LOS ANGELES — It's not your imagination: The ground beneath Southern California has been particularly unsteady as of late, with the region experiencing more moderate-sized earthquakes this year than it has in decades.

What precisely is fueling the sequence of shakers is not entirely clear, and officials warn that prior seismic activity does ...Read more

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te indicated in a speech that he would stand up to the challenges posed by China, comments that elicited a sharp response from Beijing.

While delivering his first National Day address on an overcast Thursday in Taipei, Lai said he’d work to “resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty,” and added that...Read more

SAN DIEGO — An estimated 423 homeless people are now living along the San Diego River, putting them at increased risk of drowning as well as creating new challenges for outreach workers, first responders and surrounding wildlife.

The most recent tally from the San Diego River Park Foundation was the nonprofit’s highest count in years. The ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Kathryn Tapper was worried about the havoc Hurricane Milton could bring to her home in Naples, so she drove to a friend’s house in Wellington to try to find safe shelter.

Instead, she ended up hiding in the bathroom from a tornado that hit close to 5 p.m. Wednesday. The twister heavily damaged her friend’s house in...Read more

Despite multibillion-dollar deficits projected for future state budgets, several Maryland lawmakers are championing planned increases in education spending, including publicly funded pre-K.

“We know that we have a structural deficit. There’s no hiding that,” said Del. Jared Solomon, a Montgomery County Democrat, speaking on Thursday to a ...Read more

DENVER — Twelve people were rescued after roughly seven hours trapped 1,000 feet underground in a Colorado gold mine on Pikes Peak following a deadly elevator malfunction, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.

Emergency responders were able to use the elevator to evacuate 12 adults from the bottom of the mine shaft on Thursday ...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston City Council held its first hearing Thursday on a home rule petition that seeks to overhaul municipal elections by replacing the traditional approach of electing city politicians by popular vote with a ranked-choice voting system.

A trio of progressive councilors, composed of the body’s president Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia...Read more

BOSTON — The cases of Karen Read and pro-Read blogger Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney could have been more tied up together than they already are if a prosecutor had his way with a grand jury earlier this year.

Special prosecutor Kenneth Mello, a Fall River-based attorney brought in to handle multiple cases against Kearney including felony ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion seeking to revoke the probation of a former co-defendant of Young Thug, alleging that he “knowingly and willfully” violated his plea agreement when he testified last month.

Antonio Sledge, also known as Mounk Tounk, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to violate ...Read more

The Princess of Wales stepped out on Thursday for her first public appearance since completing her chemotherapy.

Kate Middleton surprised royal watchers when she joined Prince William to meet the families of the young victims killed in the July stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England.

The private meeting with...Read more

Insurance analysis firm Fitch Ratings said on Thursday that losses from Hurricane Milton will further weaken the “precarious position” of Florida’s property insurance market and possibly lead to “hardening” of premiums for policyholders next year.

Hardening is an insurance term that means premiums could rise.

Milton spawned high ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Amid criticism of his handling of the case, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced this week that he is considering new evidence in the sexual abuse probe of singer Marilyn Manson.

"New evidence has emerged within the last few weeks, adding to an already extensive case file presented to our office" by the Los ...Read more

Over the past two weeks, two massive hurricanes have killed more than 240 people and caused tens of billions of dollars of damage in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and other states.

California struggles every year with plenty of disasters — including devastating earthquakes, wildfires and floods. But it doesn’t have hurricanes. Why not?

...Read more

NEW YORK — The nephew of former senior mayoral adviser Tim Pearson, who was promoted to detective with just two arrests in his four-year career, has been placed on desk duty, The New York Daily News has learned.

Larry Pearson Jr. was put on modified assignment by the office of Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey effective Thursday morning, ...Read more

Tussling ratcheted up between the White House and GOP leaders on Thursday over when Congress needs to return to take up emergency disaster relief for victims of the twin hurricanes that have battered southern states in recent days, including twice-hit Florida.

While there’s been substantial confusion and misinformation about the Federal ...Read more

Cheryl Hines put any family issues aside to share a loving tribute to her mother-in-law, Ethel Kennedy, who died Thursday at 96 following a stroke she suffered last week.

“My mother-in-law, Ethel Kennedy, Bobby’s mother, passed this morning,” the 59-year-old actor wrote on Instagram. “It has been my great honor to have shared laughter ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The surge went south, the water was sucked out of Tampa Bay, but the winds hit us dead on.

Overnight Wednesday, Hurricane Milton’s sustained winds of more than 100 mph shredded Tropicana Field’s roof, uprooted grown trees, snapped power lines and toppled a massive crane into the headquarters of the Tampa Bay Times in ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Roberto Ramirez returned Thursday morning from his overnight shift in a local hospital to find water up to his knees in front of his Altamonte Springs home.

The scene has become all too familiar to Ramirez and other residents of Spring Oaks, a neighborhood west of Interstate 4 that floods during major storms.

”It brings ...Read more