welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... torrential rains causes deadly floods in california — leaving residents, including celebrities, fearing for their properties... this street next to our house never flows ever. probably about nine feet up and it is going another two feet up. we are ready to evacuate. we'll talk live to an emergency co—ordinator in one of california's worst—affected areas. also coming up on newsday... thousands of ambulance staff across england and wales have gone on strike for a pay increase as the uk's industrial relations rows gain pace.

fierce fighting in the eastern ukrainian town of soledar — ukrainian forces battle to keep the russian mercenary wagner group back. cardinal george pell, the former treasurer of the vatican, who was acquitted of sexual abuse charges — has died aged 81. we'll get the latest reaction from australia. the first big awards ceremony of the year takes place in the next few hours — the 80th golden globes awards ceremony in los angeles. light from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. —— live from our studio in singapore. it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore, 4pm in california where at least 15 people have been killed following heavy rainfall that started on sunday. nearly 50,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as the rain keeps falling, the rivers rise and fears of landslides grow. 10,000 people living in the celebrity coastal town of montecito

near santa barbara have been ordered to leave. warnings of flooding and high winds are in place, across much of california, with more cyclones expected. in a moment, we'll get the latest from the state's emergency crisis team, first this report from our correspondentjon donnison. not a river but a road. but in much of california, rather than a car, you would be better off with the canoe. large parts of the state are already under water following back—to—back storms, and there is more to come. in less than 12 hours, we have received more than eight inches of rain with seven to eight inches still forecast to four. in other words, even more water. tens of thousands of homes have already had to be evacuated. hundreds of thousands more have been left without power. we work hard the last week to make sure that this didn't happen. and it wasjust...

and in some areas, the extreme rain has brought other dangers, too. in the town of montecito in santa barbara county, the whole community has been told to leave. the area is home to the duke and duchess of sussex, as well as a number of celebrities, including the tv star ellen degeneres. the street next to our house neverflows, ever. and not for the first time. this latest extreme weather in california comes on the back of severe forest fires in recent summers and record low temperatures just 80 weeks ago. jon donnison, bbc news. i'm joined now by brian ferguson, deputy director of crisis communication

and public affairs for the governor of california. it's great to get you on that programme. looking at the images from that report there, really, the scale of what is going on, so apparent, talk us through the size and scale of the rescue mission right now and which areas have been worst affected. , , ., , and which areas have been worst affected. , , , affected. this is fast becoming one of the _ affected. this is fast becoming one of the most _ affected. this is fast becoming one of the most dynamic- affected. this is fast becoming one of the most dynamic and l one of the most dynamic and deadly disasters our state has ever experienced. we have over 17 fatalities across a large geographic area from the oregon border all the way to the mexico border, a0 million people in our state and eventually all of them are impacted in some form by this disaster. throughout the day today, we have had crews out airlifting people and rescuing people who are impacted and we are not nearly done yet. there are not nearly done yet. there are two or three additional

storms on the way so we remain in a very challenging moment and ourfirst responders in a very challenging moment and our first responders are here trying to keep people safe. . ~ , ., here trying to keep people safe. . ~' , ., ., safe. talk us through how difficult this _ safe. talk us through how difficult this rescue - safe. talk us through how. difficult this rescue mission has been, you have outlined some of the most difficult areas to try and get to but what are the challenges that rescue workers are facing? there is so much water in the system, so much water in the soil, the saturation level is immense, from the trillions of litres of water that i've been coming down in recent days, and so the accumulative effect of these six or seven storms with at least two more behind, the rivers and streams are overfilled and many of the fatalities were seen are actually from the soil giving way and trees falling on individuals. and we have that challenge from san francisco all the way to los angeles, and as you have noted, our coastal

communities like montecito are experiencing deadly mudslides so no matter where folks are in their state we are urging them to be prepared and take action. we have a big state, nation state, the world. however, this is really putting the test to us in terms of helping keep people safe and keeping our businesses open. absolutely, and brian. — businesses open. absolutely, and brian, in _ businesses open. absolutely, and brian, in terms _ businesses open. absolutely, and brian, in terms of- businesses open. absolutely, and brian, in terms of how i and brian, in terms of how unprecedented this is, maybe you could give sense of what the weather usually is like at this time of year, have you seen this kind of flooding before? , ., , ., , before? yes, our state is coming _ before? yes, our state is coming out _ before? yes, our state is coming out of _ before? yes, our state is coming out of four - before? yes, our state is coming out of four years | before? yes, our state is l coming out of four years of immense drought where we have not had these types of storms and so we are almost experiencing a weather whiplash where we are now getting the rain we so desperately need but it is all falling at the same time, and so really the impact of climate change being seen on the ground here in our state,

certainly during the winter we often get storms but there is a break, and there has been no break, and there has been no break between these storms and thatis break between these storms and that is leading to the challenges and the images you are seeing now. find challenges and the images you are seeing now.— challenges and the images you are seeing now. and in terms of federal assistance, _ are seeing now. and in terms of federal assistance, i— are seeing now. and in terms of federal assistance, i know- are seeing now. and in terms of federal assistance, i know that l federal assistance, i know that california has appealed for that, what has the response been? ., , ., 4' been? so, we have been working closely with _ been? so, we have been working closely with president _ been? so, we have been working closely with president biden - closely with president biden and his administration. resident biden has spoken with the governor —— governor and permit any aid we need. we have us federal authorities working with us, from the department of defence, the coastguard, the federal agency. there is no politics when it comes to emergencies, we are here together with a goal of keeping people safe. together with a goal of keeping peeple safe-— people safe. brian ferguson, deu people safe. brian ferguson, deputy director _ people safe. brian ferguson, deputy director of _ people safe. brian ferguson, deputy director of crisis - deputy director of crisis communication and public affairs for the governor of california, thank you so much forjoining us on the programme and i wish you the best of luck for the russian —— for the rescue mission going ahead. thank you.

well, staying with the effects of climate, it's believed europe and the polar regions were the areas hardest hit by severe temperature changes, caused by climate change last year. according to new analysis, experienced its warmest summer on record, while some parts of greenland were up to eight degrees warmer than average in september. 0verall, 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record, which means the last eight years in a row, were each the warmest yet measured. here is our climate editor, justin rowlatt. france had a brutal summer. it recorded its hottest ever year and lowest levels of rainfall. the perfect conditions for the wildfires which swept the country, destroying crops and threatening homes. the gironde region in the south of the country was very badly hit. i think it's really frightening, in terms of having things prepared for an escape if we need to. which, again, sounds totally crazy when i say it out

loud that, you know, we might need to escape from where we live. but it gives you some sense of security that you are preparing things and that things are there and ready to go if needs be. it was a similar story across the continent, which experienced its worst drought for 500 years. some of europe's mightiest rivers hit record low water levels, including the danube, the rhine and the loire, as the uk, germany and spain also experienced record heatwaves. this shows average surface temperatures worldwide in 2022. blue areas are below average, but look at the hotter than average red areas. europe, particularly western europe, is especially hot as is much of northern asia. wales also recorded its highest ever temperature during a year in which global temperatures were 1.2 degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels.

now, governments have committed to trying to keep global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees to avoid the worst of global warming. but scientists say time is rapidly running out. if we look at the current level of emissions and current level of warming, we will hit 1.5 degrees some time in the early 20305. so we're already living on borrowed time effectively and borrowed emissions. the most dramatic warming of all is happening in the coldest places. temperatures over the centre of greenland, where eight degrees higher than average in september. antarctica experienced a record period of intense warmth, too. more evidence of how our world is changing. justin rowlatt, bbc news. to the uk now and senior managers in the nhs in england and wales are warning that

wednesday's strike by ambulance staff could be more damaging than the strike which took place before christmas. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has the latest. ambulance service, is the patient breathing? it's calm but busy in this control room for the north west ambulance service. i will make that request for you, 0k? so don't worry. preparations are under way for another strike day tomorrow. taking part are members of the two biggest unions, the gmb and unison, including ambulance crews and call handlers. all this, when the health service is already under intense pressure. the strike comes on top of a really, really difficult winter. i've not faced anything like this in my whole nhs career. dr chris grant says we will all have to think carefully about how we use the service. i'm really confident that we're doing everything we possibly can to deliver a high quality service. but i think i've got to be brutally honest as well, is that there are some patients that we simply won't be able to send an ambulance to. but the public know that,

and they know that we'll do everything we can to prioritise those who need us the most. so we have to be honest with the public, but i think as long as the public know we'll do everything we can to protect them, i think we'll work well together. and was there a faint or blackoutjust before the injury? the message from the ambulance service is pretty straightforward. they are asking us tomorrow to take stock, to think carefully before calling for an emergency ambulance. to ask ourselves, is this really a life—threatening emergency? something like a heart attack, stroke or a seizure? if the answer to that question is yes, then absolutely do call an ambulance, and they are confident the measures they put in place to mitigate the strike action will mean help can reach you as soon as possible. not everyone will be joining the picket lines tomorrow. daniel works for the west midlands ambulance service. he's not striking, but understands why others might. personally, for me, it was more about kind of patient safety. so bearing in mind if a lot of staff are off on this strike, we have to factorise into account kind of patient safety being compromised. and, for me, that was

something i didn't wish to kind of be a part of. and concerns over patient safety are one factor that ministers say is behind new legislation introduced today, to ensure minimum service levels in england, scotland and wales are maintained in the public sector during strikes. whilst we absolutely believe in the right to strike, we're duty bound... we're duty bound to protect the lives and the livelihoods of the british people. the british people need to know that when they have a heart attack, a stroke or a serious injury, that an ambulance will turn up and that if they need hospital care, they have access to it. but for paramedics like paul, a gmb union rep with 15 years experience working in the north west ambulance service, this strike is notjust about pay. it's also about how well paramedics are able to care for their patients. the quality of care comes when we're available to respond to those who need us. we're now not available

to respond to those who need us because we're sat in hospitals or sat in the ambulances queuing for hours upon hours. and that stops us being able to deliver that quality care that we want to deliver to our patients. so where the government has said they're going to introduce minimal levels for people who take strikes moving forward, we don't meet minimum levels now on a day to day basis. i cannot stress enough how difficult it is for us to be able to deliver that care to patients. across most of england — and all of wales — the nhs is braced for another tough day of industrial action. dominic hughes, bbc news, preston. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... the stars returning to the golden globes, but what will the hollywood shout looked like after the scandal of the composition of its judging panels?

day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco the second world war. is america's oldest industry tobacco is america's oldest industry and it is one of its biggest but the industry is nervous of this report, it may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. buildings were demolished. this woman said she had been given no help and advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of our business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of new laws and enrolled at formerly white schools. taken advantage of new laws and enrolled at formerly tonight sees the 9610th performance of the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether they should

cancelled the performance that agatha christie would have been the last person to want it cancelled. this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines... california is being affected by widespread flooding and mudslides, following weeks of heavy rain. there have been several deaths and forecasters say more rain is expected. new climate data suggests 2022 was the fifth hottest year on record with europe and the polar regions hardest hit by global warming. the latest on the conflict in ukraine, and fighting has been raging in the east of the country, as russia continues its attack on the donbas region. the uk's ministry of defence says it's �*likely�* that the ukrainian mining town of soledar, is now under russian control afterfighting intensified over the past four days. this image from five

days ago gives a sense of the destruction, even before the latest russian attacks. soledar had a population of around 10,000 before the war now president zelensky says there is �*almost no life' there. two british nationals, andrew bagshaw and christopher parry, have gone missing in the region they were last seen heading to soledar. they were doing voluntary work and were last seen on friday. it's thought that soledar is seen by the russians as a stepping stone, to capturing the city of bakhmut, where the fighting has been intense. these images are from the front line in recent days, there are reports that the uk may agree to supply tanks to ukrainian forces. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more from the capital kyiv. ranjit soledar is more important to the russian ban to the ukrainians and there are two reasons for that, firstly it allows the russians to further encircle the significant city

of bakhmut, there are deep salt mines there which the russians could well use to station troops and vehicles, and the fire, certainly from here in kyiv, is that they could use those tunnels to penetrate ukrainian —controlled territory. by the second reason it is significant is that the russians could effectively give ukraine a taste of its own medicine. until now, the ukrainians have effectively isolated thousands of russian soldiers by taking out their supply lines with targeted missile strikes. now, should soledar full, missile strikes. now, should soledarfull, ukrainians are soledar full, ukrainians are saying soledarfull, ukrainians are saying nothing is falling at the moment, but should the town full it will take out a major ukrainian supply line to the city of bakhmut. for the russians, the games are extremely costly and they are relatively small but the reason they are throwing everything at it is that there is a big

propaganda winds here because soledar would be a vital trophy for vladimir putin, russian president, to present to critics back in pressure. that was james — critics back in pressure. that was james waterhouse - critics back in pressure. that was james waterhouse in . critics back in pressure. that wasjames waterhouse in kyiv. the controversial former vatican treasurer, cardinal george pell, has died in rome aged 81. the australian was convicted in 2018 of sexually abusing two choirboys in melbourne more than two decades earlier, becoming the highest—ranking roman catholic to be caught up in the scandal that has blighted the church in recent decades. but after serving 13 months in prison, his conviction was overturned on appeal. he's believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khaliljoins us now from sydney. great to get you on the programme. 0bviously, such a controversialfigure, talk programme. 0bviously, such a controversial figure, talk us through cardinal pell�*s background and history. he

through cardinal pell's background and history. he was a controversial— background and history. he was a controversial figure _ background and history. he was a controversial figure and - a controversial figure and quite an influencing and senior figure, he was the highest ranking australian catholic cleric, his influence could not be overstated. he was the vatican treasurer between 201a and 2019, in charge of the vatican's finances during that period and one of the po's closest aides. before that here in australia he served both as archbishop of melbourne and sydney and he was elevated to the college of cardinals in 2003 by popejohn paul ii. he made several appearances, speaking of the controversy here, several appearances at the royal commission into its traditional responses to sexual abuse and back then it was found that he knew of sexual abuse by clergy and he did not take adequate response, he had always contested that finding. in 2018 came that shocking

case, a case that usually embarrass the catholic church here and of course the vatican and really shocked the australian society, given how senior he is. in 2018, george pell was convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys in the 19905, abusing two choirboys in the 1990s, he was sent to prison in 2019 and spentjust over a year there before his convictions were quashed in 2020 he was freed from prison in april that year. and he had returned to rome but he wasn't employed by the vatican when he had. you have outlined _ the vatican when he had. you have outlined the _ the vatican when he had. you have outlined the info is that he has had in australia, what is the reaction likely to be there regarding his death? i think the short answer is complicated and next. i remember when we were covering the hearing into his appeal, being outside the high court in canberra and a number of his supporters were out there, they

were carrying placards supporting him, they were carrying his pictures and he had always maintained his innocence. we got reaction from the archbishop of melbourne who called him and every action and significant church leader, setting fire to his family, but we also know that many were angered by the fact that he was freed. whenever the father of one of the choirboys who has since died but who prosecutors allege was abused by the late cardinal pell had launched a lawsuit against him and against the catholic church here. it is a complicated legacy in said direction to his death is bound to be mixed. —— and so the reaction to his death is bound to be mixed.— reaction to his death is bound to be mixed. thank you for your anal sis to be mixed. thank you for your analysis and _ to be mixed. thank you for your analysis and insight, _ to be mixed. thank you for your analysis and insight, lots - to be mixed. thank you for your analysis and insight, lots morel analysis and insight, lots more on the website but for now let's leave those events and tell about the fact the 80th golden globes award ceremony will be taking place shortly in

los angeles. it is uncertain how many nominees will attend due to the controversy that has surrounded their awards in the last two years. the los angeles times revealed there were no black mamas of the committee that votes for the winners and they had been a black member —— no black members of the committee. and there were allegations of ethical misconduct. earlier i spoke to variety magazine's senior awards editor, clayton powell who is optimistic about tonight's turnout. i think we are going to see a lot of stars tonight and a lot of the ones that are nominated. the only ones we know for sure won't be there and that are actually boycotting due to past contraries are brendan fraser, he obviously accused the former president of sexual molestation a few years ago, and he won't

be attending tonight. tom cruise is not expected to attend. however, after returning three golden globes last year, his three winds, this year he is filming his next mission impossible movie so he has a get out of free jail card but everyone else we should expect to see on the red carpet. should expect to see on the red caret. . , should expect to see on the red caret. ., , ,., should expect to see on the red caret. . carpet. there was so much controversy _ carpet. there was so much controversy over _ carpet. there was so much controversy over this - carpet. there was so much i controversy over this awards ceremony, particularly over the lack of diversity within its ranks, has that improved? it has improved, they have added more than 100 members to its ranks, a lot of them are from diverse backgrounds and ethnic backgrounds. however, they still have some work to do and this is their step in that direction and the work isn't done yet, there is still a lot of problematic things within its ranks, in particular some of their problematic members but there are some great people

within the organisation, they just need to clean up but they have made great strides and this will be a toe dip in the pond to see if hollywood is willing to take them back and embrace them back fully because they are an important stop on they are an important stop on the oscar train.— the oscar train. and 'ust to ut the oscar train. and 'ust to put aside * the oscar train. and 'ust to put aside the i the oscar train. and just to put aside the controversiesj put aside the controversies that just a put aside the controversies thatjust a moment and talk through some of the excitement in terms of what is being nominated tonight, the banshees of inisherin and everything everywhere all at once are leading the nominations, any particular favourites tipped to win? ., , ., ., win? you 'ust mention the two riaht win? you just mention the two right there. — win? you just mention the two right there, the _ win? you just mention the two right there, the banshees - win? you just mention the two right there, the banshees of. right there, the banshees of inisherin and everywhere all at once —— everything everywhere all at once i'm expecting the banshees of inisherin to rein triumphant in that race. in the best picture drama side, you have elvis, directed by baz luhrmann, going against the fable men's by the and i'm effecting elvis to win that

race. . �* , effecting elvis to win that race. ., �* , ., , race. that's it from us, goodbye- _ hello. 0ur wet and windy week of weather continues on wednesday with the low pressure still very much driving our weather. there's going to be heavy downpours for some of us through the day and actually, over the next few days, often we are going to see rain strengthening winds, mainly still quite mild for the time of year. but gales developing, overnight rain sweeping its way eastwards. so, by the time we get to about six o'clock on wednesday morning, most of his genuinely frost free but some heavy showers from the word go, pushing in from the north and the west. and low pressure is going to sit to the north of the uk through the day. you can see the proximity of all these isobars on the chart, that is showing us that it's going to be a blustery sort of day, plenty of showers driven in from the atlantic. so, the heaviest of the downpours will be in the west during this morning.

parts of scotland, northern ireland and also then pushing into wales in western england too. gales around coastal parts of the english channel, through the irish seacoast, up towards the western isles for instances of 60 mph gusts possible there. but even further inland, we're looking at 30, possibly a0 mph gusts of wind through the day on wednesday. so, a blustery day, heavy downpours reaching eastern areas during the afternoon after a fairly bright morning here. and temperatures a little cooler than recent days. about seven to 11 degrees, feeling colder if you are exposed to the brisk wind and those heavy showers that many of us will see. some snow for a time over the high ground of scotland too. 0vernight, showers ease in the north but the next batch of heavy rain sweeps eastwards across much of england and wales. so, it's giving a really quite damp start to thursday morning, i think. could be a touch of frost with some sheltered glenns of scotland but still mild to start the day towards the south on thursday. and thursday's weather driven by yet another low pressure system, this time just moving in towards the northwest. this occluded front bringing some heavy showers but down towards the south, we've also got more heavy rain across england lingering on that frontal system combined with gales that are once

again going to develop through the english channel around some of these irish seacoasts and turning windy later in the day across the northwest too. so, the next band of rain crosses from west to east, followed by sunny spells and scattered heavy downpours moving in from the northwest. temperatures still about seven to nine in the north but up to about 13, possibly 1a down towards the southeast. so, it stays mild, a hint that through the weekend, things turn a little less unsettled those temperatures are going to drop a little bit until we get to sunday. bye— bye.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. war and extreme poverty drive millions of people from their homes every year. some of those desperate people try to reach the rich western world where such inward migration routinely prompts fear and draconian countermeasures. do perceptions change when the story of migration is personalised? well, my guest today is waheed arian, who fled war

in afghanistan as a child, made it to the uk and is now