“Gangster Granny,” the 65-year-old leader of a U.K. crime family, and seven of her associates were sentenced to a combined 106 years in prison for dealing more than $100 million worth of cocaine across the country, officials announced Friday.

Deborah Mason, who’s also known as “Queen Bee” and “Gangsta Deb,” recruited her sister, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — For the next two-and-a-half months at a minimum, private defense attorneys in San Diego and across the nation are being asked to work without pay while defending court-appointed clients in federal criminal cases.

That’s because on July 3, congressional funding ran out for the federal program that pays private attorneys to ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Corey Dean screamed for days, pleading for help. He banged on the door, vent and table, trying to get attention. He flooded his cell with dirty toilet water and smeared feces across his face and body.

Deputies in the Vista Detention Facility all but ignored him.

According to sworn testimony, three people locked up in the same ...Read more

Six years after his death, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is again in the spotlight, this one cast by President Donald Trump’s unrelenting MAGA base.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 and found dead in his cell at a jail in New York City just five weeks later. Investigators concluded that he killed himself while awaiting trial on federal sex ...Read more

NEW YORK — Two people were killed when a stolen out-of-control rental car vaulted onto a bustling Chinatown pedestrian island Saturday morning, police said.

One of the victims’ legs was severed during the blistering 7:30 a.m. crash at the corner of Bowery and Canal Street at the mouth of the Manhattan Bridge, police said.

One victim, a 63-...Read more

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has directed state agencies to prepare for tight budgets as Georgia braces for the effect of federal spending cuts.

The governor’s budget office has directed agencies to prepare amended fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027 budgets with no spending increases, except for enrollment-based programs such as schools and...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles city attorney's office has filed a lawsuit against Airbnb, accusing the home-sharing platform of allow price gouging and unverified hosts and addresses at more than 2,000 rentals following the January firestorm in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

In a statement, L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's office ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Benito Flores, who more than five years ago seized a state-owned home in El Sereno to protest against homelessness in Los Angeles, has died.

A 70-year-old retired welder, Flores had been fighting to remain in the home. Last month, he and a group of supporters prevented Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies from ...Read more

CHICAGO — At least 15 people were shot overnight across Chicago, and at least 4 people died from their wounds, police say.

Between about 10 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Saturday, there were at least 10 shootings in several West and South Side neighborhoods, according to police. No one is in custody, police say.

Police responded to a mass shooting ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a matter of days, a detention camp for undocumented migrants state officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” rose out of the mosquito-infested Florida Everglades in time for a visit from President Donald Trump on July 1.

The rapid mobilization of workers and materials was made possible by Florida emergency rules that...Read more

The Trump administration is threatening to revoke antitrust immunity for Delta Air Lines Inc. and Grupo Aeromexico’s pricing agreement amid a set of new orders demanding Mexico move forward to address anticompetitive behavior.

Mexican airlines will now be required to file schedules with U.S. authorities and seek approval for large charter ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The three Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives killed in an explosion Friday were described as the “best of the best,” who served their community with honor, courage and unwavering commitment.

The fallen lawmen — identified as Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus and William Osborn — combined to serve the ...Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump said five jets may have been shot down during the recent India-Pakistan conflict, and reiterated that his administration used trade pressure to broker a ceasefire between the two sides, a claim New Delhi had repeatedly rejected.

“These are two serious nuclear countries and they were hitting each other,” Trump ...Read more

Japan’s voters will deliver a verdict on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s 10 months in office on Sunday, in an upper house election that takes place amid simmering discontent over inflation and unresolved negotiations with the U.S. on tariffs.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito are battling the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Meteorologists warned about the chance of flash floods days before Texas' Fourth of July disaster that killed at least 133. Yet, local officials in the hardest-hit areas say they were shocked by the scale of the devastation.

"I have cried on multiple occasions," Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist with WOAI-TV Channel 4, the NBC ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — An unusual alliance of Republican lawmakers and animal rights advocates, together with others, is creating storm clouds for a plan to protect one threatened owl by killing a more common one.

Last August, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan to shoot roughly 450,000 barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington ...Read more

Japan’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said he’s aiming to visit Washington next week to continue efforts to win tariff concessions after talks on Saturday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn’t touch on the issue.

“I will continue working vigorously toward a mutually beneficial agreement that protects Japan’s national...Read more

DENVER — Firefighters battling wildfires across Colorado’s Western Slope are making gradual progress slowing fire growth and increasing containment, officials said Saturday.

Four of the state’s actively growing wildfires reported minimal growth Friday into Saturday, with afternoon rain helping fire crews on Colorado’s largest wildfire, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Astronomer CEO Andy Byron has resigned from the DataOps company after the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert captured his presumed affair with a woman believed to be his head of HR.

The company confirmed in a statement shared with the Daily News on Saturday that Byron had stepped down.

“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed ...Read more