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JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills pushing back on Trump's immigration agenda

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a raft of bills designed to push back on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement in California, including bans on electric shock gloves and a revamped ban on law enforcement face coverings after a previous law was blocked by a federal judge.

The more than 20 bills approved by the ...Read more

JANE TYSKA/Bay Area News Group/TNS

4-hour class now required of new gun owners in California

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A four-hour class with range shooting will be required of new California gun owners under a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The stricter rules for a firearm safety certificate will apply to gun owners moving to California starting in 2028 and to Californians buying new guns starting in 2029.

Previously the certificate required only a written ...Read more

After failed execution, health workers say state's rules flout medical ethics

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This story describes a lethal injection procedure used in state executions.

____

In May, a group of healthcare workers spent about an hour trying to establish complete IV access so they could inject Tony Carruthers, an inmate at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, with a lethal dose of sedative.

Maria ...Read more

PATRICK MEINHARDT/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

'I'd rather die here than in Africa': Migrants describe violent deportation flight

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On a tarmac in Texas, federal agents repeatedly ordered a group of shackled immigrants off a bus and onto an airplane that they had heard was destined for Africa.

Many complied, but some men refused. They had sought protection in the U.S. after fleeing repressive governments and asked to speak to lawyers before being deported to a faraway ...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

Miami-Dade's Democratic mayor blasts Trump for Putin invite to G20 in Doral

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MIAMI — Miami-Dade’s Democratic mayor says President Donald Trump is wrong to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 global summit in Doral.

In a statement, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine makes him the kind of brutal dictator that immigrant families in Miami-Dade fled, adding to the mistake of ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California's Six Flags Magic Mountain closes X2 coaster permanently after history of injuries

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LOS ANGELES — Six Flags Magic Mountain's famous X2 rollercoaster ride is permanently closed, following a history of injuries, including some that led to deaths, park officials announced on Tuesday.

The ride was first closed temporarily in July following reports of back-to-back brain injuries.

"While X2 consistently passed a multitude of ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Orlando signs off on $1.88 billion budget as Amendment 3 looms

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando officials signed off Monday on a spending plan about $82 million higher than last year as the city braces for a potential reckoning on local budget revenues at the ballot box this fall.

Like the vast majority of Central Florida cities and counties, Orlando also kept its property tax rate flat at $6.65 per $1,000 of ...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Elizabeth Holmes slammed for declaring 'I am fighting to prove my innocence'

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Elizabeth Holmes either feels emboldened by or worried about some recent major developments in her life and public image because she got on X on Sunday to lament that she has been “silenced” as she remains behind bars in federal prison.

But the convicted Theranos fraudster said she won’t stop “fighting to prove my innocence and come ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, under fire for criticism of Israel, unveils plan to battle antisemitism

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NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani, facing criticism over views on Israel seen as fostering antisemitism, is unveiling a plan that would expand educational efforts and beef up security at synagogues as part of a new “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism” report released by City Hall Tuesday.

The report’s release is slated to be accompanied by a...Read more

Nathan Howard/Getty Images North America/TNS

With bans and taunts, Trump escalates his assault on the media

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WASHINGTON — Under a light rain on Sunday at the Australian ambassador's residence in Washington, CNN hosted its third annual tennis tournament, the Kangaroo Cup, pitting Beltway journalists against administration officials. The event aims to inject some levity into an historically adversarial relationship, reminding both sides of the spirit ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

An eroding California beach and the fight over driving on the sand

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LOS ANGELES — For Dylan Feierabend, there are few things more life-affirming than fishing for redtail surfperch and smelt at Centerville Beach in rural Humboldt County.

His favorite spot, where the Eel River meets the Pacific Ocean, is a few miles from the main road — too far to walk with fishing poles and an ice chest in tow. He instead ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sheriffs have 'new, possible ransom note' in Nancy Guthrie kidnapping

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Nearly eight months after Nancy Guthrie was snatched from her Arizona home, authorities believe they have uncovered a “new, possible ransom note” linked to the case.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office provided the update on X late Monday night, though they offered few specific details on the matter. It was not clear when the note was sent, ...Read more

FBI/FBI/TNS

'Most wanted' fugitive has SoCal ties, is right-hand man to a criminal kingpin, FBI alleges

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LOS ANGELES — A man with Southern California ties who goes by the alias "Goldy Brar" and is wanted by federal agents for numerous alleged crimes including murder, extortion and drug distribution has been added to the FBI's "Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

Satinderjeet Singh, who is believed to be in his early 30s and is known to reside in ...Read more

Lula and Bolsonaro deadlocked in final week of campaign

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President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro are running neck and neck as Brazil’s presidential race enters its closing days, a new poll showed.

Lula and Bolsonaro would each receive roughly 48% of the vote in a runoff scenario, according to an AtlasIntel survey conducted for Bloomberg News and published ...Read more

A view of Wainwright, Alaska, which sits on low-lying coastal terrain underlain by permafrost. Ming Xiao

Arctic infrastructure was built on frozen ground – drones and digital twins can help spot the permafrost thaw coming

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From the air, Wainwright, Alaska, looks like a perfectly stable band of homes and roads between the Chukchi Sea and a vast, flat tundra. But just below the surface, the frozen ground that this town was built on contains large bodies of ice. Along the eroding coastal bluffs, that hidden ice is becoming exposed and literally melting away.

...Read more

With fuel prices at record highs, a truck driver prepares to pump diesel into a tractor trailer at a gas station in Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Oil and gas industry expected surplus – but war brought shortage instead

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In 2023, the International Energy Agency predicted that by 2028 the world’s oil companies would produce more oil than people wanted to buy. Prices responded to that and similar projections of slowing oil demand, dropping too low to attract investment for new wells and refineries.

No forecast anticipated that the Strait of Hormuz, ...Read more

People are turning to AI with life’s difficult questions and to glimpse into the future. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

Chatbots as oracles: How AI is giving new life to the ancient practice of seeking answers from inscrutable sources

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People are increasingly turning to AI for advice. A 2026 Pew report found that 10% of Americans are using chatbots for emotional support or companionship. Some even find a charismatic leader in AI.

More broadly, a large-scale study of 1.1 million ChatGPT conversations found that 49% of the messages involved users seeking “...Read more

Russia set to surge defense spending by 27% as war escalates

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Russia is preparing to pour more money into its war on Ukraine, boosting planned military spending next year by more than a quarter as the costs of the intensifying conflict mount and both sides strike deeper into each other’s territory.

The government’s new draft budget sets military spending at 17.1 trillion rubles ($202 billion) in 2027,...Read more

Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images North America/TNS

Iran officials pessimistic about US deal before midterms

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Iranian officials have privately expressed pessimism about reaching a deal to end hostilities with Washington and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before U.S. midterm elections in November, according to people familiar with the matter.

Iran and the U.S. made little progress during talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General ...Read more

Graham Hughes/Pool/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Quebec separatists near power with plan for vote on breaking up Canada

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The likely return to power of a separatist political party in Quebec is set to create a new challenge for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, just as he tries to hold the country together in the midst of a trade war with the U.S.

Residents of the French-speaking region will vote on Oct. 5, and surveys show they’re poised to choose the Parti ...Read more