TAMPA, Fla. — The bomb placed outside the MacDill Air Force Base visitors center last month was built inside two 2-liter cherry Pepsi bottles, according to federal prosecutors.

Alen Zheng, 20, of Land O’Lakes, is accused of planting the bomb and lighting the fuse at the base on March 10. He drove the explosive to MacDill in the trunk of his...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration announced on Saturday the arrests of two Los Angeles-based relatives of a high-ranking member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that federal authorities detained Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter Friday. Soleimani is the...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A new report on the deadliest avalanche in California history — which killed nine backcountry skiers and guides in February near Lake Tahoe — found that a guided group deviated from basic safety practices in crossing slide-prone terrain close together despite a warning that avalanches were expected.

The report, compiled...Read more

Satellite startup Impulse Space is working with Anduril Industries Inc. to develop space-based interceptor technology for President Donald Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile defense shield, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies have been selected by the Pentagon to develop prototypes of space-based interceptors ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — NASA’s Artemis II mission got the limelight this week, but U.S. Space Force has an arsenal of other space-bound hardware muscling onto Florida’s launch pads this year.

This year’s schedule from either Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station already features six different rockets. Vying for many of the ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Democratic leaders in California challenge President Donald Trump’s latest effort to restrict the use of mail-in ballots, they also must grapple with a troubling development in the last election.

A significant number of mail-in ballots arrived too late to be counted in the Nov. 4 special election for Proposition 50,...Read more

BOSTON — A person clearly suffering from a mental health crisis attacked a police officer with a sword and was Tasered and shot, leading to his death, authorities say.

“This was a very chaotic circumstance for a number of first responders, both from the mental health perspective, as well as members of the Boston Police Department doing ...Read more

Kendra Duggar is reportedly renting out her home and selling some personal items to help cover husband Joseph Duggar’s $600,000 bail.

According to People, 31-year-old Joseph posted the $60,000 required for his release from custody on Friday, after he pleaded not guilty to child sex abuse charges in Florida. He is facing counts of lewd and ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court this week ended a more than 30-year-old case wrestling with the roles of the courts and the legislature in public education.

The court decided that state courts do not have the authority to make decisions involving education policy, including ordering the state to spend billions of additional ...Read more

Five European Union members urged the bloc to tax windfall profits energy ​companies are reaping as a result of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal ​and Austria ​made the ​joint call in an April 3 letter seen by Bloomberg to Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s climate commissioner.

They wrote ...Read more

The Iranian military said major oil producer Iraq is exempt from shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, a potentially significant move for global crude supplies.

“Brotherly Iraq is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed on the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s military spokesman said in an Arabic-language video statement published ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The largest wildfire in California this year is no longer growing, fire officials said Saturday morning.

The Riverside County Springs fire, fueled by strong Santa Ana winds up to 50 mph on Friday, did not grow overnight, with firefighters battling the blaze on the ground and aircraft dropping water from above, according to Terra...Read more

The downing of a U.S. aircraft and the dayslong search for a missing crew member has pierced the aura of invincibility that President Donald Trump has sought to project as he tries to stave off the increasing political risks of the Iran war he started five weeks ago alongside Israel.

Trump has repeatedly claimed dominance over Iranian airspace ...Read more

Ukraine expects top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to lead a U.S. delegation to Kyiv this month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said, as efforts to resume peace talks get underway.

The team may arrive shortly after Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated on April 12, Kyrylo Budanov told Bloomberg.

While special envoy ...Read more

President Donald Trump said Saturday that time was running out on his 10-day deadline for Iran to make a peace deal with the U.S. and threatened that the Islamic Republic would face “all hell” in 48 hours.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump said in a social media post the day before ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — United Launch Alliance managed its second mission of the year early Saturday with one its few remaining Atlas V rockets on the latest trip to put up more Amazon satellites into orbit.

The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 1:46 a.m. with 29 more broadband satellites for ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why does some rain fall harder than other rain? – Naomi B., age 9, San Fancisco, California

There are some days when the rain falls peacefully and gently, nourishing the ...Read more