The catastrophic wildfires that have been ravaging Los Angeles in the past week are among the most destructive in California's history. While the fires have been exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, and strong wind, climate change certainly plays a part in causing the fires to reach catastrophic scale. With Donald Trump who says climate crisis is “one of the great scams” and promises to “drill, drill, drill” coming into office, wildfires and other climate change-related disasters are expected to jump in the US in the years to come. The US economy and Americans will pay a heavy price for not taking climate change seriously.

For the coming Chinese New Year, i Capital will pause its publication for two weeks, from the week beginning 27 Jan. Our Kuala Lumpur office will be closed from 12pm on 28 Jan to 2 Feb, during which www.icapital.biz will not be updated. Normal operating hours will resume on 3 Feb. The next issue, Volume 36, number 24 of i Capital, will be dated 13 - 19 Feb 2025.