The death toll from monster wildfires raging in northern California has risen to five with the discovery of two new victims, authorities said on Thursday.

Both were killed in the so-called Valley fire, one of two giant blazes that have destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands in the drought-stricken state.

A self-professed supporter of the Islamic State group pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges he plotted to set off a backpack bomb on a Florida beach.

Harlem Suarez, 23, from Key West, Florida and a son of Cuban immigrants, is seeking a jury trial, his lawyer Richard Della Fera told reporters after the hearing in federal court.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday refused to apologize for a crude attack on a female Fox News journalist that sparked widespread outrage, insisting he was misunderstood.

The brash billionaire -- who is leading a packed Republican field of White House hopefuls -- found himself at the center of controversy after seeming to suggest that Megyn Kelly, one of the moderators of last week's presidential debate, asked him tough questions because she was menstruating.

A group of 24 Cuban migrants landed early Monday on a beach in Key West on the southern tip of Florida after crossing from Cuba in a makeshift boat, local authorities said.

Some were treated for exposure to diesel fuel fumes, but the migrants -- 23 men and a woman -- were smiling in photographs posted by the Key West police after their arrival at about 4:00 am.

An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded less than three minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday, in the first major disaster for the fast-charging company headed by Internet tycoon Elon Musk.

The accident was the third in less than a year involving U.S. and Russian supply ships bound for the International Space Station, and raised new concerns about the flow of food and gear to the astronauts living in orbit.

New York authorities on Tuesday agreed to pay $6.25 million compensation to an innocent man who spent nearly 25 years languishing in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Jonathan Fleming, 53, walked free in April 2014 when his conviction was overturned by the Brooklyn district attorney after spending nearly half his life behind bars.

Sixteen Miami Beach police officers are under investigation after exchanging racist and pornographic emails, officials said Thursday.

Some of the emails included cartoon characters making offensive remarks and another featured a fictionalized board game called "Black Monopoly," in which every square said "go to jail". 

Hillary Clinton arrives in Iowa on Tuesday during an overland road trip to begin a series of low-key meetings with ordinary voters and set the tone for her campaign.

It is in Monticello, a small town of 4,000 inhabitants in the key Midwestern state that the former top U.S. diplomat will hold her first small roundtables with middle-class voters after crowding into a van traveling from New York.

A Boeing 777 bound from Miami to Doha was forced to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland after a pregnant passenger gave birth mid-air to a baby boy, officials said Wednesday.

The birth took place just hours after the Qatar Airways flight took off from Florida on Sunday morning and before the pilot was able to make the emergency landing in Gander, Newfoundland, eastern Canada.

Three people were killed when a helicopter crashed into a guest house in an upscale neighborhood of Orlando, Florida, police said Monday.

Police said the pilot, his wife and a friend of the couple were killed in the crash, which occurred late Sunday shortly after takeoff from Orlando Executive Airport.