LOS ANGELES — Rising from the ashes, the Altadena Christmas Tree Lane Association’s Winter Festival is gearing up for a record crowd today as it celebrates its 105th anniversary of lighting a near mile of deodar cedars along Santa Rosa Avenue, aka Christmas Tree Lane.

The iconic street escaped major damage from the Eaton fire in January, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — About a dozen detainees were led out onto the snowy tarmac at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Friday.

The group of mostly Hispanic men were shackled at the hands, waist and feet by authorities who emerged from white vans bearing the Department of Homeland Security logo.

Each detainee ascended a staircase ramp to ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hunters will fan out across Florida beginning Saturday as the first sanctioned hunt of black bears in a decade kicks off amid sharply divided public opinion and efforts by humane advocates to cajole — and even pay — sportsmen not to shoot the state’s largest land mammal.

Through a lottery system, state wildlife officials...Read more

María Corina Machado, the laureate of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, is set to arrive in Oslo to receive her award in person on Wednesday.

“I’ve been in touch with Machado last night and she confirms she will be in Oslo for the ceremony” on Dec. 10, the director of Norway’s Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, said by text ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to approve new recommendations delaying the child hepatitis B vaccine for infants Friday, providing a win for the Make America Healthy Again movement while troubling many health officials in Baltimore and across the nation.

If enacted, the new policies would have the Centers ...Read more

The leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Monday to discuss U.S. efforts to reach a peace deal after Russia carried out another round of massive attacks.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the meeting on Saturday in a post on social media in which he condemned the ...Read more

Hong Kong’s election chief has urged the public to vote in Sunday’s legislative election after some called for it to be postponed in the wake of the city’s deadliest fire in decades, RTHK reported.

Appearing on the broadcaster on Saturday, David Lok, head of the Electoral Affairs Commission, said the date of Hong Kong’s election couldn�...Read more

WASHINGTON — A renewed push by the Trump administration to settle Russia's war in Ukraine is jolting European governments that are fearful Washington is laying the groundwork for an ultimatum to Kyiv on Moscow's terms.

The flurry of diplomatic engagements has left Ukrainian and European diplomats alarmed that President Donald Trump and his ...Read more

DULUTH, Minn. – A couple of minutes into a recent school lockdown drill, a group of 11th-graders huddled in the back of a darkened classroom in complete silence.

The door handle suddenly jiggled, cracking through the quiet and sending a tremor through the students.

Lee Kruger’s international studies class at Duluth East High School had ...Read more

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy codifies the disruptive foreign policies he’s pursued since taking office — including railing against allies as often as traditional foes — but also veers inward with an emphasis on domestic and culture war issues.

Unlike previous national security documents, the one ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department is expected to end the year $19.6 million over budget, which Police Chief Brian O’Hara largely attributes to the hiring of 162 aspiring police officers.

The agency’s overspending of its $230 million budget is expected to be a hot topic during a Monday budget committee meeting. Council Vice ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — SAVE Inc., the nonprofit that reopened Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ youth homeless shelter Teresa’s Place in August, has fired a number of staff members, citing funding issues that have also led to a lack of food at the shelter and other cashflow problems, according to staff.

Ten employees were let go across the organization on...Read more

WASHINGTON — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that she and President Donald Trump had a “cordial” hour-long meeting in Washington that ended with both leaders extending invitations to visit each other’s country.

“We’ll arrange a date later,” Sheinbaum told reporters outside of the Mexican Cultural Institute.

The ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Lester Lewis’ chances of freedom seemed bleak.

The allegations were horrific, even for a rape case, and the prosecution’s evidence appeared to be strong. He was accused of beating, burning and sexually violating a woman as she died of a suspected drug overdose in his Oakland apartment, then coldly dragging her corpse to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pressing their Republican colleagues to summon the Trump administration’s top housing regulator to Capitol Hill for questioning about his turbulent tenure overseeing the nation’s $13 trillion mortgage market.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte should be called to testify before lawmakers ...Read more

Gilbert Clark, the former commandant of the Naval Academy dismissed from his post last month amid concerns over his ability to lead, was seen dancing and drinking alcohol while in uniform with young adults at an Annapolis bar on at least one occasion, according to one witness and a social media video reviewed by the Capital Gazette.

The video...Read more

Negotiators from the White House and Ukraine agreed on a “framework of security arrangements” and discussed what deterrence capabilities would be necessary as part of a peace deal to end the war with Russia, the U.S. said Friday.

“The participants discussed the results of recent meeting of the American side with the Russians and steps ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been cooperating with the city corruption watchdog’s investigation into possible violations of ethics laws, his spokesperson said Friday.

“This is a non-criminal, ethics review, and the Mayor is fully confident it will show he followed the law,” Todd Shapiro said of the Department of ...Read more