Investigators worked Friday to pinpoint the cause of a series of fiery natural gas explosions that killed a teen driver in his car just hours after he got his license, injured at least 25 others and left dozens of homes in smoldering ruins.

Paul Manafort signaled Friday that he intends to plead guilty ahead of a second trial as prosecutors filed new charging documents against the former Trump campaign chairman.

Blowing ashore with howling 90 mph winds, Hurricane Florence splintered buildings, trapped hundreds of people and swamped entire communities along the Carolina coast Friday in what could be just the opening act in a watery, two-part, slow-motion disaster. At least four people were killed.

Elizabeth Smart said Thursday the news that one of her kidnappers will be released from prison next week was “a big shock,” and she hopes there is a way the woman can be committed to a treatment facility since there is no legal recourse to keep her behind bars.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo overcame a primary challenge from activist and actress Cynthia Nixon on Thursday, thwarting her attempt to become the latest insurgent liberal to knock off an establishment Democrat.

Honolulu officials said a dam holding 21 million gallons of water was not in danger of collapsing Thursday, but still warned nearly 10,000 residents downstream that they might need to evacuate after a tropical storm caused water levels to rise in the reservoir.

A series of gas explosions an official described as “Armageddon” killed a teenager, injured at least 10 other people and ignited fires in at least 39 homes in three communities north of Boston on Thursday, forcing entire neighborhoods to evacuate as crews scrambled to fight the flames and shut off the gas.

Thousands of Pacific walruses have again gathered on the northwest shore of Alaska as the Chukchi Sea approaches its annual sea ice minimum.

Cue the giggling: A small Missouri town has a new newspaper called The Uranus Examiner.

Democrats alerted the FBI on Thursday to decades-old sexual-misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to reports and a person familiar with the matter.

Moving to head off a government shutdown that neither party wants, Congress has overwhelmingly approved a compromise spending bill and pledged agreement on a short-term bill to fund the government through early December.

Hurricane Florence’s leading edge battered the Carolina coast Thursday, bending trees and shooting frothy sea water over streets on the Outer Banks, as the hulking storm closed in with 105 mph winds for a drenching siege that could last all weekend.

A U.S. judge on Thursday delayed for two more weeks the first grizzly bear hunts in the Lower 48 states in almost three decades, saying he needed more time to consider if federal protections for the animals should be restored.

A gunman went on a rampage in Kern County, California, killing his wife and four other people before shooting himself to death, authorities said.

President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected the official conclusion that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico from last year’s Hurricane Maria, arguing without evidence that the number was wrong and calling it a plot by Democrats to make him “look as bad as possible.”

Millions of people in the path of Hurricane Florence are frantically preparing for a monster storm that’s anticipated to make landfall as early as Friday afternoon. Residents in states from Virginia to Georgia – especially those who live in flood-prone areas or on the coast – must decide whether to stay or go.

Sen. Cory Booker on Wednesday night released a new batch of committee confidential documents about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh even after a conservative judicial group referred his earlier disclosures to the Senate Ethics Committee.

Scott Pruitt, the scandal-ridden former Environmental Protection Agency chief, denied on Wednesday that he had obtained any out-of-the-ordinary gifts as a result of his Cabinet-level post, dismissing allegations he received perks in office ranging from much-sought sport tickets to a job for his wife.

A strange thing happened after Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew returned from the moon with lunar rocks: Many of the mementos given to every U.S. state vanished. Now, after years of sleuthing, a former NASA investigator is closing in on his goal of locating the whereabouts of all 50.