A woman who says she was abducted a decade ago by a man who forced her to marry him and fathered her child has said she is now happy and feels blessed to be back with her family.

A US woman who was 15 when she disappeared from her home 10 years ago has been reunited with her family.

Nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated and two homes burned in a wildfire that started when three people lit a campfire in the dry foothills of Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, authorities said.

A huge southern California wildfire carved a path to the sea and burned on the beach yesterday, but firefighters got a break as gusty Santa Ana winds turned into breezes.

Firefighters battling a huge Southern California wildfire have ordered new evacuations in a neighbourhood overlooking canyons where flames are surging.

A shooting spree through California has left four people dead, including the gunman, and several others injured.

Apparel-maker Oakley has sued Rory McIlroy and Nike, insisting the world No 1 and the equipment giant breached his existing contract with Oakley when he recently signed a new deal with Nike estimated to be worth $250m.

Markets corrupt by making everything in society a commodity and the risks are enormous, finds Tom O’Connor

Police and a community group have warned homeless people in California not to sleep alone on the streets because a serial killer has already murdered three of them.

The man accused of a deadly shooting rampage at a Southern California hairdressing salon that killed eight people has faced enraged relatives of the victims at a court appearance.

Thousands of angry bees attacked a man in a wheelchair, sending him and three others who came to his aid to hospital.

A SOUTHERN California man was sentenced to six years in prison for infiltrating computers belonging to women and teenage girls where he found sexually explicit photos and threatened to put them online unless they provided him with more.

Lawyers for Mattel filed papers declaring their intent to appeal against a US federal judge’s award of more than $309m to rival toy maker MGA Entertainment in the fight over ownership of the popular Bratz fashion doll line.

A US federal court jury has rejected Mattel’s copyright infringement claims over MGA Entertainment’s popular line of Bratz dolls.

MATTEL Inc, after waging a seven-year legal war against a tiny California company, swallowed a surprise defeat after a US jury decided that MGA Entertainment Inc is the rightful owner of the once-billion dollar line of pouty-lipped Bratz dolls.

A US federal court jury has rejected Mattel’s copyright infringement claims over MGA Entertainment’s popular line of Bratz dolls.

California’s blistering autumn heatwave sent temperatures to an all-time record high of 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) in central Los Angeles, with many seeking refuge at the beach or in the shade.

A MAN accused of torturing and killing his 21-year-old daughter said he kept her bullet-riddled body in his freezer for two years, but was not responsible for her death.

FIREFIGHTERS made more progress yesterday against a giant wildfire that has ravaged a national forest north of Los Angeles, with another day of co-operative weather a big help to beleaguered fire crews.

A wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles has surged in every direction, going in a single day from a modest threat to a danger to some 10,000 homes.

Firefighters battling wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes in Southern California were today aided by calmer winds.

Los Angeles appeared surrounded by flames today, with three wildfires consuming spacious mansions and tiny mobile homes at the edges where bone-dry wilderness meets burgeoning development.

A wildfire tore through Los Angeles’ northern foothills early today sending thousands of residents fleeing in the dark, forcing a hospital to evacuate and destroying an untold number of homes.

Donativum, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, has won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.

Two huge wildfires burned into neighbourhoods near Los Angeles last night, forcing frantic evacuations, destroying homes and causing at least two deaths.

Current US economic troubles are proof that Muslims were on the verge of victory, a prominent American member of al-Qaida said in an English-language video released today.

A child molester jumped to his death from a California court after being convicted of abusing a young girl.

Courteney Cox says her family, including three-year-old daughter Coco, were lucky after they were forced to evacuate their Malibu home to escape the recent fires in the area.

Evacuated residents of a wealthy part of California were returning today to see whether their homes survived a wildfire.

Police began a search and even questioned a man after a four-year-old girl reported an attempted abduction before she admitted she made the whole thing up, a sheriff's spokesman said today.

Southern California is lining up its fire crews and aircraft to get in first if the hot, dry Santa Ana winds expected to return this weekend cause major flare-ups.

A boy playing with matches started one of the Californian wildfires which destroyed 21 homes, police said today.

Firefighters aided by damp weather made progress against the last of Southern California’s big wildfires, hoping to squash the remaining flames before the possible return of winds this week.

Firefighters battling wildfires menacing southern California discovered the bodies of six people killed by the flames.

HOT, dry Santa Ana winds have fanned the blazes which have ravaged southern California this week.

US President George Bush is planning to visit areas affected by devastating wildfires tomorrow, after declaring a federal emergency for seven counties.

THOUSANDS more residents were ordered to evacuate their homes yesterday, bringing the number of people chased away by the flames that have engulfed southern California to at least 300,000.

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.

More than a quarter of a million people have been evacuated and thousands of homes were at risk today as wild fires tore through southern California, US authorities said.

US rapper Snoop Dogg has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a dangerous weapon, his lawyer has said.

A Chinese-born engineer has been found guilty of conspiring to export US defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that could make submarines virtually undetectable.

A wildfire fanned by Santa Ana winds destroyed four seaside mansions and damaged at least two others early today as it spread over more than 20 acres in California’s Malibu celebrity enclave.

Rapper Snoop Dogg was arrested last night for investigation of illegally possessing a handgun and drugs as he left NBC Studios after performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, police said.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has been charged with carrying a dangerous weapon – an illegal collapsible baton – at John Wayne International Airport in Santa Ana, California.