California Dolphin

It’s that time of year again. No, no, not jingle bell season. It’s “irresistible destinations for the new year” season, when every travel site offers up a where-to-go list. This week, Conde Nast Traveler is throwing its Santa hat in the ring with “The 25 Best Places to Go in 2025.” Related Articles Travel | New York state highlights can’t-miss holiday sites and attractions Travel | Holiday travel: Tahoe’s Truckee is a magical, cozy winter destination Travel | How the way we travel has changed since the pandemic Travel | Election results are impacting travelers’ 2025 international trip plans Travel | Crazy cleaning fees have pushed once-loyal Airbnb travelers back to hotels It’s a diverse list with everything from Greenland — “once a feather in only the most seasoned travelers’ caps,” the CN Traveler editors say — to the Great Barrier Reef. Greenland’s Nuuk airport expansion makes travel easier, they point out, with more flights bound there in the new year. Ho Chi Minh City gets a shout out on the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. In Germany, just south of Bonn, the

After missing 40 days of school last year, Tommy Betom, 10, is on track this year for much better attendance. The importance of showing up has been stressed repeatedly at school – and at home. When he went to school last year, he often came home saying the teacher was picking on him and other kids were making fun of his clothes. But Tommy’s grandmother Ethel Marie Betom, who became one of his caregivers after his parents split, said she told him to choose his friends carefully and to behave in class. Attendance Clerk Katrice Grant speaks to siblings Melanie Pacheco, 8, left, and Marilynn Pacheco, 5, in the hallway before heading to their classrooms. AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales He needs to go to school for the sake of his future, she told him. “I didn’t have everything,” said Betom, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Tommy attends school on the tribe’s reservation in southeastern Arizona. “You have everything. You have running water in the house, bathrooms and a running car.” A teacher and a truancy officer also reached out to Tommy’s

Tuesday, December 3, 2024 12:46PM Hannah Kobayashi, the Hawaii woman who had been believed to be missing in Los Angeles, crossed the border into Mexico on her own accord and is not the victim of any crime, the LAPD said. LOS ANGELES — Hannah Kobayashi, the Hawaii woman who had been believed to be missing in Los Angeles, crossed the border into Mexico on her own accord four days after landing at LAX and is not the victim of any crime, the LAPD said Monday. “To date the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that Kobayashi is being trafficked or is the victim of any foul play,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said. Detectives reviewed her social media accounts and found a desire expressed to “step away from modern connectivity,” he added. The investigation discovered that while Kobayashi initially checked her bag through to New York, she later instructed it be sent to her at LAX, where she retrieved it on Nov. 11. She later used her passport and cash to buy a bus ticket at Union Station to travel to the San Ysidro border crossing

By ABC7 Chicago Digital Team Tuesday, December 3, 2024 12:30PM Williamson County, Illinois deputies stopped a pregnant woman’s runaway vehicle from going into Crab Orchard Lake after her car brakes malfunctioned. WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Ill. — Southern Illinois sheriff’s deputies stop a pregnant woman’s runaway car from going into a lake. It happened early Monday morning in Williamson County, east of Carbondale. Deputies responded to a 911 call from driver who said her car would not stop. Video shows the deputy pull in front of the woman’s car and put on his brakes to slowly bring the woman’s car to a stop about 0.4 miles before reaching Crab Orchard Lake. No one was hurt, and there is no word what caused the woman’s brakes to malfunction. Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

Joe Biden is using the first visit to Angola by a U.S. president to promote Washington’s investments in the sub-Sahara African nation and see a slavery museum where he’ll acknowledge the trafficking of human beings that once linked the two nations’ economies. A centerpiece of his trip is showcasing a U.S. commitment of $3 billion for the Lobito Corridor, a railway redevelopment linking Zambia, Congo and Angola that is meant to make it far easier to move raw materials in the continent and for export. The project also has drawn financing from the European Union, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, a Western-led private consortium and African banks. The project aims to advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies and to counter China’s heavy investments in mining and processing African minerals. President Joe Biden is greeted by Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio as he arrives in the capital Luanda, Angola on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. AP Photo/Ben Curtis The U.S. has for years built relations in Africa through

A Republican-led House committee investigating broad aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects in the US released a final report Monday summarizing its two-year effort, saying it hoped the work would “serve as a road map for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the private sector to prepare for and respond to future pandemics.” In the 520-page report, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic concludes that the coronavirus “most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” citing factors like biological characteristics of the virus and illnesses among researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in fall 2019. Most US intelligence agencies say the virus was not genetically engineered, but it is still not totally clear how the pandemic started. A US intelligence analysis released last year said either a laboratory or natural origin was possible, and the community remains split on the issue. The US Department of Energy assessed last year that it had “low confidence” in the lab leak theory. No US federal agency believes that the virus that causes Covid-19 was created as a bioweapon. The subcommittee report says that

President-elect Donald Trump said he is “totally against” Japan’s Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel.

A Michelin-starred chef called on the thieves who stole his van, along with 2,500 meat pies inside it, to embrace the holiday spirit.

Truong My Lan was convicted of swindling money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) and sentenced to death for fraud totaling $27 billion.