Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced Friday that she was expecting a baby girl in May. “My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother,” Leavitt, 28, wrote on Instagram, sharing an image of herself standing...
Russian Drones, Missiles Pound Ukraine Ahead of Zelenskiy-Trump Meeting
KYIV — Russia attacked Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, ahead of what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said would be a crucial meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to work out a plan to end nearly four years of war. Zelenskiy cast the...
Heavy Rains, Flash Floods Cake Southern California Homes in Mud
WRIGHTWOOD — Three days of heavy downpours that spawned flash flooding and mudslides across Southern California subsided on Friday, as residents of homes in the hard-hit mountain resort of Wrightwood began digging out mud and assessing damage. The holiday storm drenched the greater Los Angeles basin with up to 6...
How California Justice Changed in 2025: Prop. 36 Toughened Penalties, Prisons Shrank
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A year after Californians voted for a conservative shift in criminal justice policy, they began to see the results. Proposition 36, approved by voters last year, gave prosecutors the ability to charge people convicted of various third-time drug...
Wall Street Closes Near Record Highs, Precious Metals Rise
Major U.S. stock indexes closed near record peaks on Friday, little changed from the start of a muted post-Christmas trading session, while expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and safe haven appeal pushed precious metals prices to all-time highs. Public holidays kept markets closed in Australia, Hong Kong and...
Hmong New Year Event in Fresno Celebrates Their 50 Years in America
The year 2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the first arrivals of Hmong refugees in the United States. While families and clans have been discussing their storied history all year, the celebration now culminates in the biggest New Year gathering of Southeast Asians in North America, said former Fresno City...
Fortnite Goes Down for Thousands of Users, Downdetector Reports
Fortnite experienced a possible outage Friday, with thousands of users reporting issues, according to Downdetector.com. More than 2,000 users had reported problems with the platform as of 1:37 p.m. PT, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collecting status reports from multiple sources. Most users reporting issues say they’re experiencing...
New York to Require Social Media Platforms to Display Mental Health Warnings
Social media platforms with infinite scrolling, auto-play and algorithmic feeds will be required to display warning labels about their potential harm to young users’ mental health under a new law, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday. "Keeping New Yorkers safe has been my top priority since taking office,...
One Gaza Girl’s Fight to Survive Extreme Hunger
In early October, Hoda Abu al-Naja, age 12, landed in a hospital in the Gaza Strip because severe malnutrition was ravaging her body. In six months, she had lost a third of her weight, her doctors said. Her limbs were spindly, her ribs visible, and her shoulder blades jutted from...
Zelenskyy Says He’ll Meet With Trump Over the Weekend
KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Friday that he would meet this weekend with President Donald Trump, as Ukraine and the United States try to maintain momentum in U.S.-led efforts to end the war with Russia. There was no immediate confirmation from the White House. But in...