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Buttigieg: 'Cruel' hoax reporting heinous crimes led to CPS probe

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Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was recently the victim of a "cruel, politically motivated hoax" that brought police to his Traverse City, Michigan, home and temporarily separated him from his adopted twins.

The one-time presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, recounted the incident on his ...Read more

Jospin Mwisha/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

As recoveries rise, doctors are finally learning how Bundibugyo Ebola behaves

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As more patients recover from the world’s largest recorded Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, doctors are beginning to piece together how the rare virus behaves — offering the clearest picture yet of one of the disease’s least-studied strains.

The number of recoveries reported by Congolese health authorities almost doubled in a week, rising to ...Read more

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gov. Newsom, California lawmakers reach a deal on state's $350 billion budget. A quick snapshot of what that entails

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Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic leadership said late Friday afternoon they’ve reached a deal on the state’s $350 billion budget — one they said will ensure there is no deficit this year or next.

Newsom, along with Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón of Santa Barbara and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas, said ...Read more

Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Son-in-law of Sinaloa cartel boss 'El Mayo' pleads guilty in San Diego federal drug case

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SAN DIEGO — Juan Carlos Félix Gastelum, a son-in-law of the infamous Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, pleaded guilty Friday in San Diego federal court to four counts related to drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies.

Also known as “El Chavo Félix,” the 43-year-old admitted in his plea agreement that he...Read more

Jesus Vargas/Getty Images South America/TNS

Venezuela death toll nears 1,000 as aid workers from LA and across the globe arrive

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CARACAS, Venezuela — The death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela was approaching 1,000 Friday as relief workers from across the globe arrived to search for survivors trapped in the rubble and provide desperately needed assistance to a reeling nation.

“Time is the enemy,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone. “We ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

NASA audit warns $1 billion needed to repair Kennedy Space Center's stressed infrastructure

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NASA officials have been shouting for years more money is needed to support infrastructure of a souped-up launch rate on Florida's Space Coast, and now it has an audit confirming things are bad, and could get worse.

NASA’s Office of the Inspector General released its report Monday on NASA launch infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center in ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

US appeals court rejects Trump EPA bid to roll back soot pollution limit

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WASHINGTON — In a blow to the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda, a federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to roll back soot pollution standards set in 2024.

The decision upholds the tightened National Ambient Air Quality Standards for small particulates, called PM2.5, set by former ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Karen Read wrongful death suit: Proctor deposed, while Turtleboy, McCabes, Alberts sought

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BOSTON — Fired Trooper Michael Proctor sat for at least the beginning of his deposition, but many more depositions are — tentatively — lined up in the wrongful death suit against Karen Read and a couple of Canton bars.

“Sounds like we’re trying but we’re not getting very far,” Judge Mark Gildea said in the middle of a short ...Read more

News briefs

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Terrifying 'doublet' earthquakes add to California's seismic dangers. Venezuela shows the risks

The first earthquake, measuring magnitude 7.2, struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening with horrific force. But just 39 seconds after it started, an even more powerful magnitude 7.5 temblor struck, making a catastrophic disaster even worse.

A seismic ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Red flag warning for critical fire weather in place across swath of Southern California

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LOS ANGELES — Areas of San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo and Tulare counties are under a red flag warning until 11 p.m. Saturday as forecasters warn that strong winds and critically low humidity are generating dangerous fire weather conditions.

The warning went into effect at 11 a.m. Friday and covers Death Valley National Park, the Mojave Desert, ...Read more

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Rep. Ro Khanna lays into Gavin Newsom's tax proposal, setting up 2028 battle lines

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rep. Ro Khanna slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s national tax proposal on Friday, accusing the fellow Democrat of being a “cheerleader for the billionaire class” by refusing to back a proposed wealth tax on California’s billionaires.

The two California Democrats and rumored 2028 presidential hopefuls are on opposite ...Read more

Jesus Vargas/Getty Images South America/TNS

Venezuela death toll nears 1,000 as aid workers from across the globe arrive

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CARACAS, Venezuela — The death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela was approaching 1,000 Friday as relief workers from across the globe arrived to search for survivors trapped in the rubble and provide desperately needed assistance to a reeling nation.

“Time is the enemy,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone. “We ...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel, Lebanon reach framework deal aiming to end conflict

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TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel, Lebanon and the United States reached an initial trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for ending the conflict between the two countries and ultimately reaching a peace settlement, a senior Israeli official said Friday.

Israel will maintain a “security zone” along the boundaries of the yellow ...Read more

Silas Walker/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Homicides drop in Kentucky while human trafficking and bribery rise, report shows

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Homicide rates and other serious crime in Kentucky have dropped statewide, according to a new crime data report from Kentucky State Police.

Released Thursday, the 2025 Crime in Kentucky Report details crimes in Kentucky, the occurrence by county, and the rate compared to previous years’ reports.

For the last four years, ...Read more

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images Europe/TNS

US strikes Iran in response to Strait of Hormuz ship attack

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WASHINGTON — The United States attacked Iran one day after Tehran struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, an exchange that threatened to break the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.

U.S. Central Command said that American aircraft on Friday hit Iranian missile and drone storage sites as well as coastal radar installations...Read more

Department of Justice/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Mistrial declared in Palisades fire arson case, a stunning blow to US prosecutors

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LOS ANGELES — A mistrial was declared Friday in the federal trial of a 30-year-old former Uber driver accused of setting what would become the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history.

Jonathan Rinderknecht was on trial for destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Pool/New York Daily News/TNS

Swastika carved into Tesla with Israeli flag in back seat on NYC's Upper East Side

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NEW YORK — A vandal carved a swastika onto the hood of a woman’s Tesla parked on NYC’s Upper East Side — and cops suspect an Israeli flag in the car’s back seat prompted the attack.

The victim parked the car on East 85th Street near First Avenue around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, only to return around 9 a.m. the following morning to find ...Read more

RICHARD PIERRIN/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Europe has a new pitch for Haiti: investments, partnerships over aid

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The European Union is one of the few foreign donors that provides direct budget support to Haiti’s government. Now after years of relying on that traditional model of assistance, European countries are seeking to redefine the relationship by introducing the bloc’s flagship global investment initiative to Haiti and its entrepreneurs.

“Here...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Pool/New York Daily News/TNS

Swastika carved into Tesla with Israeli flag in back seat on NYC's Upper East Side

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NEW YORK — A vandal carved a swastika onto the hood of a woman’s Tesla parked on NYC’s Upper East Side — and cops suspect an Israeli flag in the car’s back seat prompted the attack.

The victim parked the car on East 85th Street near First Avenue around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, only to return around 9 a.m. the following morning to find ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Cleanup of rotting meat, scorched debris begins at Boyle Heights cold storage warehouse

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LOS ANGELES — Idling trucks, sandbag piles and large metal trailers stationed around a massive cold storage facility that burned for days in Boyle Heights signaled that the work to clean up millions of pounds of spoiled food and burned debris had begun Friday morning.

The smells that have wafted through the neighborhood since June 17 — fire...Read more