Image: A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire. Pic: AP
A billowing cloud of black smoke loomed over the main shopping street with its fancy restaurants and designer shops, threatening to destroy what many here consider to be their slice of paradise.
It is a reminder of the destructive power of this sort of weather.
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1:02
Martha Kelner reports from Pacific Palisades
Reza, a lifelong resident of Pacific Palisades, was evacuating with what belongings he could fit in his SUV.
“This is surreal, this is unbelievable,” he said.
Image: Reza, a lifelong resident of Pacific Palisades, was evacuating with what belongings he could fit in his SUV.
“I’ve lived here all my life but this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This is the worst of the worst.
“I’ve never seen it with these winds, we just keep praying that the direction changes. But if the direction changes it’s to the detriment of somebody else, that’s the horrible part about it all.”
Image: Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
January is not normally wildfire season, but these are not ordinary circumstances, the blazes being propelled by the strongest winds in southern California for more than a decade, fuelled by drought conditions.
Authorities are warning that the winds will grow stronger overnight, meaning that conditions will likely worsen before they get better.
Police and the fire department went door to door, urging people to evacuate or risk losing their lives.
On the main road out of town, there was gridlock traffic, with some abandoning their cars to flee on foot.
Image: Pic: AP
On Mount Holyoake Avenue, Liz Lerner, an 84-year-old with congestive heart failure, was on her driveway and visibly panicked.
“I don’t drive, and I’m by myself,” she said.
“I have no relatives, I’m 100% alone and I don’t know what to do. My father built this house in 1949, this is my family home and this is the end. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Image: Liz Lerner, an 84 year old with congestive heart failure, was on her driveway and visibly panicked
Around the corner, another man was hosing down his multi-million dollar home in a bid to save his property from the fire bounding towards it from a nearby canyon.
“I can’t decide whether to evacuate or stay and carry on hosing down my house,” he said.
“It’s hard to know which way the flames are heading.”
Image: Pic: AP
Other blazes were breaking out across LA with firefighting planes grounded because of winds which are growing stronger by the hour.
More homes, neighbourhoods and lives are under threat from this perfect and petrifying storm.
Thousands of so-called “No Kings” rallies are being held across the US to protest at what organisers are calling Donald Trump’s “crackdowns on First Amendment rights”.
Millions of people are expected to take part in the demonstrations – the second such gathering, after an initial nationwide day of protest in June, coinciding with the US president’s birthday.
The term “No Kings” reflects the belief by some that the US president is behaving like a “king” and some in his administration are depicting him as a monarch.
Supporters are framing the marches as a patriotic defence of free speech, while critics are calling them anti-American.
Here are some of the pictures emerging from the rallies.
Image: People attend a ‘No Kings’ protest in New York. Pic: Reuters
Image: A Donald Trump is presented as a prisoner in chains in Seattle. Pic: AP
Image: Some protest marches, like this one in Washington DC, have the appearance of a colourful parade. Pic: AP
Donald Trump’s Republican Party has dismissed the demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies, but in many places the events looked more like a street party.
There were marching bands, huge banners and signs, effigies of the president and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes.
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Image: A large inflatable effigy of Donald Trump in Chicago. Pic: Reuters
Image: Thousands gather along a waterfront in Portland, Oregon. Pic: AP
Image: Protesters at the Wyoming State Capitol are been creative with their signs. Pic: Wyoming Tribune Eagle/AP
The protests follow Donald Trump’s return to the White House and come against the backdrop of a government shutdown which has closed federal programmes and services.
There has also been criticism of what some see as an aggressive executive, confronting Congress and the courts, in ways that protest organisers believe are a slide toward authoritarianism.
Image: This event in San Francisco is among thousands taking place across the US. Pic: Reuters
Image: A ‘No Kings’ sign, outside City Hall in Los Angeles, represents a protest against what is seen as increasingly authoritarian rule. Pic: Reuters
So far, the atmosphere at most of the protests appears largely energetic and upbeat, with protesters calling for accountability and protections for civil liberties.
Organisers insist today’s events will be peaceful – a direct response to Republican and Trump administration claims that the protests could be unsafe.
Two survivors of a US airstrike, targeting what Donald Trump has described as a “drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean, have been repatriated to their home countries.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“US intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics,” he added.
The US military staged a helicopter rescue for the survivors on Thursday after the strike on their semi-submersible vessel, suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics. They were then transported to a US Navy warship.
Two other crew members on board were killed.
Image: The semi-submersible vessel was struck by US forces on Thursday, leaving two dead and two survivors. Pic: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
President Trump confirmed the survivors would be returned to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador “for detention and prosecution”. Both countries subsequently confirmed they had been handed over.
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“America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea,” he added.
On Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on X: “We have received the Colombian detained on the narco submarine, we are happy he is alive and he will be processed according to the law.”
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1:58
Trump sends CIA into Venezuela and threatens land attack
The Trump administration has said previous strikes in the Caribbean have killed 27 people, raising concerns among some about the legality of the military operations.
The strikes also come against the backdrop of a US military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine and around 6,500 troops as the US president escalates a standoff with the Venezuelan government.
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0:59
Venezuelan president: ‘We don’t want a war’
On Wednesday, Mr Trump disclosed he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, adding to speculation in Caracas that the US is attempting to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Mr Maduro has denied any connection to drug smuggling and claimed the US boat strikes are a pretext for regime change, and violations of sovereignty and international law.
Russia’s investment envoy has said research into the feasibility of a tunnel joining the US and Russia started “six months ago”.
Kirill Dmitriev first posted about the idea on Thursday, suggesting a “Putin-Trump” rail tunnel could connect the two countries under the Bering Strait, which separates Russia‘s vast and sparsely populated Chukotka region from Alaska.
Asked about the idea during a press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, Donald Trump called it “interesting”.
He also asked President Zelenskyy what he made of it, to which Mr Zelenskyy replied: “I’m not happy with this idea.”
This prompted laughter from the US side.
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3:49
What happened at the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting?
Overnight, Mr Dmitriev posted on X, saying: “We have started the feasibility study of the Russia-Alaska tunnel six months ago.
“Russian Direct Investment Fund with partners financed on a commercial basis the first ever railroad bridge between Russia and China.
“The bridge reduced cargo route by more than 700 kilometres,” he said.
He directed a post on X towards Elon Musk, suggesting the tunnel could be dug by the billionaire’s construction firm, Boring Company.
Image: Graphic of the proposed project. Pic: Kirill Dmitriev
“The dream of a US-Russia link via the Bering Strait reflects an enduring vision – from the 1904 Siberia-Alaska railway to Russia’s 2007 plan,” Mr Dmitriev wrote.
“RDIF has studied existing proposals, including the US-Canada-Russia-China railroad, and will support the most viable.
“Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel – a 70-mile link symbolizing unity.”