a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: california fights its biggest ever fire — the mega blaze has already burned through over 290,000 acres. kidnapped and held hostage by so—called islamic state. wejoin a spanish photographer as he returns to syria and faces his alleged captors. theresa may backs calls for her former foreign secretary borisjohnson to apologise for comments about muslim women who wear full—face veils. shares in the us electric car maker tesla close almost 10% higher after elon musk says he's might take it into private ownership. officials in california say they're now dealing with the largest wildfire ever to hit the state, and they're warning it could burn for the rest of the month. it's now two fires joined together — a mega—blaze which has already destroyed nearly

300,000 acres of land. nine people have died since the fires started last month. lebo diseko reports. it looks like hell on earth. firefighters battle to contain this wildfire, the biggest recorded in california's history. called the mendocino complex fire, it is actually two blazes which joined together and now covers an area almost the size of la. it has destroyed buildings and thousands have had to leave their homes as it rages through the countryside. it's devastating. it's really devastating to see. and so many lost their homes in the back. there was nine homes, from what i can see, in the back. what can you say? it makes you sick to your stomach. everything have worked for all of their life, gone in a heartbeat. dry, hot weather along with high wind has allowed the fire to grow at an extraordinary way. it jumped at least four creeks

and one major road over the weekend. meanwhile, more fires have broken out across the state where more than a dozen are burning in several counties. the conditions mean something as ordinary as a flat tyre can set things off, that is what is thought to have started one fire, a spark from the wheel hitting the road, starting a blaze which is still raging two weeks later. the president is declaring the situation in the state a national emergency. we are deeply grateful to our incredible firefighters and first responders, they are really great people. i have been watching them go into areas where no people would go and some of them don't come out alive. they are risking their lives and are doing it to contain these devastating fires so they can save other lives. but donald trump has been criticised for suggesting the state's environmental policy exacerbated the situation, his detractors say this is a result of global warming. officials had hoped to put out

the mendocino fire by next week, but they now say they'll need until september. lebo diseko, bbc news. more on that later in the programme. the brutal treatment of kidnapped journalists and aid workers by the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, graphically highlighted their cruelty. the spanish photographer ricardo vilanova was an is captive. in this exclusive report, he's been back to syria with our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville, to find the prisons he was held in, and the men he believes locked him up — the four british jihadists, nicknamed the beatles, who are thought to have tortured and murdered as many as 27 people. 0n the river euphrates, photojournalist ricardo vilanova is on a personal assignment. war, he says, brings out the best of us — and the worst. in raqqa, he experienced both.

under kurdish escort, he's come to find his formerjail. and his formerjailers. an is gang of britishjihadists, known to their prisoners as "the beatles". this is the right place but we don't know exactly, because maybe the house is there, but the problem is maybe it was destroyed. ricardo was held captive for eight months. he and his british, french and american cell—mates were moved regularly to prevent any western rescue attempts. once an is stronghold, this ground now belongs to the kurds. the house was destroyed by a coalition air strike. this is the place. this was the view that ricardo saw, a rare glimpse of sunlight from underneath his blindfold. we are here in the room, and we used to sleep there,

and we had the toilet there, on the second floor. now, ricardo is free to go where he wants. the cells under raqqa's stadium are a reminder that is brutalised a population. and new sadism was born here in this is prison. he was held nearby. ricardo heard the screams of the tortured and the dying on a daily basis. yeah, we spent three months here in a cell like that, three people. eventually, his government secured his freedom. ransoms were paid. then, he went back to work. but his task here is not complete. here are the men suspected of imprisoning him. alexanda kotey and el shafee

elsheikh are accused of torturing and killing 27 hostages. ricardo wants to confront them. he says they're cowards who fled the battlefield. they refused to answer his questions and quickly bring the interview to a halt. before he leaves, he takes a final picture. but they want to shut him out. afterwards, he gave me his reaction to the meeting. translation: i wanted to see the suspects and look them in the face, that's it. the first thing i thought when i saw them was gaddafi or saddam. they were able to torture and murder, but when the moment arrived, they handed themselves in order to survive. i think that's despicable. should they face the death penalty?

translation: no, i don't believe in the death penalty. but i think they should spend the rest of their lives in prison, and in the same conditions they kept their hostages. his tormentors are now dead or injail. ricardo vilanova had the strength and the opportunity to survive. but more than that, he's had the courage to return here so that these dark horrors won't be forgotten. quentin somerville, bbc news, raqqa. 80,000 people are in need of shelter, driven from their homes by the two powerful earthquakes that hit an indonesian island. it's now confirmed at least a hundred people have died. sunday's quake, magnitude 6.9, was the second to hit the area injust over a week. mehulika sitepu reports from lombok. it's 48 hours after

the earthquake hit lombok. a man is pulled out a collapsed mosque, and a search for survivors continues. nearby, a 23—year—old woman is rescued after being trapped beneath a flattened convenience store. translation: they thought they smelt dead bodies, but when we opened up an access point, it turns out the smell came from rotten eggs. then we heard a voice. the ones that survived have been taken to the nearest hospital which has also been damaged by the earthquake. patients are being treated in tents outdoors, mostly suffering from broken bones. translation: there are too many patients. we have to prioritise who among them need the most help. so, for patients that can bear

the pain, we put them on hold. we handle those who are in emergencies first. on the gili islands, many continue to wait to be taken to safety, but now thousands have been able to leave. it was really scary. there were so many people injured, but nobody came to the island. so maybe we were there for, like, 12 hours before a boat came or anybody came. since sunday's earthquake, hundreds of after—shocks have been felt in the area, with more expected. for the rescue crews it means treacherous conditions, as they continue their search for survivors. mehulika sitepu, bbc news, lombok. the prime minister has backed calls for britain's former foreign secretary to apologise, for comments he's made about moslem women wearing full—face veils.

borisjohnson wrote in a newspaper that women in a burka "look like letter boxes," and that the garment is "weird" and "ridiculous." prime minister may says women should be able to choose how they dress, and that some of borisjohnson‘s words "obviously caused offence." here's our chief political correspondent vicky young. from online abuse to attacks on mosques, crime figures suggest islamophobia is on the rise in britain and the conservative party has faced accusations that it has not done enough to deal with incidents in its own party. and now borisjohnson is underfire with prime minister backing calls to him to apologise. boris johnson used language in describing people's appearance and has caused offence. it was the wrong language to use and he should not have used it. on the key issue of to wear a burqa, if they choose to do so, that should be a matter for the woman to choose. it was a column in the telegraph that caused outrage.

the former foreign secretary said, a total ban is not the answer but schools should be able to tell students to remove a burqa if they turn up looking like a bank robber. he went further saying, it is ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letterboxes. baroness warsi was britain's first muslim cabinet minister. for years she has been calling for an inquiry into islamophobia in the party. she says borisjohnson is using bigotry to further his career. to use language like letterboxes and armed robbers and colourful language to further this debate is not about having a serious debate on a serious issue, it is about trying to get airtime and attention on an issue that he knows will resonate with a certain part of the tory party. but friends of mrjohnson say it is ridiculous that his views are being attacked and difficult issues had to be debated. it was an erudite column with a bit of humour about a pertinent issue, that denmark have banned the burqa,

but boris doesn't think that is the answer to the issue in our country. and he made his comments, nothing to apologise for. it has all been blown out of all proportion by those who wish to cause him political damage. critics say mrjohnson‘s comments will harm community cohesion. some suspect him of being deliberately provocative, ensuring he stays in the limelight after leaving government. vicki young, there. tesla boss elon musk has suggested he's "considering" taking the electric car firm private. in a tweet, mr musk said he could buy outstanding shares in the company for $420 — more than they're currently worth. trading in tesla shares was briefly halted when the price spiked on his announcement. our business reporter kim gittleson has more from new york. it is quite a surprising development in the endless saga of tesla and whether it can hit its production targets and turn a profit.

now mr musk is saying that he believes because so many investors are betting against tesla's stocks, it's one of the most bet against stocks on wall st, that has created a hostile environment in the company and that is why he thinks taking it private would be better for tesla's future. for that price, $420 per share would give the company a value of $82 billion, that's a significant premium on what it is trading at on the nasdaq, and it would be one of the biggest buyouts in us history. i want to mention that shares in tesla resumed trading for the last 15 minutes here and closed up over 11% on these developments. he is not alone in saying that wall street focuses on quarterly results, that puts pressure on companies to focus on the short term and not long—term. mr musk said on twitter that he has secured investor backing and in a blog post following up on those tweets, he said while no decision was final he did leave that ultimately investors in the company

would support him in this decision and he added that you might wonder what would happen with his other private company, space x, which is engaged in space exploration, he said he had no plans to merge the companies if they went private, he just thought it would be better for the future of the company if they could focus on producing model 3 cars instead of pleasing wall street. kim gittleson, for us, there. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: marking the 100th anniversary of the battle that helped end the great war, at amiens. the question was whether we want to save our people, and japanese as well, and win the war or taking a chance to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at 2am this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces.

100 years old and still full of vigor, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: firefighters in california continue to battle the biggest blaze ever to hit the state, and it could be burning for weeks.

let's stay with that story, and donald trump earlier tweeted about these fires with an explanation of what he thinks is to blame for the unusually large blazes. he said: he also wrote: peter gleick is co—founder of the pacific institute. he is a climate and water scientist and hejoins us now from berkeley california. very good to talk to you. i know you are not a fan of the president. but whatever your political sympathies, you are in a position to know the fa cts you are in a position to know the facts about this. what do you make of what the president as saying? u nfortu nately, of what the president as saying? unfortunately, like many of the

official statements that come out of the light house in the form of a presidential tweet, this one is both confused and difficult to understand. —— light house. it is critically the president does not understand because of the consequences of the severe fires in california. it is pretty clear that the president does not understand the president does not understand the way environmental and water policies play a role in california and, in general, it has not been helpful to the disaster the state is facing at the moment. are you suggesting that somehow california's water policies have created a shortage of water to fight these fires. -- he is suggesting. is that true? that is what he is suggesting. and it is untrue. it is incomprehensible to us. the consequences of oui’ water incomprehensible to us. the consequences of our water policies have nothing to do with the amount awarded to fight the fires. there is plenty of water available to fight the fires. the reality is, of course, is that we don't use much water to fight the fires. we used by

rhys howden, fire breaks to try to contain the fires, and, ironically, there are parts of the state where they occur in there was lots of water. there is no shortage of water, as some officials in california has noted. that is not what is going on. when he says we must also treacly to stop the fire spreading, he has something of a point. there is not much disagreement that forest policy could be better. there is no doubt that decades of bad forest policy have increased the few load, the available few to burn in these fires, and have led to some of the consequences we see in the westie united states. it would be great if the federal government would change some of its forest policies —— western united states. but i do not think that is what really saying. i think that is what really saying. i think is empty it would be great if we permitted more logging for these

communities —— —— i think ice is saying it would be great. i think he is just conflating the disaster of the fires with some of the long—term controversies the fires with some of the long—term c0 ntrove i’s i es we the fires with some of the long—term controversies we have had about water availability. he is either ignorant of the faculty is misrepresenting the facts, i guess another word for that is lying, it is not a great look for a president to be hammering a state and social media when to slapping a massive natural disaster. what you think is going on here? it is very difficult to understand what is in president trump's at. i'm not going to try to get in there i think the suggestion is that he is tossing a bone to some of this more conservative constituents in the state who would like to see some liberal policies in place that take water away from the environment, table water from the rivers and give it to irrigated agriculture. that is a fight we have been having for decades in

california. i suspect is time to weigh in on the side of some of those agricultural communities that are trying to remove more water from oui’ are trying to remove more water from our rivers. peter gleick, thank you very much indeed. on wednesday, argentina's senate will vote on whether to allow abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. abortion is currently illegal there, except in the case of rape or if the woman's health is in danger. if the bill passes, argentina would become only the fourth country in latin america to broadly legalize abortion, and by far the largest. our south america correspondent katy watson reports. the call for change came from the streets. the decision is now in the hands of congress. these women are ready and they are making sure the politicians can hear them. campaigners have been fighting to legalise abortion for a decade now. they presented to congress seven times and got nowhere until now. the women's rights movement has become powerful in the last few years and it has played a big role in pushing abortion up the political agenda.

argentina's strict laws make criminals out of millions of women. like this woman and her two daughters who have all had illegal abortions. she supports women who are looking to end their pregnancies as well. translation: having an abortion is not traumatic but being a mother when you do not want to be is. it causes desperation. you can understand how a woman will grab a knitting needle to end her pregnancy. for the past few weeks she has been helping a friend to purchase drugs to induce abortion. this is a massive chat going back and forth trying to find a pharmacy that has the necessary pills. she has another four weeks. the morning after pill failed this woman and she is scared. she has come to a support network to learn how to take abortion pills at home. she does not want to be

identified because what she is doing is illegal. translation: i feel so unsupported. i am dodging the law, try and find a solution. it is not easy. i feel so ashamed to go around asking pharmacist is for the pill. in this country, the birthplace of the current pope, religion holds an important place. father pepe is close to pope francis and shares the view of abortion being wrong. he says it has become a political debate not relevant to the slums of the city. translation: abortion does not have the meaning here it does for the middle class. people want to have a child. politics is being used to make that hard. change will not be easy. argentina could make history this

week but there are plenty of people determined not to let that happen. there will be commemorations in the french city of amiens on wednesday, for the one hundredth anniversary of the battle that proved so decisive in ending the first world war. prince william and the british prime minister will take part in a cathedral service. robert hall has been looking at why the battle was so important. on a hilltop, north of amiens, stands a white tower of portland stone. a memorial to australian forces, some of whom advanced across a landscape which has changed little as a century rolled by. it is the perfect spot to view the start line of a surprise attack which changed the course of the war. if you had stood here on the morning of august 8 1918, you would have seen the smoke and flames as allied artillery systems systematically destroyed german guns and you would have heard

the rubble of engines as 500 tanks and more than 50,000 troops advanced through the fog towards enemy lines. with every step, the men left the stalemate of trench warfare further behind. in front of them and protecting them, the tanks were able to move unhindered across open country. the preparation was absolutely enormous, right down to the last piece of sticking plaster in moving forward of the casualties clearing station, they had everything to the nth degree. stories of that day will be told at tomorrow's commemoration, which reflects the range of countries brought together for the attack. we travelled light and stayed in the woods in the daytime. it was supposed to be a surprise. the canadians captured 27,000 prisoners and the whole thing

of 45,000, besides those who were killed. the german high command called it a black day of the german army. we called it the beginning of the last 100 days. exhausted german defenders did what they could to slow the attacks, but the allies, now joined by the americans, were growing stronger. the men who fought and died here didn't know it, but on that august day their advance took the world closer to peace. much more coverage of that to come on wednesday. much more on the bbc website. thanks for watching. hello there. tuesday marked the end of the heat wave across the south—east, we saw temperatures reaching

the low 30s celsius, but it all ended with showers and thunderstorms late on tuesday and into the early part of wednesday. these tending to clear out into the north sea, leaving a legacy of cloud here. a few showers across the north—west of the country, otherwise a dry and a clear start to wednesday morning. a cooler feel, 10—16 or 17 degrees. for today it really will feel cool and fresher right across the board, including the south—east, with a mixture of sunshine and showers. most of these in the west. the reason for the change and dropping temperatures is because we have cooler north—westerly airflow of the atlantic, pushing all of that heat into the near continent. so this is the picture for today. maybe a bit of cloud to start with off across the south—east, but most of it will be across northern and western areas where we will see scattered showers, some heavy and maybe thundery. showers around, the temperature is 17—24 or 25 degrees, feeling cooler than what we are used to over the past few days. on thursday and other largely dry day, could see some rain into the near continent clip the south—east of england, uncertainty as to how far westwards this will be. most of the showers will be across the north—west corner with temperatures pretty much where they should be. 17—23 degrees. on friday it is another similar

story of sunshine and showers. some of them could be quite heavy across northern and western areas, but probably the best of the sunshine across sheltered eastern parts, temperatures in the high teens to the low 20s celsius. significant change into the weekend for some of us. a big area of low pressure hurtling off the atlantic and at this point it looks like it will affect more northern and western parts of the uk with persistent and heavy rain at times. it could be a dry start on saturday across northern and eastern areas, before the cloud tends to push in as the day wears on. i put wind arrows here because it will be a blustery day wherever you are. pretty dusty over southern and western coasts and over the hills. temperatures wise, 19—22 or 23 celsius. into sunday, most of the heavy rain will be again across the northern half of the country, maybe a few showers into wales

and western england, but notice the south—east could escape and we could see quite a bit of sunshine. a blustery day on sunday, variable amounts of cloud and most of the rain across the northern and western areas, the best of the sunshine in the south—east, temperatures range from 18—25 celsius. this is bbc news. the headlines: officials in california say they're now dealing with the largest wildfire ever to hit the state,

and they're warning it could burn for the rest of the month. it's now two fires joined together — a mega—blaze which has already destroyed nearly 300,000 acres of land. more than 80,000 people on the indonesian island of lombok are seeking help after losing their homes in a powerful earthquake on sunday. medical staff are treating some of the injured in tents. several days after the quake — the second to hit the area in a week — aftershocks are still being felt. the number of dead now stands at 105. the british prime minister, theresa may, hasjoined calls for her former foreign minister to apologise for comments he made about muslim women who wear the full face veil or burqa. mrs may said borisjohnson‘s comments had clearly caused offence. it's just gone half past three in the morning. you're up to date

with the headlines. now on bbc news, it's time for panorama. tonight, the online doctor sites selling prescription only drugs. for me this is a form of legal drug dealing. these are drugs that are potentially dangerous. and the celebrity tv doctor who promotes one of them. if you need a stronger pain medication, online doctor service at uk meds may be able to help you. we go undercover to meet a doctor struck off for cavalier prescribing who's still cashing in online. go in, click, filla form in, doctor comes and reviews the form, accepts, declines, generates a prescription, that's the big money, okay? we hearfrom the mother of a patient who died after buying prescription drugs online. i found sean the day he died and i am still in shock.