Bette Midler begins as a red-hot mama and winds up as Mother Courage.

NEWYORKER: For the Boys

Catherine Chabaud, ahead of him, and another Briton Josh Hall, hot on his heels, have had stronger winds and have been sailing faster.

BBC: Golding in the doldrums

It was reopened at midafternoon around the time coastal weather stations recorded a localized return of moisture-bearing winds off the ocean, although hot Santa Anas kept blowing a few miles inland.

NPR: Fire Forces Evacuation Of Campus, Homes In Calif.

Fanned by winds roaring towards the Pacific coast from the hot western plains of New South Wales, some of the worst bushfires Australia has seen have turned much of the state into an inferno, reaching the northern suburbs of Sydney itself.

ECONOMIST: Arson suspected