A cruise ship hit by an engine fire was on the move today as Mexican tugboats began towing it towards California.

Carlow sisters Tara and Karen Delaney tee it up next week for the first time in 2007 as Kent State University begins its bid for a return to the US collegiate national finals, the NCAA Championships.

With wind-driven flames threatening the densely populated areas near Los Angeles, firefighters dug today for another brutal day battling one of the most destructive and deadly wildfire outbreaks in California 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.