Hundreds of Californian prisoners have been deployed to help tackle the fires devastating the Los Angeles area.

With wildfires raging, causing at least 10 deaths, burning down thousands of buildings and prompting evacuation orders for nearly 180,000 residents, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has sent 783 imprisoned firefighters into the fray.

Long history
Reliance on prison labour in California is "almost as old as the state itself", said Smithsonian Magazine. Since the Second World War, California has relied upon "a unique group of firefighters to battle its conflagrations" – inmates. And although their numbers have "fluctuated over the years", they've often comprised as much as a third of its firefighting force.

Time credits
This week incarcerated crews are embedded within the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and its nearly 2,000 firefighters, who've been "stretched thin from several simultaneous emergencies", said The Guardian. The inmates' work has involved "cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread", said the CDCR.

California is one of at least 14 states that operates fire camps for incarcerated people to train to fight fires. Inmates are not guaranteed the state's minimum wage, and the work is not well paid: some put in 24-hour shifts for as little as $26.90.

But fire crews helping out during emergencies like this are offered "time credits" on "a two-for-one basis", said Business Insider, meaning that for "each day they serve on the crew", they receive "two additional days off their sentence".

Meaningful work
Inmates have said they "appreciate higher wages and the opportunity to do meaningful work while serving their sentences", said The Guardian, but the jobs "can be taxing".

Some who attend fire camps find it "becomes a pathway to a life calling", said NPR. It has become an "alternative sentencing option" and "an opportunity to serve the public" as wildfires become "increasingly urgent".

The inmates "want to go out and support our communities and protect people and property", Amika Mota, who served with the fire camps from 2012 to 2015 while serving a sentence, told The Guardian. They "have a desire to take part" and are "walking into these horrible conditions proud to be there".

There will be "more deaths and more disfigurement" if plans to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as Botox and fillers, continue to be delayed, an aesthetic-medicine specialist has warned. Dr Paul Charlson, a GP and member of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners, told the BBC that the government must "get on with" enacting the legislation the industry has put forward.

What's the current situation?
In contrast to Europe and North America, there is "nothing to stop individuals in the UK with non-medical backgrounds" from carrying out Botox and dermal-filler injections, as long as they've "completed relevant training courses", said The Herald. The courses can be completed "in as little as two weekends".

Although Botox can only be prescribed by doctors, dentists, prescribing nurses and pharmacists, it's clear non-healthcare practitioners are "buying cheap Botox online", or getting prescriptions for themselves and then "injecting it into customers". It's believed there could be "between 100,000 and 200,000 'aesthetic practitioners'" operating in the country.
A 2013 Department of Health review concluded that dermal fillers were "a crisis waiting to happen", said the BBC. The 2022 Health and Care Act gave the government powers to introduce licensing for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, but it has "yet to be enacted".

What do campaigners want?
In 2024, Alice Webb, 33, was the first person in the UK to die after a non-surgical cosmetic procedure: a so-called Brazilian butt lift. Her partner has joined forces with the campaign group Save Face and the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons; they're demanding that liposuction and surgical facelifts only be carried out by surgeons on the General Medical Council specialist register. They also want all operations and high-risk procedures to be carried out in clinics and hospitals inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

What does the government say?
The Department of Health and Social Care said it was "unacceptable" that "inadequately trained operators" were putting lives at risk. The government is "urgently exploring options for further regulation".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told The Mirror he was "worried about the wild west in cosmetic surgery", both overseas and "here at home". The public should be wary of "an offer that looks too good to be true".

France: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Farmhouse built in 1806 on the slopes of Servoz with magnificent views of the Mont Blanc massif. 7 beds, 3 baths, kitchen, open-plan living/dining room, self-contained 3-bed flat in need of renovation, parking. €1.62m; Cimalpes

France: Saint-Martin-de-Belleville
Charming, rustic chalet d'alpage in a glorious setting in the heart of Les Trois Vallées. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen, recep, converted cowshed including a dormitory-style area that sleeps eight, shower, parking. €1.475m; Leggett

Austria: Zellam See
A ski-in, ski-out chalet in a private and tranquil woodland setting close to Lake Zell. The property is located a little more than an hour's drive from the historic city of Salzburg. 4 beds, 2 baths, open-plan kitchen/dining area, recep, parking. €2.5m; Savills

France: Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
Handsome farmhouse built in 1830 and set in more than 17,000sq m. 3 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, parking. €895,000; Cimalpes

Norway: Beitostølen
Traditional half-timbered chalet with excellent views over the surrounding mountains. 3 suites, open-plan kitchen/living room, 2 receps, self-contained 2-bed guest area, outbuildings, parking. £1.355m; Belèven

Farage, Musk and Trump: they crave your attention. Don't give it to them
Andy Beckett in The Guardian
"Populism needs an audience", writes Andy Beckett. Without one, it "can just seem cranky and simplistic". So the media's current fascination with the movement has been "politically disastrous" because "populism's preoccupations now shape politics in Britain and far beyond". It "ought to be a great subject for critical scrutiny" and its voters "could also be treated less reverently". But "until its obsessions" make people "yawn and look away", populism will "be in the ascendancy".

LA's wildfires show climate change spares no one – not even the rich
Diyora Shadijanova in The i Paper
Scientists say the climate crisis is "exacerbating" the "scale and frequency" of wildfires, writes Diyora Shadijanova. The flames "engulfing LA" show that "no amount of wealth can fully insulate" people from "deadly fires" or, elsewhere, "flash floods" and "rising sea levels". No one "deserves to see their homes consumed by disaster" but the climate crisis "disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable", and "we can't ignore" the "role of wealth inequality in driving" it.

Why we should admire Mick Lynch
Mark Solomons in The Spectator
Rail workers' union leader Mick Lynch has announced his retirement, and will be "remembered for far more" than being "an old-fashioned left-winger", writes Mark Solomons. He's "someone who can articulate the demands of his members" and "argue with logic, humour and even reason". He'll retire "without achieving any of the bigger change he really wanted", though. He "wants a socialist state" and "I want Spurs to win the league" but "neither of us is going to get what we want".