Kim Jong Un says North Korea’s nuclear status is irreversible, threatens SouthNorth Korea’s Nuclear Policy and Regional ImplicationsBy Kyu-seok ShimKim Jong Un’s Speech to ParliamentSEOUL, March 24 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would permanently strengthen its nuclear forces and treat South Korea as its most hostile state, as he set out policy priorities in a speech to parliament, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday. Irreversible Nuclear Status and DeterrenceKim said Pyongyang's status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and expanding a "self-defensive nuclear deterrent" was essential to national security, regional stability and economic development. He rejected the idea that nuclear disarmament could be exchanged for economic benefits or security guarantees, saying North Korea had already proven that maintaining nuclear forces while pursuing development was the correct strategic choice. Analyst Perspectives and U.S. RelationsAnalysts in South Korea said the comments amounted to an indirect critique of U.S. military action against Iran. Instead, it marked a "declaration denying South Korea's very legitimacy as a counterpart", he said.

Cambodia’s largely unexplored limestone caves stretch for thousands of miles, are home to countless undiscovered species and host unique ecosystems, with creatures found nowhere else on Earth. Now, a new survey of caves in the northwestern province of Battambang has uncovered a range of species that are new to science, including a turquoise pit viper, a flying snake, several geckos, two micro-snails and two millipedes. The viper and three of the newly discovered gecko species are still being formally named and characterized. The other finds have been officially recognized over the course of the biodiversity survey, which explored 64 caves across 10 hills between November 2023 and July 2025, and was published in a report Monday. Advertisement AdvertisementEach hill and cave in Cambodia’s rocky karst landscape –– a term for a landscape created when rocks break down, forming large cave springs, sinking streams and sinkholes –– is isolated from the others.

At the time, CBS data showed the Democrats’ position was minus-12 (28% worth a shutdown vs. 40% not worth a shutdown), while the GOP’s was minus-22 (23%-45%). For one, some GOP lawmakers are trying to separate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spending from the rest of the DHS funding and pass the latter now. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer holds a press conference about Democrats demands for immigration enforcement reform, in February. And the administration has scaled back its immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and avoided similar high-profile controversies. Though somewhat ironically, Trump’s new move to put ICE agents at airports could seemingly remind people about their problems with aggressive immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump’s recent reversal on his big red line for Iran is prompting some questions on what, exactly, is motivating his wartime decision-making. The press conference was scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern time, but after talking for a while, Trump announced the actual details shortly after markets closed at 4:30 p.m. But after the markets closed, Trump had a very different message at a Republican gathering. That might have been wise, given how much Trump has warned Iran can’t be trusted. But now, Trump has conveniently delayed his own red line — as it happens, until after the markets are closed for the weekend.

Visiting North Korea twice, in 1997 and 2011, I got a rare glimpse of the Kim personality cult firsthand. Epitomizing the extreme of brutal buffoonery was dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A personality cult is a way to demand fealty through fear, and a theatrical way to enforce conformity. Across Syria after the December 2024 revolution, statues of Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were reduced to rubble. President Donald Trump, a real estate mogul with a clear edifice complex, seems drawn to the temptation to leave a mark.

Shortly after taking a bobsled run with Team USA in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 2009, Colbert described the experience. “[He] currently suffers from traumatic brain injury and latent neurodegenerative disease,” the filing said. He filed a lawsuit in December 2021 that asked USA Bobsled/Skeleton to implement a medical monitoring system to identify and treat sledders with sled head symptoms. Edwards and Perry also filed personal injury lawsuits last week on behalf of two other former USA sledders — Joe Sisson and Rick Baird. The dangers of sliding sports took center stage at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when 11 crashes occurred in two days of bobsled training ahead of the Games.

Democrats have long argued that they’d be willing to fund everything except ICE as negotiations over reining in Trump’s immigration enforcement policies have stalled in the Senate. Advertisement AdvertisementDespite lawmakers having multiple meetings with White House border czar Tom Homan in recent days, aides warn progress has been tedious and slow. That process last summer allowed the GOP to inject billions into immigration enforcement last summer without Democratic support. Even before the Sunday night missive, Republicans — who’d been waiting for Democrats to respond to the latest White House offer in DHS talks — suggested negotiations had slowed. The White House said that it is waiting until Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin is confirmed as Department of Homeland Security secretary to continue negotiating with Democrats.

LOS ANGELES — Robert Vargas is in a bit of a time crunch. In two seasons with L.A., Ohtani has won two National League MVP awards and helped the Dodgers win two World Series championships. On Saturday afternoon, East Los Angeles resident Edgar Reyes came out to see the super-sized artwork being created in real time. Guerrero, who also visited the site on Saturday, said it is "mesmerizing" to watch Vargas work and called the mural "mind-blowing." ©2026 Los Angeles Times.

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Black activist shocked by her FBI filesA powerful and emotional look at history through a deeply personal lens. In this clip from CNN Original Series Standoff: The FBI, Power and Paranoia, Fredrika Newton revisits her FBI files, uncovering the surveillance, tension, and fear that defined the 1960s. A member of the Black Panther Party and widow of activist Huey P. Newton, her story reveals what it meant to live under constant watch and the lasting weight of that scrutiny. Stream the series now on the CNN app.

Plane Collides With Vehicle at LaGuardia AirportEmergency crews swarmed a damaged Air Canada Express plane with a sheared-off nose at LaGuardia Airport, which was shut down early Monday. By Jiawei WangMarch 23, 2026

Your next visit to California’s poppy fields may come with a rattling surprise. VIDEO | 00:14 Mojave “Green” rattlesnake in the flower fieldThe snake appeared to be a Mojave rattlesnake, often called a “Mojave green,” known to inhabit areas of the Antelope Valley, which is part of the Western Mojave Desert. AdvertisementAbout 50 snake species can be found in California, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife . Seven native rattlesnake species are in California, including the Mojave, Western diamondback, red diamond, Southern Pacific, Northern Pacific, Great Basin, and the speckled rattlesnake. For visitors heading to the poppy fields, currently in peak bloom through May, here’s what to do if you encounter a snake.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGMost Americans are paying their first tangible cost of President Donald Trump’s war with Iran at the pump. AdvertisementOn Feb. 26, two days before the war, the national average sat at $2.98, according to data relayed by AAA. “There’s nothing more instantaneous to a consumer than standing there holding down the gas nozzle and watching the numbers tick on the pump,” he said. “If you’re filling up four times a week, that’s $80 of disposable income coming out of your pocket after tax ― disposable income. “Increasingly oil futures markets are suggesting that the Iran war is going to have (or has already had) effects that will last for years.”

Mayer Brown counsel Jakarri Hamlin has been recognized as a 2026 “Banking & Finance Visionary” by LA Times Studios. Among this year's honorees are advisors, financial experts, bankers, and deal brokers who exemplify excellence in Southern California's financial sector. Jakarri has built a sophisticated financing practice at the forefront of private capital and institutional lending. His practice is distinguished by a cross product perspective that integrates fund finance, structured products, and synthetic finance to deliver commercially attuned solutions in evolving markets. View the full list of honorees here.

Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a former waitress in 1972 after escorting her to one of his shows, a civil jury in California concluded Monday, awarding the woman $19.25 million in damages. He served about three years in a Pennsylvania prison on sexual assault charges before that case was overturned in 2021. Donna Motsinger, now 84, said in her lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that Cosby had given her wine and a pill that left her unable to move. AdvertisementMotsinger didn’t consent to Cosby’s sexual contact and, having been rendered unconscious by drugging, she couldn’t consent to it to begin with, according to the complaint. Motsinger filed her suit half a century after the sexual assault — far beyond statutes of limitations in place for such cases.