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Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'Catastrophic': Looming restrictions on popular THC drinks and gummies alarm hemp industry

Current News / News & Features /

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed new emergency restrictions on California's hemp industry, citing an urgent need to protect children. His concern: a class of loosely regulated products that contain intoxicating levels of THC, the compound known for causing cannabis highs.

While many agree some changes are necessary, a number of ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Magnitude 3 earthquake strikes Malibu, the latest to rattle the area

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LOS ANGELES — A magnitude 3 earthquake occurred just north of Malibu Saturday afternoon, the latest in a cluster of temblors reported over the last week and a half.

The latest earthquake occurred at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, with an epicenter along Kanan Dume Road, about 3.6 miles north of Point Dume.

Saturday’s event was the sixth earthquake of...Read more

Idrees Mohammed/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sri Lanka leftist candidate takes early lead in election count

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A Sri Lankan leftist politician who’s pledged to fight corruption in the crisis-hit economy took a convincing early lead as votes were counted in Saturday’s presidential election.

With results of postal ballots in 18 of 22 electoral districts released so far, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was ahead with 55.9% of the vote, local media including ...Read more

U.S. National Forest Service/FTS360 Overwatch/TNS/TNS

Pearl fire in Colorado 90% contained; all evacuation orders lifted

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The human-sparked Pearl fire burning west of Fort Collins in Larimer County is 90% contained, fire officials announced Saturday.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Larimer County officials issued an “All Clear” for the wildfire, lifting all remaining evacuation orders and allowing normal activity in the area to resume.

The Pearl fire — a wildfire that ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

China 'testing us all,' Biden tells Indo-Pacific leaders' summit

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President Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic saying China is “testing” the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region during a Quad leaders’ summit — even as the bloc’s members in their public remarks sidestepped the idea that they are a counterweight to Chinese influence.

The Quad leaders, Biden and prime ministers Narendra Modi ...Read more

Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden finalizes China measures as he hosts his final Quad summit

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President Joe Biden is spending the final months of his term tightening the screws on China, capping an approach that has seen him carry out a difficult juggling act in office to counter the world’s second largest economy.

That effort will be on display this weekend as Biden hosts the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, bringing ...Read more

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

SpaceX Crew-9's duo arrive to Kennedy Space Center ahead of launch

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Only two of the original four members of SpaceX Crew-9’s mission to the International Space Station arrived to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, making room on their future ride home next year for the pair of NASA astronauts left behind by Boeing’s Starliner.

NASA astronaut and Space Force Col. Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr ...Read more

Walter Michot/Miami Herald/TNS

Report says migrants held in Guantanamo Bay face difficult living conditions. US denies it

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MIAMI — Migrants intercepted at sea aboard U.S.-bound voyages are being kept in inhumane and prison-like conditions at a federal facility at Guantanamo Bay, according to a report released Wednesday by a legal-aid and advocacy group that has represented migrants at the center.

The International Refugee Assistance Project said that migrants ...Read more

(Andy Miller for KFF Health News)/KFF HEALTH NEWS/TNS

Mother of Georgia school shooting suspect is indicted on elder abuse charges

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ATLANTA — Marcee Gray, the mother of the suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, has been indicted in Ben Hill County, accused of taping her then-73-year-old mother to a chair, stealing her phone and damaging her home in November.

Deborah Polhamus, 74, spent almost 24 hours taped to a chair in her Fitzgerald home, an incident report ...Read more

National Hurricane Center/National Hurricane Center/TNS

Hurricane center tracking 4 systems with chance of formation

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Saturday is tracking three systems in the Atlantic and one Gulf-bound system.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. tropical outlook, the most likely would come from a system expected to form in the northwestern Caribbean and move into the Gulf of Mexico.

The broad area of low pressure is likely to form by...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Federal officials board cargo ship in Baltimore managed by same company as Dali

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BALTIMORE — Federal officials boarded a container ship in the Port of Baltimore Saturday, according to the FBI Baltimore press office. The vessel is managed by the same company as the Dali, as reported by The Associated Press.

Agents from the FBI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Coast Guard ...Read more

Death toll in Beirut strike rises to 37 as Israel and Hezbollah barrage escalates at Lebanon border

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As rescue crews continued to recover the last bodies of the victims of Israel's strike in Beirut, authorities took stock of the damage and Israeli warplanes launched a withering attack on Lebanon's south.

By Saturday, the number of casualties from Friday's airstrike, which hit a crowded suburban block in the Lebanese capital, had risen to 37, ...Read more

Ukraine confirms strikes on two large Russian weapons sites

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Ukraine’s armed forces confirmed overnight attacks on at least two large Russian military warehouses in a Telegram post by its General Staff.

One arms depot was situated near Tikhoretsk in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, where about 1,200 people were evacuated after what local officials described as debris from a downed drone ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Newsom signs California bill to limit 'addictive' social media feeds for kids

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California took a major step in its fight to protect children from the ills of social media with Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature on a bill to limit the ability of companies to provide "addictive feeds" to minors.

Newsom on Friday signed Senate Bill 976, named the Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act and introduced by state Sen. ...Read more

Palos Verdes Estates settles surf gang lawsuit, vows to protect access to Lunada Bay's pristine waves

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LOS ANGELES — A settlement reached Friday appears to herald the end of the Bay Boys’ six-decade reign over the coveted waves at Lunada Bay, famed for unspooling in a dreamy, unbroken right hand line.

The city of Palos Verdes Estates has agreed to a series of steps to improve public access to the bay and “vigorously enforce” coastal ...Read more

Jessica McGowan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Chicago-area schools face wave of violent threats as new school year begins, leading to lockdowns and remote learning

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CHICAGO — Threats of violence have sparked chaos at dozens of schools in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs since the beginning of the school year, leading to lockdowns, security screenings and days of remote learning.

Over the past two weeks, a series of anonymous posts circulating on social media have warned of shootings and other acts of ...Read more

Diddy talks locking women in at 'freak off' parties in resurfaced clip

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NEW YORK — In the wake of his recent arrest on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, an old clip of Sean “Diddy” Combs providing Conan O’Brien with a list of tips for the perfect party has resurfaced online.

The 2002 interview from O’Brien’s eponymous late-night talk show started making the rounds on social media not long ...Read more

New genetic research points to Wuhan animal market as origin of COVID pandemic, study says

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A new analysis of genetic material gathered from a live-animal market in Wuhan in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the case that the outbreak originated there when the coronavirus jumped from infected animals to humans, scientists said.

The findings, reported the journal Cell, do not identify any specific infected animal ...Read more

Jessica McGowan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Safe storage and minimum age gun laws would curb violence, study says

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The deadliest school shooting in Georgia history occurred earlier this month when a 14-year-old gunman, armed with a military-style rifle, killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, a city about an hour northeast of Atlanta.

And last Sunday, former President Donald Trump was the target of ...Read more

Sri Lanka counts votes in election that puts IMF in spotlight

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Sri Lanka began counting votes in a crucial presidential election that’s likely to determine the fate of the crisis-hit economy and a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

The election comes two years after an economic meltdown and a historic debt default caused widespread political unrest and the ousting of the former ...Read more