This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Thursday, the 9th of January, these are our main stories.

President Biden promises extra help from the Department of Defense to tackle the wildfires

threatening Los Angeles as 70,000 people flee their homes. European nations

warn that borders must not be altered by force after Donald Trump refused to rule out military

action to seize Greenland and a deadly Russian glide bomb attack on Ukraine kills at least 13 people

in the southeastern city of Zaporisia.

Also in this podcast, Prime Minister Georgia Maloney successfully negotiates the release of an Italian

journalist from jail in Iran. What could be the most important archaeological find from the

days of ancient Egypt since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

And we hypothesize that people who are very disgusted by body order, that they would also have

this kind of authoritarian disposition. And that's what we've found.

The link between your sense of smell and your political leanings.

Los Angeles and the surrounding areas have often experienced wildfires,

but not ones that spread so quickly with so little warning at this time of year.

The speed with which they took hold on Tuesday night stunned Californians,

as we record this podcast, at least two people are dead, and a thousand buildings have been

destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power. To give you a sense of the terror

spreading across this part of California over the past 24 hours. Have a listen to these residents and reporters.

All of these homes, just home after home, after home, side by side, completely all burned to the

ground. It's hard to tell from the outside just how much of this building is lost, but certainly

it's whipping it. The conditions out here are just absolutely miserable for firefighters.

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