California wildfires intensify as blazes spread over 196,000 acres

Amid the current heatwave, Italy is struggling to contain the wildfires that are raging around the country. In addition to the scorching heat, there is a variety of reasons why wildfires have become such a problem.

Spain is on alert for wildfires as a heatwave that has enveloped southeastern Europe in recent days shifts west. Temperatures are forecast to reach highs of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in much of the Iberian peninsula in the coming days. As firefighters try to extinguish a fire in Tarragona, forestry agents try to prevent a new fire from breaking out near Barcelona amid the worst heat wave in nearly 20 years.

In the vast and sparsely populated Siberian region of Russia, blazes have so far burned through more than 9.2 million hectares (22.7 million acres), an area the size of Portugal, according to Russia's forestry agency. The head of a Siberian region has urged residents to stay at home as smoke from raging forest fires raises health concerns.

Violent forest fires have been raging in the Var region of southern France where thousands of people have been evacuated including tourists from campsites. The fires are spreading at a speed of 4km per hour and hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze in windy conditions.

Flames surge into the air as firefighters try to contain the Dixie Fire near Milford, California. The wildfire in Northern California has grown to become the largest single wildfire in California state history.

Fires sweep through a forest in Chiquitania, a transition zone between the Amazon and the Gran Chaco lowlands in eastern Bolivia, where large blazes have already ravaged at least 200,000 hectares, according to reports from local authorities.

Little is left of abandoned residences at Creekside Mobile Home Park after the Cache fire ripped through the Californian city of Clearlake. Authorities had gone door-to-door urging people to flee the quickly developing blaze, one of several fires ravaging the western state. The last decade has seen a huge rise in the number of wildfires in the west of the United States. Climate change linked to the burning of fossil fuels has made the region dryer and hotter for longer, creating ideal conditions for the blazes to rage.

Russia's central regions are battling "extreme" wildfires fuelled by an unusual heatwave that comes after forest fires linked to climate change ravaged Siberia for most of the summer.

Olympic athlete and transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner meets with California voters two weeks before the election against incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom. "I love a good fight", says the Republican candidate who promises to "lower taxes, less regulations, build a pro-business environment".

Sri Lanka's aim to become the world's first 100 percent organic food producer is threatening its famous tea industry. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ban on chemical fertiliser earlier this year has sparked concerns of a severe reduction in tea, the island's main export commodity, as well other crops by the end of this year.

Once a star of Silicon Valley, biotech company founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing several counts of fraud. Prosecutors have accused her of "lying and cheating" in opening arguments.

California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has successfully fended off an attempt to topple him in a recall election. Republicans had tried to unseat him over his policies on immigration, COVID-19 and crime.