WASHINGTON — The White House tried for a fifth day Wednesday to explain why the United States is waging war in Iran — this time it was press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s turn — as Democrats said the president has not made a clear case.

Leavitt led her Wednesday press briefing by dubbing the Iranian government led by Ayatollah Ali ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As Congress prepared to vote on whether to rein in the American assault on Iran, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman joined Pennsylvania Republicans in continuing to enthusiastically support the military effort while other Democrats railed against what they said was an increasingly dangerous and unnecessary war.

Fetterman has spent the days...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A respiratory virus that doesn’t have a vaccine or a specific treatment regimen is spreading in some parts of California — but there’s no need to sound the alarm just yet, public health officials say.

A majority of Northern California communities have seen high concentrations of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, detected in ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has again signaled that he thinks Tina Peters’ prison sentence was too harsh as he considers granting some form of clemency — though not a full pardon, his office confirmed Wednesday.

In a social media post Tuesday night, Polis — who has also faced months of pressure from President Donald Trump to ...Read more

The Federal Aviation Administration is extending its ban on U.S. commercial airlines flying into Haiti’s gang-ridden capital, while also widening the restricted airspace beyond Port-au-Prince to include parts of southern and central Haiti as well as the Artibonite region.

“Gangs have increasingly conducted violent attacks in the Artibonite ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The former actor Leo Grillo met the man in a camper at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank.

“They’ve got ‘em,” the man said. He showed Grillo a photo of a zip tied couple, duct tape over the woman’s mouth, according to a criminal complaint.

But the plan had hit a snag, he said. The kidnappers needed another $...Read more

Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed again Wednesday afternoon, leaving several provinces without electricity.

Cuba’s state utilities company Union Electrica said the blackout was due to “a disconnection of the national power system” affecting provinces from Pinar del Rio in the east to Camagüey in central Cuba due to a breakdown in the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Right-wing radio personality Sid Rosenberg apologized for calling Mayor Zohran Mamdani a “cockroach,” after the host’s hateful remarks sparked a massive backlash, including from Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Tisch both called Rosenberg out publicly and texted him directly about the post, he said.

“I apologize this ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly three weeks after federal officials announced that Operation Metro Surge was over, close to 650 federal agents remain in Minnesota, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified at a Senate Judiciary hearing Tuesday.

It’s a figure higher than the estimates in two declarations filed Feb. 23 by DHS ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dozens of guilty verdicts covering sexual assault and child endangerment were issued following the three-month trial of a former Los Gatos woman accused of organizing raucous alcohol-fueled parties for her teen son and his friends, which authorities say provided an uncontrolled setting for dangerous binge drinking and sexual...Read more

A teacher at a top-tier public high school in San Francisco is under investigation following reports of classroom quizzes that contained inappropriate questions, including sexist and fat-shaming language.

The San Francisco Unified School District said it is aware of the allegations at Lowell High School “regarding inappropriate questions on a...Read more

NEW YORK — Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is slated to go on trial in Manhattan for the third time April 14, with a judge on Wednesday scheduling jury selection in his rape retrial.

State Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber set the trial date at a hearing attended by the convicted Miramax founder and his new legal team from Agnifilo...Read more

NEW YORK — A second suspect has been busted for throwing snowballs at cops in Washington Square Park, sources said.

Eric Wilson, 18, surrendered at the 6th Precinct, accompanied by his lawyer, at 9:10 a.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Wilson, who lives in Harlem, was charged with obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor, and ...Read more

BOSTON — The Trump administration is looking into rolling back an East Coast boat speed rule that whale advocates say would lead to more deadly ship strikes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed amendments to the North Atlantic right whale speed rule from 2008. NOAA is proposing a shift away from mandatory speed ...Read more

When NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the revamped approach to the Artemis moon program, it was unclear whether the new mobile launcher that has been constructed over the last two years at Kennedy Space Center would ever get used.

A NASA rundown of the reconfigured Artemis launch plans released Tuesday, though, answers that question ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A verdict has been reached in the three-month trial of a former Los Gatos woman accused of organizing raucous alcohol-fueled parties for her teen son and his friends, which authorities say provided an unchecked setting for dangerous binge drinking and sexual assaults of intoxicated girls.

Shannon O’Connor, 51, has spent ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Republican Matt DePerno, a Michigan lawyer who has been criminally charged with participating in an alleged scheme to illegally obtain voting machines, encouraged lawmakers Wednesday to "look into" state spending on the case against him.

During an unusual, 90-minute appearance before a state House subcommittee, DePerno of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The image of masked agents in plainclothes and tactical gear, now inextricably linked to the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, is prompting Democrats — here and around the country — to push to bar law enforcement from covering their faces.

In Washington, congressional Democrats have introduced bills to ban the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Weeks after Kansas lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting transgender individuals from using restrooms and changing rooms consistent with their gender identity, Missouri lawmakers are pursuing their own version of the legislation.

Missouri’s proposed bill, like what passed in Kansas, applies to all public buildings, ...Read more