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Pager attack on Hezbollah was a sophisticated ‘booby-trap’ operation − it was also illegal

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The operation that used pagers and walkie-talkies to kill members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ingenious – but was it legal?

Certainly, there are those who will argue that it was. That thinking goes like this: Hezbollah has been attacking Israel with rockets, and the pagers and radios purchased by Hezbollah could be ...Read more

Angela Weiss/Getty Images of North America/TNS

A wall of secrets may crumble as feds call out enablers of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' alleged sex crimes

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Sean "Diddy" Combs was the only defendant indicted this week in a sweeping sex trafficking and racketeering investigation.

But federal prosecutors made clear that they do not believe he was the only one responsible.

The 14-page indictment against Combs accuses the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment of luring female victims and using violence, ...Read more

Exploding gadgets deathtoll rises in Lebanon as Israel steps up talk of war

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Lebanon’s death toll from a series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions this week rose to 37, according to local authorities, an illustration of the devastation wrought by a wave of suspected Israeli attacks against Hezbollah militants.

A second wave of blasts on Wednesday killed 25 and injured more than 600, the Lebanese health ministry ...Read more

Death of Japanese boy stabbed in China risks inflaming tensions

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A 10-year-old Japanese child who was stabbed in southern China has died, a development that could further strain relations between the two countries.

On Thursday morning Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa confirmed the death of the child, adding that the government was asking China to provide details of what happened and do its utmost to ...Read more

UC police seek approval for more pepper balls, sponge rounds, launchers, drones

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LOS ANGELES — UCLA police, who were called on to handle some of the nation's largest campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war last spring, are asking for approval to double their stockpile of pepper balls and sponge rounds, obtain eight more projectile launchers and purchase three new drones.

The University of California Board of Regents ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

The California sand wars: As beaches shrink, neighbors and cities fight for what's left

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LOS ANGELES -- California is a place of magnificent tectonic forces that lift mountains only for them to be constantly eroded by glaciers, wind and rain, ground down to one of the most basic commodities on Earth: sand.

Sand covers our deserts, creates our foothills and fills our arroyos. It blankets the shores and piles into towering dunes. It�...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Climate warriors fighting some of the 'greatest crises humanity has ever seen'

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Aru Shiney-Ajay’s awakening to the climate crisis began in her late teens. On visits to family in India, she watched in horror as loved ones endured one disaster after another: deadly floods in her parents’ home state of Kerala and record-shattering air pollution in Delhi among them.

“The climate crisis was not just something in the ...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

The YIMBY push for multifamily housing hits a 'nope' from homeowners

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When Minneapolis, then Oregon, then other local and state governments began stripping away exclusive single-family-home zoning over the past five years to allow the construction of multifamily housing, many development advocates predicted the start of a pro-YIMBY revolution.

But the “yes-in-my-backyard” movement has stumbled even before it�...Read more

Renée C. Byer/rbyer@sacbee.com/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Will I get a mail-in ballot in California? When are they sent? What to know as election nears

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Get ready, California voters. Ballots for the 2024 presidential election will be sent out soon.

Californians will be able to choose from candidates for president and vice president as well as U.S. senators and representatives. They can also make their voices heard by voting on a number of ballot propositions.

Every ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Who can officiate a wedding in Missouri or Kansas? What to know about marriage laws

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The rate of people getting married has increased nationwide, according to a recent study by U.S. News, including in Missouri.

The United States’ marriage rate increased 12% in 2022: 16.7 women had been married within the last year per 1,000 women ages 15 years and older, compared with 14.9 per 1,000 in 2021, based on the ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

These 25 hiking trails were burned in the Bridge fire

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LOS ANGELES — As the Bridge fire spread from the East Fork of the San Gabriel River to the beloved mountain communities of Mount Baldy and Wrightwood last week, questions arose about what would be left in its wake. And those included which beloved hiking trails in the region were affected.

Now that the fire is 25% contained, an accounting of ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Trial of reputed Mexican cartel leader's son offers cautionary tale for 'narco juniors'

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The reputed Mexican drug lord known as El Mencho has spent more than a decade evading efforts by U.S. and Mexican officials to bring him to justice. His son, alleged heir to one of Mexico's biggest criminal empires, has not been so elusive.

Captured by Mexican law enforcement in 2015 — a month after henchmen allegedly operating under his ...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

Red and blue states have big climate plans. The election could upend them

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Pennsylvania wants to remain a manufacturing powerhouse. But state leaders also want to reduce climate change-causing emissions from steel mills and other industrial facilities, while cutting back the toxic pollutants that cause health problems in nearby neighborhoods.

Thanks to a nearly $400 million investment from the federal government, the ...Read more

Rusty Dodson/Dreamstime.com/TNS

It's baby rattlesnake season in California. Here's what to do -- and how to stay safe

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Are you noticing more rattlesnakes? It’s baby rattlesnake season in California.

The Golden State is home to eight species of rattlesnakes. The reptiles can be seen on hiking trails, rural roads and in even your backyard, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

The California Poison Control ...Read more

Portia Eastman/Portia Eastman/TNS

Decades of national suicide prevention policies haven't slowed the deaths

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If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”

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When Pooja Mehta’s younger brother, Raj, died by suicide at 19 in March 2020, she felt “blindsided.”

Raj’s last text message was to his college lab partner about how to divide homework...Read more

Carl Court/Getty Images North America/TNS

Japan may beat the US to install its first female leader

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Japan has a female candidate among the front-runners to become prime minister in a vote this month, raising the possibility that a nation known for lagging on diversity may appoint its first woman leader before the U.S.

While Kamala Harris battles with Donald Trump ahead of the November election that could make her the first female U.S. ...Read more

William Wise/Dreamstime/TNS

The invasive Joro spider has landed in Bucks County, Pa. Here's what to know about the giant flying arachnid

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Rumors of the giant flying Joro spider, landing in New Jersey this summer never materialized in the Garden State. But they did land in Philly's backyard.

On Sept. 5, a Joro spider was found in Ivyland, Pa., a Bucks County borough nearly 30 miles north of Philadelphia, in the yard of someone's home. The sighting was confirmed by a site visit ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LAPD probing allegation that officer cheated on exam with camera-equipped glasses

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LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police officer is under investigation for allegedly recording the questions to a promotional exam on a pair of camera-equipped smart glasses, "Mission Impossible"-style, with the intention of passing the information to others taking the test.

Department officials have launched a probe into allegations that the ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC Mayor Adams sex assault accuser blames missed deposition on illness, pressure from mayor's team

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NEW YORK — Lorna Beach-Mathura, who has accused Mayor Eric Adams of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit, missed a court-ordered deposition this month because she suffered an anxiety attack at the last minute that required her to seek medical attention, she wrote in a new court filing late Wednesday that pointed blame at the mayor’s team for ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Harris plans meeting with Zelenskyy in Washington next week

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WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in Washington next week, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the Democratic nominee tries to broaden her foreign policy profile.

Harris has strongly supported President Joe Biden’s steadfast support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia�...Read more