An assault trial begins on Friday against rapper A$AP Rocky, who is accused of firing a gun at a former friend in Los Angeles. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, faces 24 years in prison if convicted on two felony assault charges in the 2021 incident near a Hollywood hotel.

One day after a jury was sworn in, opening statements are expected Friday in the Los Angeles trial of rapper A$AP Rocky, who is charged with two counts of assault stemming from allegations he pulled a gun on a hip-hop artist during an altercation in Hollywood and then fired at him soon after in a separate confrontation.

In the era when American cities regularly caught fire, the widespread destruction seeded what looks, in retrospect, like possibility.

Firefighters have slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles where dangerous winds gained strength again.