- 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
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
'The sun didn't sting so much before': fires stun Colombia's Andes
The once bright green Andean forest where Maria Yadira Jimenez worked as a tour guide has been reduced to ashes.
Since Monday, forest fires have been advancing on Nemocon, a rural area with beautiful landscapes about 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the Colombian capital Bogota.
Though usually cool, the mountains surrounding the town have become a hellscape, with the blazes driving out residents and wildlife.
Distraught, Jimenez joined volunteers who -- along with firefighters, rescuers, police and the military -- are fighting to extinguish one of the 34 fires that the government has detected in Colombia, which has declared a "natural disaster" amid hot, dry conditions due to the El Nino climate phenomenon.
Fires have razed more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) across Colombia since November, when the drought started and temperatures started to rise, authorities say.
With no experience in emergency response or any fireproof clothing, the volunteers follow in the footsteps of firefighters and use jugs of water to cool areas that have been brought under control.
With picks, shovels and machetes, they stir up the smoldering earth to make sure the fires don't spark back up.
"This is a disaster that is going to bring very serious consequences. Birds were burned, native species were lost and everything was affected," the 46-year-old Jimenez tells AFP.
The area's environmental authority rescued a disoriented fox and an owl from the smoke, but other animals were not so lucky, perishing in the flames.
- Sun that stings more -
In Bogota, a thick column of smoke rises from the mountain range that edges the city of eight million inhabitants. The sound of helicopters pouring water on the flames echoes all day in the east.
Faced with the "natural disaster" decreed by the government, President Gustavo Petro has sought help from international partners.
The Environment Ministry says at least 20 fires are still active, affecting forests, farmland and the mountain ecosystems that provide water to lower altitudes.
Locals in Nemocon have accused a power company of causing the fire, which spread unchecked among the area's parched pine trees.
When consulted by AFP, the company said the fire was caused by "climatic conditions generated by the heat wave" and that its officials have shut down supply lines that cross the area.
January 2024 is forecast to be the hottest month in Colombia since records began 30 years ago, according to environmental authority Ideam.
"The sun didn't sting so much before," Jimenez explains worriedly.
Francisco Mendoza, 52, loads a pump with water to stop flames from reaching his property.
"We haven't stopped day and night," he says, on the verge of tears, wearing glasses and a mask to protect from the smoke.
"Everyone's property is my property, so when a neighbor is at risk, we are all at risk. We are trying to support each other in that way," he adds.
In Nemocon and Bogota, Indigenous people have been performing rituals asking for rain, but science is not very optimistic.
Ideam anticipates February will be even hotter, and only in March will rainfall alleviate the situation.
For Mendoza, it's a message from nature.
"It is Mother Earth crying for help because we are behaving very badly with her."
A.Malone--AMWN