A man was killed Sunday morning in a two-vehicle crash involving heavy fog on Clovis Avenue in Fresno County, the California Highway Patrol reported. The collision was reported around 7:30 a.m. on Clovis Avenue south of Golden State Boulevard, according to a preliminary investigation. Investigators said a 40-year-old man driving...
Syria Tightens Grip After Kurdish Pull-Back, Attack Reported on IS Jail
Syrian government troops tightened their grip on Monday across a swathe of northern and eastern territory abruptly abandoned the previous day by Kurdish forces, in a dramatic shift that consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule. After days of fighting with government forces, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), once the main...
Oil Steadies as Iran Supply Fears Ease and Greenland Moves Into Spotlight
Oil prices were largely steady on Monday as civil unrest in Iran subsided, reducing the likelihood of a U.S. attack that could disrupt supply from the major producer, while the market also tracks developments in the stand-off over Greenland. Brent crude was down 32 cents, or 0.5%, at $63.81 a...
Stocks Fall After Trump’s Tariff Threats
Global stocks dropped and the dollar eased against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on goods imported from European nations that oppose his planned takeover of Greenland. Gold and silver prices jumped to new record peaks, while oil dipped on...
Martin Luther King’s Son: ‘Justice Demands Endurance’
The future of the Voting Rights Act hangs in the balance. As the Supreme Court deliberates in Louisiana v. Callais, Times Opinion convened a conversation between the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s son and Norm Ornstein, a leading scholar of voting rights, to talk about the stakes of this case — and look back on...
California Politicians Wrongly Fixate on Education Spending Instead of Results
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Gov. Gavin Newsom devoted most of his final State of the State address last week to touting what had been accomplished during the past seven years, and one boast was about California's public school system educating nearly 6...
At Least 5,000 Dead in Iran Unrest, Official Says, as Judiciary Hints at Executions
At least 5,000 people have been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, an Iranian official in the region said on Sunday, citing verified figures and accusing "terrorists and armed rioters" of killing "innocent Iranians." Nationwide protests erupted on Dec. 28 over economic hardship and swelled over...
Conservative Influencer Jake Lang Chased From Minneapolis Streets by Counterprotesters
MINNEAPOLIS — A small protest organized by a conservative influencer in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday was quickly overwhelmed by a liberal counterprotest, as both sides scuffled and exchanged taunts for hours. The influencer, Jake Lang, who was among the pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, rioters, was eventually chased into the lobby...
Merced County Police Chiefs Share Public Safety Goals, What’s Ahead for 2026
With the close of 2025, police chiefs across Merced County are focusing on technology upgrades and filling staff vacancies in the New Year. There are six police departments in Merced County who serve more than 296,000 residents, not including UC Merced and Merced College police departments. The Merced County Sheriff’s...
Iran’s Leader Khamenei Accuses Trump of Inciting Deadly Protests
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday blamed President Donald Trump for weeks of demonstrations that rights groups said have led to more than 3,000 deaths. "We consider the U.S. president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said, according to Iranian state...