California Dolphin

By WILL WEISSERT and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about 2 in 10 Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter after earlier promising he would do no such thing, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That displeasure tracks with the bipartisan uproar in Washington that ignited over the president’s about-face. The survey found that a relatively small share of Americans “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the pardon, which came after the younger Biden was convicted on gun and tax charges. About half said they “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove, and about 2 in 10 neither approve nor disapprove. The Democratic president had said repeatedly that he would not use his pardon power for the benefit of his family, and the White House continued to insist, even after Republican Donald Trump’s election win in November, that Biden’s position had not changed — until it suddenly did. “I know it’s not right to believe politicians as far as what they say compared to what they do, but he did explicitly say, ‘I will

San Diego

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 29, Palestinian medics say

By SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA, Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, hitting a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north and a built-up refugee camp. At least 29 people were killed, according to Palestinian health officials. The Israel-Hamas war has raged on with no end in sight, even after Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and attention shifted to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Both the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations have said they hope to end the war before the inauguration but months of ceasefire talks have repeatedly stalled. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union. The strike on the home killed 19 people in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the border with Israel, according to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, which received the bodies. Hospital records show that a family of eight was among those killed, including four children, their parents and two grandparents. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas

San Diego

Alex Jones keeps Infowars for now after judge rejects The Onion’s winning auction bid

By DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press A federal judge in Texas rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding for the conspiracy theory platform as flawed as well as how much money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive. The decision late Tuesday night is a victory for Jones, whose Infowars site was put up for sale as part of his bankruptcy case in the wake of the nearly $1.5 billion that courts have ordered him to pay over falsely calling one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history a hoax. Families of the Sandy Hook victims had backed The Onion’s bid. Following a two-day hearing in Houston, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he would not approve the sale, while citing concerns about transparency in the auction. That clears the way for Jones to keep — at least for now — Infowars, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The Onion had planned to kick Jones out and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody. “We are deeply disappointed in today’s decision

Judge blocks sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to the Onion

A federal bankruptcy judge has rejected the sale of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars website to the satirical news site the Onion, citing concerns with the bidding process. The trustee overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy will determine the next steps.

Franklin Fire doubles in size in Malibu, California

The Franklin Fire in Malibu, California, has now burned more than 3,000 acres and destroyed several homes while exploding in size overnight. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans has the latest.

Man who attacked judge in Vegas courtroom gets decades in prison

Video showed the judge falling back from her seat as Deobra Redden flung himself over her bench and grabbed her hair, toppling an American flag onto them.

Michael Cole, ‘The Mod Squad’ and ‘General Hospital’ star, dies at 84

Michael Cole, who starred as one-third of “The Mod Squad,” has died. He was 84. The actor played Pete Cochran in the hit ABC crime show that aired from 1968 to ’73. Cole died Tuesday, his Atlanta-based talent agent Christy Clark confirmed to The Times. On the tail of a decade of civil unrest due to the Vietnam War and the midcentury civil rights movement, “The Mod Squad” made fighting crime cool to the younger generation’s counterculture. Peggy Lipton, left, Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Tige Andrews in a scene from the 1960s TV series “The Mod Squad.” (ABC) With “one black, one white, one blonde,” as the show’s tagline, “the rabble on the wrong side of the law was now the law,” said television critic Lorraine Ali in 2018. That same year, Cole authored a memoir that referenced his undercover-cop role titled “I Played the White Guy.” Cole’s nephew, who was named after him, announced his uncle’s death Monday in a post on Facebook. “He was my inspiration to the craft of acting and helped guide me my whole career. He taught me

How mafias cash in by preying on hotels, restaurants in Italy

Updated on: December 11, 2024 / 7:14 AM EST / CBS/AFP More than 200 sentenced in Italy mafia trial More than 200 people sentenced in Italy mafia trial 04:04 Italy’s mafias make more than three billion euros a year from the tourism sector and are primed to pocket even more from large-scale upcoming events, a research institute warned on Tuesday. Organized crime groups preying on vulnerable companies from hotels to restaurants are currently taking home 3.3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) a year and are set to cash in on the Catholic Church’s Jubilee celebrations in Rome and the Winter Olympic Games, the Demoskopika research institute said. “Italian tourism is under attack. The 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics and the 2025 Jubilee whet the appetites of the mafia,” Demoskopika president Raffaele Rio said in a report. The powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which is rooted in Calabria, alone accounts for half of the entire turnover, the report said. The Campania-based Camorra, the Sicilian Mafia and organized crime groups in the region of Puglia also rake in large amounts of money from tourism. While those mob heartlands are in the south

Kabul explosion kills Afghan Taliban regime’s minister for refugees

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, a minister in Afghanistan’s de-facto Taliban government and a member of a notorious family, was among those killed in an explosion in Kabul.

Man arrested in 1985 church murders after original suspect exonerated

Updated on: December 11, 2024 / 6:28 AM EST / CBS/AP A southeast Georgia man was arrested and charged in the 1985 killing of a couple at a Black church after the original suspect — who spent 20 years behind bars — was exonerated on DNA evidence, authorities said. Erik Kristensen Sparre, 61, was jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in the killings of Harold and Thelma Swain, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Monday. Sparre was arrested nearly four decades after the couple was fatally shot inside Rising Daughter Baptist Church in coastal Camden County. Sparre became the focus of a renewed investigation into the Swains’ deaths after authorities concluded they had initially prosecuted the wrong man. Dennis Perry was sentenced to life in prison when a jury convicted him in 2003 of murdering the Swains. He spent two decades in prison before a Superior Court judge ordered a retrial in 2020. The judge dismissed all charges against Perry in 2021 after prosecutors asked to drop the case. Dennis Perry spent two decades in prison before a

South Korean defense chief jailed over martial law order attempts suicide

December 11, 2024 / 6:18 AM EST / AP Protesters in South Korea continue Protests in South Korea calling for impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol 02:28 Seoul, South Korea — South Korea’s previous defense minister was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week’s martial law declaration , officials said Wednesday, as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office resisted a police attempt to search the compound. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party is pushing for a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 decree that imposed martial law in South Korea for the first time in more than four decades. Its first impeachment attempt against Yoon last Saturday failed after ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote. The party said it plans to submit the new motion on Thursday to set up another vote this Saturday. Yoon’s ill-conceived power grab has paralyzed South Korean politics, frozen its foreign policy and rattled financial markets. On Wednesday, rival North Korea ‘s state media for the first time reported about the turmoil across the border, but the country hasn’t shown any suspicious activities. Shin Yong Hae, commissioner

Word Game: Dec. 11, 2024

TODAY’S WORD — ORDEAL ORDEAL: or-DEEL: A severe trial or experience. Average mark 26 words Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 30 or more words in ORDEAL? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — WINNOWED: wend wide widen widow wind window wine winnow wino wowed neon nine node none owed owned endow enwind dine dino done down To purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last! RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at kzsaxe@gmail.com.

Asking Eric: What should I do about the headstone that has my name on it?

Dear Eric: My wife and I married two years ago. We were both widowed after long happy marriages and feel blessed that we have found each other. When our first spouses died, they were interred in different local cemeteries. In each case, the headstone includes the surviving spouse’s name and birth year (of course, no death year yet!). So, when my wife and I die, we would be interred with our first spouses, with no reference to second spouses. And yet, to take our names off the current headstones (actually bronze plaques, so it is possible to do) and be interred together somewhere else seems not right, either. How can we recognize our current and former spouses in our final resting places? I just want my second, happy marriage recognized, as well as my first, happy marriage – Thinking Ahead Dear Thinking: It’s a gift to those who will survive you that you’re thinking through this now. Perhaps the easiest option is for you and your wife to have your plaques list both spouses. So, the headstone where you’ll be interred would list both of

Harriette Cole: The pressure on me to look a certain way is overwhelming

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have struggled with body image issues for years, even though I was always fit before getting married. My husband and I had a baby soon after marrying, which caused me to gain weight, and I’ve been struggling with it ever since. Despite trying various diets — like low-carb, intermittent fasting and calorie deficits — I often find myself returning to high-carb foods. Recently, the pressure to look a certain way has become overwhelming. Whether it’s from social media or comments from others, I feel constantly judged. I want to focus on self-love and acceptance, but it’s difficult to quiet the negative voices in my head. I’m searching for ways to feel confident in my own skin and break free from these insecurities. — Body Image Insecurities DEAR BODY IMAGE INSECURITIES: One important fact for you to consider is that your body will continue to change throughout your life. That is natural. Having a baby changes your body dramatically, and often the “new you” is never quite like the you from before giving birth. That is not bad; it’s just true. It is

Miss Manners: If the wedding is on a weekday afternoon, do they really want us there?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I have been invited to a wedding that begins at 3:30 p.m. on a Thursday. We are thrilled for the couple. However, I feel we should decline, as the bride and groom are sending a message — with their choice of a midweek afternoon ceremony — that they would prefer to have a small turnout. I believe we should say no but send a thoughtful note and gift. My husband feels that we should both take the day off from work and attend, and that declining would be punishing the couple for staying within their limited financial resources. Who is right? GENTLE READER: Perhaps neither. The midweek scheduling might have nothing to do with the wedding budget. And even if the happy couple is economizing, Miss Manners notes that they meant to include you. The problem with reading between the lines is that the print is so small. The safest assumption, when one receives an invitation, is that it means the host desires the pleasure of your company. DEAR MISS MANNERS: I used to frequent a coffee shop in

Opinion: Conservatives targeted LAUSD’s Black student achievement program. The district shouldn’t give in

Los Angeles Unified School District has said it is removing race as a factor for determining which students will be helped by its Black Student Achievement Plan. The move comes after a federal civil rights complaint about the program was filed by a conservative group in Virginia in 2023. The group charged that the plan was unconstitutional because it targeted support for students based solely on race. We have consulted with LAUSD on the Black Student Achievement Plan since its inception. It was established in 2021 after efforts by parents and community activists drew attention to the district’s dismal track record serving its Black students. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, the school board voted to direct a portion of its funding for school policing to an improvement plan for the academic experiences and outcomes of Black students. We supported this decision then and think its results show the plan should remain in place without removing race as a consideration factor. Not only has it helped Black students in Los Angeles, but Black student achievement programs generally help all the students in schools that

Are you at risk of tsunami flooding in California? Check these maps

California’s coastal areas are obviously at highest risk from an incoming tsunami. But how far inland does the threat extend? The answer might surprise you. Tsunami hazard areas can be quite large depending on the location, and in some cases, they are home to large numbers of people. A large swath of Venice and all of Marina del Rey are in a tsunami hazard area. So are wide sections of Long Beach, including Belmont Shore, Naples Island and the city Convention Center. Significant segments of Orange County are also at risk. They include Newport Beach’s Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula, as well as neighborhoods in Sunset Beach and Seal Beach. Even where tsunami hazard zones are relatively narrow, many Californians may not have the instinct to get to higher ground after the ground shakes. The Malibu Village mall is separated from the coast by two rows of houses, a golf course and Pacific Coast Highway, yet is still at risk because of its proximity to not just the ocean but also Malibu Lagoon. And the risk can vary. The tsunami hazard area in Manhattan Beach

Trump names California Republican Harmeet Dhillon for top civil rights post

Harmeet Dhillon — one of California’s most prominent Republican Party operatives, a cultural crusader against “woke” politics and a fervent champion of President-elect Donald Trump — was named Monday by Trump to a top civil rights post in the U.S. Department of Justice. If confirmed, Dhillon would be the second woman to lead the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, following President Biden’s choice of longtime civil rights lawyer Kristen Clarke. The office is tasked with enforcing federal civil rights laws across a wide swath of American life. A frequent commentator on conservative media, Dhillon has long been one of the most charismatic figures in the California GOP. She made an unsuccessful but closely watched play for Republican National Committee chair in 2023. “Harmeet Dhillon is very conservative and hardly a champion of civil rights as it is generally understood,” legal scholar and UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said by email Tuesday. “She was very active in challenging COVID restrictions. She has filed suits when conservatives claim their speech was restricted. She has challenged protection of transgender students. But there is nothing in

Abcarian: This is why Donald Trump just doubled down on mass deportation of millions of immigrants

A chilling scene in the new movie “Wicked” sums up what’s wrong with President-elect Donald Trump’s view of immigrants. The two witches, Elphaba and Glinda, have traveled to the Emerald City to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Wizard explains to them that he plans to consolidate power over his restive land by demonizing its animals, who not only have the power of speech but are also the equals of human beings. He will strip them of the ability to speak and confine them to cages. But why would you do such a thing, asks the tender-hearted, green-skinned Elphaba, whose horror at his plan will eventually turn her into the Wicked Witch of the West. “The best way to bring folks together,” the Wonderful Wizard of Oz tells the women, “is to give them a really good enemy.” That is the essence of Trump’s immigration policy. Trump told Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he plans to keep his campaign promise to deport millions of people. “You have no choice,” he said. “First of all, they’re costing us a fortune.

Why Newsom’s electric vehicle mandate is in trouble