Nighttime curfew imposed in fire-hit areas of LA as police warn against 'despicable' looting
Summary
Officials are giving an update as wildfires in Los Angeles that have killed at least 10 people continue to blaze - watch live above
A nighttime curfew has been imposed in the areas impacted by the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Fires, and police warn that anyone involved in "despicable" looting will be arrested
The wind forecasts and drought conditions mean a red flag warning - indicating critical fire conditions - is in place across Southern California
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says it has not been safe to reach many of the hardest-hit areas, with some expecting the death toll to rise
Workers are destroying roads to stop the flow of gas fuelling the flames, our reporter in Los Angeles writes
More than 150,000 LA County residents remain under evacuation orders
Approximately 153,000 residents are currently under evacuation orders and another 166,800 residents are under evacuation warnings, LA county sheriff Robert Luna said.
About 57,830 structures are at risk, he said.
The Hurst fire has been updated to 771 acres and is at 37% containment, LA city fire chief Kristin Crowley said.
All evacuation orders and warnings for the fire have been lifted, she said.
The Kenneth fire’s forward progress has also been stopped with 35% contained, she said.
All evacuation orders and warnings within the Los Angeles city have been lifted, she said.
South Africa police find 26 naked Ethiopians held by suspected traffickers
Three people arrested after group escapes Johannesburg house by breaking a window and burglar bar
Fri 10 Jan 2025 11.43 GMT
South African police have rescued 26 Ethiopians from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg after the group broke a window and burglar bar to escape from a house where they were being held naked.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and possessing an illegal firearm on Thursday night after neighbours in the Sandringham suburb heard the commotion and tipped off the police, the Hawks serious crime unit said in a statement. Police urged the public to report any other escaped naked people in the area.
About 60 Ethiopian men were held captive in the bungalow, the local TV station eNCA reported, showing what appeared to be blood spattered below an open window at the front of the house. Police said 11 people were taken to hospital for medical treatment. A number of the Ethiopians have still not been picked up by police.
German institutions depart X, a day after Musk's Weidel talk
More than 60 German and Austrian academic organizations say they will leave the messaging platform X owned by Elon Musk. The German government has also voiced fears that the platform is warping political discourse.
Scores of universities and research institutions in Germany and Austria on Friday announced their intention to drop their presence on the online messaging platform X (formerly Twitter), saying its algorithms were opposed to a discourse based on scientific and democratic integrity.
The planned withdrawal in the academic sphere comes as the German government says it is also considering leaving the platform because it was having an "agitated and polarizing" effect on public political discussion.
On Thursday, the trade unions GEW, which represents educators and teachers, and Verdi announced they were deleting their X presence, as did the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
Gaza death toll 40 percent higher than recorded, Lancet study estimates
A study in the medical journal The Lancet estimated that 64,260 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which would mean the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip had under-reported the number of deaths to that point by 41 percent.
Research published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was around 40 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory's health ministry.
The number of dead in Gaza has become a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response to the Palestinian militant group's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.
Up to June 30 last year, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported a death toll of 37,877 in the war.
‘Much more persecution’: Venezuela braces for Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration
On Friday, Maduro is set to start a third term. Will his inauguration continue his post-election crackdown on dissent?
Jesus Medina Ezaine had already spent 16 months in a Venezuelan military prison, accused of crimes he said were related to his work as a photojournalist.
But another prison stint seemed imminent, particularly after the contested re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
With Maduro set to be sworn in for a third term, Medina, 43, made a difficult decision: to flee his home in Venezuela for the relative safety of Bogota, the capital of neighbouring Colombia.
Lebanon Turns a Political Page as Hezbollah’s Hold Is Weakened
For decades, Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon was iron tight.
With its vast arsenal, the militant group was more powerful than the country’s national military. It controlled or held sway over Lebanon’s most important government agencies as well as critical infrastructure, like its border with Syria and commercial port. Almost no major political decisions could be made without its backing, and no political party could seriously challenge any move it, or its patron Iran, made.
But that longstanding status quo has now been shaken — a turnabout for Hezbollah that has opened a new political chapter in Lebanon.
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