forces i'm samantha simmonds in london, the headlines: the us says its forces have killed the leader of the so—called islamic state group, abu bakr al—baghdadi, often described as the world's most wanted man. a brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated. a state of emergency across california as wildfires continue to spread whipped up by ferocious winds. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: singing. vigils in vietnam, for some of the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry

on the outskirts of london. and looking differently at stamford raffles, founder of modern singapore — an artist takes a more critical view of his place in history. announcer: live from our studios in singapore and london. this is bbc world news, it's newsday. it's midnight here in london, 8:00 in the morning in singapore and 8:00 in the evening in washington, where president trump says the leader of the islamic state group has died after a military operation conducted by us special forces. abu bakr al—baghdadi had been described as the world's most wanted man, and mr trump said capturing or killing him had been the top national security priority of his administration. al—baghdadi is said to have detonated an explosive vest, as his compound came under attack.

here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. the sound and flame of battle lasted around four hours, witnesses in the village told the bbc. in the morning, boys on their way to school checked out the rubble. they're from a new generation violentjihadists might try to recruit. nothing was left of the house where baghdadi and his family had been staying. translation: the heli went down and fired. soldiers rode down on the helis, on two sides, we couldn't stay longer than two minutes on the roof. we went down and hid inside. in 2014, abu bakr al—baghdadi declared the establishment of a caliphate — his brutal vision

of an islamic entity. he spoke in mosul, iraq's second city, in the mosque his men destroyed as their caliphate fell three years later. followers of is carried out attacks that killed dozens or even hundreds at a time. earlier this year more than 250 were killed in easter bombings in sri lanka. in the white house in washington, president trump and his closest advisers watched video feeds of the attack. he said baghdadi killed himself by detonating an explosives belt, also killing three of his own children. a brutal killer, one who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated. he will never again harm another innocent man, woman or child. he died like a dog, he died like a coward. the world is now a much safer place.

this is not the end for the violent extremists of islamic state. look at their own history. in 2006, an earlier leader was killed in an american air strike after a long manhunt. the organisation regenerated itself. under abu bakr al—baghdadi, it called itself islamic state and became the biggest jihadist militia. now it's lost the lands of its so—called caliphate and another leader, but it will continue to recruit from parts of iraq and syria, and beyond, that have become incubators for jihadist extremists. baghdadi has left behind much more than the rubble in which he died. there have been false reports of his death before. assuming these are true, his legacy includes countless killings, of captives, competence and civilians. his followers may try for revenge, his ideas and actions will have consequences in the middle east

for years to come. jeremy bowen, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. california has declared a state—wide emergency as wildfires sweep through the area. the governor's office has described the situation as "unprecedented". in the north of the state, authorities have ordered nearly 200,000 people to leave their homes. rhodri davies reports. the race is on a northern california to keep wildfires hemmed in and to get residents out. 180,000 of them have already evacuated and more may follow. although i have heard some

people express concerns that we are evacuating too many people, i think those concerns are not valid at this point. as we see from this report we just received, our evacuation yesterday was well warranted, there is significant danger to anybody still in the area. authorities are evacuating a huge area, including santa rosa city, where about 175,000 people live. they have contained about 10% of that place but it has already burned through 40,000 acres of a region famous for its vineyards. the separate fire near los angeles, forecasters expect several more days of similar conditions. while the state's biggest power firm of similar conditions. while the state's biggest powerfirm is

cutting electricity, worried that damaged cables will trigger new fires. that will affect around 2 million people. leaving californians fea rful million people. leaving californians fearful and unsure of what comes next. also making news today: anti—government protesters in hong kong have set fire to shops and hurled petrol bombs, in the twenty—first consecutive weekend of protests. riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands in the tsim sha tsui district. many protesters wore all—black clothing and face masks, in defiance of a government ban. ambassadors from 27 european union nations will meet in a few hours from now, to discuss britain's request to extend its brexit deadline. a draft text for the decision would extend the deadline for britain's departure to january 31, but reports from brussels say other potential dates

are also being considered. exit polls in argentina's presidential elections predict a strong lead for the leftist candidate alberto fernandez over the business—friendly incumbent mauricio macri. it is not yet clear whether this is an outright win or whether there will be a run—off. final results are expected within a few hours. south africa are through to the final of the rugby union world cup after they narrowly beat wales by 19 points to 16. handre pollard's crucial penalty was enough to help the springboks reach the final. the final between england and south africa will take place on saturday in yokohama. in lebanon, protesters have formed a human chain that stretched more —— in lebanon, protesters have formed a human chain that stretched more than 170 kilometres — from the northern city of tripoli, to tyre in the south. organisers said the idea was to symbolise a new—found national unity after days

of anti—government street protests. let's get more on our lead story, and the announcement by president trump that the leader of the islamic state group, abu bakr al—baghdadi, has died during an operation by us special forces in syria. max abrahms is associate professor of political science at northeastern university in boston, massachusetts. he's also an expert in terrorism and has written about the role al—baghdadi played in the so—called islamic state. he gave me his assessment. this is obviously a huge new story. islamic state was going to terrorise the world in a way that no other terrorist group has. it was a very wealthy group, raking in $1 billion a year. it controlled territory in iraq and syria, the size of great

britain. between 9— 12 million people under its rule. it attracted foreign fighters from 110 countries. 40,000 of them, more than four times the amount that travel to afghanistan in the 805. this is a group that overran major parts of the middle east, nearly taking over baghdad and damascus and of course with its social media, it was able to magnify even more and terrorise people from all over the world. wherever you take out a leader of a group like that, it is obviously major, major news. that said, al—baghdadi wa5 major, major news. that said, al—baghdadi was never a strong leader. not at any point, even in isis's heyday, baghdadi was always a wea k isis's heyday, baghdadi was always a weak reader. —— leader. he didn't do what strong leaders tend to do. for

example, he didn't vet out prospective members. he didn't decide who could be a member. he opened the doors and said absolutely anybody can be a member including so—called lone wolves. they don't even need an official isis affiliation, they can just declare their allegiance to the leader al—baghdadi. he didn't tell members which countries they could attack in which countries they could attack in which targets they could strike. he said they could commit violence anywhere essentially on your wish list. for that reason, anywhere essentially on your wish list. forthat reason, i anywhere essentially on your wish list. for that reason, i don't think that his removal will change the nature of isis violence at all and i actually don't even think it will increase the amount of violence because this is not a restrained group. this is something that was sitting on not a lot of capabilities but where leaders said not to launch attacks was not this was a group

that always tried to the maximum extent to inflict violence so i don't foresee a big wave of revenge violence. i think that those guys would have already committed violence if they could have so neither the nature of the violence nor the amount of violence, i foresee changing substantially, now that al—baghdadi is gone. that was professor max abrahms from the university in boston, massachusetts speaking earlier to samantha. three people arrested after the discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated container lorry in the uk have been released on bail. the driver maurice robinson is due to appear in court tomorrow, charged with manslaughter. meanwhile the families of those feared dead, have been holding vigils and ceremonies back in vietnam. many are thought to have come from the village of yen thanh, from wherejonathan head reports. singing. a community overwhelmed by shock and despair.

they haven't heard from sons and daughters who were en route to britain for days and they all fear the worst. earlier this year, le van ha left vietnam to seek his fortune in europe. since he left, his wife has given birth to their second child. he was the great hope of this family. the news from britain has left them stunned. his wife ha can't eat or speak. his father le minh tuan is inconsolable, constantly hugging his eldest grandchild. he believes he's lost notjust his son but his livelihood as well. he mortgaged all his land to borrow the money he paid for le van ha's journey. "the debt he left us is huge", he said. "we don't know when we can pay it back.

i'm too old now and my health is poor". it's been a day of prayer here and of neighbours doing what they can to offer comfort. they're used, in this part of vietnam, to say goodbye to their young men and women. money sent back from abroad is important to the local economy and here, britain is their preferred destination. nguyen dinh luong had already been living abroad for two years before deciding to take the last risky trip across the channel. his family believes he, too, was inside the ill—fated container. "all i know about england is it's not far from france", said his father, "and i heard it was safe going to england, that nothing would happen". saving and borrowing to send their young folk overseas has become a routine

practice in these villages. it's also become a richly profitable business for the traffickers, a pitiless and a dangerous one. few people here realised, as they surely do now, just how dangerous it can be. jonathan head, bbc news, yen thanh, vietnam. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: the founder of modern singapore, sir stamford raffles, reassessed in art. also on the programme: shaken and stirred in a flash — meet asia's best female speed bartender. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it,

every drop of my blood would contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore.

i'm samantha simmonds in london. our top stories: the us says its forces have killed the leader of the so—called islamic state group, abu bakr al—baghdadi, often described as the world's most wanted man. and a state of emergency is declared across california as wildfires continue to spread, whipped up by ferocious winds. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. first let's start with the gulf news which focuses on our top story, the killing of abu bakr al—baghdadi, the leader of so—called islamic state group, who killed himself during a military operation in north—west syria led by the us. next, to the south china morning post, which reports on a 21st straight weekend of anti—government protests in hong kong as demonstrators block roads and clash with police. as you can see in that picture

there. and finally to the financial times's international edition, and the story that germany, the european union's largest economy is due to double its annual payment towards the organisation's budget, as the group of nations prepares for life after the uk's withdrawal. they've shaken, they've stirred and now asia's best female speed bartender has been crowned. 16 mixologists competed to make the best and fastest cocktail in hong kong on sunday, as part of the contest called speed rack. it's all for a good cause, too, with proceeds going towards breast cancer education, prevention and research. a short time ago i was joined by the winner, summer lo from blue bar in hong kong who described her feelings. you know, it was amazing and an incredible experience. like this competition is not just incredible experience. like this competition is notjust a cocktail

competition, it's showing our women's power and also we can raise awareness of rest cancer. it is indeed a competition of women and power, but sellers some details of the competition. does make details. there wasn't particularly one mix that made you win it, but what was your favourite cocktail? may favourite cocktail is the negroni, it's a classic cocktail from italy. we are doing the speed challenge, like every once in awhile need to make for different drinks —— four. the first one i did in one minute and 20 seconds. wow, one minute, 20 seconds, that could be an asian or world record for mixing a cocktail.

but share with us, how did you start becoming a bartender or a mix knowledge is? what got you into this career? —— mixologist. knowledge is? what got you into this career? -- mixologist. actuallyl have no idea why i am a bartender. after my education i didn't want to work, ijust opened my own shop. after a year i closed it down and decided i need to find a job. then i saw the bar, the buyer was so cool and it made me like go into this industry. summer lo, asia's best speed bartender. hopefully he can p0p speed bartender. hopefully he can pop along and get some tips. a long—lost painting by the early italian rennaisance

master cimabue has sold for more than 26 million dollars at auction — more than four times the pre—auction estimate. the painting was discovered earlier this year in the kitchen of an elderly french woman, where it had been hanging for years. kathryn armstrong has more. as far as record breaking out sales 90, as far as record breaking out sales go, this is one of the more unusual back stories. this small painting known as christ mike, which dates to the 13th century has just become the most extensive medical painting to ever most extensive medical painting to ever be sold. it had been handing for yea rs ever be sold. it had been handing for years were not —— hanging for yea rs not for years were not —— hanging for years not in a grand gallery, but in an elderly woman's house in paris. she got the painting wasn't worth very much. the true identity was only reviewed earlier this year during a valuation of her possessions. cimabue is a great painter and this is a great work of art. anybody who wanted a time when i painting was ready for anything. obviously we knew our estimate had some potential, already a 10— 12 million euros, we were immensely happy. but you can use it more than

24 million euros is more than what we could have dreamt of. cimabue, who taught the italian master giotto was one of the first to give his works perspective. the auction house didn't reveal the identity of the successful bidder but said a foreign museum had been among those who had put in an offer. catherine armstrong, bbc news. a record—breaking art piece. it's been 200 years since singapore was founded as a british port by sir stamford raffles, and the country is marking the anniversary of his arrival with the singapore bicentennial, a series of events looking back on its history. many view raffles with respect, and his name adorns some of the most prestigious institutions in the country. but local artistjimmy ong is questioning raffles' legacy and singaporeans' admiration for a man they view as their city's colonial founder.

raffles has been used as an icon, a monument for singapore. his associated with things that are prestigious. stamford raffles is a statue that i passed by often living upon singapore revels. a white man with folded arms looking down the river. what i'm interested to do is see that there is anyway that i can go about deconstructing it. i read a book about raffles and the british invasion of java, i read a book about raffles and the british invasion ofjava, that i read a book about raffles and the british invasion of java, that is when i found out actually stamford

raffles d id a when i found out actually stamford raffles did a lot of other things. he looted the palace and humiliated the sultan, it is not as heroic and gentlemanly as he is perceived to be. i decided to like cut off the head and feet, having seen what the past sultan has done to traitors. this is what i come up with. this is what the sultan would do, he would not forgive what stamford raffles has done to java. i made a sculpture of him. one part of it has become a stovetop, of him. one part of it has become a stoveto p, o n of him. one part of it has become a stovetop, on this stove i will make a cake known as love letters stop by offering to the cake to you, may you free yourself of colonialism. yeah,

it's a bit shocking just to see him being opened up and used as a stove. it's pretty bad. isn't he the one who founded singapore? and yet he isn't being respected in that way? that certainly looks interesting, doesn't it, rico. you have been watching newsday. i'm samanths simmonds in london and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. argentina goes to the polls following a campaign focused on rising poverty and the high cost of food. we'll get more from our correspondent in buenos aires. and to all our viewers celebrating

diwali, happy holidays. i've had lots of fireworks going off in london. thank you for watching, stay with us. hello once again. it may have taken its time, but we've got a decent amount of sunshine. but it would have done nothing for the temperatures as you may well have noticed. and you can see on the bigger picture there is a lot of that fresh a sort of you of regime on offer. and for the next few days, dry weather and sunshine as well but it won't do anything for the temperatures. it will be cold both by day and by night. that's the way we start monday morning, widespread forest, the first of the season on a sort of scale, you could be scraping the cars burst up. a list a lot of sunshine for your commute and some dry weather, too. seems i was in northern scotland, maybe one or two in southern england, weatherfront

close by to the far south—west, the cloudier with the odd bit and this the rain perhaps. changing the day, taking you from monday to tuesday, the overall pattern doesn't seem to change very much at all except the isobars just change very much at all except the isobarsjust beginning change very much at all except the isobars just beginning to open up there across the northern part of scotland. so that means less in the way of breeze. the bit of an onshore here, so not overly warm. a frosty start again but fewer showers for scotland, still about cloud with the odd bitten piece of rain across the south—western quarter. again those temperatures still struggling, nine, ten, 11. something about orderfor most of us. those weather fronts haven't been around in the south—western quarter for a couple of days. a rather subsumed news out of days. a rather subsumed news out of france coming in from the atla ntic of france coming in from the atlantic with a bit more urgency and oomf was not a chilly start across the greater part of central and eastern side of renter, and out towards the west may be a dry start but eventually the cloud and wind and rain piling from the atlantic.

just beginning to see signs of those temperatures getting too sick up by a degree or two or so. temperatures getting too sick up by a degree or two or 50. through wednesday night on into thursday, eventually we all get to see some of that rain on that first set of runs, and then behind me there is a suggestion that you fronts may also develop —— new france. but they will just reinforce this change in weather regime into something a good deal milder. coming in from the atla ntic deal milder. coming in from the atlantic but at something of a prize, more cloud and there will be some rain at times as well. thursday, a really murky start i would have thought. the rain over there over towards the ease, a lot of merit in between these weather systems and then more rain gathering itself from the atlantic to affect southern scotland, north of england. it is the temperatures are ticking up.

i'm samantha simmonds with bbc world news. our top story: the us says its forces have killed the leader of the so—called islamic state group, abu bakr al—baghdadi, often described as the world's most wanted man. president donald trump says he was killed during an operation by us special forces in syria. he said that al—baghdadi had blown himself up in a tunnel, killing three of his own children. a state of emergency has been declared across california as wildfires continue to spread, whipped up by strong winds. nearly 200,000 people in the north of the state have been ordered to leave their homes. and this story is trending on bbc.com. the lost rennaisance painting sold at auction for $26 million. the work by cimabue had been hanging undiscovered for many years in a kitchen in france. that's all. stay with bbc world news.