An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was freed Wednesday and returned home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

More than 30,000 people evacuated their homes as a wildfire ripped through an a wealthy coastal area of Los Angeles on Tuesday and into Wednesday, with Hollywood celebrities among those fleeing by car and on foot as flames engulfed homes and set hillsides ablaze.

A Russian missile attack on the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 civilians and injured dozens Wednesday, officials said.

A close friend of two British hikers who have been missing in the Dolomites for nearly a week has said they are &waiting anxiously& for news in the search and that &the next few hours will be crucial&.