
California prepares for a long wildfire season as record heat parches the state
CNN
As record heat bakes the Southwest and an intensifying drought tightens its grip, vegetation in California has dried to historic levels, putting the region at even greater risk of wildfires, officials say.
In the Los Angeles area, moisture levels in vegetation have fallen to lows not seen since 2016, when the region was in the grip of "exceptional drought," the most severe level of dryness, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to let it enforce ban on transgender service members for now
The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to let it begin enforcing a ban on transgender service members, escalating a fight over a controversial policy that has faced numerous legal setbacks in recent weeks.

Last month, after news broke that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was using Signal to discuss sensitive military operations in violation of Pentagon policy, one of his closest military aides made an unusual inquiry to the Defense Department’s chief information officer: Would they grant an exception so Hegseth could keep using Signal freely?

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker deported to El Salvador, ruling the removal violated a court settlement protecting some young migrants with pending asylum claims, according to an order issued Wednesday.

Bitter gusts are sweeping the frozen Potomac River, driving the wind chill into the teens. On the western front of the United States Capitol, rows of folding chairs are frosted and empty. Snow flurries howl above the iconic dome, but beneath it, the “Apotheosis of Washington” glows against the ceiling of the Rotunda. The grand painting by an Italian immigrant depicts the ascension of the nation’s first president as a matter not merely of politics, but of divine inspiration. One hundred and eighty feet below, Donald Trump is summoning his own spiritual fire to heat the room.