MINNEAPOLIS — A married couple on Wednesday pleaded guilty ahead of trial next month to their roles defrauding the federal Feeding Our Future child nutrition program.

Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, 42, and her husband, Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, 46, are the latest defendants to enter pleas in the massive $300 million pandemic fraud case that’s seen 79...Read more

Travelers from two more countries in the Western Hemisphere will be required to pay steep fees to come to the United States after being added to the State Department’s ‘visa bond’ program, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Citizens from Grenada, the eastern Caribbean island, and Nicaragua are now among the foreign nationals in 50 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence leaders testified on Wednesday that Iran’s clerical leadership has been damaged but not ousted from power, and the mullahs may rebuild their degraded military capabilities over the next several years despite ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes.

The top civilian witnesses before the Senate Select Intelligence ...Read more

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — When he’s not at work, Sam Dove drives a Chevy Silverado 1500. But on the job, he gets behind the wheel of a 16-million-pound behemoth that’s been transporting NASA’s rockets for more than 60 years.

Dove gets to drive the crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), which was one of two tracked vehicles originally designed to ...Read more

An attorney for California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa is threatening “legal remedies” if ABC and the University of Southern California do not include the former Los Angeles mayor in an upcoming debate, a move that comes amid criticisms that candidates of color were not invited to participate in the event later this month.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A majority of the Sacramento City Council declared support for renaming Cesar E. Chavez Plaza after allegations of sexual abuse were published Wednesday against the civil rights leader.

Mayor Kevin McCarty and Council members Karina Talamantes, Phil Pluckebaum, Caity Maple, Eric Guerra and Mai Vang in comments to The ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Mamdani announced Wednesday that he is reversing a controversial Adams-era policy that allowed the NYPD to issue criminal summons to e-bike riders and bicyclists for infractions that were not considered criminal when committed by drivers.

“Every New Yorker on our roads, whether driving or biking, deserves to be treated ...Read more

CHICAGO — The respiratory illness RSV is still going strong in Chicago — an unusually late showing for the virus, which can strike infants especially hard.

RSV activity has moved from moderate to high in Chicago, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Though it’s typical for RSV to spread more widely in the winter — ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Labor leader Cesar Chavez is accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s as well as fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to an investigation from The New York Times.

The allegations have sparked public outcry from elected leaders and spurred a wider reckoning of a towering figure in ...Read more

The fate of two oil tankers believed to be carrying desperately needed fuel to Cuba is emerging as a key test of Washington’s escalating pressure campaign — and of Havana’s ability to withstand it.

At the center of the uncertainty is the Sea Horse, a Hong Kong-flagged tanker whose unusual movements have raised questions about whether it ...Read more

DETROIT — Federal prosecutors found more than $13,000 in a Comerica Bank account during an ongoing hunt for money that could be applied toward $823,649 former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick owes taxpayers as part of the disgraced politician's public corruption conviction, according to a court filing Wednesday.

In the filing, a bank official ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court twice last year cleared the Trump administration to end protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants fleeing violence and instability. In the months that followed, current and former judges repeatedly called out the justices for failing to explain their reasoning.

The issue is before the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Chula Vista City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday to adopt an ordinance adding Chapter 2.19, known as the “Safe Neighbor Ordinance,” to the Chula Vista Municipal Code. Mayor John McCann recused himself from the vote, citing his position as a U.S. Navy Reserve officer.

The measure, which passed on the consent calendar as its ...Read more

NEW YORK — An immigration judge denied New York City Council staffer Rafael Rubio’s asylum case and ordered his removal from the U.S. on Wednesday.

Judge Charles Conway ordered Rubio removed because of a missing signature on his asylum paperwork, Council Speaker Julie Menin said, adding that Rubio’s lawyer plans to appeal the decision.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California political establishment reacted with outrage and sadness to a report from The New York Times Wednesday detailing how Cesar Chavez, one of the nation’s most storied labor leaders and a civil rights icon, sexually abused women and girls for years.

The Times interviewed 60 people who corroborated the ...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston City Council is weighing legislation that would grant immigrants with “legal status” but without full citizenship the right to vote in local elections.

Councilor Julia Mejia introduced a home rule petition Wednesday that would extend voting rights to noncitizens with “legal status” — a number she put at roughly ...Read more

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione, who is scheduled to go before a New York state jury in June on charges that he murdered UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson, is seeking to delay a subsequent federal trial until 2027.

Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo told U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan Wednesday that it will be ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said the university will remove its statue of Cesar Chavez, prominently displayed in the campus Peace Garden, amid “profoundly troubling claims” against the civil rights icon emerged Wednesday in a New York Times investigation.

Jiménez-Sandoval said Wednesday afternoon in a ...Read more