Los Angeles - In her most extensive comments since her breakdown last year, fallen pop princess Britney Spears says that her life has been worse than a jail sentence, but that she's slowly healing, one day at a time.

"I have really good days, and then I have bad days," Spears says in a new minute documentary, Britney: For The Record, that will air in the United States on November 30 on MTV.

Los Angeles  - California always evoked bikini-clad beach beauties, high-tech hothouses and carefree surfers in the endless sunshine of America's most populous state.

But those visions have gone up in smoke, replaced by new images seen around the world in the last week: massive flames roaring through the mansions of the rich and famous, and razing to the ground an entire neighbourhood of 500 mobile homes.

San Francisco  - Jerry Yang, who helped kick start the internet revolution as co-founder of web portal Yahoo, is stepping down as the company's chief executive.

The announcement by the ailing internet giant came after months of falling revenue, fierce proxy battles and a series of botched negotiations that scuttled what now seems to have been an exceedingly generous buyout offer from Microsoft.

Yahoo said that the search for a successor had already started and that Yang will leave after his replacement is found.

Los Angeles  - Aided by lighter winds Monday, firefighters in southern California were gaining the upper hand on three wildfires that have devastated the region. They were hopeful of containing the blazes by mid-week.

The fires have destroyed hundreds of homes since Thursday, including 500 mobile homes in Sylmar, east of Los Angeles. More than 100 homes in the luxurious celebrity enclave of Montecito, northwest of Los Angeles, also went up in flames.

Los Angeles - Dirk Nowitzki was at his best at the end to put an end to the Dallas Mavericks' worst start in a decade.

The German juggernaut erupted for seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime and pulled down 15 rebounds as the Mavericks stopped a five-game slide with a 124-114 come-from-behind road victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

"We had to get off this losing streak, so whatever I had to do," Nowitzki said. "The team told me to keep shooting and play aggressively."

Los Angeles  - Firefighters on Sunday were battling three wildfires in southern California that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to be evacuated, local media reported.

The blazes had destroyed hundreds of homes since Thursday, including 500 mobile homes in Sylmar, where officials on Sunday were use dogs to search for bodies of possible victims. About 630 structures were destroyed in that fire alone, the Los Angeles Times reported.