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Low-resistance tires could cut drivers' costs while supporting environment in California

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LOS ANGELES — More than 20 years after legislators first told the California Energy Commission that replacement tires need to be as energy-efficient as original tires, the agency is taking action.

Tires on new cars have low “rolling resistance,” meaning there is less friction and drag on the engine as it propels the car forward. That ...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/TNS

NorCal braces for dry, dangerous fire season as SoCal faces typical conditions

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LOS ANGELES — Southern California’s top fire officials met behind closed doors in East Los Angeles Friday to discuss the outlook for this year’s peak fire season and how to coordinate the region’s world-class firefighters to keep communities safe.

At a press conference afterward, officials stressed that even though coastal Southern ...Read more

AFP/AFP/TNS

Trump says he'll sign deal with Iran to reopen Hormuz Sunday

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President Donald Trump said an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict with Iran would be signed on Sunday, a claim contradicted by Iran as the two sides still differ over key points, including management of the waterway and payments to the Islamic Republic.

“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and ...Read more

Hurricane center continues to track system that could form in Gulf

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Saturday continued to forecast an area of low pressure that had formed off the coast of Mexico has a low chance to develop when it moves into the Gulf next week.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the broad area of low pressure was just offshore of eastern Mexico producing some shower ...Read more

Melina Mara/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump allies can still seek millions in 'weaponization' claims

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The U.S. Justice Department says it has dropped plans for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that critics denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s supporters.

But “weaponization” claims will keep coming.

The new fund was expected to offer a faster and easier path to government payouts for people alleging ...Read more

US's screwworm fix is still a year away, risking more spread

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The U.S.’s best weapon against a deadly cattle parasite threatening the beef industry is more than a year away from showing meaningful results, raising concerns over how far the outbreak could spread before then.

When the New World screwworm reached the U.S. earlier this month after advancing across Mexico for more than a year, federal ...Read more

Thomas Coex/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

The pope appears to Spain's Pedro Sánchez in his moment of need

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Pedro Sánchez is having a come-to-Jesus moment.

After eight years in office, Sánchez attended his first Roman Catholic mass as prime minister on Wednesday when Pope Leo XIV blessed the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. Sánchez’s Socialists have traditionally had a difficult relationship with the church — but this week, with this ...Read more

AFP/AFP/TNS

Trump says he'll sign deal with Iran to reopen Hormuz Sunday

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President Donald Trump said an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict with Iran would be signed on Sunday, even as both sides have differed on the details.

“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump said in a social media post on ...Read more

KENT NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump at 80 works to project strength as political woes mount

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President Donald Trump is trying to project brute strength as he turns 80, but mounting political problems at home and abroad are tarnishing his self-styled image as an all-powerful leader.

Trump will celebrate becoming an octogenarian as he hosts an extravagant, $60 million Ultimate Fighting Championship showcase on the White House South Lawn...Read more

Robyn Beck/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

'It's an injustice': Shrinking state funds could slow fixes for Californians with toxic water

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In a neighborhood flanked by grapevines and orange groves on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, people cannot drink the water from their faucets because it’s contaminated.

Residents in the area north of Porterville, many of them farmworkers, have been discussing a solution, which they expect will require running pipes to connect to the ...Read more

Maria Dietz/TNS

Rolexes, diamonds and broken promises: The rise and fall of a Calif. jeweler who conned the wealthy

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LOS ANGELES -- In certain circles, Nelson Holdo was the go-to guy for fine jewelry and luxury watches.

He ingratiated himself with the wealthy, touting his charitable donations and trips to Geneva, the world’s watchmaking capital. He hosted extravagant poker nights where players smoked cigars and cashed out chips toward pieces worn by roving ...Read more

Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune/TNS

New protections on the way for patients against sexual abuse, misconduct by healthcare workers

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CHICAGO — State oversight failures exposed in a Tribune investigation drove a package of major changes to state law aimed at better protecting patients from sexual abuse or other inappropriate conduct by doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who first proposed the legislation more than a year ago, ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Trump's quiet crackdown: Fewer ICE raids, harsher rules push immigrants to leave

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WASHINGTON — A year after the Trump administration kicked off its aggressive immigration enforcement tour with military-style raids across greater Los Angeles, federal officials have veered toward a less flashy but broader strategy: making immigrants' lives harder so they will leave.

The changes range in scale and scope, from disqualifying ...Read more

Fred Ngusilo, left, a member of the Ogiek community, works with a relative to sift through the ruins of their grandfather's house in the Mau forest, destroyed by Kenyan police. Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

Efforts to combat climate change often exclude Indigenous people – and they may not have any recourse

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Imagine living in the same forest as your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and all your ancestors as far back in time as stories can tell, and depending on the forest for food, shelter, recreation and education. Imagine, then, that the forest depends on you, too, because you and your people have protected it for generations.

...Read more

Marine heat waves can trigger coral bleaching.
              Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images

El Niño is back, and ocean temperatures are already near record highs – that can spell disaster for fish and corals

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It’s official: El Niño is back. By late fall 2026, forecast models give a 2-in-3 chance of a strong-to-very strong El Niño affecting the weather, climate and ocean temperatures across the planet.

El Niño is the climate system’s biggest player and one side of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. It’s the heads to La Ni�...Read more

Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Thai Princess's death raises questions about royal succession

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The death of Thai Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, once seen as a potential heir, has raised the question of royal succession in a country where the monarchy wields enormous power.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, himself appointed crown prince at the age of 20, has yet to name a successor nearly a decade after taking the throne.

The 73...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says US killed Tren de Aragua leader Niño Guerrero

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The U.S. has killed the leader of the Tren De Aragua drug cartel, Niño Guerrero, in a strike that was coordinated with Venezuela, President Donald Trump said.

“Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump designated the group as a terrorist organization as...Read more

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Elon Musk is world's first trillionaire after SpaceX IPO

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In a post on the social media platform he owns, Elon Musk recently lamented, “Whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about.”

Now the world’s richest person can put that maxim to an even bigger test as he adds a new title: world’s first trillionaire.

Shares of SpaceX rose 19% Friday to $160.95 ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

OpenAI probed by coalition of state attorneys general

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OpenAI is under investigation by a coalition of state attorneys general who requested information from the artificial intelligence company on a wide range of topics.

A spokesperson for the company said it was cooperating with the probe.

“AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a ...Read more

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

Democratic Socialists of America criticizes Mayor Mamdani's move to increase NYPD headcount

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NEW YORK — The New York City Democratic Socialists of America — a group closely aligned with Mayor Zohran Mamdani — issued a rebuke of his move to drive up the Police Department’s headcount despite his campaign trail pledge to keep NYPD numbers flat.

In rare public criticism of Mamdani, the group called on him to reverse that decision, ...Read more