U.S. crude fell below $100 a barrel and Wall Street was headed for gains again Wednesday after U.S. markets soared to their best day in almost a year on renewed hopes that the Iran war could soon end. Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.8% before the opening bell, while Nasdaq futures jumped 1%. The renewed optimism over a possible de-escalation of the Iran war came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. will be done attacking Iran probably in two to three weeks. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped about 2% to $98.83 a barrel.
A father and his two children were hospitalized after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street at the North Delaware Street and State Street intersection in San Mateo this past weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump says the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war. He also said responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz will shift to countries that rely on it. U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide.
A long-awaited upgrade to the region’s transit payment system launched a few months ago, but a number of technical problems have contributed to mounting frustration among riders and transit leaders.
Iran has hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport. Airstrikes meanwhile have battered Tehran. The unrelenting tempo continued hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was nearly ready to wind down the war. He said he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon, even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire. That raised the possibility that the U.S. could withdraw without any guarantee from Iran that it would stop bombing its Gulf Arab neighbors or release its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Trump is scheduled to address the nation later Wednesday.
The Supreme Court is taking up one of the term’s most consequential cases, President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The Republican president plans to be there Wednesday, making him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court. The justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling from New Hampshire that struck down the citizenship restrictions, which have not taken effect anywhere in the country. A definitive ruling is expected by early summer. The birthright citizenship order is part of the Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown.
San Bruno Police Chief Matt Lethin is attempting to reassure residents that the department will continue to provide all essential services, as concerns grow over ongoing, stagnated labor negotiations between police and the city.
South San Francisco has completed nearly 20% of its state-mandated housing targets for the current 2023-31 planning cycle, issuing roughly 770 building permits for housing units thus far.
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — A scrawny hippie and a nerdy engineer who became prank-playing friends vowed to change the world when they founded a Silicon Valley startup on April Fools' Day 50 years ago and then — no joke — pulled it off.
Good Friday is a unique and uniquely solemn day in the Christian calendar. Celebrated the Friday before Easter, it commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. This year it will fall on April 3 for Catholics and Protestants, and April 10 for Orthodox Christians. Across Christian denominations, worship service on Good Friday is unlike those on most other days. For Catholics, it’s the only day when Mass is not celebrated. Instead, the services on Good Friday include centuries-old, once-a-year traditions both during the liturgy and out in the streets, where elaborate processions and other rituals of fervent popular piety are held in many countries.
Good help is hard to find — A babysitter stole $5,000 worth of jewelry on East Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo; it was reported 12:09 p.m. Thursday, March 19.
ROME (AP) — The first time was considered a fluke. The second was treated as a crisis. Now, with Italy failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, it has become almost expected for the once-proud soccer nation.
GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congo erupted in joy overnight after a 100th-minute goal against Jamaica sent the African country back to the World Cup for the first time in more than half a century.
Advocacy groups and experts have slammed YouTube for serving up low-quality artificial intelligence-generated videos to its most vulnerable audience: children. In a letter to the CEOs of YouTube and its parent company Google, children’s advocacy group Fairplay expressed concern about the spread of AI-generated videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids. The letter was signed by more than 200 organizations and experts including child psychiatrists and educators. The videos distort kids' sense of reality and dominate their attention spans, the advocacy groups say. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has said “managing AI slop” is one of the company’s priorities for 2026.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Chang Ung, a former North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee who once led sports exchanges with rival South Korea, including joint marches of their athletes at the Olympics, has died, the IOC announced Wednesday. He was 87.
Amsterdam is marking 25 years since the world's first gay marriages were celebrated in the Netherlands. Three couples married at City Hall on Wednesday just after midnight, led in a ceremony by Mayor Femke Halsema. More than 40 countries now allow same-sex marriages. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is gay, says the milestone inspired him as a teenager. The LGBTQ movement is facing challenges elsewhere. Advocates cite new efforts in some U.S. states to challenge marriage equality and rising hostility toward LGBTQ+ people in parts of Africa.
A Russian military plane has crashed in annexed Crimea, killing six crew and 23 passengers on board. Russian news agencies reported the crash early Wednesday, citing the country’s Defense Ministry, which said it lost contact with the plane, which was carrying out a scheduled flight over the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, on Tuesday evening. The ministry said it believes a technical malfunction caused the crash, and that there was no “damaging interference” with the plane. The plane crashed into a cliff, sources at the scene told state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.
Chile’s new president is a devout Catholic in a country that has grown increasingly secular but retains conservative traits in various areas. José Antonio Kast's faith resonates with some supporters, even as analysts say it may shape — but not immediately change — policy on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Kast — who took office on March 11 — won 58% of the vote after pledging to crack down on crime and deport immigrants without legal status. Kast has opposed emergency contraception, same-sex marriage, and abortion for years. He belongs to Schoenstatt, a Catholic movement devoted to the Virgin Mary.
It's humanity's first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA's Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. Three Americans and a Canadian will launch into orbit around Earth and then head for the moon. They'll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back during the nearly 10-day mission. The Artemis launch will begin at Florida's Kennedy Space Center where the Apollo moonshots did. The mission will end with a splashdown homecoming into the Pacific.
Sexual abuse allegations against the revered labor leader César Chavez have led to a swift fallout, leaving many to reconcile the legacy of a man who fought tirelessly for the rights of farmworkers. Latino leaders and community leaders have quickly condemned the alleged abuse by Chavez. Now they are weighing the impact of his actions on the labor rights movement and how to move forward, acknowledging Chavez's actions and the impact he had on Latino civil rights. Reconciling that with a tainted legacy is something various civil rights groups have had to do as accusations and rumors surface. For many, the reckoning is an example of why movements should not be tied to one person.
TRIKORFO, Greece (AP) — Can a centuries-old ritual of spiritual renewal rekindle a New Year’s resolution to build healthy eating habits before it fades in the spring?
Bruce Springsteen was in a defiant but upbeat mood in Minneapolis as he launched his latest U.S. tour. Springsteen denounced the Trump administration Tuesday for sending federal officers into the city over the winter. And he delivered a not-so-veiled salvo against the war in Iran as he opened with a thunderous version of the song, “War.” Thousands of audience members held lit-up phones as Springsteen played his tribute to the city, “Streets of Minneapolis.” His tour ends May 27 in Washington, D.C., where he says he’ll have a few choice words for the White House.
California is considering getting into the construction insurance business to help factory-built housing scale up and cut costs. The move is an effort to put a dent in the state's housing shortage. Lawmakers led by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks rolled out a package of bills that trims rules and standardizes approvals. One bill stands out. It has the state backstop surety bonds for housing factories by covering part of payouts in extreme failures. Supporters say factories get stuck in a doom loop. Developers demand bonds. Insurers demand a track record. Factories cannot get work to build one. Critics say direct funding could help more, and taxpayers could face unknown risk.
Democrats have run California for years. But in a nationally critical election, the party is being confronted by the limits of its own power: the race for governor is out of control. Barely a month before the start of mail-in voting, Democratic leaders are openly dreading the possible loss of a statewide election for the first time in two decades. No star has emerged from a muddled field of candidates for the state’s premier job. Meanwhile the race has degenerated into finger-pointing over debate eligibility, identity politics and 2025 ballot counting — issues distant from voters struggling with soaring gas and food costs.
A U.S. resident of 27 years who was deported to Mexico by the Trump administration has returned home to Sacramento. The woman was shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program allowing people brought to the U.S. as children to stay in the country if they generally stay out of trouble. But federal immigration officials deported her in February after she showed up for an immigration appointment. A federal judge then ordered her return to the U.S., saying her removal violated her due process rights. The events come amid President Donald Trump’s reshaping of immigration policy more broadly.
Hydrologists working high in the Rocky Mountains have measured what they say is Colorado’s driest winter of snow moisture on record. That means water shortfalls are likely ahead as drought persists across Colorado and other western states. The paltry snow was even worse than what ranchers considered the bad drought years of 2002, 1981 and 1977. Statewide records go back nearly a century. At this time, snowpack usually is at its peak in the Colorado Rockies. But high-country ranchers say they're already having to think about how to get water and feed for their cattle in the months ahead.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are both seen as the Republican Party’s strongest potential candidates in the next presidential election, but the Iran war could prove to be a political millstone for them. Rubio’s full-throated support for the war could come back to haunt him depending on how the war turns out. Vance, meanwhile, risks accusations of disloyalty if he were to stray too far from President Donald Trump's messaging, but an appearance of support for the war could be seen as an about-face given his longtime skepticism of foreign military interventions.
TMZ is turning its celebrity lens on Congress, tracking lawmakers on recess as a nearly six-week Department of Homeland Security shutdown drags on. Viral videos of senators in airports, Las Vegas and Disney World have fueled backlash and intensified pressure for lawmakers to return. That pressure now extends beyond social media, with unions and President Donald Trump all urging Congress back to Washington. But even if they return, there is no clear path to a deal. A bipartisan Senate agreement collapsed after House Republicans rejected it, leaving lawmakers at a deeper impasse and raising fresh questions about how — or whether — the standoff can end.
Once a semester, a Cornell University instructor requires her students to complete an in-class assignment using typewriters — an exercise to help them understand what writing, thinking and classrooms were like before everything turned digital. The exercise started in 2023, as Grit Mathias Phelps grew frustrated that her German language students were using generative AI and online translation platforms to churn out grammatically perfect assignments. The revival is part of a national trend toward old-school testing methods like in-class pen-and-paper exams and oral tests to prevent AI use for assignments on laptops.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog said Tuesday it was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms.
U.S. President Donald Trump says the responsibility for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open should belong with countries that rely on it, rather than the U.S. Trump expressed frustration earlier Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Meanwhile, U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide. Israel and the U.S. have launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran early Tuesday. The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people in the region and displaced millions in Lebanon and Iran.
Iraqi officials say an American journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad and security forces are pursuing her captors. The journalist was identified as freelancer Shelly Kittleson by one of the outlets she worked for. A U.S. official blamed the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah. Two Iraqi security officials said the journalist was kidnapped on Tuesday and that she has U.S. citizenship. They said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed while being pursued near the town of Al-Haswa in Babil province southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was the transferred to a second car that fled the scene. The U.S. Embassy had warned about kidnapping risks to U.S. citizens during the Iran war.
A Russian oil tanker has reached Cuba with a huge shipment, easing a dire fuel shortage after months without deliveries. The ship docked at the port of Matanzas on Tuesday, carrying about 730,000 barrels of oil. Cuban officials and residents celebrated as blackouts have dragged on and shortages of food and medicine grow. Cuba makes only about 40% of the fuel it needs. Experts say the cargo could cover diesel demand for around nine or 10 days. The Trump administration let the tanker proceed despite U.S. pressure on Cuba. The vessel also faces Western sanctions tied to Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday night said he has “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering relief to the island, which has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade. “We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because th…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is pausing the purchase of new warehouses intended to house immigrants as it scrutinizes all contracts signed under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to a senior Homeland Security official.
President Donald Trump lashed out at allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort against Iran. The president on Tuesday told them to “go get your own oil” and said it was not America’s job to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the military could end its offensive in two to three weeks and that the U.S. won’t have anything to do with what happens next in the strait, which has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the vital waterway open will rest with countries that rely on it.
Australia is considering bringing court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube after alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms. Australia banned young children from holding accounts on 10 social media platforms in December. The first report from the eSAfety commission about compliance with the law was issued Tuesday. It found significant concerns with five platforms and was gathering evidence against them before deciding whether to initiate court action. The law also applies to Reddit, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch, but they aren't under investigation.
Tiger Woods says he’ll step away and seek treatment after his SUV crash in Florida. Woods made his comments Tuesday, four days after the crash that led to his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence. Woods pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in his driving under the influence case. The plea came hours after a sheriff’s report said he had pain pills in his pocket and showed signs of impairment at the crash scene last week. I’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, he announced a leave after his SUV plowed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando.
LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is going ahead with a state visit to the United States despite calls for the ceremonial event to be called off due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the British government for failing to support the war in Iran.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to tighten voting rules by creating a national list of eligible voters and limiting mail ballots. The order signed Tuesday directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration on state-by-state voter lists. It also seeks to stop the Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to people not on approved lists. The order calls for adding barcodes on ballot envelopes and threatens to withhold federal funds from states that do not comply. Democratic election officials in Oregon, Arizona, and Maine quickly promised lawsuits and non-compliance. Legal experts also question the order’s constitutionality.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada has ruled against conservationists who wanted to stop a lithium-boron mine they said would harm an endangered wildflower.
A federal judge has agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. The two are media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss cited the First Amendment in his decision. The impact was not immediately clear — both because it will likely be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.
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