LOS BANOS, Calif. — Robert Zavala was fresh out of the Marines and looking to escape dead-end work at a poultry plant in the early 1990s when his old baseball coach — now the head of a local water district — swooped to the rescue with a job offer.

Zavala was grateful for the job, which eventually paid more than $150,000 a year and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At a diner just off the freeway north of Sacramento, a mostly white crowd listened intently as it learned how to “save America” by leaning on the same laws that enshrined the rights of Black voters 60 years ago.

Over mugs of coffee and plates of pot roast smothered in gravy, attendees in MAGA and tea party gear took ...Read more

CHICAGO — Sleep-deprived and anxious about feeding their babies, tens of thousands of moms in Illinois and elsewhere recently turned to a variety of Facebook groups offering support for breastfeeding, pumping breast milk and postpartum care.

Direct responses were often remarkably prompt from the creator and admin of these groups, a Facebook ...Read more

Israeli officials seized Al Jazeera equipment on Sunday, hours after the nation’s cabinet approved a decision to shutter the Qatar-based TV news network’s operations in the Jewish state - an unprecedented step toward an international media outlet.

Inspectors from the communications ministry, accompanied by police, arrived at Al Jazeera ...Read more

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing calls from Conservative lawmakers to adopt an immigration cap, as he comes under pressure to move his party further to the right after it was routed in last week’s local elections.

While internal critics of Sunak decided against trying to replace him, prominent party members renewed their attacks on ...Read more

Mozambique’s ruling party chose Daniel Chapo as its new leader, making the provincial governor the clear frontrunner to succeed President Filipe Nyusi after Oct. 9 elections.

The party, known by its Portuguese acronym Frelimo, made the decision on Sunday following a three-day meeting of its central committee near Maputo, the capital, Catarina...Read more

Belmont Cragin residents were filing into the cafeteria at Prieto Math and Science Academy last month to weigh in on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s signature plan to overhaul Chicago’s mental health system when they got unexpected evidence that the bold, still largely theoretical plan remains a focus at City Hall.

Into the school walked Johnson, ...Read more

A group of about 60 people organized by the Chicago Jewish Alliance gathered at Fullerton and Seminary avenues Sunday morning in response to an encampment set up Tuesday at DePaul University to protest the war in Gaza.

Members of Chabad Lincoln Park, Stand With Us, Hillel Metro Chicago and the Jewish Institute for Liberal Voices, among other ...Read more

After a tense day of protests, counterprotests and increased university police presence on the University of Chicago’s Main Quadrangle, the sun began to fade Friday evening and the Jewish holy day of Sabbath began.

Within the encampment established by the University of Chicago United for Palestine coalition, about 50 Jewish students and ...Read more

A driver crashed into the White House gates and died late Saturday night, authorities said.

Police did not release any information about the man behind the wheel, but the Secret Service said there was “no threat to the White House.”

President Joe Biden was not home at the time, according to the Secret Service. He was spending the weekend ...Read more

The state’s Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case this week that could determine whether Californians are allowed to weigh in on an expansive ballot measure that would put virtually all tax increases before voters.

It’s part of a rare case in which the court will consider removing a proposition from the ballot before an election. At ...Read more

UCLA has moved swiftly to create a new chief safety officer position to oversee campus security operations, including the police department, in the wake of what have been called serious lapses in handling protests that culminated in a mob attack on a pro-Palestinian student encampment last week.

Chancellor Gene Block announced Sunday that Rick ...Read more

The critical elements of Florida’s bold new statewide homelessness policy emerged from the written prescriptions of a Texas-based conservative think tank bent on thwarting the nation’s “homeless-industrial complex,” according to records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

Emails show the Cicero Institute offered Florida lawmakers a menu ...Read more

New York Mayor Eric Adams pledged to ensure that this year’s graduation ceremonies in the city won’t be disrupted by violent protests over the war in Gaza, saying no one should be allowed to threaten commencements.

“We will make sure it’s done in a peaceful manner,” Adams said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week." Graduations are “a ...Read more

Three New York City synagogues and The Brooklyn Museum were hit with bogus bomb threats over a roughly two-hour span — and the threats are believed to be part of a mass email sent to nearly two dozen Jewish houses of worship, according to a Jewish philanthropic organization.

The emailed threats, all determined to be unfounded, drew the ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Cinco de Mayo parade in Little Village was ended early Sunday after the Chicago Fire Department responded to reports of shots fired along the parade route.

The Chicago Fire Department did not transport anyone from the scene, officials said, but responded to Cermak Road and Washtenaw Avenue. The Chicago Police Department ...Read more

The new Palestinian prime minister is a former World Bank executive who vows to fight corruption and waste. The finance minister worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers International. The foreign ministry is helmed by a woman with a U.S. doctorate and deep experience in human rights.

By many measures, the new Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is ...Read more