California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Durst has never been charged in the 1982 New York disappearance of his wife Kathie Durst, who was later declared dead despite no body being found, but on Wednesday a prosecutor in a Los Angeles courtroom repeatedly told a jury that he killed her.

“Bob Durst killed his wife,” Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said at one point during his opening statement at the trial of the real estate heir Durst, who is charged only with the murder of his friend Susan Berman in 2000.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The dizzying fight for the Democratic presidential nomination reaches a critical juncture on Tuesday as millions of voters from Maine to California head to the polls. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has energized liberals and young voters, is seeking to pull away from the rest of the field, while Joe Biden hopes to ride a wave of momentum and establish himself as the standard-bearer for the party’s moderate wing.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency and, as a result, lacked authority to give asylum seekers less time to prepare for initial screening interviews.

Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and an immigration hardliner, was named to a new position of “principal deputy director” in June, which immediately made him acting director because Lee Francis Cissna had just resigned. The agency grants green cards and other visas and also oversees asylum officers.

SAN JOSE, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Attorney General's Office of Costa Rica directed on Friday ten simultaneous raids on areas that included the headquarters of the Costa Rican Presidency and the Ministry of National Planning.

The attorney general's office stated that President Carlos Alvarado, together with seven officials, were under investigation for their connection with the creation of the Presidential Data Analysis Unit (UPAD).

The investigation was initiated after the publication on Feb. 17 of a decree that sought to formalize the creation of UPAD.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted unanimously Friday to suspend an order it issued earlier in the day to block a central pillar of the Trump administration’s policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. courts.

The three-judge panel told the government to file written arguments by the end of Monday and for the plaintiffs to respond by the end of Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire Mike Bloomberg said Thursday that he might not spend money to assist Bernie Sanders if Sanders is the Democratic presidential nominee, days after a Sanders adviser said they wouldn’t want the help.

Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver said Tuesday that it would be a “hard no” on accepting Bloomberg’s financial assistance.

SAN FRANCISCO/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of several vying to be the Democratic party’s presidential nominee, this week pressed the world’s largest asset manager for details on its recent vows to take more account of climate risks.

The five-page letter, also signed by senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen, is the latest outreach BlackRock Inc has received over sustainability matters and reflects the growing interest, at least among some Democrats, in making climate a business issue for financial firms.

PALA MESA, Calif. (AP) — A charter bus swerved on a rain-slicked Southern California highway and rolled down an embankment Saturday, killing three people and injuring 18 others, authorities said.

Several passengers were thrown from the bus, and one of the dead was trapped under the vehicle after it landed on its roof shortly after 10 a.m. off Interstate 15 in Pala Mesa, an unincorporated community about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of San Diego, North County Fire Protection District spokesman John Choi said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Donald Trump began a four-day Western swing on Tuesday with a fundraiser in Los Angeles, the first stop on a trip aimed at making himself a distraction as Democratic presidential candidates focus on the Nevada caucuses.

Buoyed by his acquittal in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial, Trump has campaign rallies planned in Phoenix on Wednesday, Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday and Las Vegas on Friday. All the events are aimed at providing a competing message to the Democrats.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Mike Bloomberg would sell the financial data and media company he created in the 1980s — which bears his name and made him a multibillionaire — if he is elected U.S. president, a top adviser said Tuesday.

Bloomberg would put Bloomberg LP into a blind trust, and the trustee would then sell the company, adviser Tim O’Brien said. Proceeds from the sale would go to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable giving arm that funds causes from climate change to public health and grants for American cities.