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LA fire victims fear new housing crisis

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Michael Storc and his family had just survived a devastating wildfire.
Now they have to face a daunting new challenge that he had hoped to never experience again – the Los Angeles housing market.
After losing the Altadena home that he owned in the Eaton fire, he was scouring for a new place to rent, and having little luck.
“What’s available is not nice at all and the rents have gone up a lot,” Mr Storc told the BBC. “I told my teenage daughter we had to accept we would live somewhere not very nice.”
The Los Angeles area already has one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. And with thousands now displaced by the Palisades and Eaton fires, Angelenos are anxious that the sudden surge in demand could make rents and home prices soar even higher.
California has an anti-price gouging law that prevents landlords from raising rents more than 10% after the governor declares an emergency. It applies to both existing and tenants and new leases.
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Many Los Angeles County buildings are also covered by rent stabilisation laws, which prevent landlords from raising the rent for existing tenants above a certain percentage even in normal circumstances.
“It is illegal. You cannot do it,” California attorney general Rob Bonta said at a Saturday press conference. “It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.”
Not everyone was certain that the law would be completely enforceable, however.
“We’re aware of that but my question is, how is that being regulated? And who’s monitoring that?” said Jessica Heredia, a realtor based in the high-end Brentwood neighbourhood for the last 20 years.

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International

Bob Dylan’s draft lyrics for Mr Tambourine Man sell for $500k

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Bob Dylan’s draft lyrics for his 1965 song Mr Tambourine Man have sold at auction for $508,000 (£417,471) in the US.
The lyrics on two yellow sheets of paper are three typewritten drafts of the song – but not the final version. The work in progress also features the folk-rock legend’s notes by hand in the margin.
The song is one of Dylan’s most famous hits and the draft pages were among 60 items belonging to the singer that went under the hammer in the city of Nashville.
A 1968 oil painting created and signed by Dylan, and a 1983 Fender Telecaster electric guitar owned and played by him, were also on sale.

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Man arrested over stabbing of Bollywood actor

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Police in the Indian city of Mumbai have arrested a man in connection with a knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan last week.
Khan, one of India’s biggest stars, was stabbed by an intruder at his home, in an attack that shocked the country. He is recovering after surgery.
On Sunday, police said they had arrested the key suspect, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, adding that he was a citizen of Bangladesh who was staying in India illegally.
Mr Shehzad’s lawyer has denied the allegations and says he is not from Bangladesh.
Police say they arrested Mr Shehzad from Thane, a district in the outskirts of Mumbai.
Preliminary evidence suggests that he came to the city about six months ago and had been working at a housekeeping agency using a fake name and ID, Dixit Gedam, a deputy commissioner of Mumbai police, told a press conference.
Police suspect that Mr Shehzad allegedly broke into Khan’s home with the intention of robbing him, Mr Gedam said.
On Sunday, a court in Mumbai sent Mr Shehzad to five-day police custody.
His lawyer, Sandeep Shikhane, told reporters that his client was being made a “scapegoat”.

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International

How Trump has already changed the world

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Donald Trump is just hours away from being sworn in as the 47th president but the global impact of his second term is already being felt.
From Jerusalem to Kyiv to London to Ottawa, his election victory and the anticipation of a new Trump agenda has changed the calculations of world leaders – with some far-reaching consequences.
In the lead-up to the handover of power in Washington, our correspondents dissected these changes in the regions where they were.

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