BEIRUT/JERUSALEM - Israel has agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days, an Israeli official said on Friday, after days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has killed over 300 people. Sweida province has been engulfed...
Crypto Stocks Jump as Ether Scales Six-Month High
Crypto-focused stocks rose on Friday, after ether hit a six-month high on the passage of a stablecoin bill by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump, marks a watershed for the digital asset industry, which has long pushed lawmakers to...
Border Patrol Agents Raid a Home Depot in Northern California
LOS ANGELES — Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration raid Thursday at a Home Depot parking lot in Sacramento County, in a sign that federal officials are heading deeper into California after focusing on the Los Angeles region in recent weeks. Gregory K. Bovino, the head of Border Patrol’s El...
Stephen Colbert’s Late-Night Show on CBS to End in May 2026
LOS ANGELES - "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS will end in May 2026 after the upcoming broadcast season, the network said on Thursday. The show is ending and Colbert will not be replaced, CBS executives said. "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in...
Former Los Banos Teacher Indicted on Federal Child Exploitation Charges
A former junior high school teacher in Los Banos has been indicted on federal charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors and possession of child pornography, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Christian Banuelos, 30, was charged by a federal grand jury with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor...
C for Chaos? Ashjian Kicked Off Measure C Committee
Members of the Fresno City Council and mayor's administration are incensed that Measure C executives removed a Fresno resident from an advisory committee. During a presentation on the countywide transportation tax at Thursday's council meeting, Fresno Council of Governments Executive Director Robert Phipps and consultant Kendall Flint revealed they had...
Israel Demands UN Scrap Investigation Body for Palestinian Territories
GENEVA - Israel has demanded the U.N. Human Rights Council scrap a commission investigating rights violations in the Palestinian territories and Israel, accusing the body of bias, in a letter seen by Reuters. In the message sent on Wednesday, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Daniel Meron, said The Independent International...
Trump Signs Executive Order Creating New Classification of Non-Career Federal Workers
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order creating a new classification of non-career federal workers, the White House said. The new classification will be for employees expected to leave their positions when the president who appointed them leaves office, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said on X. —...
Judge Rules Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Was Illegal
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the firing of U.S. Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter by President Donald Trump earlier this year was illegal. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan said the Trump administration’s attempt to remove Slaughter did not comply with removal protections in federal law....
US House Passes Stablecoin Legislation, Sending Bill to Trump
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for U.S.-dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, sending the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. The vote marks a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, which has...