World

Democrats are starting the new year on a high. A series of 2025 victories, in red and blue states alike, was marked by a striking improvement over the party’s 2024 showing. That over-performance, to use the political term of art, means candidates — including even some who lost — received a significantly higher percentage of…

California’s potential to lead a national Democratic comeback was on full display as party leaders from across the country recently gathered in downtown Los Angeles. But is the party ready to bet on the Golden State? Appearances at the Democratic National Committee meeting by the state’s most prominent Democrats, former Vice President Kamala Harris and…

USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb suffered a bitter defeat Saturday when her team lost 79-51 to top-ranked team UConn. But after she walked off court, she weighed in on a more pressing matter: the deadly shooting at her alma mater, Brown University. “It’s the guns,” Gottlieb said as she began a post-game news conference…

AMMAN, Jordan — When Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire earlier this year, it brought into question the fate of militias Israel cultivated during the devastating two-year war as an alternative ruling force in Gaza. Many expected that Hamas — still the dominant force in the Strip — would hunt them down. Instead, Israel has shifted the…

WASHINGTON — Standing alongside President Trump at his Palm Beach estate, Volodymyr Zelensky could only smirk and grimace without overtly offending his host. “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump told reporters, shocking the Ukrainian president before claiming that Vladimir Putin is genuine in his desire for peace. It was just the latest example of the American…

WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of federal immigration judges in California have been fired, retired or quit since the start of the Trump administration. The reduction follows a trend in immigration courts nationwide and constitutes, critics say, an attack on the rule of law that will lead to yet more delays in an overburdened court system….

Is there a dumpster somewhere to torch and bury this year of bedlam, 2025? We near its end with equal amounts relief and trepidation. Surely we can’t be expected to endure another such tumultuous turn around the sun? It was only January that Donald Trump moved back into the White House, apparently toting trunkloads of…

WASHINGTON — When Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin this fall, Republican leaders credited the organization he founded for enabling President Trump’s return to power. Now that organization is mobilizing behind Vice President JD Vance. Uninterested in a competitive Republican primary in 2028, Turning Point USA plans to deploy representatives across Iowa’s 99 counties in the…

Rob Reiner was known to millions as a TV actor and film director. But the Brentwood resident, known for the classic films “Stand by Me” and “When Harry Met Sally…,” was also a political force, an outspoken supporter of progressive causes and a Democratic Party activist who went beyond the typical role of celebrities who…

VICKSBURG, Ariz. — Lush green fields of alfalfa spread across thousands of acres in a desert valley in western Arizona, where a dairy company from Saudi Arabia grows the thirsty crop by pulling up groundwater from dozens of wells. The company, Fondomonte, is the largest water user in the Ranegras Plain groundwater basin, shipping hay overseas to…