California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower.

They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales breached near their small boat and rode building-sized waves while rowing 24 hours a day toward Antarctica.

28 December 2019; AFP: The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle.

The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, where its driving equipment was given its first successful test last week.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Navy SEALs described their platoon leader, retired Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, as “evil,” “toxic” and “perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving,” in video footage of interviews obtained by The New York Times.

Gallagher’s war crimes case earlier this year gained national attention after President Donald Trump intervened on his behalf despite strong objections from Pentagon leaders who said the president’s move could damage the integrity of the military judicial system.

MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT PARK, Calif. (AP) — A huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods National Monument in California on Christmas Eve, authorities said Thursday.

Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other people in the park north of San Francisco famous for its towering trees, according to the Marin County coroner’s office and a spokesman for the park.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A cold and blustery winter storm unleashed downpours and extensive snowfall on Southern California, triggering a tornado and snarling post-Christmas travel on major routes Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At least three unoccupied passenger buses caught fire Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Shortly after 9 p.m., LAX Airport said on its Twitter account that “”there is a significant fire emergency at the LAX-it lot. Emergency responders are on scene. More to come. No immediate reports of injuries.”

KTLA and the CBS station in Los Angeles tweeted photos of the fire spewing smoke.

20 December 2019; AFP: President Donald Trump's former press secretary was forced to apologize to presidential hopeful Joe Biden for mocking the candidate, who has struggled with stuttering, after he touched on the matter during Thursday's Democratic debate.

The bizarre episode began under the glaring hot spotlight during the Los Angeles debate, as Biden -- whos is not widely known as a stutterer -- told the audience how people with varying problems approach him for condolence or advice.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The state senators grilling the CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. were upset — like millions of other Californians, some spent days in the dark when the nation’s largest utility shut off power during windstorms this fall.

The lawmakers demanded that the executive explain why blackouts intended to prevent downed power lines from sparking deadly wildfires caused so much trouble of their own.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The long-festering feud between Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg erupted Thursday night in a high-stakes debate that tested the strength of the Democratic Party’s shrinking pool of presidential contenders just six weeks before primary voting begins.

Washington/New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Indian IT major Infosys has agreed to pay USD 800,000 (nearly Rs 5.6 crore) to settle allegations of misclassification of foreign workers and tax fraud, officials said on Tuesday.

Infosys will pay California USD 800,000 to resolve allegations that, between 2006 and 2017, approximately 500 Infosys employees were working in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.