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By MATTHEW BROWNWASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Doug Burgum as interior secretary late Thursday after President Donald Trump tapped the North Dakota billionaire to spearhead the Republican administration’s ambitions to boost fossil fuel production.The vote was 79-18.Burgum, 68, is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who came from a small North Dakota farming community, where he worked at his family’s grain elevator.He served two terms as governor of the oil-rich state and launched a presidential campaign in 2023, but dropped out months later and quickly endorsed Trump.Trump also picked Burgum to chair a new National Energy Council that’s tasked with…

James Harden didn’t need a campaign to state his case. He didn’t need sports pundits to plead as to why he belongs on the NBA All-Star roster. His ré sumé was convincing enough.Harden earned his 11th nod to the NBA All-Star Game on Thursday as a Western Conference reserve, as selected by the league coaches. The game will be played Feb. 15 at Oracle Arena in San Francisco.Harden joins Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Anthony Davis (Lakers), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), Alperen Şengün (Houston Rockets), Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) as the Western Conference…

President Trump made nice during a three-hour stopover at the Palisades fire in Los Angeles, possibly the most costly natural disaster in American history, but his longstanding political “War on California” did not abate.He declaimed that “We want to get the problems fixed,” and even embraced Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom he usually calls “New-scum.”But he did not walk back demands to condition federal crisis aid on California adopting a voter ID system like Republicans have used to cement power in states they control, or his demand that much more Northern California water be moved south – even though there are…

By Akayla Gardner and Josh Wingrove | BloombergPresident Donald Trump said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, citing the flow of fentanyl and large trade deficits as among the reasons for his decision.“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office as he signed executive actions in response to a deadly airplane collision.Also see: California builders warn of price hikes should Trump tariffs begin Feb. 1“Number one is the people that have poured into…

By STEVEN HERBERTCalifornia on Thursday is observing Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, remembering the shipyard welder who challenged the constitutionality of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at UC Irvine hosted a Korematsu Day Celebration Panel with civil-rights lawyers on Thursday afternoon. The UC Irvine School of Law is the site of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, whose mission is to use legal research, litigation advocacy and clinical education to achieve durable social change related to racial equity and social justice.A conversation with…

LOS ANGELES — On Thursday afternoon, Eric Musselman found out the future of his USC basketball program was going to drastically change – at the same time as thousands of viewers on YouTube.They do things differently on “Gil’s Arena,” as host Josiah Johnson said, a podcast run by former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas. And on Thursday, as Gilbert brought son Alijah Arenas out to announce a monumental collegiate decision, the five-star Chatsworth High senior pulled out his phone to FaceTime the coach of his future program.He rung Musselman, in the midst of USC’s head coach’s preparation for Thursday’s practice, and…

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWalletOne frustrated Reddit user recently shared that canceling a subscription seemed impossible. They had used a now-defunct work email address to sign up for a web services company. With that email no longer accessible, the service said it was unable to process a cancellation.Subscription cancellation headaches are so common that the Federal Trade Commission recently took action to ease the process: In a rule that fully goes into effect later this year, sellers must make it as easy to cancel their subscription as it was to sign up.The FTC says that it received about 70 consumer complaints…

By JOSH BOAKWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.“We may or may not,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office about tariffing oil from Canada and Mexico. “We’re going to make that determination probably tonight.”Trump said his decision will be based on whether the price of oil charged by the two trading partners is fair, although the basis of his threatened tariffs pertains to stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of…

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The two Russian figure skating coaches killed in the American Airlines crash were two-time Olympians and former world champions in the pairs event.They were also a married couple with a son who finished fourth last week at the U.S. national championships in Wichita, Kansas. Their son was not on the same flight.Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov won a world championship title together in pairs skating in 1994 and narrowly missed out on Olympic medals that year at the Lillehammer Games before moving to the U.S. and coaching generations of young skaters in New England.After their son…

In the aftermath of the wildfires that ravaged parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, local and state lawmakers have expressed concern that the housing industry would engage in price gouging to drive up profits on rental and for sale housing – a practice that is entirely abhorrent to pretty much everyone with a soul. It was five years ago, following the Paradise fire that destroyed Paradise, California and surrounding communities in Butte County, that California became increasingly aggressive in its crack down on price gouging following natural disasters and declared states of emergency. California Penal Code 396 (last amended…