Shell-shocked Los Angeles residents on Thursday surveyed the devastation from fast-moving fires that have claimed at least five lives, as officials warned the largest blazes remained totally uncontained.Swathes of the city lay eerily deserted due to the fires’ destruction and sweeping evacuation orders, with acrid smoke blanketing the sky.A vast firefighting operation continued for a third day, bolstered by extra water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds.Amid the chaos, looting has broken out, with at least 20 arrests made so far, officials said.The biggest fire, which has ripped through 17,000 acres (6,900 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, is “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” city fire chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference.Another 10,000-acre fire in Altadena was also at “zero percent containment,” although spreading had “significantly stopped” as wind gust reduced, county fire chief Anthony Marrone said.Judy Chu, the US congresswoman representing the region, visited an evacuation center where 1,000 displaced residents sought shelter, and said Altadena was “just devastated.””They are numb. They don’t know what they will return to once this fire is contained,” she told local news KTLA.Nearly 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, as officials and meteorologists warned that “critical” windy and dry conditions, though abated, were not over.”The winds continue to be of a historic nature… this is absolutely an unprecedented, historic firestorm,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.A National Weather Service bulletin said “significant fire growth” remained likely “with ongoing or new fires” throughout Thursday and into Friday.But there was some good news for Hollywood, the historic home of the movie industry, after evacuation orders prompted by the nearby “Sunset Fire” on Wednesday were lifted.- Multi-million dollar homes -Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds have leveled more than 2,000 structures, many of them multi-million dollar homes, with aerial views on Thursday showing whole neighborhoods burnt to the ground.Millions of Angelenos have watched in horror as blazes have erupted around America’s second biggest city, sparking panic and fear.Winds with gusts up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour spread the fire around the ritzy Pacific Palisades neighborhood with lightning speed.Crowley said a preliminary estimate of destroyed structures was “in the thousands.”Around a thousand more buildings have been destroyed in Altadena, north of the city, where flames tore through suburban streets.Officials pledged to crack down on looters hitting areas deserted due to the fires and evacuations.A sunset-to-sunrise curfew has been declared in evacuated areas of the coastal city of Santa Monica.Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 20 arrests had been made so far, with that number expected to rise. “It’s absolutely unacceptable,” he said.- Lost everything -Among those who died was 66-year-old Victor Shaw, whose sister said he had ignored pleas to leave as the fire swept through Altadena because he wanted to protect their home.”When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn’t reply back,” Shari Shaw said.”I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to save myself.”Shaw’s body was found by a friend on the driveway of his razed home, a garden hose in his hand.William Gonzales got out alive, but his Altadena home was gone.”We have lost practically everything; the flames have consumed all our dreams,” he told AFP.President Joe Biden, who canceled a trip to Italy this week over the crisis, is due to give public remarks about the fires later Thursday.His incoming successor Donald Trump meanwhile blamed California governor Gavin Newsom for the devastation and calling on the Democrat to resign. “This is all his fault,” Trump said on his Truth social platform. – Climate crisis -Wildfires are part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.But scientists say human-caused climate change is causing more severe weather patterns.Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, sparking furious vegetative growth.That has left the region, which has had no significant rain for eight months, packed with fuel and primed to burn.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said Donald Trump’s return to the White House would open “a new chapter” and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help “force Russia to peace”.Zelensky spoke at a meeting of about 50 allies at the US air base Ramstein in Germany, the last such gathering before Trump takes office on January 20, casting doubt on future American support for Kyiv.”It’s clear that a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world — just 11 days from now, a time when we have to cooperate even more, rely on one another even more, and achieve even greater results together,” said Zelensky.”I see this as a time of opportunities,” he added at the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, Zelensky repeated a call for Western allies to send troops to help Ukraine.”Our goal is to find as many instruments as possible to force Russia into peace,” he told the meeting. “I believe that such deployment of partners’ contingents is one of the best instruments.”The United States under President Joe Biden has been Ukraine’s biggest wartime backer, providing military aid worth more than $65 billion since February 2022.- ‘Success story’ -US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — who launched the Ramstein format shortly after the war started — announced new military aid worth $500 million for Kyiv.”The coalition to support Ukraine must not flinch. It must not falter. And it must not fail,” Austin said. “Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is all of our security.”Austin looked back over recent years and how, since the days when “Ukrainian citizens were making Molotov cocktails to defend their homes,” the multinational group had supplied the country with an arsenal of high-tech weapons.This had helped “turn Ukraine’s struggle into one of the great military success stories of our times,” Austin said, adding that Russia had suffered more than 700,000 dead or wounded and had become “more isolated” on the world stage.Austin said “this coalition must continue to stand foursquare with Ukraine -— and to strengthen its hand for the negotiations that will someday bring Putin’s monstrous war to a close”.But, pressed on whether he wanted the Trump administration to push on with the effort, Austin said that “it’s up to the future administration to make their own decisions”.Trump, who has criticised the large amount of US military aid for Kyiv, has promised to bring a swift end to the war, but without making any concrete proposals for a ceasefire or peace deal.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she hoped the United States would keep supporting Ukraine but added that “the European Union is also ready to take over this leadership if the United States is not willing to do so”.German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called for the continuation of the Ramstein format, saying its results so far “must now inspire us to make every effort for what is still to come”.- ‘World is watching’ -Russian and Ukrainian forces are now engaged in fierce fighting, looking to secure their battlefield positions before Trump’s inauguration.Trump has criticised NATO allies for spending too little on shared defence. This week, he sparked further alarm by refusing to rule out military action to take Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU and NATO member Denmark.Austin stressed that “the United States of America has always been a reliable partner. We will always be a reliable partner in the future”.NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said allies needed to help Ukraine reach a position of strength ahead of any eventual ceasefire or peace talks.”We have to bring Ukraine into the best possible position that one day, when talks would start at the initiative of Ukraine on how to solve this conflict, that they are in the best possible position to do that,” he said. “And then when these talks end, it will be looked at, in a sense, whether it is a good deal or not.”And if it is not a good deal, it will be watched by the Chinese, the North Koreans, Iran, obviously, Russia. The whole world is watching.”burs-wd/fz/sea/yad

Video game play met romantic intimacy in a corner of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)  on Thursday — but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for sex toys at the Las Vegas gadget extravaganza. In 2019, CES was marred in controversy after stripping an award from a sex toy called the Ose personal massager for being “immoral,” “obscene” and “profane.”After an uproar, the award was restored and a year later, sex technology was on full display.This year, US-based Motorbunny unveiled a “Fluffer” app designed to help video game fanatics and their romantic partners get satisfaction.The software wirelessly syncs video game play with the controls of any Bluetooth-enabled sex toy — on the CES show floor, that was a saddle-style vibrator — so both the player and partner can have fun.”There’s a multitasking generation and you want to accomplish as much personal pleasure however you can,” said Craig Mewbourne of Motorbunny.”There’s a big Venn diagram between the serotonin, dopamine and endorphins that happen in gaming and when you are engaging in intimacy.”Motorbunny social media master Katie Whitt played a car racing game on a PlayStation 5 console at the company’s booth, the rumbling of an adjacent saddle accelerating or decelerating, keeping up with the on-screen action.”My boyfriend’s a gamer; I’m more of a rider,” Whitt said with a smile.”We’ve had many fights about him being on the PlayStation till five in the morning; this definitely could have saved us a few arguments.”Whitt quipped that she might start encouraging her boyfriend to push on to more challenging video game levels.Fluffer is a universal app for syncing game controllers with Bluetooth-enabled toys, whether small or saddle-sized, according to Mewbourne.”There are pretty strong implications for Twitch streamers,” Mewbourne said, referring to a popular online venue for streaming live video game play.”Your audience can be a lot more connected to the gaming experience.”It took Motorbunny a couple of years of petitioning to get onto the CES show floor, and limits were set when it came to displaying saddle attachments, according to the company.”The reception by attendees has been amazing,” Mewbourne said.”People here are serious about understanding the technology behind it and not walking around to gawk.”

It is the world’s most exclusive society and meetings are limited to infrequent state occasions, but the so-called American Presidents Club was in session Thursday to see off departed comrade Jimmy Carter.The five living men who have occupied the White House — Joe Biden and his predecessors Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — came together at Washington’s National Cathedral for their first encounter since the 2018 funeral of another former president, George H.W. Bush.The political establishment turned out in force for Thursday’s ceremony, with former vice presidents Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle chatting amiably as the elite leaders group was seated nearby.It might have been an awkward affair, as Trump has denigrated most of the group in disputes of varying degrees of seriousness — and found himself sitting next to longtime sparring partner Obama.Trump launched his political career by pushing the racist and false “birther” conspiracy theory that his Democratic predecessor — the first and only Black president — was lying about being a natural born American.But the pair appeared able to put their differences on hold as television images showed them exchanging cordial small talk, with Obama smiling and laughing.It was also the first time since the election that Trump had been in the same room as his opponent Kamala Harris — whom he repeatedly accused of being mentally ill — and his first time in four years in close proximity to his estranged vice president, Mike Pence. Pence refused to endorse his former boss in the 2024 election after a mob that Trump sent marching on the Capitol to halt the certification of the 2020 election stormed the building chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!”Biden, who gave the eulogy, sat with First Lady Jill Biden beside Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton — whom Trump defeated in 2016 to claim his first term — took their places next to Bush and his wife Laura.As the TV audience studied the presidents’ interactions, US media remarked on the added awkwardness of the leaders of Canada and Panama, two nations threatened recently by Trump, being sat less than 30 feet (10 meters) from the president-elect.Carter, who died on December 29, lay in repose in his home state of Georgia and then at the US Capitol, where the public paid their respects from Tuesday through early Thursday.After the funeral, Carter’s family will return to the Peach State for a private ceremony and a procession before he is buried next to his late wife, Rosalynn, who died in 2023.