Did you see the brief and bright show in the sky over the Central Valley on Tuesday evening?

A state audit found $11.5 million of bond proceeds earmarked to repair, improve, expand and upgrade facilities at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton were inappropriately spent on athletic facilities and high-tech electronic marquee signs, State Controller John Chiang said Wednesday.

A top United Nations climate official said regional government executives across the globe must step up their efforts to combat global warming.

A person allegedly molested by a former Stockton Catholic priest decades ago filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the accused man and the past head of the Diocese of Stockton.

Two boys identified by police as norteno gang members are facing criminal charges after a 13-year-old boy was severely beaten at Marian Anderson Special Education Center in Sacramento.

A young man remained in a hospital Wednesday after he was shot Tuesday night on the campus of Central Valley High School in Ceres, police say.

Alameda County prosecutors have charged a 24-year-old Berkeley man in connection with two shooting deaths.

A high number of arrests of people suspected of being drunk in public has San Jose officials reviewing how public-drunkenness laws are enforced.

The fees to park a car in parts of San Francisco will soon depend on the supply and demand of parking spaces.

California Highway Patrol officials are investigating a fire chief's stolen truck after it was found ablaze near a levee in Colusa.

A Davis father convicted of killing his 14-month-old son 14 years ago has been denied parole.

A former state employee has been sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation for illegally downloading personnel files with the names and Social Security numbers of 5,500 state employees.

An animal crossing the road was blamed for a big rig crash early Wednesday that blocked a key ramp linking northbound Interstate 5 to westbound Highway 50 in Sacramento, police say.

[JURIST] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] on Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF; press release, PDF] that it has jurisdiction to hear a case [ICJ materials] brought by Croatia [JURIST news archive] accusing Serbia [JURIST news archive] of genocide during the Croatian War from

[JURIST] Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis [official profile] on Tuesday called [statement text; AKI report] on officials to end discrimination against Europe's Roma minority [JURIST news archive]. Davis' comments came in response to a Monday confrontation [BBC report] between Czech

[JURIST] Two alleged Bosnian war criminals were arrested [Reuters report] Tuesday on orders from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina [official website]. Radivoje Lalovic and Soniboj Skiljevic are charged with war crimes allegedly committed during the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo [UN backgrounder],

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday lifted a suspension [press release; AFP report] imposed on the trial of Congolese ex-militia leader Thomas Lubanga [ICC materials; BBC profile] after prosecutors in the case agreed to share [filing, PDF] as-yet

[JURIST] Iraqi human rights activists are concerned about the treatment of detainees due to be transferred from US military custody to Iraqi authorities under the proposed Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) [CFR materials; LA Times Q/A], according to an IRIN report [text] Monday. The pact, approved

[JURIST] UN envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura praised [press release; UN News Centre report] the country's new Independent High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) on Monday, calling it a "milestone" for human rights in the region. The IHCHR was instituted on Sunday by the Iraqi Council of

[JURIST] The UK's former senior law lord Thomas Bingham [Times profile] on Monday criticized [press release] official UK legal justifications given for the 2003 US and UK invasion of Iraq, saying it was "a serious violation of international law and of the rule of law." Bingham focused [BBC report]