TV News LIES

The Trump administration sued two California cities on Monday, seeking to block local laws that restrict natural gas infrastructure and appliances in new construction.

The lawsuit is the administration’s latest attack on energy policies that seek to rein in the use of fossil fuels to combat climate change. California, a Democratic stronghold, has among the most aggressive climate change policies in the world.

Republicans, including Donald Trump, for years have attacked local Democratic efforts to limit gas-powered appliances.

In the complaint filed in US district court in the northern district of California, justice department attorneys alleged that ordinances passed by the San Francisco-area cities of Morgan Hill and Petaluma since 2019 violated a 1975 law that prevents states and cities from regulating the “energy use” of products subject to federal standards.

“The natural gas bans not only impose crushing costs on California residents but are also unlawful,” the complaint said.

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6.5 magnitude earthquake shook the Mexican state of Guerrero in the southern part of the country on Friday, Jan. 2, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The earthquake saw a depth of 35 km or 21.75 miles, USGS said. However, no serious damage has been reported, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a press conference aired live on X.

"A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck southwest of San Marcos, Guerrero at 7:58 a.m. Protocols and patrols have been activated in the area," Sheinbaum told a room of reporters in Spanish. "So far, no damage or deaths have been reported. As of 9 a.m., only small aftershocks have been recorded, the largest being magnitude 4.2."

Sheinbaum was conducting her first press conference of 2026 when the earthquake began, and video shows her calmly leading the evacuation as sirens sound.

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Mudslides buried cars and homes up to their windows in a California mountain town as a powerful storm system brought the wettest Christmas in decades to the southern part of the state.

As much as 12in of rain fell across the area on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, triggering flooding and washing out roads.

Local authorities issued an evacuation warning for Wrightwood, California, a town of just under 5,000 people around 80 miles (130km) north-east of Los Angeles, as images showed mud and debris engulfing homes and vehicles. The San Bernardino county fire department on Thursday night stated that one person was injured in the slide, but that weather conditions were expected to improve and there was no ongoing safety threat.

The town remained under an evacuation warning on Friday morning with some surrounding roads closed, according to the county’s emergency service system.

There was still a risk of more flash flooding and mudslides on Friday around Los Angeles, the National Weather Service warned, even as the rain began to ease up.

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Republicans are attempting to exempt some major polluters from paying for Pfas “forever chemical” cleanup. If successful, it could mark a major setback in US effort to rein in Pfas pollution.

The Republican-led House energy and commerce committee recently held a hearing at which it invited representatives from the water treatment and landfill industries, among others, to make the case about why they should be exempted from rules that hold polluters financially accountable for the cleanup of two types of dangerous Pfas.

Water treatment plants and landfills are major polluters and represent critical points in the effort to curb Pfas water pollution nationwide. Utilities already have to remove hundreds of chemicals, so it is unclear why they are so opposed to removing two types of Pfas, said Scott Faber, vice-president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group non-profit.

“The only real difference is Pfas are more toxic … so the fact that water utilities and landfills are being such crybabies about Pfas says something about how little regard for public health they have,” Faber said.

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A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds.

The storm led to evacuation warnings for mudslides in the south, near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers. In addition, a fallen tree killed a man in San Diego Wednesday morning.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday also declared a state of emergency in six counties, including San Diego, to allow state assistance in storm response.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding and mudslides. Areas scorched by January’s wildfires were under evacuation warnings, and Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday they were going door to door to about 380 especially vulnerable homes to order residents to evacuate.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also issued an evacuation warning Wednesday morning for the community of Wrightwood, a mountain resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, due to potential debris flows from the storm.

Debris and mud were seen rushing down the road leading into Wrightwood in a social media video posted by county fire officials. Crews were working to evacuate some homes, the post said. County officials didn’t immediately return questions about the evacuation.

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