Author: Grace Thompson

A series of fierce wildfires that raged across the Los Angeles area on January 7 were fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. They destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed at least 27 people, some of whom perished attempting to stop the fires from devouring their houses. Two of the fires were linked to an undetermined number of serious injuries, according to a Los Angeles County fire official, while a city official in Los Angeles called the night of January 7 one of the most terrible and catastrophic she had ever witnessed in her area of the city. What we know about the flames is as follows. Where are the fires? On the morning of January 7, a brush fire broke out in Pacific Palisades, a suburb in Los Angeles east of Malibu. By Wednesday evening, the California Department of For...

South Korea's SEOULOn Thursday, anti-corruption officials in South Korea asked prosecutors to arrest ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol for mutiny and abuse of power due to his brief imposition of martial law. Yoon, the first sitting president to be imprisoned in South Korea's history, was identified by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) as the head of an uprising that also involved his defense minister at the time. Recent developments have thrown South Korea into a political crisis that has affected the economy and caused friends, particularly the United States, to worry about the political stability of the nation. Yoon, who was suspended from office and impeached on December 14, has been in jail since last week while an inquiry is conducted into his attempt ...

After responding to a "suicide in progress" call in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday night, at least seven police officers were shot after an hours-long armed standoff. According to the San Antonio Police Department, the unidentified suspect, who is in his 40s, shot an officer who had first arrived at the apartment in the Stone Oak neighborhood of the city. He then went on to shoot six additional police while the property was barricaded. According to officials, none of the seven cops' injuries were life-threatening. How the suspect died remains unknown. According to San Antonio's NBC affiliate WOAI, police removed tenants from the apartment complex who could be safely relocated. In a Facebook video, SAPD Chief William P. McManus stated: "The suspect barricaded himself inside the apartment ...

Beijing According to a business poll published Thursday, a record number of American companies are speeding up their plans to move their production or sourcing operations to China. Annual polls from the American Chamber of Commerce in China show that about 30% of respondents thought about or began such diversification in 2024, up from a previous high of 24% in 2022. More from CNBC China urges state-backed funds to buy more stocks amid market slump South Korea GDP misses estimates on weak consumption and construction sector Billionaire Frank McCourt is open to a 50% share of TikTok after Trump comments Additionally, it was higher than the 23% share recorded in 2017, the year when President Donald Trump started his first term and began to increase tariffs on...

Nepal's KathmanduFor the first time in almost ten years, Nepal will raise the permit costs for climbing Mount Everest by more than thirty-five percent, officials announced Wednesday, making the world's tallest peak more costly for climbers. The financially constrained country, which is home to eight of the world's fourteen tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, depends heavily on the money earned from permission fees and other expenditures made by international climbers. The director general of the Department of Tourism, Narayan Prasad Regmi, announced a 36% increase in the $11,000 charge that has been in force for almost ten years to $15,000 for a permit to climb the 29,032-foot Mount Everest. For a long time, the royalty (permission fees) had not been examined. Regmi informed Reuter...

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that he would choose L. Brent Bozell III, the founder of the Media Research Center, to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Bozell signed a letter on behalf of his son, a convicted Jan. 6 rioter. "As the founder and president of the Media Research Center for 38 years, few have a better understanding of the global media landscape in print, television, and online than Brent," Trump stated in a Truth Social release. "He and his family have fought for the American principles of Liberty, Freedom, Equality, and Justice for generations, and he will ensure that message is heard by Freedom-loving people around the World." On Wednesday, Bozell stated that he was "honored" to be chosen by Trump to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media. "A lot of work n...

More than 31,000 people were warned and ordered to evacuate Wednesday near two new wildfires north of Los Angeles. More than 10,000 acres, or 15 square miles, have been burned since Wednesday morning in the Hughes fire near Castaic Lake in northern Los Angeles County.Cal Fire said that by 1 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), it was only 10% contained. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna informed reporters that the Hughes fire was being fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, but the interagency fire information center reported that no structures have been burned. Late Wednesday saw the start of a fresh brush fire in Sepulveda Pass, which spread to 40 acres close to UCLA and the heavily populated Sherman Oaks neighborhood before being put out. At 11:46 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Los Angeles F...

Madison, Wisconsin. On Wednesday, prosecutors charged a Wisconsin man with several charges, including arson, after he allegedly informed police that he attempted to set fire to a congressman's office because he was angry over the federal TikTok ban. Caiden Stachowicz, 19, was charged by Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney with felony arson, terrorist threats, attempted burglary, and property damage. If found guilty on all counts, he would be sentenced to more than 50 years in prison. Menasha resident Stachowicz was expected to appear in court for the first time on Wednesday morning. According to online court documents, Judge Tricia Walker granted him $500,000 in cash bond and mandated that he refrain from communicating with Republican U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman or his...

Washington Federal employees who failed to report peers who hold diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility roles that may have gone overlooked by federal supervisors risked consequences, according to emails sent to them on Wednesday. "We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language," according to emails that NBC News was able to get from government officials. Staff members were instructed to inform the Office of Personnel Management if they were "aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies." "There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information," the message rea...

A fast-moving wildfire flared Wednesday, spreading to over 8,000 acres in a matter of hours, forcing some 31,000 people to evacuate a region north of Los Angeles, according to officials. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna informed reporters that another 23,000 residents were under evacuation warnings following the Hughes Fire, which broke out at 10:53 a.m. Wednesday near Castaic Lake in northern Los Angeles County. At a joint news conference, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone stated that the fire, which was fueled by windy and dry weather, had burned 9,400 acres by Wednesday afternoon. "The fire remains a difficult fire to contain, although we are getting the upper hand," Marrone stated. The fire started weeks after two neighboring fires in the Los Angeles area e...