States sue Trump administration over changes to vaccine recommendations for children

States call move an illegal threat to public health and argue CDC puts children’s lives at risk with new guidance

More than a dozen states, including California, sued the Trump administration over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health.

The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put children’s lives at risk when it announced last month that it would stop recommending all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Under the new guidance, which was met with criticism from medical experts, protections against those diseases are recommended only for certain groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.”

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Man who stabbed four to death in Washington state had history of mental health issues

Man, 32, shot dead by deputy after stabbing attack was the subject of domestic violence protection orders

A man shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy after he fatally stabbed four people outside his mother’s home near Gig Harbor, Washington, on Tuesday morning was the subject of domestic violence protection orders recording mental health and substance abuse issues stretching back at least five years.

Records reviewed by Associated Press show that the woman living at the address had obtained a 12-month protection order against her 32-year-old son in May. The order noted that he struggled from substance abuse, and had threatened his mother saying that her “grave has been already dug up”.

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Native American actor says she was detained by ICE officers who said tribal ID ‘looked fake’

Elaine Miles of Northern Exposure was stopped by four masked men in Seattle while walking to bus stop

A Native American actor known for her role in Northern Exposure has said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Seattle, Washington, who told her that her tribal identification “looked fake”.

Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, alleges that she was stopped by four masked men while she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond. She offered them her ID card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon but was told by an ICE agent that “anyone can make that.”

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Ice targeted me for organizing, says farm worker who left US for Mexico

Alfredo Juarez Zeferino spent a harrowing few months in Ice jail – and, under threat of deportation, chose to leave

Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino spends much of his days outdoors, harvesting bananas and hiking vast, bramble-laden trails. But for more than a quarter of 2025, he barely saw the sun. After being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in March, the farm-worker activist was placed in a detention center in Washington state, where he remained until he agreed to voluntarily leave the US.

“I probably would say five times, in the three months and a half I was in there, they offered me to go outside,” he explained on a Zoom call from his family farm in Guerrero, Mexico, where he has been for over a month.

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Four people arrested in Washington after alleged hate crime attack on trans woman

Three teenagers and one adult arrested in Renton after an alleged attack left a 39-year-old woman hospitalized

Four people – including three teenagers – are accused of a hate crime in Washington state after being arrested in connection with an alleged attack on a transgender woman that left the victim hospitalized, according to authorities.

The Renton police department said the four suspects in the case first argued with the 39-year-old woman on Monday evening – then beat her after she saw them again later. Investigators say they hurled homophobic slurs at the victim, who was attacked on a street near a transit center in Renton and suffered serious injuries.

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Ex-pilot who tried to cut engines on flight after taking mushrooms pleads guilty

Joseph Emerson, formerly of Alaska Airlines, must do 664 hours of community service and pay $60,569

A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit pleaded guilty or no contest to all charges against him Friday, saying in court that he regretted endangering those on board as well as the damage he caused to his former profession.

Joseph Emerson reached the plea agreements because he wants to take responsibility for his actions and hopes to avoid further time behind bars, said his attorney, Noah Horst.

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Thieves steal $2m in jewelry in under two minutes at Seattle store

Brazen daytime robbery involved four masked suspects taking diamonds, luxury watches and gold, police say

Smash-and-grab thieves in Seattle made off with an estimated $2m in diamonds, luxury watches, gold and other items in a daring midday jewelry store robbery that took just about 90 seconds, police said on Friday.

Video from the west Seattle store’s surveillance cameras shows four masked suspects shattering the locked glass front door with hammers and then ransacking six display cases on Thursday.

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‘Hero’ father pulls four-year-old child out of mountain lion’s jaws in Washington state

Family was hiking when big cat attacked child, who was later airlifted to hospital and is in satisfactory condition

A mountain lion bit a four-year-old child on Sunday while the child hiked with family on Hurricane Ridge in Washington state’s Olympic national park, authorities said.

The child’s father reportedly saved the minor’s life by pulling the child from the creature’s jaws.

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Powerful earthquake could raise Pacific north-west sea levels ‘dramatically’ – study

Likelihood of potentially devastating quake above 8.0 magnitude in next 50 years is 15%, study states

A massive earthquake in the Pacific north-west could rapidly transform areas of the coast from northern California to Washington, causing swaths of land to quickly sink, “dramatically” raising sea level and increasing the flood risk to communities.

That’s according to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining the potential impact of the “big one”, a powerful quake along the Cascadia fault that stretches from Canada to California.

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More US states report measles cases amid vaccine misinformation

Ohio, Maryland and Alabama among states to report new cases, with 378 confirmed in first few months of 2025

More US states are reporting measles cases as the Texas outbreak expands, surpassing last year’s total, amid vaccine misinformation and hesitancy.

The Texas outbreak could take a year to get under control, one health official said – during which time it may spread to more states. Yet the parents of the six-year-old girl who died of measles in Texas have spoken against measles vaccination as misinformation continues to proliferate, including from figures such as the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

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‘A ribbon dancer’: captive baby sea lion performs acrobatics with artificial kelp

‘It look so artistic under the water,’ staff at Washington state aquarium says of Pepper

A baby sea lion toting an artificial kelp strip was filmed performing intricate rhythmic gymnastics-style circles through the waters of an aquarium in Washington state.

Although only nine months old and still reliant on her mother’s milk, Pepper has become the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s most acrobatic sea lion, said Noelle Tremonti, a staff biologist for the aquarium.

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Storm-fueled mud submerges roads in California town hit by LA wildfires

Residents in Sierra Madre begin cleanup effort after strongest storm of year sweeps through southern California

Residents of a southern California mountain community near the Eaton fire burn scar dug out of roads submerged in sludge on Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows and muddy messes in several neighborhoods recently torched by wildfires.

Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people.

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Tiger among 20 cats to die of bird flu at sanctuary in Washington state

Bengal tiger, cougars, a lynx and bobcats dead as disease spreads rapidly among US poultry flocks and dairy herds

Twenty exotic cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington.

The feline deaths come as bird flu, a highly pathogenic avian influenza, has spread rapidly through poultry flocks and dairy herds in the US, infected and killed domestic cats, and caused a severe illness in a person in Louisiana.

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‘Bomb cyclone’ brings high winds and soaking rain to north-west US

Strongest atmospheric river seen by California, Washington and Oregon this season knocks out power and downs trees

What was expected to be one of the strongest storms in the north-west US in decades arrived on Tuesday evening, knocking out power and downing trees across the region.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning on Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river – a large plume of moisture – that California and the Pacific north-west has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone”, which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

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Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda

Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals

After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.

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US election offices increase security measures amid ongoing threats

Arizona official notes that hardened tactics, including active shooter drills, offer ‘sad commentary’ on country

Elections offices in the US have hardened their security measures this year, anticipating potential violence based on experience since 2020 and during an ongoing rise in threats and harassment focused on election workers.

Many offices have now trained their workers on de-escalation tactics. They’ve run drills for active shooters or other disturbances. They have a process for flagging the threats that could be criminal and seeking law enforcement help when needed.

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Hundreds of damaged ballots saved following fire at drop box in Washington

FBI is investigating and workers are contacting voters about new ballots after incendiary devices were put in drop box

Officials in south-west Washington were able to salvage almost 500 damaged ballots from a ballot box that was set on fire on Monday in what officials have called an attack on democracy ahead of a contentious US election.

An unknown number of ballots were destroyed when someone placed incendiary devices in a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, while three ballots were damaged in a fire at a box in nearby Portland, Oregon. Those fires and one other are linked, officials have said.

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Early ballots burned in suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon

Hundreds of ballots damaged in fires that police believe are linked and vehicle involved has reportedly been identified

Hundreds of early ballots cast for the US presidential election have been burned in two suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon, exacerbating tensions ahead of next Tuesday’s knife-edge contest.

Police said Monday that the fires in the two states were believed to be connected and that a vehicle involved had been identified, according to the Associated Press.

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Five family members shot to death in home outside Seattle

Authorities have arrested a teenage suspect in what appears to be an instance of ‘family annihilation’

Authorities found five people shot to death inside a home south-east of Seattle on Monday morning and arrested a teenager in connection with the killings, police said.

The killings in Fall City, Washington, were the 25th mass murder in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonpartisan archive defines a mass murder as one in which four or more victims are killed.

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Missing US navy pilots declared dead after Washington state fighter-jet crash

Navy confirms deaths after jet crashed east of Mount Rainier earlier this week during routine training flight

Two crew members who were missing following the crash of a fighter jet in mountainous terrain in Washington during a routine training flight have been declared dead, the US navy said on Sunday.

The EA-18G Growler jet from the Electronic Attack Squadron crashed east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday afternoon, according to navy officials. Search teams, including a US navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from the air station to try to find the crew and crash site.

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