Also in today's headlines is a Japanese astronaut's measurement faux pas, fatal mudslides in California, and a Tsunami warning for the Caribbean and Central America
Hello, this is Anna breaking down today's top stories for you.
California reeling - Rescue workers in southern California are searching for survivors after mudslides and flooding killed at least 15 people people last night. More than 30 miles (48km) of the main coastal road have been closed and police said the scene ‘looked like a World War One battlefield’. The death toll is expected to rise.
To find out more details, please see CNN's coverage here.
Bannon out - Former White House strategist and alt-right pin-up Steve Bannon stepped down from his position at Breitbart News on Tuesday, less than a week after he made critical comments about Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr in Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury, and days after he expressed ‘regret’ over those remarks.
Faux pas - Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai, on a mission to the International Space Station, has apologised for saying he had grown 9cm while in space and expressing concern about whether he would be safe on his return to Earth. He apologised for the mistake on Twitter after his claim became top news immediately. ‘This mis-measurement appears to have become a big deal, so I must apologise for this terrible fake news,’ Kanai wrote.
Justice triumphs - A judge has blocked Donald Trump from ending an Obama-era program that protected children brought to the United States illegally by their parents from deportation. US district judge William Alsup ruled in San Francisco that the programme must ‘maintain the Daca program on a nationwide basis’ while litigation over Trump’s decision unfolds.
Nuclear development - The Trump administration plans to loosen restrictions on the use of nuclear weapons and develop a new low-yield nuclear warhead for US Trident missiles, according to a former official who has seen the most recent draft of a policy review.
Tsunami warning - The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves were possible for several countries in the Caribbean and Central America, as well as Mexico, after a magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck 27 miles (43 kilometers) off the coast of Honduras.
Sexual puritanism? - French actress Catherine Deneuve has said that men should be ‘free to hit on’ women. She is one of 100 French women who wrote an open letter, warning about a new ‘puritanism’ sparked by recent sexual harassment scandals. The letter makes reference to claims made by many women that US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them.