World

SACRAMENTO — Every two years, elite athletes compete in the Olympics, biennial plants — like carrots and onions — produce seeds and people across America look on with consternation and mounting impatience as California counts its election ballots. The prolonged tally has become as much a part of electioneering in the Golden State as wall-to-wall advertising, high-flown…

During President Obama’s first term, when the U.S. and Cuba initially made attempts to thaw our icy relationship, I visited the island country as part of an educational delegation. We met with government officials including Mariela Castro, the daughter of then-President Raul Castro, as she was working on pro-LGBTQ+ legislation. We visited the burial site…

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico — It was 2 a.m. when a bus carrying dozens of U.S. deportees heaved into this sweltering city in southern Mexico. The Mexican immigration agents who had guarded the group on their three-day trip from the border said their charges, still dressed in the prison garb of detainees, were now free to go. Alberto Rodríguez,…

California’s petroleum market watchdog is warning about price gouging at some gas stations charging over $7 or even $8 a gallon as the Iran war sends oil prices soaring. The average price of gas in California is currently $5.66, but as of Friday, a Chevron station in Essex is charging $9.69, another in Los Angeles’…

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is reportedly sending three California-based warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East, the second significant deployment in a week. The three warships are part of the San Diego-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group. The Marines are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Pendleton. The deployments were reported Friday…

Iranian attacks on oil and gas facilities around the Persian Gulf on Thursday posed new threats to global energy supplies, as President Trump rebuked Israel for striking a key Iranian gas field, and other nations voiced growing fears that the conflict was escalating. Saudi Arabia said it might respond with force if Iran continues to…

WASHINGTON — Before Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi departed for Washington, she told her nation’s lawmakers that her Oval Office meeting with President Trump on Thursday would be “very difficult.” Actually, it was awkward. After a reporter questioned Trump about not warning Japan before launching his “surprise” offensive in Iran, Trump said that surprise was the point….

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court broke new ground this month when it ruled the Constitution forbids school policies in California that prevent parents from being told about their child’s gender transition at school. But the reach of this new parental right remains unclear. Does it mean all parents have a right to be informed if their child…

WASHINGTON — The Iranian government remains “intact but largely degraded,” National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard told Congress on Wednesday, as Israel continued to hunt down the Islamic Republic’s leadership with an overnight airstrike that killed the nation’s spy chief. The death of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, announced Wednesday by Israel, was the third high-level assassination in roughly…

Wars truly let you tell friend from foe. With U.S. airstrikes devastating Iran’s dangerous ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities, Iran and its proxies lashed out at American military bases, U.S. allies and sea lanes across the Middle East. Ukraine rushed to our defense. Russia, having enabled the ayatollahs for decades, continued to help Tehran. Ukraine’s…