welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: rescue workers search for survivors after at least 17 people were killed in mudslides and flooding in southern california. historic hotels and celebrity homes were also hit by the river of mud. so there used to be a fence right here. that's my meighbour‘s house. that's my neighbour's house. devastated. in tunisia, demonstrators and riot police clash for a third day. the prime minister accuses anti—austerity protestors of trying to weaken the government. a special report from jordan, where two young girls badly injured in the syrian war are facing a long wait for treatment. and the actress catherine deneuve signs an open letter defending the right of men to hit on women. it's just been confirmed at least 17

people have been killed by mudslides and flash floods in southern california. but with many unaccounted for, rescue workers fear dozens may still be trapped, and a desperate search for survivors is under way. many of those now affected are the very same people who had to flee last month from some of the biggest wildfires in the state's history. the latest extreme weather has hit carpinteria, santa barbara and montecito. from there, our correspondent james cook. on california's pacific coast, ordeal by the elements continues. first, they endured the largest fire in the state's history. next came torrential rain, more intense than anyone here can remember. and then, within minutes, destruction, caused by an unstoppable wall of mud and debris.

14—year—old lauren cantin survived, but even she doesn't know how. firefighters using rescue dogs heard her screams, and worked for hours to pull her from the wreckage of her home. her family's fate is unknown. everyone here, it seems, has their own incredible story of a struggle to survive. we heard a little baby crying. and we dug down and found a little baby. i don't know where it came from. we got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. i'm hoping it's ok, they took it right to the hospital. but it was just a baby, four feet down in the mud, in nowhere, under the rocks. i'm glad we got it. coast village road, montecito, montecito. so why did this happen? the downpour soaked an area which had been scorched by wildfire, burning grass and shrubs

which hold the soil in place, and baking the earth, leaving it slick and hard. the water had nowhere to go but down, fast, into the town of montecito, with deadly, devastating effect. and the destruction wasn't confined to the coast. further inland in burbank, a suburb of los angeles, the cameras captured another mudslide in action. well, the power of this mudslide is graphically demonstrated here. for the people in these homes, and there were some people who stayed in this area, it must have been terrifying, as boulders like this and other debris swept down from the hills. firefighters insist there is still some hope of finding survivors, but it is fading. the financial cost from this

disaster will be immense, the human toll much higher. james cook, bbc news, montecito. a short while ago, the santa barbara county sheriff—coroner confirmed that the death toll had risen but the names of the latest victims would not be released yet we are saddened to report that the death toll has now risen to 17, with two additional fatalities recovered today. the process of positively identifying the victims is a process that is slow. it takes time, and it cannot be rushed. our coroner's office and our forensic unit are working around the clock to make careful identifications, to be absolutely positive that we make the right identifications, and to work with and notify the next of kin. at this time, we are not ready to release the names of the victims, or identifying information, but anticipate that we will be doing

that in the near future. we will be speaking in just a few moments to someone also at the sharp end helping recover from moments to someone also at the sharp end helping recoverfrom that mudslide injust a end helping recoverfrom that mudslide in just a few moments. tunisia's prime minister has criticised the anti—austerity protests that have affected about 20 towns. he described the demonstrations as unacceptable violence, and claimed vandals were trying to weaken the state. dozens of people, including police officers, have been injured since sunday. for a third night, police have again fired teargas to disperse protesters in the capital tunis and surrounding areas. sarah corker reports. anger over rising prices in tunisia has turned into a rest. this is taberba, 20 miles west of thej. young people took to the streets for a third successive night. 0ne young people took to the streets for a third successive night. one man died in clashes here monday. police

and troops have been deployed in several cities. there's been clashes in tunis too. demonstrators threw stones and burned tyres. riot police responded with tear gas. translation: it's not the people's bold. young believable, people have studied and studied and le. the left unemployed or in a difficult situation. as far as we're concerned we have to endure these clashes. protesters have been accused of using children to loot shops. so far more than 200 people have been arrested after what the prime minister described as unacceptable violence. translation: everytime there is societal friction violence. translation: everytime there is societalfriction in tunisia, the vandals come out. they start destroying things and recruiting small kids. these people don't serve the interests of tunisia. these protests started peacefully last week but public anger has been building since the government raised

the price of petrol, stable items and introduced a new taxes at the start of the year. the government says its top priority is improving the lives of ordinary tunisians, but for another night there's tension and violence and massive anti—austerity rallies are planned for friday. sarah corker, bbc news. in syria, at least 85 people have been killed in the past ten days, in a besieged suburb of damascus under rebel control. united nations officials have called the recent upsurge in attacks on eastern ghouta, by government forces, a human catastrophe. the area has been under siege for more than four and a half years, as our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports, from damascus. the bombs fall every day now in eastern ghouta.

rescue teams rush in to bring survivors out. frightened children trapped inside, not knowing where to run or hide. this footage filmed by the western—backed white helmets, in the neighbourhood of hamoria. they are digging in the rubble with whatever tools they find. often it's just bare hands. the attacks by syrian and russian warplanes on this last rebel—held enclave of damascus intensified weeks ago, scarring entire streets. the attacks don't go only one way. rebel groups controlling this area, including hardline islamist groups linked to al-anda, fired more than a dozen rockets into the heart of damascus yesterday. this is the face of a war now approaching its eighth year.

this is its sound. child cries these children in eastern ghouta have known no other life. they survived the latest air strikes, blood being wiped away, not the pain, nor the fear. and it stalks the old, too, already broken by years of a punishing siege. the history of syria is written here, amongst these stones. three—year—old samer was buried yesterday by his uncle. his father is badly injured. many now say syria's war is over, but it is not — not yet. lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus. attacks on hospitals and other health facilities have become commonplace in syria, according to the children's charity unicef. they're struggling to cope with the numbers of children seriously injured in the conflict.

bbc news has been following two young girls, rahaf and qamar, badly burned when a shell hit their home in syria six years ago. they've both had operations injordan where they now live. caroline hawley has been back there to see how they're getting on. qamar barely remembers the day, six years ago, that changed the course of her life. she was only three when a shell hit the family home in homs, slamming into the children's bedroom, setting fire to qamar in her bedclothes. qamar‘s hands were so damaged, she needed help to feed and dress herself. she was so distressed by her appearance, she couldn't look in the mirror. her sister, rahaf, was also badly burnt, and when we first met the family, neither of the girls would go out of the house. but today, they're on the way to school.

it has taken immense strength and courage, and countless operations, to get to where they are now. this was the two of them in syria, before the war. when qamar was four, we watched as she had surgery at a hospital run by the charity medecins sans frontieres, injordan, where the family fled to for treatment. two years later, she had to wear this mask to help another skin graft heal. these days, they spend much more time at school than in hospital. syrian refugees come here in the afternoons, and the girls love it. qamar has had to get used to how other children react to her.

their teacher has worked hard to get their classmates to accept them. she admires oamar‘s bravery. her parents worry about the social stigma their daughters will face as they grow up, that life with their injuries will be harder as young women. when the children draw for us, qamar‘s first picture is of her dream house, and then she draws a mosque.

but rahaf has now been discharged from msf‘s hospital. the doctors have done what they can. qamar is waiting for more surgery. but, with all the conflict around the middle east, the hospital is inundated with new cases, and the waiting list is long. caroline hawley, bbc news, amman. a story we'll be back to of course. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: after days of heavy snow, trains finally reach the tourists trapped in the swiss resort of zermatt. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait

has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: at least 17 people have died in floods and mudslides in southern california, search teams say 13 people are reported missing. in tunisia, protestors and riot police have clashed for a third day. the prime minister has called on the anti—austerity demonstrators to stop the violence. a group of feminist activists in france have criticised the actress catherine deneuve and other signatories to a letter that argues the worldwide campaign against sexual harassment has gone too far. the letter on tuesday defends the right of men to pester women, although it condemns sexual violence and abuse of power. the activists accuse them of trying to put the lid back on the situation. this from hugh schofield in paris. there is a permanent strand in french thought, french intellectualism, which says that...

..which feels that what comes from america, the anglo saxon world, it is probably overstated, and what has happened here is an expression of that. they say there is puritanism, very american, anglo—saxon concept of puritanism and we want to fight that. so it is a cultural difference. it has always been this feeling that american style feminists are different from the french feminism because the french can understand femininity and sexuality in a different way. but one has to add to this that there is a generational issue here as well. these are older women and there is a younger generation of feminists coming up behind who are very angry with this, with catherine deneuve, for having made the stand that they have. hugh schofield, in paris for us. donald trump has told south korea's leader, moonjae—in, that america is open to talks with north korea "at the appropriate time" and "under the right circumstances".

according to white house officials, president moon thanked president trump for his "leadership in making the talks possible." nick bryant is in washington. only last week donald trump was boasting that his nuclear button was bigger than kim jong—un‘s nuclear button, and only a few months ago he was trashing his secretary of state rex tillerson, saying he was wasting his time pursuing diplomacy with pyongyang. so this new openness to talks really is a meaningful shift. it is the most conciliatory language we've seen from donald trump on north korea since he took the oval office almost 12 months ago. as you say, it follows the meeting of the korean peninsular yesterday between north and south korea. donald trump describing that as a great meeting. there was a lot of good energy, he said, at the white house just about an hour ago. and he is claiming credit for that, for his hardline stance on north korea, the tough economic sanctions, the pressure he has put on china, the fire and fury rhetoric, the digitised sabre rattling on twitter.

now i suspect we will see a continuation of much of that. don't be surprised if donald trump continues to mock kim jong—un as "little rocket man", the white house saying it will continue to exert maximum pressure. the question, really, is how will north korea respond? will it lead to a pause in nuclear and missile testing? because, if it doesn't, it's hard to see any direct talks taking place between washington and pyongyang. nick bryant for us at the white house. going back to our main story. i spoke to a red cross volunteerjust 110w spoke to a red cross volunteerjust now and ask how this compares to previous humanitarian as she had helped outwith. this compares probably a little bit differently because it is a mudslide, where people had to be rescued out of the mudslide. i have been to other national disasters here in the united states. but what doesn't compare is oui’ care. we give the absolute care

to everyone who comes to american red cross shelters. they have a warm cot of blankets and pillows and three warm meals a day with snacks and water and drinks. we have nurses here, we have people to speak with them. we have provision for their animals. many of them brought their animals. when they arrived at our shelter yesterday they were covered in mud, the animals and the people. they were able to have nice warm showers and clean clothing provided to them. and also we gave all of the animals nice baths to get them warm and clean. and what kind effects, what kind of impacts, are you seeing on people? because a lot of these people have just escaped the wildfires, haven't they? yes, they have. i don't know if they even realise what has happened. we have been offering them a safe place here to rest. we will bring councillors in. we do have them here to speak with them. we have caseworkers who will help in their recovery period in the days to come. given the kind of pictures we are seeing, i know you had

to drive about four hours just to get to that shelter in santa barbara. how difficult was it for you to get through? i went through a route that was not affected by the mudslide, so it was rather pretty easy. the other routes from santa barbara, ventura, to los angeles are all closed due to the mudslide on the freeway. how long is it going to take to put this area back together, do you reckon? that, i do not know. i know it will be several days for them to move all of the mud and start some of the cleanup, and of course then they will have to assess the homes and the damages that were done to them. there's plenty more on our website ata there's plenty more on our website at a guide to the link between wildfires and mudslides at the bbc website, or you can download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news. two people have been killed in the eastern pakistani city of kasur as police clashed with demonstrators incensed by the rape and murder of a six—year—old girl. zainab‘s body was discovered on a rubbish dump. authorities are accused of failing to stop a series of child murders and sexual assaults. millions of euros worth ofjewellery has been stolen from the ritz hotel in paris. police say five men with hatchets smashed windows in the hotel before escaping with their haul. three suspects have been detained but two more are still on the run. thousands of people who've been stranded in the alps by unusually heavy snow are now seeing some relief. trains have begun running to the swiss resort of zermatt and helicopters are ferrying people out if they need it. but others are making the best of the situation. imogen foulkes reports. after two days cut off from the rest of the world, zermatt is open for business again. the train line blocked by snow is now clear, and for those who are really in a huge hurry,

the helicopters are waiting. some tourists, though, seem quite happy exactly where they are. translation: since we have arrived yesterday morning, and we're leaving saturday, we don't feel blocked at all. for consumers across the alps, the heavy snow continues to cause problems. some villages are still cut off. others are without power. the biggest worry of all is over avalanches. tons and tons of snow has fallen, and the weather is warmer than normal, meaning the snow is loose, wet and heavy, more likely to slip down the mountain. winter sports fans are being warned to stay only on slopes and paths marked clearly as safe. meanwhile, the alpine authorities are working around the clock to clear the snow. their window of opportunity may be short.

more snow is forecast for thursday. loneliness is notjust a feeling, it can also be bad for your health. research suggests loneliness can be as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic, or not exercising enough. no—one knows that more than singapore tax administrator, belinda low. to deal with depression, she took up painting in her 50s and now her work can be seen across the island state. i'm belinda low, the accidental painter. i took up painting 15 years ago to combat loneliness. and now it has become my passion. when i'm painting, actually, i feel kind of free and away from whatever is troubling me. i used to look after them, like,

cook for them and do everything for them. but i find that they have got their own activities, so, in the end, i was, like, left on my own most of the time at home. so, because of this, ijust went and did painting. my murals show the things i would do when i was a child, and the activities back then. i just want to showcase it on all my walls. and it was a happy time for me. i feel it's innately in each one of us, something that needs to be unleashed, yeah, but it'sjust up to us to find it. so, if you don't start,

you wouldn't know. if you do it with the right heart, and the right incentive, and the right motive, the rest will follow. a man has been arrested finally in the arctic north—west of russia for smashing through a shopfront in an apparent ram raid, using an armoured personnel carrier. according to reports which can't confirm at the moment the man then entered the shop,", and stole a bottle of wine. as he tried to get away he crashed into a nearby car for being caught by police. it seems the armoured vehicle was taken from the driving school of a local pala —— paramilitary society. that's it for 110w. paramilitary society. that's it for now. thank you for watching.

good morning. fog is our talking point for the weather this morning, quite widespread fog, particularly across the western half of the british isles, and some dangerously dense patches to be found out there at the moment. the knock—on effects to travel certainly if you're heading on the roads, but also i think for some of our airports as well. a chilly start to thursday across scotland, with a frost here, and dense fog through the southern uplands, and the central lowlands. murky conditions across northern ireland for the rush—hour, as well, for the north—west of england, too. further east, it's murky conditions but for a slightly different reason, the remnants of a weather front here introducing a lot of moist air, so low cloud particularly hanging across the hills. a chilly start for wales and the south—west of england here, with dense patches of fog that have fallen overnight, lingering across the west country, as well, making things pretty messy. then, in the east, some drizzly rain out of the remnants of our weather front. all in all, a pretty gloomy, murky start to thursday. in the west, i'm hopeful things will gradually improve

through the morning. the fog lifting up initially into cloud. then hopefully, perhaps over the moors and the south—west of wales, and, particularly for scotland and the north—west of england, it will break and allow through some sunshine. it looks like glasgow could be one of those areas where fog lingers, temperatures will really struggle. highs of somewhere between five and eight degrees, and, with the cloud in the east, even at eight degrees, nothing too special here. thursday night into friday, a repeat performance. clear skies in the west, the fog will thicken, a patch of frost will develop, more breeze across ireland. in the east, though, the weather front close for a murky start. hopefully some hazy sunshine in the west as the day goes on and, perhaps, just perhaps, a little bit more brightness across eastern england come the afternoon. temperatures again fairly unremarkable, somewhere around six or seven degrees. so, quite static for the uk for today and friday. further afield, into europe,

our patchy fog could also be a problem across france and germany. if you're travelling down towards the med, this area of low pressure still causing problems with thunderstorms for the next 2a hours. for us, though, not a lot moving until this weather front tries to push in later on on friday. it gradually works its way eastwards through the weekend. most of the rain will be out of the way on friday night and then, basically, for the weekend, it's just going to introduce quite a lot of cloud and a strengthening breeze. so, this weekend, no really dramatic changes, largely dry, cloudy and breezy. this is bbc news, the headlines: at least 17 people have been killed by mudslides and flash floods in southern california. rescue workers are desperately searching for survivors the fear is that dozens may still be trapped. many of those now affected are the very same people who had to flee last month from some of the biggest wildfires in the state's history.

in tunisia police have fired teargas to disperse anti—austerity protesters in the capital tunis and surrounding areas. the prime minister has described the demonstrations as unacceptable violence, and claimed vandals were trying to weaken the state. the president of colombia has suspended peace talks with the national liberation army, the eln, in response to rebel attacks on a naval guard—post and one of colombia's main oil pipelines. the attacks happened shortly after a bilateral ceasefire expired on tuesday night. let's take a look at these pictures.