Month: January 2025

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced on Tuesday that her cancer is in remission – less than one year after first announcing her diagnosis.

Catherine, the wife to the heir to the throne, Prince William, shared the news of her remission in a social media post while posting pictures of her visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital in London (one of the U.K.’s leading oncology facilities, where Kate received treatment).  The caption read: “It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focused on recovery. I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to The Royal Marsden for looking after me so well during the past year  My heartfelt thanks goes to all those who have quietly walked alongside William and me as we have navigated everything. We couldn’t have asked for more. The care and advice we have received throughout my time as a patient has been exceptional. In my new role as Joint Patron of The Royal Marsden, my hope is, that by supporting groundbreaking research and clinical excellence, as well as promoting patient and family wellbeing, we might save many more lives, and transform the experience of all those impacted by cancer. It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focussed on recovery. As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal. I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support. C”

The 43-year-old princess revealed she had cancer in a video announcement in March 2024. At the time she said she was undergoing “a course of preventative chemotherapy” on the advice of her medical team, but has not shared publicly further details of her diagnosis. The Princess of Wales has made several public appearances since she revealed her diagnosis, attending the men’s final at Wimbledon with her daughter Charlotte, 9, in July; and back in September, she revealed that she had completed chemotherapy and was focused on staying “cancer free” and returning to work.

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Per NBC NEWS: Southern California is braced for “extremely critical fire conditions” caused by a new period of Santa Ana winds today through Wednesday across parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Weather officials said that a “particularly dangerous situation” with a red flag warning will go into effect in western Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County on Tuesday’s with winds threatening to further fuel the historic Southern California wildfires. The warning begins at 4 a.m. local time. Winds are forecast to gust between 45 mph to 70 mph, with relative humidity as low as 8%. Overnight, winds gusted up to 67 mph in the mountains near Los Angeles, with the strongest gusts are expected Tuesday morning and early afternoon, which will then be followed by a break in the evening. More gusty winds are expected Wednesday morning.

For the most up-to-date information on this developing story, head to the following news outlets: ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, and CNN.

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U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has ruled that the Justice Department can release Volume One that former special counsel Jack Smith issued on President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Cannon denied a request to extend an injunction banning the Justice Department from releasing Vol. 1, writing: “Based on these representations, the Court sees an insufficient basis to grant emergency injunctive relief as to Volume I”. 

Cannon’s ruling (seen HERE) means that the Justice Department could release the portion of the Smith report that deals with Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss as soon as midnight, barring future legal action from Trump or his team. She kept in place a prohibition on releasing the portion of the report about the classified document case, which the Justice Department said it didn’t intend to release at this point. Cannon has scheduled a hearing on that matter for Jan. 17, three days before Trump’s inauguration.

The Justice Department still has a pending motion before the 11th Circuit asking to release the portion of the report about Jan. 6 immediately, but the court has yet to rule on that motion.

Smith resigned from his position on Friday as special prosecutor after wrapping up the cases and submitting his report to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland has told Congress he will release the volume of the report that deals with Trump’s 2020 efforts when he is legally allowed to do so. The volume of the report that deals with Trump’s handling of classified documents will not be released because two co-defendants are still facing charges.

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(Per ABC NEWS): Thousands of firefighters are continuing to battle several wildfires across 45 square miles of densely populated Los Angeles County, fueled by severe drought conditions and strong Santa Ana winds. About 105,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders and another 87,000 are under evacuation warnings.

The wildfires have killed at least 24 people with dozen others remain unaccounted for, as the fires swept through 40,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area, destroying entire communities and more than 12,300 structures.

Evacuation orders for the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, expanded. It is 13% contained and threatens Brentwood, Encino and Westwood.  Los Angeles County declared a public health emergency, warning that smoke and particulate matter could pose immediate and long-term threats (via NBC News).

The National Weather Service Los Angeles office posted “particularly dangerous situation” (PDS) red flag winds warnings for 4 a.m. Tuesday (local time) through noon Wednesday, saying winds could be strong enough to cause “explosive fire growth.”

For the latest, up-to-date information on the Los Angeles wildfires, check news outlets: ABC News, NBC News, CBS News and CNN.

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The White House said onn Sunday that President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a race to reach a Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. The White House confirmed that Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line: “we are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done, and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday: “The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations to release our hostages and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team to Doha in order to advance the release of our hostages. The prime minister wanted to thank the American President (Joe) Biden and the incoming President Donald Trump for their cooperation for the holy mission.”

The call between Biden and Netanyahu comes after the prime minister has been in meetings with his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who both had previously rejected a peace proposal laid out by Biden in May of last year, which would pair a release of hostages along with a “full and complete ceasefire.”

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