The largest wildfire in the US swelled to nearly 600 square miles on Tuesday morning, bigger than the city of Los Angeles, fire officials in California said, as thousands of firefighters battled the blaze in a remote wilderness area north of Sacramento.More than 5,000 firefighters from across California and other states were working around the clock to douse the Park Fire, burning in the state's Central Valley, about 90 miles (145 km) north of Sacramento, the capital. The fire grew to 383,600 acres (155,237 hectares), becoming the sixth-largest wildfire in Californian history.The fire - fueled by dry grass, brush and timber - is fast-moving, said Fire Capt. Dan Collins of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or Cal Fire."This fire has lots of fuel that is receptive to burning, and it's hard to get to," he said. "Our fire line is 260 miles around, that's the size of three Lake Tahoes. It can take two-three hours to get personnel in there over the terrain."

The prime minister of Qatar, which has acted as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, suggested on Wednesday that the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could jeopardize the talks."Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?" Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote on X."Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life."

A member of parliament from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Wednesday that his group would be ready to fight a war with Israel, after an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut targeted Hezbollah's top military commander.Ali Ammar spoke to local broadcasters amid the ruins of Tuesday's strike."This enemy demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it," Ammar said.