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Sweltering Midwest heat cancels outdoor plans as cooling centers open and the East braces

DES MOINES, Iowa | Summer camps and other outdoor activities were canceled Monday as tens of millions of people across the Midwest endured a heat wave that is expected to spread eastward this week. Communities opened cooling centers and urged people to take it easy and stay hydrated. Forty-seven million people across big chunks of […]

3 mins read

San Francisco Archdiocese agrees to pay $395 million to settle child sex abuse lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO | The San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement. The settlement also requires […]

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Israeli troops face resistance from residents as they push into a town in Syria

ABDIN, Syria | As Israeli troops and vehicles entered the town of Abdin in southern Syria, residents blocked the roads with rocks, and some young men and boys threw stones to push back the military patrol. Tensions in this part of the country created by a buffer zone occupied by Israeli forces have flared into […]

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US envoys arrive in Qatar for meetings on Iran, with tensions high over Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Two U.S. envoys arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for talks with mediators about the implementation of an initial deal to end the war in Iran, an official said. The visit by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, comes after a weekend of […]

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Supreme Court strikes down limits on party spending in federal elections, backing Republican appeal

WASHINGTON | The Supreme Court on Tuesday erased limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president, striking down a federal election law that is more than 50 years old. Prodded by a Republican-led lawsuit that includes Vice President JD Vance, the court’s conservative justices were again in […]

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Supreme Court upholds state laws banning transgender girls and women from school athletic teams

WASHINGTON | The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, in another setback for transgender people. The court’s six-justice conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled against transgender Americans in the past year, ruled that state bans in Idaho and West Virginia don’t violate the […]

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Star-maker Clive Davis honored at funeral that draws Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and others

NEW YORK | Kenny G played a mournful sax solo to kick off the funeral Monday for music legend Clive Davis, as pop royalty turned out to honor a man who championed so many of their careers. Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder were among of the other musical stars at the […]

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Comcast plans to split into two public companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky

Comcast is planning to split itself into two publicly traded companies, one focused on media that would include NBCUniversal and Sky and the other focused on broadband and wireless services. The company said Monday that its board and management team think each company will be better positioned to pursue its own strategic priorities, invest for […]

3 mins read

St. Bernard dogs still roam the Swiss Alps as part of this ‘living museum’ and its breeding program

BOURG-SAINT-PIERRE, Switzerland | At the Great St. Bernard Pass high in the Swiss Alps, the eponymous dogs still walk the same mountain paths their ancestors patrolled for hundreds of years to find travelers buried beneath the snow. Down in the valley, a living museum honoring the Swiss national dog’s history — and its future — […]

7 mins read

Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios

LOS ANGELES | While much of Hollywood was consumed by the streaming wars, Issa Rae was studying a different mode of entertainment thousands of miles away: microdramas. No stranger to creating a successful online series, the Emmy-nominated actor and producer became intrigued by China’s booming market for the short, mobile-first soap operas, seeing its potential […]