A Los Angeles high school's "secrecy policy" kept a California couple in the dark about their only child's gender identity, helped "sever" the family's relationship — and ultimately drove the teen to suicide, his parents alleged.

Dylan Parke was already struggling to fit in as a sophomore at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles in 2019-2020 when he told school staffers he would use she/her pronouns and go by the name "Aria," as he transitioned into a woman.

Parke had been diagnosed with depression, was in mental health treatment and "appeared easily influenced and preoccupied with how others perceived him," parents Kathleen Mulligan and Andrew Parke said in a California federal court lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, embattled superintendent Alberto Caravlho and others.

But despite their proactive involvement in Dylan's life, staffers kept his trans declaration a secret — driving a wedge between the child and his desperate parents, they said in court papers.

Old Dominion terrorist Mohamed Bailor Jalloh had previously been serving time in federal prison for helping to plot a heinous potential attack against the US — but he ended up being cut loose early, records show.

The 36-year-old ISIS-linked maniac — who was killed when he opened fire at the Virginia university Thursday — had said he was considering trying to pull off another attack akin to the Fort Hood massacre in 2009 that killed 13 people, the feds said.

He ended up copping a plea to attempting to provide material support to ISIL — and was then sprung from federal custody Dec. 23, 2024, after serving roughly eight years of his 11-year sentence.

The convicted terror plotter received an early release after completing a prison drug-treatment program that lets inmates shave up to a year off their sentences, The Associated Press reported Friday, citing a source familiar with the situation.

West Virginia's ban on Medicaid coverage of surgical procedures for people with gender dysphoria is legal, a federal court ruled on March 10.

A 2025 U.S. Supreme Court decision means the ban does not violate the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause or the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, writing for a unanimous panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, said in a 35-page decision.

West Virginia's Medicaid plan excludes a number of treatments and procedures, including "infertility services" and "sex changes."

People who sued over the ban said they were being discriminated against, in part because of the Equal Protection Clause, which says that states must not deny people equal protection under the law.

Cubans have been experiencing frequent power black outs as oil supplies have run out

Cuba's national electric grid has collapsed, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10m people without power amid ⁠a US-imposed oil blockade that has ⁠crippled the ⁠island's already ailing generation system.

The island's of 9.6 million inhabitants, under a US trade embargo since 1962, has for years been mired in a severe economic crisis marked by extended power cuts and shortages of fuel, medicine and food.

It has now also been cut off from critical oil supplies from Venezuela and from Mexico under the threat of US tariffs.

Music and dance classes may also go against the teachings of Islam

Children's drawings could be considered blasphemous, while music and dance lessons could contravene the teachings of Islam, local councils have warned schools.

The guidance has been issued to teachers across northern England as part of a publication intended to highlight 'sensitivity and awareness around faiths and beliefs'.

Sharing The Journey has been designed to help schools 'demonstrate a sensitive and positive approach to religious and cultural diversity to pupils, parents and carers'.

It adds: 'Schools will want to be flexible in catering for religious differences.'

The night of February 28-March 1, 2026, will be remembered by all those who followed the news in real time. At 1:15 AM EST, seated in the White House Situation Room, US President Donald Trump said, "Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck."

Those nine words signaled the launch of the largest US-Israeli military operation in decades. F-35 fighters, B-2 bombers, cruise missiles launched from ships in the Persian Gulf, and drones struck over 3,000 targets in Tehran, Natanz, Fordow, and other locations in Iran. The mission was to eradicate what remained of Iran's nuclear program, dismantle the command structure of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and as Trump later confirmed in a video address from Mar-a-Lago, "eliminate imminent threats" to the US from the Iranian leadership.

However, within hours, the situation changed. Iranian state television announced that "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has fallen a martyr due to the aggression of the Zionist and American enemy." On March 2, CENTCOM reported the first casualties: six US service members were killed, four of whom were reservists from Iowa, young fathers and sons. As the US launched its strikes, polls painted a bleak picture: according to Reuters/Ipsos, only 27% of Americans supported the attacks, while YouGov showed a slightly higher 37% approval rating. A sense of déjà vu hung in the air - many remembered how America had once greeted the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and how, just a year later, the sight of flag-draped coffins became a sobering reality check.

Another U.S. military evacuation flight from Saudi Arabia arrived in Germany on Thursday, this one carrying about 19 injured service members, including two hurt during a drone attack.

The flight, which CBS News Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs reported, occurred two days after a group of about 20 injured military members arrived at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany via a C-17 aircraft.

The flight departed from Saudi Arabia, made a stop in Oman, and landed at a U.S. base in Germany close to a military hospital, according to the CBS report. On board were two military members injured "when a drone exploded next to their vehicle," according to CBS News.

Six crew members were killed when a US Air Force refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command announced Friday morning.

The Tampa, Fla.-based command said the crash of the KC-135 Stratotanker followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in "friendly airspace"

"The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," CENTCOM pointedly declared in a statement..

The second aircraft, also a KC-135, landed safely in Israel, according to Yechiel Leiter, the Jewish state's ambassador to the US.

The military was withholding the identities of the crew members until 24 hours after their families were notified. War Secretary Pete Hegseth lauded the fallen as heroes during a Pentagon news conference Friday.

Last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp released the industry data for US banks for 2025. On the surface, the numbers look reassuring, even strong. But beneath the calm headline figures lies a growing risk that investors should not ignore. Domestic deposits increased for the sixth consecutive quarter in Q4 2025 by $318.3 billion or 1.8%, the FDIC reports. Loans grew by 2% in Q4 and almost 6% YOY. Foreign deposits grew 11%, but subordinated debt and FHLB advances each fell ~ 14% as banks shed excess capital and funding.

U.S. bank loan growth in 2025 was robust, with total loans and leases reaching $13.4 trillion by year-end, a sequential increase in Q4 and a 5.9% annual growth rate, driven by larger institutions. Personal loan balances hit $2.2 trillion, while credit card debt rose 5.5% annually but the utilization rate for credit cards is still less than 20% of the total credit available. Yet behind this placid picture is a growing threat to banks and financial markets. At first glance, this looks like a healthy banking system. But that placid picture masks a fast-growing vulnerability that could become the next major pressure point for banks and financial markets.

Now that the Virginia General Assembly has passed what it calls "assault weapon ban" legislation, all that's needed is for Gov. Abigail Spanberger to sign it into law, which is all but a given. Once signed, Senate Bill 749 will likely take effect as soon as July 1, 2026.

The law will ban the sale, import, manufacture, purchase, and transfer of what it describes as "assault firearms," and it will treat high-capacity magazines that can hold 15 rounds or more in the same way. It will make any violations of the law a "Class 1 misdemeanor," which could mean up to a year in jail and a $2,500 for a first offense.

While SB 749 does not explicitly ban AR-15 rifles, since the popular long rifle falls under the bill's definition of assault weapons, it will be effectively banned.