Hard-fought to the end, the debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over fierce blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent. Biden is sending...
Manson Follower Should Be Paroled, Appelate Court Rules
LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court said Tuesday that Leslie Van Houten, who participated in two killings at the direction of cult leader Charles Manson in 1969, should be let out of prison on parole. The appellate court’s ruling reverses an earlier decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who rejected parole...
NATO to Send 700 More Troops to Kosovo to Help Quell Violent Protests
PRISTINA, Kosovo — NATO will send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after clashes with ethnic Serbs there left 30 international soldiers wounded, the alliance announced Tuesday. The latest violence in the region has stirred fear of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that claimed...
Consumer Confidence Declines Again, Particularly for Seniors
Consumer confidence fell in May as Americans, particularly older ones, became more pessimistic about the labor market, on top of elevated anxiety over inflation. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 102.3 in May from 103.7 in April. It’s the fourth time in five months that...
No Kidding: California OT Law Threatens Use of Grazing Goats to Prevent Wildfires
WEST SACRAMENTO — Hundreds of goats munch on long blades of yellow grass on a hillside next to a sprawling townhouse complex. They were hired to clear vegetation that could fuel wildfires as temperatures rise this summer. These voracious herbivores are in high demand to devour weeds and shrubs that...
First Drone Strikes on Moscow Residences Expose Russia’s Vulnerabilities
A drone attack that targeted Moscow on Tuesday exposed glaring breaches in its air defenses and underlined the capital's vulnerability as more Russian soil comes under fire amid expectations of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The attack, which lightly damaged three apartment buildings, angered Russia's hawks, who scathingly criticized President Vladimir Putin and the...
San Jose Suspect in Police Custody Falls to Death From Hospital Ledge
A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital's window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said. The man was in custody because he had allegedly violated a court order,...
Elizabeth Holmes Heads to Prison for Fraud, But Many Puzzle Over Her Motives
As Elizabeth Holmes prepares to report to prison next week, the criminal case that laid bare the blood-testing scam at the heart of her Theranos startup is entering its final phase. The 11-year sentence represents a comeuppance for the wide-eyed woman who broke through “tech bro” culture to become one...
Debt Ceiling Tests Speaker McCarthy as He Rides Breezily Through High-Wire Act of His Career
One morning during the debt ceiling crisis, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy climbed onto his mountain bike and took a ride along the National Mall, marveling at the monuments. The next day he arrived for negotiations at the Capitol carting in tortilla chips and queso for the beleaguered reporters waiting outside his office during...
What 5 More Years of Erdogan’s Rule Means for Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection in a runoff Sunday, following a nail-biter first round two weeks earlier. Having secured another five years, Erdogan now faces a host of domestic challenges in a deeply divided country, from a battered economy to pressure for the repatriation of Syrian refugees to the need...