President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is facing the risk of losing its key partner after the U.S. threatened to cut off support unless Kyiv agrees to a peace deal that favors Russia.

“Now, it’s one of the most difficult moments in our history,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation on Friday after he was presented with a 28...Read more

The stepmother of Anna Kepner, the high school senior found dead on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month, has invoked the Fifth Amendment in a custody battle as one of her minor children faces potential criminal charges in the Florida cheerleader’s death.

Shauntel Hudson — who was traveling with her kids, Kepner and the latter’s ...Read more

Kyiv’s biggest European allies lined up with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reject key elements of a U.S.-Russian plan to end the war in Ukraine as Washington threatened to halt military support to force acceptance of the deal.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer of the U.K. agreed on a call with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Hazardous pesticides — and sensitive data from customers who trusted a trio of pest control companies, including Orkin — allegedly wound up in the regular trash.

Now three companies that operate in California are paying millions following an investigation that included some dumpster diving.

The $3.15-million settlement was ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Fall is the time of year when bears really begin to think with their stomachs.

Some will double their weight to prepare for wintertime hibernation, often scavenging for calories for up to 20 hours per day. This feeding frenzy, called hyperphagia, drives them farther from their usual range and into neighborhood dumpsters in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Faced with a large budget gap, Los Angeles County on Thursday released a spending plan that slashes funding for some homeless services and could reverse progress made in getting people off the streets.

The plan for next fiscal year starting July 1 details how the L.A. County Department of Homeless Services and Housing proposes ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As Border Patrol agents fan out of Charlotte and fear lingers from days of federal immigration enforcement across the region, Bishop Michael Martin is urging Catholics to confront the moment through the lens of faith, not politics.

Half of the diocese’s roughly 565,000 Catholics are Hispanic. Many stayed home from Mass, ...Read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told lawmakers that he’ll stand by his powerful chief of staff despite mounting pressure to oust him in response to a growing corruption scandal.

The Ukrainian leader rebuffed demands to fire the top official and close ally, Andriy Yermak, during a meeting with his party late Thursday in Kyiv, ...Read more

NEW YORK — A good chunk of the audience at The Shed clearly didn’t recognize Tom Hanks when he first walked out on stage in “This World of Tomorrow,” even though Tom Hanks was who people had come to see. And hear. Hanks wrote this play himself, along with a collaborator, James Glossman; it’s an adaptation of several of Hanks’ short ...Read more

DENVER — Susan Root often works 16-hour days as she makes sure the machines that feed her daughter and pump oxygen into her lungs are working. She also manages her daughter’s seizures and handles all the necessities that Amy can’t do for herself, such as bathing.

She’d prefer to have help, but no one is lining up to care for a medically...Read more

In one of the most important state environmental decisions this year, California air regulators adopted new rules designed to reduce methane leaks and better respond to disastrous underground fires at landfills statewide.

California Air Resources Board members voted 12-0 on Thursday to approve a batch of new regulations for the state’s nearly...Read more

The Trump administration filed a federal suit against California and its public university systems, alleging its practice of offering in-state college tuition rates to undocumented immigrants who graduate from California high schools is illegal.

The suit, which named Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, the University of California ...Read more

California lawmakers on Thursday denounced the Trump administration’s proposal to open up six offshore lease sales in federal waters off the California coast, with Gov. Gavin Newsom calling the proposal “idiotic” and “reckless,” asserting it will not gain any traction in the state.

The development follows reports earlier this month of...Read more

WASHINGTON — A 28-point peace plan floated by U.S. and Russian envoys would force Ukraine to cede large chunks of territory taken by Russia, cap the size of its military and lift sanctions on Moscow over time, acceding to many of President Vladimir Putin’s wartime demands.

Under the terms of the plan, the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, ...Read more

The Group of 20 hasn’t even started, but has already descended into petty taunting.

This year’s host — South Africa — and next year’s host — the U.S. — spent Thursday trading barbs over what exactly constituted participation in the conference.

But what read at times as a farcical diplomatic dispute over semantics underscored some...Read more