August 2026
Man charged with setting Spokane’s largest wildfire went to prison for killing his father
SPOKANE, Wash. | A man who went to prison for killing his father in 2010 has been charged with intentionally setting the largest of the wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of buildings in and around Washington state’s second-largest city and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Aaron F. Farinacci, of Spokane, was […]
Netanyahu says no Israeli withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas has been completely disarmed
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed and pushed back on a recent deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as […]
UN, scientists warn that strong El Nino will add fuel to ‘a planet already on fire’
UNITED NATIONS | A strengthening El Nino has already broken records for intensity at its early stages, and it likely will spark even more wild weather worldwide as it grows, “adding fuel to a planet already on fire,” United Nations officials warned Friday. A key area of the Pacific Ocean used to measure the strength […]
Oystercatchers, known for sharp bills and beady eyes, are making a comeback thanks to conservation
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. | On a pristine Rhode Island beach teeming with noisy seabirds, a group of biologists armed with nets sneak up on a pair of American oystercatcher chicks. But just as they move in to capture them, one of the football-size birds, with bright-orange bills and long legs, scampers into a coastal salt […]
Ancient mummy DNA provides scientific evidence that colonization brought smallpox to the Americas
NEW YORK | Ancient mummy DNA recovered in Chile has yielded the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas. Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in human history before it was eradicated in 1980, largely thanks to vaccination. For centuries, the virus had killed about one-third of the people it […]
Music Review: Charli xcx remains one of pop’s great contrarians on ‘Music, Fashion, Film’
NEW YORK | When Charli xcx released the barely two-minute, glitched-out “Rock Music,” the first single from “Music, Fashion, Film,” she was almost immediately labeled a provocateur. The song, with its hyperpop affectations and cheeky, lyrical dedication to craft — “I think the dance floor is dead/So now we’re making rock music” — confused and […]
Trump’s arch could harm the integrity of many of Washington’s historical sites, report says
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot-tall (76-meter) memorial arch could disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location, according to an assessment by the National Park Service. Many of Washington’s monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reflect significant moments in the nation’s history and evoke […]
Divided federal appeals court says Trump administration was wrong to terminate climate funds
WASHINGTON | A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday said the Trump administration improperly terminated billions of dollars in funds to boost clean energy projects, handing a win to a coalition of nonprofits picked to run the Biden-era effort. Climate United Fund and other nonprofits won’t have access to their funds immediately as the decision […]
25 states sue over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old ones
WASHINGTON | Twenty-five states sued the Trump administration Monday over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes the Supreme Court struck down in February. The United States last month imposed double-digit tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union, charging that they had not done enough to crack down on imports […]
Man from El Salvador dies in immigration jail in New Jersey, ICE says
A man from El Salvador has died at an immigration jail in New Jersey that has been the target of months of protests over living conditions for people detained there, federal officials said Monday. Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 41, had been held at Delaney Hall in Newark after being arrested June 18, according to U.S. Immigration and […]