Daily Briefing: Relentless winds threaten LA fire response
Worried Los Angeles residents brace for more high winds Monday and into this week, further tangling efforts to tamp down blazes that have exploded across Southern California in recent days. Public hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominees begin this week. The stage is set for one of the most highly anticipated national championship games in modern college football history.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. These women basketballers know something about a comeback.
Winds poised to intensify, complicating LA wildfire battle
Efforts to gain an upper hand against the deadly infernos continue into Monday amid ominous new wind warnings threatening Southern California communities. Santa Ana winds are expected to strengthen through Wednesday, with the worst of it occurring on Tuesday. Follow live updates on Monday from Paste BN.
Are the fires contained? All three active fires are somewhat contained, with the Palisades at 13%, Eaton at 27% and Hurst at 89%. Three other blazes — Kenneth, Sunset, and Sunswept — have been contained.
- These fires are increasingly deadly: Local officials announced the death roll has risen 24 people and said that number may increase as cadaver dogs search impacted areas in coming days.
- When can evacuees return home? Official moves to permit people from evacuation zones back to their communities will begin likely after Wednesday.
- Wildfires don’t care how much money you have: Tens of thousands of Angelenos, from unhoused people to billionaires, lost their homes in this week’s wildfires.
The last full week before President-elect Trump's inauguration
The first confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's new administration are set to start this week. The process of confirming or rejecting some of Trump's most high-profile cabinet selections will enter a crucial stage Tuesday as senators begin assessing several nominees at public hearings, including Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. He's expected to face questions about allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and more. Ahead of this week's hearings, the president-elect announced additional several new nominees Saturday. These new appointees share one thing in common: they all served in Trump's first term. Read more
More news to know now
- Greenlanders are shocked, intrigued and bewildered by Trump's zeal for their territory.
- Here's what to know about fees and charges when donating to wildfire GoFundMe fundraisers.
- Democrats are avoiding infighting in the DNC chair race — so far.
- President Joe Biden spoke Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid cease-fire talks.
What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
TikTok may have a potential buyer
As the deadline for a potential TikTok ban in the U.S. approaches, billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's Project Liberty confirmed making a formal offer to ByteDance, the platform's Chinese parent company, to buy the social media giant's American assets The offer, announced Thursday by Project Liberty, comes ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell the platform or face a ban on national security grounds. Here's what to know about Project Liberty.
What's the future of the CFPB under Trump?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's work spans the various ways consumers use financial products and services. Among other things, the agency proposes rules, like recent ones reining in excessive credit card and overdraft fees. But the future of the agency is unclear after Elon Musk, Trump’s new presidential adviser, tweeted in early November “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies". The CFPB is also named in the Heritage Foundation’s policy document Project 2025, which calls it “a highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable federal agency.” For those invested in the work of the agency – protecting consumers from abuses in financial products and services – the recent offensives are concerning.
Today's talkers
- Mandy Moore clapped back after sharing in-laws' GoFundMe amid the L.A. fires.
- Meet and love rapper Doechii.
- Pamela Anderson is getting Oscar buzz.
- Ana Huang’s "Twisted" could be Netflix's next steamy book adaptation.
- Here are the movies you'll want to see in 2025.
College Football Playoff's title game is set
There's a lot of pregame hype leading up to the College Football Playoff title game between Notre Dame and Ohio State. Notre Dame, perhaps the sport’s defining program, is fresh off College Football Playoff wins against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State. Ohio State, another heavyweight, has responded brilliantly to another loss to Michigan to end the regular season. Here are the early keys and biggest storylines leading into the matchup on Monday, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Photo of the day: Can you read this?
More than 200 years worth of U.S. documents at the National Archives are in need of transcribing (or at least classifying) and the vast majority of them are handwritten in cursive – requiring people who know the flowing, looped form of penmanship. The Archives are looking for volunteers with the increasingly rare skill.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.