LOS ANGELES — Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life terms without parole for the shotgun killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, will make their first court appearance Monday in a bid for their release after more than 34 years behind bars.

The brothers will join the hearing in Van Nuys via video from the San ...Read more

CHICAGO — Former Ald. Daniel Solis will resume testifying Monday in the corruption trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan about his bombshell turn as an FBI mole.

Solis, 71, the former 25th Ward alderman and longtime head of the City Council’s influential Zoning Committee, took the witness stand late last week to begin what will be a ...Read more

ATLANTA — Georgia officials will begin the upcoming budget season with plenty of cash on hand and no shortage of ways to spend it.

The state closed the fiscal year that ended in July with nearly $16.5 billion in “rainy day” and undesignated reserves, according to a recent state report. That’s enough to pay for nearly half a year’s ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The construction giant selected by Maryland officials to replace the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge recommended itself for at least $64 million in contracts while serving as the construction manager for a Connecticut pier project, according to a state audit.

The process, during which Kiewit Infrastructure developed bid packages ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After years of declining enrollment, the Philadelphia School District has grown.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said the school system's official student count for 2024-25 is 117,956 — 1,841 students more than in 2023-24, an increase of a little under 2%.

The student population rose in 10 out of 15 geographic networks...Read more

Israel is potentially days away from a cease-fire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. said, following a new round of shuttle diplomacy by a senior envoy for the outgoing Biden administration.

“We are close to a deal,” Michael Herzog told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday, adding that some final points ...Read more

Chronic knee pain is just a matter of time for many adults. With tips from a treatment expert, however, you might be able to soothe the pain — or even prevent it.

Dr. Angie Brown is a clinical associate professor at Quinnipiac University, where she uses her experience as an orthopedic specialist to teach students about the musculoskeletal ...Read more

Pakistan’s authorities have arrested hundreds of supporters of incarcerated leader Imran Khan amid skirmishes with the police in multiple cities and blocked highways after the former premier’s call to converge in the capital Islamabad.

The biggest convoy led by Khan’s top leaders from the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has removed ...Read more

Group of Seven allies are set to step up pressure on China while offering Kyiv “unwavering commitment” amid accusations that Beijing has increased support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

The G-7 foreign ministers, who are meeting in Italy on Monday and Tuesday, are expected to vow “appropriate measures consistent with our legal ...Read more

LAKE PARK, Georgia — In the early-morning darkness of Sept. 27, the day Hurricane Helene barreled through their South Georgia farmworker community, Gloria and Ramón huddled with their three children in the living room of the family’s trailer home, as roaring 130-mph winds downed a tree onto one of the bedrooms with a terrifying crack. In a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Prison was Samuel Villalba’s domain.

On the inside, he was Negro from Artesia, a Mexican Mafia member whose word was the law to the thousands of Latino gang members who fall under the syndicate’s influence.

Outside prison, he was an ex-con with a failing liver and a dark past. His once muscular body, tattooed with the black ...Read more

One of the most common elements on Earth, fluoride is naturally present in human bodies and water, and common in toothpaste and mouthwash. And for decades, the mineral has been added to the water supplies of thousands of communities across the United States to help prevent dental cavities and decay. Dental professionals believe this practice is ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump has promised to arrest thousands of homeless people sleeping in American streets and move them to large tent cities on "inexpensive land," one of several planks of his agenda that would upend a national strategy that focuses on finding people housing on a voluntary basis.

"We will use every tool, lever...Read more

The final round of United Nations-brokered talks aimed at tackling plastic pollution are opening in South Korea with deep divisions over the need to stem the rising flood of the material, a rift that threatens to scupper a two-year long quest for a deal.

Plastic production will jump about 60% to 736 million tons a year by 2040, according to the...Read more

Romania’s presidential election was upended by a nationalist who has voiced admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, setting up a likely runoff with an establishment candidate in one of the country’s biggest upsets since the end of communism.

Calin Georgescu took 22% of the vote with more than 80% of ballots counted, putting him ahead late...Read more

When University of Pennsylvania researcher Christina Roberto set out to study Philadelphia’s soda tax, she wasn’t convinced she would find much health impact.

“We know that it is really hard to shift a person’s weight and keep that weight off, and it’s a really tall order to ask a policy like this to produce a health effect,” she ...Read more