Torrential rains unleashed flash floods and warnings of debris flow across southern California’s fire-scarred areas, as a series of Christmas storms pummeled the state, with downpours and high winds forecast through Friday.Driven by an atmospheric river known as “the Pineapple Express,” which moves heavy moisture from Hawaii to the US West Coast, storms were expected to dump months’ worth of rain in California over a few days.Early Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast that southern California, including Los Angeles, the second-most populous US city, was at risk of excessive rainfall.It warned of a “broad plume of moisture” producing heavy rain in California on Thursday.”Numerous flash flooding events are possible. In addition, many streams may flood, potentially affecting larger rivers. The flooding may include debris flows in or near recently burned areas,” the service said, referring to areas affected by wildfires.The rain was forecast to continue through Friday, the service said.Although there was a break in the rain in parts of southern California on Thursday before more wet weather was expected, the NWS warned that some areas could see winds with gusts of up to 55 miles per (88.5 kilometers per hour). State authorities declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles.”We’re not out of it yet. Rain continues to fall across LA County making roadways, waterways and flood channels extremely dangerous. Check conditions before venturing out today,” Los Angeles County officials said Thursday on X.- Rescue work -Heavy rain began lashing Southern California Wednesday, where some communities had already seen 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain in the first storm, forecasters said.At least three people died in storm-related incidents, including a man killed by a falling tree, the Los Angeles Times reported.In San Bernardino County, adjacent to Los Angeles, authorities told AFP they were working to divert the flow of floodwater on Thursday.Muddy water streamed through the mountain town of Wrightwood a day earlier, trapping people in their homes, said Christopher Prater, spokesperson for the county fire department.”Fire department personnel were out there rescuing people, assisting them from their houses, getting them to safety, also while affecting rescues from people that were stranded in their vehicles,” he said Thursday, with work going on into the night.Fire-burn scar zones, which are less able to absorb water due to vegetation being stripped from them, were under special alert — including the coastal areas of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, both still recovering from devastating wildfires in January.In northern California, a dangerous storm was tracked developing early Thursday morning in the San Francisco Bay Area, with an emergency alert for flash flooding issued, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.Soon after noon on Thursday (2000 GMT), the NWS office in San Francisco warned that a severe thunderstorm near Santa Cruz could spawn a tornado. The service was also predicting that a winter storm could bring heavy snowfall to the Sierra Nevada Mountains along California’s eastern border.

The chief of a prominent anti-disinformation watchdog has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over a US visa ban, calling it an “unconstitutional” attempt to expel the permanent American resident, court filings show.Imran Ahmed, a British national who heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), was among five European figures involved in tech regulation whom the US State Department said this week would be denied visas.The department accused them of attempting to “coerce” US-based social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The European Union and several member states strongly condemned the move and vowed to defend Europe’s regulatory autonomy.The campaigner filed his complaint Wednesday in a New York district court against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.Ahmed, a critic of billionaire Elon Musk, holds US permanent residency, commonly known as a “green card.””I am proud to call the United States my home,” he said in a statement. “My wife and daughter are American, and instead of spending Christmas with them, I am fighting to prevent my unlawful deportation from my home country.”Ahmed faces the “imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention, and expulsion” from the United States, the court filing said.However, a district judge granted a temporary restraining order barring Ahmed’s arrest or detention, with a further hearing scheduled for Monday.When reached for comment Thursday, the State Department expressed defiance.”The Supreme Court and Congress have repeatedly made clear: the United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country or reside here,” a spokesperson said.Rogers said earlier that Ahmed was sanctioned because he was a “key collaborator” in efforts by former president Joe Biden’s administration to “weaponize the government” against US citizens.- ‘Not be bullied’ -“My life’s work is to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media and AI and fight the spread of antisemitism online. That mission has pitted me against big tech executives — and Elon Musk in particular — multiple times,” Ahmed said.”I will not be bullied away from my life’s work.”The crackdown also targeted former European commissioner Thierry Breton, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid, and Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index.Condemning the move, the European Commission said it was seeking clarification from Washington, and if needed “will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.”Breton, the EC’s former top tech regulator, often clashed with tycoons including Musk — a Trump ally — over their obligations to follow EU rules.The State Department has described him as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content.But the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies.Ahmed’s CCDH also frequently clashed with Musk, reporting a spike in misinformation and hate speech on X since the billionaire’s 2022 takeover.