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Los Angeles wildfires highlights: 5 dead, thousands evacuate as wildfires rage in Hollywood Hills

Latest updates on Los Angeles California wildfires: US President Joe Biden declared a Major Disaster declaration for California and will monitor the response to the wildfires raging in Los Angeles

Biden signs law to increase Social Security benefits for public employees

President Joe Biden on Sunday plans to sign into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis. The bill rescinds two provisions the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programmes from a state or local government. The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1 per cent of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset. About 2.1 million people, or .

FBI now says driver responsible for deadly New Orleans rampage acted alone

The FBI now says that the pickup truck driver responsible for a deadly rampage in New Orleans acted alone. Officials said on Wednesday that they were seeking additional potential suspects in an attack being investigated as an act of terrorism. But Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said on Thursday that the evidence now shows that Shamsud-Din Jabbar was solely responsible for the attack and professed allegiance to the Islamic State. New Orleans pressed ahead with plans to reopen the city's famed Bourbon Street on Thursday as investigators kept digging into the background of the US Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year's revellers, killing 15 people. The FBI said it was investigating the attack, which occurred when 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar steered around a police blockade, as a terrorist act. Investigators believe the driver was inspired by the Islamic State group. Authorities recovered a black flag of

New Orleans terror attack: Suspect identified as Shamsud Din Jabbar & more updates

US army veteran Shamsud-Din-Jabbar named in New Orleans attack: Who was he?

New York woman set on fire inside metro car, attacker arrested

The attacker approached the victim as the train was approaching the station, used a lighter to ignite her clothing, and within seconds, she was engulfed in flames

US nuclear expansion unlikely to deter China, finds CSIS-MIT study

Three scenarios culminated in mutual annihilation, with both the US and China engaging in a nuclear exchange that decimated cities and resulted in millions of casualties

US deportations reach highest level since 2014, surpassing Trump-years

The latest numbers are higher than deportations in any single year during President-elect Donald Trump's first administration (2017-2021) and represent the highest since 2014

US finalises $9.63 billion loan for Ford, SK On joint battery venture

BlueOval SK said it has invested more than $11 billion to date in the construction of the three 4-million-square-foot facilities and plans to begin production at the first Kentucky plant in 2025

Insurers flock to catastrophe-hit US property market amid rising risks

Recent large US hurricanes Helene and Milton have added to concern about property losses. However, the increasing regularity of extreme weather events has stoked the market for more expensive excess

TikTok's potential US ban explained: Can Trump save it from shutdown?

US lawmakers have called on Apple and Google to comply with the January 19 deadline by banning TikTok from their app stores unless ByteDance divests its ownership

US foreign investment panel split on Nippon-US Steel deal, say reports

CFIUS, a powerful committee charged with reviewing foreign investments in US firms for national security risks, has until Dec. 22 to make a decision on whether to approve, block or extend the timeline

Wealth of global billionaires surges by 17% due to US gain: Swiss Bank UBS

The UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report for 2024 said the total number of billionaires had risen to 2,682 from 2,544 a year earlier, and their worth to $14 trillion from $12 trillion

Trump's lawyers urge judge to drop his hush money criminal conviction

President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction, arguing continuing the case would present unconstitutional disruptions to the institution of the Presidency. In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump's lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that dismissal is warranted because of the extraordinary circumstances of his impending return to the White House. Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump's transition efforts, the attorneys continued, before citing the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024. Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term ends in 2029. Following Trump's election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, ...

US can keep using Seattle airport for deportation flights: Appeals court

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement can continue using a Seattle airport for chartered deportation flights, a federal appeals court ruled in a decision that rejected a 2019 local order that sought to counter then-President Donald Trump's immigration policies. The agency has long used airports around the country to charter flights deporting hundreds of thousands of noncitizens considered lawfully removable from the US. But in 2019, in keeping with efforts in liberal Seattle and Washington state to resist Trump's priorities, King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order expressing concern that the deportations could constitute human rights abuses. It announced that future leases at the county airport, also known as Boeing Field, would bar operators from servicing deportation flights. The order prompted ICE to begin using an airport in Yakima a much farther drive from ICE's Northwest detention center in Tacoma for the deportation flights. The US sued King County

Trump's former advisor warns Bangladesh on atrocities against minorities

Johnnie Moore, a former US Commissioner on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), was asked about the US stance amid violence against minorities in Bangladesh

How Scott Bessent became Trump's treasury secretary from Democrat donor

Bessent was not part of Trump's political orbit during his first campaign or term as president, but he has known the Trump family for decades and was close friends with Trump's late brother, Robert

Gangster Anmol Bishnoi detained in the US: Will India get him back?

Anmol Bishnoi, younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has been arrested in the US. Watch the video for the latest updates.

China, UAE may cut Iran condensate imports if Trump tightens curbs: FGE

Condensate, an ultra light oil, is typically processed at splitters to produce mainly petrochemical feedstock naphtha or used as a diluent for heavy crude such as those from Venezuela

US expresses concern over extremism in Bangladesh, praises Hasina's control

There are serious concerns in the US over growing extremism in Bangladesh, a former White House official has said, observing that deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh did a good job in controlling it. Lisa Curtis, who served as President-elect Donald Trump's South Asia point-person in his first term, has said there is concern about the future and what it could bring to Bangladesh. We are at a critical juncture in Bangladesh. With the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina and efforts to reform the political system, there is a lot of hope. People are hopeful that the democratic process will get stronger," she said on Thursday. The Awami League regime led by Hasian was toppled on August 5 in the face of a mass upsurge originating from a quota reform campaign by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement. Three days later Nobel laureate Muhammad assumed office as the chief adviser of the interim government. "But there's also a lot of concern. Some Islamist extremists have been released from jails.

Tropical storm Sara makes landfall in Honduras, brings heavy rain to region

Tropical Storm Sara made landfall in northern Honduras late Thursday and threatened to dump torrential rains across parts of Central America and southern Mexico. Sara hit land about 105 miles (165 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Honduras-Nicaragua border, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. That is near Brus Laguna, a village of about 13,000 inhabitants. There are few other population centers nearby. Mexican authorities warned it could cause intense rains over the resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula. Sara had winds of about 45 miles per hour (75 kph) and was moving west at about 10 miles per hour (17 kph). It was expected to remain roughly on that path before heading out to sea again and threatening the coast of Belize. The center said that along the way Sara was forecast to drop 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain, even up to 30 inches (75 centimeters) in isolated areas. Such heavy rain could lead to life-threatening floo