A Virginia judge has blocked efforts to remove the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that was at the center of the deadly violence that erupted in Charlottesville in 2017.

In a ruling issued this week, Judge Richard E. Moore said that any effort to remove the Lee statue would violate a state historic preservation statute and issued a permanent injunction preventing its removal. His decision extended to a separate monument to Confederate general Stonewall Jackson that city leaders and local activists had hoped to get rid of.

President Trump says that Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden, has been killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region.

In a statement released by the White House on Saturday, Trump said bin Laden's son was responsible for "planning and dealing with various terrorist groups." His death, he said, "not only deprives al-Qa'ida of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group."

Updated at 9:35 p.m. ET

New York state Attorney General Letitia James says the family that owns Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid OxyContin, used Swiss bank accounts to transfer $1 billion from the company to itself.

The allegation, which came in court documents filed late Friday, indicates that the Sackler family is trying to keep its wealth free from potential liability in other court cases involving Purdue Pharma's role in the opioid crisis.

Friday marks one year since gas explosions created havoc in three Merrimack Valley communities.

Gas explosions in Andover, Lawrence and North Andover set off over 120 fires, damaged dozens of homes and forced thousands to evacuate. They also caused over 20 injuries and the death of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon.

North Andover resident Dean Thornhill says he still can’t return to his home a year after it caught fire due to the explosions.

“It was a beautiful September day — nothing really going on — and just discovered my basement was totally on fire,” Thornhill said.

The state auditor is criticizing the Massachusetts public health department for taking too long to investigate elder abuse claims at nursing homes.

Utility giant PG&E has agreed to a second large settlement over devastating Northern California wildfires, saying it will pay $11 billion to resolve most insurance claims from the wine country fires in 2017 and massive Camp Fire in 2018.

New Zealand's government is planning to create a registry of all guns in the country and stiffen penalties on illegal gun sales and modifications. The move comes six months after a gunman killed 51 people at mosques in Christchurch.

"Owning a firearm is a privilege not a right," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday. "That means we need to do all we can to ensure that only honest, law-abiding citizens are able to obtain firearms licenses and use firearms."