A woman in Australia has annulled her marriage after realising that a fake wedding ceremony she took part in for a social media stunt was in fact real.

The unknowing bride said her partner was a social media influencer who convinced her to take part in the ceremony as a "prank" for his Instagram account.

She only discovered the marriage was genuine when he tried to use it to gain permanent residency in Australia.

A Melbourne judge granted the annulment after accepting the woman was tricked into getting married, in a judgment published on Thursday.

The bizarre case began in September 2023 when the woman met her partner on an online dating platform. They began seeing each other regularly in Melbourne, where they lived at the time.

In December that year, the man proposed to the woman and she accepted.

Two days later, the woman attended an event with the man in Sydney. She was told it would be a "white party" - where attendees would wear white-coloured clothing - and was told to pack a white dress.

But when they arrived she was "shocked" and "furious" to find no other guests present except for her partner, a photographer, the photographer's friend and a celebrant, according to her deposition quoted in court documents.

"So when I got there, and I didn't see anybody in white, I asked him, 'What's happening?'. And he pulled me aside, and he told me that he's organising a prank wedding for his social media, to be precise, Instagram, because he wants to boost his content, and wants to start monetising his Instagram page," she said.

She said she accepted his explanation as "he was a social media person" who had more than 17,000 followers on Instagram. She also believed that a civil marriage would only be valid if it was held in a court.

Still, she remained concerned. The woman rang a friend and voiced her worries, but the friend "laughed it off" and said it would be fine because, if it were real, they would have had to file a notice of intended marriage first, which they had not.

Reassured, the woman went through the ceremony where she and her partner exchanged wedding vows and kissed in front of a camera. She said she was happy at that time to "play along" to "make it look real".

Two months later, her partner asked her to add him as a dependent in her application for permanent residency in Australia. Both of them are foreigners.

When she told him she could not as they were technically not married, he then revealed that their Sydney wedding ceremony had been genuine, according to the woman's testimony.

The woman later found their marriage certificate, and discovered a notice of intended marriage which had been filed the month before their Sydney trip - before they even got engaged - which she said she did not sign. According to the court documents, the signature on the notice bears little resemblance to the woman's.

"I'm furious with the fact that I didn't know that that was a real marriage, and the fact that he also lied from the beginning, and the fact that he also wanted me to add him in my application," she said.

In his deposition, the man claimed they had "both agreed to these circumstances" and that following his proposal the woman had agreed to marry him at an "intimate ceremony" in Sydney.

The judge ruled that the woman was "mistaken about the nature of the ceremony performed" and "did not provide real consent to her participation" in the marriage.

"She believed she was acting. She called the event 'a prank'. It made perfect sense for her to adopt the persona of a bride in all things at the impugned ceremony so as to enhance the credibility of the video depicting a legally valid marriage," he stated in the judgement.

The marriage was annulled in October 2024.

Residents were already on edge as more fires erupted across the Los Angeles region, traumatising millions of people who feel that after four days there's no end in sight.

Then on Thursday afternoon came another jolt in the form of a text alert.

This one was mistakenly sent to every cell phone in the county - home to about 10 million people - warning them the blaze was close and they should prepare to evacuate.

Rebecca Alvarez-Petit was on a video work call when her phone started blaring.

"An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area," the text message said.

The sound echoed around her as each of her colleagues received the same startling message.

"It was like a massive panic that I was watching in real-time," she said.

She and colleagues started researching and trying to see whether they were in imminent danger.

Instant relief came in the form of a corrected alert telling them to disregard the warning but this soon gave way to newfound anger, she said.

"We're all on pins and needles and have been anxiously sitting by our phones, staring at the TV, having the radio going - trying to stay as informed as possible because there wasn't a good system in place," said Ms Alvarez-Petit, who lives in West Los Angeles.

"And then this. It's like - you have got to be kidding me."

The death toll from the wildfires has continued to climb with at least 10 people known to have died and that toll may grow.

For many, the anxiety about saving lives and property has turned into a sense of frustration over the handling of the fires.

A mayor's frustration

Officials have acknowledged some of the complaints, from hydrants running dry that hindered firefighting efforts to questions about preparedness and fire mitigation investment.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass returned to the city from a pre-planned trip to Africa to find it on fire. She faced intense questions on Thursday about the region's preparedness, her leadership in this crisis and the water issues that failed firefighters.

"Was I frustrated by this? Of course," Mayor Bass said, answering a question about water issues and whether the area was prepared enough. She noted that is an "unprecedented event".

• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA
• What's the latest on the Los Angeles wildfires and what caused them?
• Stuck in traffic as flames approached: Why LA is hard to evacuate

Like other officials, she stressed the fires were able to spread on Tuesday because of strong winds - the same winds that prevented aircraft from dropping water or fire retardant on the blazes. She said urban water systems and neighbourhood fire hydrants are not built to handle dousing thousands of acres of fire.

She noted there will be reviews of how the incident unfolded that will examine how officials and agencies handled it.

"When lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn't work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual," she said.

"My focus right now is on the lives and on the homes."

Water shortage questions

The evolving disaster has turned into a need to understand why this happened and how it escalated into the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles.

As one of the now five fires burning in Los Angeles County approached Larry Villescas' home on Tuesday, he grabbed the only tool he could - a garden hose.

He and his neighbour made quick work of the embers falling on their homes from the Eaton Fire and igniting grass.

Then the hose ran dry.

He watched his neighbours' home in Altadena ignite. Then there was a boom - a nearby home was ablaze and sounded as though it exploded. He had to leave.

As he drove away, he watched the fire take hold of his garage.

"If we had water pressure, we would have been able to fight it," Mr Villescas said, standing in front of the charred remains of his home.

He remembered seeing firefighters that night - as the community burned - sitting in their trucks, unable to help.

"I remember my rage. It was like 'do something,' but they can't - there's no water pressure," he said. "It's just infuriating. How could this happen?"

Some experts have said the water shortage is due to unprecedented demand not mismanagement.

"The problem is that the scope of the disaster is so vast that there are thousands of firefighters and hundred of fire engines drawing upon water," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources, told the BBC.

"Ultimately only so much water can flow through pipes at a time."

Other neighbours shared their sense the state was not prepared despite routinely seeing destructive fires.

Hipolito Cisneros, who was surveying the remains of his now-destroyed home, said the public utilities in the area have needed upgrades for years.

"We've lived here for 26 years and we've never seen it tested," he says about the fire hydrant at the end of his block that failed to draw water when it was needed most.

Down the street, Fernando Gonzalez helped his brother sift through the rubble of his home of 15 years.

He noted that his own home in Santa Clarita - about 45 minutes away in Los Angeles County - was also being threatened by a different set of wildfires.

"We've just been on high alert," he said. "It's all around us, you know."

Mel Gibson has revealed his home has been destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires while he was away recording Joe Rogan's podcast.

The Oscar-winning film star said his Malibu property was "completely toasted" and criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom over the crisis.

At least 10 people have died in the wildfires, which have burned down thousands of buildings and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

A host of celebrities have told how they have lost their properties, while officials have warned more high winds could further fan the flames of the wildfires.

Gibson said he felt "ill at ease" during his visit to Austin, Texas, to appear as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, because he knew his neighbourhood was "on fire".

"It's kind of devastating, it's emotional," Gibson said on NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas Reports.

"I've been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it's all in cinders."

The Braveheart star said he had lived at his property for about 15 years and the homes of some of his neighbours had also "gone", including one belonging to actor Ed Harris.

Gibson said his family had followed an evacuation order and they were safe.

In the podcast with Rogan, Gibson criticised the California governor, saying Newsom claimed he was "going to take care of the forests" but "didn't do anything".

"I think all our tax dollars probably went for Gavin's hair gel," the actor said.

• Follow live updates on the LA wildfires
• What's the latest on the fires and what caused them?
• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA
• Celebrities who have lost homes in wildfires

Los Angeles is facing the worst wildfires in its history, which have consumed 31,000 acres (12,500 hectares) of land and led to the evacuation of 180,000 people.

Five wildfires are still burning across the LA areas of Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, Hurst and Lidia.

California fire chief David Acuna told Radio 4's Today programme that 10,000 structures are likely to have been destroyed. He also warned that winds over the coming days could lead to further destruction in the area.

Republican President-elect Donald Trump has called for Newsom, a Democrat, to resign over his handling of the crisis, saying "one of the best and most beautiful" parts of the US is "burning down to the ground".

Newsom has defended the response and said state authorities were "throwing everything at our disposal" to protect communities.

The governor's spokeswoman accused Trump of politicising the disaster and said Newsom was focused on protecting people and making sure firefighters have the resources they need.

US President Joe Biden said he had pledged extra federal resources to help California after "the most widespread, devastating fire" in the state's history.

Celebrities who have lost homes

Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are among the celebrities whose homes have been destroyed in the wildfires.

Hilton, the hotel heiress and reality TV star, shared a video of the remains of her property on social media and said "the heartbreak is truly indescribable".

Actor Crystal said in a statement that he and his wife Janice were "heartbroken" by the loss of their Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979.

TV host Ricki Lake said she had lost her "dream home", adding: "I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event."

The US Office star Rainn Wilson shared a video of his burnt-out home and said there was a "valuable lesson" to learn from the wildfires.

Actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Anna Faris and Cary Elwes also reportedly lost their homes.

Meanwhile, actor Steve Guttenberg, a Pacific Palisades resident, helped to move parked cars to make way for fire engines.

"This is not a parking lot," he told KTLA. "I have friends up there and they can't evacuate."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live in California, are understood to have invited into their home friends and loved ones who had been forced to evacuate.

In a statement on their website, Harry and Meghan said: "If a friend, loved one, or pet has to evacuate, and you are able to offer them a safe haven in your home, please do."

TikTok will appear before the US Supreme Court on Friday in a last-ditch effort to overturn a ban, in a case testing the limits of national security and free speech.

The popular social media platform is challenging a law passed last year ordering the firm to be split from its Chinese owner or be blocked from the US by 19 January.

The US government is arguing that without a sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.

But TikTok rejects that claim, arguing it has been unfairly targeted and the measure violates the free speech of its some 170 million American users.

Lower courts have sided with the government, but the case was complicated last month when President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the dispute and asked for the enforcement of the law to be paused to grant him time to work out a deal.

Analysts have said it was not clear what the Supreme Court will decide, but that reversing the prior ruling - even with a future president's blessing - would be unusual.

"When you have a real government interest pitted against a real constitutional value, it ends up being a very close case," said Cardozo School of Law professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat.

"But in such close cases, the government often gets the benefit of the doubt."

A decision by Supreme Court could be made within days.

Congress passed the law against TikTok last year with support from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The moment marked the culmination of years of concern about the wildly popular platform, which is known for its viral videos and traction among young people.

The legislation does not forbid use of the app, but would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would kill it over time.

TikTok is already banned from government devices in many countries, including in the UK. It faces more complete bans in some countries, including India.

The US argues that TikTok is a "grave" threat because the Chinese government could coerce its owner, ByteDance, to turn over user data or manipulate what it shows users to serve Chinese interests.

Last December, a three-judge appeals court decision upheld the law, noting China's record of acting through private companies and saying the measure was justified as "part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed" by the country.

TikTok has repeatedly denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party and has said the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of its users.

It has asked the Supreme Court to strike down the law as unconstitutional, or order its enforcement to be halted to enable a review of the legislation, which it said was based on "inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information".

Trump is set to take office the day after the law would come into force.

He had called for banning the app in the US during his first term, but changed his tune on the campaign trail.

The brief that Trump's lawyers filed late last month did not take a position on legal dispute, but said the case presented "unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other".

Noting his election win, it said Trump "opposes banning TikTok" and "seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office".

The filing came less than two weeks after Trump met TikTok's boss at Mar-a-Lago.

One of the president-elect's major donors, Jeff Yass of Susequehanna International Group, is a big stakeholder in the company.

However, Trump's nominee to serve as secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, is in favour of banning the platform.

Investors who have expressed interest in buying the TikTok include Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

Attorney Peter Choharis, who is part of a group that filed its own brief supporting the US government's case, said it was hard to predict what the court - which has a conservative majority - would do, noting that several recent court decisions have overturned longstanding precedent.

But he said even if Trump was granted the opportunity to try to work out a deal, he expected a ban eventually.

"I don't see any president, including future President Trump, being able to resolve this in a way that's satisfactory for US national security because I don't think ByteDance will agree to it," he said.

The prospect of losing TikTok in the US has prompted outcry from many users, some of whom filed their own legal action last year.

In their filing they said the decision that TikTok could be shuttered "because ideas on that platform might persuade Americans of one thing or another - even of something potentially harmful to our democracy - is utterly antithetical to the First Amendment".

Other groups weighing in on the dispute include the American Civil Liberties Union and Freedom of the Press Foundation, which argued that the US had failed to present "credible evidence of ongoing or imminent harm" caused by the social media app.

Mr Choharis said the government had a right to take measures to defend itself, arguing that the fight was not "about speech" or "content" but about the Chinese government's role.

"It's about control and how the Chinese Communist Party specifically, and the Chinese government more generally, pursue strategic aims using many internet firms and especially social media companies - specifically including TikTok," he said.

On a clear day, the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv are visible from the hill above Karnei Shomron, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

"I do feel different from Tel Aviv," said Sondra Baras, who has lived in Karnei Shomron for almost 40 years. "I'm living in a place where my ancestors lived thousands of years ago. I do not live in occupied territory; I live in Biblical Judea and Samaria."

For many settlers here, the line between the State of Israel, and the territory it captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, has been erased from their narrative.

The visitors' audio-guide at the hill-top viewpoint describes the West Bank as "a region of Israel" and the Palestinian city of Nablus as the place where God promised the land to the Jews.

But formal annexation of this territory has so far remained a dream for settlers like Sondra, even while settlements - viewed as illegal by the UN's top court and most other countries - have mushroomed year after year.

Now many see an opportunity to go further, with the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.

"I was thrilled that Trump won," Sondra told me. "I very much want to extend sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. And I feel that's something Trump could support."

There are signs that some in his incoming administration might agree with her.

Mike Huckabee, nominated as Trump's new ambassador to Israel, signalled his support for Israeli claims on the West Bank in an interview last year.

"When people use the term 'occupied', I say: 'Yes, Israel is occupying the land, but it's the occupation of a land that God gave them 3,500 years ago. It is their land,'" he said.

Yisrael Gantz, head of the regional settlement council that oversees Karnei Shomron, says he has already noticed a change in tone from the incoming Trump administration as a result of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, which triggered the war on Gaza.

"Both here in Israel and in the US, they understand that we must apply sovereignty here," he told me. "It's a process. I can't tell you it will be tomorrow. But in my eyes, the dream of a two-state solution is dead."

US President Joe Biden has always maintained the US position in support of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel. Asked whether he was hearing something different from the incoming Trump administration, Mr Gantz replied, "Of course, yes."

But there are also signs that Israelis lobbying for annexation of the West Bank - some of them in cabinet positions - might be disappointed in Trump's decisions.

Their hopes have been fuelled by memories of his first term as president, during which he broke with decades of US policy - and international consensus - by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, which were captured from Syria in 1967.

But supporting annexation of the West Bank would be a much bigger and thornier issue for Trump.

It would likely alienate Washington's other key ally, Saudi Arabia, complicating Trump's chances for a wider regional deal.

It could also alienate some moderate Republicans in the US Congress, concerned about the impact on West Bank Palestinians, and their future status under Israeli rule.

Settler leader Sondra Baras told me that West Bank Palestinians who did not want to live in Israel could "go wherever they want".

Challenged on why they should leave their homeland, she said: "I'm not kicking them out, but things change. How many wars did they start? And they lost."

"If sovereignty were to go forward, there would be a lot of yelling and screaming, absolutely," she continued. "But at some point, you create a fact that's irreversible."

Shortly after Trump's election victory last November, Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, publicly called for annexing the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

"2025 must be the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria," he said.

Whether or not the new US president agrees, many Palestinians say discussion of formal annexation misses the point - that Israel is, in practice, already annexing territory here.

One of them is Mohaib Salameh. He leads me across the rubble of his family home, built on private Palestinian land, on the outskirts of Nablus. The building was ruled illegal by an Israeli court last year and demolished.

Israel has full control over security and planning in 60% of the West Bank on an interim basis, as outlined in the Oslo peace accords three decades ago.

While settlements are expanding, permits for Palestinian homes are almost never granted. And lawyers say demolitions like this are increasing.

"This is all part of policies to force us to leave," Mohaib said. "It's a policy of forced migration. What difference does it make to them [Israelis] if I build here or not? We pose no threat to them."

Palestinians are also increasingly being forced off their land by violent Israeli settlers - who have been sanctioned by the US and UK, but largely left unchallenged by Israeli courts at home.

Activists say more than 20 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been expelled over the past few years by increasingly violent attacks, and that settlers are now encroaching into new areas outside Israel's interim civil control.

Mohaib told me that no US president had ever protected Palestinians, and that he doesn't believe Donald Trump will either.

America's next president is widely seen as a friend of Israel.

But he's also a man who also likes closing deals - and avoiding conflicts.

Venezuela's opposition says its leader María Corina Machado was briefly arrested and then freed after addressing a protest rally on the eve of President Nicolás Maduro's disputed inauguration.

Machado, 57, was "violently intercepted" in eastern Caracas and the motorcycle convoy in which she was riding was shot at, the opposition said, adding that she was forced to record several videos while being held.

Venezuela's information minister Freddy Nanez dismissed reports of Machado's detention as a "media distraction".

Maduro, 62, was declared the winner of last July's presidential election but the opposition and many countries, including the US, reject the result as fraudulent, and recognise the now-exiled opposition candidate Edmundo González as the legitimate president-elect.

González fled Venezuela in September and has been living in Spain, but this month he went on a tour of the Americas to rally international support.

The Maduro government has issued an arrest warrant for him, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his detention.

Machado, whom González replaced on the ballot after she was barred from running herself, has also been targeted. She went into hiding soon after the disputed elections, and was last seen in public in August before Thursday's rally.

Earlier in the day, the UN expressed its alarm after it received reports of arbitrary detentions and intimidation in Venezuela ahead of the opposition marches.

It highlighted the arrest of Carlos Correa, the head of an NGO promoting press freedom, who was seized by unidentified hooded men earlier in the week.

Maduro's government has deployed thousands of police officers in Caracas, where the government-allied National Assembly plans to swear Maduro in for a third term in office.

The opposition for its part urged its supporters to turn out in droves in an effort to thwart the ceremony.

In the city of Valencia, police fired tear gas at protesters, according to Reuters.

In western Caracas, 70-year-old Niegalos Payares told the news agency that "I'm not afraid, I lost my fear a long time ago".

And in the city of Maracay, in central Venezuela, Roisa Gómez told a Reuters reporter that she was "fighting for my vote, which I cast for Edmundo González. They cannot steal the election."

Maduro was declared the winner of the presidential election by the government-dominated National Electoral Council (CNE) but the CNE has to this day failed to provide detailed voting data to back up this claim.

Earlier this month in Washington, González met US President Joe Biden, who said that Venezuela deserved a "peaceful transfer of power".

In Panama, González deposited thousands of voting tallies which the opposition collected in the country's bank for safekeeping.

The tallies have been the key evidence offered by the opposition to show that González, not Maduro won the election.

With the help of official election witnesses, they managed to collect 85% of the tallies and uploaded them to the internet.

Independent observers and media organisations which reviewed them say they show González beat Maduro by a landslide.

Dense fog and severe air quality levels have caused travel chaos in India's capital Delhi.

Visibility in several areas was reported to be zero in the early hours of Friday, disrupting flights, trains and road transport.

More than 150 flights have been delayed and dozens of trains are running behind schedule due to bad weather conditions, reports say.

This is a recurring problem in northern India every winter, where low temperatures between December and January trap pollutants close to the ground - which affects visibility - making travel difficult and the air hazardous.

The air quality index in Delhi was above 400 in several areas, according to the state-run Safar website. This is more than 25 times the safe limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Authorities in the capital have brought back pollution control measures, which include a ban on construction and demolition activities, and school classes going online.

Video and photos from Delhi and nearby cities showed a blanket of fog covering roads and farms and obscuring buildings.

The Delhi airport has issued an advisory warning passengers of possible disruptions due to low visibility.

"While landings and take offs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected," the advisory read. CAT III is a system which allows planes to land during conditions of poor visibility.

According to flight tracking website flightradar24, departures at Delhi airport were delayed by more than 30 minutes and arrivals by almost 20 minutes.

Several passengers took to social media to complain of chaos at the airport.

"No display of boarding gate and it seems no one knows the exact status," a user wrote on X (formerly twitter).

Meanwhile 26 trains to the city are running late due to fog, the Indian Railways said.

India's weather department has predicted light showers over the weekend, which are expected to improve visibility conditions.

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Firefighters in Los Angeles are battling a number of blazes in city suburbs, as tens of thousands of residents are forced to flee.

The rapidly changing situation is compounded by Santa Ana winds and extremely dry conditions. Currently authorities say there is no possibility of bringing the fires under control.

The Palisades fire, which is closest to the coast and also the largest, has ripped through picturesque suburbs which are home to many Hollywood stars. More than 1,000 buildings have already been destroyed.

Here's how the fires have spread and are affecting the Los Angeles area.

An overview of the current fires

Four major fires are currently being tackled.

The Palisades fire was first reported at 10:30 (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday, and grew in just 20 minutes from a blaze of 20 acres to more than 200 acres, then more than tenfold in a matter of a few more hours. At least 30,000 people have so far been ordered to leave their homes.

The Eaton fire grew to cover 1,000 acres within the first six hours of breaking out. It started in Altadena in the hills above Pasadena at around 18:30 local time on Tuesday.

The Hurst fire is located just north of San Fernando. It began burning on Tuesday at around 22:10 local time, growing to 500 acres, according to local officials. It has triggered evacuation orders in neighbouring Santa Clarita.

The latest of the four fires is the Woodley fire, currently 75 acres in size. It broke out at approximately 06:15 local time on Wednesday.

• Follow latest updates on the LA wildfires
• Watch: Smoke billows as thousands evacuate in LA
• 'Run for your lives!' residents abandon cars to flee fire on foot
• Timelapse shows rapid spread of Palisades wildfire
• Watch: Inside a neighbourhood totally lost in inferno
• Pacific Palisades: The celebrity LA area ravaged by wildfire

How did the Palisades fire spread?

The Palisades fire has so far burnt through more than 2,900 acres. The map above shows how rapidly the blaze spread, intensifying in a matter of hours. At just after 14:00 on Tuesday it covered 772 acres and within four hours it had expanded approximately to its current size.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, as more than 1,400 firefighters try to tackle the blaze.

How does the Palisade fire compare in size with New York and London?

To give an idea of the size of the Palisades fire, we have superimposed it on to maps of New York and London.

As you can see, it is comparable in size with the central area of UK's capital, or with large areas of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

How the fires look from space

Another indication of the scale of the Palisades fire comes from Nasa's Earth Observatory.

The images captured on Tuesday show a huge plume of smoke emanating from California and drifting out to sea.

Effects of the Eaton fire

The Palisade fire is not the only one to have a devastating effect on neighbourhoods of Los Angeles.

The above images show the Jewish Temple in Pasadena before and during the Eaton fire.

The Jewish Temple and Centre's website says it has been in use since 1941 and has a congregation of more than 400 familes.

Indian cricket fans are still reeling from the team's crushing 1-3 defeat in the five-match Test series against Australia.

Once dominant in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with historic victories over the mighty Australians over the past decade, the tourists fell short, exposing vulnerabilities in a side long thought invincible.

The series highlighted glaring issues - Indian batters struggled, and Jasprit Bumrah was the lone bowler to trouble Australia.

The loss not only cost India the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy but also denied them a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, breaking their streak of back-to-back appearances in 2021 and 2023, where they lost to New Zealand and Australia respectively.

India's recent form is troubling - they have lost six of their last eight Tests, including a shocking 0-3 home whitewash against New Zealand.

The defeats have raised questions about the team's depth, the future of key players like captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli, and their ability to rebuild.

With a team in transition and stalwarts fading, Indian Test cricket faces pressing challenges to sustain its legacy in a rapidly evolving landscape.

India's next red-ball challenge is a five-Test series in England starting July. England's conditions, known for dramatic shifts even within a session, will test players' technique, skills and adaptability to the limit.

India hasn't won a series in England since 2007, with only two prior victories (1971, 1986), highlighting the daunting task ahead. Adding to the pressure, recent failures against New Zealand and Australia leave selectors grappling with tough decisions on player selection and team combinations for this critical campaign.

The biggest headache for selectors is the form of batting stalwarts Sharma and Kohli after dismal outings in Australia and earlier against New Zealand.

Sharma managed just 31 runs in three Tests in Australia, with his poor form seeing him dropping himself for the final game. Kohli fared slightly better with 190 runs in nine innings, but 100 runs of his total came in one knock. His dismissals followed a pattern - caught in the slips or behind the stumps - pointing to a glaring technical flaw or mental fatigue under pressure.

Since January 2024, Sharma has managed just 619 runs in 16 Tests with one century. Kohli's numbers are worse over time - averaging 32 in Tests since 2020 with only two centuries.

Once a late-blooming Test opener and blazing match-winner, Sharma now struggles to find his ideal batting position. Meanwhile, Kohli's surreal decline - after a decade of dominance and swagger- has left cricket's former titan in an extended slump.

From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar to Kohli, the baton of Indian batting greatness has passed seamlessly. But a worthy successor to Kohli remains elusive.

KL Rahul has the class but lacks the hunger for consistent big scores. Rishabh Pant is a thrilling maverick, equally capable of winning or losing a match. Shubman Gill, touted as the next Big Thing, has struggled overseas despite his undeniable pedigree and needs careful nurturing.

Punjab's young left-hander Abhishek Sharma, mentored by Yuvraj Singh, is highly rated, while Nitish Kumar Reddy impressed on debut in Australia with his fearless performances in tough situations.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, India's top Test run-scorer in Australia this series, has been the standout among young batsmen. With panache, patience, technical assurance, and explosive strokes, he looks poised to become Kohli's successor as the team's talisman.

India's talent pool is brimming across departments. Jasprit Bumrah, with his 32-wicket haul against Australia, has cemented his status as a fast-bowling colossus. Backed by Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and a dozen promising quicks, India boasts a formidable pace arsenal for all formats.

That said, Bumrah is a once-in-a-generation talent and needs careful workload management. Overburdening him, as in the Australia series, risks breakdowns that could impede the attack. Shami, after lengthy stints in rehab, also requires careful handling. Together, they form one of modern cricket's most formidable pace pairs.

With Ravichandran Ashwin's sudden retirement and Ravindra Jadeja's lukewarm showing in Australia, India's spin depth looks thin. However, Washington Sundar has shown promise on home pitches, while young spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Tanush Kotian, who joined the squad mid-series in Australia, are knocking on the doors of Test cricket.

Smarting from recent losses to New Zealand and Australia, the Indian cricket board is moving swiftly to usher in a transition. Selectors have been directed to shortlist potential Test players from the second round of the domestic Ranji Trophy, resuming 23 January.

All players, including Sharma and Kohli, are likely to be asked to play domestic cricket - a move that could help them regain form.

Managing a team in transition poses complex challenges requiring patience, empathy, and clear vision. Knee-jerk reactions or external pressure could worsen the situation instead of providing solutions.

Whether Sharma and Kohli can overcome their crisis remains to be seen, but India's wealth of talent should lift the current gloom surrounding Indian cricket.

It's worth recalling that in 2011, after winning the ODI World Cup, India was whitewashed 4-0 in Test series against England and Australia. Cricket seemed to hit rock bottom.

But, within months, a revival led by young talents like Kohli, Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Jadeja, Ashwin, and others saw India rise to become the world's top team across formats, holding that position for nearly a decade.

Donald Trump has said that a meeting is being arranged between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The US president-elect gave no timeline for when the meeting might take place.

"He wants to meet and we are setting it up," he said in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine soon after he takes office on 20 January and has expressed scepticism about US military and financial support for Kyiv.

Elon Musk took his endorsement of Germany's far-right party to the next level on Thursday, hosting a live chat with its frontwoman, Alice Weidel.

The 74-minute conversation ranged across energy policy, German bureaucracy, Adolf Hitler, Mars and the meaning of life.

The world's richest man unequivocally urged Germans to back Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in forthcoming elections.

It's the tech billionaire's latest, controversial foray into European politics.

There'd been a considerable build-up to this discussion as Elon Musk faced accusations of meddling in Germany's snap election.

But the interview, conducted in English, was arguably as much a chance for the AfD to reach international audiences via Musk's X platform.

Knowing of his close relationship with Donald Trump, Alice Weidel made sure to express her support for the US president-elect and his team.

She insisted her party was "conservative" and "libertarian" but had been "negatively framed" by mainstream media as extremist.

Sections of the AfD have been officially classed as right-wing extremist by German authorities.

A BBC News investigation last year found connections between some party figures and far-right networks, while one leading light on the party's hard right, Björn Höcke, was fined last year for using a banned Nazi phrase – though he denied doing so knowingly.

During the conversation, Weidel declared that Hitler had in fact been a "communist", despite the notable anti-communism of the Nazi leader, who invaded the Soviet Union.

"He wasn't a conservative," she said. "He wasn't a libertarian. He was this communist, socialist guy."

She also described Hitler as an "antisemitic socialist".

On other matters, she and Musk chimed – and at times giggled - over Germany's infamous bureaucracy, its "crazy" abandonment of nuclear power, the need for tax cuts, free speech and "wokeness".

In a sometimes stilted and, at times, surprising conversation, one surreal moment came when Weidel asked Mr Musk if he believed in God.

The reply – for those who wish to know – was that he's open to the idea as he seeks to "understand the universe as much as possible".

Despite all the anticipation that exchange, surely, had not been on many people's bingo card.

The AfD, which also opposes Berlin's weapons aid to Ukraine, is polling second in Germany, with a snap federal election scheduled for 23 February.

However, it won't be able to take power as other parties won't work with it.

That hasn't stopped Elon Musk from hailing Weidel as the "leading candidate to run Germany".

He's justified his intervention by citing his significant investments in the country - notably a huge Tesla plant just outside Berlin.

And he's dismissed characterisation of the AfD as far-right while previously labelling the social democratic Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a "fool".

Scholz, whose chances of retaining the chancellery look remote, later insisted that he was "staying cool" about Elon Musk's attacks.

A hardline Sri Lankan monk who is a close ally of ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred.

Galagodaatte Gnanasara was convicted on Thursday for the remarks, which date back to 2016.

Sri Lanka rarely convicts Buddhist monks, but this marks the second time that Gnanasara, who has repeatedly been accused of hate crimes and anti-Muslim violence, has been jailed.

The sentence, handed down by the Colombo Magistrate's Court, comes after a presidential pardon he received in 2019 for a six-year sentence related to intimidation and contempt of court.

Gnanasara was arrested in December for remarks he made during a 2016 media conference, where he made several derogatory remarks against Islam.

On Thursday, the court said that all citizens, regardless of religion, are entitled to the freedom of belief under the Constitution.

he was also given a fine of 1,500 Sri Lankan rupees ($5; £4). Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional month of imprisonment, the court's ruling added.

Gnanasara has filed an appeal against the sentence.

He was a trusted ally of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to resign and flee abroad following mass protests over the island nation's economic crisis in 2022.

During Rajapaksa's presidency, Gnanasara, who also leads a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist group, was appointed head of a presidential task force on legal reforms aimed at protecting religious harmony.

After Rajapaksa's ouster, Gnanasara was jailed last year for a similar charge related to hate speech against the country's Muslim minority but was granted bail while appealing his four-year sentence.

In 2018, he was sentenced to six years for contempt of court and intimidating the wife of a political cartoonist who is widely believed to have been disappeared. However, he only served nine months of that sentence because he received a pardon by Maithripala Sirisena who was the country's president at the time.

The daughter of late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been banned from drinking on planes and in airports after she and her husband got into a drunken brawl with another passenger on board a Jetstar flight.

Analisa Josefa Corr and James Alexander Corr caused a "disturbance" with their "disorderly behaviour" while intoxicated on a flight from Hobart to Sydney on 29 December, Australia police said.

Ms Corr has been accused of "grabbing and shaking another passenger while exiting the aircraft toilet", police said. The pair were escorted off the flight.

They pleaded not guilty to charges of not complying with safety instructions and consuming alcohol not provided by the crew, but on Friday agreed to a booze ban while on bail.

If found guilty, they could be fined up to A$13,750 ($8,520; £6,925) for each charge.

Ms Corr has also denied a charge of assaulting a fellow passenger on board the aircraft, which carries up to two years in prison.

They have each also been asked to offer up A$20,000, which would be forfeited they breach any bail conditions.

Ms Corr, 53, is Marcos' Australia-raised daughter with former Sydney model Evelin Hegyesi - which makes her the half-sister of the Philippines' current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

On Instagram Ms Corr describes herself as an interior designer.

Mr Corr, 45, is a former soldier, according to Australian media.

In its statement on the case, police urged travellers to be "mindful of their behaviour at airports".

"You don't want to start the new year with a significant fine or worse, behind bars," said Australian Federal Police Sergeant Luke Stockwell.

"The AFP is increasing patrols at all major airports during the holidays and will not tolerate dangerous, disruptive or abusive behaviour from travellers," he added.

Jetstar did not directly comment on the incident, but a spokesman said the company will "never tolerate disruptive behaviour on our aircraft".

"The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our number one priority," he added.

Benin forces have suffered heavy losses in an attack near the border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso, authorities have said.

Colonel Faizou Gomina, the national guard's chief of staff, said one of Benin's most well-equipped military positions had been hit in the north on Wednesday evening.

"We've been dealt a very hard blow," Col Gomina added.

The country has in recent years witnessed increasing attacks in the northern region blamed on jihadist groups based in neighbouring countries.

More than 120 Beninese military officers were killed between 2021 and December 2024, a diplomatic source told AFP news agency.

Last month, gunmen killed three soldiers and wounded four others who were guarding an oil pipeline in the north-east.

Col Gomina did not provide a death toll for Wednesday's attack, but the main opposition party, The Democrats, said about 30 soldiers had been killed in the Alibori region, Reuters news agency reports.

A security source put the death toll at 28, according to AFP.

"We are continuing cleaning-up operations. Forty assailants have been neutralised so far," the military source added.

Col Gomina said the position attacked had been "one of the strongest and most militarised" and called on military commanders to improve their operational strategies in order to counter security threats.

"Wake up, officers and section chiefs, we have battles to win," he said.

In 2022, Benin deployed nearly 3,000 troops to curb cross-border incursions and reinforce security in the north.

You may also be interested in:

• 'I thought I would die' - freed captive tells BBC of life in West African jihadist base
• West Africa faces up to policing its terror triangle
• Find out more about Benin

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

The planet has moved a major step closer to warming more than 1.5C, new data shows, despite world leaders vowing a decade ago they would try to avoid this.

The European Copernicus climate service, one of the main global data providers, said on Friday that 2024 was the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold, as well as the world's hottest on record.

This does not mean the international 1.5C target has been broken, because that refers to a long-term average over decades, but does bring us nearer to doing so as fossil fuel emissions continue to heat the atmosphere.

Last week UN chief António Guterres described the recent run of temperature records as "climate breakdown".

"We must exit this road to ruin - and we have no time to lose," he said in his New Year message, calling for countries to slash emissions of planet-warming gases in 2025.

Global average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6C above those of the pre-industrial period - the time before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels - according to Copernicus data.

This breaks the record set in 2023 by just over 0.1C, and means the last 10 years are now the 10 warmest years on record.

The Met Office, Nasa and other climate groups are due to release their own data later on Friday. All are expected to agree that 2024 was the warmest on record, although precise figures vary slightly.

Last year's heat is predominantly due to humanity's emissions of planet-warming gases, such as carbon dioxide, which are still at record highs.

Natural weather patterns such as El Niño - where surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm - played a smaller role.

"By far and away the largest contribution impacting our climate is greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere," Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, tells the BBC.

The 1.5C figure has become a powerful symbol in international climate negotiations ever since it was agreed in Paris in 2015, with many of the most vulnerable countries considering it a matter of survival.

The risks from climate change, such as intense heatwaves, rising sea-levels and loss of wildlife, would be much higher at 2C of warming than at 1.5C, according to a landmark UN report from 2018.

Yet the world has been moving closer and closer to breaching the 1.5C barrier.

"When exactly we will cross the long-term 1.5C threshold is hard to predict, but we're obviously very close now," says Myles Allen of the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, and an author of the UN report.

The current trajectory would likely see the world pass 1.5C of long-term warming by the early 2030s. This would be politically significant, but it wouldn't mean game over for climate action.

"It's not like 1.49C is fine, and 1.51C is the apocalypse - every tenth of a degree matters and climate impacts get progressively worse the more warming we have," explains Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a research group in the US.

Even fractions of a degree of global warming can bring more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall.

In 2024, the world saw blistering temperatures in west Africa, prolonged drought in parts of South America, intense rainfall in central Europe and some particularly strong tropical storms hitting north America and south Asia.

These events were just some of those made more intense by climate change over the last year, according to the World Weather Attribution group.

Even this week, as the new figures are released, Los Angeles has been overwhelmed with destructive wildfires fuelled by high winds and a lack of rain.

While there are many contributing factors to this week's events, experts say conditions conducive to fires in California are becoming more likely in a warming world.

It wasn't only air temperatures that set new marks in 2024. The world's sea surface also reached a new daily high, while the total amount of moisture in the atmosphere reached record levels.

That the world is breaking new records is not a surprise: 2024 was always expected to be hot, because of the effect of the El Niño weather pattern - which ended around April last year - on top of human-caused warming.

But the margin of several records in recent years has been less expected, with some scientists fearing it could represent an acceleration of warming.

"I think it's safe to say that both 2023 and 2024 temperatures surprised most climate scientists - we didn't think we'd be seeing a year above 1.5C this early," says Dr Hausfather.

"Since 2023 we've had around 0.2C of extra warming that we can't fully explain, on top of what we had expected from climate change and El Niño," agrees Helge Gößling, a climate physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany

Various theories have been suggested to explain this 'extra' warmth, such as an apparent reduction in the low-level cloud cover that tends to cool the planet, and prolonged ocean heat following the end of El Niño.

"The question is whether this acceleration is something persistent linked to human activities that means we will have steeper warming in the future, or whether it is a part of natural variability," Dr Gößling adds.

"At the moment it's very hard to say."

Despite this uncertainty, scientists stress that humans still have control over the future climate, and sharp reductions in emissions can lessen the consequences of warming.

"Even if 1.5 degrees is out the window, we still can probably limit warming to 1.6C, 1.7C or 1.8C this century," says Dr Hausfather.

"That's going to be far, far better than if we keep burning coal, oil and gas unabated and end up at 3C or 4C - it still really matters."

US aviation giant Boeing has told BBC News it is donating $1m (£812,600) to an inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump.

Google has also confirmed that it has made a similar donation as the two firms join a growing list of major American companies contributing to the fund.

The list also includes oil producer Chevron and technology giants Meta, Amazon and Uber.

Trump's inauguration, marking the start of his second term in the White House, is set to take place on 20 January.

"We are pleased to continue Boeing's bipartisan tradition of supporting US Presidential Inaugural Committees," Boeing said.

The company added that it has made similar donations to each of the past three presidential inauguration funds.

Boeing is working to recover from a safety and quality control crisis, as well as dealing with the losses from a strike last year.

The company is also building the next presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One. The two jets are expected to come into service as early as next year.

During his first term as president, Trump forced the plane maker to renegotiate its contract, calling the initial deal too expensive.

Google became the latest big tech firm to donate to the fund, following similar announcements by Meta and Amazon. It also said it will stream the event around the world.

"Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage," said Karan Bhatia, Google's global head of government affairs and public policy.

Car companies Ford, General Motors and Toyota have also donated a $1m each to the inaugural committee.

In the energy industry, Chevron confirmed that it has made a donation to the fund but declined to say how much.

"Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of both parties. We are proud to be doing so again this year," said Bill Turene, Chevron's manager of global media relations.

The death of a teenage boy sparked violent protests in a city in north-west China, the BBC has confirmed through verified video.

In the videos shared on social media, protesters can be seen hurling objects at police and officers beating some demonstrators in Pucheng in Shaanxi province.

Authorities said the teenager fell to his death on 2 January in an accident at his school dormitory. But following his death allegations began spreading on social media that there had been a cover-up.

Protests erupted soon after and lasted several days, before they were apparently quelled earlier this week. The BBC has seen no further evidence of protest in Pucheng since then.

Public demonstrations are not uncommon in China, but authorities have been particularly sensitive about them since the 2022 White Paper protests against Covid policies, which saw rare criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.

State media has been silent on the protests in Pucheng. Any clips or mention of the demonstrations have been largely censored from Chinese social media, as is usually the case for incidents deemed sensitive by authorities.

But several videos have been leaked out of China and posted on X.

The BBC has confirmed these videos were filmed at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre, and found no earlier versions online prior to the reported outbreak of the protests over the past few days.

When contacted by the BBC, a representative from the publicity department of the Pucheng government denied there had been protests. There was no answer when we rang an official handling media queries.

In a statement released earlier this week, local authorities said that the teenager surnamed Dang was a third-year student at the education centre in Pucheng.

Prior to his death, Dang had been woken up in the night by other students chatting in his dormitory, their statement said. He got into an argument and altercation with a boy, which was resolved by a school official.

Later that night, his body was found by another student at the foot of the dormitory block.

The statement described it as "an accident where a student fell from a height at school". It added that the police had conducted investigations and an autopsy, and "at present exclude it as a criminal case".

But allegations have swirled online for days that there was more to the story and that the school and authorities were hiding the truth. One account claimed, without proof, that Dang killed himself after he was bullied by the boy he'd fought with earlier.

Unverified remarks from his family have been circulating, alleging that the injuries on Dang's body were inconsistent with the authorities' version of events and that they were not allowed to examine his body for long.

The allegations appeared to have incensed many in Pucheng, sparking protests that drew at least hundreds of people.

Bullying has become a highly sensitive topic in China in recent years, with past cases of student deaths triggering protests. Last month, a Chinese court handed out lengthy jail sentences to two teenagers who murdered a classmate.

There are also videos posted on X on Monday, which the BBC has confirmed were filmed at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre, showing people mourning the teenager's death. They placed flowers and offerings at the entrance of the school, and conducted a traditional mourning ritual by throwing pieces of paper from the rooftop of a school building.

Other videos circulating online appear to show demonstrators, many of them young, storming a building and clashing with police while shouting "give us the truth".

One verified clip shows a school official confronted by shouting protesters who shove him around. Others show destroyed offices in the compound, and protesters pushing down a barricade at the school entrance.

Another show protesters hurling objects such as traffic cones at groups of retreating police; and officers tackling and detaining people while beating them with batons. Some protesters are seen with blood on their heads and faces.

There is little information on what happened next, but reports on social media suggest a much larger police presence in Pucheng in recent days with no more reports of demonstrations.

Authorities have also urged the public not to "create rumours, believe in rumours, or spread rumours".

Copenhagen's gloomy January weather matches the mood among Denmark's politicians and business leaders.

"We take this situation very, very seriously," said Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Donald Trump's threats to acquire Greenland – and punish Denmark with high tariffs if it stands in the way.

But, he added, the government had "no ambition whatsoever to escalate some war of words."

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen downplayed Trump's own suggestion that the US might use military force to seize Greenland. "I don't have the fantasy to imagine that it'll ever get to that," she told Danish TV.

And Lars Sandahl Sorensen, CEO of Danish Industry, also said there was "every reason to stay calm... no-one has any interest in a trade war."

But behind the scenes, hastily organised high-level meetings have been taking place in Copenhagen all week, a reflection of the shock caused by Trump's remarks.

Greenland PM Mute Egede flew in to meet both the prime minister and King Frederik X on Wednesday.

And on Thursday night, party leaders from across the political spectrum gathered for an extraordinary meeting on the crisis with Mette Frederiksen in Denmark's parliament.

Faced with what many in Denmark are calling Trump's "provocation," Frederiksen has broadly attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as "Denmark's closest partner".

It was "only natural" that the US was preoccupied by the Arctic and Greenland, she added.

Yet she also said that any decision on Greenland's future should be up to its people alone: "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders... and it's the Greenlanders themselves who have to define their future."

Her cautious approach is twofold.

On the one hand, Frederiksen is keen to avoid escalating the situation. She's been burned before, in 2019, when Trump cancelled a trip to Denmark after she said his proposal to buy Greenland was "absurd".

"Back then he only had one more year in office, then things went back to normal," veteran political journalist Erik Holstein told the BBC . "But maybe this is the new normal."

But Frederiksen's comments also speak to the Danish resolve not to meddle in the internal affairs of Greenland – an autonomous territory with its own parliament and whose population is increasingly leaning towards independence.

"She should've been much clearer in rejecting the idea," said opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov.

"This level of disrespect from the coming US president towards very, very loyal allies and friends is record-setting," he told the BBC, although he admitted Trump's forcefulness had "surprised everybody."

The conservative MP believed Frederiksen's insistence that "only Greenland... can decide and define Greenland's future" placed too much pressure on the island's inhabitants. "It would've been prudent and clever to stand behind Greenland and just clearly state that Denmark doesn't want [a US takeover]."

The Greenland question is a delicate one for Denmark, whose prime minister officially apologised only recently for spearheading a 1950s social experiment which saw Inuit children removed from their families to be re-educated as "model Danes".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism."

By doing so he tapped into growing nationalist sentiment, fuelled by interest among Greenland's younger generations in the indigenous culture and history of the Inuit.

Most commentators now expect a successful independence referendum in the near future. While for many it would be seen as a victory, it could also usher in a new set of problems, as 60% of Greenland's economy is dependent on Denmark.

An independent Greenland "would need to make choices," said Karsten Honge. The Social Democrat MP now fears his preferred option of a new Commonwealth-style pact "based on equality and democracy" is unlikely to come about.

Sitting in his parliamentary office decorated with poems and drawings depicting scenes of Inuit life, Honge said Greenland would need to decide "how much it values independence". It could sever ties with Denmark and turn to the US, Honge said, "but if you treasure independence then that doesn't make sense."

Opposition MP Jarlov argues that while there is no point in forcing Greenland to be part of Denmark, "it is very close to being an independent country already".

Its capital Nuuk is self-governed, but relies on Copenhagen for management of currency, foreign relations and defence - as well as substantial subsidies.

"Greenland today has more independence than Denmark has from the EU," Jarlov added. "So I hope they think things through."

As Mette Frederiksen has the awkward task of responding firmly while not offending Greenland or the US, the staunchest rebuttal to Trump's comments so far has come from outside Denmark.

The principle of the inviolability of borders "applies to every country... no matter whether it's a very small one or a very powerful one," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the EU would not let other nations "attack its sovereign borders".

Their comments gave away the deep concern within the EU about how to handle the upcoming Trump presidency. "This is not just very serious for Greenland and Denmark – it is serious to the whole world and to Europe as a whole," MP Karsten Honge said.

"Imagine a world – which we may be facing in just a few weeks – where international agreements don't exist. That would shake everything up, and Denmark would just be a small part of it."

The Danish trade sector has similarly been engulfed by deep nervousness after Trump said he would "tariff Denmark at a very high level" if it refused to give up Greenland to the US.

A 2024 Danish Industry study showed that Denmark's GDP would fall by three points if the US imposed 10% tariffs on imports from the EU to the US as part of a global trade war.

Singling out Danish products from the influx of EU goods would be near-impossible for the US, and would almost certainly result in retaliatory measures from the EU. But trade industry professionals are taking few chances, and in Denmark as elsewhere on the continent huge amounts of resources are being spent internally to plan for potential outcomes of Donald Trump's second term in the White House.

As his inauguration approaches, Danes are preparing as they can to weather the storm. There is guarded hope that the president-elect could soon shift his focus to grievances towards other EU partners, and that the Greenland question could be temporarily shelved.

But the disquiet brought on by Trump's refusal to rule out military intervention to seize Greenland remains.

Karsten Honge said Denmark would have suffer whatever decision the US takes.

"They just need to send a small battleship to travel down the Greenland coast and send a polite letter to Denmark," he said, only partly in jest.

"The last sentence would be: well, Denmark, what you gonna do about it?

"That's the new reality with regards to Trump."

The accused mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US will no longer plead guilty on Friday, after the US government moved to block plea deals reached last year from going ahead.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants reached agreements in July to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for not facing a death penalty trial.

In a filing with a federal appeals court, the justice department argued that the government would be irreparably harmed if the pleas were accepted.

In its decision, the court said it needed more time to weigh the case and put the proceedings on hold. It has not yet ruled on whether Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has the power to walk back the plea deal.

The ruling comes after a military judge and appeals panel rejected a previous move by Austin to revoke the agreements, which had been signed by a senior official he appointed.

Families of some of those killed in the 9/11 attacks had criticised the deals, while others saw them as a way of moving the complex and long-running case forward.

• Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants reached agreements
• Plea deal with accused 9/11 plotters revoked

In its filing, the government said going ahead with the deals would mean it was denied the opportunity to "seek capital punishment against three men charged with a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world".

"A short delay to allow this Court to weigh the merits of the government's request in this momentous case will not materially harm the respondents," it said.

Almost 3,000 people were killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks, when hijackers seized passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside of Washington. Another plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back.

The three men have been in US custody for over 20 years and the pre-trial hearings in the case have lasted for more than a decade.

Arguments have focused on whether evidence has been tainted by torture the defendants faced in CIA custody after their arrests.

Mohammed was subjected to simulated drowning, or "waterboarding", 183 times while held in secret CIA prisons following his arrest in 2003. Other so-called "advanced interrogation techniques" included sleep deprivation and forced nudity.

Several family members of victims had criticised the deal struck last year as being too lenient.

Speaking to the BBC's Today Programme last summer, Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom, died in the attacks, described the deals as "giving the detainees in Guantanamo Bay what they want".

Others said they were disappointed by further delays to the case.

Stephan Gerhardt, whose younger brother Ralph was killed in the attacks, flew to Guantanamo Bay to watch Mohammed plead guilty.

He said that while the deals were "not a victory" for the families, he had accepted them as a way of moving forward.

"It's not the conclusion to this case that anyone wanted… [But] it is time to find a way to close this, to convict these men because they're not getting younger, they're not in great health," he said.

"Let's convict them so they don't die innocent because that would be the bigger moral tragedy that they die innocent and the families don't even have a conviction."

TikTok will appear before the US Supreme Court on Friday in a last-ditch effort to overturn a ban, in a case testing the limits of national security and free speech.

The popular social media platform is challenging a law passed last year ordering the firm to be split from its Chinese owner or be blocked from the US by 19 January.

The US government is arguing that without a sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.

But TikTok rejects that claim, arguing it has been unfairly targeted and the measure violates the free speech of its some 170 million American users.

Lower courts have sided with the government, but the case was complicated last month when President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the dispute and asked for the enforcement of the law to be paused to grant him time to work out a deal.

Analysts have said it was not clear what the Supreme Court will decide, but that reversing the prior ruling - even with a future president's blessing - would be unusual.

"When you have a real government interest pitted against a real constitutional value, it ends up being a very close case," said Cardozo School of Law professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat.

"But in such close cases, the government often gets the benefit of the doubt."

A decision by Supreme Court could be made within days.

Congress passed the law against TikTok last year with support from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The moment marked the culmination of years of concern about the wildly popular platform, which is known for its viral videos and traction among young people.

The legislation does not forbid use of the app, but would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would kill it over time.

TikTok is already banned from government devices in many countries, including in the UK. It faces more complete bans in some countries, including India.

The US argues that TikTok is a "grave" threat because the Chinese government could coerce its owner, ByteDance, to turn over user data or manipulate what it shows users to serve Chinese interests.

Last December, a three-judge appeals court decision upheld the law, noting China's record of acting through private companies and saying the measure was justified as "part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed" by the country.

TikTok has repeatedly denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party and has said the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of its users.

It has asked the Supreme Court to strike down the law as unconstitutional, or order its enforcement to be halted to enable a review of the legislation, which it said was based on "inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information".

Trump is set to take office the day after the law would come into force.

He had called for banning the app in the US during his first term, but changed his tune on the campaign trail.

The brief that Trump's lawyers filed late last month did not take a position on legal dispute, but said the case presented "unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other".

Noting his election win, it said Trump "opposes banning TikTok" and "seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office".

The filing came less than two weeks after Trump met TikTok's boss at Mar-a-Lago.

One of the president-elect's major donors, Jeff Yass of Susequehanna International Group, is a big stakeholder in the company.

However, Trump's nominee to serve as secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, is in favour of banning the platform.

Investors who have expressed interest in buying the TikTok include Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

Attorney Peter Choharis, who is part of a group that filed its own brief supporting the US government's case, said it was hard to predict what the court - which has a conservative majority - would do, noting that several recent court decisions have overturned longstanding precedent.

But he said even if Trump was granted the opportunity to try to work out a deal, he expected a ban eventually.

"I don't see any president, including future President Trump, being able to resolve this in a way that's satisfactory for US national security because I don't think ByteDance will agree to it," he said.

The prospect of losing TikTok in the US has prompted outcry from many users, some of whom filed their own legal action last year.

In their filing they said the decision that TikTok could be shuttered "because ideas on that platform might persuade Americans of one thing or another - even of something potentially harmful to our democracy - is utterly antithetical to the First Amendment".

Other groups weighing in on the dispute include the American Civil Liberties Union and Freedom of the Press Foundation, which argued that the US had failed to present "credible evidence of ongoing or imminent harm" caused by the social media app.

Mr Choharis said the government had a right to take measures to defend itself, arguing that the fight was not "about speech" or "content" but about the Chinese government's role.

"It's about control and how the Chinese Communist Party specifically, and the Chinese government more generally, pursue strategic aims using many internet firms and especially social media companies - specifically including TikTok," he said.

The US Supreme Court has rejected Trump's last-minute bid to halt his Friday sentencing in his hush-money criminal case.

The president-elect had urged the top court to consider whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing, but the justices rejected the application by 5-4.

Trump was found guilty of falsifying records to disguise reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as legal expenses in 2016.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, indicated in a recent ruling that he will not consider a jail term for Trump.

Three lower New York courts had rejected Trump's delay attempt before the Supreme Court made a final decision on Thursday evening to let the sentencing proceed as scheduled.

The justices denied Trump's petition because they believed his concerns could be addressed during an appeal.

They also wrote that the burden of attending a sentencing was "insubstantial".

Trump's lawyers had also asked the Supreme Court to consider whether presidents-elect had immunity from criminal prosecution.

Manhattan prosecutors had urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump's petition, arguing there was a "compelling public interest" in holding the sentencing and that there was "no basis for such an intervention".

Following the jury's guilty verdict in May 2024, Trump was intitially set to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers successfully persuaded Justice Merchan to delay the sentencing on three separate occasions.

Last week, Justice Merchan declared the sentencing would move forward on 10 January, just days before Trump is sworn in again as president.

The days since have seen a volley of appeals and court filings from Trump's attorneys, trying to stave off the sentencing.

But in swift succession, New York appeals courts rejected the bids.

Finally on Wednesday, Trump's lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene.

The court should stay the proceedings "to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government", they wrote.

The bench's 6-3 conservative majority had handed Trump a major victory last year, when they ruled that US presidents had immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts" undertaken in office.

That decision gutted a federal prosecution against Trump on charges he illegally interfered in the 2020 election outcome, which he denied and pleaded not guilty.

But since his re-election, Trump's lawyers have tried to persuade a series of judges that those presidential immunity protections should also apply to a president-elect in this Manhattan criminal case.

Manhattan prosecutors argued in their own brief to the Supreme Court that Trump's "extraordinary immunity claim is unsupported by any decision from any court".

"It is axiomatic that there is only one President at a time," the prosecutors wrote.

Separately, a group of former public officials and legal scholars filed an amicus brief - effectively a letter of support - to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to reject Trump's "attempt to avoid accountability".

A Swiss national arrested in Iran and accused of spying has died in prison, according to Iranian state media.

The man was being held with another inmate at a prison in the eastern city of Semnan when he "committed suicide" on Thursday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency said.

The judiciary-run Mizan News Agency said prison officials immediately took action to save the Swiss citizen's life, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Mizan gave no further detail about the man's identity.

"This morning, a Swiss citizen committed suicide in Semnan prison," a statement on Mizan's website, attributed to Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, Semnan's chief justice, said.

The statement added that he had been "arrested by Iranian security forces for espionage" and the case was "under investigation".

In recent years, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.

Switzerland plays an important intermediary role between Washington and Tehran as it represents American interests in Iran and shares messages between the two countries.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the Hollywood Hills following the spread of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said there was an "immediate threat to life" in the area and that it was being legally closed to the public.

At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.

More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities - including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal - have been destroyed.

The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.

As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.

One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills - a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city - began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.

People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others - clearly surprised by the fire - wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.

Many of the roads near the fire - including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.

Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.

She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly thought the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.

Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.

"They just told us to get out and go," she said.

Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.

Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn't move quickly enough to hydrants in the affeted areas.

The city also doesn't typically see fires of this magnitude - the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history - and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years.

Joseph Aoun's candidacy was backed by several political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

A rival backed by the Hezbollah militia withdrew on Wednesday and endorsed the commander.

The presidency is a mainly ceremonial role which is reserved for a Christian under a sectarian power-sharing system.

The election took place six weeks after Lebanon's government agreed a ceasefire to end a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah, which significantly weakened the Iran-backed Shia Muslim group.

The Lebanese army was not involved in the conflict and has a key role under the ceasefire deal, which requires it to deploy soldiers in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw and to ensure Hezbollah ends its armed presence there by 26 January.

Aoun, 60, is a career soldier who has been the army's commander since 2017.

During that time, he has led the institution through deep crises which have affected Lebanon.

They include the 13-month Hezbollah-Israel conflict, a six-year-long economic depression that is one of the worst recorded in modern times, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people.

Lebanon has not had a properly functioning government since the last parliamentary elections in May 2022.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was unable to secure backing for a new cabinet before then-president Michel Aoun's term ended that October, leaving his administration with reduced powers.

Lawmakers then failed to elect a new president on 12 occasions. The last time was in June 2023, when no candidate secured enough votes to win the first round before Hezbollah and its ally Amal prevented a second round by walking out.

A presidential candidate in Lebanon can usually be elected in the first round if they receive a two-thirds majority - or 86 votes - in the 128-seat parliament, or by a simple majority in a second round. However, Speaker Nabih Berri said Aoun needed a two-thirds majority in any round because he was a sitting army commander.

In Thursday morning's first round, 71 lawmakers voted in favour of Aoun, 15 short of what he required. Another 37 lawmakers - many of them reportedly from Hezbollah and Amal - cast blank ballots, while 20 ballots were declared invalid.

Berri, who is the leader of Amal, then suspended the session until the afternoon, sparking anger among lawmakers who wanted the second round to take place immediately.

Eventually, Aoun was elected president after receiving 99 votes in the second round, easily achieving the required two-thirds majority. Nine lawmakers cast blank ballots, in addition to 18 invalid ballots.

As soon as the result was announced by the speaker, TV channels showed scenes of celebration around the country.

Aoun was later shown arriving at the parliament building in a suit and then inspecting guards before entering the chamber to be sworn in.

A wildfire that started in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Tuesday morning has spread across the west of the city at an alarming rate throughout Tuesday and overnight.

High winds and very dry conditions further fuelled the flames, causing the blaze to rip through neighbourhoods at alarming speeds. The fires reportedly spread from a size of 10 acres to nearly 3,000 in a matter of hours.

Firefighters have been battling the flames throughout the night, as residents were forced to flee amid evacuation orders affecting tens of thousands of people.

Photographers have captured dramatic scenes across the west of the city as firefighters work to control the fires.

The BBC's Regan Morris reported on fires raging out of control, leaving those without power and phone signal unable to receive updates on the latest evacuation alerts.

Meanwhile, CBS reporter Jonathan Vigliotti said firefighters were no longer "trying to save" houses in the Palisades, "they're trying to prevent these flames from jumping to other neighbourhoods".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is closely monitoring the situation, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark.

Peskov said the Arctic was in Russia's "sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there".

Trump's remarks on Greenland - a largely autonomous Danish territory - have drawn a warning from European leaders.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has stressed that "we have to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland", and Germany's Olaf Scholz has made clear that "borders must not be moved by force".

Trump said earlier this week that the US needed both Denmark and the Panama Canal "for economic security", and refused to rule out using either economic or military force in taking them over.

He also referred to the border with Canada as an "artificially drawn line". Denmark and Canada are both close Nato allies of the US.

Dmitry Peskov said Trump's claims were a matter for the US, Denmark and other nations, but Russia was watching the "rather dramatic" situation surrounding his remarks. "We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be present there," he said.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to dampen concern about the president-elect's remarks during a visit to Paris: "The idea is... obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it's obviously one that's not going to happen."

About 56,000 people live in Greenland, and it is home to US as well as Danish military bases. It also has considerable untapped mineral and oil wealth.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has been pushing for independence, although the territory's economy relies heavily on Danish subsidies.

Both he and the Danish leader have emphasised that it is "not for sale" and that its future is in the hands of Greenlanders themselves.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy played down Trump's comments, although he acknowledged the "intensity of his rhetoric and the unpredictability sometimes of what he said can be destabilising".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said Copenhagen has a clear interest in ensuring that the US - "absolutely its closest ally" - plays a key role at a time of rising tensions in the North Atlantic, particularly involving Russia.

The European Commission said Trump's threat to Greenland was "extremely theoretical" and "wildly hypothetical", considering he was not yet in office.

However, it has confirmed that Greenland, as an overseas territory, does come under a mutual assistance clause requiring all EU states to come to its aid in case of attack.

The Kremlin ridiculed the European response, suggesting it was reacting "very timidly... almost in a whisper".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism", although he made no mention of the US.

A former Greenland foreign minister, Pele Broberg, who now heads the biggest opposition party, told the BBC that most Greenlanders he talked to believed the US was vital for their defence and safety.

"We are part of the North American continent, that's why the defence of the US is in such a great place with regards to Greenland, because we create a buffer zone that doesn't need to be militarised."

He has called for a "free association agreement" with the US covering trade and defence which would give Greenland independence but hand the US responsibility for security.

Trump's allies have reinforced his views on Greenland.

Keith Kellogg, chosen by Trump to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, said a lot of the president-elect's remarks on Greenland made sense, "putting the United States in a position of global leadership".

Republican congressman Mike Walz told Fox News that the issue was "not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic", because Russia was trying to take control of the polar region, with its mineral and natural resources.

"Denmark can be a great ally, but you can't treat Greenland, which they have operational control over, as some kind of backwater - it's in the Western hemisphere."

Indian authorities say they have arrested a Canadian man at Delhi airport for carrying a crocodile skull in his luggage.

The 32-year-old man was at the airport on Monday to catch his flight to Canada when he was first stopped during security check.

"Upon examination, a skull with sharp teeth, resembling the jaw of a baby crocodile, weighing approximately 777g (1.71lb), was discovered wrapped in a cream-colored cloth," Delhi customs said in a statement on Thursday.

The man was arrested and the skull was handed over to the Department of Forests and Wildlife, they said.

Officials said the possession of crocodile skull violated India's wildlife protection law and its Customs Act.

An analysis of the skull by the Department of Forests and Wildlife found that it belonged to a species protected under India's Wildlife Protection Act.

"The texture, tooth pattern, well-developed bony palate, and nostrils confirmed the item as the skull of a baby crocodile," they said.

A forest official told the Times of India newspaper that the man had allegedly bought the skull from Thailand.

"The man did not possess the mandatory permission required to carry wildlife items," forest officer Rajesh Tandon said.

The man also told officers he had not hunted or killed the crocodile, the Hindustan Times reports.

Further tests are being carried out to identify the exact sub-species of the animal.

Meanwhile, Delhi customs says a case has been registered against the man and an investigation is under way.

Last year, a 32-year-old Canadian woman was stopped at Delhi airport after she was found to have horns of an unidentified animal in her luggage. The woman told officials she had picked them up during a trek in the northern Ladakh region and decided to take them back as a souvenir.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the Hollywood Hills following the spread of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said there was an "immediate threat to life" in the area and that it was being legally closed to the public.

At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.

More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities - including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal - have been destroyed.

The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.

As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.

One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills - a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city - began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.

People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others - clearly surprised by the fire - wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.

Many of the roads near the fire - including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.

Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.

She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly thought the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.

Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.

"They just told us to get out and go," she said.

Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.

Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn't move quickly enough to hydrants in the affeted areas.

The city also doesn't typically see fires of this magnitude - the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history - and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.

The government of Chad has insisted the situation in capitol N'Djamena is stable after gunshots were heard near the presidential palace.

Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a video apparently recorded within the palace complex that there had been a "little incident" but that "everything is calm".

Sources close to the African state's government said clashes had occurred between security forces and "terrorist elements".

The French news agency AFP quoted Koulamallah as saying that 18 attackers and a member of the security forces had been killed.

Following the incident, tanks were seen in the area and all roads leading to the palace were closed, the agency said

In the video, posted to Facebook, Koulamallah is seen surrounded by members of the government forces.

"Nothing serious has happened," he says.

"We are here and we will defend our country at the price of our blood. Be calm.

"This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted."

He is then seen taking photos with, and raising his fist with, the soldiers.

Koulamallah was quoted by AFP as saying the assault had been launched by a 24-man commando unit, adding that six of the attackers had suffered injuries.

A further three members of the government forces also suffered injuries, he added.

The incident came just hours after a visit to the former French territory by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who met President Mahamat Déby and other senior officials.