World

TEHRAN — In typical times, Nowruz is a much-anticipated moment of hope across Iran. Preparations for the Persian New Year begin days in advance, with people spring-cleaning their home — “shaking the house,” as the expression goes — or buying new clothes and furniture. Tehran’s streets burst with shoppers perusing markets for flowers, painted eggs and confections…

Democratic legislative leaders on Monday called on voters to boycott USC’s upcoming gubernatorial debate if the university does not invite candidates who were excluded from participating. The unsparing letter adds another layer of controversy to Tuesday’s forum, which as a result of the university’s selection criteria would not include any of the leading candidates of…

WASHINGTON — Californians may be forced to put their ballots in the mail well before election day to be certain they will be counted. That’s the likely outcome of a Republican challenge to mail ballots that came before the Supreme Court on Monday. The court’s six conservatives sounded ready to rule that federal law requires that ballots…

What began as a social media post from President Trump on Saturday has grown quickly into a full-scale plan to deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports. Amid a partial government shutdown, Transportation Security Administration lines have grown to be hours long at some U.S. airports, creating problems for travelers across the country. Call-out rates have…

HAVANA — Reggaeton boomed in a neighborhood bar in Old Havana on a recent night, when, suddenly, the music stopped and everything went dark. The customers groaned. Another blackout. A U.S. blockade on oil shipments to Cuba has plunged the island into its worst energy crisis in modern history. The country’s already cratering economy now teeters on…

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…