National Economic Council head Kevin Hassett said he’d consider President Donald Trump’s policy opinions if picked to lead the Federal Reserve, but that the central bank’s interest rate decisions would remain independent.

The president “has very strong and well-founded views about what we ought to do,” Hassett, Trump’s top economic ...Read more

A person of interest in Saturday’s shooting at Brown University that left two people dead and nine injured has been detained after an extensive manhunt, officials said.

The shooting occurred in a classroom on the second day of final exams for the fall semester at the Ivy League institution, which has a student population of about 11,000. ...Read more

Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, when ice covered the Sierra Nevada, a lake 100 miles long and 600 feet deep sat in eastern California in what is now the Mojave Desert.

As the climate warmed and the ice retreated, the lake dried up, leaving a white salt pan in its place.

But a November of record rainfall has brought the ancient lake, ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Their names became well known due to their crimes — a school shooter, a lawyer convicted of killing his wife and son, two mothers who killed toddlers.

James Wilson Jr., Alex Murdaugh, Susan Smith and Ariel Robinson — they were convicted and sent to prison — but what happened next?

The South Carolina Department of ...Read more

The lush coffee trees that blanket the misty hills of the Huila region in southwestern Colombia bear witness to a struggle.

From bean to steaming cup, women are slowly making gains across the South American country’s prized coffee industry, challenging a patriarchy that’s prevailed for generations. Some are running their own farms, while ...Read more

Derrin Robinson has worked in Oregon elections for more than 30 years, long enough to remember when voters in the state cast their ballots at physical polling sites instead of by mail.

As the nonpartisan clerk of Harney County, a vast, rural expanse larger than Massachusetts, Robinson oversees elections with about 6,000 registered voters. ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — As California again delays controversial rules requiring homeowners in fire-prone areas to maintain a 5-foot “ember-resistant” zone around their houses, a new report finds that properties that were already close to that standard were much less likely to be destroyed in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The water that flows down irrigation canals to some of the West’s biggest expanses of farmland comes courtesy of the federal government for a very low price — even, in some cases, for free.

In a new study, researchers analyzed wholesale prices charged by the federal government in California, Arizona and Nevada, and found ...Read more

A shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island has left two people dead and nine injured, with a manhunt underway for the attacker.

The shooting occurred in a classroom on the second day of final exams for the fall semester at the Ivy League institution, which has a student population of about 11,000. The male suspect was dressed in...Read more

Two people were killed and eight were injured in a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Saturday. The attacker was still at large.

The shooting occurred on the second day of final exams for the fall semester at the Ivy League institution, which has a student population of about 11,000.

“The ...Read more

NEW YORK — The New York Police Department announced Saturday that it’s deploying extra cops to local universities in response to the deadly mass shooting at Brown University.

The Police Department said there was no known threat or connection to the Big Apple from the shooting that occurred shortly after 4 p.m. at the Ivy league college’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two men linked to a Downey residence that authorities say was a smuggling hub for Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel faced sentencing this year before a federal judge.

One appeared last week in a Sacramento courtroom to learn his fate.

The other has been missing for months.

Julio Cesar Nevarez-Erunez, 24, was sentenced to nearly six...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The dreaded norovirus — the "vomiting bug" that often causes stomach flu symptoms — is climbing again in California, and doctors warn that a new subvariant could make even more people sick this season.

In L.A. County, concentrations of norovirus are already on the rise in wastewater, indicating increased circulation of the ...Read more

Tens of thousands of Hungarians took to the streets on Saturday as a video depicting abuse at a state-run juvenile facility added to pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Orban four months before elections.

Protesters marched from downtown Pest across the Danube to Buda castle where Orban and his ally President Tamas Sulyok have their offices. ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) governing board voted unanimously Thursday to expand its air purifier distribution program for South County residents affected by cross-border pollution from the Tijuana River sewage crisis.

The board approved up to an additional $1 million for the Air Improvement ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — An Ecuadorian man was arrested Friday at a coffee shop in Brooklyn Park after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents summoned him to the parking lot in a ruse to get him outside.

The man was a cook at Crumbs & Coffee on Zane Avenue N.; his employer didn’t want to reveal his name.

Crumbs & Coffee co-owner Charles Spies ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Three people were pronounced dead on the scene after a Plymouth minivan sped through a red light in Panorama City, crashing into a Ford Mustang and a Honda Civic on Friday night, the Los Angeles police said.

The 30-year-old man driving a gray minivan was speeding while traveling westbound on Terra Bella Street at about 9:35pm, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Around 1:30 a.m. on a Saturday last month, two masked men approached a black Cadillac Escalade idling outside a Northridge apartment building.

One held a shotgun, the other a handgun. A surveillance system captured the sounds of what happened next: A gang challenge, confusion, a demand for property.

Then six shots and sounds of...Read more

CHICAGO — The gate around 7500 South Shore Drive sat open Thursday, the buzzer system needed to access the building unnecessary. The front door was open, plexiglass falling out of the metal frame, the only brace against the cold.

In Apartment 506, water stands on the wood floorboards. Tenant Alex Manning said it stems from the faulty radiator...Read more