LOS ANGELES -- Since the "mansion tax" took effect last April, a bevy of groups have aired their grievances.

Developers claim the tax eats into their profit margins, stifling new housing projects. Commercial property owners say their sales of warehouses and retail spaces shouldn't be subject to something that was billed as a "mansion tax."

Now...Read more

The popularity of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro continue to reflect Americans’ desire to slim down. While these new drugs have offered a solution for people struggling with obesity, many eligible patients – especially Black adults – cannot afford the high price.

These drugs are also not a one-stop solution for ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted that President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz to be attorney general would be rejected by the Republican Senate next year.

“Gaetz won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that,” McCarthy said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Barclays Asia Forum in ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — Car bombs. Massacres. The slaying of a Roman Catholic priest.

A cartel war that has engulfed a major city. A mayor of another large city beheaded after he dared to call for peace.

Six weeks after taking office, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is contending with a nationwide wave of violence, and is facing increasingly ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Congress’ most influential health panels will see dramatic changes next year, with several advocates on specific issues like mental health, Medicare and drug pricing retiring or losing their reelection bids.

The biggest changes will be in store at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose wide-ranging jurisdiction includes...Read more

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as U.S. attorney general, a surprising and highly controversial pick that could set up a confirmation battle in the Senate.

At a Wednesday evening press conference, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Gaetz had resigned from Congress �...Read more

One person died after a blast Wednesday night in front of Brazil’s Supreme Court in the capital Brasilia, forcing officials and staff to evacuate the building.

A man tried to enter the Supreme Court building with explosives strapped to his body, preliminary investigations show. The spokesman for the Federal District military police, Major ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump returned to the nation’s capital Wednesday for the first time since winning election, meeting with congressional leaders, sitting in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden and announcing a flurry of high-profile nominations for his Cabinet.

The visit to the White House and Capitol Hill offered a ...Read more

The water systems of three Nevada tribes are getting a $5 million upgrade, the state’s two U.S. senators announced on Wednesday.

“Access to clean, safe drinking water is essential for every community, and that’s no different for Tribes across Nevada,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said in a statement. “I’m proud to have ...Read more

The Justice Department has opened a disability rights investigation into whether Michigan unnecessarily keeps adults with serious mental illness in state psychiatric hospitals in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the department announced Wednesday.

The department said it will investigate whether Michigan provides adequate ...Read more

A 14-year-old from New Jersey has been arrested and charged with arson for allegedly setting a fire that burned 52 acres of land and threatened homes in Evesham, police announced Wednesday.

Fire officials are also investigating a possible link between that fire, which occurred on Oct. 30 and took days to extinguish, and another much larger fire...Read more

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general sent a clear signal through Washington on Wednesday that Trump intends for his Justice Department to take a sharp-elbowed, hyper-partisan approach to law and order — one that is both unquestioningly loyal to Trump and openly antagonistic toward his political ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Technology executive Bob Lee’s accused killer told a jury he acted in self defense after Lee tried to attack him with a knife on a San Francisco street a year and a half ago, saying “he went crazy on me” after losing his temper.

Nima Momeni, defending himself at his murder trial, testified Wednesday that during a late ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Republicans will maintain control of the House next year, a result made clear when The Associated Press called a 217th seat for Republicans, a Democrat conceded a key race loss and House Democratic leaders threw in the towel.

“House Democrats gave it our all, running aggressive, forward-looking and people-centered campaigns. ...Read more

In classic Trump fashion, the nation learned who is in line to lead the world’s largest military apparatus via social media.

Former mid-level Army officer and current Fox News host Pete Hegseth is the president-elect’s nominee for secretary of defense.

If you’ve never heard of Hegseth you aren’t alone, and President Donald Trump’s ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gov. Roy Cooper has pardoned a Pitt County pastor who served eight years in prison for a robbery he did not commit, offering the falsely accused preacher a rare declaration of innocence and making him eligible for $400,000 in state compensation.

The Rev. Darron Carmon was a 19-year-old college student with a clean record in ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan House lawmakers moved a series of economic development bills off the chamber floor Wednesday and on to the Senate, pushing forward a suite of legislation that would implement tax credits, tax exemptions and grants for businesses.

The bills would create a research and development tax credit, an innovation fund to ...Read more

House Republican factions agreed Wednesday night on a change to the chamber’s rules that would make it tougher to oust the speaker in the manner that ex-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost his job last year, and after some threatened the current speaker, Mike Johnson, with the same fate earlier this year.

The deal struck between members of ...Read more