- 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
- Arizona to ask court to rule on voting rights
- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- 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
California sizzles in February heatwave
A heatwave was bringing unseasonably high temperatures to California on Thursday, sending sun-worshippers to the beach, but also sparking a brushfire.
Forecasters issued a heat warning for the most populous US state through to Sunday, warning the mercury could hit a height-of-summer 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) in Los Angeles, well above the average for winter.
California, in common with much of the western United States, is enduring a historic drought and wild swings in weather that scientists say is exacerbated by man-made climate change.
"If you warm the planet, you're going to break heat records," said geographer Justin Mankin of Dartmouth College.
Continuing to burn fossil fuels that release planet-heating carbon dioxide is going to make that worse, especially when coupled with natural weather variations.
"Right now you have this kind of prevailing high pressure system that's somewhat amplified," he told AFP.
"You have drier-than-usual conditions at the surface, which just means that more energy will go towards warming up the air rather than evaporating water."
The heat was set to continue into the weekend, when Los Angeles is due to host the Super Bowl, American football's showpiece final.
The previous hottest Super Bowl was in 1973, also in LA, when players trotted out in balmy 84F conditions.
In San Diego, near the Mexican border, temperatures were also expected to hit 90F.
In northern California, the UC Berkeley laboratory in the central Sierra region recorded another record Wednesday: 32 consecutive days without rain, the longest period without precipitation in winter.
A wetter-than-usual December across the state had given hope that the years-long drought might be waning, but 2022 has been dry.
While surfers were happily soaking up California's rays, dozens of people had to flee their homes overnight around Laguna Beach, where a fire tore through 145 acres.
There were no reports of injuries or any property damage in the swanky spot, where million-dollar homes line the roads, but firefighters were urging residents to stay away.
Laguna Beach Mayor Sue Kempf told reporters the flames brought back memories of a 1993 wildfire that destroyed more than 300 homes.
"We no longer have a fire season, we have a fire year," said local fire chief Brian Fennessy.
"It's February 10. This is supposed to be the middle of winter and we're anticipating 80- to 90-degree weather.
"If this is any sign of what's to come throughout the rest of the winter and spring we're in for a long year."
M.A.Colin--AMWN