LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wildfire whipped up by extreme winds is sweeping through a Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity residences. Homes have burned and tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders, some of whom abandoned cars and fled on foot due to clogged roads. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says many structures have already been destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The plunging polar vortex is bringing subfreezing temperatures to some of the southernmost points of the U.S. A forming storm system is threatening to dump snow on parts of Texas and Oklahoma, while communities in Louisiana and Florida may see frigid cold.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter's state funeral has moved to Washington after observances in his native Georgia. The 39th president's remains left the Carter Presidential Center on Tuesday morning and flew to the Washington area aboard Special Air Mission 39.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he won't rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say two bodies have been found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at a South Florida airport. The airline says the bodies were discovered in the wheel well area during a routine post-flight inspection on Monday night at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The singer-songwriter and social activist best known as one-third of the folk-music group Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at age 86. Peter Yarrow died Tuesday at his home in New York.

In other news:

• Biden administration bans unpaid medical bills from appearing on credit reports.
• Appeals court rejects Trump's latest attempt to get Friday's hush money sentencing called off.
• Jack Smith finalizing Trump investigation report that could be released as early as Friday.
• Meta replaces fact-checking with X-style community notes.
• Man pleads not guilty to burning woman to death on a New York City subway train.
• Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right leader known for fiery rhetoric against immigration, dies at 96.
• The Titans are making a change in leadership and the Chargers are bulking up their roster ahead of the playoffs.
• 49ers head home early following a trying season that started with Super Bowl hopes.
• Gaudreau suspect pleads not guilty to homicide charges after turning down 35-year prison sentence.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter's state funeral moves to Washington after observances in his native Georgia. The 39th president's remains will leave the Carter Presidential Center on Tuesday morning and fly to Washington aboard Special Air Mission 39. The Carter family and former president will arrive at Joint Base Andrews, with a motorcade following to the U.S. Navy Memorial. Carter's flag-draped casket will be transferred to a horse-drawn caisson for his final journey to the Capitol.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The next round of bitter cold is set to envelop the southern U.S., after the first significant winter storm of the year blasted a huge swath of the country with ice, snow and wind. The immense storm system brought disruption even to areas of the country that usually escape winter’s wrath, downing trees in some Southern states and threatening a freeze in Florida.

DORAVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say a shooting at the Honduran consulate just outside Atlanta left one person dead and another injured. Doraville city spokesperson Emily Heenan says a suspect is in custody.

Fewer than 1 in 1,000 U.S. adolescents with commercial insurance received gender-affirming medications during a recent five-year period. That's according to a study published Monday that sheds light on medical practices now being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — At least nine workers are trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India’s northeastern Assam state and authorities have summoned the army to help in the rescue operation. The miners became trapped on Monday in Dimapur Hasao district south of the state capital, Guwahati.

In other news:

• Congress convenes to certify Trump's election win, but his Jan. 6 legacy hangs over the day.
• Judge denies Trump's bid to halt Friday's hush money case sentencing while they appeal to block it.
• Hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions are in limbo as a DC court awaits Trump's White House return.
• Biden issues ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters. Trump vows to undo it.
• Top Federal Reserve bank regulator, under fire from GOP, to step down next month.
• Rudy Giuliani is in contempt of court in $148 million defamation case.
• Minneapolis agrees to overhaul police training and force policies after George Floyd's murder.
• New Orleans holds 1st parade of Carnival season 5 days after deadly attack on Bourbon Street.
• Man behind New Year's attack visited New Orleans before, recorded video with smart glasses, FBI says.
• California governor proposes $322B budget with no deficit.
• First US bird flu death is announced in Louisiana.
• McDonald's is the latest company to roll back diversity goals.
• Stock market today Nvidia and other tech stocks pull Wall Street higher.
• Jaguars fire coach Doug Pederson, keep GM Trent Baalke after 'best team assembled' wins just 4 games.
• Sheel Seidler, wife of late Padres owner, sues in-laws for control of the team.
• Scottie Scheffler withdraws from next tournament. Pebble Beach still on his schedule.
• Residents of Syria's Quneitra are frustrated by lack of action to halt Israeli advance.
• Pope names like-minded ally Cardinal McElroy as Washington archbishop.
• Canada's Trudeau resigns as Liberal Party leader, spelling end to time in power.
• France marks 10 years since deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks.
• A look at the legal cases filed against France's former President Sarkozy.
• North Korea says it tested hypersonic intermediate range missile aimed at remote Pacific targets.
• Russia claims it has captured another town in eastern Ukraine but Kyiv doesn't confirm the loss.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel are filing a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s decision to block a proposed nearly $15 billion deal for Nippon to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, alleges that it was a political decision and violated the companies’ due process.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to New Orleans as the city reels from the deadly New Year’s attack in which an Army veteran plowed a truck into revelers, killing 14 and injuring 30 more. Biden says his message to the families will be to hang on despite the grief.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress plans to convene during a snowstorm to certify the 2024 election results for President-elect Donald Trump. Jan. 6 is the date required by law. But the legacy of Jan. 6, 2021, hangs over Monday's proceedings as the Republican who tried to overturn the previous election is legitimately returning to power.

A major winter blast of snow, ice, high winds and plunging temperatures are stirring up dangerous conditions across the U.S. central and southern states all the way to the East Coast.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars are home after spending seven hours waiting through a winter storm on the tarmac at Indianapolis International Airport.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned “lies and misinformation” that he says are undermining U.K. democracy. It comes in response to a barrage of attacks on his government from Elon Musk.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s new toll for drivers entering the center of Manhattan is starting up after it withstood years of political wrangling, a last-minute pause and a flurry of legal challenges.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has named the first woman to head a major Vatican office. He is appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to become prefect of the Vatican department responsible for all the church's religious orders.

In other news:

• Higher Social Security payments coming for millions of people from bill Biden signed.
• A six-day funeral continues for former President Jimmy Carter.
• Congress is notified by the Biden administration of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel.
• Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington will receive the highest US civilian honor.
• 'The Brutalist,' 'Emilia Perez' triumph at Golden Globes.
• Indie filmmaker Jeff Baena, Aubrey Plaza's husband, found dead at Los Angeles residence.
• Sick season is in full force. What the latest CDC figures show.
• Rudy Giuliani insists he's not hiding assets at contempt hearing over $148 million judgment.
• A major airline is being fined for chronic flight delays, and passengers may get a cut of the money.
• AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports the US Secretary of State is on a final trip abroad, locations include South Korea; Israelis on a bus in the West Bank are targeted; Russia's military gain territory in Ukraine.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include:

• Small businesses brace themselves for potentially disruptive TikTok ban.
• A data company has figured out which airlines fly on time most often.
• Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out.
• Republicans' trust in accuracy of US elections jumps after Trump's win, AP-NORC poll finds.
• 5 things we know and still don't know about COVID, 5 years after it appeared.
• Bird flu virus likely mutated within a Louisiana patient, CDC says.
• Cats can get sick with bird flu. Here's how to protect them.
• Discarded Christmas trees become seasonal snack for goats in Chicago.
• 'Dinosaur highway' tracks dating back 166 million years are discovered in England.
• Border arrests are little changed in December, ending Biden's term at lowest level.
• Surgeon General calls for new label on drinks to warn Americans of alcohol's cancer risk.
• FBI issues warning to leagues about organized crime groups targeting pro athletes.
• Netflix averages more than 30 million viewers globally for its NFL Christmas Day doubleheader.
• The year in review Influential people who died in 2024.
• 'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' battle for No. 1 at the holiday box office.
• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reach divorce settlement after 8 years.
• US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people.
• The killing of an 18-year-old Ohio woman was solved with DNA technology after 43 years.
• On this week's AP Religion Roundup, President Jimmy Carter leaves a legacy of tackling race relations through his Christian faith.
• The world population will be 8.09 billion on New Year's Day after a 71 million increase in 2024.
• Panama celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Panama Canal handover as Trump wants to take it back.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A mix of law enforcement, street performers and football fans is filling New Orleans’ blocks as the city inches back to normalcy. A deadly New Year’s truck attack along Bourbon Street killed 14 people, along with the driver. Shamsud-Din Jabbar was fatally shot in a firefight with police after steering his speeding truck around a barricade and plowing into a crowd of revelers. About 30 people were injured.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say the highly decorated soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head just before detonation.

A year after a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during flight, the nation’s top aviation regulator says the company needs to change its culture and put safety above profits.

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Police in Southern California say two people are dead after a small plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building. The accident on Thursday near the Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County caused a fire and prompted the evacuation of at least 200 workers.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable” and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Zelenskyy says it won’t be possible to end the almost three years of war in one day, as Trump claimed during his election campaign he could do.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, has died. He was 73. Sibling Merrill Osmond posted on his Facebook page that Wayne died this week at a Salt Lake City hospital after suffering a “massive stroke.”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Authorities say a surfer missing in Australia is believed dead in a shark attack and they are searching the waters where the man disappeared. The 28-year-old was at a popular surf beach in South Australia where a man was killed by a white shark in 2023.

In other news:

• Federal courts won't refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to attorney general over ethics.
• Biden awards the 2nd highest civilian award to leaders of the Jan. 6 committee and 18 others.
• FBI releases new video of a suspect planting a pipe bomb near DNC offices on eve of the Capitol riot.
• AP correspondent Shelley Adler reports on safety and the Crescent City after a truck rammed through Bourbon Street killing 15.
• Stock market today Wall Street opens 2025 with more modest losses.
• Apple to pay $95 million to settle lawsuit accusing Siri of snoopy eavesdropping.
• US unemployment claims fall to 211,000, the lowest level since March.
• Puerto Rico's new governor sworn in days after a major blackout left much of the island in the dark.
• 10 people shot outside a Queens, NY, nightclub; 4 suspects at large.
• Notre Dame is two wins from a national championship, Patrick Mahomes won't be going to the Pro Bowl and the Thunder stretch their winning streak. Plus: Early NBA All-Star Game voting and Alabama's QB declares fro the NFL Draft.
• South Korea's impeached president defies warrant after hourslong standoff.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden says the U.S. Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans had posted videos to social media hours before the carnage saying he was inspired by the Islamic State group and expressing a desire to kill. The driver killed 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found stuffed into the back of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel early Wednesday. The blast killed a suspect inside the vehicle and sparked an intense investigation into possible terrorism.

President Joe Biden is bestowing the second highest civilian award on Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, who led the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot. Donald Trump has said that Cheney, a former Wyoming congresswoman, and Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, should be jailed for their roles in the inquiry Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people on Thursday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The new year will bring a pair of lunar eclipses. But don't expect any sun-disappearing acts like the one that mesmerized North America last year. While the world will have to wait until 2026 for the next total solar eclipse, the cosmos promises plenty of other wow moments in 2025.

In other news:

• FBI found 150 homemade bombs at Virginia home during search in December, prosecutors say.
• Harry Chandler, Navy medic who survived Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 103.
• 'It Ends With Us' director Justin Baldoni sues New York Times for libel over Blake Lively story.
• Pope calls for commitment to protect life as he doubles down on abortion in New Year's Day message.
• Rescuers find gruesome scene at a Honolulu home after a fireworks blast kills 3, injures over 20.
• New York employers must now offer paid medical leave during pregnancy.
• PlayStations for guns are offered up in New Orleans.
• Power is restored to nearly all of Puerto Rico after a major blackout.
• Parts of UK flooded by heavy rain as wild weather continues to disrupt New Year events.
• The New Orleans terror attack postpones the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State eliminates the last undefeated team in the Rose Bowl, Texas pulls out a dramatic victory in the Peach Bowl, the Knicks extend their winning streak into the new year, and Saquon Barkley will rest rather than attempt to break the NFL single season rushing record on Sunday.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

Each week Hot off the Wire looks at a variety of stories in business, science, health and more. This week's headlines include:

• How to avoid financial stress during the holiday season.
• 2024 was big for bitcoin. States could see a crypto policy blitz in 2025 in spite of the risks.
• Americans end 2024 with grim economic outlook, but Republicans are optimistic for 2025: AP-NORC poll.
• Business owners should not forget anti-money laundering rule currently in legal limbo.
• 'Dirty Dancing,' 'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'Up in Smoke' among movies entering the National Film Registry.
• Popeye and Tintin enter the public domain in 2025 along with novels from Faulkner and Hemingway.
• From Caitlin Clark and Simone Biles to a new hockey league, women's sports had a pivotal year.
• Schools are cutting bus service for children. Parents are turning to ride-hailing apps.
• There's been an uptick in the sales of nuclear bomb shelters.
• Musk and Trump are viewed roughly the same by Americans, an AP-NORC poll finds.
• US to require passenger vehicles to sound alarms if rear passengers don't fasten their seat belts.
• Mystery drone sightings keep happening in New Jersey. Here's what we know (and don't know).
• New York man finds Mastodon jaw in his backyard.
• An Alabama woman is doing well after the latest experimental pig kidney transplant.
• Invasive 'murder hornets' are wiped out in the US, officials say.
• Concert promoters, hotels and lodging sites soon will have to disclose extra fees up front.
• Activists release images of foxes at Finnish fur farms to push EU to ban the trade.
• Milan's Via MonteNapoleone usurps New York's Fifth Avenue as world's most upscale shopping street.
• Once taboo, more Japanese women are brewing sake.
• Leap of faith: A few young women in US buck the trends by joining the ranks of Catholic nuns.
• Oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sells for over $5M.
• Survivors seek a reckoning as FBI investigates child sex abuse in little-known Christian sect.
• Pope in autobiography reveals an apparent bombing plot during his 2021 visit to Iraq.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX

Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes are scheduled to start in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.

A debate over the debt ceiling is at the center of a dispute over funding that is pushing the possibility of a federal government shutdown to the brink in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed that raising the nation’s debt limit be part of ongoing efforts to avert a government shutdown, saying in a statement Wednesday, “Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first U.S. diplomats to visit Syria since President Bashar Assad's ouster earlier this month are in Damascus to hold talks with the country's new leadership and seek information on the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice.

NEW YORK (AP) — The man arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO is being held without bail after a New York federal court appearance on charges including a death-eligible murder count.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it deported more than 270,000 people over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade. Its report released Thursday illustrates some financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man could face up to 25 years in prison after admitting to setting a fire that destroyed a church. Christopher Scott Pritchard pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal charges for setting ablaze the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Cape Girardeau on April 28, 2021.

In other news:

• t's beginning to look like another record for holiday travel.
• The TSA is urging holiday travelers to be careful about what they bring on planes.
• Biden expected to visit Pope Francis in final international trip of his presidency, AP sources say.
• Alberta's premier says Americans will pay a lot more for gas if Trump applies 25% tariffs on Canada.
• International students urged to return to US campuses before Trump inauguration.
• Pentagon says it doubled the number of US troops in Syria before Assad's fall.
• Appeals court removes prosecutor Fani Willis from Georgia election case against Trump and others.
• FDA says knockoff versions of Lilly obesity drug must come off the market.
• FDA updates the definition of 'healthy' foods.
• Stock market today Wall Street ends little changed after giving up a big morning gain.
• US home sales hit fastest pace since March with more properties up for sale.
• Oklahoma man dies by lethal injection in the nation’s final execution of 2024.
• NFL Week 16 kicks off with a key AFC West matchup, one of the NBA's superstars has a day to forget while one of the NHL's best records a four-point night, and the candidates for the 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class have been announced.
• Sammy Sosa appears to acknowledge PED use, apologizes; Cubs welcome him back into fold.
• Aaron Hernandez's brother pleads guilty to threatening a shooting at UConn.
• Malaysia agrees to resume 'no find, no fee' hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared.
• South Korean investigators seek to question reluctant president over martial law.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Theme music

The News Tonight, used under license from Soundstripe. YouTube clearance: ZR2MOTROGI4XAHRX