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A blackened swimming pool and a chimney were all that remained when Oren Waters returned home Thursday to assess what remained of his home of 50 years on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “This looks like the apocalypse, to be honest with you, it just doesn’t feel like the normal things that happen in your life,” the 74-year-old singer, whose voice appears in Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller,” told AFP.”It’s unimaginable,” he said through a protective mask, as a few embers burned on the ground. Waters returned to where his house once stood after the fierce winds that have been spreading fires across the Los Angeles area since Tuesday calmed. The blazes remained totally uncontained on Thursday, and the mountain overlooking Altadena, a suburban community of 42,000 people, was still in flames. The blaze dubbed the “Eaton Fire” has killed several people in the Altadena area. One man was found dead in front of his house with a hose in his hand. Waters said he also tried to fight the fire with a hose and buckets of water, working desperately to salvage items from his house until the last possible minute on Tuesday evening, as “fireballs” soared overhead. He said he didn’t know the man who died, but can understand the urge to fight back, despite the risks. “When you have the fighting spirit in you, you don’t think about what you can’t do, you think about what you need to do, what you can do,” Waters said. – ‘Extremely underprepared’ -Under the ashes of his house, the carcass of a vintage car was visible. Waters said it was a 1935 Chevrolet Standard, which has cost him upwards of $150,000. “I’m going to miss it,” added Waters, whose voice also appears in the Disney film “The Lion King.”In this neighborhood, there were homes that remained randomly intact next to those that were torched.Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said her mother’s home was among those spared. A neighbor saved it by shovelling dirt on flames once the city cut off the water. The panorama in the area now “looks wrong,” she said, surveying what she described as a view “of death and of destruction and of black.”The biggest blaze ripped through nearly 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while the fire in Altadena torched 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares). Astoor said it feels like the authorities were “extremely underprepared.””California is a state that burns, we should not be overwhelmed when it comes to firefighters. That’s like the thing we need to put money into: earthquake and fire.”- ‘Glad to be alive’ -A few hundred yards (meters) away, standing in front of the house where he lived with his parents, 41-year-old Adam Clingmon admitted to feeling “numb.””I don’t hold any grudges, there’s nothing that no one could do,” said the special education teacher, whose firefighter brother has been battling the Pacific Palisades blaze. “They were just stretched too thin, by the time firefighters from different counties got here, it was just too late for us,” he told AFP. “I’m just glad to be alive,” he said, recounting his narrow escape with his parents, which involved clearing a tree trunk that was obstructing the only road out. His concern was also focused on Altadena’s future, especially after insurance companies cancelled coverage for some in the area, citing the risk of extreme weather disasters linked to climate change. “I hope the insurance companies don’t screw us,” he said. “We definitely want to rebuild and bring this community back.”

As chaotic wildfires razed homes around Los Angeles forcing thousands to flee, one evacuation shelter was being overwhelmed Thursday with donations.The center at Pan Pacific Park, just south of Hollywood in the heart of Los Angeles, was having to turn away donations after kind-hearted locals brought cars full of food, clothing and toiletries.”We appreciate the support, donations and volunteers, however do not need anything additional at this time,” read a handwritten sign posted outside the shelter.The Sunset Fire, which erupted Wednesday night in the affluent Hollywood Hills, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the storied theaters of Hollywood Boulevard, sparked an evacuation order for thousands of people living in the heart of America’s entertainment capital.Some of those told to leave their homes — a mixture of multi-million dollar mansions and small, rent-controlled apartments — made their way to the city-run center.”It exploded so quickly, I’ve never seen fire move that fast,” Eric Calhoun, a city recreation director overseeing the site, told AFP.But almost as soon as the evacuees started arriving, so did the donations, and the center was soon full to bursting with goods.”I had to direct truckloads and truckloads to go to other sites,” Calhoun said.Evacuation orders for the Sunset Fire were lifted by Thursday, and by the afternoon the evacuation center had cleared out — for now.Other wildfires, including the Eaton Fire burning inland in the San Gabriel Valley and the Palisades Fire closer to the coast, have torched more than 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) combined, destroyed more than 6,000 buildings and killed at least five people.Despite the fire activity winding down from decreasing Santa Ana winds, Calhoun said emergency assistance was in a bit of a “holding pattern,” as more wind activity was forecast for next week.

From laptops to EVs, lithium-ion batteries have fueled phenomenal growth in the 21st century, but businesses struggle with a significant downside: increased fire risk.At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), companies unveiled a next-generation garbage truck designed to detect these highly flammable batteries.The innovation comes as careless disposal of batteries from smartphones, electric toothbrushes, and other gadgets has become an acute problem at recycling centers. The owner of a New Jersey recycling plant that caught fire early Thursday pointed to the batteries as a likely cause.In the United States, across the industry, “a couple of recycling centers burn down every year,” said Jon Vander Ark, chief executive of waste management company Republic Services.Republic showcased their solution at CES: a state-of-the-art garbage truck built by industrial company Oshkosh that screens for the batteries. The vehicle resembles a conventional garbage truck, weighing in at more than 41,000 pounds and capable of carrying nine tons of cargo. But it is fully electric and outfitted with AI software that scans for problem refuse in garbage and recycling loads.While Republic already uses detection systems at recycling facilities, batteries sometimes slip through.If undetected, a forklift can run over a small battery and start a fire, Vander Ark told AFP. The new trucks allow drivers to flag collections containing batteries as sensitive loads before they reach recycling plants.”Getting that out of the stream is of huge value to us,” said Vander Ark. – Value in trash -The Oshkosh booth also showcased electric arm technology that can speed up trash collections and software that identifies non-recyclable contamination in recycling bins.The spiffed-up vehicles provide a font of operational data that can make better use of a trash driver’s time, said Oshkosh CEO John Pfeifer.Companies can pinpoint contamination sources to educate customers or fine repeat offenders, he explained.The trucks even capture video evidence when drivers can’t access bins due to blocked pickup spots. “When a customer asks, ‘Why didn’t you pick me up?’…we have video evidence,” said Vander Ark.He noted that waste management is particularly well-suited for electrification since trucks typically travel shorter distances per shift, eliminating the range concerns that often deter everyday EV consumers.The quieter electric trucks could also allow for earlier morning collections when traffic is lighter, while their overnight charging capability ensures operational readiness.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday denied a last-minute bid by President-elect Donald Trump to halt sentencing in his hush money case.The top court, which includes three justices appointed by Trump, rejected his emergency application seeking to block Friday’s sentencing by a 5-4 vote.The court, in a brief unsigned order, said the “burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial” and noted that Trump will be allowed to attend virtually.The court also noted that Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the hush money case, has already said he plans to impose a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which does not carry any jail time, fine or probation.Trump is to be sentenced in Manhattan at 9:30 am (1430 GMT) on Friday after being convicted by a New York jury in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.The 78-year-old Trump, who is to be inaugurated on January 20, is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and will be the first convicted felon to serve in the White House.In a post on Truth Social following the Supreme Court decision, Trump thanked the court for “trying to remedy the great injustice done to me” and lashed out at Merchan, calling him a “highly political and corrupt judge.””I am innocent of all of the Judge’s made up, fake charges,” he said, adding that he will continue to pursue appeals of the guilty verdict in the hush money case.Trump filed an emergency application with the nine-member Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to block his sentencing.Four conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — were in favor of granting Trump’s request.Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, also conservatives, joined the court’s three liberal justices in rejecting the president-elect’s effort. Barrett, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were appointed by Trump.- ‘Grave injustice’ -Trump’s lawyers made several legal maneuvers in an effort to fend off sentencing, arguing that it would be a “grave injustice” and harm “the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government.”Trump’s attorneys also claimed that the immunity from prosecution granted to a sitting president should be extended to a president-elect.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected their arguments in his response on Thursday, saying Trump was a private citizen when he was “charged, tried, and convicted.””Defendant makes the unprecedented claim that the temporary presidential immunity he will possess in the future fully immunizes him now, weeks before he even takes the oath of office,” he said.Bragg also said the Supreme Court “lacks jurisdiction over a state court’s management of an ongoing criminal trial” and preventing sentencing would be an “extraordinary step” by the top court.In the order allowing sentencing to go ahead, the Supreme Court said Trump can still appeal his conviction through the New York state courts.Merchan said last week that he was leaning towards giving Trump an unconditional discharge that would not carry jail time. He also agreed to allow the president-elect to attend Friday’s sentencing virtually instead of in person.Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison, but legal experts — even before he won the November presidential election — did not expect Merchan to incarcerate him.Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as he sought to overturn his 2020 defeat.

The US Supreme Court is to hear TikTok’s appeal on Friday of a law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the wildly popular online video-sharing platform or shut it down.The top court is holding oral arguments in the case nine days before TikTok faces a ban unless ByteDance divests from the popular app.Signed by President Joe Biden in April, the law would block TikTok from US app stores and web hosting services unless ByteDance sells its stake by January 19.The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda. China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims.TikTok is arguing that the law — the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — violates its First Amendment rights.”We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights,” a TikTok spokesman said.In a filing with the Supreme Court, TikTok said “Congress has enacted a massive and unprecedented speech restriction” that would “shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms.””This, in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern,” it added.The potential ban could strain US-China relations just as Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as president on January 20.Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, has emerged as an unlikely ally of the platform in a reversal from his first term, when the Republican leader tried to ban the app, citing national security concerns.Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, filed a brief with the Supreme Court last month asking it to pause the law.In the amicus curiae — or “friend of the court” — brief, Sauer made it clear the president-elect does not take a position on the legal merits of the current case.”Instead, he respectfully requests that the court consider staying the act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025… thus permitting President Trump’s incoming Administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case,” Sauer said.- ‘You need competition’ -The president-elect met with TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in December.Trump told Bloomberg recently he had changed his mind about the app.”Now (that) I’m thinking about it, I’m for TikTok, because you need competition,” he said.A coalition of free speech groups — including the influential American Civil Liberties Union — filed a separate brief with the Supreme Court opposing the law, citing censorship concerns.”Such a ban is unprecedented in our country and, if it goes into effect, will cause a far-reaching disruption in Americans’ ability to engage with the content and audiences of their choice online,” they said.In an 11th hour development on Thursday, US billionaire Frank McCourt, founder of the non-profit Project Liberty, announced that he had put together a consortium to acquire TikTok’s US assets from ByteDance.”We’ve put forward a proposal to ByteDance,” McCourt said in a statement. “We look forward to working with ByteDance, President-elect Trump, and the incoming administration to get this deal done.”AFP, among more than a dozen other fact-checking organizations, is paid by TikTok in several countries to verify videos that potentially contain false information.

People forced to flee their homes by massive wildfires tearing through Los Angeles were taking turns to patrol their streets to ward off looters on Thursday.At least 20 people have been arrested in the aftermath of massive fires that have razed whole neighborhoods, officials said.Police warned that officers were flooding the affected areas and would challenge anyone they thought should not be there.With such a huge area scorched by the fires, which are ravaging the well-to-do Pacific Palisades and another area around Altadena, evacuees feared not enough was being done.Some are taking matters into their own hands.One man whose house was one of just a handful left standing on a burned-out Altadena street told AFP said he was working with his neighbors.”We’re so stressed about this looting happening all around that my neighbors were on watch all last night for several houses in the neighborhood,” said the man, who did not want to give his name.”I’m supposed to take over for them tonight.”Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his officers were pushing into fire-wrecked areas and evacuation zones to try to deter wrongdoers.”We continue to conduct roving patrols, manning hard road closures, providing security in evacuation areas to prevent anyone who may be tempted to engage in criminal… behavior like looting,” he told a press conference on Thursday.He said the bar for arresting people in an evacuation zone was low, and warned that his officers would pounce.”When we have an evacuation order by law, if you remain in that area, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony,” he said.”If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject to arrest.”Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said anyone the sheriff’s department handed over to his office would be dealt with severely.”If you want to go ahead and loot, if you want to commit burglary, if you want to engage in grand theft… you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law,” he said.Hochman said no one should think that taking property from an evacuation zone was a small matter.”It’s a huge deal. These acts are despicable, and we will prosecute them with maximal punishment.”

A man notorious for shooting up a pizzeria in the US capital where he wrongly believed Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were running a child sex ring has been killed in a traffic stop police shooting, local media reported Thursday.The North Carolina man who died Monday, two days after the incident with police, has now been identified as Edgar Maddison Welch, who was at the center of the bizarre story that came to be known as “Pizzagate,” news outlets said.It involved the bogus conspiracy theory that Comet Ping Pong, a Washington pizza restaurant, was a hub for a child sex trafficking ring involving Clinton — who ran for US president in 2016 — and other prominent Democrats.In December of that year, Welch was arrested after he fired his assault rifle inside the eatery. He told police that he drove up from North Carolina to personally investigate stories that Comet was a center for child abduction.The false claim was an early taste of the conspiracy theories that would later abound among far-right conservatives in the Donald Trump era.Welch, then 29, was sentenced in 2017 to four years in prison after being convicted of a federal charge of interstate transport of firearms and a Washington DC charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was released from prison in March 2020.When Welch was sentenced, the US attorney’s office said the judge in the case declared “the extent of the recklessness in this case is breathtaking” and it was only through “sheer luck” that no one was wounded.On Saturday, police in the North Carolina town of Kannapolis stopped a car they believed to be driven by someone with an outstanding warrant. The driver was Welch.When police tried to open the car and arrest him, Welch pulled a gun and refused orders to drop it. Two officers then shot him, the Charlotte Observer newspaper reported. Welch died two days later in the hospital.

Incoming US president Donald Trump sparked a political battle with outgoing leader Joe Biden and California’s Democratic governor Thursday over the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.Trump launched a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing Governor Gavin Newsom of a variety of failings — including wasting water that could have been used to fight fires in order to protect a kind of fish.”Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” Trump said on his Truth Social network, using his usual nickname for the Democrat, who is widely viewed as a potential White House contender.Trump added that the deadly Los Angeles fires showed that January 20, when he replaces Biden in the White House, “cannot come fast enough.””Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo,” he said.Biden hit back on Thursday, saying people should “not make a political deal of it” as he held a crisis meeting of administration officials at the White House.He had been due to leave for Italy to see Pope Francis on the final foreign trip of his presidency on Thursday, but canceled it late Wednesday to stay and deal with the fires.”I’m leaving this office very shortly, but it’s not about the politics,” he said. “It’s about giving people some sense of security that we’re going to be able to get this under control.”Biden unveiled a series of announcements about fresh federal funding and resources to help California deal with what he called the most devastating wildfires in the state’s history.But he appeared especially keen to debunk the claims that Democratic mismanagement had caused water shortages which left firefighters struggling to put out the inferno.- ‘Rumors and fear’ -Notably, Trump had accused Newsom of blocking the flow of snow melt to “protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!)”Biden insisted that the problem lay with power outages — after utility companies cut electricity amid fears that faulty power lines could spark more fires — that took water pumps offline.And he urged officials at the White House meeting to spread the word.”In crisis, rumors and fear spread very quickly,” he said. “It allows for a lot of uninformed people to make… accusations about the local officials not caring.”Biden also said the Los Angeles fires showed that “climate change is real” — with Trump threatening to pull back on US efforts to combat global warning when he returns to the White House.In one of his earlier Truth Social posts, Trump had accused Biden of diverting money to “Green New Scam” climate policies instead of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).Biden has repeatedly denied steering funds away from FEMA, including after hurricanes lashed the United States in October, when Trump said he was sending the money to migrants instead.Governor Newsom rejected Trump’s claims in a CNN interview on Wednesday, saying: “People are literally fleeing… This guy wanted to politicize it.”Conspiracy theories have spread almost as fast as the fires themselves, with social media full of unproven claims about firefighting gear being sent to Ukraine and a lack of firefighting staff due to diversity issues. The world’s richest man Elon Musk, a key Trump ally, took to his social network X to promote a number of those conspiracy theories.

Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles remained totally uncontained Thursday, authorities said, as US National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder.Swaths of the United States’ second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky and an acrid smell pervading almost every building.A vast firefighting operation continued for a third day, bolstered by water-dropping helicopters thanks to a temporary lull in winds.Amid the chaos, looting had broken out, with numerous arrests made, officials said, and hundreds of soldiers were set to be deployed.”The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has officially requested the support of the California National Guard for both fires,” Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters.”For the last 24 hours or so, we have had approximately 400 National Guard members throughout the state ready to support us.”We expect that they may be on site as soon as tonight,” he said, adding Governor Gavin Newsom had approved the request.Luna said his officers were patrolling evacuation zones and would arrest anyone who was not supposed to be there.With such a huge area scorched by the fires, which are ravaging the well-to-do Pacific Palisades and another area around Altadena, evacuees feared not enough was being done.Some were taking matters into their own hands.”We’re so stressed about this looting happening all around that my neighbors were on watch all last night for several houses in the neighborhood,” said one man whose house was one of just a handful left standing on a burned-out Altadena street.”I’m supposed to take over for them tonight,” said the man, who did not want to give his name.A sunset-to-sunrise curfew has been declared in evacuated areas of the coastal city of Santa Monica, and Luna said more overnight curfews would be coming in the fire zones.- ‘Death and destruction’ -The biggest blaze had ripped through over 19,000 acres (7,700 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while another fire in Altadena had torched 13,000 acres.Neither was contained on Thursday, though firefighters said spreading had slowed.US President Joe Biden told a White House briefing he had pledged extra federal funds and resources to help the state cope.”This is the most widespread, devastating fire in California’s history,” he said.Some of those who had been forced out of their homes returned Thursday to a scene of devastation.Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said her mother’s home had been spared by the inferno’s seemingly random and chaotic destruction. Some neighbors’ houses, often side-by-side with those razed to the ground, had similarly survived.Through the blackened remains of devastated homes, gloomy vistas of the surrounding fire-ravaged mountains could be glimpsed through the smoke.”The view now is of death and destruction,” she told AFP. “I don’t know if anyone can come back for a while.”The same fire flared up again near the summit of Mount Wilson, home to a historic observatory and vital communication towers and equipment.- ‘Critical’ -Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour since Tuesday have leveled more than 2,000 structures across the city, many of them multi-million dollar homes.Los Angeles fire chief Kirstin Crowley said a preliminary estimate of destroyed structures in Pacific Palisades was “in the thousands.”Nearly 180,000 people across Los Angeles remain under evacuation orders.Officials and meteorologists warn that “critical” windy and dry conditions, though abated, are 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.- Ignored pleas -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,” 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.- Climate crisis -Wildfires are part of life in the western United States 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.

US tech billionaire Elon Musk doubled down Thursday on his full-throated support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), promoting its leader Alice Weidel during a livestream on X in his latest intervention in European politics.”Only AfD can save Germany, end of story,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss and ally of US President-elect Donald Trump said during the discussion with Weidel.”People really need to get behind AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany.”Musk, who last year used his influence and vast wealth to propel Trump to victory in the White House race, has been vocal in his support for the AfD ahead of snap elections in Germany on February 23.In the wide-ranging conversation, both Musk and Weidel heaped praise on Trump and voiced their shared disdain for “woke” politicians and traditional media, whom they blamed for what they called criminal immigrants and online censorship.Addressing German voters, Musk said, “I’m really strongly recommending that people vote for AfD,” as he called Weidel a “very reasonable person.”  The AfD, founded in 2013 and especially popular in the formerly communist eastern Germany, is polling at around 20 percent ahead of the elections, but has been shunned as a coalition partner by all other parties. Chapters of the AfD are considered right-wing “extremist” groups by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has provoked fury across Europe with a string of attacks on the continent’s leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned on Wednesday that fascism could return as Musk “openly attacks our institutions” and “stirs up hatred.”French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier on Wednesday urged the European Commission to protect its member states with “the greatest firmness” against political interference by Musk, telling France Inter radio: “We have to wake up.”burs-ac/acb