Author:

The holiday season has arrived. For many Latinos, this time of year brings the delicious scents of tamales, asado and hallacas. Let’s introduce a new tradition by celebrating our heritage and stories by delving into the captivating work of Latinx authors. In this special edition of De Los Reads, you’ll find a delightful picture book that showcases the magic of Día de Reyes and its power to unite families year after year. There’s also a tempting cookbook of Latin American baking recipes that will inspire you to add new, delicious flavors to your holiday table. For fans of graphic novels, a story of self-discovery will keep you hooked from start to finish, offering a journey as thrilling as it is relatable. Grab a cafecito or a cup of sweet champurrado, wrap yourself in a fluffy cobija and let these books bring even more joy and meaning to your celebrations. Enjoy! Children’s books “ Tamales For Christmas ” By Stephen Briseño; illustrated by Sonia Sánchez (Random House Studio, October 2024) Grandma is preparing for Christmas, but how many delicious tamales will she need to earn enough

“Wait, you dated her? She’s basically royalty,” said an old schoolmate of my first love when we realized our mutual connection. It was nearly a year after the breakup, but even hearing her name made my heart beat in staccato. I was in my sophomore year at Scripps College in Claremont when our paths crossed for the first time. Trump’s inauguration and an air of accompanying pessimism hung in the air, so I combated my own doom through volunteering for our college consortium’s refugee advocacy network. During my first tutoring assignment, I couldn’t have looked more out of place. I’d never met a Muslim person before coming to college, and here I was, walking into the mosque in my skinny jeans with a tiny silver cross hanging around my neck. It didn’t take long to notice one of the other volunteers, with her dark curly hair and tie-dye. She looked so at ease, and she was, cracking jokes with the moms in her native language and letting the kids strum on her guitar. I was so anxious that day as I approached her, emboldened by

Fear, anxiety and confusion swept across the West Coast early Thursday when a rare tsunami warning was issued for parts of Northern California and southern Oregon following a magnitude 7 earthquake that hit about 55 miles off the shore of Eureka. Evacuations were ordered. Sirens went off. Service was suspended on the Bay Area’s commuter rail through its underwater Transbay Tube. But in about an hour, the warning was canceled. Though the circumstances were right, no major tsunami formed — this time. “It could have moved a lot of water,” said Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska. “We’re glad it didn’t.” The conditions could have produced a dangerous tsunami, but there’s no way to predict such an event accurately ahead of time, Snider said. So his team errs on the side of caution, especially when the earthquake hits closer to the coast — as this one did — and could more quickly inundate populated areas. “We’re completely reactionary to the earthquake event,” Snider said. “Time has to be respected to get people safe.” Tsunami warnings remain rare

Updated on: December 6, 2024 / 6:50 AM EST / CBS/AP Meet “Wisdom,” the oldest-known bird in the wild Meet “Wisdom,” the oldest-known bird in the wild 04:47 The oldest known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, U.S. wildlife officials said. The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts estimate may be her 60th egg, the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said in a Facebook post this week. Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, had returned to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean to lay and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life and lay one egg per year, but according to the USFWS, Akeakamai hadn’t been seen for several years, prompting “Wisdom to begin courtship dances with other males” as soon as she returned to the island last week. “We are optimistic that the egg will hatch,” Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll

December 6, 2024 / 6:43 AM EST / CBS/AFP Ecuador at war with drug gangs Ecuador’s president says country is at war with drug gangs 03:15 An Ecuadoran soccer star held hostage for three days has been rescued after a firefight between police and his captors in the jungle near Colombia. Pedro Perlaza, 33, a defender with top-flight club Delfin, was freed along with another person, police announced Wednesday evening in a social media post. He had been missing since Sunday evening. In a social media post Thursday, police said three suspects had been arrested and that they had demanded $60,000 in exchange for their release. A video released by police on Thursday showed the two men who were kidnapped — both barefoot — tearfully thanking their rescuers. “They’ve been badly treated, but they’re alive,” Diego Velastegui, head of police in the northwestern port city of Esmeraldas, told reporters. Police “were met by bullets from the criminals” near the coastal town of Atacames, he said. The kidnappers fled after officers returned fire. Velastegui said several of the kidnappers were wounded. Perlaza had been held in

By Christina Fan Updated on: December 6, 2024 / 7:14 AM EST / CBS New York Photos from NYC hostel at center of United Healthcare CEO murder investigation Photos from NYC hostel at center of United Healthcare CEO murder investigation 03:11 NEW YORK — A New York City hostel is now the focal point of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder investigation .  That’s where the NYPD obtained photos of a person of interest , who let his guard — and his mask — down as he talked to a woman working at the front desk.  A high-ranking source tells CBS News New York police interviewed the woman, and she told officers she asked to “see his pretty smile.”  “They were having a flirtatious moment and he pulls it down and he gives a big smile and that one informal moment between two human beings remains at this moment the most significant clue to date in this whole case,” former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.  Sources say the man used a fake New Jersey ID with a phony name to check

WASHINGTON —  Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations have raised hopes that his trade and other economic actions will not be wildly disruptive or bring back inflation. But that could turn out to be wishful thinking. Based on the record of his first term in the Oval Office and on his current statements of his intent, Trump’s second term may see a break from the largely bipartisan consensus that has shaped U.S. economic policy for more than 50 years. That consensus has centered on a push for more foreign trade, less government regulation of business, tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus when necessary to sustain steady growth and low unemployment. Though Republicans tended to put more emphasis on one element or another than Democrats, the overall thrust remained pretty much the same. And supporters of that approach took heart when Trump picked billionaire investor Scott Bessent to be his Treasury secretary. Bessent is a familiar name in the hedge fund world, and for some years he worked under the longtime financier and Democratic backer George Soros. Wall Street immediately cheered the selection by pushing up

Health officials warned Thursday that people who were at Los Angeles International Airport and Children’s Hospital of Orange County in recent days may have been exposed to measles. A flier infected with the disease was at LAX a day before Thanksgiving, and an infant with measles was at the Orange County hospital after the holiday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether this was a single individual. Those at highest risk of getting sick are unvaccinated people who haven’t had measles before. Babies are at high risk from the highly contagious disease. Others at risk of severe outcomes include pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems. A person infected with measles arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 27, on Qatar Airways Flight 739. The flight originated out of Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said that people who were at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal — also known as Terminal B — between 12:30 and 6 p.m. that day might be at risk of contracting measles due to exposure to the traveler. Separately, the

Jahnay Bryan, a recent Cornell University graduate, had a bright future ahead of her before she mysteriously disappeared in Los Angeles this fall, leaving her family desperate for answers and frustrated by the lack of progress in solving her case. Bryan, a 23-year-old Black woman, was last seen near the 2000 block of West 8th Street on Oct. 16, according to an Ebony Alert issued by the Los Angeles Police Department on Nov. 19. She has black hair and brown eyes, is 5-foot-7 and weighs about 125 pounds. Ebony Alerts are meant to help police find missing Black youths ages 12 to 25, a group that represents a disproportionate number of the missing people in the state and the country. In 2023, Black youths under 18 made up 40% of all missing-children cases in the United States, despite making up just 15% of American children, according to the National Crime Information Center. Bryan’s sister, Jahque Bryan-Goodman, reported her missing Nov. 13. Three weeks have since passed, and there are no updates available on Bryan’s case, according to an LAPD spokesperson. “I feel like it wasn’t

With “Gladiator II,” Ridley Scott returns to the bloody world of his Oscar-winning swords-and-sandals epic. Starring Paul Mescal as Lucius, a young prisoner turned gladiator, this sequel goes bigger and wilder than its predecessor, including monkeys, rhinos and even sharks within its grand action sequences. To re-create the epic scope of the original film and reimagine it for 2024 audiences, Scott reunited with many of his longtime collaborators. That included special effects supervisor Neil Corbould. Joining him was visual effects supervisor Mark Bakowski. Unlike Corbould, who’s worked with Scott for decades (he won an Oscar for “Gladiator” and was nominated just last year for the director’s “Napoleon”), Bakowski was excited to work with the famed filmmaker for the first time. “He’s nuts,” Bakowski says with a laugh via Zoom, about the English director. “But obviously in an excellent way. He shoots quickly, and he likes to move. He’s like, ‘Get me going.’ It’s all rush, rush, rush. It’s great. But it took some getting used to. “I heard him shout once, ‘I want four donkeys (there might have been a swear word in there) and