Austin Beutner has filed a lawsuit that highlights a central dispute after the 2025 Los Angeles fires: Who pays when a house survives the flames but not the smoke?

© Ryan Young for The New York Times

An international symbol for the city, the sign is also hallmark of the region’s environmental richness

Atop Mount Lee, in the heart of Los Angeles, the wind is quiet. Two red-tailed hawks sail above, barely flapping as they coast the thermal air like surfers on a wave. Standing beside the giant letters of the Hollywood sign, the city seems peaceful. On a clear day, blocks and blocks of homes unfold beneath and the skies reveal sights all the way to Catalina Island – 10 miles out, across the Pacific.

That’s the beauty seen from the Hollywood sign.

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© Photograph: Curioso.Photography/Alamy

© Photograph: Curioso.Photography/Alamy

© Photograph: Curioso.Photography/Alamy

Hundreds lined up to call loved ones as the internet went down and the flames closed in on the Australian town of Narooma in 2019.

© Telstra

A fast-growing wildfire in the Angeles national forest north-east of Santa Clarita, California, has triggered evacuation orders and warnings in the area. Firefighters battled the blaze, which had spread to 1,000 acres by Saturday evening, from the ground and air, while authorities ordered residents in surroundings areas to leave as the fire spread quickly across the rugged terrain. The cause of the fire was not immediately reported

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© Photograph: ABC7 Los Angeles via AP

© Photograph: ABC7 Los Angeles via AP

© Photograph: ABC7 Los Angeles via AP

A report on the fires that devastated the Los Angeles area in early 2025 recommended that local governments take a broader approach to preparedness and emergency response.

© Philip Cheung for The New York Times

Once dismissed as occasional inconveniences, climate-related disruptions are now an inescapable fixture of summer travel. How will travelers respond?

© Don Campbell/Associated Press

For months, millions of people have been living under a stifling blanket of toxic haze, fueled by a punishing drought brought on by the El Niño weather pattern.