The Trump administration’s move to ease fuel shipments to Cuba’s nascent private sector is part of a plan to make the island more reliant on the U.S. for supplies, increasing Washington’s leverage to bring about political and economic change, according to people familiar with the strategy.

A quarantine on sending crude to Cuba brought the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles firefighter said in sworn testimony that he sounded the alarm about the inadequate mop-up of the Lachman fire — and was blown off by a captain — days before the embers reignited into the deadly Palisades fire.

The firefighter, Scott Pike, testified last month in a lawsuit brought by Palisades fire victims ...Read more

Rep. Andy Barr, a candidate to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell in this year’s Republican primary, claims that someone broke into and vandalized his campaign headquarters in Lexington on Thursday afternoon.

No one was harmed, according to statements by both Barr’s team and the Lexington Police Department.

Barr’s campaign claims the person ...Read more

René Arzate-Garcia, a leader in the powerful Sinaloa cartel and the alleged cartel boss of the Tijuana plaza, is now facing charges of narco-terrorism and material support of terrorism, federal officials announced in San Diego on Thursday.

There is a new $5-million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the 42-year-old ...Read more

The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged it has deported dozens of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and have removal protections, prompting outrage from Democrats like California Sen. Alex Padilla.

In a letter earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had ...Read more

The Kentucky House’s version of the next state two-year executive branch budget bill — the most-watched piece of legislation this session — is heading to the Senate.

House Bill 500, spearheaded by House Republicans, passed out of the chamber Thursday afternoon after more than two hours of debate on an 81-18 vote. The 18 no votes were all ...Read more

OLYMPIA, Wash. — House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon has issued an apology after showing up intoxicated during Wednesday evening's House Appropriations Committee meeting.

The Seattle Democrat said in a statement Thursday that he “deeply” regrets consuming alcohol before the work of the committee was completed, saying he made a serious ...Read more

The UNC Board of Governors authorized a new definition of academic freedom on Thursday, a move that enshrines an explanation of the concept into UNC System policy — but also places key limits on what kind of faculty activity it protects.

Academic freedom appeared in system policy before, and it was described as “full freedom, within the law...Read more

Kentucky has joined the list of states being sued by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice as part of a months-long effort to access Kentucky voters’ personal information.

The DOJ claims that the information is needed to ensure “election integrity,” while officials like Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams claim that the...Read more

Minnesota’s chief federal judge on Thursday sharply escalated the ongoing confrontation between the judiciary and the state’s top federal prosecutor’s office over violations in immigration cases, including raising the possibility of holding people in criminal contempt in the future.

In a rare rebuke, U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick ...Read more

CHICAGO — As many lined up to pay their respects for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. Thursday — his casket lying in repose at Rainbow PUSH’s South Side headquarters through Friday — funeral arrangements in the Civil Rights icon’s native state of South Carolina were announced.

The Jackson family and members of the South Carolina ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shortly after enduring a series of winter storms that damaged roads and flooded businesses, Southern Californians may be pleased to learn that blue skies and toasty temperatures are on deck as possible record-setting heat sweeps into the region this week.

A high-pressure system will bring significant warming to the Southern ...Read more

President Donald Trump put his son-in-law Jared Kushner and longtime friend Steve Witkoff in charge of resolving the war in Ukraine and a standoff with Iran. On Thursday, they juggled those momentous issues within hours of each other.

Dispatched to Geneva, Switzerland, Kushner and Witkoff met Iranian officials at the Omani ambassador’s ...Read more

U.S. and Iranian officials ended the latest round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday by agreeing to re-convene as soon as next week, opening the door to further diplomacy even as President Donald Trump masses military forces in the region.

With just days to go before Trump’s deadline to reach an agreement, the two sides agreed to resume ...Read more

RICHMOND — Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, rose for a point of personal privilege Thursday afternoon and took the opportunity to urge against the passage of a bill that would remove several Confederate statues from Capitol Square in Richmond. SB636 passed the Senate along party lines earlier this month and will soon come before the House of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Netflix bowed out of the Warner Bros. Discovery sweepstakes Thursday, conceding the prize to Paramount Skydance.

The move came after Warner Bros. Discovery switched gears, announcing that Paramount Skydance’s revised bid had topped the one on the table from Netflix.

Warner’s reversal is the latest twist in Hollywood’s ...Read more

One of the four people the Cuban government said it killed in an open-water shootout Wednesday is an American citizen, the U.S. State Department confirmed Thursday evening.

The spokesperson told the Miami Herald one of the people injured was a citizen as well, a third person involved in the incident was on a visa for fiancés of U.S. citizens ...Read more