hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the authorities in california have issued new evacuation orders, as a huge wildfire flares up again in santa barbara county. the blaze, which has been named the thomas fire, is the third—largest in the state, since reliable records began, covering almost a thousand square kilometres. meteorologists say fresh northerly winds are likely to drive the flames towards the pacific coast. sarah corker has the latest. fierce winds are driving one of the biggest fires in california's history towards the wealthy neighbourhood of montecito. they have already destroyed more than 700 homes, now another 18,000 are at risk as the flames moved towards the coast. strong wind at north pushing the fire back downhill, extremely dusty, cold and the humidity has been low, a hazardous firefight.

this area north—west of los angeles is home to many celebrities, including oprah winfrey, who tweeted: and earlier this week, talk show host ellen degeneres, who was forced to leave a home, posted this to thank firefighters. tens of thousands of people have fled, this is what they are escaping from. 8000 firefighters are working around the clock to try to contain this mammoth blaze, called the thomas fire. two people have been killed. the fire has been burning for nearly two weeks, blackening everything in its path. it's pretty crazy. i went to sleep last night about midnight and then work up to the roar of this fire coming through at about three a.m.. these fire coming through at about three a. m.. these trees fire coming through at about three a.m.. these trees at the base here are probably going to go up pretty

soon, is what they are telling us. the thick billowing smoke is causing breathing problems across santa barbara county. the community can come past the station, we have masks sitting out and they are welcome to as many as they would like. the mandatory evacuation zone is now 17 miles long, authorities say 40% of the fire is contained, but with winds of up to 60 mph forecast, firefighters are battling to protect coastal cities and towns. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the un security council is to consider a resolution declaring that any unilateral decision about the status ofjerusalem would have no legal effect. the measure, which is unlikely to be passed, follows president trump's decision to recognise the city as the capital of israel. the head of the argentine navy has been sacked, following the loss of a submarine and its crew last month. the san juan disappeared in the south atlantic with 44 crew members on board.

it's thought to have exploded. the submarine hasn't been located despite an international search operation. president trump has defended the republican tax reform plan from democratic charges that it favours the rich, saying it will be a great christmas gift to middle—income americans. congress is expected to approve the legislation on tuesday, after an agreement between the senate and the house of representatives. at least five people have been killed and fifteen are missing, after overnight torrential rains caused a landslide in chile. a river of mud has hit the town of villa santa lucia in patagonia, burying dozens of houses and cutting off water and electricity. rescue workers are searching the area to find survivors. senior members of austria's far—right freedom party have been given top level roles in the country's new coalition government. they reached a deal with the larger conservative people's party, whose 31 year—old leader,

sebastian kurz, will become chancellor. mr kurz said he will lead a government that was in favour of the eu, but he wanted brussels to have less say in key issues. from vienna, bethany bell reports. austria has a new government, and it is right wing. sebastian kurz of the people's party has done a deal with the far—right, traditionally eurosceptic freedom party. but he says his government will be strongly pro—eu. translation: we have agreed on a pro—european outlook with the aim of strengthening subsidiarity in the european union. a european union which should be stronger on the big issues and holds itself back on small issues. while the parties do not always agree on europe, they both take a hard line on migrants. the freedom party leader said the new government would crack down

on illegal immigration and cut benefits for refugees. translation: the minimum income for asylum seekers will be reduced to 365 euros per month, and those being integrated into society will receive an integration bonus in the amount of 155 euros. primary care for asylum seekers will be more supported with more material and funds than before. the freedom party is thejunior partner in this coalition, but it has come away with some significant posts — the interior, defence and foreign ministers. it has been a significant player in austrian politics for years, but it has been troubled by its past. it was formed by former nazis in the 1950s. these days, it routinely expels or suspends party members who veer towards neo—nazi ideology.

the freedom party has toned down some of its more extreme rhetoric in recent years, but many observers believe it has helped to set a right—wing agenda notjust here in austria but across europe. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. south african president jacob zuma has warned that the ruling african national congress is at a crossroads. he was speaking as delegates met to choose his successor as party leader. during his speech mr zuma, whose presidency has been blighted by corruption allegations, called for an end to ‘party infighting'. our africa editor fergal keane has more. not since the anc came to power 23 years ago has so much depended on the votes of its party members. an organisation that held together through more than eight decades of white rule is now bitterly divided.

they sing the same song but support very different visions. this conference isn'tjust about the future of a liberation movement, a political party. it's about the future of this country. will the anc elect a new leader who has promised to sweep away corruption? the anc has always been good at shows of unity, like the clasped hands of the two contenders, dr dlamini—zuma and the man targeting corruption, cyril ramaphosa, both vying for delegates' votes. who would you like to see as your next president? nkosaza na dlamini—zuma. nkosazana dlamini—zuma, she's going to be the president. definitely? yeah, definitely. you'll see, you'll see. you can see, look at the numbers. who do you think will be the next leader? cyril ramaphosa with be the president, no doubt. the mandate is for cyril ramaphosa to be the next president of the african national congress

and to be the next president the republic of south africa. dr dlamini—zuma is a senior politician in her own right but is also the ex—wife of jacob zuma. cyril ramaphosa could prove his nemesis if he makes good on his anti—corruption rhetoric. the president's allies have sought to portray ramaphosa as the puppet of greedy white business, hence this swipe in his speech. we need to find ways of protecting the anc from corporate greed and ensure that the decisions we take are informed by the policies of the anc and are not dictated by... are not dictated to by business interests. africa's oldest liberation movement is fraying, even in the face of

poignant pleas for unity. whoever is elected leader tomorrow will inherit a party in crisis. fergal keane, bbc news, johannesburg. a woolly mammoth which lived at least 10,000 years ago has sold at auction in the french city of lyon for more than $6a4,000. the skeleton, which is more than 3.4 metres high, was bought by a french waterproofing company, which uses the mammoth as its logo. the ceo said he thought there was enough room to display it in the firm's lobby. and you can keep up to date all with the latest news, business and sport on the bbc website. for reaction and analysis, go to bbc.com/news. water supplies to thousands of homes and businesses in gloucestershire have only just been restored, after two days. it follows a mains pipe burst in tewkesbury, that left many having

to rely on bottled water, as jon donnison reports. water, water everywhere. nor any drop to drink. a ruptured pipe has left these fields flooded, and in tewkesbury, thousands of people without water for a second day. many businesses have been forced to close. severn trent has already had to hand out 300,000 litres of bottled water. i'm surprised that severn trent have not got it all back together again within 2a hours. i had to drive nearly ten miles here. itjust can't be helped. it is one of those things. david luckett runs an emergency committee set up to deal with water problems in the nearby village of twining. he says more remote areas have been the worst affected. i feel that the villages have been left almost to their own devices to a certain extent.

we have had no forward delivery of any supplies. by late afternoon, severn trent water said that supply had returned to some areas, but not all. i can't say at this moment how long it will take to get back to normal, but i can assure all of our customers that we are working as hard as we can to get the network back to normal and to restore the water supplies. this evening, severn trent said that the majority of people in tewkesbury now have their supply back, but for a second night, some will go to bed wondering if they will wake up with water. jon donnison, bbc news. police investigating the deaths of a 75—year—old canadian billionaire and his wife say the circumstances appear suspicious. barry sherman, who founded a major pharmaceutical company, was found dead with his wife honey at their mansion in toronto. reports say there was no sign of forced entry. joining me now is lorenda reddekopp, reporter for cbc news in toronto. lorenda has spent all day at barry and honey sherman's home. what details are coming out? the

autopsies were supposed to be done today but we haven't heard what they revealed. at the scene today there we re revealed. at the scene today there were police vehicles, they are all day long, at were police vehicles, they are all daylong, at1.6 were police vehicles, they are all day long, at 1.6 police cars were lined up one in front of the other in front of the house and one of those vehicles was forensics identification van. there is still yellow police tape in front of that mansion. as well, a view people, to people who say that they were employees of that company that he founded, back in the 1970s, they left bouquets of flowers just outside the home and both of those employees were incredibly upset, they were actually both in tears. they say he was a very nice man, kind man and they couldn't believe this news. we have also heard reactions from tricky high—profile

canadians, even the prime minister has responded on this and that is because he was one of canada's wealthiest people, worth multi— billions of dollars and also they we re billions of dollars and also they were such philanthropists. they donated many millions of dollars to oui’ donated many millions of dollars to our nations, organisations, also hospitals and schools, there were buildings that had his name on them. it is such a shock, seeing at that site where it is such a wealthy neighbourhood, a quiet street, people couldn't believe that something like this could happen. has there been any reaction from the family? the family has released a statement and that is because some news outlets today were reporting that this was as a result of a murder—suicide, that is not something that i was yet reporting but late today the family did

actually issue a statement and really strongly criticised police and also those media outlets. i am going to read you a couple of lines that statement. it reads in part, we are shocked and think it is irresponsible that police sources have reportedly advised the media of a theory which neither their family, their friends, a theory which neither their family, theirfriends, nor their a theory which neither their family, their friends, nor their colleagues believed to be true. and so police officially haven't said much, just saying that they don't believe anybody entered the home using forceful entry and they don't believe anyone else was in the home at the time of these deaths. they actually haven't even officially released the couples names as the people who were killed in this case. they say they are going to be waiting for the autopsies and also their investigation before they release any further details. thank you so much for that update. thank you. this is bbc news. the headlines: authorities in california have issued new evacuation orders as a huge wildfire flares up again in santa barbara county. the blaze is the third—largest

in the state since records began. as south africa's ruling anc party decides on its next leader, presidentjacob zuma has warned of huge challenges ahead, and of the need to unite. he only ruled for ten of his 96 years, but king michael of romania has been given a farewell fit for a national hero. tens of thousands of romanians lined the streets of bucharest as his coffin was carried on a gun carriage from the former royal palace to the patriotic or cathedral of the orthodox church. michael came from the german house of hohenzollern and was a third cousin of queen elizabeth.

the king's five daughters and royalty from all over europe attended the funeral mass, including britain's prince charles and former king juan carlos and queen sofia of spain. michael came to the throne for the first time when he was only five years old in 1927. since then, he was the contemporary of 16 us presidents and eight popes. he's best known for switching romania from the nazi to the allied side during the second world war in 19114. forced to abdicate in 19117 by romania's communist rulers, he lived most of his life in exile in switzerland. the large crowds reminded people of the fall of communism. there was a sense of regret that the monarchy had not been restored then. from there, he was carried slowly

on the royal train on his final journey to the orthodox monastery at curtea de arges, in the foothills of the carpathian mountains. translation: it is very sad, sad that the king was not able to be in romania, we missed this opportunity twice, when we chased out in 1947, then in 1990. without him, we have lost dignity, education and common sense. maybe we will wake up now. translation: it is important to pay final tribute to his majesty, because on top of the national tributes, he represents a personal example of depth, dignity, refusal to compromise, and a love of country. from the cathedral, the coffin was taken back through the streets of bucharest to the baneasa railway station. from there, he was carried slowly on the royal train on his final journey to the orthodox

monastery at curtea de arges, in the foothills of the carpathian mountains. after another church service, attended only by close family and dignitaries, king michael was finally laid to rest in the royal crypt of the monastery beside his wife, his father and his grandfather. nick thorpe, bbc news. retailers are expected to make big discounts in the final week before christmas, to convince shoppers to keep spending throughout the festive period. there's fear among some on the high street, that with rising inflation and stagnant wages, consumers may be more willing to spend big in the period after black friday in late november, rather than in the run up to december the 25th. our business correspondent, joe lynam reports. what could be more christmassy and the salvation army warming our hearts and the hustle and bustle of shoppers

hunting for bargains? but with money tight and competition intense, some big retailers are starting to offer big discounts well ahead of the boxing day sales. will it work? i do believe that retailers are trying to get the money in before christmas rather than after. quite a few shops have got reduced prices, bargains on. obviously if you're going to wait to the sales, but i think a lot of sales, looking around, have started already. we come to these every saturday and stuff that i looked at last week is on sale this week. the consultants pwc have found evidence of pre—christmas discounting and expect it to intensify next week. promotional levels are ticking up, both online and off—line, so in the run—up to christmas, if you've not done your shopping yet, we expecting a lot more promotions, particularly online in the final week before christmas. the bad weather earlier this week may have kept some shoppers at home, but experts feel that there will be back in numbers. retail spending was surprisingly up by 1.1% last month. i say surprising because average prices in the shops were rising faster than wages, and ordinarily consumers rein in their spending,

but they haven't, yet, and retailers want every penny of that spare money. and to do that they are slashing some prices, but in doing so, they are merely bringing forward the discounts that they would have offered in the winter sales. it's all part of the annual face—off between retailers and consumers. joe lynam, bbc news. thousands are thought to have died after a thick polluted fog engulfed london forfour days in december 1952. the smog was so thick that visibility was just one metre. in response, the government passed the clean air act to reduce the use of smoky fuels. dr brian commins — who worked for the air pollution unit in the 1950s — spoke to the bbc‘s witness programme. reporter footage: ordinary fog does little harm,

but smog, smoke and fog, has become one of the greatest mass murderers of modern times. the smog began on a friday, and it was black. it was described as a pea soup because it was a bit yellowish. you could smell it. it tasted a bit acidic. and it caused absolute havoc in the levels of pollution, they were horrendous. you could not see your feet. i remember on one particular occasion i wanted to cross a very wide road, and i shuffled across, and after 10 minutes i did not know where i was. and finally i ended up on the same side of the road as i started. it was extremely cold for several days.

and, of course, londoners wanted to keep warm, because it was so cold, and so they burnt coal on their open fires. the pollution did not rise up, it tended to drift down and pervade the street and everything else. the smog got in everywhere, you couldn't avoid it. reporter footage: special filtering masks are the latest weapons designed to combat smog. quite a number of people had bronchitis because of industrial exposure and because they smoked. and, of course, when they breathed polluted air, this became very hard for them. reporter footage: heaven help the doctor on a night like this. what can you do when records and experience tell you that the city's death rate is about to jump. as many as 100,000 people in london were made ill by the pollution at the time, especially people

with asthma, cardiovascular problems, and also, the very young and the elderly, they also suffered. reporter footage: if you looked at his x—ray, you would see plenty. we don't know exactly... and to see somebody fighting for air is a harrowing experience. breathing heavily. trying to get air into their lungs. and, of course, it would be dirty air, even in the wards. there were estimates that there were some 4000 excess deaths, and there was a shortage of coffins, because there were so many people who died. the government recognised we need to study this pollution,

and that is why we had set up an air pollution research unit in barts hospital in central london. and i was a founding member of that unit in 1951, there were three of us. in 1956, the government decided to pass something called the clean air act to try and discourage and minimise the amount of smoke and fuel that was being used. reporter footage: new flats are a part of the campaign... we still had but as time went on, we had the availability of smokeless fuels like gas and oil. without that, we would have been in a bad way. now, as you may have seen, there's a new strictly come dancing champion.

it'sjoe and katya! cheering and applause. the soap starjoe mcfadden lifted the glitterball trophy, along with his dancing partner katya jones. he had a near perfect score from the judges all night, beating fellow finalists debbie mcgee, alexandra burke and gemma atkinson. at 42, he's the oldest winner in the show‘s history. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm at l vaughanjones. for now, let's take a look at the weather with louise. good morning. after our wintry week of weather, it's all change on the weather front. the week ahead looks mild for all of us. there's also going to be a lot of dry weather in the story. but, unfortunately, not that much in the way of sunshine. it'll be quite cloudy. and we can see the first signs of that cloud spilling in from the atlantic through the night.

now, ahead of it, we'll keep some clear skies. so, a west—east divide first thing in the morning. eastern areas could start cold, even frosty as well. but you will see brightness. patchy fog as well in the midlands and south—east england. that'll be slow to clear. here, temperatures hovering around just below freezing. further west, it's a different story. the milder air pushing in and turning wet and windy. in fact, some of that rain as it pushes into the higher grounds of scotland will be heavy for a time. the rain pushes into south—west wales and south—west england through the morning. the frost will lift. dry weather clouding over. by the middle of the afternoon, the rain does south—east. that will give us quite a contrast into the afternoon. showery outbreaks of rain linger into the south—west. poor visibility with any height in the higher grounds of wales. a similar story in the pennines. the south—east, a wet end to the afternoon. the weather behind it, 10 degrees in wales.

and for northern ireland and scotland, not too bad. a contrast to the morning. sunshine coming through, just a few isolated showers in the far north. but nowhere near as cold as it has been. rain continuing to sweep south overnight. briefly, the wind could swing around to a north—westerly four a time. and that means a slightly chilly start to monday morning in places. temperatures falling as low as six degrees. it also means we could have brightness to start with in eastern areas. but this is the trend for the early half of the week. high pressure building from the south and it is likely to stay there. weather fronts fringing the extreme north—west. the winds will revert to a north—westerly. a mild start to next week. a change to the feel of the weather if you have outdoor plan in the next few days. christmas holidays coming. cloud coming and double digits for all. whatever you do, enjoy it. goodbye. this is bbc news, the headlines.

authorities in california have issued new evacuation orders, as a huge wildfire flares up again in santa barbara county. meteorologists said fresh northerly winds were likely to drive the flames from the fire towards the pacific coast. the blaze is the third—largest in the state since records began. the far—right freedom party in austria has been put in charge of the foreign and defence ministries and the home office. it has formed a coalition government with the conservative people's party, which won elections two months ago, but failed to achieve a majority. south africa's president jacob zuma has called on the african national congress to stop infighting, as it decides who will next lead the party. the main contenders to succeed him are the deputy president,

cyril ramaphosa, and former cabinet minister nkosazana dlamini—zuma, president zuma's ex—wife. they were thought to be lost forever, but now tv shows starring cilla black and pete postlethwaite will be seen for the first time