An earthquake registering 3.7 magnitude hits west of San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean
SAN FRANCISCO — An earthquake registering a magnitude of 3.7 shook part of the San Francisco Bay Area and people reported feeling a quick jolt. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major property damage. The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake was detected at 7:02 a.m. Friday...
Biden lets 800,000 Venezuelans and Salvadorans stay 18 months as Trump readies immigration crackdown
MIAMI — About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 200,000 Salvadorans already living in the U.S. can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hardline immigration policies. The decisions mark the Biden administration’s latest...
Los Angeles landmarks from film and TV damaged by wildfires
The high school where Brian De Palma brought Stephen King’s “Carrie” to life, Will Rogers’ ranch house and a motel owned by William Randolph Hearst are among some of the famous structures that have been damaged or destroyed by the California wildfires. Los Angeles is a town full of landmarks,...
Greenland’s leader says his people don’t want to be Americans as Trump covets territory
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The prime minister of Greenland said Friday that the people of his mineral-rich Arctic territory do not want to be Americans, but he said he understood the U.S. interest in the island given its strategic location and he is open to greater cooperation with the United States....
Family of former Leicester owner files $2.6 billion fatal accident claim after helicopter crash
MANCHESTER, England — The family of former Leicester soccer club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has filed the largest fatal accident claim in English history after the Thai billionaire died in a helicopter crash in 2018, representatives said Friday. The High Court claim brought against helicopter manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A. was valued at...
Who is Joseph Aoun, a low-profile army chief who is now Lebanon’s president?
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s new president and former army commander Joseph Aoun has maintained a low profile. Those who know him say he is no-nonsense, kind and averse to affiliating himself with any party or even expressing a political opinion — a rarity for someone in Lebanon’s fractured, transactional political system....
Plane crash-lands and bursts into flames in Kenya, killing 3 on the ground
NAIROBI, Kenya — A light aircraft crash-landed Friday in Kenya ‘s coastal Malindi County, killing three people on the ground, a local police official said. The three fatalities included a motorcycle taxi driver who was killed when the plane burst into flames on impact in the town of Kwachocha along...
Canada’s Liberal Party to decide on March 9 who will succeed Trudeau as prime minister
TORONTO — Canada’s governing Liberal Party will announce the country’s next prime minister on March 9 after a leadership vote that follows the resignation of Justin Trudeau this week, party leaders said late Thursday. Trudeau remains prime minister until a new leader is chosen. The front runners for the Liberal...
Earth records hottest year ever in 2024 and the jump was so big it breached key threshold
Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold, several weather monitoring agencies announced Friday. Last year’s global average temperature easily passed 2023’s record heat and kept pushing even higher. It surpassed the long-term warming limit of...
U.S. added a strong 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%
U.S. hiring picked up unexpectedly in December as employers added a strong 256,000 jobs, another sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was up last month from 212,000 in November. For all of 2024, the economy added...
Kremlin welcomes the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Putin
The Kremlin has welcomed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior Moscow official said Friday. Russia attaches no conditions to the possibility of face-to-face talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. Trump said Thursday that “Putin wants to meet”...
Bodies found after gas explosion causes coal mine to collapse in southwest Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan — At least three miners have died after a methane gas explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in a remote area of southwest Pakistan, officials said Friday, as authorities launched an operation to rescue nine other missing workers. Abdul Ghani, a mines inspector, said the blast happened...
Judge will weigh holding Giuliani in contempt of court after jury’s $148 million defamation award
WASHINGTON — A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell...
Trump gets no-penalty sentence in his hush money case, while calling it ‘despicable’
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to no punishment at all in his hush money case, an outcome that cements his historic conviction while letting him return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. With Trump appearing by video...
Americans have dimmer view of Biden than they did of Trump or Obama as term ends, AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON — As Joe Biden prepares to leave office, Americans have a dimmer view of his presidency than they did at the end of Donald Trump’s first term or Barack Obama’s second, a new poll finds. Around one-quarter of U.S. adults said Biden was a “good” or “great” president, with...
Biden to deliver a capstone address on his foreign policy legacy as he makes way for Trump’s return
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to deliver a capstone address Monday on his foreign policy legacy, according to the White House. The outgoing president is expected to use his address at the State Department to highlight his administration’s efforts to expand NATO, rally dozens of allies to provide Ukraine...
LA area’s 2 biggest blazes burn at least 10,000 structures, while new fire leads to more evacuations
LOS ANGELES — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures, officials said as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The Kenneth Fire started...
Appeals court denies bid to block public release of special counsel’s report on Trump Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a bid to block the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a emergency challenge from Trump and his co-defendants...
American orange juice, steel will be on Canada’s list for retaliation if Trump imposes tariffs
TORONTO — Canada is looking at putting retaliatory tariffs on American orange juice, toilets and some steel products if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his threat to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products, a senior official familiar with the matter said Thursday. The official said the wide-ranging...
IRS service improving, report to Congress says. But it’s still dogged by ‘delays, frustration’
As tax filing season begins, the Internal Revenue Service will struggle to provide “the quality service that taxpayers and tax professionals need, leading to delays, frustration, and unnecessary costs,” a report from the National Taxpayer Advocate reported. Erin Collins, the taxpayer advocate, has warned of service problems in the past,...
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman will become the chamber’s first Democrat to meet with President-elect Donald Trump since the election and plans to travel to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The trip marks Fetterman’s continuing evolution from a leading surrogate for President Joe Biden into a Trump-friendly lawmaker...
‘Unbelievable’: Pittsburghers with Los Angeles ties shocked by wildfire devastation
Natalie Kurlander can’t turn away from TV updates of the wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area. “It’s just so devastating,” said Kurlander, 57, who lived in the city for more than 25 years. She now lives in Pittsburgh’s Murdoch Farms with her husband, Carl, who is director of the...
The Los Angeles landmarks from film and TV damaged by wildfires
The high school where Brian De Palma brought Stephen King’s “Carrie” to life, Will Rogers’ ranch house and a motel owned by William Randolph Hearst are among some of the famous structures that have been damaged or destroyed by the California wildfires. Los Angeles is a town full of landmarks,...
What to know about thousands of evacuations and homes burned in Los Angeles area fires
LOS ANGELES — At least five people were killed and thousands of structures were burned as fierce wildfires raged in the Los Angeles area, officials said. Fast-moving flames blazed through homes and businesses as residents fled smoke-filled canyons and picturesque neighborhoods that are home to many celebrities. Many of the...
Fetterman, DeLuzio among Democrats who support bill for deporting immigrants
A bill that lowers the threshold for detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants accused of criminal activity will head to the U.S. Senate on Friday, with support from two Western Pennsylvania Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Senate Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, named for a 22-year-old Augusta...
