this is bbc news. the headlines: an official us report warns that climate change will cost america hundreds of billions of dollars and cause severe damage to people's health and way of life, all of which is at odds with president trump's stance on the issue. the spanish prime minister says he still hasn't got the british guarantees he wants on gibraltar, suggesting that a summit in brussels on sunday to approve an eu deal on brexit could be postponed. mr sanchez said if there was no agreement on the draft deal, the summit would not take place. the trump administration has asked the us supreme court to review lowerjudicial rulings which block the president's ban on some transgender people serving in the military. the administration wants the supreme court to fast track a definitive ruling on the issue. now on bbc news it's time for click. this week: fighting fires from the

air, on the ground, and even on rails. the californian wildfires are the deadliest the state has ever seen. they have claimed the lives of more than 80 people, hundreds are missing, and a —— and hold towns have been destroyed. but as residents try to escape, the firefighters did what they always do: they ran towards the danger. ——

whole towns. it is a profession that relies on courage, dedication, and increasingly the latest science and technology to find out how fires behave and how to beat back the flames. and if you want to be a firefighter, this is where you learn your craft. the international flight training centre in darlington in the north of england. —— fire training. this is where brave firefighters come from around the world to learn the latest techniques in fighting all kinds of blazes. they can simulate a huge righty of fire scenarios here. 0il simulate a huge righty of fire scenarios here. oil rigs, industrial fires, that is an overturned fuel tanker, and they can select any size of aircraft, from the smallest to the largest. that is a never say 380, and this is a boeing 747. and

it is not just 380, and this is a boeing 747. and it is notjust about gearing up and grabbing the hose. every fire is different. each needs to be treated intelligently to make sure that you and the people you're trying to save have the best chance of survival. wow. 0h have the best chance of survival. wow. oh my goodness. they are using the water as a protective shield. so they're keeping the two fires apart using the water. keeping the left and one day and then mixed english and one day and then mixed english and the right one before we deal with the left. —— and then extinguishing the right one. this intention is to make the fire as realistic as possible. it is fascinating to see the science behind firefighting. for example, in

a kerosene fuel fire, water won't put it out. this code of water controls the blazer that another firefighting come in with a powder extinguisher. that is what finally came is the flames. and once they're gone, it is that manyjob is done? well, that is where this thermal imaging camera comes in, to see what oui’ imaging camera comes in, to see what our eyes cannot. so once it looks like the fire is out, you still have two cover the area in water, just in case there are some hotspots. you can see here the event at the top of this engine is still white hot, according to this thermal imaging camera. and there are many other ways to detect and deal with fires, and lara lewington has been looking at some of them. for the past two yea rs, half of at some of them. for the past two years, half of the uk's fire brigade have been deploying these drones. they focus on the safety of firefighters and they are on—board

—— and their on—board cameras can provide much greater visibility, which means a better understanding ofa which means a better understanding of a fire and the way that it is spreading. using the drunken wicking pretty much get an overview of the whole fire in less than five minutes. —— using the drone, we can. then we can move our firefighters around like chess pieces, all controlled by drone footage. it brings benefit as we can see fires as they are developing. the kenya have also use —— the kenya have also been used for rescues. phd camera can clearly zoom in on a face up to a mile away. —— the team here. but when it comes to the spread of fires, what has happened recently in california is at the forefront of oui’ california is at the forefront of our minds. —— the hd camera. the university of westminster is

combining sensors on the ground and those in aid drone. the aim? a solution for wildfires. the solar powered prototype is our tracking carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, humidity, to bridge, gps, and altitude. —— temperature. the aim is to integrate them into one miniature cost—effective version they could be deployed en masse in areas susceptible to wildfires, providing immediate feedback.“ there is something, they will alert all their neighbours also, forming into a network. they can take measurements, convey it to the drone, which then sends it to the server, which gives a visual. it comes with all the information it has got from the drones, the ground sensors, and it is what the wind speed and direction is, that what

the camera to variations are, it is where the fire will be. then it makes a release from the air and then you have these lovely pellets flying in and hitting the target when it the fire is. and you can fight fires david knight, putting four hours a day, with no visibility. —— day and night. meanwhile, this is the stinger. it can pierce through metal and pretty much any roof, dramatically lasting foa m much any roof, dramatically lasting foam or water into the heart of the blaze. the quantity and falls about water is pretty incredible. this pond is a thousand litres a minute, with even more powerfuljet to be side, capable of 4.5 times that. it has an on—board thermal imaging camera to help with that position. blackbird is currently the only fire service banking users get. ——

blackburn. i'm told it costs over £600,000. 0blivious costs come down and the technology evolves, this next generation of firefighting will become the norm. —— but maybe as costs co m e become the norm. —— but maybe as costs come down. that was lara. back at the international fight any centre, i am about to be shut inside a mock boeing 747. see, when it comes to fire, sometimes it is not the one right in front of you that is the most dangerous. it is the one thatis is the most dangerous. it is the one that is waiting to ignite. this is to demonstrate what happens when flammable vapours apply it reach an ignition source. it's called a flashover, and it looks like this. just that tiny bit of fire in this

enclosed environment really shows that smoke is the real killer. my goodness, you can hardly breathe. it is stinging my eyes. they use so much water here every year that it would be silly if they didn't try to reuse it. so that is exactly what they do. all the water, the kerosene, the foam, the powder, and the general sludge from the site flow into a drainage system that goes underground and first of all in a small lagoon over here with the kerosene close to the top and is skimmed off and they can actually reuse it. the rest of it ends up in the next lagoon, where the solids settle out, and the result is a watery foamy mix which is pumped over there. the foam is made of

animal protein which the wreaths actually feed on. so they effectively suck the foam out of the liquid. -- effectively suck the foam out of the liquid. —— reeds. so you are left with relatively clean water. and we will have more from this place soon. hello and welcome to the week in tech. it was the week that the price of bitcoin hit lows not seen since 2017, leading to speculation on the cryptocurrency‘s future value. uber and as he would make accessible cars available in 15 minutes or less to wheelchair users in six major cities after facing criticism of long wheelchair users in six major cities afterfacing criticism of long wait times in liverpool availability. —— announced it would. and star wars actor mark hamill sent a positive message to kids around the world living with limb differences. remember, luke lost his hand to darth vader, but that did not stop in defeating the empire. it was also the week that nasa finally decided

wea ra ble the week that nasa finally decided wearable lend its 2020 mars rover. they hope it all the clue to enter light on the planet. meanwhile, they also launched a safety review into space x and boeing. the two companies are contracted to play astronauts to the international space station possibly as early as 2019. sources close to the investigation claims after elon musk was seen puffing marijuana on a pod cast in september. finally, you can never have enough star wars in the news. forget the forest and end all, a local man has installed a 4/2 metre replica of an imperial walker by the roadside, where he hopes it will become a tourist attraction. the local council were not impressed and ordered him to take it down. —— endor. as well as the practical firefighting that happens here at the international fire training centre, there is plenty of theory to

be learnt about the unusual ways that i can behave. now, a real danger to firefighters is when a fire ina danger to firefighters is when a fire in a sealed room starts itself of oxygen, so it looks like the fire has gone out and the whole place is still really, really hot. then if a firefighter owns a deal to come in, oxygen firefighter owns a deal to come in, oxyg e n roles firefighter owns a deal to come in, oxygen roles in and starts to mix with the gases. they become flammable again and that is when you get a backdrop. flammable again and that is when you geta backdrop. —— flammable again and that is when you get a backdrop. —— rolls. flammable again and that is when you geta backdrop. —— rolls. —— flammable again and that is when you get a backdrop. —— rolls. —— backed d raft. get a backdrop. —— rolls. —— backed draft. —— backed —— backdraught. would be good if firefighters could use to see what they were getting themselves into? that is what paul carter has been looking at in switzerland. for firefighters, it is the things they

can't see that the most dangerous. the helmet i am wearing a seat thermal imaging camera fitted to the side that is unique. it is unique in that it in corporate seat heads up style display. it is visible over one eye, giving thermal imaging without skewering normal vision. i'm going to use going into this very smoky room to see what i can see. luckily, it is not too smoky. 0nce the smoke released us to go out, as strange as it may sound come out my view of the fire is going to com pletely view of the fire is going to completely disappear. in a modern building, there is a lot of synthetic materials. buildings and more close than ever. so there is a lot of smug development and fire may actually be hidden behind smoke, or there may be people on the floor.

the thickness of the smoke is a real issue. us have access to thermal image, which start adding some additional advantages to them. before was not possible to use the camera. you could use it as if you are right, for example. but just as firefighters protect us, keeping them protected is critical. and nothing is more important than the clothing they wear out. one of the clothing they wear out. one of the biggest issues with firefighters right now is that the eight—year prevents them from evacuating their own body heat so lots of developments go in them direction of preventing heat stress for firefighters. making uniforms fireproof and heat resistant is a no—brainer but doing so while making it flexible, breathable and light as

a whole different challenge. at the dupont european technical centre in geneva they've developed a material that can withstand extremely high temperatures. it's made of material that bubbles when exposed to high heat, insulating the wearer.“ that bubbles when exposed to high heat, insulating the wearer. it has been proven that if your body temperature, core temperature raises above a certain level, you start doing the wrong decisions, it affects rain functions and you don't wa nt affects rain functions and you don't want that to happen for a firefighter. eventually he would not realise when he is in extreme danger, he would realise it too late. you can feel how raised the surfaces, these bubbles, for want of a better word, have lifted off the fabric compared to the bit that has not been exposed to the fire. naturally these fabrics have to be vigorously tested and certified and in the centre's own lab, they conduct a variety of burning tests

to ensure robustness. as a comparison, i look at what happens when the same tests are conducted on regular cotton. the result was rather terrifying. my goodness. regular cotton. the result was ratherterrifying. my goodness. i mean, it's completely on fire. it's burned through. that also developed a smart heat sensing glove that firefighters can use to detect the temperature of surface or doors to against backdrops. now switzerland may not be the first place that comes to find when you think of fire. but it is surprisingly advanced when it comes to firefighting tech. for example, the only country in europe to have a firefighting train. this cabin is

pressurised so in the event of a fire, this can be operated as a safe reading environment. this bad boy is one of 16 used across the country and it's an absolute beast. it can be used for a wide variety of tasks. 0nly be used for a wide variety of tasks. only some of them specifically related to firefighting. a rescue vehicle for people on other trains. it can pick up derailed trains. it can also simply be used to transport fire crews more quickly and directly than by road. but let's be honest, fighting fires is the coolest thing this train can do. it holds 43,000 litres of water and 1000 litres of special firefighting foam. also,

litres of water and 1000 litres of specialfirefighting foam. also, a foa m specialfirefighting foam. also, a foam cannon. it can also create a curtain of protection, a mist of water that blankets around the trading, providing a protective area from smoke and chemicals. so far, at the international fire training centre, i've been learning how to physically deal with fires but in large disasters, the co—ordinators are the ones who need to see the bigger picture and try and control the entire scenario. it looks like the entire scenario. it looks like the passengers are evacuating so can we get a fire appliance to start extinguishing the fire there? we really need to stop that fire getting to the main body of the plane. this simulator allows me to ta ke plane. this simulator allows me to take the role of incident commander. i've got crew commanders sat at each

of these workstations in charge of each fire appliance. myjob is to assess and call commands to them to try and deal with this fire which already looks quite serious, i have to say. the undercarriage is on fire. is it? on the port side. 0h, wow. fire. is it? on the port side. 0h, wow. that was an explosion. something tells me this plan is not going to be flying again any time soon. so was well as being the incident commander, you can swap roles and become a nurse or a paramedic or police officer as well. ican paramedic or police officer as well. i can see how this could be a really intense experience, even though it is just intense experience, even though it isjust a simulation intense experience, even though it is just a simulation but you really have to have your wits about you to make sense of the very rapidly developing situation. now, this is not the only kind of simulation used by first responders. catwalk ins has been looking at how virtual reality is used to assess the aftermath of an emergency. i met leicestershire

fire and rescue, the first service in the country to invest in virtual reality. —— by anat. their hope is money will be saved by replacing some of the expensive training techniques with br alternatives. i've seen the demo and the fire looks quite intense so don't think it is one i will be used to when it comes to virtual reality which is just having a nice time. let's see. all the scenes in the training i scanned from the real world. for instance, this arson hotspot investor is a good reference for investigators looking for clues. it's the inside of a destroyed smoke alarm. ijust need to say, the environment is, like i'm standing on national stop it feels very real.

teleportation. 0h, national stop it feels very real. teleportation. oh, my gosh. there is a body down there. if you enjoy the training, you will get more out of it. if you trade in the virtual reality environment, the attention rate is 75%. most of the talks i do on road safety or powerpoint, we tend to make 5%. you can see why we are looking at this because our training is going to be enhanced so much. if you want to go ten seconds forward , much. if you want to go ten seconds forward, you can do it on the controller, just skip forward and fa st forward controller, just skip forward and fast forward the fire. you remember from the scene you saw a minute ago, that monitor was melted. you can see how it physically affects things that are not even burning yet. then the idea is, when it stops, we show the idea is, when it stops, we show the people putting out the fire, and you get the ability to dive straight backin you get the ability to dive straight back in the scene and you are in that same burn scene. seeing the

impact of the fire is pretty remarkable. it went pretty quickly. it's an immersive experience. the ability to hold objects, to photograph them, to mark them. we don't often see the initial development of a fire, fire behaviour and how fire develops in a fire scene, it's useful for mine as well. from a forensic perspective and training new people in the field, i think it will be invaluable. part of the reason this experience feels so intent —— intense is the realism. for leicestershi re intense is the realism. for leicestershire fire and rescue, this was important, that they move away from gamification and into real life. they have been working with river, to make this happen. both cameras and lasers photograph in real life, 360 degrees scenario is

up real life, 360 degrees scenario is up to thousands of times. we've seen how fire services are using virtual reality but what about other first responders? here at the defence science and technology laboratory, they are hard at work on how police might use virtual reality in our training. number seven ferguson house, call a report for a violent disturbance. i can see some feat already. people wouldn't expect to put the police and virtual reality together. why is it so important police are interacting with technology in this way? you can replicate one—off events, an event which could be a dangerous or hazardous environment, you can recreate as a one—off and people would never get the opportunity to rehearse that but in vr, we can, soak we can give them that vehicle and the opportunity to do a one—off scenario and do it safely. oh, my gosh. 0k,

scenario and do it safely. oh, my gosh. ok, i'm going to see if she is alive. she has obviously taken some pills. there is a heartbeat here. i can definitely see already how it could be used, in the way that a lot of games are, really, to open up your mind to possibilities around crime, why people may have committed criminal activities, those kind of questions i definitely there already. yeah, that was more enjoyable than the fire one, i think, which perhaps shouldn't be my ta keaway think, which perhaps shouldn't be my takeaway but i could go back into that world where is the fire scene, ijust that world where is the fire scene, i just wanted to that world where is the fire scene, ijust wanted to get out. that's it from the international fire training centre. i hope you found it is fascinating as we have. we are going to put a load more footage and

photos from this place up on social media. don't forget, we live on facebook and twitter at bbc click. thanks for watching, we will see you soon. hello. the week ended on a pretty gloomy note for many, and i'm not expecting things to brighten up spectacularly through the weekends. yes, some of us will see sunshine but many more will be stuck with cloud, it will feel chilly and for some areas, a bit of rain in the forecast. the satellite shows quite a lot of cloud streaming towards urban areas, this cloud is ready bringing some heavy downpours of rain across the south—west of england, even the odd flash of lightning and thunder, and we keep potential for wet weather across the south—west but perhaps across other southern counties of england as well as we go through saturday. uncertainty about how far north that rain will get.

it looks most likely that it will say to the south of the m4 corridor. so if you are in the london area, the south midlands, you may see a little bit of rain, on balance it should stay just about dry, temperatures around nine degrees. some rain could fringe into south wales but for the midlands, north—west england, south—west scotland and for a time across northern ireland a chance of seeing breaks in the cloud and some sunny spells. for north—east england and the eastern side of scotland we will keep cloud and some showery rain and with that easterly breeze across the country, top temperatures no better than 7—10 degrees. some rain is likely to continue across southern counties of england across saturday evening, elsewhere dry weather, some rain in drizzle coming into eastern areas, we keep that easterly breeze feeding in cloud, the best of the clear skies in the west. if it does stay clear where you are there may be a touch of frost, most areas will stay frost free. for sunday high pressure in charge, but this frontal system threatens

to throw a bit of a spanner in the works across the south—east corner. uncertainty about this but clipping into kent and sussex, we could see a little bit of rain. it may come a touch further north and west, but for many sunday is largely dry. a lot of cloud in the east, the best of the brightness further west, but fairly chilly. on monday we keep our weather coming in from the east, not an especially strong breeze but a cool one bringing lots of cloud, patchy rain in the east, some sunshine to the west and those temperatures stuck in single digits for all of us. and then a bit of a change as we had deeper into the new week because high—pressure retreats and the low pressure in the atlantic starts to wind itself up, a lot of white lines, a lot of isobars on the chart, that means it will be windy and at times wet. so tuesday another cool day, turning wet and windy on wednesday but also turning a bit milder. welcome to bbc news,

broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: a warning and a challenge to president trump from his own government. a new report says unchecked climate change will cost america hundreds of billions of dollars. spain's prime minister says he hasn't got the british guarantees he wants on gibraltar, throwing doubt over sunday's summit to approve an eu brexit deal. translation: if there is no deal, it's obvious that what will happen is that the european council will most likely not take place. voting is underway in taiwan in local elections and several referenda, including one on same—sex marriage. he is known as the rugged global adventurer who can handle a challenge. now, bear grylls wants to tackle global sustainability.