Los Angeles

Sundance Festival Opens With Olivia Colman Amid Wildfire Aftermath

The US film industry's first major gathering since wildfires devastated Los Angeles begins Thursday at Sundance, where Olivia Colman and John Lithgow will kick off the indie movie festival under somber circumstances. Hollywood's annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to debut the coming year's top indie films takes place two weeks after blazes ...

Satellites: A Key Tool and Source of Hope in the Fight Against Wildfires

Scientists and engineers are hoping that the growing availability of satellite data will help tackle future deadly wildfires, after devastating blazes in Los Angeles. Tech-focused groups are launching new orbiters as space launches get cheaper, while machine learning techniques will sift the torrent of information, fitting it into a wider picture ...

A New Wildfire Ravages Northern Los Angeles, Thousands Ordered to Evacuate

An explosive new wildfire erupted north of Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and setting nerves jangling in an area still reeling from two deadly blazes. Ferocious flames devoured hillsides near Castaic Lake, spreading rapidly to cover more than 9,400 acres (3,800 hectares) in just a few ...

TikTok Restores Service in US, Thanking Trump

TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. The video-sharing platform credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible – though the outgoing administration of President ...

Oscars Nominees’ Lunch Cancelled, Industry Rallies Amid LA Wildfires

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday the cancellation of its glitzy nominees’ luncheon, as Los Angeles grapples with devastating wildfires. Nominations will now be revealed during a virtual event on January 23, marking a major adjustment to the traditional awards season. “We are all devastated by the impact of the ...

Los Angeles Grammys 2025 Set to Support Wildfire Relief

The Grammys, scheduled for February 2, will "proceed as planned" despite the devastating wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the Recording Academy announced Monday. In a letter to Academy members, organizers confirmed that the 67th annual music awards gala will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles "in close coordination with ...

Search for Bodies as LA Firefighters Brace for More Wind

Search teams with dogs fanned out looking for victims in Los Angeles on Monday, as firefighters girded for hurricane-force winds that could spark new blazes. With the disaster in America's second biggest city in its seventh day, 24 people are known to have died -- a toll expected to rise -- and more than 90,000 people remain displaced. But the ...

Lakers, Clippers Return to Court Amid LA Wildfire Devastation

The Lakers and Clippers returned to NBA action on Monday with a strong nod to the first responders battling the Los Angeles wildfires and hoping to bring "some joy" to their ravaged city. The Lakers fell to the San Antonio Spurs 126-102 at their Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA while the Clippers beat the Miami Heat 109-98 at the Intuit Dome in ...

Death Toll From Los Angeles Fires Rises, with Dangerous Winds Incoming

Firefighters were battling massive wildfires Monday that have ravaged Los Angeles and killed at least 24 people, with officials warning of incoming dangerous winds that could whip up the blazes further. The fires ripped through the United States' second-largest city for the seventh day, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and ...

Meghan Markle Postpones Netflix Show Amid Los Angeles Wildfires

Originally set to debut this week, Meghan Markle’s Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, has been postponed to March as a gesture of solidarity with those affected by the disaster. A Compassionate Decision Amid Crisis The Duchess of Sussex expressed her gratitude to Netflix for supporting the decision to delay the release, emphasizing the ...

Fueling the Los Angeles Fires: the Santa Ana Winds

Helping drive the wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles are the so-called Santa Ana winds, a weather phenomenon known to dry out "the hills and the nerves to flash point." The windstorms occur when cold air gathers in the neighboring states of Nevada and Utah. As it moves west and then rushes down California's mountains, it heats up -- and ...

California: Wildfire Victims Facing a Housing Crisis

Days after an inferno razed Pacific Palisades, Maya Lieberman is desperate to find somewhere to live. But unscrupulous landlords who are jacking up prices are making it hard. "The price gouging is going haywire, it's obscene," the 50-year-old stylist told AFP. "I can't find anywhere for us to go." Huge fires that have torn through Los Angeles ...