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Mapping the Damage From the Palisades Fire
More than 5,000 structures have been destroyed by the Palisades fire, California officials said on Thursday. An analysis of satellite images by Microsoft offered a glimpse of the devastation in one section of Pacific Palisades, a wealthy neighborhood between Malibu and Santa Monica.
Source: Microsoft AI For Good Lab analysis of satellite imagery from Planet Labs using building footprints from Overture Maps Foundation and Microsoft
Note: Fire perimeter as of Jan. 8 at 1:17 p.m. Pacific time. Satellite imagery taken Jan. 8 at 2:21 p.m. Pacific time.
By The New York Times
In this one area alone, there appeared to be more than 2,000 buildings that were damaged or destroyed, according to the analysis.
The results of the analysis are estimates, and they are limited by the presence of wildfire smoke partially obscuring satellites.
As firefighters continued on Thursday to battle the Palisades and major wildfires burning across the Los Angeles area, the full scope of the damage remained unclear. But officials said the Palisades and the Eaton fire, burning to the east near Pasadena, were likely among the most devastating fires in the state’s recorded history. Officials suggested that 5,000 buildings may have also burned because of the Eaton fire.
The Palisades fire began on Tuesday and quickly grew. By Thursday, it had charred more than 20,000 acres, and remained out of control.
Source: Cal Fire By The New York Times
Aerial photographs of Pacific Palisades showed that the fire leveled whole swaths of the neighborhood near the Palisades Village shopping mall, north of Sunset Boulevard.
Source: photograph by Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
By The New York Times
Widespread damage was also visible in this section of the Pacific Palisades south of Sunset Boulevard, bordered by the Pacific Coast Highway to the south. Only a few houses appeared to be standing amid the destruction.
Source: photograph by Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
By The New York Times
Across the city, the Eaton fire continued to burn uncontrollably as well. It encompassed more than 13,000 acres by Thursday evening, forcing nearby residents to evacuate.
News
Parts of Florida receive rare snowfall as freezing temperatures linger
A protective coating of ice clings to a strawberry plant in sub-freezing temperatures at a field on Friday in Plant City, Fla.
Chris O’Meara/AP
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Chris O’Meara/AP
A rare snowfall covered parts of the Sunshine State on Sunday for the second year in a row, while freezing temperatures will continue to grip parts of Florida into early this week.
A storm system brought up to 2 inches of snow to southern portions of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, including Pensacola, on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The snowfall occurred almost a year to the day after parts of Florida received record snow in mid-January 2025 — when Pensacola received between 6 to 8 inches of snow.

And while Sunday’s snowfall is over in Florida, a blast of arctic cold that has been felt across parts of the state since Friday is not.
Orlando and other areas will face a freeze warning Sunday night into Monday morning, with temperatures falling to at least 25 degrees and wind chills in the low 20s in some places, according to the NWS. Further south, Naples and surrounding areas will be under a cold weather advisory Sunday night into Monday morning, where 29-degree wind chills are expected.

Cold temperatures coupled with snow are abnormal for Florida but the cold weather will be “short-lived,” said Joe Wegman, a NWS meteorologist.
“We’re only expecting this level of cold for tonight. And then, even by tomorrow night, we’ll have lows in the upper 30s. So, just still cold, well below normal,” Wegman told NPR on Sunday. “By Tuesday night, lows are back up into the upper 40s.”
News
Did Hunter S. Thompson Really Kill Himself?
Almost from the moment Hunter was laid to rest, his widow and his son began to feud, over everything from the future of Owl Farm to Juan’s belief that his father had been mistreated by Anita in his last days.
The estrangement deepened with time, and now, Anita’s suspicions have taken the feud to a more pointed place, revealing a long, bitter fight over the legacy of the man who pioneered the personal, participatory style of reporting known as gonzo journalism.
But they were all together the weekend Hunter died.
Juan wrote in his memoir that he was in another room and heard a thump that sounded like a book hitting the floor. Anita was at a health club in Aspen waiting for a yoga class to start. She later told the news media she was on speakerphone with her husband before he shot himself, and heard the “clicking” of the gun.
Looking back, there were signs from that last weekend that Hunter had planned to take his own life, Juan and Jennifer said in interviews.
He insisted on watching one of his favorite movies, “The Maltese Falcon,” with his 6-year-old grandson, Will. He gave away gifts — an old clock that had belonged to his mother and a signed copy of “Fire in the Nuts,” a short book with his frequent collaborator, the artist Ralph Steadman.
“So there is nothing new to know about Hunter’s actual death,” said Juan, 61. “So I do not know why she raised this. And I can’t imagine that the C.B.I. would find anything to act on.”
He and Jennifer said they did not have any role in Hunter’s death. “This is really shocking,” Jennifer said. “It’s been disruptive to our family. It’s obviously been very traumatic to be revisiting this.” She said she believed Anita knew that her husband took his own life, and added, “we hope this brings her closure.”
Jennifer Winkel
Anita had been an assistant to Hunter, and was 35 years younger than him. At the time of his death, they had been married for less than two years — it was Hunter’s second marriage — and that last weekend they fought constantly. In his memoir, Juan wrote that Hunter shot a pellet gun at a gong in the living room the night before he killed himself, just missing Anita, prompting her to threaten to call the police and have him put in a nursing home.
Hunter was also in poor health. He had difficulty moving and suffered occasional seizures, the result of decades of heavy drinking.
“Hunter’s body was giving out,” said Debra Fuller, who worked as an assistant to Hunter and helped manage Owl Farm for almost 20 years before Hunter married Anita. “He was having more difficulty writing as well.”
Hunter had often talked of suicide. Like many of Hunter’s friends, Joe DiSalvo, who was undersheriff of Pitkin County at the time of his death, had conversations with him about how his life would end. He recalled that Hunter would demonstrate his intentions by pointing a loaded gun at his head.
“Hunter talked about suicide,” Mr. DiSalvo said. “He talked about the way he was going to kill himself.”
News
U.S. military troops on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota
Federal law enforcement agents confront protesters during a demonstration outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday.
Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Up to 1,500 U.S. active-duty troops in Alaska are on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota, a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed to NPR.
The move comes days after President Trump again threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to control ongoing protests over the immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis as well as clashes between federal agents and residents. Trump later walked back that threat.
The troops on standby are from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which specializes in cold weather operations, according to the division’s website.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Sunday in an emailed statement to NPR that the “Department of War is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.”
Over the weekend, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz directed the Minnesota National Guard to prepare for possible deployment to assist local law enforcement and emergency management agencies, though they have not been deployed yet.
The Guard said in a Facebook post that these “Minnesota National Guardsmen live, work, and serve in our state, and are focused on protecting life, preserving property, and ensuring Minnesotans can safely exercise their First Amendment rights.” If activated, members would wear yellow reflective vests to “help distinguish them from other agencies in similar uniforms.”
The developments follow days of rising tensions, confrontations and violence stemming from what the Department of Homeland Security has described as its largest operation in history, involving thousands of federal agents, including those from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that it would be a “shocking step” if Trump sent the military into the city, too.
“To those that are paying attention, you’ve got to understand how wild this is right now,” Frey said. “In Minneapolis, crime is dramatically down. We don’t need more federal agents to keep people safe. We are safe.”
Joseph Nunn, an attorney at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, said the Insurrection Act is a “break-glass-in-case-of-emergency type of tool.” It is meant to be used when civilian authorities are overwhelmed by a crisis, he said, and not simply to quell protests — even violent protests.
“It would be a flagrant abuse of the Insurrection Act” if Trump invoked it now, Nunn said, “unlike anything that’s ever happened before in the history of the country.”
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