Two people were rescued when a California pier partially collapsed and fell into the ocean Monday as the state’s central coast was pounded by heavy surf from a major storm expected to bring hurricane-force winds to the seas off the Pacific Northwest. Residents were warned to stay away from low-lying areas near the beaches around the Santa Cruz Wharf, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of San Francisco. “You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said on the social platform X. Lifeguards rescued two people from the water and a third person was able to swim to safety, the Santa Cruz Fire Department said on Instagram. Their conditions were unknown.

Incoming Border Czar Tom Homan stopped by Fox & Friends Monday morning to react to the horrific story of an illegal immigrant allegedly setting a woman on fire and killing her in the New York City subway — and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s subway safety post on X shortly after.

“Governor Hochul, shame on you. There’s nothing you can say that’s going to make this right in New York,” Homan said as he slammed Hochul for supporting sanctuary status in the Empire State.

(YAAKOV M / VINnews) — Sure it’s a slow news week, and CNN is desperate for clicks.

President-elect Donald Trump pledged to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold discussions on war and peace in the near future, declaring that ending the conflict was “one of the things I want to do and quickly.”
“President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible,” Trump said during Turning Point Action’s AmericaFest speech in Phoenix, Arizona. “So we have to wait for this. But we have to end that war. That war is a horrible, horrible, the soldiers, the number of soldiers being killed.”
He reiterated his stance that Russia under Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he had been president, highlighting his popular hat that proclaims “Trump was right about everything.”

Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Iranian senior officials have been holding meetings on how to rearm its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, which suffered major losses to its arms caches during its war with Israel. Middle Eastern and Western sources told the British Times that Iran is formulating a plan to establish a direct air route to Lebanon, transforming Beirut into the new logistical and armament hub instead of Damascus. A source said that “Iran lost its go-to airport in the region for smuggling weapons and is now trying to turn Beirut airport into its new logistics hub, just as they did in Syria.” Any Iranian transfer of weapons to Hezbollah, whether by land, sea, or air, would violate the terms of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

Israel sent a message to Sryria’s new rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa [Abu Mohammed al-Golani] that it won’t tolerate any attempts of radical Islamic jihadi groups to move to south Syria near the Israeli border. Israel does not have direct ties with Syrian’s new leaders but communicates via third parties, including the US. The message emphasized that the IDF will immediately neutralize any threats of armed jihadists on its border. Israel also said that it will continue to ensure the security of its citizens by maintaining a military presence in the Syrian-Israeli buffer zone. However, if a responsible government is formed, it may consider transferring control of the buffer zone to it in the future.

Government safety regulators said Monday they have closed an investigation into two previous recalls of the Ford Focus after determining that Ford Motor Co. has satisfied its concerns. In 2018, Ford recalled around 1.5 million Ford Focus sedans from the 2012-2018 model years because they could lose power. The issue was a malfunctioning canister purge valve and software that didn’t adequately detect when it was stuck open. If the valve was stuck open, excessive vacuum could build up in the fuel management system and deform the fuel tank. Five crashes and two injuries were reported related to the issue, but no fatalities. Ford fixed the software in that recall and updated the software again in a separate 2019 recall.

When the Federal Reserve at last moved forward with lowering interest rates this autumn, many prospective buyers hoped for some relief after dealing with steep mortgage rates for more than two years. Although the Fed approved yet another 0.25% rate reduction on December 18, the outlook for lower mortgage costs seems to be stretching rather than shrinking.
The average interest rate for a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 6.93% today, which marks a 0.20% jump from a week ago. Meanwhile, the average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage is 6.20%, up by 0.16% compared to the previous week.

A retired police officer in the nation’s capital was convicted Monday of lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted former Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond of obstructing justice and making false statements after a trial without a jury. Sentencing was scheduled for April 3 after Lamond’s conviction on all four counts. Lamond was charged with leaking information to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was under investigation in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner. Lamond testified at his bench trial that he never provided Tarrio with sensitive police information.