Facing growing criticism over military restrictions in disaster zones, Venezuela’s interim government on Thursday defended its decision to militarize the state of La Guaira as the death toll from last week’s earthquakes climbed to 2,595.

The devastating twin earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude that struck north-central Venezuela on June 24...Read more

WASHINGTON — The top U.S. commander for Europe and Africa stepped down on Thursday, following through on a plan that caught military leaders by surprise and sending another signal that the Trump administration wants to scale back its defense commitment to the continent.

Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, who had been seen as one of the US ...Read more

Cut to a seedy alley behind a Chinese restaurant in Rome: A dozen mobsters menace a slight young man who suddenly pulls out a pair of nunchucks. He swings the traditional stick-and-chain weapons and makes quick work of his enemies, who fall one by one, groaning in pain.

The comedic, legendary action scene is from the 1972 film “Way of the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Crews in Boyle Heights continued working Thursday to haul away millions of pounds of rotting food in hopes of returning the fire-stricken cold-storage facility and the surrounding neighborhood to normal.

But a block away, a group of about 50 residents and community organizers — who endured days of dark smoke and, now, putrid ...Read more

Hundreds of firefighters battling five wildfires across Colorado may see extreme fire behavior in the coming days, with state leaders bracing for a weather forecast of near-zero humidity, triple digit temperatures and strong winds.

“If you care about our state, if you care about our firefighters, do not use fireworks or other types of flames ...Read more

NEW YORK — They say they did it all for love — but prosecutors say they recklessly put themselves and others in extreme danger.

Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan “Vanya” Kuznetsov, 32, were arraigned Thursday morning for scaling the spire on top of the Empire State Building for a marriage proposal a day earlier.

Appearing in Manhattan ...Read more

NEW YORK — Temperatures in Central Park reached 100 degrees for the first time in nearly 14 years.

The National Weather Service New York reported at 1:51 p.m. that the mercury hit triple digits for the first time since July 18, 2012. And it felt even hotter, with a heat index of up to 106 degrees.

Emergency Management officials reminded New ...Read more

TUMWATER, Wash. — Opponents of Washington’s new high-earners income tax submitted more than 500,000 signatures for an initiative to kill the tax Thursday, setting up an epic brawl for November over the state’s tax system, government funding and business climate.

Initiative 645 would repeal the recently passed 9.9% tax on adjusted gross ...Read more

No matter who works the grill this July 4 weekend, you or your Uncle Gus, check your grill brushes so no one winds up with metal in their meat.

On Thursday, Conair recalled 1,719,995 brushes sold under the Cuisinart brand because, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall notice explained: “Small metal wire bristles can detach from ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Hawthorne man on Thursday pleaded guilty to federal charges of sending a fake ransom note to the family of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, whose mother, Nancy, was abducted in a mystery that captured national attention.

Derrick Callella entered the plea in Arizona to charges of transmitting a demand for ransom in ...Read more

A huge swath of public land in California, including portions of the San Joaquin Valley, may one day be dotted with oil and gas equipment under a plan by the federal government to expand production.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced in June its decision to make available more than 1 million acres of public and private land, with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — While police and fire agencies across Southern California continue to gear up for what likely will be a busy Fourth of July holiday with heightened calls for service, law enforcement has been working for months to find illegal fireworks and take them off the streets before they cause serious injuries or potentially start ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting that administration officials disclose records of any federal agency coordination on a settlement agreement with the IRS that shields President Donald Trump and family members from federal tax audits.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) seeks copies of “all memoranda ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Even before Yosemite entered into its peak summer season, the national park was seeing a massive increase in visitors; as much as 45% in March, according to data from the National Park Service.

By the time May rolled around the park was in a state of gridlock, with hours-long lines of cars at its entrance and parking lots ...Read more

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday said he’s working to ensure Illinois has help from top experts to defend its assault weapons ban, after the U.S. Supreme Court indicated this week it would hear arguments over similar bans in Cook County and in Connecticut.

“I think they will be attacking all of the assault weapons bans with this case that they�...Read more

DENVER — A federal appeals court in Denver has directed the Trump administration to provide bail hearings for many immigrant detainees in a ruling that will have major implications for hundreds of people held indefinitely in Colorado and across the West.

The unanimous opinion from the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals restores a...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County reported its first human infection of West Nile virus this year, county health officials announced Thursday.

According to Sacramento County Public Health officials, a woman in her 60s tested positive for the disease and is still recovering. The announcement marks the second case of the mosquito-...Read more