i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: at least 21 people have died in wildfires in california and authorities say they're likely to get worse. as the us flies bombers over the korean peninsula — pyongyang issues fresh threats to the trump administration. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: the harvey weinstein scandal intensifies — hollywood a—listers are the latest to accuse the movie mogul of sexual harassment. and how india's border with china is more porous than you might think — we visit a remote village on the edge of indian territory. life from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news.

it is newsday. it's 7.00am in singapore midnight in london and 4pm in california where wildfires have been raging out of control. there are worries strong, dry winds may fan new outbreaks in a region already devastated by the blazes. more than 20 people are known to have died and more than 500 are missing amid large scale evacuations. cbs correspondent greg mills is in santa rosa, california. four days ago, three days ago sunday afternoon, this was filled with families. everybody had their home, nobody thought anything was happening and then suddenly sunday night, like that, you get the strong winds kicking in, a fire started somehow and investigators are trying to figure it out, but this all happened and much of this happened over sunday night. one person i was talking to grew up here in santa rosa and now works for the city and he and other city workers were talking

and discussing the areas they cover and they believe there are about 1000 homes here in santa rosa alone that were lost due to this fire. most people did get out 0k. 21 people sadly were killed by this fire. they are still discovering bodies as they are checking more and more of these homes that lost the battle in the fire. they are now checking and finding more bodies. we are staying in a hotel that's maybe 12, 15 miles that way. you wouldn't know there was a fire except you smell the fire, you taste the fire, your clothes smell of fire, other than that other than that you wouldn't know there was a fire because you are seeing green vegetation that looks nice, the pool is nice at the hotel, that type of thing. you come 12 miles here and you see a different world. you can go five miles that way and see what we saw before. it's almost like it in a movie. it really is. you see smoke over all this, all this devastation. this is the wine country,

so well—known for being wine country, but five wineries have burned down, others were damaged. so it's going to have an economic impact as well, but i think that's down the road. people are mostly concerned with what happens next. do you rebuild, what do you do? daniel berlant is the assistant deputy director of cal fire — in the state capital sacramento. with so many people unaccounted for, i asked him to clarify the figures. we are battling 22 large wildfires across california. 2700 acres have been destroyed. a lot of people still unaccounted for. 20,000 people evacuated and this is the sad number. at least 3500 homes and structures destroyed and 21 people have now been confirmed as dead. a very tragic situation in california, but we have over 8000 firefighters

battling the fire bringing in a lot of reinforcements to try and slow down and stop these fast—moving fires fanned by the winds. 8000 firefighters, are you getting to grips with this? in california we have wildfires every year, we prepare and train for this. we are able to call in local firefighters from major cities, san francisco, los angeles and the communities in between. we have called to other states to send their firefighting resources as well. a lot of equipment we need to battle these fires, but mother nature is working against us. when it comes to your advice to people on the ground, what do you tell them because it is so fast—moving and so incredibly localised as well? the key is always being prepared. we never know where these fires will break out but making sure we are prepared ahead of time will show we have defensible

space and clearance around our homes. we want people to have a evacuation plans. especially now the fires have broken out, we are working to get them out of harm ‘s way. that is our priority right now. in the first 2a hours, our number one priority was getting people rescued out of their homes. these fires were so fast—moving, many the time because they were asleep when these fires broke out. didn't have time to evacuate and firefighters having to rescue them across a wide swathe of california. it must be terrifying for these people, is there any chance the weather is changing. the winds are dying down a little bit? the winds yesterday died down. that allowed us to make some good progress on a number of fronts. the unfortunate thing, the winds today are picking a back—up. we will be under a red flag warning for high winds and low humidity. that

combination will not only hamper our efforts, but raise the fire risk for new fires as well. unfortunately, mother nature not working in our favour and will be changing in the next 2a hours. favour and will be changing in the next 24 hours. we are of course monitoring that on our website. also making news today... the united nations human rights office has accused the burmese security forces of a systematic policy of brutal expulsion of the muslim rohingya minority that's designed to ensure they never return to myanmar. it says attacks against the rohingya, destruction of their homes, crops and livestock, render any return of the refugees to normal life in rakhine state almost impossible. the report is based on what the un says was consistent interviews with more than 60 of the more than half—million rohingya refugees who've fled to neighbouring bangladesh in recent weeks. the spanish prime minister, mariano rajoy, has set a monday deadline for catalan authorities to clarify whether they've declared independence from spain or not. he's also ruled out mediation, saying such a process cannot take place because the independence

referendum was unconstitutional and therefore illegal. philippine lawmakers have asked the country's supreme court to halt president rodrigo duterte's war on drugs, calling it an illegal campaign that lets police kill. the injunction claims the practise of compiling lists of "drug personalities" was like drawing up a hit list. president trump says he could envisage a new trade pact with canada that might exclude mexico. speaking at the white house with canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, mr trump said us workers had to be protected. mexico's foreign minister has warned that if the us tore up the north american free trade agreement which covers the three countries, cross—border relations, including cooperation in the war on drugs, would suffer badly. have a look at these images from

australia. yes this is a shark. this happened in a rock pool in sydney, where a woman noticed that this shark appeared to be in distress. she was filmed calm as anything, lifting it up, and throwing it into the sea. later she said the animal was not heavy and felt like a toddler. impressive. north korea's issued a fresh threat to the trump administration. it's foreign minister says the president has "lit the wick of war" and that it is ready to, quote, "settle the final score, with a hail of fire, not words". this comes as the us conducted a joint military exercise with south korea, flying two strategic bombers over the korean peninsula. the bombers flew from the us airbase in guam, on a training exercise. north korea has always been a

country of propaganda, a country of military mobilisation. this time, certainly much more so than my previous trips. that is because of a general escalation of tensions over the last couple of years, but it is partly because of president trump's rhetoric and his speech to the united nations in which he talked about the total destruction of north korea. he was attempting to intimidate kim jong—un into korea. he was attempting to intimidate kimjong—un into backing off, but the north koreans have seized upon that for their own propaganda purposes, partly because... look, their narrative for kim jong—un's existence is to defend the korean people from outside threats. now they have somebody talking about the total destruction of north korea. it plays into their

own narrative and they using it to justify their rule and to justified the military mobilisation and to further escalate tensions themselves. i think there are people on both sides who are trying to avert, what could be a calamitous collision. i also think they are marginalised in both places. the wife of hollywood producer harvey weinstein has announced she's leaving him following a torrent of allegations of sexual harassment and rape from a number of actresses. she described her husband's alleged behaviour as "unforgivable". nick bryant reports. this time last week, harvey weinstein was at the centre of hollywood's in crowd, but now he's a virtual outcast. known not for the magnetism of his personality, but what accusers have described as the menace. a—list actresses, to women who just wanted to break into the movie and tv industry, all saying he sexually abused or harassed them, claims he denies.

but now his wife of 10 years has decided to leave him, horrified by what she's been hearing. the british fashion designer, georgina chapman, described her husband's actions as "unforgiveable" and said "my heart breaks for all the women who suffered tremendous pain." the new zealand model, zoe brock, claims the producer harassed her at the cannes film festival in the late 1990s. harvey walked out of the room and came back in naked. he came back naked? naked. what did you say? and he said that he wanted a massage, could i give him a massage? isaid, no. weinstein claims many sexual encounters were consensual, not according to zoe brock. i hope he's watching. say that to my face, harvey! i would happily stand in a court room and testify. happily.

tonight the british model and actress, cara delevingne, claimed he harassed her in a hotel room. he walked me to the door and tried to kiss me on the lips. i stopped him. i still got the part for the film and always thought he gave it to me because of what happened. some of hollywood's leading men have also distanced themselves from a friend who gave them their big breaks. george clooney described weinstein's behaviour as "indefensible." so how's your lady? ben affleck, who made his name the weinstein movie, good will hunting, said he was "angry." his co—starmatt damon, said he was sick to his stomach his co—star matt damon, said he was sick to his stomach and said he'd never seen this kind of behaviour or been part of an attempt to suppress stories about it in the past. this is the new york headquarters of the weinstein company, which sacked its co—founder on sunday. it's said to be considering a name change. the company faces the same questions as the industry as a whole — did it protect him? did it enable him? was this an open secret that

friend and colleagues friends and colleagues simply chose to ignore? those who worked with him speak of his immense power and career breaking influence. if you had been an actress who, let's say, harvey had groped your breasts while you were supposed to be auditioning for him, what are you going to do? you're not going to go to the police. they're not going to take that seriously. you're not going to call a journalist because at that point he had the whole media world in his pocket and no—one was going to go up against harvey weinstein. there is only a down side to reporting it — ie, harvey's going to destroy your career. there's no upside to doing that. why is anyone going to do that? bafta has suspended weinstein from its membership. the hosts of the oscars are now considering taking action. his beloved red carpet, a place where he used to parade his powerfor now, at least, seems out of bound. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme... we visit a remote indian border region where villagers say they regularly see chinese troops inside india's territory parts san fransisco bay least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marine area, they are conscious as to how much has been destroyed. he has gone from being a little—known revolutionary to a successful and experienced diplomatic operator. the bomb exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken, democracy will prevail. if tilse me with gratitude to know i have been

chosen as the recipient... this catholic nation held its breath for the men they called the 33. and then... belles told nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is newsday on the bbc. our top stories. at least 21 people have died in wildfires in northern california and hundreds are reported to be missing. north korea has issued a fresh threat to the trump administration, warning that president trump had "lit the wick of war" — it comes after the us flew bombers over the korean peninsula let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. papers in the south china morning post leads with

hong kong's chief executive's debut speech, after 100 days in office. carrie lam promised to cut profit tax, boost research and offer more housing options, but, the paper says, she steered clear of tricky political issues. 0n the front page of the the philippine daily inquirer the the philippine daily inquirer is this picture of the us navy destroyer uss chafee approaching a string of disputed islets in the south china sea, even as, the paper says, us president trump seeks chinese cooperation in dealing with north korea. and finally, the front page of the china daily has a report on a new test for liver cancer, developed by scientists in china. the paper says the test is expected to greatly improve accuracy in diagnosis of one of the most common cancers in china. now, what stories are sparking discussions online?

well, a belated birthday present for vladimir putin has got a lot of attention online. the russian president is well known as a dog lover, so the president of turkmenistan thought this central asian shepherd would be a great gift and mr putin seems to agree. the puppy is called verny, which means "faithful" in russian. the same vessel is at a new drilling

site of the australian coast. somewhere between adelaide and perth. this latest expedition is focused on learning more about the history of plate tectonic movements in the region and about how the giant landmasses and adopt about where they are. joining us now is a scientist of the expedition and is ona ship scientist of the expedition and is on a ship off the coast of australia. thank you forjoining us. you are on a new mission involving more drilling into the earth's crossed. you are five days into this mission, what have you discovered so far? well, we are looking to study the birth of an ocean base. we started drilling about 83 million

yea rs started drilling about 83 million years ago. we are 520 metres below the sea bed. we have gone down to about 91 billion years ago. the ship is able to recover tremendous quality of court to give us continuous history of that time. it tells us about the opening of the ocean base but it shows climate change from extreme war daily—macro warmth and then cooling. what does this tell us about how the world used to look and where we are now? we know this location was close to antarctica, so we are in a polar location. by recovering the records, we can reconstruct the ocean surface through time. this record tells us we we re through time. this record tells us we were much warmer in history,

because of the c02 and gas from the volcanoes. what influence has this had on our climate and how we live today? australia has shifted northwards, i am sure australian citizens are glad because it is much warmer than where they used to be. we have this high world, and ice sheets in antarctica giving us the climate today. we are understanding the triggers of warming, when there isa the triggers of warming, when there is a volcanic eruption, how fast is the climate react and how long does it take to take the c02 out of the atmosphere. the studies, what humans

are doing today has a faster rate and more of a magnitude than anything in the geological pathan we are well. only a few weeks ago, the media in china and india were full of talk of war, amidst a standoff at a disputed border area in the himalayan region. you may remember, there was some eye—balling, jostling and trespassing, before eventually both countries decided to pull back troops. but how tense relations really are along the indian—chinese border? nitin srivastava has travelled to a remote village in india's north—eastern most state of arunachal pradesh, to find out. it's a tortuous mountain terrain with not a single soul in sight. you have to travel for more than two

days on a dirt track to reach one of india's last villages before the border with china. this is just one of 50 families who live in this remote hamlet. farming is the only source of income. there's no internet or phone connection. nearest place to buy household goods is five hours away. popping across the border into china is the easier option. translation: there is a lot of development out there. unlike here, they have proper roads and infrastructure. their government has constructed homes for each family residing at the border. every second family in this remote part of the village has a relative on the other side, which is china. and some get to meet

them once in awhile. but what is really usual for them is to see chinese troops at least once a year inside indian territory. this man, who lives nearby, has seen this with his own eyes. he works as a guide and translator. translation: i met the chinese soldiers almost 102 soldiers almost 100 inside the indian border and they asked me how many indian troops were nearby. isaid 300. they went back a few hours later. india and china have a long—standing border dispute and the countries even went to a full—scale war in 1962. the stand—off was resolved peacefully

but only after two months of intense media hype. the reality on the ground is very different for these villagers. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. coming up, we'll be looking at the airof the coming up, we'll be looking at the air of the samsung fortune who will be court today contesting a corruption conviction. the crown prince to samsung, he is back in court today. the 49—year—old was convicted of bribery charges a month ago and this is a case that has gripped both south korea's business and political circles. what implications will it have for the company? what can we expect from the

appeal? i will have all of those details coming up for you. looking forward to that and despite the scandal, it is not impacting its stock price. and from the programme that brought you putin's puppy, here are some more baby animals. sea otters are adorable creatures, but when a mother otter teaches her baby to swim the cuteness level is off the charts. and here you have it, this baby otter‘s first swimming lesson. according to the oregon zoo, sea otters are listed as threatened on the endangered species list. from rico and me, thanks for watching. the weather is much quieter, turning

chile under clear skies, but on wednesday we had some severe weather in cumbria, heavy cloud, low cloud as well producing a lot of rain feeding into the rivers as the water drained from the higher ground. it was on the highest ground we had some of the heaviest rain. over 200 millimetres of rain falling in about 24 hours. there was a thicker band of cloud, as it swept its way selfies was. the weather front weekend and it is out of the way. we are intoa weekend and it is out of the way. we are into a flat ridge, this deepening low pressure is waiting in the wings to arrive by the end of the wings to arrive by the end of the week. but a quieter day on thursday. chilly in the morning and mist patches in the south. a lot of dry weather and some sunshine. as you had further north, the winds are stronger and in scotland and northern ireland in particular, they

will be —— there will be more cloud from the word go. and around the highlands, the heavy showers for the northern isles. winds will be gusting scotland and picking up in northern ireland and almost more cloud around here from time to time. some patchy cloud developing in england and wales but more sunshine than yesterday. slightly fresher air but temperatures will be similar to what we had on wednesday and it should be a decent day for most of us. those weather systems arrive in the north—west overnight. thickening cloud and bringing outbreaks of rain and the winds would be picking up as well. the wettest weather will be over the hills, western scotland, more rain pushing into cumbria and north wales. further south and east get sunshine, those temperatures will be close to 20 degrees. quite warm air across much of the uk and as we head into the weekend, we will draw up some warmer air from iberia, the baia biscay and into central and southern parts of the uk. either

side of the weather fronts, which, having moved southwards, it will move northwards again on saturday. not much rain on that at all, rain over the hills but it may turn wetter in the north—west later on in the day. warming up to the south and those temperatures getting up to 19 or20. rain those temperatures getting up to 19 or 20. rain continues in the north—west of the uk. in ireland and over the hills of scotland. further south, get some sunshine, particularly in the south—east and we could be 20 three. hello, it's bbc world news. the top story: officials say that wins and dry conditions could spread wildfires that are the most deadly in the state's history. north korea has issued a fresh threat to the trump administration, accusing the president of lighting the wake of war. it comes after us bombers flew over the korean peninsula.

allegations against hollywood film producer harvey weinstein are mounting. a string of high—profile actresses and models have come forward to accuse the movie mogul of sexual harassment or assault. lots more on the website but that's all from me. stay with us on bbc world news, goodbye for now. now it's time for hardtalk. music playing.