LOS ANGELES — At least eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been relieved of duty amid a federal investigation into the beating of a transgender man last year in a 7-Eleven parking lot, according to several law enforcement sources.

Last week, nearly two years after the incident, Deputy Joseph Benza III agreed to plead guilty to ...Read more

Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prompting the country’s grid operator to limit power supplies on Christmas Day.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram Wednesday the assault from Moscow included 70 missiles, some of them ballistic, and more than 100 attack drones. Russia ...Read more

MIAMI — For the first time in nearly 20 years, the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day, marking a rare confluence of Jewish and Christian holidays, which occur on separate calendars.

Many regions of the country are home to a variety of faith groups, with rich traditions and cultures. In South Florida, for instance, though there are...Read more

A wave of violence spread across Mozambique following the validation of the ruling party’s victory in October’s disputed election, resulting in the deaths of at least 56 people in the African nation.

The death toll has risen to 186 since the unrest began on Oct. 21, according to Decide Platform, a local monitoring group. Rioters looted ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams’ legal defense trust returned seven of eight contributions from Madison Square Garden kingpin James Dolan’s family business within days of receiving them, new records reveal — a move that put increased strain on the already cash-strapped fund.

The records don’t spell out why the trust didn’t give back all...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The final week of the year will bring low tides to San Diego’s coastline, giving tide poolers one more chance this month to participate in a statewide quest to find sea stars — otherwise known as starfish.

The Solstice Sea Star Search along the California coast is an initiative from the California Academy of Sciences to track ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado lawmakers are set to introduce a pair of bills in the next legislative session that would bar municipal courts from imposing more severe sentences than state courts for the same crimes, as well as limit city courts from criminalizing missed hearings.

The first bill, sponsored by Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat, seeks ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It wasn't long after becoming a police officer in the northern English town of Hull in the 1980s that Django Sibley realized patrolling without a gun meant "policing by consent."

His beat was the town's public housing tenements, and Sibley said he quickly worked out that people responded better to persuasion than threats of ...Read more

An AI-powered chatbot could help move the needle on Washington's stubbornly low FAFSA completion rate.

According to a recent report from the Washington Student Achievement Council, students who subscribe to OtterBot, a text-based chatbot developed by the organization, were more likely to fill out college financial aid forms than peers who didn'...Read more

The roommate of Sebastian Zapeta, the Guatemalan migrant who police say horrifically killed a woman by setting her on fire as she slept on an F train in Brooklyn, and then watched as she burned to death, said Tuesday that Zapeta seemed like a “regular guy” who gave no indication that he could turn violent.

Raymont Robinson, 54, who slept ...Read more

A 7-year-old boy critically injured Saturday by a falling drone during a holiday show at Lake Eola Park remains in intensive care, his mother said Monday in a post on a GoFundMe page.

“Zander is out of surgery and still fighting!” Jessica Lumedge wrote. “I will be missing work at this time, and he will be celebrating Christmas in the ICU....Read more

The U.S. Senate confirmed Judges Benjamin Cheeks and Serena Murillo to fill U.S. District Court vacancies in California in what was expected to be its final judicial votes this year.

The confirmations help establish new records for Black, Latino, women and other minority judges.

Cheeks is the 63rd Black judge named by President Joe Biden, ...Read more

A snowy owl was rescued Monday evening by a woman who was surprised to find it trapped in the grille of a car in a Duluth, Minnesota, parking lot.

Annabell Whelan, a good Samaritan who had also rescued another owl earlier in the day, said she was near the Bentleyville “Tour of Lights” display at Bayfront Festival Park when she found the ...Read more

NEW YORK — The migrant accused of torching a homeless woman on a Brooklyn subway made his first court appearance Tuesday to face murder charges — and prosecutors revealed he used his shirt to fan the flames after he ignited her clothes with a lighter.

Sebastian Zapeta, a 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant living in a Brooklyn men’s shelter, ...Read more

Kimberly Williams took her three daughters to the mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping this week and ended up buying a week’s worth of showers and emergency food for a person living on the street, pots and pans for a once-homeless person moving into their own place, and a blanket and binky for a newborn baby.

The unplanned purchases ...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge last week torpedoed parts of a state law that have required sweeping redactions to court records, preventing the public from accessing routine information.

Moniteau County Associate Circuit Judge Aaron Martin ruled provisions requiring redaction of witness and victim information from court records ...Read more