Some Russians say literature had more political power when it was forbidden.    

Walter Mosley is never better than when he’s got a juicy cut of history to chew on — this time the late ’60s.    

Curator Emily Braun advised Leonard Lauder on the cubist collection he just donated to the Met.

The Boy Scouts of America have decided to allow gay youth to openly join its ranks, reversing a longtime ban.

William Dalrymple seeks contemporary lessons in Britain’s disastrous 19th-century invasion of Afghanistan.    

Amanda Knox tells her story of being charged with murder in Italy.    

Insured losses from the tornadoes and severe storms that struck a large swath of the U.S. this week could reach $5 billion, according to the disaster-modeling company Eqecat.

The online exhibit “What Jane Saw” allows viewers to peruse a London gallery as Jane Austen saw it in 1813.    

The House passed a bill that would peg the interest rates on federal student loans to the government's borrowing costs and allow them to vary annually, replacing the practice of Congress setting fixed rates.

Minnesota's move to raise $2.1 billion in new taxes, largely from the wealthy, to fund government programs puts it among a handful of states controlled by Democrats that are adopting more liberal fiscal policies.

Southern California Edison is reporting a power outage in Oxnard near the corner of Gonzales Road and North Rose Avenue affecting nearly 1,500 customers, the company said.

Goodbyes and new beginnings were the themes at Moorpark College's 46th commencement exercises Thursday evening in the college quad.

Bernadette DiPietro latest exhibit is a series of photos of clotheslines taken on cruises around the world.

The Sedalia Ragtime Orchestra will perform original arrangements more than a century old Friday at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks.

One adult and four juveniles graduated Thursday from Ventura County drug courts.

A fire damaged a home and two cars Thursday night in Ventura after apparently starting in the garage, according to the Ventura Fire Department.

A fire that started at a residential garage in Ventura tonight has apparently spread to the adjacent house, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

A review committee delivered a list of 37 recommendations for improving safety after the death of a sailor during a practice on May 9.

Director Alex Gibney has a gift for transforming the impenetrable into the palatable, as he did with Abramoff, Spitzer, Kissinger—and now Assange.

An earthquake has struck Northern California's Plumas County with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7.