LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced charges against five unlicensed contractors following an undercover operation in Altadena’s Eaton fire zone.

“Unlicensed contractors … are essentially trying to take advantage of people at some of their lowest moments and trying to profit off their tragedy,” ...Read more

With the region in the grips of bitter cold, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday declared a state of emergency due to "anticipated impacts on the delivery of propane" for homes and businesses because of a service disruption at a Delaware County distribution facility.

The declaration allows operators of commercial vehicles transporting ...Read more

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday evening that seeks to challenge state laws on artificial intelligence and withhold certain grant funds for states with AI laws the administration dislikes.

The effort could be a significant victory for major technology companies but is almost certain to be challenged in court.

“We ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court in Chicago issued a mixed opinion Thursday in a high-profile immigration case, blocking the immediate release of hundreds of people detained during Operation Midway Blitz, but allowing the extension of a consent decree governing so-called warrantless arrests.

The 2-1 split opinion from the 7th U.S. Circuit ...Read more

President Donald Trump is expected to direct his administration to move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could represent one of the biggest shifts in U.S. policy toward cannabis in decades.

Trump has discussed the idea with marijuana industry executives, Health and Human...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department failed again to secure a grand jury indictment against New York State Attorney General Letitia James over mortgage fraud claims.

Prosecutors have been seeking to renew charges against James after a federal judge dismissed a case against her last month, saying that the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, the U.S....Read more

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators are demanding more details on the drug pricing deals that Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and others have struck with the Trump administration in an effort to understand whether they’re actually saving the government any money.

In letters sent to chief executives of Pfizer, Lilly, Novo Nordisk A/S and ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an order aimed at thwarting state-level regulation of artificial intelligence, handing a policy win to tech industry leaders who have pressed for preemption of local rules.

Trump said the measure was necessary to bolster the emerging technology and counter a patchwork of state-level regulation the ...Read more

A month and a half after Hurricane Melissa killed dozens of people in Haiti, the country is still struggling with its aftermath.

Haitians, who were already going hungry because gang violence has blocked highways and cut off commerce, are grappling with even more shortages and the loss of crops, the regional director of the United Nations’ ...Read more

President Donald Trump claimed to grant former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters a “full pardon” Thursday night — a power that constitutional law experts say he cannot wield for a person convicted of state-level crimes.

Peters, 70, is serving a nine-year sentence in state prison in Pueblo for felonies related to providing unauthorized ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are combining for a busy week of rocket launches on the Space Coast.

First up Thursday evening was SpaceX’s planned Starlink 6-90 mission with 29 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:01 p.m. Eastern time.

This was the 16th flight of ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida has cut more environmental protection jobs than any other state in the past 15 years, despite the challenges posed by increasingly intense hurricanes and sea level rise, according to a newly released national report.

The state cut 394 jobs, or 19% of full-time positions, at the Florida Department of Environmental ...Read more

Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday announced his administration will invest $19 million into programs to end child poverty across the state.

The investment will go to the Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments, and Households (ENOUGH) initiative, now in its second year. Moore added that the initiative’s philanthropic partners, ...Read more

The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it plans to create a militarized zone along the U.S.-Mexico border in California to support border security operations for three years, the latest in a controversial series of moves aimed at securing the border amid the government’s immigration crackdown.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Republicans in the Indiana Senate on Thursday rebuked President Donald Trump and spurned his demand for mid-decade redistricting to boost the GOP’s chances of holding its House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Despite holding a supermajority, 21 Republican state senators voted with the chamber’s 10 Democrats to ...Read more

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy floated the prospect of allowing Ukrainians to vote on whether to hand the Donbas region to Russia as Kyiv comes under mounting pressure to agree to terms of an emerging U.S. peace plan.

Moscow has insisted that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the eastern territories, which include areas of the Donetsk and ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The seizure of an enormous oil supertanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday is just the beginning of a new phase in the Trump administration’s ramped-up pressure campaign against Nicolas Maduro, according to people familiar with the operation.

The act of economic statecraft — which saw U.S. forces descend on ropes ...Read more

The Powerball jackpot has swelled to an estimated $1 billion ahead of Saturday night's drawing, marking one of the largest prizes in history.

No tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Wednesday: white balls 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 and the red Powerball 22.

The pot now ranks as the seventh-largest Powerball jackpot and the second to reach the ...Read more