SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two mountaineers kept their extensive climbing knowledge close to their chest as they trekked through powder draped over Mount Shasta during a weekend snowboarding trip.

But their knowledge couldn’t overcome capricious wind gusts billowing at an elevation of 13,000 feet near Avalanche Gulf, a route featuring a 7,000-...Read more

DOHA, Qatar — When U.S. officials needed to negotiate with the Taliban to bring an end to the Afghanistan war, they turned to Qatar.

With Russia continuing its campaign in Ukraine, Qatar has become the main facilitator for what little communication there is between the two sides.

In past years, this tiny desert nation has captured outsized ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors are urging the judge in the Moscow college student murder case to reject defendant Bryan Kohberger’s alibi submitted earlier this month and limit how his defense can present the evidence at trial.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson argued in a written response that the defense has failed to meet the state’s ...Read more

Parking is at a premium at the International Space Station, but NASA and SpaceX cleared out one spot as a cargo Dragon spacecraft completed its trip home with a splashdown off the Florida coast early Tuesday.

NASA still needs to shift the remaining Dragon spacecraft from its spot to clear the path for next week’s launch of Boeing’s CST-100 ...Read more

IRVINE, Calif. — A few dozen students at UC Irvine stayed overnight at a tent encampment that formed Monday, April 29, on campus, hoping to get the university to cut financial ties with Israel and raise awareness over the death of Palestinian people in the Israel-Hamas war.

The protest is part of a nationwide movement across college campuses ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is recommending cannabis be reclassified as less risky, people familiar with the matter said — a move that could help the legal marijuana industry benefit from tax breaks. Pot stocks surged on the news.

Several steps remain in the process of rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III from ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday will vote on legislation that would add language defining antisemitism to a federal antidiscrimination law.

Republicans say the change is needed to codify what counts as antisemitism and give the federal government the ability to withhold funding from schools that allow it to fester.

”We see what it...Read more

To counteract growing rates of breast cancer in younger women and to reduce racial disparities in deaths, an influential panel has changed its advice and is urging most women to begin getting regular mammograms starting at age 40.

The new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say women without genetic mutations that make ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill police detained members of a pro-Palestinian “Gaza solidarity encampment” early Tuesday morning after warning the group to remove its tents from university grounds or face possible arrest, suspension or expulsion from the university.

University officials confirmed Wednesday ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — As protests over the war in Gaza continued on campuses around the country, sparking some condemnation from the White House on Tuesday, the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations visited Philadelphia and encouraged high school students here to “make their voices heard.”

Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke to students at...Read more

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson held a news conference Tuesday with the chairs of several key congressional committees to warn university presidents to control protests on their campuses and protect Jewish students from bigoted and threatening speech.

“This is not a gray issue. There is right and wrong here,” Johnson said.

The ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — UNC-Chapel Hill police detained members of a pro-Palestinian “Gaza solidarity encampment” early Tuesday morning after warning the group to remove its tents from university grounds or face possible arrest, suspension or expulsion from the university.

UNC interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens announced ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Police at the University of Connecticut cracked down on student protesters Tuesday morning, arresting those who were part of the “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the Storrs campus. Student organizers reported that 23 protesters were arrested.

Students said that police encircled and dismantled the encampment, established ...Read more

Seven other victims of the Swan Boat Club crash in Monroe County that left two children dead and nearly a dozen others injured have filed a lawsuit against the driver who crashed into the building, the boat club and the tavern where the driver was allegedly drinking at before the crash.

Denise Roberts, Martin Roberts, Patricia Raths, Alyssa ...Read more

BOSTON — An influx of migrants into Massachusetts has helped fill a “well-documented worker shortage,” Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday during a speech to leaders of some of the region’s largest and most influential businesses.

Thousands of families have arrived in the Bay State over the past year, which has put a strain on emergency ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California's population rose last year for the first time since 2020, according to new state data.

The state's population increased by 0.17% — or more than 67,000 people — between Jan. 1, 2023, and Jan. 1, 2024, when California was home to 39,128,162 people, according to new population estimates released Tuesday by the ...Read more

ATLANTA — A right-wing website that spread false claims of voting fraud against two Georgia election workers has filed for bankruptcy as it tries to fend off a defamation lawsuit.

The Gateway Pundit accused Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of counting “suitcases” of fraudulent ballots during the 2020 presidential...Read more

ATHENS, Ga. — Protesters against Israel’s war in Gaza dwindled on the University of Georgia’s campus on Tuesday, one day after more than a dozen demonstrators were arrested.

It might have been partly the rain. Or that there were no classes, which ended Monday. Or that students were spooked by the threat of suspensions just days before ...Read more

Florida will this week begin enforcement of a six-week abortion ban, the state’s strictest limits on the procedure in more than 50 years. The law penalizes doctors who perform abortions with sanctions that could include revocation of their medical license.

The ban covers abortions through medication, but abortion-by-mail providers say they ...Read more