Three deadly attacks in Israel in a week are raising questions over Israel's approach to its conflict with the Palestinians, after years of efforts to sideline the issue and focus instead on other regional priorities. The attacks by Palestinian assailants, including most recently on Tuesday night, have killed 11...
Saudi-Offered, Rebel-Rejected Cease-Fire Starts in Yemen War
A Saudi-led coalition battling rebels who hold Yemen's capital began a unilateral cease-fire Wednesday in the yearslong war, even as the insurgents said they rejected the proposal. The Saudi-proposed pause in fighting began at 6 a.m. ahead of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Several similar efforts have...
China Shows Afghanistan Ambitions at Multinational Meetings
China’s ambitions to have a major hand in Afghanistan's stability and development under the Taliban, while boosting its own stature, will be on display at a pair of multinational meetings it is hosting starting Wednesday. The talks offer a rare opportunity for Russia and the U.S. to come together...
California Task Force Votes to Limit Reparations to Slave Descendants
California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations voted Tuesday to limit state compensation to the descendants of free and enslaved Black people who were in the U.S. in the 19th century, narrowly rejecting a proposal to include all Black people regardless of lineage. The vote was split 5-4, and the...
Newsom Again Rejects Parole for Manson Family Member
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday blocked parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, reversing a panel's recommendation that she be freed after spending a half-century in prison. Van Houten, 72, “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time," Newsom said in his...
Great White Shark Killed Morro Bay Bodyboarder
SAN LUIS OBISPO — A bodyboarder was attacked by a great white shark in Morro Bay on Christmas Eve and died within minutes, official reports say. Tomas Abraham Butterfield, 42, was bitten in the head, chest, and shoulder in the Morro Bay attack and died from “complications of multiple...
California Water Plan Would Pay Farmers to Fallow Their Fields
SACRAMENTO — California would pay farmers not to plant thousands of acres of land as part of a $2.9 billion plan announced Tuesday aimed at letting more water flow through the state's major rivers and streams to help restore the unique habitat in one of North America's largest estuaries....
EXPLAINER: Why Bond Yields May Be Warning of a Recession
One of the more reliable warning signals for an economic recession is starting to shine. The “yield curve” is watched for clues to how the bond market is feeling about the U.S. economy’s long-term prospects. On Tuesday, a closely followed part of the yield curve gave investors some cause...
California’s Black Reparations Panel Could Decide Who Gets Compensation
California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations is at a crossroads, with members divided on which Black Americans should be eligible for compensation as atonement for a slave system that officially ended with the Civil War but reverberates to this day. Some members want to limit financial and other compensation...
Jan. 6 Panel Missing Roughly 8 Hours of Trump’s Phone Calls
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has identified a roughly eight-hour gap in official records of then-President Donald Trump's phone calls as the violence unfolded and his supporters stormed the building, according to a person familiar with the probe. The gap extends from a little...