Since Wednesday, 132 homes have been destroyed and 88 damaged by flames in the hills of northwest Los Angeles, California, reports CNN. The wildfire escalated quickly, due to high winds and extremely low humidity.
In these conditions, it is difficult for firefighters to fight against the flames. 10,000 people had to be evacuated. Dustin Gardner is Fire Chief in Ventura County here on NBC News. “The bushes are burning, the grass is burning, the hedges are burning, the fields are burning, the buildings are burning. The fire is growing dangerously fast. This is not one of those fires where you can wait and stay home. Your houses cannot be replaced by your lives.he said.
In front of his house which went up in smoke, says the Los Angeles TimesMaurice Kerr, 68, a resident of Camarillo, an upscale neighborhood popular with seniors, says he is grateful to have been able to make it out alive with his wife. He is now waiting for his safe, still burning after the fire, to cool down so he can retrieve his passport and watches.
California is a state regularly subject to fires, recalls the local newspaper. Between 1996 and 2021, the area of summer burned areas in the northern and central parts of the state increased fivefold. A phenomenon that scientists attribute to climate change, adds the Los Angeles Times.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a staunch opponent of Donald Trump, notes CNNcalls on lawmakers to convene a special session before Donald Trump arrives at the White House, in order to safeguard the state's progressive policies, particularly on climate change.
Donald Trump has been threatening for at least 5 years to deprive California of funds for disasters, if the state does not stop its environmental policies, recalls Politico. A way to seduce Central Valley farmers, analyzes the political journal. During his campaign in September, underlines the New York Timesthe billionaire for whom global warming is a “hoax”, had warned: if he is elected president, he will suspend federal aid to fight forest fires in California, if Governor Gavin Newsom does not accept to divert more water to the state's agricultural lands, rather than letting it flow into the Pacific Ocean, an environmental measure put in place to protect endangered species.
Another day of post-election violence in Mozambique
“Burned tires, barricades, tear gas and crowds in the center of Maputo”titre Map of Mozambique. Police and army soldiers note Club of Mozambique, came to disperse the thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital at the call of the main opponent Venâncio Mondlane, who denounced the results of the general elections of October 9.
This day of “liberation of Mozambique” was presented as the culmination of weeks of protests since the proclaimed victory of Frelimo, the group at the head of the country for almost half a century. Protests in the street were brutally repressed, say the demonstrators. The police used tear gas, but also rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse the crowd, denounces Cidia Chissungo of Amnesty International, interviewed by SABC.
“It’s a peaceful marchHelton told Africanews. Pno one came here with weapons, the weapons are with the police.” “The police can't do that, adds another demonstrator, Belito. We are marching peacefully, we are not armed, we are not vandalizing anything, but the police are ruining everything.” he laments.
“With so many deaths in the protests, who will be left to govern?”asks an elderly woman from the Gaza province, in the columns of the daily The Country. She joins many other voices calling for dialogue to end the post-election crisis, which has left at least 20 dead, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Arseny Turbin, one of the youngest political prisoners in Russia
In Russia, a teenage pacifist faces 5 years in prison. Arseny Turbin was only 15 years old when he was arrested in the summer of 2023. He is one of the youngest political prisoners in Russia, explains the BBC. The teenager is accused of joining the Legion for Russian Freedom, a paramilitary unit made up of Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine against Moscow's army. This unit is considered a terrorist organization by the Kremlin.
The schoolboy from the town of Livny in the Oryol region of western Russia came to the attention of authorities for posts critical of Vladimir Putin on his Telegram channel, Free Russia, while -it only had five subscribers, recalls the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
The teenager denies all the accusations against him. He admits to having researched joining the Legion, but says he never applied. His mother Irina, who spoke to the BBC, also assures that he is innocent.
During his interrogation, in August 2023, no lawyer was present, laments Irina. She believes that the FSB, the Russian secret service, added an admission of guilt to the report that Arseny never made.
A week later, he was arrested. The boy spent several months under house arrest while awaiting trial, before being transferred to a Moscow detention center. In prison, the teenager lost 17 kilos according to his mother. He also says he was hit by his cellmate, points out Novaya Gazeta.
Interviewed by the BBC, Arseny's teachers painted the portrait of a very intelligent and politically engaged young man, who today risks spending several long years in prison for a crime he did not commit. On Thursday, on appeal, the court certainly reduced his sentence by 5 years, but only by 24 days.
