International

LOS ANGELES—A massive Los Angeles-area fire nearly doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes today in a 20-mile-long swath of flame and smoke and surging towards a mountaintop broadcasting complex.
At least 6,600 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders and more than 2,500 firefighters were battling the flames.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Space shuttle Discovery has arrived at the international space station.
Discovery pulled up at the space station Sunday night, ending a round-the-world chase of nearly two days.
The final approach and docking ended up being slightly more challenging for Discovery’s commander, Rick Sturckow.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has hauled in about $4 billion in profits from large banks that have repaid their obligations from last year’s federal bailout, The New York Times reported Sunday.

PLACERVILLE, California—A woman who was snatched from a bus stop as an 11-year-old child in 1991 turned up yesterday after being held for the past 18 years in isolation in a backyard compound by a convicted sex offender who fathered two children with her, police said.

PLACERVILLE, California — A woman who was snatched from a bus stop as an 11-year-old child in 1991 turned up Thursday after being held for the past 18 years in isolation in a backyard compound by a convicted sex offender who fathered two children with her, police said.

OAK ORCHARD, N.Y. — Two upstate New York underwater explorers have discovered a 19th-century steamer that caught fire and sank in southern Lake Ontario with a cargo of 600 tons of iron wire.
Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville discovered the Samuel F. Hodge in 2007 while using sonar to search for another vessel.
The previously unknown wreck was found in the lake just west of Rochester.

WINNIPEG — A U.S. Central Intelligence Agency memo declassified this week suggests the spy agency consulted research of two Canadians when developing standards for “water dousing” — an interrogation tactic where alleged terrorists would be exposed to cold water for extended periods of time.

MONTREAL — Bombardier’s (TSX:BBD.B) efforts to manoeuvre through order cancellations and deferrals was shaken Thursday after the Supreme Court of Canada gave life to a lawsuit by Kuwait that could decide the fate of an order from Iraq.

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Every day gunfire erupts on the other side of the barriers of this rugged Canadian base in the middle of Taliban country. All too often of late, insurgent rockets and mortars have breached the perimeter.

LOS ANGELES—Michael Jackson’s death has been ruled a homicide caused by a mix of drugs meant to treat insomnia, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press, while his personal doctor told investigators he actually was trying to wean the “King of Pop” off the powerful anesthetic that did him in.