On a day when it felt the rain would never stop, John Barrow was rallying his team for the final days of battle. In a campaign office 20 miles north-east of Atlanta, he was talking like a high school American football coach in the movies, urging his team to believe in themselves. Mr Barrow, a Democrat running to be Georgia’s secretary of state, is desperate to win.

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are lifting evacuation orders for some Northern California communities ravaged by the state's deadliest wildfire but said no traffic will be allowed into the town of Paradise, which was the most devastated community in last month's blaze.