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 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. let's speak to thomas tighe a resident of montecito let's speak to thomas tighe, a resident of montecito who witnessed the tragedy first hand, and he is also ceo of direct relief, an organisation based in california, which helps disaster victims. when did you first realise something was seriously wrong? hello, mike. as the events unfolded i was awake all night checking on the rainfall out of concern the debris flow might occur, which we had been warned about, but once you hear this ominous rumbling and i looked up around 3:30am and saw the two cars that were parked in the street had floated away and there were some more vehicles floating down our little residential street it was too

late to do anything because the water was rushing so strongly and thenit water was rushing so strongly and then it was just a matter of waiting on the family and getting to the highs ground possible, and trying to do whatever we could to stay out of harm's way. it was a small neighbourhood. the baby that was covered was oddly a friend of mine, i'm probably 1000 yards from where i am. we were on his roof. it was a tragic and sudden flood of the breed. kind of like a reverse tsunami that picked up everything in its path and it was kind of like a murky, ashley debris that strewn through the streets of montecito. the rumbling you heard was boulders the size of cars rising up and getting on the move, so disaster is in yourfront yard getting on the move, so disaster is in your front yard suddenly? literally, yeah. we're accustomed to working in post— emergency situations at direct relief and we

have an appreciation for the surprise that often occurs in the immediate trauma. going through it personally and seeing how rapidly it unfolds, it's a matter of seconds really, there's very little warning, maybe 15 seconds before you hear the woosh. we're used to hearing boulders tumbled with the rainfall tumbling down the creek, this is a much deeper, louder and much more serious situation clearly that sadly i witnessed from my front yard. suddenly i think you were seeing bodies at close hand as well, weren't you? there was a body that found its way trapped against my next—door neighbour's vehicle, which ididn't next—door neighbour's vehicle, which i didn't know at the time, we were just trying to break down fences to create a diversion flow for the debris and the water. turns out this person came from far uphill and ended up trapped there. i was at my home about an hour ago, i was able to get back in through the mac in a

a—wheel—drive vehicle and just see and there were houses that were com pletely and there were houses that were completely destroyed, car sized boulders in the middle of the roadway and you're still trying to clear out several feet of mud and still try to look for... that's the priority, finding people that may be trapped and there are unable to free themselves. that's the priority, there's a huge amount of work that will follow once the search and rescue effort has concluded. will follow once the search and rescue effort has concludedlj will follow once the search and rescue effort has concluded. i note you were preparing to get your wife and children up on the roof and you had neighbours as well spending the night on the roof? a few homes away the neighbour once the water subsided slightly, she was able to come over with an axe, i had a sledgehammer and we were taking on senses to allow the water to escape so senses to allow the water to escape so it wouldn't be trapped and back up so it wouldn't be trapped and back up to the houses. he is six foot six and helped to remove a three—month—old baby who had been on the rooftop for three and a half

hours with the parents and the other two siblings. they were in five feet of mud. they were lucky, as we all were, to avoid just getting caught in this but it was rapidly unfolding and people snapped to it once they work up a. it was also 3:30am and you can't really prepare for it once you're in it but i think the presence of mind and very fine people did everything and more than you would expect and hope for. very glad you and yourfamily you would expect and hope for. very glad you and your family at least our0k, glad you and your family at least our 0k, thomas. thank you very much for watching us your time. thank you, mike, appreciate it. thomas tighe there, ceo of direct relief. there's plenty more on our website, including the latest on the recovery operation, reports on the scale of the devastation and a guide to the link between wildfires and mudslides. that's at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. 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 one rest. anger over rising prices in tunisia has turned into unrest. this is tebourba, 20 miles west of the capital, tunis. young people took to the streets for a third successive night. one man died in clashes here on monday. police and troops have been deployed in several cities. they have been clashes in tunis too. there've been clashes in tunis too. demonstrators threw stones and burnt tyres. riot police responded with tear gas. translation: it's not the people's fault. young people have studied and studied, and then are left unemployed or in a difficult situation.

as far as we're concerned, we have to endure 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: every time there is societal friction 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 and other staple items, and introduced new taxes at the start of the year. translation: our demands are the following — suspend the 2018 finance law, return to the original price of goods, and hire one member from every poor family. the government says its top priority is improving the lives of ordinary tunisians. but for another night, there is 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-qaeda, 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. 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. 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. their teacher has worked hard to get their classmates to accept them. 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.

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. 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. 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. but for communities 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. much more on all the news at any time on the bbc website. thanks 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. friday looking gloomy initially. 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. the worst 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. now on bbc news: hardtalk.