hello and welcome to bbc news. wildfires burning out of control in the us state of california have killed at least five people and forced tens of thousands to leave their homes. in the last hour, president trump declared an emergency in california and ordered federal assistance to help local emergency crews deal with the situation. 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 that there 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. let's get some of the day's other news. 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 which erupted last month when the president tried to replace the prime minister. australian police say they are 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. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says he remains concerned about china's repression of religious groups, including nearly a million muslims who he claims have been denied theirfreedoms. speaking at talks with senior chinese officials in washington, mr pompeo also expressed his concern about beijing's military policy in the south china sea. but he said the us was seeking strong relations with china to deal with north korea and other issues. jo johnson, the former transport minister and boris johnson's brother, has resigned from the government, branding theresa may's brexit plan a terrible mistake, and calling for the public to have a fresh say on leaving the european union. the prime minister's alliance with the democratic unionist party is also under strain after it

accused her of betrayal in the negotiations, when a leaked letter indicated that northern ireland could follow different customs rules to the rest of the uk. the government has insisted it won't do anything to put the unity of the united kingdom at risk. more details from our political correspondent, alex forsyth. sorry about that, mind out. watch your back. "watch your back" — fateful words perhaps, uttered earlier this year by a man who's now delivered a blow to theresa may. jo johnson was, until today, the transport minister, but tonight, he quit hisjob, with a scathing assessment of the prime minister's brexit plan. crucially he called for another vote, saying the current proposal was deeply flawed. it's not going to deliver trade deals. our ability to strike meaningful trade deals is going to be greatly reduced. it's not going to lead to us becoming a singaporean turbo—charged economy on the edge of europe, farfrom it. we're going to be signing up to all of the rules and regulations over which we'll no

longer have a say. at present, the deal is incoherent on its own terms, and that's why it's so important for the public to have a say, so it can confirm that this is really the brexit that it wants. the brother of boris johnson, he had, unlike his sibling, backed remain in the referendum, but said he'd respect the result. now, though, he says the government's brexit plan is taking britain to the brink of the greatest crisis since the second world war. his decision to quit drew praise from his brother, who said: for the prime minister, with her european counterparts at armistice events, it's another brexit headache on a day she's already facing criticism from supposed allies. the dup, who support her in government, fear she could sign up to an exit deal which might mean northern ireland trades on different terms to the rest of the uk in future. it's not a question of trusting the prime minister.

it's a question of what her proposals are for exiting the european union. she has sent us where she believes she is currently at and remember this is before she goes to brussels to negotiate with them on what they believe is possible, but currently, as it stands, we could not support her proposals. so it's still the irish border, and how to keep trade flowing no matter what, that's proving the hardest part of this negotiation. every possible compromise, it seems, drawing some criticism. at a summit meant to cement british—irish relations today, ministers were quick to try to reassure. the prime minister has been absolutely clear that she's not prepared to see the break—up of the constitutional economic integrity of the united kingdom in any deal. now, we're working intensely now to getting that deal and securing that deal, and i think what we need to do now is calm heads, cool heads, let's get down, get the deal, and then people can comment on it when they see it. but in parliament, there are plenty who aren't waiting for the detail before warning against the exit deal.

getting something agreed then signed off here is looking increasingly fraught. well, the prime minister travelled to france and belgium on friday to mark the centenary of the first world war. at a military cemetry near mons in belgium, she laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldier to be killed in the war, 16—year—old john parr and ao—year—old george ellison, who died just an hour and half before the armisitce was signed. lucy williamson reports. last post plays 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 walk 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. a long hot summer and success for england at the world cup helped the uk economy grow in the third quarter of this year at its fastest rate for two years. the office for national statistics says economic activity in the three months to september rose by 0.6%. the figures have been welcomed by the chancellor, although many economists believe the underlying picture isn't as strong as the figures suggest. our business editor, simonjack, reports. drinks all round. well, today's numbers show the economy is moving along pretty nicely. touring a west london brewery this morning, the chancellor seemed happy enough but said he was looking to the future.

very good news. 0.6% growth quarter shows the fundamental strength of the economy based on our employment performance — 3.3 million newjobs, unemployment lower in every region and nation of the united kingdom since 2010. what we've now got to do is pivot to a focus on ensuring real wage growth and higher standards of living. construction was a particular bright spot, as building sites like this one in lancashire bounced back from a frozen and wet start to the year. we are in the buoyant sector — 2.1% in construction — so, for me, it feels very exciting and hopefully it continues. i've been in several recessions now and it's not been good at times. it feels very exciting. england's run to the semifinals and the football world cup boosted spending on eating and drinking during july and although august and september were flat, it was enough to secure a strong economic performance. thank you.

quite a bit to toast in today's figures. these are the strongest economic numbers since the end of 2016 and that's helpful because he just spent big in the recent budget on nhs and tax cuts. but it was not all good news — once again business investment fell sharply. that is the longest negative streak we have seen now since the financial crisis, as they take a more cautious — arguably a more sober — view of the risks posed to the economy by brexit round the corner. clearly business investment is lower than we would like it to be. that is because businesses are waiting for clarity about our future relationship with the european union. the sooner we can give business clarity about the future relationship, the sooner business will start investing again, creating even more jobs in our economy. to keep the economy moving from here on may now depend on the government's ability to hammer out a brexit deal that business feels it can get behind. simon jack, bbc news. the chair of the parole board

for england and wales says she's concerned that it currently has no black members. the board assesses whether prisoners are fit to be released. just 13 of its 240 members are from other non—white ethnic backgrounds. the board is looking at whether there is unconscious bias in its recruitment process. the grenfell inquiry has been played a recording of a 999 call from the night of the fire in which the father of the youngest victim can be heard pleading with his daughters to keep going during the family's escape. in a written statement, marcio gomes said his son was stillborn because of the fumes his wife inhaled that night. you're watching 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. theresa may's brexit plans have suffered another blow at a critical

time in the negotiations, with the resignation of the transport minister, jojohnson. let's get more on our top story now. those wildfires in california. 0n the line now is dave clark, spokesman at cal fire, the california department of forestry and fire protection. a appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. i'm sure it is a busy time for you. bring speak to us. i'm sure it is a busy time foryou. bring is speak to us. i'm sure it is a busy time for you. bring is up—to—date on the situation as you understand it. any sign of the situation being brought under control? thank you for having me. currently the fire in bugatti in california is at 70,000 acres. it is 5% complete —— content —— butte county. it is extreme fire. we have decreasing wins and

decreasing temperature and increasing humidity. it is our outside which is good for 5—iron —— firefighting activity. we are getting a handle on it. how responsible are people being to the evacuation orders? are you fighting most people have complied with those? yes. we have had tremendous fires will stop people in the area are very familiar with the evacuation orders. when we asked the public to evacuate everyone is being very compliant and very patient with us. very compliant and very patient with us. which we appreciate a lot. we have seen some incredibly devastating scenes, the destruction caused by the fire. at one point we we re caused by the fire. at one point we were hearing that there was such a concern to get people out that firefighters were focusing on that rather than trying to put out the flames. 0h definitely. so our main

concern at all times is life before property. we will focus on saving lives before we focus on saving property. right now we are still in the infancy of this by a fight. we are still in the active firefighting stages. we are still wrestling people who need to be rescued are taken out of harm's way. at one stage the strength of the wind was adding to the ferocity of the fire and the speed at which it was travelling as it was spreading, i read at one point itjumped across a highway. they hear you rightly that the winds have now died down a bit as mac —— did i hear? the winds have now died down a bit as mac -- did i hear? earlier in the week, the national weather service said there was a red fire warning, high winds, high to bridges, and low humidity, they are critical for firefighting. at this point the winds have decreased, which has

given us an upper hand with this fight. the fire, which is literally like a blowtorch, that has been decreased. it is very well for the firefighters. dave clark from cal fire, thank you very much for that update. caleigh wells is a with reporter with kpcc radio and she has spent the day talking to evacuees in cala basas. good you happy with us. how are people getting on, those that have been evacuated, whereas they gone? actually in cala basas been evacuated, whereas they gone? actually in calabasas i was surprised to find that a lot of the people who live there and in the neighbouring community, they actually chose to stay put. there we re actually chose to stay put. there were community centres, sorry, evacuation centres that were set up for them to go to, but a lot of waffle or they would turn away people when they had their dogs, so they work sleeping in their cars, parking lots —— were full. that is because they did not want to be that

far away from their home. were there any people who have been through this before. we hear about these wildfires, certainly the past two yea rs, wildfires, certainly the past two years, hitting california, where their people you spoke to have been through this before? absolutely. i spoke to one person, she does not live there now, but she comes here for work and she grew up in the area, she said she is used to it. i grew up in calabasas as well. i remember spending days where we would be under bollettieri evacuation —— voluntary evacuation put on a couple of times under mandatory evacuation. you never become used to it, but it is not necessarily out of the norm, for sure. how much time, generally, do people how to grab essential belongings and get out? people how to grab essential belongings and get ounm people how to grab essential belongings and get out? it depends on how early they started. some people started putting things together when they were under volu nta ry together when they were under voluntary evacuation. they might have had a few more hours. i spoke to some people who went the police we re

to some people who went the police were knocking on their door they did not have much time to put together their belongings before they could leave. they mostly just their belongings before they could leave. they mostlyjust got the essentials and got out of there as quick as they could. we can see some light pictures from thousands 0aks where the fire is clearly still raging —— live pictures. i suppose when people see those kinds of images they realise the severity of its. we were hearing from a fire official a moment ago, dave clark, that people generally have been complying with the orders. although do some people tended to stay put, you were saying? some do. acting generally they comply, especially when they get closer. but there understanding of what is safe and the officials understanding of what is safe is not the same. 0ne the officials understanding of what is safe is not the same. one of them is safe is not the same. one of them is that i can't look up on the internet if my home has been yet, i wa nt to internet if my home has been yet, i want to be close enough to tell for myself. there is some of that. but generally they are compliant. as soon as the police are walking up to

them and saying it is time to leave, at that point they often do. have people been given any kind of estimate, it feels a bit premature to even ask this, but any estimate how long they will have to stay away for? i wish i could say they have. at the moment, the last i have heard, it is 0% contained. so is no knowing how long it will take to go out and how much larger it will grow before they have the ability to start containing it. also the santa ana winds, the weather event that makes these fires burn out of control, they are supposed to keep up control, they are supposed to keep up through the weekend. control, they are supposed to keep up through the weekendm control, they are supposed to keep up through the weekend. it is truly ha rd to up through the weekend. it is truly hard to say at this point. 0k, caleigh wells from kpcc radio, thank you for your time. thank you so much. by to be here. —— glad to be here. 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. 0ur 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. isaid, "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. 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. 0utside 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." caroline wyatt, bbc news, berlin. let's return to the commemoration of the end of the first world war. across the uk, people in cities, towns, and villages have been preparing for the armistice centenary. from knitted poppies on village greens, to marking the contribution of commonwealth soldiers,

our correspondentjon kay has been finding out how the country will commemorate 100 years since the guns fell silent on the western front. each one is a life that was lost in the great war. charfield in gloucestershire. somebody made these poppies with love. 4,000 residents, 12,000 poppies. all knitted by villagers over the last year. people are just in tears, literally stood there with tears down their cheeks. really heartbreaking, breathtaking, and i'm just proud of everybody. this is going to be an amazing day. many here are remembering relatives who fought 100 years ago. what do you think your grandpa would think of this? oh, i think he'd be thrilled. i think he'd think it was wonderful. there are children coming out of houses, going,

can we help you put them up? and their mums and dads came out to help. this is a close—knit community here. close—knit? close—knit. laughter. from cornwall... to norfolk. from anglesey to the isle of arran. from our smallest villages. .. to our biggest cities. we will remember, this weekend. here in the west midlands, this road has been transformed. why did you want to do this as a community? we feel that station road represents communities up and down the country

that lost so many people to a terrible war. in this road, we lost 16 young men. making the armistice relevant, bringing history right up to date. people from the war who lived here. charlie and his family say it's helped them understand. makes me proud of the people who fought for us and for our country. and the people who lived in your house? yeah. makes me proud to live here. just one road, like so many others, finding its own way to remember. jon kay, bbc news. there will be coverage of the armistice commemorations across the bbc this weekend. now the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello. with yuika now upon as the weather

is looking rather mixed the next few days. we had heavy rain around during the day on friday. this was taken by a weather watcher in warwickshire. big show clouds around them. through the weekend we keep that unsettled thinking things. the most persistent rain is clearing, but it will be a weekend of sunny spells and blustery showers, which at times will bring the threat of bail that michaela binder. the reason things are so unsettled as the area of low pressure sitting to the area of low pressure sitting to the south—west of uk —— hail and thunder. fairly tightly spaced isobars leads to a blustery filter the weather on saturday. the most persistent rain on this front will clear away towards the east. a chilly, for a start to the day with sunny spells. plenty of scattered showers moving in on that south—westerly wind. there will be affecting parts of southern and south—western england, wales, north—western england into southern scotla nd north—western england into southern scotland as well. nowhere really immune to catching a shower through the day on saturday. prydie mahle still with the southerly or south—westerly winds. 11— 1a degrees

the showers is a little bit through saturday evening, but then the next lot feeding in again as we head into the early hours of sunday morning. plenty of across southern and south—eastern england and across the irish sea coast as well. remembrance sunday, of course, will bring us a mixed picture. low pressure sitting to the north—west of the uk for remembrance day on sunday, we will see further showers. it won't be a washout. there will be sunshine in between. it is part of the west that will be more prone to seeing the showers. western scotland, north—west england, scotland, wales, southern areas at times. sunday should be a dry day compare to the showers we will see on saturday. temperatures are reasonably mild, 10-14 temperatures are reasonably mild, 10— 14 degrees. 0nto monday, a quick look into next week, we have those south—westerly winds. another day of sunny spells and some scattered showers, particularly affecting coastal areas for southern england

and around these irish sea coast as well. there will be some sunshine for east of scotland on the north—east of england, it will be quite mild for the cometti. they frustrated at the day on. temperatures by the afternoon that make a frost free start to the day on monday. we will continue with the u nsettled on monday. we will continue with the unsettled thing for a time. sunny spells are rounds, showers into the middle of the week, temperatures should stay on the mild side, 14— 15 degrees. goodbye.