Santa Barbara

Two major wildfires in California have forced nearly 8,000 people out of their homes.

At the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a hundred kilometers from the city of Sacramento, some 4,000 people have already been evacuated and another 7,400 are preparing for it. The fire is raging on an area of 20 km and has already destroyed more than ten buildings.

Governor Jerry Brown announced a state of emergency to help local authorities.

The origin of the yo-yo is still a source of debate, but the first historical mention of it comes from Greece in the year 500 BC. Some historians believe that the yo-yo likely originated in China because of a similar toy called a diabolo, which had almost the same design.

Reclusive Brad Pitt emerged looking shockingly thin and gaunt in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

In recent months the 53-year-old has been locking himself away in a Los Angeles art studio while nursing a broken heart following his split from Angelina Jolie.

A Hürriyet Daily News reader from Santa Barbara has written me a detailed and lengthy letter that actually echoes similar letters from other parts of the world.

Oscar-winning composer James Horner, aged 61, died in a plane crash in California. The two-seater plane registered in Horner’s name crashed in near Santa Barbara in South California on Monday. The death was confirmed by the composer’s assistant Sylvia Patrycja on his Facebook page. She wrote:

Neverland, the sprawling California ranch that was once the location of "King of Pop" Michael Jackson's mind-boggling amusement park, is up for sale for $100 million, realtors said May 29.

The U.S. Coast Guard captain overseeing cleanup of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture that closed two California state beaches and fouled offshore waters near Santa Barbara said May 21 that it may take months to restore the area to its natural condition. 

Southern California has declared a state of emergency due to two oil spills ranging to a total of 14.5 km.

The oil spills near Santa Barbara were caused after an explosion in an oil platform on Tuesday. Experts express warnings that 2,500 barrels of oil have spilled in the sea.

The governor of California declared an emergency as crews scrambled to contain an oil slick and clean up popular beaches after a pipeline rupture dumped thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean.