An arsonist swept through the Hollywood area under the cover of dark, torching vehicles whose flames ignited nearby houses, including one once occupied by Doors frontman Jim Morrison.
The four-hour onslaught started shortly after midnight and sent firefighters scrambling to douse fires in 21 locations in Hollywood and the neighbouring city of West Hollywood.
In nearly every case, the fire started in a parked car.
Authorities ruled out any possible link to terrorism while bracing for another round of fires and continuing the search for a suspect.
Los Angeles officials urged continued public vigilance and offered at least $35,000 in rewards for information leading to the conviction of an arsonist or arsonists.
Girl, 8, killed by arrow
An eight-year-old girl has died after being accidentally shot in the head with an arrow, Australian police said.
A New South Wales state police spokesman said the incident happened on December 26 near the small town of Manilla in the state’s north.
The girl was airlifted to a hospital in Sydney for emergency surgery but died last Friday. She has not been named.
Police would not release any details on how the girl was shot but said it was accidental rather than suspicious and officials do not expect to make any arrests.
33 killed in Indian cyclone
At least 33 people were killed when heavy rains and winds unleashed by a cyclone over India’s south-eastern coast damaged hundreds of homes and uprooted trees, officials and news reports said yesterday.
Cyclone Thane struck Tamil Nadu state and the territory of Puducherry last Friday before weakening overnight, the India Meteorological Department said.
The storm collapsed houses and downed power lines in four districts of Tamil Nadu, where 26 people were killed, said the state’s top elected official, J Jayalalitha.
Fatal police station blast
A bomb has exploded at a police station in southern Colombia, and two people are reported killed.
The blast occurred at the police station in the town of Orito.
Town official Rosa Ortega said there were reports that two people were killed, including the wife of a police captain and a boy. She said the number of dead and injured has not yet been confirmed.
The Colombian radio station Caracol reported two killed and 17 injured in the blast.
RCN radio reported that a person had thrown a package into the station and had fled. RCN reported that most of the injured were police.
Christian-Muslim clashes
Around 200 Coptic Christians and Muslims clashed in a southern Egyptian province after a drawing depicting the Prophet Mohammed was posted on a local Christian student’s Facebook page.
Troops sealed off several flashpoint villages after angry residents in the province of Assiut, 200 miles south of Cairo, burnt seven Coptic homes in reaction to the drawing.
Muslims generally oppose any depiction of the prophet, even favourable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
This particular drawing depicted four women asking the prophet’s hand in marriage.