After an abnormally warm winter and a blistering March heat wave, California has seen a surge in mosquito activity that has driven West Nile virus activity to a five-year high.

As of last week, there had been 30 human cases of the virus and three fatalities across the state, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Then on ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s super PAC war chest grew to nearly $404 million after getting $3 million in donations and interest payments in July, but it spent nothing that month to boost the prospects of Republican candidates in the midterm elections.

MAGA Inc.’s total cash-on-hand — built on donations from billionaires ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — You’ve heard of gun buyback programs to get weapons off the streets?

Now there’s one for e-bikes.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office will host a buyback event in September where e-bikes, e-motorcycles, e-scooters and pocket bikes can be exchanged for gift cards worth up to $1,000, the office announced on ...Read more

North Korea mocked South Korea for being a U.S. “puppet” after President Donald Trump unilaterally curtailed the two countries’ joint military drills.

“Trump issued a sudden order to reduce the scale of the drill. This has placed Seoul in a poor plight of canceling ‘war games’ it liked very much,” leader Kim Jong Un’s sister ...Read more

Nancy Kissinger, who transformed from a foreign policy specialist into a force beside her diplomat husband, Henry, and helped cement their place among New York’s social elite, has died. She was 92.

She died at her home in South Kent, Connecticut, the New York Times reported, citing an announcement from her family.

In her travels with her ...Read more

A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued an order Wednesday blocking U.S. Health and Human Services from implementing sweeping changes to grants under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program while a lawsuit proceeds, but dozens of existing grants that were canceled this summer will remain so for now, unless the administration chooses to ...Read more

A man caught on video terrorizing a woman in Philadelphia reportedly has known ties to the L.A. area, according to authorities.

On Aug. 12 around 5:30 a.m., a man in a disturbing white face mask chased a 40-year-old woman in the downtown area of Philadelphia across from City Hall, according to the city's Police Department.

He was later ...Read more

The Timber fire grew to 5,772 acres as of Thursday morning as crews continued to make progress on the blaze.

Containment grew to 27% with 1,638 personnel fighting the fire, Cal Fire said.

Several areas around the fire remained under evacuation orders or warnings as of the latest update, and the incident page still lists 503 structures as ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — After 158 years in operation, St. Augustine’s University will not offer any classes or educational programs this fall.

This spring, the HBCU in Raleigh gave up on a lengthy court battle for accreditation and filed for bankruptcy. Despite that, the school developed and planned to launch eight online, nondegree programs this ...Read more

DETROIT — Federal agents in Detroit recently took more than 17 kilograms of fentanyl — enough to kill 8.5 million people — off the street, authorities announced Thursday.

The effort was part of the Fentanyl Free America enforcement surge by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Detroit Field Division. The operation also netted 176...Read more

DENVER — A federal judge in Denver this week blocked provisions of a new state law that required Colorado’s only immigrant detention center to open its doors for regular health inspections.

The Thursday decision from U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico defangs the most immediate part of House Bill 1276, which Democratic lawmakers ...Read more

Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $670 million to settle a high-profile lawsuit and claims made on behalf of thousands of others related to allegations that its formula for babies born prematurely causes a dangerous intestinal disease.

The settlement comes after an appeals court upheld a $495 million judgment against Abbott in the high-...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Two minutes, 55 seconds — that’s how long it took for Jaylen Edgar took to kill two people and injure several others in two separate shootings during a 2024 Halloween bash in downtown Orlando, prosecutors told jurors on day one of his trial Thursday.

During the daylong proceeding, the 12-person panel and a gallery full of ...Read more

Former Bishop Miege High School President Phil Baniewicz is not suitable for church employment, appointment, volunteer service or ministry involving minors or other vulnerable persons in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, the archbishop announced Thursday.

Archbishop Shawn McKnight imposed the restrictions after the archdiocese’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Gina Davis, a Pasadena schoolteacher, was worried when she learned that a peacock who had lived in her neighborhood for years was found disoriented and wouldn’t eat or drink.

“Pretty much the entire neighborhood knows him, takes care of him,” she said of the white bird. Davis and her daughter call the peacock Sugar.

When ...Read more

WASHINGTON — When Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed to ramp up pressure on Iran by targeting its economic partners, he echoed former President George W. Bush’s warning to U.S. allies after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“You are either with us, or against us,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC Thursday. “This is going to be the ...Read more

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on nine Cuban state companies and the three top officials of the island’s main organization for cultivating foreign sympathizers, extending a pressure campaign that has now reached Cuba’s nickel industry, its construction ministry and the state agency that hires out Cuban labor to ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — For a second time, Attorney General Russell Coleman’s attempt to toss out extensive death penalty litigation has been denied. This time, by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

In a ruling handed down Thursday, the state’s highest court said it will not issue a “writ of prohibition” on nearly two-decades-long litigation about ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott lauded Tarrant County as the perfect example of how to create meaningful tax relief for residents during a Thursday press conference, where he discussed his four-point plan to lower property taxes.

On Aug. 13, the county Commissioners Court first discussed its budget and tax rate for next fiscal year, ...Read more