When fire evacuation orders are lifted and residents start returning to burned neighborhoods, many people assume “cleared to return” means “safe.” It rarely does.

As an environmental engineer who has worked with communities recovering from some of the most destructive wildfires in U.S. history, I have seen the same pattern ...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami-based nonprofit that led disaster relief efforts after earthquakes devastated Venezuela in June is back in action, this time organizing relief for Colombia after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the western part of the country on Monday.

Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), headquartered in Doral at 1850 NW 84th Ave., is ...Read more

Firefighters have largely contained Calaveras County’s deadly Gann fire and the Hawk fire burning in El Dorado County, but crews continue to battle the fast-moving Bug fire on the California-Nevada line and the stubborn Timber fire near Big Sur.

Here’s where California’s major fires were burning Tuesday:

Gann fire

Evacuations have been ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The judge overseeing the murder case for former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines has ruled he cannot be released on bond, and his trial will need to be moved to another county.

Warren Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron, who was appointed as a special judge in the case, ruled Tuesday afternoon that Stines has to ...Read more

Social media platforms will face a bevy of new restrictions in New Jersey that limit their use of children’s data, restrict algorithmic content recommendations to minors, and block notifications during school hours, among a range of others.

The new restrictions, which are set to take effect in September 2027, flow from legislation Gov. Mikie ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York health officials Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order recommending fewer childhood vaccinations and vowed New Yorkers would not suffer any ill effects from the new edict that also backs splitting up the immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella.

State Health Commissioner Dr. James Sullivan ...Read more

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s government plans to declare an economic emergency to bolster its response to a massive earthquake, as the country’s new president faces a tough and early test of his abilities to handle a crisis.

An emergency order would give President Abelardo de la Espriella, who began his four-year term on Friday, ...Read more

SpaceX was back on the pad Tuesday knocking out the Space Coast’s 51st orbital launch of the year just before noon as part of what’s lining up to be a busy month in Florida.

A Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-19 mission with 29 Starlink satellites lifted off at 11:58 a.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A judge in a Northern California county that has become a poster child for election skepticism has halted a voter-approved measure that would dramatically reshape elections there, including by eliminating most voting by mail and requiring ballots to be hand-counted.

Shasta County Superior Court Judge Benjamin L. Hanna on Friday ...Read more

A recent increase in anti-immigrant sentiment in Japan has led people from some religious and ethnic groups who were not born in Japan to face hostility. Hate speech has spread on social media, and some mosques have been targeted with abusive messages.

Over the past five years, the number of Muslims in Japan has nearly doubled, from ...Read more

The migrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz is closed, but much about it remains unresolved. There are lawsuits over detainees’ treatment, environmental claims over damage to protected wetlands and uncertainty about the future of the airstrip it was built on.

One aspect of the South Florida facility has drawn far less ...Read more

Beyond picking governors, state legislators, local officials and representatives to serve in Congress, voters in almost every state this year will have the opportunity to amend the language of their state constitution. In one state, they could potentially rewrite the constitution altogether.

Though the U.S. Constitution is rarely ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After immigration raids swept across Southern California Home Depot parking lots last summer, advocates hoped they could work with the retailer to address the fear that had taken hold among day laborers who gathered outside the stores looking for work.

But a September 2025 meeting between Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, ...Read more

NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge on Tuesday said there would be an overflow room open to members of the press and the public at alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s upcoming murder trial and that it was “reckless” of his lawyers to suggest prosecutors were secretly involved in determining who would get a seat.

Taking the bench a few minutes ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s defense minister said the United States and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz, even after both sides appeared to harden their positions in the long-deadlocked negotiations.

“Things are shaping up in favor of peace,” Khawaja Asif told reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s two-day special session on congressional redistricting last week could cost taxpayers as much as $50,680 in meal and hotel reimbursements alone, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis.

The final bill for the Aug. 3-4 session is still being tallied as lawmakers submit expense reports, according to the Department of ...Read more