As Muslims gather for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, they will circle around the “Kaaba,” a black cube draped in gold-embroidered cloth. A ceremonial textile – known as the “kiswah” – covers the Kaaba, around which Muslims will walk seven times in a ritual known as “tawāf.” It is the central act of the...Read more

Thanks to the Walt Disney Company, Pocahontas may be the most famous Native American who lived in the 17th century. The animated film version of her early life included her speaking with a willow tree, befriending animals, singing about “the colors of the wind,” and being caught up in an ill-fated romance with Captain John Smith.

...Read more

In 10 minutes, volunteers collected nearly 700 nurdles at Rotary Park in Carlsbad earlier this month. Nurdles are tiny, pre-production plastic pellets about the size of a lentil or a fish egg, and they’re a problem.

“They are the raw material used to manufacture virtually every plastic product in existence. We’re talking water bottles, ...Read more

From California Rock, 1,100 feet above Yosemite Valley, the crown jewel of America's beloved national parks spreads out beneath you.

The jaw-dropping north face of 8,800-foot Half Dome towers to the east. The silky green ribbon of the Merced River meanders through the valley floor below, astonishingly lush during the spring snow melt. Even cars...Read more

The first drone arrived around 3 a.m., its presence announced by a rip of antiaircraft fire drumrolling through blacked-out boulevards. More drones followed, once more plunging the residents of this besieged city into a 21st-century version of the Blitz.

This is the civil war in Sudan as the conflict enters its fourth year: a staggeringly ...Read more

World Central Kitchen, the global relief group, came to Orange County this weekend to deliver 2,200 hot meals to residents who were evacuated from their homes in the wake of a dangerously malfunctioning storage tank at an aerospace company in Garden Grove.

Organizers mobilized as soon as they heard about the chemical crisis, World Central ...Read more

President Donald Trump has spoken. On Sunday, the undisputed leader of the Republican Party threw his weight behind Ty Masterson in the Kansas governor’s race, instantly securing his status as the frontrunner in a nine-candidate GOP primary field.

“It is my Great Honor to endorse Ty Masterson, a fantastic Candidate running to be the next ...Read more

Mayor Brandon Johnson stopped by a South Side restaurant Sunday afternoon before his visit to the Vatican. There, he rallied supporters with his plans to discuss foreign affairs, affordability — and Chicago sports teams — with Pope Leo XIV.

Johnson revived his earlier promise to present the Chicago-born Pope, who also holds the title of the...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom formally requested a federal emergency declaration to aid with the ongoing response at a chemical storage tank at a Garden Grove aerospace company.

Experts and emergency crews have been working since Thursday to try to prevent a potentially catastrophic chemical spill or explosion at GKN Aerospace. The tank is filled with 7,...Read more

Preparations are being made for what a Federal Emergency Management Agency document described as a “14-day mass care event” in response to the crisis at the Garden Grove aerospace company, where a malfunctioning chemical storage tank threatens to leak or explode.

It was unclear on Sunday, May 24, whether officials believe residents and ...Read more

Britain will have to wait weeks, if not months, for confirmation that it’s getting a new prime minister. And the gears of government are starting to slow as the political drama plays out in Westminster.

While the U.K.’s embattled leader, Keir Starmer, has pressed ahead with a new legislative program and a flurry of announcements meant to ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD — When federal immigration officers flooded Chicago neighborhoods last fall, walk-ins at Erick Camargo’s hair salon in Chicago plunged from about 40 customers per day to as few as five.

At the height of Operation Midway Blitz, Camargo locked the doors during business hours to keep agents from entering. Some barbers worked out of...Read more

The deadly shooting last week at the Islamic Center of San Diego was the latest in a chain of White supremacist attacks that experts say have evolved from organized neo-Nazi groups into sprawling online radicalization.

As investigators work to understand how the two teens accused in the attack became radicalized, experts say the path ...Read more

Working in a darkened laboratory, Laurel Sacco dips a cup into a large tank of water and scoops up dozens of young walleye. She pours one into a petri dish and examines it under a microscope.

The fry has been harvested from Pine River near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, where the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has ...Read more

A potential crack in the bottom of a compromised chemical tank, which has prompted the evacuation of more than 50,000 people in the suburbs of Los Angeles, may prevent a previously feared explosion.

Orange County Fire Authority has worked since Friday to contain a chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, about 35 miles southeast...Read more

Duke Lecroix has never set foot in Haiti, but every time the 32-year-old New Jersey-born defender pulls that blue-and-red national team shirt over his head, his heart swells with pride and he vows to bring joy to the soccer-loving people of the impoverished island ravaged by gang violence and political instability.

When Haiti’s World Cup team...Read more

A compromised chemical tank in California that has prompted the evacuation of more than 40,000 people is more likely to leak into its surroundings than explode, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said.

Orange County Fire Authority has worked since Friday to contain a chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove,...Read more

A bill awaiting Gov. Tim Walz’s signature would require children 15 and younger to get parental consent to have social media accounts while limiting “addictive” features.

The proposed law makes Minnesota part of a growing number of states seeking more regulation over how young people use social media. Last year, 45 states and Puerto Rico ...Read more