GORMAN: Firefighters with air support scrambled to control a wind-driven wildfire that erupted Thursday morning in hills along Interstate 5 in northwestern Los Angeles County, officials said.
The King Fire, which broke out around 1 a.m., charred nearly a square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of tinder-dry brush in a lightly populated area about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of downtown LA.
An RV park was ordered to shelter in place and residents of remote homes were under evacuation warnings. The blaze was 40 percent contained as of the evening, the Angeles National Forest reported on the social platform X.
The California Highway Patrol closed some highway lanes as crews battled flames that raced along hillsides before dawn. Off- and on-ramps were closed near Smokey Bear Road, along with several surrounding roads just north of Pyramid Lake in a mountainous area known for hiking and boating.
The blaze is burning a few miles north of the Canyon Fire, which prompted evacuations, destroyed seven structures and injured three firefighters after breaking out Aug. 7. It was fully contained Thursday morning after charring more than 8 square miles (22 square kilometers) of LA and Ventura counties.
Firefighters were also battling a blaze in northern Los Angeles County that ballooned to 400 acres (162 hectares) and resulted in one firefighter suffering a minor injury, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The Hawk Fire was 6 percent contained Thursday evening and firefighters stopped its forward progress.
Residents in the area around the fire in the small community of Acton were initially ordered to evacuate, but that was later downgraded, with officials telling them to be prepared to evacuate, according to the fire department. A recreation center in Palmdale was opened for people forced to leave their homes.
The Gifford Fire, California’s largest blaze so far this year, has scorched nearly 207 square miles (536 square kilometers) of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since erupting on Aug. 1. It was 41 percent contained on Thursday.
Wildfire risk is elevated because Southern California has seen very little rain, drying out vegetation and making it “ripe to burn,” the National Weather Service for Los Angeles warned in a statement last week.
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Firefighters make progress against fast-moving blaze along highway north of Los Angeles
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Firefighters make progress against fast-moving blaze along highway north of Los Angeles
- Officials say the King Fire charred nearly a square mile of tinder-dry brush in a lightly populated area about 60 miles north of downtown LA.
- Firefighters were also battling a blaze in northern Los Angeles County that officials say had ballooned to 400 acres and was 6 percent contained Thursday evening
France probes ‘foreign interference’ after malware found on ferry
PARIS: France is probing possible foreign interference after a Latvian national was arrested and charged over the discovery on a passenger ferry of malware capable of allowing the vessel’s operating systems to be be controlled remotely, the interior minister said Wednesday.
The malware was found on the passenger ferry the Fantastic with a capacity of over 2,000 passengers, belonging to Italian shipping company GNV while it was docked in France’s Mediterranean port of Sete, Paris prosecutors said.
Italian authorities had warned France that the operating system of the vessel could have been infected by a malware known as a Remote access Trojan (RAT) which allows a hacker to gain remote control of a system.
Two crew members, a Latvian and a Bulgarian, whose identities had been signalled to France by the Italian authorities, were detained last week. The Bulgarian was freed but the Latvian charged and placed under arrest in the investigation.
The office of the Paris prosecutor said late Tuesday it had opened an investigation into a suspected bid “by an organized group to attack an automated data-processing system, with the aim of serving the interests of a foreign power.”
- Security warnings about Russia -
France and other European governments have warned that Russia is stepping up a campaign of interference more than three and a half years into its war against Ukraine.
“This is a very serious matter... individuals tried to hack into a ship’s data-processing system,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France Info radio early Wednesday.
“Investigators are obviously looking into interference. Yes, foreign interference,” he said.
Nunez refused to be drawn over whether the attack was aimed at diverting the ship from its route and did not name Russia.
But he said: “These days one country is very often behind foreign interference.”
In a sign of the gravity of the case, the investigation is being led by France’s domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI).
After being cordoned off in port, the Fantastic was subjected to an emergency inspection by the DGSI, which led to the seizure of several items.
The vessel was subsequently cleared to sail again after receiving approval from maritime authorities, after technical checks were completed and any danger to those on board ruled out.
Emergency searches were also conducted in Latvia with the support of Eurojust, the European Union’s judicial cooperation arm, and the Latvian authorities.
The Latvian national’s lawyer Thibault Bailly said he believed the “theory of Russian interference evoked in the press seems superfluous.”
“The investigation will shed light on several aspects of this case that are still unclear. In particular, it will demonstrate that this case is not as worrying as it may have initially seemed,” he added.
The malware was found on the passenger ferry the Fantastic with a capacity of over 2,000 passengers, belonging to Italian shipping company GNV while it was docked in France’s Mediterranean port of Sete, Paris prosecutors said.
Italian authorities had warned France that the operating system of the vessel could have been infected by a malware known as a Remote access Trojan (RAT) which allows a hacker to gain remote control of a system.
Two crew members, a Latvian and a Bulgarian, whose identities had been signalled to France by the Italian authorities, were detained last week. The Bulgarian was freed but the Latvian charged and placed under arrest in the investigation.
The office of the Paris prosecutor said late Tuesday it had opened an investigation into a suspected bid “by an organized group to attack an automated data-processing system, with the aim of serving the interests of a foreign power.”
- Security warnings about Russia -
France and other European governments have warned that Russia is stepping up a campaign of interference more than three and a half years into its war against Ukraine.
“This is a very serious matter... individuals tried to hack into a ship’s data-processing system,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France Info radio early Wednesday.
“Investigators are obviously looking into interference. Yes, foreign interference,” he said.
Nunez refused to be drawn over whether the attack was aimed at diverting the ship from its route and did not name Russia.
But he said: “These days one country is very often behind foreign interference.”
In a sign of the gravity of the case, the investigation is being led by France’s domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI).
After being cordoned off in port, the Fantastic was subjected to an emergency inspection by the DGSI, which led to the seizure of several items.
The vessel was subsequently cleared to sail again after receiving approval from maritime authorities, after technical checks were completed and any danger to those on board ruled out.
Emergency searches were also conducted in Latvia with the support of Eurojust, the European Union’s judicial cooperation arm, and the Latvian authorities.
The Latvian national’s lawyer Thibault Bailly said he believed the “theory of Russian interference evoked in the press seems superfluous.”
“The investigation will shed light on several aspects of this case that are still unclear. In particular, it will demonstrate that this case is not as worrying as it may have initially seemed,” he added.
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