LOS ANGELES — California is entering the fourth month of what is typically the rainy season, but in the Southland, the landscape is beginning to show signs of drought.

The last time Los Angeles recorded rainfall over a tenth of an inch — the threshold that officials typically consider helpful for thirsty plants and the reduction of wildfire...Read more

NEW YORK — New York Police Department detectives have released images of the four Queens gunmen who turned a New Year’s Day “celebration of life” for a murdered teen into a bloody shooting gallery, officials said Saturday.

Two of the masked gunmen were caught on surveillance cameras with pistols in their hands, police said.

The masked ...Read more

CHICAGO — Heading back to classes Monday, Chicago Public School students will return to a district different from the one they left for winter break.

It’s been just over two weeks since the Chicago Board of Education unanimously voted to oust CEO Pedro Martinez. The monthslong conflict reached a boiling point on the last day of school ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — An armed man previously convicted of murder and shot by Orlando police Friday outside an Orange County gas station has died, according to a news release from the Orlando Police Department.

The agency identified the man Saturday afternoon as Marvin Martin, 63, in an emailed news release. The release said he died of unknown ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Saturday and activated the Kentucky National Guard as the state faces snow and ice followed by bitter low temperatures.

The National Weather Service has placed about two-thirds of the state under a winter storm warning, and the rest is under either a winter advisory or watch.

...Read more

Venezuela’s opposition leader plans to meet Washington lawmakers and speak with President Joe Biden next week ahead of his promised return to the oil-rich South American nation after an election the U.S. says was stolen from him.

Edmundo González, who the Biden administration considers the rightful winner of Venezuela’s July vote, said ...Read more

Congestion pricing will finally take effect on Sunday in New York City, though its long-term future still remains uncertain.

Drivers entering parts of Manhattan will be charged $9 during peak hours in a program following similar initiatives in London, Stockholm and Singapore that aims to reduce the worst traffic in the world. The first ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — After Wednesday’s attack in which a white pickup truck sped down New Orleans’ iconic Bourbon Street, killing 14 people, locals and visitors might wonder what security measures are in place to prevent a similar horrific situation from unfolding on the Las Vegas Strip.

Following vehicular terrorist attacks around the world and a...Read more

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was flying to the U.S. Saturday to meet President-elect Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the plans.

Meloni’s visit comes days before she is scheduled to receive President Joe Biden, who begins a trip to Rome and the Vatican on Jan. 9, in what will likely be his final presidential mission ...Read more

ATLANTA — It was but a brief stop in the dayslong goodbye to Jimmy Carter. But the funeral procession’s “pause” at the state Capitol on Saturday spoke volumes about the former president’s legacy in Georgia.

As the hearse carrying Carter’s body lingered in front of the Statehouse, dozens of lawmakers and leaders from both parties ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After a man hopped behind the wheel of an autonomous Waymo vehicle and tried to drive off, the company offered assurances that the car's technology includes protections against bad actors.

On Thursday a man in downtown L.A. allegedly attempted to get into a Waymo and drive away. Police responded and eventually got the man out of...Read more

NEW YORK — In the two years before FBI agents raided her homes, Winnie Greco, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ longtime Asian affairs adviser, regularly met in her City Hall capacity with Chinese government officials and members of groups funded by and supportive of China’s ruling Communist Party.

Many of Greco’s meetings were held at ...Read more

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he’ll step down as head of government and chairman of the conservative People’s Party after failing to form a new coalition following September elections.

The move raises the chances of repeat elections, while the conservatives could also appoint a leader who, unlike Nehammer, is willing to form a ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s beaches draw thousands of tourists each year, in addition to residents who swim or surf in the ocean. Yet more often than the public realizes, fecal bacteria is present at high levels in some swimming areas.

In December alone, the state health department for Palm Beach County collected samples for routine ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after the U.S. election, hundreds of allies gathered at the White House to soothe Joe Biden in defeat. Tracking the closed-door bash for clues was a group rarely interested in the routine preening of Washington: arbitrage traders.

The traders, who buy and sell the stock of companies in the middle of mergers and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Sunah Kim was waiting for her son at a weeklong camp at Tac City Airsoft training center in Fullerton on Thursday afternoon when people rushed in screaming that they had heard a loud crash and saw dark clouds of billowing smoke nearby.

“They were yelling, ‘holy s—,’ there was a crash,” camp referee Peter Roberts said. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting a fire that ravaged the historic Bidwell Mansion, an iconic landmark in Chico and the former home of the city's founder, authorities said.

California State Parks officers arrested Kevin Alexander Carlson, of Chico, on Thursday. Preliminary charges filed ...Read more

ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter’s casket departed from the community hospital that he helped build.

National and global health leaders overflowed with praise this week for the public health accomplishments of the former president, whose programs have saved and restored tens of millions of lives worldwide, and broadened the public understanding of ...Read more