AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EST
Strong winds forecast to return and threaten Los Angeles area's fight against fires
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Additional water tankers and scores of firefighters arrived at the Los Angeles area on Monday ahead of fierce winds that were forecast to return and threaten the progress made so far on two massive infernos that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people.
Planes doused homes and hillsides with bright pink fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire engines were being placed near particularly vulnerable spots with dry brush. Dozens of water trucks rolled in to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week when the two largest fires erupted.
Tabitha Trosen and her boyfriend said she feels like they are "teetering" on the edge with the constant fear that their neighborhood could be the next under threat.
"Our cats are ready to go, we have their carriers by the door prepped with their little stuffed animals and things like that," Trosen said, adding that she keeps adding things as she thinks about what she could lose. "It´s like, how do I take care of myself, and what are the things that will ground me as a human and remind me of my background and my life and my family."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials - who have faced criticism over their initial response to fires that began last week - expressed confidence Monday that the region was ready to face the new threat with additional firefighters brought in from around the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico.
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'PDS' warnings were made to grab attention in tornadoes, hurricanes, and now wildfires
The National Weather Service's Los Angeles page screams "Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS)" in hot pink letters against a gray background.
It's a rare warning aimed at seizing attention ahead of extreme wildfire risk that's predicted to start in Southern California at 4 a.m. (1200GMT) Tuesday.
PDS warnings were first used to warn of tornado outbreaks in the Midwest. More than a decade ago, three meteorologists proposed expanding their use to disasters such as ice storms, floods, hurricanes, and now wildfires.
"It catches the attention, it really heightens that awareness and the need to really act at that point," said one of those scientists, Jonathan Howell.
The hope was that the phrase would "become synonymous with extreme weather events" and also could be used for emergencies such as hurricanes and snowstorms, Howell and two colleagues wrote for a presentation at a 2011 conference of the American Meteorological Society.
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Beyoncé donates $2.5 million to fire relief and Meghan delays show launch due to the disaster
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Weaker winds and intense firefighting efforts over the weekend boosted containment of fires burning in and around Los Angeles, but the effects of the blazes on the entertainment world continue.
The Oscar nominations have been delayed and the film academy announced Monday that it would cancel a gathering of nominees due to the fire. It's the latest shift to Hollywood's awards season and other projects are also being delayed. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, announced Sunday she would not launch a Netflix lifestyles program as planned this week and would wait until March.
Celebrities and entertainment organizations are pledging millions to help those who have been displaced or lost their homes, with Beyoncé directly millions to help families in the Eaton fire area.
While firefighters over the weekend were able to push the flames away from several populated areas, strong winds are expected to resume this week and last through Wednesday.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed, and 24 people have died as a result of the fires. More are reported missing and officials expect that number to increase.
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Prosecutor who investigated Hunter Biden defends probes, denounces president's remarks in new report
WASHINGTON (AP) - The criminal charges against Hunter Biden "were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics," the prosecutor who led the probes said in a report released Monday that sharply criticized President Joe Biden for having maligned the Justice Department when he pardoned his son.
"Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations," said the report from special counsel David Weiss, whose team filed gun and tax charges against the younger Biden that resulted in felony convictions that were subsequently wiped away by a presidential pardon.
The report is the culmination of years-long investigations that predated the arrival of Attorney General Merrick Garland but became among the most politically explosive inquiries of his entire tenure, capturing Republican fascination on Capitol Hill and ultimately producing a fissure between the Justice Department and the White House over the treatment of the president's son.
The document, as is customary for reports prepared by Justice Department special counsels, provides a recap of the investigative findings. But it is most notable for its steadfast defense of the team's work and for its open criticism of the president over a written statement he issued when pardoning his son last month.
Biden had repeatedly pledged that he would not pardon his son but reversed course on Dec. 1, saying that such an action was warranted because of what he called a "miscarriage of justice" and a selective prosecution. He said he believed that his son had been treated "differently" on account of his last name and that "raw politics" had infected the decision making of the Justice Department.
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Significant progress made in talks over Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release, officials say
CAIRO (AP) - U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal hasn't been reached yet, officials said Monday.
Four officials acknowledged that progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the talks.
A U.S. official briefed on the negotiations said all sides are "closer than we´ve ever been, but it could still fall apart." The official declined to predict the timing of a potential agreement because he said it is too uncertain, with multiple moving parts still in play.
Two other officials, including one associated with Hamas, said there were still a number of hurdles. On several occasions over the past year, U.S. leaders have said they were on the verge of reaching a deal, only to have talks stall.
Another person familiar with the talks said there had been a breakthrough overnight and there was a proposed deal on the table. Israeli and Hamas negotiators will take it to their leaders for final approval, the person said.
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Judge clears the way for release of special counsel Smith's report on Trump's 2020 election case
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department can publicly release special counsel Jack Smith's investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case, a federal judge said Monday in the latest ruling in a court dispute over the highly anticipated document days before Trump is set to reclaim the White House.
But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and it's unlikely U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon´s order will be the last word on the matter. Defense lawyers may seek to challenge it all the way up to the Supreme Court.
Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, had earlier temporarily blocked the department from releasing the entire report on Smith's investigations into Trump that led to two separate criminal cases. Cannon's latest order on Monday cleared the way for the release of the volume detailing Smith's case that accused Trump, a Republican, of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
She set a hearing for Friday on whether the department can release to lawmakers a separate volume on the case that accused Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House in 2021. The department has said it will not publicly disclose that volume as long as criminal proceedings against two of Trump´s co-defendants remain pending.
Cannon dismissed the classified documents case in July, ruling that Smith's appointment was illegal. The Justice Department abandoned both cases after Trump's presidential victory in November, citing department policy that prohibits the federal prosecutions of sitting presidents.
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Hegseth could lead troops who'd face getting fired for actions he's done in the past
WASHINGTON (AP) - If Pete Hegseth were still in uniform, his extramarital affairs and a decision to flatly ignore a combat commander's directive would not just be drawing the attention of senators - they could have run afoul of military law.
That is raising questions among current and former defense leaders and veterans about whether Hegseth would be able to enforce discipline in the ranks if confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary. Hegseth would oversee more than 2 million troops who could be disciplined or kicked out of the service for the same behavior he has acknowledged or been accused of in the past.
Hegseth, a 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News Channel weekend host, has acknowledged having multiple extramarital affairs - which occurred while he was in the military, according to divorce records - and has said he told his troops to ignore commands about when to fire on potential enemies. Both violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice and can get troops court-martialed and dishonorably discharged.
He's also facing questions over his past drinking - which, had it occurred in uniform, also could have led to disciplinary action.
Hegseth, however, has the support of some veterans' groups that say his past indiscretions are not as important as getting in the job someone who will focus on improving military readiness to fight.
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Seoul's spy agency says North Korean soldiers captured in Ukraine haven't shown desire to defect
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea´s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that two North Korean soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia´s Kursk border region haven´t expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he´s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea if the country´s authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un, arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia. Zelenskyy said one of the North Korean soldiers wishes to stay in Ukraine while the other wants to return to his country, which was consistent with interview videos released by his government. "If Kim Jong Un even remembers these citizens of his and is capable of organizing an exchange for our warriors being held in Russia, we are ready to transfer such soldiers. Undoubtedly there will be more POWs from North Korea," Zelenskyy said in an address late Sunday. He said in a separate posting on the social media platform X that "there may be other options" for North Korean prisoners who don't wish to go back.
In a closed-door briefing at South Korea´s National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service confirmed its participation in the questioning of the North Korean soldiers by Ukrainian authorities. The agency said the soldiers haven´t expressed a request to resettle in South Korea, according to two lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The agency said it was willing to discuss the matter with Ukrainian authorities if the soldiers eventually do ask to go to South Korea. About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to capitalist rival South Korea to avoid economic hardship and political suppression at home, mostly since the late 1990s.
Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea´s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said facilitating the asylum of the North Korean soldiers would require "legal reviews, including on international law, and consultations with related nations."
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Queen Elizabeth II wasn't told about Soviet spy in her palace, declassified MI5 files show
LONDON (AP) - Queen Elizabeth II wasn´t told details of her long-time art adviser's double life as a Soviet spy because palace officials didn´t want to add to her worries, newly declassified documents reveal.
The files about royal art historian Anthony Blunt are among a trove from the intelligence agency MI5 released Tuesday by Britain's National Archives. They shed new light on a spy ring linked to Cambridge University in the 1930s, whose members spilled secrets to the Soviet Union from the heart of the U.K. intelligence establishment.
Blunt, who worked at Buckingham Palace as Surveyor of the Queen´s Pictures, was under suspicion for years before he finally confessed in 1964 that, as a senior MI5 officer during World War II, he had passed secret information to Russia´s KGB spy agency.
In one of the newly released files, an MI5 officer notes that Blunt said he felt "profound relief" at unburdening himself. In return for information he provided, Blunt was allowed to keep his job, his knighthood and his social standing - and the queen was apparently kept in the dark.
In 1972, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, told MI5 chief Michael Hanley that "the queen did not know and he saw no advantage in telling her about it now; it would only add to her worries and there was nothing that could done about him."
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Mike McCarthy is not returning as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones says
DALLAS (AP) - Mike McCarthy is not returning as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, who are going on three decades since their last Super Bowl title, owner Jerry Jones said in a statement Monday.
Jones said the organization and McCarthy mutually agreed to part ways. The team´s search for its next coach begins immediately, he says.
"I have great respect for Mike, and he has led the team through some very unique and challenging times during his tenure," Jones said.
McCarthy´s contract expired following a 7-10 season. Dallas was 12-5 each of the three years before that under him, but still hasn´t been past the divisional round of the NFC playoffs since its last Super Bowl at the end of the 1995 season.
McCarthy´s contract expired Jan. 8 and the Cowboys have an exclusive negotiation window through Tuesday, but the parties decided to split ahead of the deadline.
