- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
Rain offers slight reprieve from largest wildfire in history of Texas
Rainfall offered some reprieve from the largest wildfire in the history of Texas, officials said Friday, though dry, gusty conditions were expected to return this weekend for a blaze that has killed two people and scorched a million acres.
Four major fires are actively burning across the state's northern area, known as the Texas panhandle, as well as neighboring Oklahoma, fueled by an unseasonably hot winter and ferocious winds.
"Most of the fire received some precipitation yesterday and there was no fire growth," the Texas A&M Forest Service posted on X about the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest of the five.
It started Monday and now covers an estimated 1,075,000 acres (435,000 hectares), and is 15 percent contained.
But the reprieve could be short lived, as "Critical fire weather conditions are expected to return midday Saturday and once again after sunrise Sunday," tweeted the National Weather Service in Amarillo.
It cited very dry grass, wind gusts of 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour and minimum relative humidity of 5-10 percent.
With Smokehouse Creek merging with another blaze, it has now become the state's largest-ever wildfire, surpassing the East Amarillo Complex disaster that torched 907,000 acres in 2006.
Texas A&M Forest Service Fire Chief Wes Moorehead urged Texans to be cautious over the weekend, when many celebrate Texas Independence Day on March 2, in light of the expected conditions.
"As firefighters continue to suppress active fires, we urge Texans to be cautious with any outdoor activity that may cause a spark," he said in a statement.
A 44-year-old truck driver died in an Oklahoma City hospital on Thursday, having been rescued near her smoke-engulfed truck in Smokehouse Creek on Tuesday, according to several local media.
While preventive evacuations were ordered in some places, the body of an 83-year-old woman was found in the city of Stinnett, a Hutchinson County emergency services spokesperson told ABC News.
She also said about 20 structures in Stinnett had been razed by the fire.
A 120-year-old Texas ranch said it lost 80 percent of its 32,000-acre property near the area of the largest fire.
"The loss of livestock, crops, and wildlife, as well as ranch fencing and other infrastructure throughout our property as well as other ranches and homes across the region is, we believe, unparalleled in our history," the managers of Turkey Track Ranch said in a statement posted on its website.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, climate change has been a key driver in increased wildfire activity across the western United States over the past two decades, through increased heat, extended drought, and heightened atmospheric thirst.
Y.Aukaiv--AMWN