World Briefing: January 11, 2025

An unprecedented four-day fire siege that damaged or destroyed 9,000 structures and killed at least 10 people shows signs of finally easing Friday as winds lessened and firefighters began to contain the infernos. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said crews were in their best position yet — though still with a long way to go. The Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained as of Friday morning, according to fire officials - LA Times

• As the threat of more fires loomed over the Los Angeles area, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said on Friday that he was ordering an independent review to determine why firefighters ran out of water early on, calling the situation “deeply troubling.” At least 11 people have now been killed, and President Biden said there were “still a lot of people who are unaccounted for.”

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• The rapidly spreading wildfires are not only upending the lives of tens of thousands of Los Angeles County residents and business owners, but also stressing the region’s hospitals, health clinics, first responders and nursing homes. The LA Times reported that at least one medical clinic burned down. Senior patients were evacuated by ambulance from nursing facilities as embers swirled around them and their providers. Medical offices have closed, and routine appointments have been canceled. Some providers have lost homes or had to evacuate their neighborhoods, keeping them from work in many cases and making it a challenge for some healthcare centers to maintain sufficient staffing.

• Powerball winner Edwin Castro’s Malibu home burnt to the ground in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Castro, who won the $2 billion Powerball jackpot in Nov. 2022, purchased the oceanside property for $3.8 million. Photos show waves lapping at the rubble of Castro’s home, which he bought in Sept. 2023. Castro also used his winnings to buy a $4 million house for his parents in Altadena. Though Altadena was severely affected by the wildfires, his parents’ house remains standing for now. Also unscathed by the fires is Castro’s $25.5 million Hollywood Hills home, which he recently upped security for after reports of drones flying around the property. In September, Castro was accused of stealing his winning ticket from Jose Rivera. The case was dismissed because Rivera did not have the ticket in possession. Castro’s win was the biggest lottery payout in history.

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US President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced on Friday for his criminal conviction for hush money paid to a porn star but the judge declined to impose any punishment. Trump received the mildest criminal sanction available, an unconditional discharge, allowing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. The punishment-free judgment marks a quiet end to an extraordinary case that for the first time put a former president and major presidential candidate in a courtroom as a criminal defendant. The case was the only one of four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison. Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency. Unlike his trial last year, when Trump brought allies to the courthouse and addressed waiting reporters outside, the former president did not appear in person Friday, instead making a brief virtual appearance from his home in Palm Beach, Florida - France 24

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company. Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company’s connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech, either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States - AP

The US announced unprecedented sanctions on Russia’s energy industry on Friday in its latest effort to squeeze the revenue that the Kremlin needs to bankroll its war machine in Ukraine. The sweeping sanctions came one day after US President Joe Biden unveiled US$500 million in additional military support for Ukraine, including air defence missiles, air-to-ground munitions, and support equipment for F-16 fighter jets. Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas – two of Russia’s most significant oil producers and exporters – and their subsidies were among those added to the US Treasury Department’s sanction rolls. Also on the blacklist were dozens of opaque traders, including two from Hong Kong, as well as 34 Russia-based oilfield services and 13 Russian energy officials and elites. Gazprom Neft chairman Aleksandr Dyukov was also designated. According to a Treasury Department statement, the measures are expected to substantially increase the risk of sanctions linked to every stage of the Russian oil production and distribution chain. “The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen - SCMP

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