LOS ANGELES — With its donations swelling, a charity formed by the older brother of a firefighter who died in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was ready to up its game.

Its mission of paying the mortgages of fallen first responders' families and building housing for critically injured veterans was no longer enough, Tunnel ...Read more

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Calls for new gun restrictions inevitably follow most American mass shootings, including the one that killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket six weeks ago. But in the wake of the Tops supermarket massacre, legislators here and in several other states also have turned their attention to a new target: civilian body armor.

...Read more

Within hours of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion was banned in 13 states when so-called trigger laws went into effect. The grim impact of criminalizing women’s choices about their bodies will be stark and immediate, but predictable.

As a queer woman, I have struggled to conceptualize the full reach of this decision...Read more

The Biden administration says it’s taking steps to increase access to medication abortion in response to the Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, but some of the administration’s own policies stand in the way of people trying to get the drug.

Mifepristone, the drug known as the abortion pill, has been approved in the U.S. for more...Read more

Many of Kristina Tocce’s patients drive or fly hundreds of miles to see her in Denver. Colorado is one of the strongholds for abortion services that are quickly disappearing elsewhere. But since Friday, when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, concerns over how anti-abortion states might try to stop her are always in ...Read more

After wrangling over the future of California’s high-speed rail, state lawmakers plan to release a critical batch of money to finish a bullet train in the Central Valley, while also establishing an inspector general to audit the beleaguered project and authorizing billions of dollars in new money for rail plans across the state.

The agreement...Read more

North Korea blamed its COVID-19 outbreak on “alien things” likely sent by balloon across its border with South Korea, saying a teenage soldier and a five-year-old girl in April were the first people in the country infected by coronavirus.

Kim Jong Un’s regime called on its officials “to vigilantly deal with alien things coming by wind ...Read more

Over the past three years, Julie Contreras, an immigration and humanitarian activist from the Waukegan area, has visited the makeshift tent encampments filled with asylum-seekers on the southwestern border that were erected after the Trump administration enacted the “Remain in Mexico” program in 2019.

Contreras said she has witnessed the ...Read more

Over the past three years, Julie Contreras, an immigration and humanitarian activist from the Waukegan area, has visited the makeshift tent encampments filled with asylum-seekers on the southwestern border that were erected after the Trump administration enacted the “Remain in Mexico” program in 2019.

Contreras said she has witnessed the ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida advocates for legal abortion won a respite Thursday from the parade of bad news for their cause after a judge in Leon County said he would block implementation of a 15-week abortion ban just a day before the law was scheduled to go into effect.

But supporters of the law believe they will win in the end.

It was the latest ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and others expressed gratitude for new federal gun legislation at a forum in north Minneapolis on Thursday night, but the message included a reminder that there is much more to be done.

"This particular town hall is different," Omar said, explaining that the monthly gatherings rarely focus on a one or two ...Read more

Elon Musk’s SpaceX won permission from U.S. regulators to offers its Starlink broadband-from-space service to users in vehicles, vessels and aircraft.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the decision in an order published Thursday, which said it also granted permission for the service to mobile customers of Kepler Communications ...Read more

An upswing in coronavirus infections has spawned a rise in worksite case clusters in Los Angeles County, prompting health officials to recommend additional measures aimed at tamping down transmission, including reducing crowding and, if there’s a suspected outbreak, expanding remote work.

“With the continued increase in cases, and now as ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed into law key elements of a new $307.9-billion state budget, a spending plan centered on gas refunds for 17.5 million taxpayers to soften the sting of high fuel prices and the cost of living.

The refunds, varying from as little as $200 for individuals up to $1,050 for couples...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Many public officials and environmental advocates in California were dismayed by Thursday’s Supreme Court decision to limit federal authority on greenhouse gases from power plants, citing a collective blow to the monumental challenge of tackling global warming.

But experts say it’s not likely to unravel California’s ...Read more

Former President Donald Trump belittled Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, as “this girl” in an angry new attack on the House panel investigating the attack on the Capitol.

Displaying deep frustration with Hutchinson’s revelations, Trump called the 26-year-old ex-White House staffer a no-name junior ...Read more

The Justice Department on Thursday said it will investigate the NYPD’s scandal-plagued Special Victims Division due to rampant allegations that detectives are “retraumatizing” sex assault victims.

Federal prosecutors will examine the Special Victims Division’s policies and training in the probe of alleged “gender-biased policing.” ...Read more

California is banning state-funded travel to four states that passed laws this year prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in school sports according to their gender identities.

State agencies will no longer pay for travel to Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana or Utah, according to a Thursday announcement by California Attorney General...Read more