An unemployed man with an advanced finance degree who was despondent over his own financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, Los Angeles police said today.

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.

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.