Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, NBC news reported Tuesday, further highlighting the tech moguls’ efforts to develop closer ties with the incoming president.The network, citing an unnamed official involved in planning the January 20 ceremony, said the three men will be seated together on the platform with prominent guests, including Trump cabinet nominees. Musk — the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the majority owner of X — has become one of Trump’s closest allies and his planned presence at the ceremony is not a surprise. Musk shares Trump’s hard-right politics and put millions of dollars into supporting his presidential campaign.Trump has tapped Musk to co-lead an advisory commission aiming to slash federal spending and bureaucracy, which while dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” will not be an official US agency.   Bezos and Zuckerberg have less close ties with Trump, but both have made moves since the election viewed as seeking to curry favor with the president-elect, including meeting with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort.Meta CEO Zuckerberg signalled a rightward political swerve last week when he announced Facebook and Instagram would scrap fact-checking in the United States, a response to what he characterized as censorship by governments and so-called legacy media.The pivot to Trumpian talking points shocked some Meta watchers but was also in line past decisions by Zuckerberg aimed at preserving his dominance of social media.In the summer, Trump threatened to put Zuckerberg in prison over Facebook’s decision to ban him from the platform in 2021.Highlighting Zuckerberg’s continued step into politics, he will be co-hosting a post-inauguration reception for Trump with several well-known Republican donors, according to an invitation obtained by the Puck news site Tuesday.Bezos’s relationship with Trump has also seen moments of significant friction. The founder of Amazon also owns The Washington Post, one of the many newspapers Trump has railed against for years.In a decision that shocked many in US media, The Post declined to endorse a presidential candidate ahead of the November election.According to a report by the paper, Bezos intervened to block the board from publishing its editorial in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.The paper’s leadership denied that report. Bezos’s aerospace company Blue Origin also competes for lucrative government contracts.

A huge federal probe was under way Tuesday into what caused the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, with millions in the city clamoring for answers.Social media has exploded with theories about what started blazes that tore through the city of Altadena and the upmarket neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, killing at least 24 people and leaving whole communities in ruins.Suggestions include downed power lines, deliberate arson, a stray firework and the reignition of an earlier fire.But Jose Medina of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which is leading the inquiry, said it was too early to say.”We know everyone wants answers, and the community deserves answers. ATF will give you those answers, but it will be once we complete a thorough investigation,” he told reporters.The ATF is working with local law enforcement, as well as the Forest Service and the US Attorney’s office, in an operation that will involve around 75 people.Fire investigators, chemists, electrical engineers and sniffer dogs trained to detect accelerant will be doing painstaking fieldwork to find the seats of the two fires, he said.A team will also be deployed to gather clues from the local community and online, conducting interviews with possible witnesses.”We are following all the leads and processing all the physical evidence,” Medina said.”ATF is determined to leverage every available resource to deliver a thorough and transparent investigation.”Internet users have leapt on a video posted by trail runners that shows them running away from smoke in hills above Pacific Palisades.But one of the men, Beni Oren, told the Los Angeles Times they had nothing to do with the fire, and had actually been fleeing for their lives in the video.”It’s definitely kind of infuriating that people are blaming us,” he told the paper.”Just knowing as a matter of fact… that we didn’t do it but then seeing the amount of people that have different theories is overwhelming.”Local media reported that a number of homeowners in the Altadena area have launched a lawsuit against power company Southern California Edison after a video appeared to show flames at the base of an electrical transmission tower.The utility has said it does not believe its equipment was at fault.

Fear drove them out of China — over oceans and continents, through rainforests and mountains, seeking safety and opportunity in the United States. Now, as Donald Trump’s second presidency looms, Chinese asylum seekers are once again afraid.Trump, who takes power again on January 20, has vowed mass deportations backed by the military, putting the promise at the heart of his rhetoric targeting illegal immigrants on the campaign trail that helped catapult him to victory. That has left the fate of Beijing critics and others who fear persecution in China unclear.”If I were repatriated, it would be a disaster for my family and I,” said Huang Haimin, 42, who entered the United States in early 2023.”I’m not worried; I’m fearful,” he told AFP. “I’ve been afraid for much of my life back home, but now I feel it here too.”Huang decided to leave China after sensing he might face trouble with authorities over gatherings with critics of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy, as many were at the time.Like others, he researched his journey on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.His months-long journey to the United States passed through Turkey and Panama, before he reached Mexico and crossed the border.”We took mountainous roads for two days. That was tough,” Huang, now in Brooklyn, said of his trek through the Darien Gap, a stretch of untamed rainforest connecting Colombia and Panama.He then became part of the surge of Chinese migrants entering the United States illegally from Mexico in 2023 — more than 37,400 were encountered by authorities that year, up from some 3,800 in 2022. Numbers have fallen again in recent months, but that did not stop Trump from voicing fears on the campaign trail last year that “military age” men from China were trying to form an “army in our country.”- ‘Walking the line’ -Many Chinese immigrants end up in Queens, New York, where Ma Ju started a private shelter nearly two years ago.He recalls being contacted daily by two to three new undocumented arrivals from China in early 2023, an increase from the 20 to 30 requests for help he used to receive annually.Ma, who moved to the United States in 2019, has been outspoken on Beijing’s human rights record, including in northwestern Xinjiang where Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities were said to have been incarcerated.He said: “95 percent of people I receive here ‘walked the line’.”He was using a euphemism for migrating into the United States through South America, often by walking across the Mexico border.”I couldn’t arrange accommodation for them,” he added. “I thought, it was time to find a house.”He estimates taking in more than 350 migrants since opening the shelter. Some stayed for three days and others, over a year.While many were Han, the largest ethnic group in China, there were also Christians and significant numbers from Muslim minority groups.”Everyone worries, and I worry for them,” Ma said of potential deportations under Trump.He helps new immigrants consult lawyers as they navigate asylum-seeking. Many are still awaiting court decisions on their applications.”I tell them not to be too afraid,” he said, citing America’s separation of judicial and political powers.Currently, some asylum seekers are allowed in, as they wait for their cases to be heard in court.- At a loss -Kurbanjan Barat, 41, a shelter resident who left Xinjiang for Turkey before fleeing for the United States, is holding out hope.”I don’t believe that Trump would deport Uyghur refugees who came to the United States seeking asylum,” he told AFP.Washington has accused Beijing of genocide against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang.He added that he believes Washington “will not hand over human lives that have survived and escaped danger” to an oppressive regime.But Yang Qinxue, 36, worries Trump will act fast on immigration.He recounted entering the country by traveling through Europe to Mexico, before crossing the border with his family.”Trump might prioritize policies of dealing with illegal immigrants,” he said, noting this affects public sentiment.Yang, who said he faced pressure in China for being critical of authorities online, added that he would be at a loss if forced to leave the United States.”I’ll try my best to learn from locals humbly,” he said.”New York’s open and inclusive stance does make me feel more secure.”

Starbucks has stirred the coffee pot by reversing a policy that allowed anyone to use its bathrooms, with the US public warned they’ll need to buy something or get out.In a new code of conduct issued Monday, the hot drink behemoth that boasts 29,000 retail stores in 78 markets said it wanted  “to ensure our spaces are prioritized for use by our customers.”That includes the chain’s cafes, patios and restrooms, according to the policy, which Starbucks noted is something most retailers enforce.US retailers like Starbucks that bill themselves as a so-called “third space” — a gathering place outside the home or office — face a dilemma in a country where public restrooms are sparse.The question of bathroom access has been a fraught one for Starbucks, with the issue thrust into the spotlight in 2018 when two Black men were refused access to a branch bathroom while they waited for a friend.When they sat in the Philadelphia location’s seating area without ordering, staff called the police, sparking a PR disaster. The men were arrested but never charged.Following the debacle, Starbucks adopted an “open bathroom” policy meaning its restrooms — at the cafes that had them — would be open to all.But in 2022 interim chief executive Howard Schultz said the policy might have to end, owing to safety issues from people with mental health problems.- ‘Harden our stores’ -“We have to harden our stores and provide safety for our people,” Schultz said at the time. “I don’t know if we can keep our bathrooms open.”In one busy Manhattan location, where the policy was not yet displayed on the door as planned, a barista who declined to be named said “people are still gonna try and go in there — the homeless of course — that’s for sure.”The Midtown branch was equipped with a single toilet, fitted with a numerical lock, with a steady stream of people using the facility after obtaining the code from staff.”But if people follow the rules it should be better,” the barista added, suggesting the policy would make life easier for staff.At another location a few blocks away, an employee said “it’s fine” for non-paying visitors to use the restroom and the cafe seating area, apparently unaware of the new policy.Starbucks customer Noelle Devoe speculated on X that the policy would not be used against “college kids or professionals.” “It’ll just be a way for them to kick out those they feel are undesirable,” she said.Starbucks posted a 3 percent decline in global net revenue for the fourth quarter year-on-year, to $9.1 billion, in October 2024.The results showed that sales are continuing to fall, as the new CEO vowed a strategic overhaul to turn the company around.The caffeinated giant claims in its corporate motto to be “nurturing the human spirit… one neighborhood at a time.”

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two large areas of California as protected national monuments, after the initial ceremony was called off due to wildfires breaking out in Los Angeles.Less than a week before Donald Trump is due to move into the  White House, Biden established the Chuckwalla National Monument, a 624,000-acre (252,500-hectare) area near Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.The move protects the land from drilling, mining, solar energy farms and other industrial activity, and comes after lobbying from Native American tribes who have used the land for millennia.He also declared the establishment of the 224,000-acre (91,000-hectare) Sattitla National Monument in the state’s far north, at the border with Oregon, offering that area the same environmental safeguards.”Our outdoor treasures are the pride of our country, the bond between the physical and spiritual world, a bridge to our past and to our future,” Biden, 82, said in a speech at the White House.Biden originally traveled to California last week to hold the signing ceremony with a picturesque nature backdrop, but was forced to call off the visit over extreme winds.The winds contributed to the rapid spread of multiple wildfires in Los Angeles, which have since destroyed thousands of structures and killed at least 24 people.As the wildfires continue to burn, Biden said Tuesday his administration was working with state leaders to “make sure California has every possible resource to fight these fires and help survivors.”Biden’s four-year term in office has seen the creation of eight other national monuments and the expansion of four more.”We have been carrying out the most agressive climate agenda ever in the history of the world,” Biden said, adding he was “proud” to have kept his commitment to protect more land and water than any other president.Last week, he signed an executive order banning offshore drilling in an immense area of coastal waters, encompassing the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.Trump reduced the size of national monuments during his first term in the White House, and environmentalists fear the next four years could see similar chipping away at the protected status of public lands, as the Republican seeks to expand fossil fuel extraction.Biden’s proclamations are the latest in a string of last-minute climate policy actions that seem intended to frustrate what environmentalists fear will be the wrecking ball of another Trump presidency.In mid-December, the outgoing administration issued an ambitious new climate target under the landmark Paris accord, committing the United States to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, on the path to achieving net zero by 2050.

Powerful winds forecast for late Tuesday night threatened to whip up massive fires that are still burning around Los Angeles in a tragedy that has killed at least 24 people and badly shaken the city.A week after blazes erupted and spread uncontained, forecasters predicted “particularly dangerous” Santa Ana winds would spike the wildfire threat anew for already exhausted firefighters.”Stay aware of your surroundings. Be ready to evacuate. Avoid anything that can spark a fire,” the National Weather Service warned.A large part of Southern California was under a Red Flag warning, indicating that intense dryness and furious winds gusting up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) an hour would make conditions ripe for wildfire.Part of Los Angeles County and much of neighboring Ventura County were in a “Particularly Dangerous Situation,” according to the NWS, its highest warning designation that was also declared before last week’s deadly blazes. “All the plants and vegetation is really dry and ready to burn so… fires can grow pretty fast,” meteorologist Ryan Kittell told AFP.Forecasters said peak winds were now expected between 3am (1100 GMT) and 3pm (2300 GMT) on Wednesday. The Palisades and Eaton fires — both of which are still burning in places — could flare up, and new ignitions could quickly turn problematic, Kittell said.Officials insisted they were poised for any renewed threats, particularly around the existing burn sites, after hydrants ran dry in the initial firefight.”Please be assured that the Los Angeles County region is prepared,” fire chief Anthony Marrone said.”We have checked the water system in the Eaton fire area, and it is operational, meaning that we have water and we have pressure.”The renewed danger comes with 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) of the upmarket Pacific Palisades in ruins and 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) of the community of Altadena badly charred.Gusting winds were also whipping up toxic ash, with health officials urging everyone to wear a mask.”Ash is not just dirt,” said Anish Mahajan of the LA County Public Health Department. “It’s hazardous fine dust that can irritate or harm your respiratory system and other parts of your body where it lands.”California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered debris removal teams to be on standby, as emergency managers look ahead to possible winter rainstorms that could provoke mudlsides.- ‘It was just a war’ -Around 88,000 people remain displaced. For those whose homes survived, there is frustration about not being able to return.For others, there is nothing left.”We all left with the clothes on our back,” Sonja Jackson told the Los Angeles Times as she waited in line for government help.”We thought we’d be able to come back in the morning. We didn’t think the fires were gonna do what they did.”Among the desperation, there were stories of fortitude.Jeff Ridgway told AFP how he had refused to abandon the apartment complex he manages, defending it against the fires by hauling buckets of water from the pool.”It was just a war,” the 67-year-old said, pointing to a charred eucalyptus tree he extinguished when it threatened the building last week.”But I was just stubborn. I was like: ‘I’m not going to be defeated by you. I’m sorry, this is just not gonna happen.'”- ‘Terrible’ -Search teams using cadaver dogs have been scouring the rubble for days in the hunt for dozens of people still unaccounted for, with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna saying 1,800 homes were searched on Monday.”The good news was that no other remains were found yesterday. Hopefully that happens again today,” he said.”We don’t want the death toll to continue to go up.”Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air Monday night after having to evacuate his studio last week when a blaze erupted in the Hollywood Hills, just a few hundred meters (yards) away.”It’s been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in LA, where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school,” an emotional Kimmel told his audience.”It’s been terrible. Everyone who lives in this city knows someone… whose house has burned down. And the truth is we don’t even know if it’s over.”With so many in dire straits, the city was clutching for any sliver of good news, with some taking refuge in local sports teams who were back in action.The Los Angeles Rams dominated the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL play-off game to take them one step closer to the Super Bowl, cheered on by fans brandishing flags and signs thanking firefighters.”We knew what we were playing for,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “It’s a tough time. We’re just happy that we came out and played like this tonight to get (fans) something to be happy about.”