- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
- Author John Grisham joins bid to save Texas death row inmate
- Venezuela arrests fourth American over alleged 'plot' against Maduro
- 'Happy' Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- Man Utd hit Barnsley for seven in League Cup rout
- Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa facing concussion layoff
- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
- Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march
- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
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- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
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- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
- Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
- Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens
- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
- Activist urges repatriation of Native Americans dead in Paris 'human zoo'
- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
- Jihadist group claims rare attack on Mali capital
- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Cooler weather helps, but Los Angeles fires still out of control
Cooler weather on Thursday aided firefighters battling out-of-control blazes around Los Angeles, but officials warned the fast-moving fires were unpredictable and could suddenly explode.
Around 173 square miles (450 square kilometers) have been torched in the three fires, which have destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds of families to flee.
One woman whose home was leveled by the fast-moving Line Fire northeast of the city said she and her children had only minutes to evacuate.
"It happened really fast," Brooke Palenchar told broadcaster KTLA.
"We weren't able to grab much before we left... I have about three Tupperwares left of our lives."
Footage from the home showed only a brick chimney standing among twisted metal and charred debris.
Investigators believe the fire, which has consumed 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) in a week, was started deliberately.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, from Norco has been arrested on suspicion of arson. Reports Thursday said detectives believe he may be a serial arsonist.
Thousands of firefighters from across the region are tackling the vast fire, working long, intense days.
"Our shifts are 24 hours, but due to the crew rotation, we end up working about 28-hour shifts," Captain Kyle Arledge of Ventura County Fire said.
- Pyrocumulous clouds -
To the west, the Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest -- the largest active blaze in California -- has now swelled to over 51,000 acres, destroying at least 33 homes.
Pictures from the town of Wrightwood show charred vehicles and the wreckage of buildings wreathed in smoke.
Three people -- including an off-duty sheriff's deputy -- who had been trapped by the fire in a remote area near Mt. Baldy were brought to safety on Wednesday.
Firefighters said the blaze remained entirely uncontained, and warned that it could suddenly explode because of the abundance of dry vegetation.
This could mean "the potential for large energy release that could create plume-driven fire behavior and column collapses, which may send spot fires out ahead of the fire's direction," said an update from Cal Fire, the statewide fire agency.
Plume-driven fires happen when a blaze begins to generate its own localized weather, forming what is called a pyrocumulous cloud.
Smoke from the fire stops the hot air from rising and forces it back down, creating gusts that can fan the flames, similar to the downdraft of a thunderstorm.
"Those winds can essentially go in any direction which makes it extremely dangerous in terms of fire growth at the surface," National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
- 'Herculean effort' -
Southeast of Los Angeles, the Airport Fire was still growing, but cooler temperatures were making the battle easier.
The blaze erupted on Monday and began racing up canyons and hillsides.
Photographs and video from the Lake Elsinore area show houses and vehicles have been devastated.
Orange County Fire Authority Captain Steve Concialdi said a cooldown after days of stifling heat has brought much-needed relief, with the return of a morning blanket of cool and moist air from the sea.
"This marine layer and cooler temperatures along with the higher relative humidity are helping firefighters grow our containment... and extinguish hot spots," he said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has declared a state of emergency in response to the fires, visited the command post at the Line Fire on Wednesday.
"California is deploying every available resource to combat these devastating fires, and we'll continue to work in lockstep with federal and local partners in this Herculean effort," he said.
Wildfires are a natural part of the wilderness cycle and are not unusual in California and other parts of the US West at this time of year.
But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns and making natural cycles less predictable.
Two wet winters that sparked rapid growth of vegetation, coupled with two mild fire seasons have left large swathes of southern California primed to burn.
D.Moore--AMWN