Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is tapping the brakes on claims of success by President Biden, President-elect Trump and partners in the Middle East that a ceasefire and hostage release deal has been achieved to pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu has so far delayed a vote in Israel’s security Cabinet to accept the ceasefire…

Flying south through smoky skies down the famous Malibu coast, at first the burnt-out mansions are the exception -- solitary wrecks, smoldering away between rows of intact, gleaming beachfront villas.Where row upon row of family homes once stood, all that remain are occasional chimneys, blackened tree stumps and charred timber.