Page 87 - United States

Los Angeles area in extreme fire danger as crews battle enduring blazes

More powerful winds were expected to trigger new wildfires that could set back the recent progress made in containing blazes in the Los Angeles area that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people. Much of Los Angeles area to remain under an extreme fire danger warning through Wednesday A large portion of southwest California spanning eight counties around Los Angeles is under a red flag warning for extreme fire danger through Wednesday. Certain areas of LA and Ventura counties, including valleys, foothills and mountains throughout the Santa Monica and Santa Susana ranges, were in what the National Weather Service calls a "particularly dangerous situation". The Palisades and Eaton fires are burning on the southern side of that area, and hurricane-force winds are forecast to return on Tuesday. The weather service urges residents to "stay aware of your surroundings. Be ready to evacuate. Avoid anything that can spark a fire". Interactive maps show locations of

Trump team questioning bureaucrats at NSC about commitment to his agenda

Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump's team, according to a US official familiar with the matter. At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump -- after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Trump's pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signalled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the

US govt drops legal case as firm scraps plans to salvage Titanic artifacts

The US government has scrapped its litigation against the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic, noting that the firm no longer has expedition plans to the shipwreck that could break federal law. The scuttling of the government's latest legal battle isn't necessarily the end of RMS Titanic Inc.'s attempts to enter the rapidly deteriorating ocean liner or to fetch more historic objects. The company said last month that it's still considering the implications of future expeditions. But the US on Friday withdrew its motion to intervene in a federal admiralty court in Virginia, which oversees salvage matters for the world's most famous shipwreck. The withdrawal concluded the second of two legal battles in five years that the US has waged against RMS Titanic Inc, the company that has retrieved and exhibited the ship's artifacts. The US filed its latest legal challenge in 2023 when RMST was planning to take images inside the ship's hull and pluck items from the surrounding .

US job growth beats expectations in Dec; unemployment rate falls to 4.1%

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs last month after rising by a downwardly revised 212,000 in November, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday.

Biden believes he was 'steady hand' world needed after Trump's Presidency

President Joe Biden strode into the White House four years ago with a foreign policy agenda that put repairing alliances strained by four years of Republican Donald Trump's America First worldview front and centre. The one-term Democrat took office in the throes of the worst global pandemic in a century and his plans were quickly stress-tested by a series of complicated international crises: the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Hamas' brutal 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in the Middle East. As Biden prepares to leave office, he remains insistent that his one-term presidency has made strides in restoring American credibility on the world stage and has proven the US remains an indispensable partner around the globe. That message will be at the center of an address he will deliver Monday afternoon on his foreign policy legacy. Yet Biden's case for foreign policy achievements will be shadowed and shaped, at least in th

US, Japanese, Philippine leaders discuss China's behaviour in S China Sea

The three leaders agreed on the importance of continued coordination to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific

24 dead as fire crews try to corral LA blazes before winds return this week

Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 80 kilometres per hour and gusts in the mountains reaching 113 kilometres per hour. The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson. "You're going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there," Thompson said at a community meeting Saturday night. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help crews fend off flames spread by ..

Here's all you need to know about devastation from Los Angeles wildfires

Fires ripping through the Los Angeles area have killed at least 16 people, displaced thousands of others and destroyed more than 12,000 structures while burning through an area larger than the city of San Francisco. The blazes started last Tuesday, fuelled by fierce Santa Ana winds that forecasters expect to kick back up through at least midweek. Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed about 160 square kilometres. Five deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire along the coast and 11 deaths resulted from the Eaton Fire further inland, the LA County medical examiner's office said. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise. While a cause for the fires has yet to be determined, early estimates indicate they could be the nation's costliest ever. Preliminary estimates by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses at between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. Thousands remain evacuated or without ..

Wildfires burn Los Angeles' schools, destroy outdoor education sanctuaries

For Irina Contreras, a programme manager for Los Angeles County's Department of Arts and Culture, outdoor education was a refuge for both her and her daughter during the pandemic. Now, much of that refuge has been burned in the raging wildfires around Los Angeles. Her daughter Ceiba (7) hikes with a kids' adventure group called Hawks and attended Matilija, a bilingual forest school for preschool and kindergarten. Rain or shine, she and her friends would spend their days climbing, jumping, hiking, and swimming in places like Eaton Canyon Nature Area, a 190-acre preserve near Altadena, now destroyed by fire. Ceiba learned to ask plants for permission before taking samples to glue into her nature journal. Once, her group discovered a hidden path that led behind a waterfall. Ceiba couldn't stop talking about it for days. For parents like Contreras, the wildfires have been devastating not just because of the loss of life and thousands of homes. They are mourning natural and educational

Biden talks to families of Americans held by Taliban, no deal reached yet

President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with relatives of three Americans the US government is looking to bring home from Afghanistan but it was unclear from the call if a deal to bring them back that is now on the table could be completed before the he leaves office next week. Biden's call with family members of Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi took place in the waning days of his administration as officials try to negotiate a deal that could bring them home in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the US-backed government, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip and Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken by the Taliban's intelligence services in December 2022 while traveling through the country. Officials believe the Taliban is still holding both men as well as Habibi, an Afghan American businessma

Jan 6 participants who committed violence shouldn't be pardoned: Vance

US Vice-President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot "obviously" should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on January 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost. Vance insisted in an interview on Fox News Sunday that the pardon question is "very simple", saying those who "protested peacefully" should be pardoned and "if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned". He later said there was a "bit of a grey area" in some cases. Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on "Day 1" of his presidency, which begins January 20. "Most likely, I'll do it very quickly," he said recently on NBC's Meet the Press. He added that "those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look. But, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy". More than 1,500 people have been charge

US states preparing to help or thwart Donald Trump's second-term plans

Do you live in a red state, a blue state, or one where Republicans and Democrats share power? Your answer might provide the best indicator of what to expect from your governor and state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump takes office and legislatures convene. In many cases, political party identification has come to define public policy, percolating from the nation's capital down to the 50 statehouses. Many Republican state officials are aligning with Trump's policies by pledging to help him crack down on illegal immigration, for example. Some Democratic state officials are mounting a resistance movement, looking for ways to shield their states from potential federal policies restricting abortion and transgender rights, among other things. Some prominent Democratic governors, meanwhile, have taken a more conciliatory approach in an effort to forge a working relationship with the new administration. Here's a look at what to expect in some policy areas: Immigration Governor

US govt denies role in 'National Prayer Breakfast' attended by BNP leaders

The US government and the Department of State are not involved in managing or influencing the invitations and participators in the IRF Summit or the National Prayer Breakfast, a spokesperson at the US Embassy in Dhaka has said. The statements, comments, positions, and opinions of participants or former officials at the IRF Summit or National Prayer Breakfast should not be interpreted as representing the opinions, positions, or policies of the US government, Dhaka Tribune quoted the US embassy spokesperson as saying on Saturday. He made the remarks when media personnel drew the spokesperson's attention towards a report saying President-elect Donald Trump invited Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and two senior leaders to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. "The United States is not hosting, organising, or funding the IRF Summit or National Prayer Breakfast," he said. The IRF Summit is distinct from the International Religious Freedom Ministerial ...

US backs Taiwan's defence capabilities, boosts regional security efforts

President Joe Biden had identified the Indo-Pacific as a crucial region for the future of both the US and the world

Special counsel Jack Smith resigns after submitting his Trump report: DOJ

Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department after submitting his investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump, an expected move that comes amid legal wrangling over how much of that document can be made public in the days ahead. The department disclosed Smith's departure in a court filing on Saturday, saying he had resigned one day earlier. The resignation, 10 days before Trump is inaugurated, follows the conclusion of two unsuccessful criminal prosecutions against Trump that were withdrawn following Trump's White House win in November. At issue now is the fate of a two-volume report that Smith and his team had prepared about their twin investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of his 2020 election and his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The Justice Department had been expected to make the document public in the final days of the Biden administration but the Trump-appointed judge who presided over the ...

Firefighters race to contain LA fires with menacing winds likely to return

Firefighters raced on Saturday to cut off spreading wildfires before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward the world famous J Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge. A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill. Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside. At a briefing, CalFire Operations Chief Christian Litz said a main focus would be the Palisades Fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area "had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the northeast expansion of the Palisades ...

Trump's words on borders ring alarms in Europe, but gets guarded response

President-elect Donald Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric at US allies and potential adversaries with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended into Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland, and southward to include the Panama Canal. Trump's suggestions that international borders can be redrawn by force if necessary are particularly inflammatory in Europe. His words run contrary to the argument European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are trying to impress on Russian President Vladimir Putin. But many European leaders who've learned to expect the unexpected from Trump and have seen that actions don't always follow his words have been guarded in their response, with some taking a nothing-to-see-here view rather than vigorously defend European Union member Denmark. Analysts, though, say that even words can damage US-European relations ahead of Trump's second presidency. A diplomatic response in Europe Several officials in Euro

Largest health care strike in Oregon history begins as thousands protest

Some 5,000 hospital health care workers walked off the job Friday as they picketed all eight Providence hospitals in Oregon, in what the state health workers union described as the largest health care strike in Oregon history and the first to involve doctors. Most of those participating in the open-ended strike are nurses. But in a rare move, dozens of doctors at a Portland hospital and at six women's health clinics are also partaking, making it the state's first physicians strike, according to the Oregon Nurses Association union. The strike came after more than a year of negotiations failed to produce an agreement over staffing levels, pay and benefits. The union has described chronic understaffing as detrimental to patient care, and has called for its members to have reduced caseloads, increased wages and improved benefits. Providence says it has made offers for pay raises and been fully committed to reaching an agreement. Providence said it expected up to 70 doctors to strike a

Unlike first term, Trump's business to allow private foreign partnerships

The Trump family business released a voluntary ethics agreement Friday that allows it to strike deals with private foreign companies, a move that could help outside actors try to buy influence with the new administration. The so-called ethics white paper bars the Trump Organisation from striking deals directly with foreign governments, but allows ones with private companies abroad, a significant departure from President-elect Donald Trump's first term. An ethics pact that Trump signed eight years ago barred both foreign government and foreign company deals. The Trump company also announced it would commit to several safeguards from his first term designed to stop his private financial interests from shaping policy. That includes hiring an outside ethics adviser to vet deals. "The Trump Organisation is dedicated to not just meeting but vastly exceeding its legal and ethical obligations during my father's Presidency, said executive vice president Eric Trump. The Trump Organisation ..

Flights delayed, schools closed as powerful winter storm dumps heavy snow

A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into Southern US states Friday, making for dicey travel and a rare snow day for many students. Arkansas and North Carolina mobilised their National Guards for tasks such as helping stranded motorists, as governors in multiple states declared states of emergency. School was cancelled for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina. The storm piled up more than a year's worth of snowfall on some Southern cities. As much as a foot (about 31 centimetres) fell in parts of Arkansas. There were reports of nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimetres) in Little Rock, a city that averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimetres) a year. More than 7 inches (about 18 centimetres) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee since late Thursday. The city usually sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimetres) a year. In some areas where snow tapered off, such as ..