LOS ANGELES — A veil of wildfire smoke continued to linger over many Southern California communities Friday as conflagrations tore through the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended its ongoing smoke advisory into Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day of unhealthy pollution, ...Read more

SEATTLE — Mother orca Tahlequah is continuing to carry her burden of grief: a dead calf that she now has been refusing to let go of for at least 11 days.

Tahlequah is the orca whose story shocked the world in 2018 when she carried a calf that lived only half an hour for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles.

The orca and her family, the southern...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s lieutenant governor formed a task force this week aimed at preventing transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports and exploring how to create fair competition for the sexes.

Reached by phone Friday, Republican Stavros Anthony said he formed the “Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force to Protect ...Read more

DENVER — Aurora city officials are seeking an emergency court order to immediately close the troubled Edge of Lowry apartment complex, claiming the property “presents an immediate threat to public safety and welfare,” according to records obtained by The Denver Post.

The alleged kidnapping and torture of two residents in December is the ...Read more

DETROIT — The University of Michigan is ending a two decade-long joint institute with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China that provided global academic opportunities to hundreds of students following concerns about national security by federal lawmakers.

UM announced the move Friday on its website and in a letter to U.S. Rep. John ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby, the Los Angeles Times found.

Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February 2024 for repairs to ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — An unprecedented four-day fire siege that damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 structures and killed at least 11 people showed signs of finally easing Friday as winds lessened and firefighters began to contain the infernos.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said crews were in their best position yet to get a handle ...Read more

Rudolph Giuliani was held in contempt for the second time in one week after a federal judge found he violated an order to stop defaming two 2020 presidential election poll workers.

The ruling came from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday after Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ “Shaye” Moss said the former New York City ...Read more

NEW YORK — Brooklyn real estate magnate Erden Arkan pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to funneling thousands of dollars to Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign in coordination with a Turkish government official, setting him up to testify against the mayor.

Speaking with a hoarse voice from the lower Manhattan courtroom, Arkan, 76, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Amid heightened anxiety over deadly wildfires and erroneous evacuation alerts, Angelenos got another dose of panic Friday when a social media hoax about immigration sweeps in Los Angeles began to circulate online.

The false report is a single message from an unknown sender who states that people had spotted U.S. Immigration and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday inviting the incoming leader to California to meet with fire victims, survey the devastation in Los Angeles County and join him in thanking first responders.

The invitation, which the governor's office said was emailed to Trump's team, marks a change in ...Read more

CHICAGO — The man believed to have shot and killed three family members in central Illinois — including his former college roommate — before threatening far-right streamer Nick Fuentes at his Berwyn home last month had grown “depressed” and “distant” in the weeks leading up to the attack, newly released police records show.

John ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — L.A. County officials apologized Friday after residents across the Los Angeles area continued to receive erroneous emergency alerts that urged them to prepare to evacuate, even though many were not close to any of the fires sweeping across the foothills of the sprawling metropolis.

Residents were awoken in the middle of the ...Read more

Meta Platforms Inc. is disbanding many of its diversity and inclusion efforts, telling employees they will no longer be required to interview candidates from underrepresented backgrounds for open roles, or look to do business with diverse suppliers.

The note to employees, reviewed by Bloomberg News, represents a significant undoing of diversity...Read more

LOS ANGELES — An unprecedented four-day fire siege that damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 structures and killed at least 11 people showed signs of finally easing Friday as winds lessened and firefighters began to contain the infernos.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said crews were in their best position yet to get a handle ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors in the case against Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students, may call more than two dozen expert witnesses in a host of subject areas, including DNA analysis, cellphone geolocation and crime scene reconstruction, to try to prove his guilt at trial.

None of the state’s ...Read more

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey commissioned an independent review of security at state-run shelters and signaled an openness to residency requirements for the emergency assistance program after facing blowback for a lack of widespread criminal background checks in the system.

Democrats on Beacon Hill have long expressed a resistance...Read more

Academy Award winner Mel Gibson was recording with podcaster Joe Rogan in Austin, Texas when he learned that his Malibu home was likely burning to the ground.

“I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking because I knew my neighborhood was on fire,” the polarizing filmmaker told NewsNation on Thursday.

When Gibson returned home, he ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — There is no timeline for when a massive cargo ship that got stuck in the Delaware River while hauling salt will be cleared from the waterway, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.

The 623-foot-long Algoma Verity cargo ship has been stranded in the Delaware River since 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, when it ran aground about a mile north of ...Read more