CASTANER, Puerto Rico -- Helicopters from the power company buzz across the skies of this picturesque valley, ferrying electrical poles on long wires to workers standing on steep hillsides.

The people of Castaner, an isolated village in Puerto Rico's central mountains, watch warily. Crews have come and gone, and people living along the mountain...Read more

On the eve of the anniversary of Cuban patriot Jose Marti's birth, Raul Castro, flanked by members of the revolutionary old guard and a much younger man who hadn't even been born at the time of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, led a torchlight parade from the University of Havana.

While the younger man, Miguel Diaz-Canel, stepped briskly along during...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Maile Pearl Bowlsbey made Senate history Thursday, becoming the first newborn allowed on the Senate floor.

Maile Pearl, the daughter of Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, was born just last week and came to the Senate floor the day after the Senate changed its antiquated rules to allow senators to bring in children under ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told President Donald Trump last week that he isn't a target of any part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Rosenstein, who brought up the Mueller probe himself, offered the assurance during a meeting with Trump at the White ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday they want to act on a bill to protect special counsel Robert S. Mueller III -- even if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell essentially killed it by saying it won't make it to the floor.

They then spoke to the natural follow-up question: Why bother?

"I answered this question I'll...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A Disney trip for 6,500 high school students was thrown into turmoil Wednesday when a trailer loaded with Disney California Adventure tickets was stolen from a Central Valley parking lot, authorities say.

The trailer was set to travel from the office of the California Future Farmers of America Foundation, in Galt, to Anaheim, ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump, trying to avoid an embarrassing defeat for his choice for secretary of state, has asked Republican critic Rand Paul to meet with Mike Pompeo to persuade the Kentucky senator to vote yes.

Trump called Paul Wednesday to urge him to meet with Pompeo, now the CIA director, in the hopes he might change his mind....Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The awkward dance between California Gov. Jerry Brown and the federal government over the National Guard jerked back toward discord on Thursday, when President Donald Trump said he would refuse to pay for a new deployment of troops -- just hours after his administration said otherwise.

Trump called Brown's decision to approve 400...Read more

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Former presidential candidate and Florida governor Jeb Bush opened his remarks to an audience of about 800 people Wednesday talking about his mother, Barbara, who died on Tuesday."

"I appreciate everybody's prayers and their condolences," Bush said. "If she were here, she'd say, 'Thank God, you made it,' because she would ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. -- All options are on the table in dealing with the Fresno State professor who called Barbara Bush "an amazing racist" shortly after the former first lady died, university president Joseph Castro said Wednesday.

"A professor with tenure does not have blanket protection to say and do what they wish," he said. "We are all held ...Read more

A felony invasion of privacy case against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will continue on despite his attorneys' attempts to have it thrown out, a St. Louis judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Rex Burlison said in court that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner had committed "sanctionable" rules violations and he found it "troubling" prosecutors had ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A black Charlotte City Council member who ignited a national backlash by questioning who was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks says she will not resign and is suggesting the criticism of her has had "racial overtones."

Critics were outraged at an April 16 post on council member LaWana Mayfield's Facebook page, in which she ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Outside the 4 Star Quick Pantry, a new sign is proudly displayed: "We sold a winning ticket!"

Inside, scratch-off lottery tickets have been selling at a fast clip, particularly the $5 Set for Life ticket that earlier this month made a customer a millionaire.

"People are buying a lot of tickets," said Neeraj Khatri, owner ...Read more

Cuba's new President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel grew up in the Cuban revolution and it's clear his mission is to make sure it survives.

But Diaz-Canel, who officially took office on Thursday, faces daunting challenges and unfinished business inherited from retiring Cuban leader Raul Castro, 86.

The National Assembly on Wednesday cast ballots for ...Read more

CHICAGO -- A Central Illinois couple and several gun rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a statewide ban on handguns in home day cares, arguing the prohibition violates the Second Amendment rights of the operators of the businesses.

The suit was filed Monday against the state and the Illinois Department of Children and Family...Read more

You walk into the grocery store with the best intentions, filing your cart with kale, broccolini, tofu and Greek yogurt.

Then you get home, feel pressed for time and order a pizza.

Before you know it, the perishables are going bad at the back of the fridge. They'll wind up in the trash, like so many other well-intentioned meals that never came...Read more