Aileen Lee Arlene McIntyre — creative director and founder of Ventura Design

A homeless man has been charged with murder following an attack on a California father who was stabbed in the neck as his five-year-old daughter sat in his lap in a crowded beachside restaurant.

Authorities in California's Santa Barbara County are still trying to reach new areas and dig into the destruction to find dead, injured or trapped people after a powerful mud flow swept away dozens of homes.

Thousands of firefighters tried to shield coastal communities from one of the biggest wildfires in California's history as a funeral procession was held in honour of one of their colleagues who was killed battling the flames.

Retirement communities built on golf courses and race horse stables housing thoroughbreds were among the sites engulfed by flames as the San Diego area became the latest front in California's wildfire fight.

Actor Harrison Ford rushed to the scene of a car accident over the weekend.

Amanda Bynes' parents will ask a court to grant them conservatorship of their daughter tomorrow.

US regulators shut down banks in California, Maryland and Minnesota, pushing to 84 the number of bank failures this year amid the soured economy and rising loan defaults.

Albertus Maximus has won the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile under a cool ride from Garrett Gomez.

Thousands of Americans have barricaded their homes against a powerful storm which has led to flights being ground, road closures and power cuts.

Firefighters were given a breathing space in their battle against the blazes sweeping Southern California today.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and thousands of homes remain at risk tonight as wildfires tear through southern California, US authorities said.

POLICE arrested a teenager after a pet tortoise was stolen and subjected to a vicious attack in the US.

A newspaper promotion for Tom Cruise’s upcoming Mission: Impossible III got off to an explosive start when a county arson squad blew up a news stand.

For some real laughter, watch The Life & Legacy of Spike Milligan (Ventura, €21.99), a splendid documentary on one of the true greats.

Calming winds have helped firefighters battle a 4,000-acre wildfire that prompted a voluntary evacuation of about 200 ridge-top homes.

A 16,200-acre wildfire burned out of control early today in the hills and canyons along Los Angeles’ northwestern edge, despite the efforts of thousands of firefighters who held out hope that the weather was on their side.

A former Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to eight years in prison for molesting two teenage brothers more than a decade ago.

THERE’S a slight sense of deja viewed at Ventura, an ace family home in Cork’s Browningstown Park.

Arsonists are to blame for at least three of the raging fires in southern California that have so far claimed the lives of 20 people and destroyed more than 2,600 homes, authorities said.

Tens of thousands of people fled mountain communities in southern California as frantic residents raced to avoid the state’s deadliest wildfires in more than a decade.

WITH wind-driven flames threatening the densely populated San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, firefighters dug in yesterday for another brutal day of battling one of the most destructive and deadly wildfire seasons in Californian state history.

Ash fell on the beach like snow as California’s deadliest outbreak of fires in more than a decade destroyed more than 1,100 homes, killed at least 15 people and consumed land from south of the Mexican border to the suburbs north of Los Angeles.

WILDFIRES driven by hot Santa Ana winds flared into gigantic waves of flame that devoured entire neighbourhoods, choking the sky over Southern California with smoke and ash, and killing at least 13 people, in the state's deadliest outbreak of fires in more than a decade.

POWERFUL Santa Ana winds kicked up before dawn yesterday, driving a ferocious firestorm that had already burned at least 200 homes onto a path toward more neighbourhoods.

Powerful winds drove two ferocious firestorms that had already burned more than 200 homes into dozens more houses in California today.

OLD Douglas in Cork has a strong draw — the maturity of the houses, the proximity to good schools and the plethora of shops and other outlets makes it first choice for trader-uppers - first-time buyers are usually priced out here.

Three bounty hunters who tracked Max Factor heir Andrew Luster to Mexico have been told by a judge to appear in his court each Monday.

Fugitive date rapist Andrew Luster, an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune, will not be allowed to appeal his conviction.

The fugitive heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune has been sentenced to 124 years in prison for drugging and raping three women.

A JURY in the US has convicted the fugitive heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune on charges of raping three women and drugging two of them at his beach house.

Police have found the dog of fugitive cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, who disappeared two weeks ago midway through his California date-rape trial.

Lawyers for the Max Factor heir accused of being a serial date-rapist showed jurors a giant photograph of one of his alleged victims, sitting smiling before what the lawyers claim was consensual sex.

Lights have gone out in Beverly Hills, Silicon Valley and other communities in California as electricity blackouts sweep across the state.