LOS ANGELES -- The law firm of Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti was hit with a $10 million judgment Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after he broke his promise to pay $2 million to a former colleague.

Judge Catherine Bauer of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana ordered the Eagan Avenatti law firm to pay $10 million to Jason Frank, a ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The fight for second place in California's governor's race between Republican John Cox and Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa remains unpredictable and volatile as the June 5 primary approaches, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom led both by 10 percentage points or more, validating ...Read more

MIAMI -- Snake hunters for the South Florida Water Management District hit a major milestone when they bagged their 1,000th Burmese python, before heading out and quickly catching eight more.

On Tuesday, the district held a celebratory check-in at the Homestead field station, documenting No. 1,000: an 11-foot, 2-inch male snake.

Hunter Brian ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has asked about flows of money into the Cyprus bank account of a company that specialized in social media manipulation and whose founder reportedly met with Donald Trump Jr. in August 2016, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The inquiry is drawing attention to PSY Group, an...Read more

CHICAGO -- It was lunchtime outside an outlet mall east of Louisville, Ky., when the deal was made for a gun that within weeks would be used to kill a 15-year-old boy in Chicago.

The 9 mm Taurus pistol was posted for sale on Armslist.com, a controversial website that helps buyers and sellers of weapons find each other without asking them to ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Speaker Paul D. Ryan defended himself Tuesday amid reports of threats to his leadership position and reiterated his view that it's not in Republicans' best interest to have a divisive leadership race before the November midterm elections.

"Obviously I serve at the pleasure of the members; those are the people who drafted me in ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Parks on North Carolina's Outer Banks will see the greatest amount of sea level rise among national parks over the next century, says a federal report that initially deleted references to human-caused climate change as the cause.

By 2100, the shoreline at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills may see the ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- With political primaries already underway and the November midterm elections fast approaching, top national security officials briefed members of Congress on Tuesday about gaps in election security.

The Trump administration has been under pressure to take stronger steps to deter Russian attempts to meddle in U.S. campaigns. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- It was supposed to be a joyful day for a 23-year-old Southwest Philadelphia woman who got married Sunday and is about five months pregnant with twins.

Instead, she and her 74-year-old father were shot and wounded outside their home after her husband's jealous ex-wife saw her announcement on Facebook that she had just gotten ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Nancy Pelosi is a drug that Republicans just can't quit, and the GOP hopes that the threat of her becoming speaker of the House again will awaken any potentially apathetic base voters. While that might work for Republicans for yet another cycle, it might be the last cycle with their favorite boogeywoman, considering there are at ...Read more

CHICAGO -- An item pulled from the Chicago River this weekend was not a human body part, as police initially thought, but may be a beef tongue, authorities said Monday.

A forensic pathologist at the Cook County medical examiner's office reviewed the item found in 2200 block of West Diversey Avenue in the North Branch of the river and determined...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Voters again head to the polls Tuesday, this time in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky.

Texas held its primaries in March, but more than a few of those contests advanced to runoffs since the winners did not surpass 50 percent of the vote. None has received more attention that the Democratic runoff in the 7th District.

...Read more

Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in the U.S., but a comprehensive new report says that it is affecting -- and killing -- fewer Americans with every passing year.

The gains have been seen in men, women and children, as well as across racial and ethnic groups. However, depending on the type of cancer involved, some Americans benefited more than...Read more

A Texas newspaper filed a lawsuit saying a county agency broke the state's open meetings law when it hired former Rep. Blake Farenthold as a lobbyist.

On Monday, the Victoria Advocate announced it was suing over whether the county ports authority discussed hiring the disgraced former congressman in a closed meeting on May 9.

The notice for the...Read more

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore County police officer was killed in a confrontation Monday as she responded to an afternoon call in Perry Hall, setting off an hours-long manhunt for suspects as police searched densely populated suburban neighborhoods.

On Tuesday morning, the department said a 16-year-old boy was arrested shortly after the ...Read more

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Rising global demand for cosmetics, marble and stainless steel is helping Taliban and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan fund their increasingly violent insurgencies, according to an investigation by Global Witness.

The militant groups make millions of dollars annually mining talc, chromite and marble in eastern part ...Read more