- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
One death reported as wildfires rage across Texas panhandle
Wildfires raging across north Texas reportedly killed at least one person Wednesday, as firefighters struggled to control one of the largest blazes in state history which has destroyed property and prompted evacuations.
The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas' panhandle, a flat northern area known for its prairies and smattering of small towns, was listed as only three percent contained by the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The enormous blaze, which spread following harsh winds and unseasonably warm temperatures, has already scorched some 850,000 acres (344,000 hectares).
In the small town of Stinnett, an 83-year-old grandmother died in the fire, a Hutchinson County official told local media, adding that at least 20 structures in the community had been destroyed.
Some 60 miles (100 kilometers) to the east in the town of Canadian, home to some 2,300 people, there were "quite a few homes burned," Mayor Terrill Bartlett told CNN, but "luckily, no one was severely injured."
According to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, the fire was moving at a rate of two football fields per second.
In total the state's five active fires, all in the panhandle, have burned more than one million acres. As of Wednesday night, another 18 fires had been contained.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo, the biggest regional city, said Wednesday that cool temperatures "with weak winds" were expected, which authorities hope will aid them in fighting the fires.
In the town of Borger, authorities shared images of smoldering areas that had been devastated by fire, including several buildings consumed by flames.
Town officials said they had opened a shelter for those displaced, while evacuation orders were issued for much of the nearby town of Fritch, where large swaths of the area had lost electricity and water.
"I don't think a lot of folks that live in the Fritch area are probably going to be prepared for what they're going to see as they pull into town," Hutchinson County Emergency Management spokeswoman Deidra Thomas said in a video update posted on Facebook earlier in the day.
"There are still homes that are on fire."
Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared a state of disaster for 60 counties, while blazes near the northern city of Amarillo temporarily caused the shutdown of a nuclear weapons plant.
President Joe Biden meanwhile was receiving updates on the incident and the White House was in contact with frontline staff, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Amarillo experienced serious air quality issues as winds pushed smoke into the area on Tuesday.
Cities across the United States and Canada saw record February temperatures this week, with some experiencing summer-like heat. An El Nino weather pattern is at play, in addition to climate change, according to experts.
L.Henrique--PC