LOS ANGELES — Scientists have found microplastics in virtually every part of the human body. Yet many questions remain about what exactly these infinitesimal flecks of synthetic polymers do to human health, and how they might cause disease.

A new paper looking at the chemical reactions between water and disintegrating plastic offers a ...Read more

MIAMI — When a hurricane or tropical storm threatens the Florida coast, residents jump into action installing storm shutters to keep their homes and businesses safe from high winds.

Insurance companies encourage this, offering discounts for properties with storm-proof coverings or those that take the extra financial leap to install permanent ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — German travelers Luis Widmesser and Lukas Holzer, both 19, were heading to a campground in San Diego on the 5 Freeway on Friday afternoon when authorities blocked off the road and diverted traffic.

The pair, on an 8-month road trip from Canada to Argentina, ended up spending the night in their tent atop their Suzuki outside the ...Read more

There was a moment this week when tears of sadness gave way to elation for one California couple.

For a month, they had waited and worried about the fate of their beloved Jack Russell terrier, Luna, who disappeared with fate uncertain among the predators and wildlife in Yellowstone National Park. Surveillance footage and photos spurred hope ...Read more

Scottish First Minister John Swinney intensified his push for a second referendum on independence, countering Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s offer to work together and design a new model of regional empowerment.

Swinney used his address to the Scottish National Party’s annual conference in Aberdeen on Saturday to make the point that the case...Read more

Albanian police clashed with hundreds of protesters in the capital, using tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation for a fifth consecutive day.

A car was set on fire near the prime minister’s office in Tirana, adding to days of destruction that have left government buildings, banks, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — German travelers Luis Widmesser and Lukas Holzer, both 19, were heading to a campground in San Diego on the 5 Freeway on Friday afternoon when authorities blocked off the road and diverted traffic.

The pair, on an 8-month road trip from Canada to Argentina, ended up spending the night in their tent atop their Suzuki outside the ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City’s public schools have updated their policy for responding to federal immigration enforcement to protect students during dismissal and after-school programs, a concern revived during the recent ICE shooting in Marble Hill that happened around pick-up time.

The previous guidance typically barred federal agents from ...Read more

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the beating of a Washington Post journalist while working in the West Bank and demanded a “full investigation, arrest and prosecution” of the attackers.

Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen, was attacked Friday morning by Israeli settlers, according to Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray. ...Read more

Republican lawmakers blasted Donald Trump for waiving new tariffs and sanctions on Russia, prompting the president to defend himself against members of his own party.

GOP critics said Trump’s decision trampled on the will of Congress, which overwhelmingly passed a sanctions law last month championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, and would...Read more

DALY CITY, Calif. – An investigation is underway into the theft of mail, including San Mateo County vote-by-mail ballots from a post office in Daly City, according to officials.

The theft was reported Wednesday to the Registration & Elections Division of the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s Office.

“The number of ballots...Read more

BALTIMORE — A federal judge dismissed Maryland’s lawsuit against federal immigration authorities this week over the agencies’ refusal to provide information about conditions of a downtown Baltimore facility where detainees have been held.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown had sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The horrific death of a man who flew off a ride at Six Flags Over Georgia this week has intensified focus on one of today’s most popular types of theme park roller coasters, which offers riders the thrill of brief moments of seeming weightlessness.

Experts say so-called hypercoasters — such as the one that Hassan Jihad Ibn...Read more

Rioters attacked French public buildings and looted stores in cities including Paris as protests against the high cost of living drew more than half a million people, underscoring the nation’s challenges ahead of presidential elections next year.

Some 550,000 demonstrators took part in marches across France on Saturday, including 110,000 in ...Read more

American Airlines Group Inc. became the third major airline in as many weeks to cut flights to the Mexican town of Tulum, as plunging tourism to one of the country’s traditionally most popular Caribbean destinations pushes investors to find ways to restore its ultra-elite vibe.

The U.S. carrier will reduce service at Tulum’s airport as part...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Climatologists, oceanographers and meteorologists gathered at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla this month, just steps from the Pacific Ocean, to discuss what the region can expect from possibly the worst El Niño ever recorded.

The University of California, San Diego hosted the event to sound the alarm, yet again, ...Read more

Build a continuous audio recorder. Develop speech-triggered recording. Add Wi-Fi connectivity. Encrypt memory card.

These are some of the prompts an engineer arrested by federal authorities last week is accused of submitting to an artificial intelligence chatbot to program a recording device hidden in an OpenAI conference room.

In a criminal ...Read more

Support for Alberta remaining in Canada gathered pace ahead of a referendum on whether the province should begin a legal process to separate from the country, according to a poll from Abacus Data.

The survey of 1,021 eligible voters, released Saturday, found 68% of Albertans would vote to remain in Canada, up from 64% last month. Support for ...Read more

A private security firm founded by two people close to late country music legend Dolly Parton is at the center of an unusually complex arms deal in Haiti that several sources with knowledge of the matter say was worked out with little due diligence.

The security firm, Fencebridge Strategic Risk, entered into a multimillion-dollar agreement ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters battling a blaze that destroyed six homes in south Orange County can expect a bit of reprieve Saturday afternoon as Santa Ana winds begin to die down.

The Norte fire, which has burned 570 acres in the area of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, was 5% contained as of Saturday morning, according to Orange County ...Read more