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Los Angeles fires burn 10,000 structures as new blaze spreads
Two wildfires in the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned some 10,000 homes and structures, local officials have said, as a third blaze prompted the evacuation of thousands of more residents.
The latest blaze, the Kenneth fire, broke out in West Hills, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, on Thursday afternoon as fire crews were still battling to bring the Palisades and Eaton fires under control.
“We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.
At least 10 deaths had been reported as of 9pm local time, up from seven earlier in the day, according to the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner.
The latest evacuation orders came as officials confirmed that the Palisades and Eaton fires had each destroyed more than 5,000 structures, which includes homes as well as other property such as cars and sheds.
The two fires have consumed more than 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land between them, according to the state wildfire agency Cal Fire.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna earlier told a news conference that he expected the then-reported death toll of seven to rise.
“It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers,” Luna said.
Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders due to the fire, with another 200,000 residents subject to evacuation warnings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
More than 285,000 residents are without electricity in Southern California, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, while water and sewage infrastructure across the region have suffered extensive damage.
Dozens of blocks have been reduced to ash in the affluent communities of Malibu and Pacific Palisades since the start of the fires on Tuesday amid winds of more than 70mph (112km/h).
The National Weather Service has warned that winds are expected to pick up on Thursday evening after dropping earlier in the day.
Celebrities including James Woods, Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are among those who have lost their homes in the fires.
“There are areas where everything is gone, there isn’t even a stick of wood left, it’s just dirt,” said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.
Reporting from the Pacific Palisades, Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds said the extent of the destruction was “hard to fathom”.
“The hillsides are burned. There’s a high school … that has been heavily damaged. You can see houses where there’s nothing left but the chimney remaining,” he said.
“It goes on – literally – for kilometre after kilometre, block after block after block.”
Authorities have not determined the cause of the fires but are investigating various possible sources of ignition.
While lightning is the most common cause of wildfires in the US, according to the National Fire Protection Association, there were no reports of lightning in the vicinity at the time the blazes began. Other common causes include intentionally lit fires and power lines.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state’s National Guard was being deployed at the request of the LA County Sheriff’s Department to assist with rescue efforts and help keep order amid reports of looting.
“We’re throwing everything at our disposal – including our National Guard service members – to protect communities in the days to come,” Newsom said. “And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.”
US President Joe Biden, who is set to be replaced by President-elect Donald Trump in the White House on January 20, said the federal government would cover 100 percent of the cost of California’s recovery efforts for the next 180 days. “I told the governor, local officials, spare no expense to do what they need to do and contain these fires,” Biden said after meeting with senior advisers at the White House.
“I pray to God they will,” he said.
Biden urged Congress to provide aid to cover the damage once a full accounting of the devastation had been done.
“I hope they’re ready to step up because we can afford it,” Biden said, adding that he hoped lawmakers would “not make a political deal out of this.
“I’m leaving this office very shortly, but it’s not about the politics,” Biden said.
[Aljazeera]
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a new set of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), this time targeting the entity itself, as opposed to the tribunal’s officials or groups that provide support.
The announcement on Friday represented a major escalation from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has vowed an “all of government” approach to dismantling the court.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us because our message is clear: the United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” Rubio said in a video posted on social media. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”
As justification for its actions, the administration has pointed to the court’s ongoing investigation into abuses committed in Afghanistan, which could ensnare US military and intelligence personnel, as well as the ICC’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza.
Before Friday’s actions, the US had sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors, a UN special rapporteur focusing on the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian rights groups that have provided evidence to the court.
Several rights groups have challenged those sanctions in US federal court, saying restricting how US citizens interact with the court treads on their constitutional freedoms. Sanctioned ICC judges have also launched legal challenges in the US.
[Aljazeera]
United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The president added that Russia would deliver an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel “within a short period of time”. He said that the country would supply 500,000 tonnes in November.
An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post on X shortly after.
“Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world,” Dmitriev wrote on X.
Petrol price pressures
The deal comes despite Ukrainian air strikes, which have taken more than half of the country’s oil refining capacity offline, according to claims made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday.
The latest announcement comes a week after the G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels amid pressure from the White House.
Diesel prices have been elevated in recent months but have started to decline. The average price for a gallon is $6.27 ($1.66 per litre), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That’s down $0.10 from this time last week, but up $5.94 from this time one month ago.
[Aljazeera]
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake has hit southern Panama, triggering tsunami warnings across Central and South America.
The US National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala on Friday following the quake.
Chile’s naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service also issued a tsunami warning.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about 10km (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba along the Pacific Ocean coast.
Residents of Panama City reported feeling tremors, with buildings shaking and people evacuating into the streets.
“We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared,” 60-year-old Rosendo Dominguez, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press news agency by phone.
“Everyone is outside, scared,” Dominguez added.
Videos shared by newspaper La Prensa showed the tower of a historic building had collapsed along with several balconies of a residential building in Penonome, a city about halfway between the epicenter and Panama City.
Panama’s ministry of education ordered schools closed.
There have been several destructive earthquakes in the region this year.
In June, twin quakes hit northern Venezuela, causing widespread devastation and killing at least 6,500 people.
In August, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit Colombia, killing at least 289 people.
[Aljazwwea]
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