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  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu awarded President Donald Trump the country's top civilian honor .

  A body recovered off California's Central Coast has been identified as a local 55-year-old triathlete who was  reported missing in a suspected shark attack . Erica Fox's was recovered at around 2 p.m. local time on Dec. 27 from the ocean south of Davenport Beach, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Monday, Dec. 29. The discovery came after Fox, of nearby Monterey County, disappeared while swimming with more than a dozen people on Dec. 21. Fox's father, James Fox, told  KSBW-TV  that his daughter was recovered on a "remote pocket beach" and was identified by the clothing she was wearing. Fox's husband, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, told  The Mercury News   that Fox was still in her wetsuit and wearing a Garmin watch and a "shark band" − designed to deter attacks − that was attached to her ankle. "She didn’t want to live in fear," Vanreusel told the newspaper. "She lived her life fully.” Police believe 'shark was invol...

  A 30-year-old ski patroller who "felt most alive" in the mountains  has been killed  in an avalanche at Mammoth Mountain resort in central California after more than 5 feet of snow fell in three days. Cole Murphy was conducting avalanche mitigation work for the safety of resort guests on Lincoln Mountain when disaster struck. Murphy and another ski patroller  were swept up in an avalanche  on Friday, Dec. 26. The resort announced that Murphy died of his injuries on Sunday, Dec. 28, remembering the young man as "experienced patroller with a deep passion for the mountains and love for his career." Cole Murphy's family honors his life Murphy's parents said in a statement that their son "moved through the world with kindness, intention, and a wholehearted devotion to the life he chose." "The mountain was where Cole felt most alive," they said. "It was his place of purpose, his community, and his second home. Serving on ski patrol wa...

  The bandits changed the name on the side of the truck and created a counterfeit digital driver’s license, he alleged. “Definitely organized crime, no question,” Rexing added. While trying to file a police report with the Taunton Police Department, Rexing said he discovered another large shipment of crab had been stolen in a similar incident on Dec. 2. “In a 10-day period, two loads of seafood are missing from the same location in a small town.” When it comes to why someone would potentially steal such a large quantity of lobster, Rexing says organized gangs often sell products like this at a lower price and pocket the difference. For a shipment like the one at the center of this crime, the profit could reach $200,000, he said. In the end, it’s Rexing’s business, Costco, and the insurance company that’ll be stuck footing the bill for the lost merchandise. Even if police can retrieve the product, it won’t be fit for resale following the theft. USA TODAY contacted Costco and the ...

The man suspected of   planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., in 2021   confessed after his arrest that "something just snapped" and he wanted to target the Democratic and Republican parties because "they were in charge," federal prosecutors said in court documents released Dec. 28. Brian Cole Jr. , 30, was arrested earlier this month and charged with transporting and planting two pipe bombs. Prosecutors accused Cole of  placing two pipe bombs  near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees on the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. The devices, which were discovered on the day of the attack, did not detonate, and no one was hurt, federal authorities previously said. Following a nearly five-year investigation, U.S. Attorney General  Pam Bondi  announced on Dec. 4 that Cole had been taken into custody. He  made his first court appearance  in U.S. District Court for the District of Colum...