At least two people were killed in a wildfire in the US state of California, Los Angeles. Los Angeles is one of the country's major industrial, commercial and financial centers.

The BBC reported this news on Wednesday (January 8) citing the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Fire Chief Anthony Marone said that the Palisades Fire has burned more than 5,000 acres of land and the fire is growing. He also said that about 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the fire.

The head of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told a news conference on Wednesday that two people have died and several others have been injured in the Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

The latest fire has now almost doubled in size to 2,227 acres.

Like other wildfires that have spread across Southern California, it has not been able to be contained to zero percent. The fire department says they are dealing with terrain and strong winds.

700 firefighters are working to contain the fire, with local officials saying it is burning dangerously in both the east and west directions. 

Unprecedented rains and severe flooding have occurred in the desert country of Saudi Arabia. The country's meteorological department, the National Center for Meteorology (NCM), has already issued a red alert in the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina due to the flooding.

This information was published in a report by the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday (January 9).

The report said that severe flooding has begun in Saudi Arabia due to continuous heavy rains over the past few days. As a result, roads and residential areas in several cities in the country have been severely damaged.

According to the Saudi Meteorological Department's forecast, this weather depression may continue for several more days.

A red alert has been issued for the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina and some areas in the eastern region. In addition, a low-level orange alert has been issued in the capital Riyadh, the central region and the southwestern provinces of Asir and Jazan. However, citizens have been asked to be careful there too.

The Saudi Disaster Management Authority and the International Humanitarian Aid Organization Red Crescent said in a statement that all preparations have been completed to rescue those trapped in the floods. Several photos and videos of the floods in Saudi Arabia have been published on social media. The photos and videos show cars being swept away by floodwaters. The water is rising due to heavy rain and thunderstorms, which is a rare sight in Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli attack on Gaza continues. The death toll is increasing every day. In the last 24 hours, 49 more Palestinians have been killed in the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. This brings the total number of deaths in the valley to nearly 45,900.

This information was reported by Al Jazeera on Wednesday (January 8).

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been injured in the attack that has been going on since October 2023.

The media said that at least 49 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, including five children in the so-called “safe zone” of Al-Mawasi and eight people in the attack in Jabalia.

Al Jazeera said that Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks across the Gaza Strip, including the “humanitarian zone” of Al-Mawasi, and are causing significant destruction of residential homes and civilian infrastructure.

The Israeli attack has essentially reduced Gaza to rubble. According to the United Nations, about 85 percent of the Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced due to Israel’s brutal attack. And all of Gaza is now food insecure amid severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

In addition, 60 percent of the infrastructure in the besieged territory has been damaged or destroyed.

It is worth noting that Israel has been carrying out continuous air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli attack.

A powerful earthquake in China's remote Tibet region has killed 95 people so far.

The news agency Reuters reported this in a report on Tuesday (January 7).

The report said that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near Tibet's holy cities at 9:05 am. The earthquake also shook various parts of neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.

The earthquake has killed 95 people in Tibet so far. In addition, 130 people were injured.

It is worth noting that southwestern China, Nepal and northern India are often hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.