Decades after the last major exodus from Afghanistan, refugees find themselves forced to flee their homeland once again as the US war in Afghanistan ends and the Taliban rise to power. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that the United States will have brought approximately 60,000 Afghans to America the end of the…… MORE
A Southern Californian man who previously pleaded guilty to state murder and attempted murder charges following a 2019 attack on a synagogue in San Diego pleaded guilty Friday to federal hate crime charges, according to the Justice Department. “The defendant entered a synagogue with the intent to kill all those inside because of his hatred…… MORE
One of the two Colorado STEM school shooters was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday. Devon Erickson, then 18, and Alec McKinney, 16, entered STEM School Highlands Ranch near Denver on May 7, 2019, and opened fire. Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old student, was killed and eight people were…… MORE
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck Southern California on Friday evening, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was widely felt in the Los Angeles area and surrounding cities including Carson, Lomita, and Torrance. There have been no early reports of injuries or significant damage as of 8 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET), according…… MORE
Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration declined Friday to recommend the agency approve Covid-19 booster doses for everyone who got vaccinated six months ago or longer. They did recommend a more limited step: emergency use authorization for people 65 and older, and for people at high risk of severe infection. Then they…… MORE
Los Angeles County, the country’s most populous county, will require customers and employees in indoor bars, wineries, breweries, nightclubs and lounges to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination starting October 7, according to a new health order issued Friday. “This modified health officer order aligns with the continued need to reduce risk for transmission and increase…… MORE
A Los Angeles jury found Robert Durst, the notorious subject of the HBO series “The Jinx,” guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of his best friend, Susan Berman, more than 20 years ago. Durst has been charged with the first-degree murder of Berman in 2000 at her Beverly Hills home, hours before she was…… MORE
Roselini Villasmil broke down Friday as she recalled the squalid conditions under a bridge in the Texas border town of Del Rio, where more than 12,000 unauthorized migrants are being held for processing by US immigration agents. “We told our son we were camping so he wouldn’t worry,” said the 33-year-old migrant from Venezuela, who…… MORE
Surfer Doyle Nielsen had been catching waves at Ponce Inlet, on the east coast of Florida, for about 40 minutes when a shark slammed into him and bit his arm. “It felt like something hitting me super hard on the right side and kind of my back, and then I saw some motion, as it…… MORE
The record-low ratings for last year’s Emmys turned out to be the canary in the coalmine for steep across-the-board drops in award-show viewing — the alarm for an unwelcome wakeup call. Yet if hope springs eternal that those shows can at least partially rebound, challenges associated with the pandemic and shift to streaming only heightened…… MORE