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The world according to Jim:• Before you ask, no, I was not the Hall of Fame voter who didn’t vote for Ichiro Suzuki. (More on that later.) …• USC and UCLA play in men’s basketball Monday night at Galen Center, and if something about that statement seems off – well, it is. …• Maybe we just got too used to the old Pac-12 model, which seems now like scheduling sanity: Games on Thursdays and Saturdays (and a rare Wednesday) for the men, Fridays and Sundays for the women. Travel partners, for which the conference was perfectly positioned with the L.A.…

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated PressPete Hegseth was sworn in Saturday as the nation’s 29th secretary of defense, quickly joining President Trump’s Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon’s leader.Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer Rauchet, at his side and Republican senators looking on. The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Hegseth’s confirmation.In brief remarks, Hegseth outlined what he said were his guiding principles: “Restore the warrior ethos in everything…

WASHINGTON — What did President Donald Trump learn during his four-year hiatus from the White House?For one thing, he seems to have learned how to listen.But also, to judge by the first week of his second term, Trump 2.0 seems more focused, mission-driven and prepared to get things done at warp speed.Here’s a short list of other lessons learned:Staff the administration with people who have your backAll hail Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a Florida-based political consultant who engineered Trump’s comeback. As they say in Washington, personnel is policy.Then there are strong veterans from Trump’s first term. Press Secretary Karoline…

By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.Republicans kept the Senate working Saturday to install the latest member of Trump’s national security team. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was confirmed in a dramatic tie-breaking vote Friday night, joining Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The Senate will next vote Monday evening on Scott Bessent’s confirmation as treasury secretary.Noem, a Trump ally who is in her second term as governor,…

Public school districts across Southern California are losing students and, in the years ahead, will likely face difficult choices about closing schools. Lower birth rates and outmigration have contributed to the enrollment drops. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, families have also increasingly sought public school alternatives such as charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has lost 59,249 students since 2019-20, Long Beach Unified has lost 7,746 students, and Santa Ana Unified enrollment decreased by 7,552 students during that span.The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) expects these downward trends in public school enrollment to continue.…

LOS ANGELES – We all remember where we were.In our kitchens, in our cars, coaching our kids. Just waking up after a night out, or sitting down to eat, or about to paint a set piece for my daughter’s middle school play …Kobe Bryant. Helicopter crash. Dead.A hoax, we assumed. A mistake, we presumed. There was just no way.Five eventful years later, we can all still vividly recall those moments on Jan. 26, 2020, when we learned Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine killed in a helicopter crash near Calabasas.And, oh, the shockwave that news sent through…

When I was growing up my dad liked to remind me that hope is not a planning option. Last November, voters chose to send President Trump back to the White House and give Republicans majorities in both houses of Congress hoping to take our country in a different direction. The voters did their part, now it’s time for us to act and fulfill the promises we made.On Election Day nothing weighed on voters’ minds more than their constant struggle to stay ahead of higher prices. During the previous four years of the Biden Administration, prices across the economy rose by…

It may have looked like President Donald Trump did nothing for the last two years except shuttle between rallies and trials with an occasional stop at McDonald’s, but that’s not the case.The blizzard of executive orders this week was the culmination of years of work by the Trump team to develop policy, recruit political appointees to implement it and nuke the bureaucracy’s ability to block the president’s agenda.Axios reported that in late April 2022, wealthy donors and Trump allies gathered at Mar-a-Lago. They were there to raise money for the Center for Renewing America, a nonprofit founded by Trump’s former…

By KELVIN CHAN LONDON (AP) — Should I stay or should I go — from Meta’s social media platforms? Related Articles Technology | File taxes online: Tools, tips, deadlines and more Technology | People are hawking TikTok-loaded phones for thousands on eBay, Facebook Technology | Trump signs executive order on developing artificial intelligence ‘free from ideological bias’ Technology | Samsung turning its next-gen Galaxy smartphones into AI companions Technology | Trump’s embrace of meme coin sours mood in crypto industry That’s what some Facebook, Instagram and Threads users are wondering after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement this month that the…

MELBOURNE, Australia — When Madison Keys stepped into Rod Laver Arena at 7:37 p.m. on Saturday night ahead of the Australian Open final, she strode right past the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, the trophy that goes to the women’s champion and was placed on a pedestal near the entrance to the court.Keys didn’t break stride. Didn’t stop to stare. That bit of hardware then was placed near the net for the pre-match coin toss, close as can be to where the American stood. Close enough to touch. Close enough to feel real. Also right there was her opponent, No. 1-ranked…