This Month
Woolworths NZ supermarkets boss to exit
Woolworths’ new CEO has made her first major change; NSW Police arrest 10 people for antisemitic behaviour; wildfire breaks out in LA. How the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Lucy Slade
Los Angeles pushes to rebuild homes fast, despite wildfire danger
Even climate-conscious California is willing to forgo some green rules to enable its large-scale recovery. But experts warn of the need for wildfire defences.
- Todd Woody, Eliyahu Kamisher and Michelle Ma
Los Angeles fire chief faces calls for resignation
The fires, which are still unfolding inside and outside the city, have so far levelled more than 16,000 hectares and claimed at least 27 lives.
- Shawn Hubler and Alexandra Berzon
Real estate vultures eye middle-class enclave of ravaged LA
Los Angeles has already gone through waves of gentrification. The fires could push residents grappling with an affordability crisis to the brink.
- Michelle Ma, Jennifer Epstein and Kelsey Butler
- Analysis
- US politics
‘Leaving in droves’: LA lost its lustre long ago, just ask Musk
The fires and the failure to manage them mean more Californians are heading for the exits, according to demographers. It might also spell trouble for the Olympics just three years away.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
NBN Co must streamline its installation process
Readers’ letters on the National Broadband Network, beach cabanas, the Los Angeles fires, and reducing feed-in tariffs for solar energy in Victoria.
LA looting arrests rise, curfews in fire evacuation zones
Nine people have been charged for looting in the Palisades and Eaton fires, and one person has been charged with arson. How the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing and Timothy Moore
Why did these homes survive the LA fires?
Amid the destruction some houses in Pacific Palisades and Malibu were left intact. Their fire-resistant features will be crucial to redevelopment.
- Kriston Capps
Los Angeles on high alert with extreme winds due to return
The US National Weather Service issued a red flag warning and officials have warned all of LA County’s nearly 10 million residents to be ready to evacuate.
- Nathan Frandino and Lisa Baertlein
Californian fires to push premiums higher, worsening poor policy cover
The rising cost of insurance policies has already meant a third of about $60 billion in natural disaster damage over the past decade was left uninsured.
- Lucas Baird
LA firefighters brace for return of gusty Santa Ana winds
After a brief respite, crews from California and nine other states, along with Canadian and Mexican reinforcements, face another round of dangerous conditions.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
- Opinion
- Donald Trump
LA fires destroy lives, properties and political reputations
The disaster, already regarded as the country’s most costly in financial terms, is also proving costly to political careers.
- Matthew Cranston
More reported missing as strong winds fuel LA blazes
The Eaton fire, which has killed at least 11 people, ranks among the 10 deadliest in California history. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise.
- Amy Graff, Jonathan Wolfe, Claire Moses and Yan Zhuang
Newsom warns Trump against withholding disaster relief for LA fires
The governor of California says the president-elect could hold back emergency funding as he plays politics on the most costly wildfire in US history.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
- Analysis
- General insurance
Why so many were uninsured before the LA fires
The spiralling costs of extreme weather and natural disaster only partly explain insurers’ withdrawal from the too-hard markets. Others blame excessive regulation.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
‘Unimaginable terror’: LA wildfires threaten Bel Air
Evacuation orders cover important cultural institutions, including the Getty Centre and the University of California, Los Angeles. The death toll now stands at 16.
- Updated
- Michelle Ma, John Gittelsohn and Amy Graff
Elon Musk blames female firefighters, DEI for LA disaster
The billionaire’s use of X to stoke partisan outrage about the disaster underscores how the platform has transformed into a megaphone for his political views.
- Updated
- Pranshu Verma, Will Oremus and Trisha Thadani
How a ‘warrior’ brain surgeon saved his street from fires and looters
It was a scenario the 62-year-old had been preparing for: he had trained, sourced the fire hoses, and briefed his son and neighbour about the course of action.
- Susie Coen
The hottest year on record sparks fears of a ‘dangerous new era’
Temperatures broke another record in 2024 and experts warn this could bring faster wildfires, bigger storms and more extreme weather.
- David Gelles and Austyn Gaffney
- Opinion
- Bushfires
In Trump’s fantasy world, fish set fire to Los Angeles
It’s always worth examining whether fire and water management could have been improved. But this isn’t what the misinformation spread by climate deniers aims to achieve.
- Lara Williams