Новости за 16.12.2017

On a backlot in Burbank, it’s an oven-like December day — but no matter, because Christmas is on its way.

Simon Cowell, known to most as a judge on “The X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent,” has bought a compound in Malibu for $24 million. He’s also quietly shopping his Beverly Hills home in the $30-million range.

Your daily guide to the best things to do California, featuring places to visit, attractions and experiences. Road trip to the redwoods, walk beaches, hike parks and explore historic sites.

Netflix is hoping to learn some new tricks from an old dog.

The streaming video behemoth has acquired the rights to a new version of the classic family film “Benji,” featuring the canine character that became an unlikely box office sensation in the 1970s and ’80s.

If the movie catches on with Netflix...

After a destructive wildfire swept from Calabasas to Malibu in 1993, the head of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy stood on a mountaintop on live TV and made a radical proposal.

Marilu Henner knew the house she was about to buy needed to be gutted and redone when she first saw it nearly three decades ago.

The crowd was seething with frustration.

“We want to go inside!” one man yelled. “They told us when Raqqah is liberated we can go home.”

Some of the U.S.-backed fighters who drove Islamic State militants from the Syrian city in October tried to reason with him. It’s not safe, they said. Scores...

The lively features of this Hollywood Hills home begin at the top, where a rooftop deck captures panoramic city-to-ocean views. Beneath it are seven levels set up for entertaining and featuring a two-story nightclub, a casino, themed bedrooms and a custom screening room. A Moroccan-vibe tented...

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, Dec. 16. Here’s what you don’t want to miss this weekend:

For decades, California’s landmark environmental law has worked in a decidedly un-environmental way.

From tropical storms to drought and wildfires, 2017 has shown us how vulnerable we are to disasters. And some experts say it’s likely to get worse, due to climate change.

To the editor: The truly accurate way to describe the Republicans’ tax bill based on its trickle-down philosophy is that the cuts, which the country neither needs nor can afford, are to be bestowed upon the most wealthy and privileged. Meanwhile, a few relatively small crumbs will then “trickle...

It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper theological discussion on the Los Angeles Times’ letters page. Of course, the form — between 100 and 200 words per entry and with the focus on a single point — doesn’t lend itself to lengthy exchanges on morality, mysticism or spirituality.

Horse racing newsletter

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg wrongly compares the GOP tax plan with the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. (“Will tax reform be the GOP’s Obamacare?” Opinion, Dec. 12)

Several Westside families and school employees are suing to prevent construction that they say will harm students at Palms Elementary School.

During last year’s campaign for Proposition 64, which made recreational marijuana legal for adults under California law, proponents of the measure repeatedly argued that it would protect small marijuana farms and mom-and-pop cultivators, many of whom have operated illegally for decades.

To the editor: Randall Balmer chronicles evangelical Christians’ steady slide to lock-step support for morally compromised candidates. Indeed, since evangelicals’ counterintuitive backing of Ronald Reagan, the GOP has done its utmost to secure that huge, manipulable voting bloc. (“The evangelical...

Lessons learned from problems in the north - a lack of communication and warnings, limited firefighting resources and the possible role of power lines in sparking blazes - helped Southern California avert greater disaster.

Doug Jones' voters were overwhelmingly female and nonwhite; Roy Moore's weren't.

Fox’s decision to hang onto its historic Century City studio lot even as it sold much of its assets to Disney in this week’s blockbuster $52.4-billion deal is a testament to the enduring value of the movie factories dreamed up a century ago by Hollywood pioneers.

Spotters are in place. Hillsides have been scrubbed of as much flammable vegetation as possible. And now it’s time to see whether it was all enough to stop the deadly Thomas fire from wreaking additional havoc.

We managed to represent lots of different sports in this week’s selection, with elite athletes and others from the pro basketball, hockey and tennis worlds. But just for good measure, we’ve thrown in a couple of musicians and an actor among the buyers and sellers.

QUESTION: After 29 years of renting, I finally saved enough for a down payment on a small condo. I really like a building in the San Fernando Valley with restaurants and other commercial businesses nearby, but it is not retrofitted and the association doesn’t have earthquake insurance. The lenders...