LA fires burn area twice the size of Manhattan – worst the city has seen in recent history

California has seen deadly blazes over the years – Camp fire decimated Paradise town in 2018 and Tubbs fire burned 36,810 acres in 2017

The destruction caused by the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles is the worst the city has seen in recent history.

The wildfires, which began on 7 January, have torched the US’s second largest city, leaving at least 11 dead and over 10,000 structures destroyed. Roughly 150,000 Los Angeles county residents remain under evacuation orders.

Palisades, the first and largest fire, is spreading west of Los Angeles. Burning across 21,317 acres, the fire had only been 8% contained as of Friday afternoon, meaning firefighters have created control lines – usually wide trenches – around 8% of it. Officials say initial estimates indicate it has destroyed at least 5,300 structures between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Firefighters estimate it’s the third-most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

The Eaton fire, burning across Pasadena and Altadena areas in the north-east has blazed nearly 14,000 acres and has only been 3% contained. It has so far destroyed 5,000 structures, ranking it as the fourth most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

The other fires currently burning across Los Angeles include Kenneth, Hurst and Lidia. Kenneth, a brush fire which emerged in the Woodlands Hills area on Thursday, has burned across 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of Friday morning, it has been 35% contained. Meanwhile, the Hurst fire, which is burning across 771 acres across the northernmost suburb of Los Angeles, has been 37% contained as of Friday morning. Over in Antelope Valley, the Lidia fire has burned across 395 acres and is 75% contained as of Friday morning.

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Report: Hamas offers Israel to postpone resolution of key issues in cease-fire deal – Haaretz

  1. Report: Hamas offers Israel to postpone resolution of key issues in cease-fire deal  Haaretz
  2. White House working on hostage release deal in Gaza before Trump’s inauguration, says CIA director  The Guardian
  3. Hamas: Netanyahu agreed to end the war after first phase of hostage deal is completed - report  The Jerusalem Post
  4. Reports: PM to decide tonight whether to send Mossad chief to Doha for hostage talks  The Times of Israel
  5. Israel Gaza war: Hamas lists 34 hostages it may free under ceasefire  BBC.com
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‘Hotel of mum and dad’ in UK at its fullest in two decades, study finds

Almost a fifth of adults aged 24-34 are living with parents, particularly in areas of high-cost housing

The “hotel of mum and dad” is the busiest it has been for two decades as an increasing number of young adults in the UK choose – or are forced by low wages and rising rents – to live with their parents, research has found.

The prohibitive cost of renting, let alone buying, a home explains why more twenty- and thirtysomethings are “co-residing” with family at an age when their parents would have been living independently, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said.

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Immigration crackdown already moving in Congress with Executive Orders expected – KATU

  1. Immigration crackdown already moving in Congress with Executive Orders expected  KATU
  2. This New Immigration Bill That’s About to Pass Is a Horrifying Trojan Horse  Slate
  3. Opinion | Congress to Trump: Yes to removing criminals, no to mass deportations  The Washington Post
  4. Senate advances Laken Riley Act in bipartisan 84-9 vote  CBS News
  5. Laken Riley Act: Massachusetts delegation overwhelmingly opposes immigration bill  Boston Herald
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Debunking Elon Musk’s claims of ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ – Religion News Service

  1. Debunking Elon Musk's claims of 'Muslim grooming gangs'  Religion News Service
  2. Elon Musk’s Latest Terrifying Foray Into British Politics  The New Yorker
  3. What Is the U.K. ‘Grooming Gang’ Scandal Seized On by Elon Musk?  The New York Times
  4. What Elon Musk’s tweets about sex abuse reveal about British politics  The Economist
  5. Elon Musk’s X Postings Reportedly Being Monitored By U.K. Homeland Security  Forbes
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Biden administration sanctions Russia’s oil giants and tanker fleet – The Washington Post

  1. Biden administration sanctions Russia’s oil giants and tanker fleet  The Washington Post
  2. U.S. Imposes New Sanctions to Squeeze Russia’s Energy Sector  The New York Times
  3. US hits Russian oil with toughest sanctions yet in bid to give Ukraine, Trump leverage  Reuters
  4. Biden Administration Fires Parting-Shot Sanctions at Russia’s Energy Sector  The Wall Street Journal
  5. Crude prices jump as U.S. imposes sweeping sanctions against Russia oil industry  CNBC
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Pressure on Nigel Farage as Reform UK councillors resign over his leadership

Exclusive: Departures will add to scrutiny of party leader after Elon Musk said he was ‘not up to the job’

A group of 10 councillors representing Reform UK have given notice of their intention to resign en masse in protest at Nigel Farage’s leadership.

The resignations will add to pressure on the Reform leader after Elon Musk said he was “not up to the job”. They are timed to overshadow the party’s south-east conference this weekend.

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