President Biden said the federal government will provide one-time payments of $770 to people impacted by the ongoing California wildfires, so they can pay for essentials like baby formula, prescriptions, clothes and food.

Biden made the announcement Thursday evening during a briefing from the Oval Office on the situation in Southern California. According to the president, nearly 6,000 people had been approved to receive the payments thus far, leading to a total of $5.1 million that has already gone out through this program.  

"We're not waiting until those fires are over to start helping the victims. We're getting them help right now," Biden said from the Oval Office.

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The president approved California's disaster declaration on Jan. 8, opening up federal funding to affected individuals in Los Angeles for the purposes of temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the wildfires. Additionally, the president pledged that the federal government would cover 100% of the cost of California's disaster response for a period of six months.

Meanwhile, during the Monday evening briefing, Biden called on Congress to step up with more funding for the wildfire and its victims.

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"It’s going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get Los Angeles to what it was," Biden said during a briefing with Vice President Kamala Harris and emergency officials. "We are going to need Congress to step up with the funding."

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell indicated during the Monday briefing that a total of 33,000 people impacted by the California fires had requested federal assistance. She said the number continues to rise, and they don't expect it to slow down in the near term. 

Criswell added during the Monday Oval Office briefing that about 700 to 800 people were currently staying in eight emergency shelters as a result of the wildfire, noting that meant a lot of folks had found shelter with family and friends, or in hotel rooms. Criswell said that through the federal government's disaster declaration, people staying in hotels could be reimbursed for the costs.

In addition to FEMA, the Department of Defense and National Guard have also deployed federal resources to help fight the fires that have claimed at least 24 lives so far.

The high profile 2026 gubernatorial race to succeed term-limited Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is kicking into gear.

Republican state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt on Tuesday announced his candidacy, becoming the first major party candidate to launch a gubernatorial campaign.

"Michigan deserves so much better than what we’re getting out of Lansing right now," Nesbitt said in a launch video posted on social media. "I'm going to be running a campaign that concentrates on Michigan first, families first and workers first. I’m in the fight."

Highlighting his conservative philosophy, Nesbitt emphasized that "I trust families over government."

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"I want to go ahead and empower the taxpayers instead of the tax-takers here in the state — and that’s part of this Michigan First agenda where you have to expect so much more out of Lansing and expect that there’s actually value for money," he emphasized.

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Additionally, Nesbitt, who highlighted his "small town farm boy" heritage in his video, also pledged to "stand with President Trump to bring back a renaissance on manufacturing here in Michigan."

Nesbit is the first Republican in Michigan to jump into a race that will likely attract a large field.

Former GOP state Attorney General Mike Cox has formed a committee to explore a gubernatorial bid. Other Republicans believed to be considering a run include Rep. John James, former state House Speaker Tom Leonard, Oakland County businessman Kevin Rinke, 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, and former gubernatorial and presidential candidate Perry Johnson.

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Among the Democrats mulling a run for governor are Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Pete Buttigieg, the 2020 presidential candidate who has served as Transportation secretary in President Biden's administration the past four years, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

Detroit's Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan made headlines recently when he announced his 2026 gubernatorial campaign as an independent.

Michigan is a crucial general election battleground state. 

President Biden carried the state by a razor-thin margin in the 2020 election. President-elect Trump narrowly won the state in November's election, but Democrats held onto a highly contested open Senate seat.

The "With You" singer announced her separation from the former NFL player on Monday, confirming reports that they have been living separately.

The comedian previously told Page Six that the split from Bick had left her "heartbroken."

The Mahomeses announced via Instagram that they welcomed their third child, Golden Raye, on Sunday.

The "Summer House" star knows a thing or two about great winter fashion.

The actress welcomed daughter Matilda with Ledger prior to his death, moving on with Kail and giving birth to two more little ones.

• Los Angeles wildfires have burned 40,000 acres, killing 24 and destroying 12,000 structures.
• Goldman Sachs estimates the fires as one of the 20 costliest US natural disasters.
• The firm took stock of the impact the fires will have on US GDP and the labor market.

The devastating wildfires across Los Angeles are sparking concerns about the potential impact on the broader economy.

Early estimates of the total damage rank the wildfire as one of the 20 costliest natural disasters as a share of GDP in US history, according to Goldman Sachs.

Insured losses are expected to reach as high as $30 billion, and AccuWeather estimates the total economic losses from the fire could be as high as $275 billion.

Goldman Sachs took stock of the impact the fires are expected to have on broad readings of the US economy.

The bank estimates that first-quarter GDP growth will decline by 0.2 percentage points, which excludes offsetting effects from a rapid rebuild of communities, which has typically followed past wildfires.

For the January employment report, Goldman Sachs estimates "a modest drag" of 15,000 to 25,000 jobs due to the wildfires because "only about 0.5% of California's population is currently under evacuation order or warning."

For weekly unemployment insurance claims, the bank said it doesn't see a huge uptick driven by the wildfires.

"Timely alternative data have not shown a noticeable pickup in online searches for unemployment benefits since the start of the first," economists at Goldman Sachs said. "As a result, we expect another low initial claims reading on Thursday."

A potential rise in inflation has been a main market concern in recent months, and insurance represents a component of inflation reports.

But Goldman Sachs doesn't expect higher insurance costs driven by the wildfires to impact inflation meaningfully.

"Our insurance equity analysts expect limited spillover to prices outside of California and because the weight of homeowners' insurance in the PCE price index is just 0.1%," Goldman Sachs explained.

Additionally, Jeffrey Mezger, the CEO of homebuilder KB Home, said the resulting rebuild efforts in Los Angeles should not lead to an uptick in inflation related to labor and materials.

"The population is big and the capacity is there to handle a lot. So I don't expect a lot of labor or material pinch," Mezger said in his company's earnings call on Monday.

Goldman Sachs cautioned that with the Eaton and Palisades fires at about 33% and 14% containment as of Monday evening, there remains considerable uncertainty about the ultimate property damages, including insured and uninsured losses.

• Ukraine carried out what it said was its "largest attack" against Russian military facilities.
• The operation early on Tuesday targeted military and energy sites across Russia.
• It marks Ukraine's latest effort to degrade the Kremlin's war machine.

Ukraine said its forces carried out what it described as their "largest attack" of the war against Russia's military facilities on Tuesday, hitting targets — including a key airbase — hundreds of miles across the border.

A Ukrainian military drone unit, the 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment, said it attacked infrastructure at the Engels-2 airbase, home to Russia's Tu-95 and Tu-160 bomber aircraft.

The strikes targeted an oil storage facility that supplied fuel for the bombers at Engels, a strategic base located nearly 400 miles into Russia in the Saratov region. It marked the second time in less than a week that Ukraine attacked the site, causing a fire.

"A multi-day complex operation to reduce the enemy's strategic aviation capabilities has been completed," the 14th wrote in a statement.

Closer to home, the Ukrainian military said that it hit a chemical plant in the city of Seltso in Russia's Bryansk region and destroyed two anti-aircraft systems. Kyiv said the Seltso facility produces artillery and rocket ammunition, as well as parts for Kh-59 cruise missiles.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, a branch of the military that was formally established last year, said that drones were used to distract the Russian air defenses before missiles rained down on the site. Kyiv employed the same tactic in an attack on a warehouse last week.

During the huge overnight operation, the Ukrainian military also struck the Saratov Oil Refinery and the Kazanorgsintez Plant, causing fires at the sites. It vowed to continue striking facilities that provide Russia with ammunition, military equipment, and fuel.

Russia's defense ministry said that its forces shot down nearly 150 drones outside the "special military operation" zone, a term Moscow uses to refer to its invasion of Ukraine. It mentioned the attack in Bryansk and said Kyiv fired US-provided tactical ballistic missiles but did not provide any details about the other locations.

Business Insider could not independently verify all the reported details of the operation.

The widespread strikes this week are Ukraine's latest cross-border attacks inside Russia. Kyiv has used missiles and drones to target key military and energy facilities across the country as it looks to degrade Moscow's war machine and complicate its operations nearly three years into the conflict.

The strike campaign highlights Ukraine's long reach and its ability to threaten critical facilities hundreds of miles inside Russia using both locally manufactured and Western-provided weapons.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush will attend the inauguration

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Glogowek is encouraging Elon Musk to buy its vast 13th-century castle

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Computer-generated fake of the Fight Club star tricked the victim into thinking he was hospitalised with kidney cancer and Angelina Jolie was blocking access to his fortune

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Watch live as Los Angeles County officials give a wildfire update on Tuesday (14 January) as a new dangerous weather warning is issued.

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Office space set aside for Musk is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is located right next to the White House

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Police say that at least 36 bodies and 82 survivors have been brought out of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine since Friday,

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Social media users were amused and impressed by the worker's ingenuity in the viral clip, with one noting "that was wheelie good."

Harmful and even cancer-causing chemicals can get into water supplies as reserves are depleted and infrastructure is damaged by fire.

Trump has complained about the flags being at half-staff "for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President."

Russia has been steadily gaining in Ukraine but has focused its efforts on advancing in the country's eastern Donetsk region.