SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A billionaire-funded political group gave a $5-million donation to the campaign opposing California's proposed wealth tax, the first of many expected in the expensive fight over a ballot question dividing the state.

If approved by voters, Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires who were...Read more

JERUSALEM — Jared Kushner assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Israeli army won’t be compelled to withdraw from Gaza until Hamas disarms, an official with knowledge of the talks said, a stance that will dim hopes for a Gaza peace deal anytime soon.

Kushner met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, a day after holding talks ...Read more

The number of U.S. kindergartners starting school without being fully immunized continues to rise, as more families forgo the protective shots despite outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday that the number of children who were fully up-to-date on their immunizations when ...Read more

NEW YORK — The administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani is skipping a City Council hearing set for Tuesday on the pied-à-terre tax, a move coming under fire from local reps as it allows officials to dodge critical questions about the controversial surcharge.

Council member Gale Brewer, who chairs one of the committees holding the hearing, ...Read more

DEARBORN, Mich. — Dearborn officials and faith leaders gathered Monday to try to head off confronations and point to the city's diversity ahead of a planned visit by self-described anti-Islamic activist Jake Lang on Tuesday.

Leaders said Monday outsiders seek to sow hate and paint a picture of Dearborn as a divided city. Mayor Abdullah ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The first witness Monday at the trial of the man accused of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur was a former Metropolitan Police Department officer who spoke with Shakur after the shooting that would ultimately claim his life.

Garry Dale rode in an ambulance with Shakur as the rapper was being rushed to University ...Read more

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The federal Department of Justice announced it is investigating William & Mary, alleging that the nation’s second-oldest university has broken civil rights law by giving non-white students preference for some scholarships and other forms of financial aid.

Such actions, the DOJ said, may have infringed on Title VI of the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A federal appellate court on Monday affirmed a lower-court ruling that had disqualified Sigal Chattah from serving as Nevada’s top federal prosecutor.

The decision — which the Department of Justice said it plans to take to the U.S. Supreme Court — was outlined in a 36-page ruling by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of ...Read more

DENVER — The Trump administration’s apparent efforts to coordinate a series of retributive actions against Colorado late last year are largely unprecedented and were likely not legal, constitutional law professors told The Denver Post.

“It’s the kind of thing that’s so blatant and unprecedented, it’s almost hard to find the language...Read more

On Saturday, the day before Hayden Panettiere died in Greenville, South Carolina, she reportedly flew there from Los Angeles, accompanied by her ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson, with whom she had an intense and volatile four-year relationship, marked by heavy drinking, fighting and his arrests on domestic violence charges.

Both TMZ and Page Six ...Read more

Charges against members of a Twin Cities sex trafficking ring have shed light on what prosecutors call an elaborate conspiracy between an alleged pimp, an Anoka County prosecutor and several others that also defrauded the state of more than $1 million in Medicaid funding.

On top of citing more than a dozen alleged victims of sex trafficking, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A judge on Monday rejected the Justice Department’s demand for Minnesota’s unredacted voter registration list, marking another unsuccessful attempt by the Trump administration to obtain state election data.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the Department of Justice’s claims that the federal government could...Read more

WASHINGTON — The prospects for peace in the Middle East suffered a fresh setback, with President Donald Trump saying he’s not interested in extending the expiring agreement with Iran and fighting flaring anew in Lebanon.

Asked whether he would seek an extension of the memorandum of understanding signed in June — which technically expires...Read more

Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down near the Las Vegas strip in a killing that rocked the rap world, the trial of the man prosecutors allege did everything but pull the trigger got underway Monday with new revelations.

Nevada prosecutors allege Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a one-time Compton gang member, killed Shakur as revenge ...Read more

A judge on Monday postponed a court hearing over whether a California law disqualifies Nick Reiner, accused of killing parents Rob and Michele Reiner, from accessing funds from a trust they set up when he was a baby.

Judge Ruben Garcia scheduled a hearing for Oct. 23, despite pressure from Reiner’s probate attorney, Anita Wu, to release at ...Read more

WASHINGTON — With less than three months to go before Election Day, control of both chambers of Congress remains in play.

While Democrats lack many guaranteed pickups, there continues to be growing softness or vulnerability for Republicans on the outskirts of the House and Senate battleground. President Donald Trump’s low job approval ...Read more

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial was pushed back indefinitely Monday amid his double jeopardy argument to get the case tossed following his unexpected guilty plea to federal stalking charges in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In a brief order, Justice Gregory Carro adjourned Mangione’s next court ...Read more