks to follow through on its ambitious affordability agenda.

Soliman, a local government vet who previously served in the administration of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, will ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Babblejit “Bubbly” Kaur and her husband, Amarjit Singh, celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary in Long Beach in late November. The pair cradled a mint-frosted cake in their hands and beamed as their daughter, Joti, snapped pictures.

The couple endured a lot in those years, more than 30 of which have been spent in the U.S....Read more

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday fast-tracking a push to ease some restrictions on marijuana in one of the most significant shifts in federal drug policy in decades.

The move aims to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug within a few months and opens new avenues for medical research, inching closer to the moves ...Read more

MIAMI — A judge on Thursday cleared the way for Miami Dade College to give up prime downtown land to be used for Donald Trump’s presidential library, tossing a case that alleged the college broke state law when trustees first voted to give away the Biscayne Boulevard parking lot to the state.

The decision clears the way for Trump’s ...Read more

The Powerball jackpot has soared to an estimated $1.5 billion for Saturday night's drawing, the fifth largest in game history and the seventh highest among all lottery jackpots in the United States.

The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $686.5 million, according to a Powerball news release.

No ticket matched all six numbers drawn ...Read more

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to change the name of the world-famous complex to the Trump-Kennedy Center.

“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Sandwiched between Bel-Air and Santa Monica, the tony Los Angeles neigborhood of Brentwood has long been home to more than its fair share of industry captains, actors, directors, musicians, media moguls and professional athletes.

But despite its tall hedges, multimillion-dollar homes and marquee names, residents say Brentwood ...Read more

For the millions of Americans who buy Affordable Care Act insurance, there’s still time left to enroll for 2026. But premium increases and the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies have led to larger-than-expected costs.

Concerned shoppers, wondering if there’s anything they can do, are consulting insurance brokers or talking to ...Read more

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to change the name of the world-famous complex to the Trump-Kennedy Center.

“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — An 18-year-old Guyanese U.S. citizen had just finished a quick stop at a gas station near Hamline University in St. Paul when federal immigration agents approached him and demanded identification. His ID had expired, and the encounter quickly escalated into a tense standoff over proof of citizenship.

According to the student’s...Read more

NEW YORK — Marathon proceedings in Luigi Mangione’s state homicide case came to a close Thursday, as Manhattan prosecutors and lawyers for the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson rested without calling any more witnesses.

The parties won’t learn for some time which positions prevailed, with state Supreme Court Justice ...Read more

Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch citizen who has admitted to killing American tourist Natalee Holloway in 2005, appears to have attempted to end his own life in a Peruvian prison.

The 38-year-old murderer was found in critical condition with a sheet tied around his neck Saturday morning, according to local outlet La Republica. He’s serving a 28...Read more

DENVER — Colorado’s program for issuing commercial driver licenses to immigrants with temporary legal status has been shut down for nearly two months and remains indefinitely suspended as state officials conduct an audit in response to a federal government crackdown on illegal trucking.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has ordered ...Read more

NEW YORK — Ghislaine Maxwell on Wednesday asked a federal court to throw out her sex trafficking conviction and 20-year prison sentence for aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual exploitation of teenage girls.

In a habeas petition filed in Manhattan Federal Court, the former socialite — representing herself — argued new information arising...Read more

Underlying U.S. inflation rose in November at the slowest annual pace since early 2021, an unexpected improvement in a report muddled by the government shutdown.

The core consumer price index, which excludes the often-volatile food and energy categories, increased 2.6% in November from a year ago, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data ...Read more