A Los Angeles-bound commuter train slammed into a tractor trailer stopped on the tracks in Oxnard, California, during the morning rush hour yesterday, injuring more than 30 people, some of them seriously, authorities said.

Three carriages of a Southern California Metrolink commuter train have derailed after a collision with a truck on tracks in Ventura County, north west of Los Angeles.

A dangerous storm system blamed for two deaths in Oregon and thousands of power outages in Washington state has swept south through California, causing mudslides and evacuations.

About 100 people were arrested and at least 44 were taken to hospital during a weekend college party in Southern California.

Troubled former teen star Amanda Bynes has pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving after she clipped a Los Angeles County sheriff’s patrol car.

Firefighters battling a fast-moving Southern California blaze say it has nearly tripled in size in a matter of hours.

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.

A wildfire in southern California cutting a path to the sea has grown to more than 15 square miles.

Actress Heather Locklear was taken to a Southern California hospital for precautionary reasons after an emergency call was made from her home.

A US jury awarded $5,700 (€4,470) to the family of an autistic girl whose lunch money was stolen for nearly two months by a teacher’s aide.

A fan of Paula Abdul was found dead in a car parked near a home belonging to the 'American Idol' judge, police said today.

An Oscar winning film writer has been arrested for drink driving after a car crash that killed one of his passengers.

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.

US President George Bush dismissed comparisons between the government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina and the southern California wildfires during a tour to the devastated region.

Thousands of homes were still under threat from wildfires in California today despite a break in the strong winds fanning the flames.

Nikki Bacharach, daughter of songwriter Burt Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson, committed suicide, Bacharach and Dickinson said in a statement yesterday.

Californians braced for even more rain today as they struggled to recover from storms that killed at least nine people, triggered mudslides and tornadoes and washed away roads and runways.

In a highly unusual move, the judge in the Michael Jackson child molestation case ordered the district attorney to take the stand and explain why a private investigator’s office was searched.

Michael Jackson’s prosecutor is opposing a move by the pop singer to reduce his $3m (€2.5m) bail, arguing that he may be planning to flee the country.

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

WITH towering flames bearing down on southern California mountain towns, firefighters last night dug in to protect hundreds of homes while praying for more help from lower temperatures.

Firefighters struggled desperately to save emptied-out resort towns in southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains as 200ft walls of flame engulfed dead and dried-out trees.

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.

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.

THOUSANDS were evacuated and two major freeways were closed yesterday as flames, pushed by high winds, jumped ridges and roads in California.

An heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune is due to go in trial in California today, charged with a spree of drug-fuelled rapes.