As havens go, Japan sure is an odd case. You would think that having the developed world’s largest public debt, an aging and shrinking population, deflation, few natural resources and the ever-present risk of a giant earthquake might give investors pause.

Having money, on balance, is a net positive in life, but studies of happiness caution that great wealth doesn’t necessarily improve well-being.

A plan to draw massive amounts of underground water from the Mojave Desert has taken a step forward.

Firefighters have contained a 350-acre wildfire that burned a home in the Southern California desert about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

An 82-year-old woman who was beaten and sexually assaulted while taking an early morning walk near her home at assisted living center has died six months after the attack.

San Bernardino officials have filed an emergency petition for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in response to the $45.8 million budget deficit the city faces this year, making official a move the City Council approved last month.

An Alameda County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 38-year-old Oakland man convicted of murdering three people seven years ago.

Two people from the San Francisco Bay area have drowned during separate accidents on Tuolumne County waterways.

Authorities say traces of marijuana were found in the body of one of four sailors who died when their yacht crashed during a race from Southern California to Mexico.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the University of Southern California are partnering to create a policy think tank.

A woman has pleaded not guilty to child abuse for leaving her 4-month-old baby in a hot car while she shopped for clothes in San Diego County.

A wildfire burning along Interstate 5 in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California has forced the evacuation of 100 homes.

A Southern California man who molested six boys, including some younger than 14 years old, has been sentenced to 104 years in prison.

Prosecutors say a Southern California man has been charged with murder and other felonies for killing a motorist while fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck.

Police in Watsonville say a 21-year-old man suffered life-threatening wounds in a fight between rival gangs that involved about 20 people.

David Silva, the former mayor of Cudahy, stood before a federal judge Thursday and admitted he accepted a $5,000 bribe in exchange for his support of a medical marijuana dispensary.

The San Diego Stock Exchange Index closed lower Thursday at 115.56, down 6.49 percent from Wednesday. Declining issues 44 issues were down, 38 issues were up and 59 issues unchanged.