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Iceland votes in tight referendum on European Union entry talks

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Icelanders voted on Saturday on whether to reopen membership talks with the European Union in a referendum that’s testing the bloc’s geopolitical appeal.

Polls suggest it will be a narrow decision, with those in favor exceeding opponents by less than 1 percentage point in the latest survey conducted by Maskina and published by Visir late on...Read more

Maryorin Mendez/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump announces US-Venezuela oil agreement covering 65 billion barrels

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The United States has entered into an agreement with Venezuela that will give American interests majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, according to President Donald Trump.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump, calling it “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY,” said the agreement was negotiated at his ...Read more

A massive rockfall in the Himalayas led to a surge of flood water than swept through villages, killing hundreds of people, on Aug. 26, 2026. Prabin Ranabhat/AFP via Getty Images

When a mountain falls: How ice and rock triggered Nepal’s catastrophic flood – and why climate change is raising the risks

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The catastrophic flood that killed hundreds of people in Nepal on Aug. 26, 2026, and left many more missing likely began with falling ice and rock crashing into the river below, but that wasn’t the end of the disaster. Days later, a new lake pooled behind the debris and then burst, sending more water streaming through the valley.

...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump keeps building his ballroom amid Supreme Court's silence

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Construction on President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom shows no signs of slowing down. And the U.S. Supreme Court shows no signs of wanting to stop it.

More than a week has passed since Chief Justice John Roberts issued an interim order letting work continue while the court considers the case. Two lower courts said Trump flouted the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

California regulators rushed their decision on driverless trucks, Teamsters' lawsuit says

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As self-driving vehicles spread across the country, a major California labor union is taking a stand against state regulators who say autonomous trucks are ready for the road.

Teamsters California sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this month over the DMV's decision to lift a ban on autonomous vehicles weighing more than ...Read more

David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

How two deaths in a Pennsylvania measles outbreak led to a clash between Gov. Josh Shapiro and RFK Jr.

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Gov. Josh Shapiro came to the Philadelphia suburbs on Friday morning to announce a new investment in a local police department. But the first question he fielded at a news conference concerned the growing confusion and political intrigue surrounding his administration’s response to two deaths associated with the state’s spiraling measles ...Read more

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images North America/TNS

What Meta's $17-billion settlement revealed about the harms of social media

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After months of hype and mere hours in front of the jury, California's blockbuster suit against Meta ended on Wednesday with a sweeping $17-billion settlement and 130 pages of promised changes to the platforms.

Witnesses at the blink-and-you-miss-it Oakland trial echoed much of what had already been heard this year by juries in Los Angeles, ...Read more

Death toll at 37 from Russian strike on warehouse near Kyiv

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At least 37 people were killed in a village west of Kyiv when a warehouse detonated following a Russian drone strike, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed an investigation into why explosives had been stored in a densely populated area.

“I have been receiving reports on the situation in the village of Myla, where detonation began...Read more

Ambir Tolang/JNA via ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

At a Nepal hospital, hope slowly fades days after catastrophe

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Days after Nepal’s worst natural disaster in a decade, Kathmandu’s biggest hospital was overrun — not with patients, but with families desperately looking for them.

On Saturday, Sukuntala Bhatta was one of those family members. She paced outside with her husband and other relatives, scanning hospital records, buttonholing staff and ...Read more

Robbie Sequeira/Stateline/TNS

Cities turn to AI to speed housing permitting

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New housing projects can sometimes stall out as a developer applies to city or county planning boards and goes through cycles of inspections, reviews and approvals.

Now, cities are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to address one of the most persistent sources of housing permitting delays: incomplete applications. And two new ...Read more

Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

NASA's new space telescope will aid hunt for 'Earth twins' and seek the fate of the universe

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NASA is set to launch its latest multibillion-dollar telescope Sunday morning, as scientists gather at Florida's Space Coast and await liftoff with bated breath.

After riding atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope promises to vastly expand our knowledge of planets beyond our solar system and advance the search ...Read more

(Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado/KVPR)/KFF HEALTH/TNS

In toss-up House district, voters crave leadership to fix broken healthcare

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Carlos A. grew up in a family on Medicaid, which made healthcare an afterthought since the public insurance is free for low-income enrollees. But when he received a raise two years ago, he found himself earning too much to qualify for the safety net program. And when he browsed Covered California plans, he found that ...Read more

TNS/TNS

LAPD releases video of officers beating handcuffed jail inmate who later died

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LOS ANGELES — LAPD officials on Friday released security camera footage showing a group of officers piling on top of a man and beating him before he died in a San Fernando Valley jail cell, one of two recent incidents that prompted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to call for an independent review of police killings of people in mental distress.

...Read more

Ambir Tolang/JNA via ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Nearly 2,500 missing as Nepal, China step up rescue efforts

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Nearly 2,500 people are missing after flash floods devastated a mountainous region between Nepal and China, with authorities on both sides of the border intensifying rescue efforts.

At least 579 people have been confirmed dead while 1,924 remain unaccounted for, including hundreds of foreigners from India, Malaysia, Australia and the U.S., ...Read more

Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California aquarium takes in at least 500 animals rescued from wildlife traffickers

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LOS ANGELES — The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is caring this summer for an additional 500 animals rescued from wildlife traffickers.

It's not clear when the trafficked animals might join the roughly 12,000 turtles, frogs, octopuses, penguins, sharks and other sea creatures on public display.

The animals, including marine fish, ...Read more

Daniel Heuer/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California lawmakers resurrect $7.5 billion research bond to counter federal cuts

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A multibillion-dollar bond proposal that sought to fund scientific research amid federal funding cuts failed to meet the June deadline to secure its place as a statewide measure on the November ballot. Lawmakers resurrected the language just before the close of the legislative session this week, aiming now to present the ...Read more

Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Lobbyist says Illinois ethics watchdog breached confidentiality in sexual harassment probe of former state lawmaker Harry Benton

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CHICAGO — When Illinois Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey last month released his report substantiating sexual harassment allegations against former state Rep. Harry Benton, one of the victims listed in the report — a female lobbyist — issued a statement accusing McCuskey of inaccurately characterizing her side of the story.

...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Forget Florida. Los Angeles' humidity is off the charts this summer. What's going on?

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LOS ANGELES — Southern California’s swampy summer is setting new records, with humidity levels creating conditions that feel more like Florida than the West Coast.

Forecasters attributed the punishing humidity to the remnants of Tropical Storm Iselle moving over the state, as well as unusually warm ocean temperatures due to a combination of...Read more

Jesus Vargas/Getty Images North America/TNS

US set to take control of major portion of Venezuelan oil wealth

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WASHINGTON — The United States is set to take majority control over a huge amount of Venezuela’s oil wealth in an unprecedented maneuver that officials said would create the world’s second-largest private oil company by reserves and secure American petroleum supplies for decades to come.

President Donald Trump made the announcement about ...Read more

Alexandra Mendoza/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Former acting US attorney died by suicide inside San Diego federal building, coroner says

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The former acting assistant U.S. attorney whose body was found last week in a San Diego federal building died by suicide, the San Diego County medical examiner's office said in a statement.

Andrew Haden, 48, was found dead in an office inside the Edward J. Schwartz federal building on Aug. 19 shortly after being reported missing.

The medical ...Read more