News for February 18, 2025

Yum Brands is moving KFC’s U.S. headquarters from Kentucky to Texas as part of a broader plan to reorganize its corporate offices.

FireAid has announced $50 million in grants to help community groups support people affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.

Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia and said he could have made a peace deal that avoided most of the damage.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its aircraft have been hit by lasers at least six times since October, raising safety concerns for border missions.

Veteran federal prosecutor Denise Cheung resigned after saying Trump appointees pushed her to take a bank freeze action without enough evidence.

A federal judge refused to block Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing data and making cuts at seven federal agencies while a legal challenge moves forward.

A measles outbreak is growing in rural northwest Texas, and state health officials say more cases are likely, with South Plains Public Health District and Lubbock Public Health helping investigate.

The White House says Elon Musk is only a senior adviser with no formal power to make government decisions for DOGE.

DOGE held meetings at the Pentagon to start planning cost cuts at the Defense Department, with Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the effort should protect military readiness.

The National Association of Home Builders says U.S. builder sentiment fell to a five-month low in February as tariffs, high mortgage rates, and weak affordability raised fears about costs and demand.

Tesla’s law firm has drafted a Delaware bill that could make it easier to restore Elon Musk’s huge 2018 pay package by changing how the state reviews corporate control and shareholder rights.

A New Hampshire grocery store found a mildly venomous snake hidden in a shipment of bananas, and the animal was safely rehomed.

Cynthia Erivo will play Jesus in a Hollywood Bowl production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in early August.

President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal science funding and NIH overhead money are sparking panic at Johns Hopkins University and other research centers, with scientists warning that years of work could be stalled or lost.

Renco, led by Patrick Murphy, says its new brick-like building system can help ease the housing crisis by making homes faster to build, cheaper to insure, and stronger against disasters.

A Delta Air Lines flight crash-landed upside down in Toronto, but all 80 people on board survived and investigators are now looking into what went wrong.

A foreign service worker says the Trump administration’s rushed USAID shutdown led the State Department to cancel emergency medical transport for his pregnant wife, putting her and their unborn child at serious risk.

Kentucky is facing a new round of winter weather after deadly storms and flooding killed 14 people, prompting Governor Andy Beshear to warn residents to stay safe.

Delta Air Lines is facing questions after one of its regional jets crashed and flipped over while landing in Toronto, injuring passengers, as Canadian investigators lead the probe.

Denise Cheung, the top criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., has resigned as the Trump administration brings more changes to the Justice Department.