A flash flood in a Nepalese valley near the Chinese border unleashed waves of devastation that inundated villages and swept away buildings, killing at least 389 and leaving more than 1,200 still missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists.

Visitors from countries including India, Malaysia, Australia, the U.K. and U.S. are unaccounted for ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — The nonprofit organization behind a ballot initiative that will let Idaho voters decide this fall whether to restore access to abortion has sued Republican state officials over what it says is “confusing, biased” language set to appear on ballots.

Idahoans United for Women and Families, which formed in the wake of the U.S. ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Little Giant fire that has burned for more than a month and charred more than 240 square miles in Central Washington is the second-highest firefighting priority in the U.S., officials said.

Chelan County’s lightning-caused Little Giant fire, which started July 15 in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest about 30 miles ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Senate passed a “bill of rights” Wednesday codifying protection for immigrants in private civil detention facilities. It now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

Senate Bill 942, termed the “Civil Detainees Bill of Rights Act,” would protect the rights of those in private civil immigration detention ...Read more

Venezuela is closely examining plans to leave OPEC, according to people familiar with the matter, delivering a fresh blow to the oil cartel it helped create more than six decades ago.

The idea of an exit has been a topic in conversations with U.S. officials, and no final decision has been made, said some of the people, asking not to be ...Read more

Trump administration told a federal judge it will challenge the dismissal of its lawsuit against Harvard University alleging that the school violated civil rights laws by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students after the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.

Justice Department lawyers notified U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Legislature passed a bill Wednesday that would require the state to track the use of pesticides that contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS chemicals, which can be harmful to humans.

The bill, by Assembly member Nick Schultz, a Democrat, heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can ...Read more

Five days after the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans reopened Highway 1 in Big Sur as fire crews made progress battling the Timber fire, they closed it again Thursday, this time as part of a new strategy to slow the stubborn blaze.

At 1 p.m., the winding, scenic road was closed over a five-mile stretch through the heart of Big Sur from ...Read more

NEW YORK — A federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday approved a $72.5 million class-action settlement reached between victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Bank of America.

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Jed Rakoff greenlit the agreement at an hour-long conference, hailing the outcome as a significant step toward accountability while acknowledging ...Read more

NEW YORK — A new state audit Thursday found a number of New York City students are facing repeat disciplinary action — while schools fail to properly intervene.

Over four school years during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 16,600 students — or 30% of all 54,600 students who were suspended or briefly removed from class — were ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A viral Fort Lauderdale baker thought her missing cinnamon rolls were stolen. Turns out, they went missing during an immigration bust.

College student Julie Pierre, 21, took to social media last Saturday to tell her almost half-million followers that thousands of dollars worth of cinnamon rolls had disappeared after a ...Read more

DETROIT — Michigan's worst outbreak of cyclosporiasis has slowed, with fewer than 200 new cases reported this week, according to numbers released Thursday by the state.

The Department of Health and Human Services indicates 142 new cases of the parasitic illness were reported this week, down from 283 cases reported last week and the lowest ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Leo XIV is significantly more popular among Pennsylvania Democrats than Republicans in the state, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll released this week.

While 75% of Democrats expressed a favorable opinion of Leo, only 40% of Republicans did. Meanwhile, 37% of Republicans viewed the pope ...Read more

SEATTLE — A recall effort against Mayor Katie Wilson was dismissed Thursday at the behest of the people who started it.

Melinda Jacobson, who spoke for her and her husband Dale Osterud, who she filed recall “charges” with, told a King County Superior Court judge she wanted to withdraw the charges after a back-and-forth during which the ...Read more

DETROIT — A group seeking to require proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to overrule a state panel that found it was short the required signatures to appear on the November ballot.

Americans for Citizen Voting argued in a filing Thursday, Aug. 27, that the Board of State Canvassers’ signature ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal judge on Thursday denied Tommy Schaefer’s long-shot bid for release pending trial on charges he helped his then-girlfriend Heather Mack bludgeon her mother to death at a vacation resort in Bali in 2014.

Schaefer’s attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly to release him on home confinement with his ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The city of Minneapolis will pay The Minnesota Star Tribune $31,500 to settle two lawsuits over officials’ failure to turn over public records about a homicide victim and police misconduct complaints against former police Chief Brian O’Hara.

The City Council approved the settlements without comment on Thursday. City ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Eight months have passed since Rob and Michele Reiner were killed and their youngest son was arrested and charged with murder, but the couple's eldest son still feels he "will never understand why this happened."

The children of film director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner mostly have kept mum despite extensive ...Read more