US

SEATTLE — For much of the 20th century, a sprawling complex in the desert of southeastern Washington state turned out most of the plutonium used in the nation’s nuclear arsenal, from the first atomic bomb to the arms race that fueled the Cold War. Now, after decades of planning and billions of dollars of investment, … Read more

Hidden beneath the turquoise waters off a stretch of Florida known as the “Treasure Coast,” a team of divers from a shipwreck salvage company have uncovered exactly that — a load of long-lost Spanish treasure they estimate is worth $1 million. More than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted in the Spanish … Read more

JACKSON, Miss. — The mother of a 25-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by police is suing the officers involved, the Mississippi Capitol Police and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, among others. Arkela Lewis’ son, Jaylen Lewis, was shot by Capitol Police during a traffic stop on Sept. 25, 2022. Two officers involved, … Read more

WASHINGTON — Earth’s nastiest and costliest wildfires are blazing four times more often now than they did in the 1980s because of human-caused climate change and people moving closer to wildlands, a new study found. A study in the journal Science looks at global wildfires, not by acres burned which is the most common measuring … Read more

WASHINGTON — The White House is asking nine major universities to commit to President Donald Trump’s political priorities in exchange for more favorable access to federal money. Universities were asked to sign a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” committing them to adopt the White House’s vision for America’s campuses. It asks the schools … Read more

HONG KONG — Beijing’s top diplomat in Hong Kong met with the city’s new U.S. Consul General this week to warn her against interfering in the territory’s internal affairs, his office said in a statement Thursday. Cui Jianchun, commissioner of the Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry, met with U.S. top diplomat Julie Eadeh … Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to a Trump administration memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. A person familiar with the matter who was not … Read more

LOS ANGELES — A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to throwing a Molotov cocktail at Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies during protests against immigration raids across the region last spring. Emiliano Garduno Galvez, a Mexican national who authorities say is in the U.S. illegally, pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing an unregistered destructive device and civil … Read more

WASHINGTON — Shutdowns of the federal government usually don’t leave much economic damage. But the one that started Wednesday looks riskier, not least because President Donald Trump is threatening to use the standoff to permanently eliminate thousands of government jobs and the state of the economy is already precarious. For now, financial markets are shrugging … Read more

Famed primatologist Jane Goodall was renowned for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees but dedicated her life to helping all wild animals — a passion that lasted until her death this week while on a U.S. speaking tour. She spent decades promoting humanitarian causes and the need to protect the natural world, and tried to balance … Read more