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In photos: Dramatic scenes from California's wildfires

A firefighter controls a hotspot of the Maria Fire, in Santa Paula, Ventura County, California, on Saturday. Photo: Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

California firefighters have spent days battling wildfires in challenging, dry conditions that have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

The big picture: Firefighters have even faced hurricane-strength winds in some places. California's governor has declared a state of emergency, and some 3 million people have been affected by power shut-offs, per the New York Times. This is what firefighters have been up against, in photos.

Firefighters work to control flames from a backfire during the Maria fire in Santa Paula on Nov. 1. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
A firefighter controls a hotspot of the Maria Fire, in Santa Paula, Ventura County. Photo: Apu Gomes / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
The Soda Rock Winery burns during the Kincade fire as flames race through Healdsburg, California. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters at the Getty Fire in Brentwood. Photo: Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images
A Cal Fire firefighter watches over a structure threatened by the Kincade Fire. Anda Chu/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images
Firefighters set a backfire along a hillside near PG&E power lines in Healdsburg. Photo: Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters arrive at the scene of a burning home in Healdsburg. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
A firefighting air tanker flies over power transmission towers in Geyserville. Photo: Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Firefighters at the massive Kincade fire in Healdsburg. Photo: Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images
Veterinarian Emily Putt walks a horse from a burn during the Kincade fire in Windsor. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A firefighter walks through a burned property after the Kincade fire tore through Healdsburg. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
Firefighters remove a U.S. flag from a property as flames race into the area in Healdsburg. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Go deeper:

Editor's note: This article has been updated with the latest details of the fires and more photos.

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Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

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Updated 10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
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Lachlan Markay
11 hours ago - Politics & Policy

John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
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