Firefighters beating blaze

SAN FRANCISCO: Firefighters were gaining ground yesterday against a wildfire burning in a Southern California mountain pass that has forced about 80 000 residents to flee their homes and has consumed dozens of structures. The Blue Cut fire, named for a narrow gorge near its origin in the Cajon Pass, 120km north-east of Los Angeles, has blackened 35 969 acres of drought-parched brush.

A camel trader stands next to his camel at the Tejaji Cattle Fair in the village Parbatsar, in the desert state of Rajasthan, India, yesterday.