Details are starting to emerge of the victims of the Los Angeles fires – and at least two died trying to protect the homes where they raised families for decades.
The number of people killed by the wildfires has increased from 11 to 13, according to officials.
The Eaton fire has killed eight people and the Palisades fire has killed five.
Image: Anthony Mitchell. Pic: family photo via NBC News
Anthony and Justin Mitchell
The 67-year-old great-grandfather of 10 died in his Altadena home. His son Justin Mitchell also died.
Justin’s older brother – also called Anthony – told Sky News’s US partner network NBC News: “He probably could have gotten himself out but he wasn’t going to leave my brother.
“He really loved his kids.”
Image: Erliene Louise Kelley. Pic: Briana Novarro via NBC News
Erliene Louise Kelley
Briana Navarro, 33, lived with her grandmother at the family’s Altadena home – along with her husband and two daughters.
Mrs Navarro told NBC News that her husband wanted to leave.
However Mrs Kelly told them she was fine and decided to stay at the property.
Police confirmed to Mrs Navarro on Thursday night that her grandmother died when the fire engulfed the home.
She said she thinks her grandmother was “at peace” staying in the home she “tended to every day” for more than four decades.
Image: Victor Shaw. Pic: Family photo via ABC News
Victor Shaw
Victor Shaw, 66, was trying to protect his home that had been in the family for over five decades when he was killed Tuesday night in the Eaton Fire.
His sister, Shari Shaw, told ABC News that they lived together in the home, and as the flames started to engulf the property she tried to get him to leave.
She described how he died in a “heroic attempt” to protect his home in Altadena and that his body was found in front of the home with a garden hose still in his hand.
“I can’t imagine what he might have been thinking, how he might have been so frightened,” Ms Shaw said.
“And I couldn’t be here, I couldn’t be here to save him. I couldn’t be here, that’s what hurts the most.”
Image: Rodney Nickerson. Pic: Kimiko Nickerson via NBC
Rodney Kent Nickerson
Rodney Kent Nickerson, 83, had reassured loved ones that he would be fine as his family and neighbours tried to get him to evacuate his Altadena home.
His daughter Kimiko Nickerson told KCAL News: “My son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbours and myself and he said he’ll be fine, I’ll be here when you guys come back.
“And he said his house would be here.”
Mr Nickerson was outside trying to hose down his property at around 7pm on Tuesday and the last time Ms Nickerson talked to him was on FaceTime just over two hours later.
“His house is here and he was here too. He was in his bed when I found him. His whole body was there intact,” she added.
Image: Rory Sykes. Pic: Shelley Sykes via X
Rory Sykes
The former Australian child star, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, died on Wednesday after his mother said she was unable to save him from his burning cottage.
Shelley Sykes said it burned down in the Palisades Fire when she “couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose” because of a lack of water.
She told Australia’s 10 News First that she has a broken arm and could not lift or move her son.
Mrs Sykes drove to the local fire department for help and when the fire department brought her back, Rory’s “cottage was burnt to the ground”.
Donald Trump‘s berating of Mr Zelenskyy has led to a show of support from European leaders as they try to formulate their own way forward.
The US president attacked the Ukrainian leader again on Monday, telling reporters he should be “more appreciative”.
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Image: The tens of billion in US aid has included Patriot air defence systems. Pic: Reuters
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump also said Mr Zelenskyyhad made “the worst statement that could have been made” after he commented that peace was still “very, very far away”.
“America will not put up with it for much longer!” he posted.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president added.
Mr Zelenskyy then posted on X, saying Ukraine was “working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace”.
“Peace is needed as soon as possible,” he said.
‘Music to the ears of Putin’
By David Blevins, US correspondent
President Trump’s decision to pause military aid to Ukraine marks a significant shift in US foreign policy, one previously considered unthinkable.
This blow to Ukraine’s defences in the face of Russian aggression will be music to the ears of President Putin. US military aid has kept Ukraine in this David and Goliath battle for three years.
It has funded what military analysts simplify as “the big stuff” of battle – artillery, anti-tank weapons, rockets and armoured vehicles. Trump’s decision to push pause disregards efforts by Keir Starmer and other European leaders to devise a peace plan.
Those already questioning Europe’s reliance on the US for defence will conclude they have been given the answer.
But the decision sets President Trump up for a potential confrontation with Republicans, who had approved the funding, in Congress.
White House sources say he wants President Zelenskyy to go on TV and apologise for the jaw-dropping showdown last Friday. But the Ukrainian president feels he has no apology to make for expressing his doubt about Russia’s commitment to peace.
Earlier, Trump side-stepped a question about a Kremlin diplomat claiming the US administration and Moscow were now aligned on foreign policy.
This weakening of Ukraine’s defence capability moves that question front and centre as he prepares to address Congress on Tuesday.
Despite the diplomatic crisis, President Trump has said a deal is still possible.
An agreement giving the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals was meant to have been signed by the two presidents on Friday.
It was billed as an important step in a future peace deal – and part payback for aid already received.
However, the dramatic falling out has thrown that into jeopardy.
Mr Zelenskyy wants the metals deal to include guarantees on halting Russia should it break the terms of any peace agreement.
However, vice president JD Vance suggested on Monday that the metals pact was the best way to secure a lasting end to the war.
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Mr Vance said.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years,” he added.
European and world allies – who met the Ukrainian leader in London at the weekend – have discussed a “coalition of the willing” to deploy peacekeepers and deter further Russian aggression.
The prime minister said Britain was prepared to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” under the plan – but it’s unclear who else might participate.
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Keir Starmer told MPs on Monday that Britain must “lead from the front” on supporting Ukraine and the “security of our continent, the security of our country”.
However, the prime minister believes any international deployment of troops must have a US “backstop” deterrent to be taken seriously by Russia.
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Donald Trump has confirmed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, taking effect at 5am UK time on Tuesday.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
As of 12:01am Eastern Standard Time (5.01am GMT), Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports will double, raising them from 10% to 20%.
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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and “bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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2:45
What is America’s trade position?
Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America and sent financial markets reeling.
Markets the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.4% and 1.76% respectively.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
Donald Trump has hit out at the Ukrainian president once again, just four days after an explosive on-camera spat between the pair.
The US president posted on Truth Social saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy made “the worst statement that could have been made” when he said the end of the war with Russia is “very, very far away”.
“America will not put up with it for much longer!” Mr Trump posted.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing,” the president added.
He also appeared to attack Mr Zelenskyy and Europe after yesterday’s Ukraine summit in London at which leaders, according to Mr Trump: “stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US.”
“What are they thinking?” Mr Trump asked.
A deal to end the war was still “very, very far away”, Mr Zelenskyy said earlier, adding he expects to keep receiving US support despite the two leaders’ public spat.
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“I think our relationship (with the US) will continue because it’s more than an occasional relationship,” the Ukrainian president added.
Mr Trump said in his Truth Social post: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
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