Three major fires in Southern California continue to blaze, but the powerful Santa Ana winds have subsided for now. As firefighters battle the massive flames, agencies are helping displaced families. — Los Angeles Times Citigroup plans to cut about 53,000 jobs soon, in addition to 22,000 already announced. The company will discus the decision, originally posted on the its website, with Read more

$250 Billion Bank Investment: President Bush announced this morning that the government plans to invest $250 billion into banks, a move that he says is essential to stabilize the financial system. In exchange for the money the government will get an equity stake in the banks. It's the plan promoted by economists in the excellent This American Life episode explaining the crisis. Henry Paulson Read more

Hurricane Ike Tonight: Hurricane Ike is expected to make landfall with a direct hit to Galveston and Houston, with a population of 5.6 million. The National Hurricane center was crystal clear with their warning for evacuation: "Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one- or two-story homes will face certain death." Forecasters expect water 22 feet above sea level. English Read more

The war on terror might be about to get much, much hotter. Dwindling resources and diminishing weaponry are causing Muslim extremists to call upon their numbers to start a “forest jihad” in Australia. According to one website extremists have to “start forest fires," claiming “scholars have justified chopping down and burning infidels’ forests when they do the same to our lands.” The Read more

When Rep. Duncan Hunter sidestepped the chain of command to get firefighting planes for California, earlier this month he was matter-of-fact: "California was on fire, I got 'em the planes. That's my job." But then there's the matter of this fact: firefighters say they're often pressured to press planes into service even when they won't do any good on major fires — they call the political air Read more

New Offensive in Iraq: Iraqi forces with support from American troops just launched a new major operation against insurgents in the Iraqi province of Diyala, one of the last pockets of al-Qaeda militants in the country. The commander of the Iraqi ground forces says the operation's goal is ''to clear al-Qaeda in Diyala. We have a list of wanted persons that the troops will arrest during the Read more

California has called on a plentiful resource — prisoners — to save the state's natural resources from devastating fires. About 2,500 prisoners are fighting the thousands of wild fires engulfing California. The convicted helping hands are not amateurs; California has maintained a prisoner firefighter training program for 60 years. Serving fellow citizens during an emergency provides an Read more

Heat Wave to Hit Fires: Firefighters in California brace for an impending heat wave set to make containing one of the 1,700 fires sparked since June 21, much harder. Cooler, damper weekend temperatures had helped firefighters working to bring the Santa Barbara fires under control are set to end, while 2,600 homes are still evacuated. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday the fires had burnt Read more

With more than 1,400 fires engulfing the forests of California, President George W. Bush has designated areas from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean an official federal disaster area, allowing FEMA to dispatch equipment and financial relief to the counties that have been devastated by the blazes. So far more than 17,000 firefighters from more than 35 states are currently battling the fires with nearly Read more