hello. this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: please help us. the deserate bid to flee the flames. the wildfires swepping across california have killed five people so far and caused total devistation. we're hearing disturbing reports on inside paradise itself about many deaths and injuries there. —— from inside. at least 20 people are killed in car bomb attacks in the somali capital, mogadishu. a militant group says it was targetting government officials. together in remembrance. the leaders of france and britain honour those killed in the great war. also coming up — a sharp decline in the global birth rate, with nearly half of countries having too few children to sustain their population. hello and welcome to bbc world news.

wildfires burning out of control in the us state of california have killed at least five people. they died in butte county, where a massive blaze has devastated the town of paradise. the fires have forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes. some abandoned their vehicles on gridlocked roads and ran from the fast—moving flames. the bodies of the dead were found in burnt—out cars. further south, two fires are burning in ventura and los angeles counties, forcing people to evacuate their coastal homes in malibu. officials there have been giving a press conference. take a listen. it has been a very difficult time here in ventura county, and now it has also moved into la county, as we all know, and ijust want to say has also moved into la county, as we all know, and i just want to say a preset the hard work and all the effort everybody is doing. one of the things i would like to say is

that as fire continues to tell people and these mandatory evacuations, please get out. deputies and offices are having to help people get up and they get into trouble. that is the key, we put people's lives at risk, especially all of ourfirst people's lives at risk, especially all of our first responders, when we do not get out in time. our correspondent james cook is in northern california. heavenly father, please help us. please help us to be safe. it was a desperate dash for survival, pursued by a wild fire devouring the equivalent of 80 football pitches a minute. paradise sits on a ridge and a few roads down, quickly became choked with traffic. some motorists abandoned their cars and ran for their lives, with children and pets in their arms. the hardest thing about this all is the people that may not have had the benefit that i had to get out when i got out.

i started crying. the extent of the disaster is not yet clear, but what we know already is grim. bodies have been found in the charred remains of vehicles. the magnitude of the destruction that we are seeing is really again unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our hearts go out to everybody who has been affected by this and impacted. we know that there have been injuries, and we know has been loss of life. well, we're just driving into paradise now, and it's really a frightening scene. there are telegraph poles on fire, electricity has been cut. we've been driving past some houses which have been burned, and we're hearing disturbing reports from inside paradise itself about many deaths and injuries there. this is what we found. paradise not just lost but annihilated. 27,000 people lived here.

little remains. in southern california, two big blazes raged toward the pacific ocean. tens of thousands of people in their path had to flee. this fire burned on the edge of thousand oaks, a city already reeling from a mass shooting in a bar. the communities of calabasas and malibu have also been evacuated. the fire, which consumed paradise, was driven by hot, desert winds rushing down to the sea. it was an inferno. the air here is acrid. you can actually taste the chemicals as they smoulder. and it is eerie, and frankly, pretty awful to walk

here in the ashes of people's lives. james cook, bbc news, paradise, in california. earlier i spoke to out correspondent peter bowes, who's in los angeles, about whether there's any sign of the fires being brought under control. certainly not in the next few hours. these fires, if past experience is anything to go by, could be being battled for days before they are under control. at times, firefighters actually stop fighting the fire and focused entirely on getting people out of this most affected areas, like the talent paradise that we have just been hearing about and areas like malibu in the south of california, which is under a total evacuation order. this isa

under a total evacuation order. this is a town of some approximately 20,000 people being told to get out of their homes for their own safety, so of their homes for their own safety, so you of their homes for their own safety, so you can of their homes for their own safety, so you can imagine the gridlock that thatis so you can imagine the gridlock that that is causing on the freeways and the roads just to the north of los angeles. and part of the problem seems to be the strong winds that are fanning the flames and causing one of the fires to jump a major highway. what are the weather conditions forecast for the weekend, any hope that that wind might drop off? it might drop off a little bit on sunday, according to the weather forecasters, and over the last couple of hours, at the winds have lowered a little bit it not enough to make any significant difference. —— but not enough. we are looking at several days it is really strong winds and this is a perfect storm situation, it is notjust be strong, hot winds that at funnelling down the canyons to these high risk areas but it is the tinder dry brush that has been ignited and the very low

humidity all happening at the same time that allows these fires just earn ferociously and out of control stock right —— just to burn ferociously and out of control. us officials say the gunman who shot 12 people dead at a bar in california on wednesday posted on social media during his attack. reports say ian david long wrote that he was bored but sane, and knew his mental state would be debated for years. no motive has yet been established for the shooting by the former us marine. he killed himself after the attack. sri lanka's president, maithrapala sirisena, has dissolved parliament and announced a snap election. it appears to be an attempt to avoid a damaging parliamentary vote next week. the election will be on the fifth of january. it's the latest twist in a political crisis that erupted last month, when the president tried to replace the prime minister. australian police say they're treating a knife attack

in melbourne as a terror attack. one person was killed and two others were wounded. the attacker was shot at the scene and later died in hospital. police say he was originally from somalia and was known to the authorities, but was not on a terror watch list. there's been a series of explosions in the somali capital, mogadishu. the islamist militant group, al shabab, said it carried out the attacks. according to police, at least 20 people were killed and a0 more injured. david campanale has the details. the first explosions were near two hotels in the somali capital, the sahafi and the nearby hyatt. twin blasts timed for maximum impact. the explosions rocked the area, which is close to the police headquarters at a busy junction known as k—ii. a short while later, there was a third blast. flames and plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the air as gunshots

rang out, with police and security guards from the sahafi opening fire. the islamist militant group al—shabaab said it carried out the attacks and targeted the sahafi because government officials stayed there. the hotel owner is reported to be among the dead. his father died when the same hotel was attacked by the jihadist group three years ago. mogadishu faces frequent bombings at the hands of al—shabaab, an al-qaeda affiliate, which has been fighting for over a decade to overthrow the internationally—backed somali government. the shabaab was forced out of the capital by african union troops in 2011, but they still control parts of the countryside and attacked government, military and civilian targets seemingly at will, in mogadishu and also in regional towns. sunday will mark 100 years since the end of the first world war.

also known as the great war, it lasted four years and was fought mainly between european powers. at the tower of london, thousands of flames have been lit, filling the moat and creating a circle of light. they'll be lit for the last time on sunday night, exactly 100 years after armistice day. four years ago, to mark the start of world war i, almost a million poppies filled the same moat. today, britain's prime minister theresa may and the french president emmanuel macron together laid a wreath at the thiepval memorial in france. the two leaders honoured more than 72,000 men from britain and the commonwealth, who died at the somme and have no known grave. lucy williamson reports. (the last post) buried in the soil of europe is part of britain's past, its sacrifices and its souls. in belgium today, the prime minister laid wreaths at the graves of two british soldiers.

the first and last of their countrymen to die in the first world war. waiting for mrs may at the town of albert in the somme, the french president told schoolchildren, "never forget your history." before commemorating the past, the two leaders met for talks on present—day challenges. as the prime minister was greeted with a reserved and formal handshake, someone in the crowd shouted, "stay with us." this visit is a reminder of the shared military history that unites france and britain. today, they're divided by a political conflict over brexit, but their joint commitment to europe's defence won't change, they say, no matter how tough the negotiations or the terms of their future relationship. at the thiepval memorial in the somme, the two leaders walked through a cemetery honouring their dead. beneath the arches of the monument,

they laid a wreath of poppies and cornflowers, the national blooms of remembrance in britain and france. the building here carved with the names of 72,000 british and commonwealth soldiers lost is a symbol of anglo—french cooperation. a place to remember shared sacrifice and shared values. a moment for their leaders, amid the tensions over their future relations, to recognise and honour their past. stay with us here on bbc world news, still to come: with concerns about rising anti—semitism across europe, we report from germany on the 80th anniversary of kristallnacht — the nazi attack onjewish homes, synagogues and businesses. the bombastic establishment outsider donald trump has defied the pollsters to take

the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local campaign headquarters, and the heavy, routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced round their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers, who'd long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy, suddenly felt welcomed. hello.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: firefighters in california are battling huge wildfires that have caused thousands of people to flee their homes. five people are known to have died. and at least 20 people have been killed in car bomb attacks in mogadishu. a militant group says it was targetting government officials. we're familiar with the term "baby boom": but now nearly half the countries in the world face what's known as a "baby bust". it means they are not having enough children to maintain their population size — that's according to a new report out today in the journal the lancet. it finds there's been a global decline in the number of children women are having. let's take a look at the numbers. in 1950, women were giving birth to a global average ofjust under five children each. but last year that figure was down to 2.4 children per woman. this study shows that nearly half the countries in the world are not having enough babies

to maintain their populations — mainly economically developed nations including most of europe, the us, south korea and australia. there is a huge variation between nations — cyprus has the lowest rate in the world, with women having an average ofjust one child. at the other end of the scale, niger in west africa has a fertility rate of over seven. earlier i spoke work professor christopher murray from the university of washington about his research from the university of washington about his research. we have a compilation of countries in west africa, papua new guinea, haiti, and they have high birth rates and that is an impediment to economic growth, but at the same time half the world is at this point where fertility rates are below replacement, the number that is the

required to keep the population co nsta nt. required to keep the population constant. that creates challenges both comic and socially in the future in those societies, as the population declines. what sort of problems? it every year there is your orient your children compared to people at older ages, you end up with a world or a country where there are many more people who are 50,60, there are many more people who are 50, 60,70 there are many more people who are 50, 60, 70 in each yearthan there are many more people who are 50, 60, 70 in each year than the number of children. if that keeps going eventually there would be no people left in that country unless they actually have substantial migration to compensate. your report figure out why there has been this change? fertility patterns are remarkably predictable. they are related to the education of women, more educated women have fewer children, it is related to access to good healthcare, the more

reproductive health services are available below a fertility comes, and it is related to child death rates. in phases where children survive to their fifth birthday, women tend to have fewer children. —— in places. those drivers explain much of what we see across countries over time. those are the dominant factors that explain what we are seeing. if you are suggesting that this decline in the average growth rate in certain countries is creating problems for the future, what can be done about it? at least for the next generation or generation and a half, the countries with below replacement fertility are either going to need to try to have more in migration to compensate for fewer births, or they will try a series of policies for example that have been pursued in northern europe 01’ have been pursued in northern europe or singapore or some other

countries, japan, to try and make it easierfor women to both countries, japan, to try and make it easier for women to both work and have children, to create incentives for women to choose to have more children. those policies can increase fertility rates a little bit they have yet to increase fertility rates back up to replacement level. it is quite a big challenge for the half of the country ‘s who are in this situation moving forward. professor christopher murray there. many migrants who try to reach the us are escaping violence and poverty in central american countries. these include nicaragua, where in april, anti—government protesters began demanding the resignation of the socialist president, daniel ortega. he refused to go, or negotiate — and deployed the security forces. hundreds of people died in just a few months. a notable development was the presence of radical pro—government paramilitaries working alongside the official police. our correspondent will grant went to the town of diriamba, where he obtained unprecedented access to one of those underground armed groups — here's his report.

life in diriamba may appear calm, but just weeks life in diriamba may appear calm, butjust weeks ago the life in diriamba may appear calm, but just weeks ago the streets life in diriamba may appear calm, butjust weeks ago the streets were under siege. the small town was caught in the grip of the violence which swept across nicaragua as must government loyalists clashed with protesters demanding president daniel ortega step down. these paramilitaries made sure he did not. ina paramilitaries made sure he did not. in a secret location the bbc gained exclusive access to the armed group who cleared the barricades in diriamba and other towns in rebellion. the government describes them by the euphemism "voluntary police". translation: calling us paramilitaries is police". translation: calling us pa ramilitaries is not police". translation: calling us paramilitaries is not right. we have never been military, we are volunteer police who acted to clear the street but never shot to kill.|j am not defending a dictatorship, a

dictator is not elected democratically like our president was. i cry for how the opposition has hurt my country. but few nicaragua and have sympathy for his tea rs. nicaragua and have sympathy for his tears. instead they point to atrocities like this one when a mattress factory was set alight with afamily of mattress factory was set alight with a family of six living above it. they all perished in the flames. cctv at is to show paramilitaries and police attacking the building together. the government denies its forces were involved. all the acts of violence that had taken in nicaragua recently, this arson attack is among the most appalling. that an entire family, from small children to grandparents, were killed in this way, simply for refusing to take aside, is a sign of just how far things have sunk. cynthia lopez managed to escape the blaze but lost almost everyone she holds dear. overcome with grief, she posted a desperate video online. today she is in hiding, scared for

her life as one of the few survivors who can identify the perpetrators. ata who can identify the perpetrators. at a safe house, she told us it was ortega's paramilitaries. translation: the whole house was on fire. there was no way out for anybody. my father hugged us and said "i'm sorry, i can't get you out". they attacked us, but may god forgive them. faced with such abuses, one might expect the government of nicaragua to condemn the paramilitaries, government of nicaragua to condemn the pa ramilitaries, but government of nicaragua to condemn the paramilitaries, but the fact —— in fact they have official approval. transmission make the voluntary police force exists as a recognised organisation aligned with the police to maintain the peace. there are laws here. pa ramilitaries to maintain the peace. there are laws here. paramilitaries or volunteers, for cynthia those labels are irrelevant. they just volunteers, for cynthia those labels are irrelevant. theyjust want the men who ruined her life to enter for

their actions. translation: i wish they were in front of me so i can ask them to their faces, why did you do this? for what reason did you kill my family? why have you destroyed my life? a flash flood caused by heavy rains has swept through jordan's ancient city of petra, forcing thousands of tourists to leave the area. this footage uploaded by a local tour guide shows the floodwater quickly emerging from beneath a bridge and carrying debris through the unesco world heritage site. a group of tourists were moved to higher ground after they heard a roaring sound in the distance. germany's chancellor, angela merkel, has warned of a resurgence of anti—semitism in her country, and spoken of a moral duty to resist it. she was speaking at a synagogue in berlin, to mark the 80th anniversary of kristallnacht — the "night of broken glass" — when the nazi state unleashed an orchestrated wave of violence againstjewish homes and businesses.

it marked an escalation in persecution that would lead to the holocaust. our correspondent caroline wyatt has been hearing from one woman who lived through the horrors of that night. translation: "the windows were all smashed in, "the pavement was full of glass shards. "i said, "look, daddy, someone's broken the shop windows." now, 90 years old, ruth finkelman and was just ten when she witnessed what became known as the "night of broken glass". she was with her father, herman, on her way to thejewish primary school in berlin. translation: a little further on, we saw the word "jew" was scrawled onto the window and a star of david was smeared on there, too. once inside, the school was surrounded by nazi storm troopers. the state—sanctioned persecution of germany's dues had become violent. ——jews.

translation: we saw it all from our windows. we saw the smoke coming up from the synagogue but we weren't sure what was burning. we didn't know what kind of danger we were in, or what it all meant. that only became clear later on when we went back to school and some of the fathers weren't there any more. later, her father was taken to the death camp at auschwitz where he was murdered. ruth, and her mother, survived the war living in a shed. translation: i got four postcards from him in march, april, may, and june and then nothing more. the real significance of the violence of that night lay in what it ultimately unleashed — the murder of six millionjews across europe, commemorated here at the holocaust memorial in the heart of the german capital.

outside her old school, ruth tells her story to new generations. translation: i am afraid that something similar could happen again but i hope humanity has learned from the holocaust. of course i'm scared when people vote for the far right, but such a mass, systematic destruction, that won't happen again. the synagogue ruth saw burn that night has since been restored. at the entrance is a sign saying "never forget." you can reach me on twitter — i'm @benmbland. with the weekend now upon us, the

weather is looking rather mixed over the next few days. we had some heavy rain around during the day on friday, this vicar was taken by one about whether what is in warwickshire, you can see some clouds there. through the weekend we can see that unsettled theme continue though persistent rain is clearing, there will be sunny spells and some hail and thunder as well. the reason things are so unsettled is that we have this area of low pressure setting to the north—west of the uk, showers feeding in around that and fairly tightly spaced isobars, gives a blustery feel the weather on saturday. most persistent rain on this front will clear away towards the east, so the chilli, fresh start today with some sunny spells but plenty of scattered showers moving at south—westerly wind. they will be affecting parts of southern and south—western england, wales, north—west england into southern scotland as well. nowhere really immune to catching a shower during the day on saturday, the mild on sunday with those

south—westerly winds, 11— 1a. the showers ease for a time through saturday evening but then the next lot feeding in again as we head into the early hours of sunday morning, still plenty across southern and south—eastern england and also around the irish sea coast. remembrance sunday will bring us a bit of a mixed picture, we have low pressure setting to the north—west of the uk for remembrance day on sunday, and we will see further showers spilling in around that area of low pressure. it won't the washout, there will be some sunshine in between and again it is parts of the west that will see showers are also southern parts of england at times. generally remembrance sunday should be a dry day compared to those showers we will see on saturday. temperatures are reasonably ripe —— reasonably mild, around 10— 1a. into next week, we have those south—westerly winds, and of the day of sunny spells in some scattered showers, particularly affect ink coastal areas of southern

england and around the irish sea coast. they will be sunshine for scotla nd coast. they will be sunshine for scotland and the north—east of england, and mild full—time of you. a frost free today on monday and temperatures up to 11— 1a. further ahead through the course of next week, we will continue without u nsettled week, we will continue without unsettled thing for a time, there we re unsettled thing for a time, there were be some sunny unsettled thing for a time, there were be some sunny spells around but also one or two showers into the middle of the week, temperatures should stay on the mild side, up to 14- 15. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: wildfires burning out of control in california have killed at least five people. the deaths occurred in butte county, where a massive blaze has devastated the town of paradise. the bodies of the dead were found in burnt—out cars. tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes. at least 20 people have been killed in a series of explosions in the somali capital, mogadishu. eyewitnesses say car bombs blew up at a busyjunction close to the police headquarters. the islamist militant group,

al—shabaab, said it carried out the attacks. a0 people were injured. britain's prime minister theresa may and the french president, emmanuel macron, have laid a wreath at the thiepval memorial in france, as part of ceremonies marking 100 years since the end of the first world war. now on bbc news — 100 years on, chris jackson