welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: torrential rains cause deadly floods in california, leaving residents, including celebrities, fearing for their properties. meanwhile, pakistan has been offered $9 billion to help recover from last year's deadly floods, just half the money some experts say it needs. we will speak to a member of the pakistan climate change council for his reaction to the money donated. also ahead on newsday:

fierce fighting in the eastern ukrainian town of soledar. ukranian forces battle to keep the russian mercenary wagner group back. cardinal george pell, the australian former vatican treasurer, who was found guilty of sexual abuse before his conviction was quoshed, has died. the stars are returning to the golden globes, but what will the hollywood awards show look like after the row over racism in its membership? live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we start in california where at least 17 people are now known to have died from heavy flooding in the state. nearly 50,000 people have been ordered to evacuate amid fears of landslides.

10,000 people, living in the 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. jon donnison reports. 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. the heavy rains in california come as europe, and the polar regions were the areas hardest hit by severe temperature changes, caused by climate change last year.

according to new analysis, europe 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.

you know, that we might need to escape from where we live. but to escape from where we live. it gives you some se security but it gives you some sense of security that you are preparing things and things are better ready to go it needs to 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 2030s. 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 were 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. meanwhile, pakistan will receive more than $9 billion from international donors, to help with its recovery efforts following the deadly floods which hit the country last year.

it's estimated that the total amount that pakistan needs to fully recover is in the region of $16 billion. the pledges were made at the international conference on climate resilient pakistan in geneva after the un secretary—general antonio guterres described the floods as a monsoon on steroids. well for more on this we can cross live to pakistan and join ali tauqeer sheikh who's a member of the pakistan climate change council. hejoins us live from islamabad. great to get you in the programme. in terms of the current situation, in terms of the areas that have been hit hardest by the floods, lowers the recovery process going on in those areas? some areas are particularly slow because they are inaccessible or the infrastructure is such that the standing water is not able to

escape. therefore, people are not able to go back and they are in shanty temporary camps on the roadside, waiting for some degree of support for them to go back to communities, in some areas, and in some cases it is still wet. it is a hard story of human tragedy. inaudible people are affected and several million are still destitute waiting for food, water, and it is biting cold in some areas. we can feel the heat of urgency here in this cold weather.— heat of urgency here in this cold weather. �* , ., , ,., cold weather. and you put it so poetically. _ cold weather. and you put it so poetically. it — cold weather. and you put it so poetically, it underlines - cold weather. and you put it so poetically, it underlines the - poetically, it underlines the scale of the tragedy. we are seeing some of the images on a screen right now. pakistan has managed to secure this money now is it enough? the estimated total loss exceeds _

now is it enough? the estimated total loss exceeds $30 _ now is it enough? the estimated total loss exceeds $30 billion, . total loss exceeds $30 billion, us, it will cost probably for rehabilitation reconstruction, thatis rehabilitation reconstruction, that is estimated to be 16. the world has forged a very strong partnership and while leaders have shown compassion moving forward. the commitments are to the tune of $10 billion. some of that is recycled and recounted, and that is fair. the important thing is right now is being able to quickly mobilise to reach those communities and that is not an easy task for our country where the ease providences that inaudible very generously. it is one thing to help people are in most need as you have talked about as well, and i understand the funds will be allocated to that, but there is also a priority and urgency, is now, to ensure money goes towards making sure that something like

this is present —— prevented in the future, infrastructure is built to help people be more safe in the face of more flooding in the future? that is absolutely _ flooding in the future? that is absolutely correct, _ flooding in the future? that is absolutely correct, you - flooding in the future? that is absolutely correct, you have l absolutely correct, you have hit the nail on the head. countries and geographies are not fragile, institutions are weak. therefore, a lot of the spending as, how do we spend inaudible at the local government, they need to feel empowered, resourced, and then availability, fundamentally it is a local issue, and long—term solutions can be effective or efficient. the solution that we have to find our at the local level, and i think if we can do that will be on the fast long—term sustainability which

will help us with the temperature and precipitation in the region. i temperature and precipitation in the region.— in the region. i wish you the very best — in the region. i wish you the very best with _ in the region. i wish you the very best with this - in the region. i wish you the| very best with this ambitious goal in the future, mr macron, member of the pakistan climate change counsel, it is a village and pleasure to have you on the programme. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. president lula of brazil has been meeting state governors, in the wake of sunday's attack on government buildings in brazilia. the president inspected the damage at the supreme court. he condemned again the attempts by bolsonaro's supporters to overthrow the newly installed government. the former chief financial officer of the trump organization, allen weisselberg, was sentenced to five months injail. he was found guilty of a 13—year tax fraud scheme at the trump 0rganization, after evading $1.76 million in unreported income. weisselberg plead guilty to all charges against him, admitting that he and other executives received compensation to save money for

the company and its executives. the french government is setting out plans to reform the pensions system, under which many workers still retire at the age of 62, much earlier that many other advanced economies. the proposal is for most workers to stay in the workplace for two or three years longer, to qualify for a full pension. let's turn now to 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 soledar is more important to the russians and it is the ukrainians, and i think there are two main reasons for that. firstly, as you were alluding to, 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 theirfear vehicles, and their fear certainly from vehicles, and theirfear certainly from here in kyiv is that they could use those channels to penetrate ukranian —controlled territory, but, 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 fall the ukrainians are saying nothing is falling at the moment, but should the town fall it would take out a major ukranian supply line to the city of bakhmut. forthe supply line to the city of bakhmut. for the russians, these gains are extremely costly and relatively small, but the reason they are throwing everything acted as there is a big propaganda win year because soledar would be a vital trophy for vladimir

putin, russia's president to present to critics back in russia. james ward—prowse reporting. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since world war ii. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest. but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe - were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. i this woman said _ she had been given no help

and no advice - by the authorities. she stood outside - the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: california is being affected by widespread flooding and mudslides following weeks of heavy rain. there have been 17 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.

now, the billboards around los angeles have been proclaiming hollywood's biggest party is back for one of film and television's biggest awards nights of the year. it is the 80th golden globes awards ceremony, and so far it would seem hollywood is actually showing up. jamie lee curtis is one of those taking part. the organisers are hoping to move on from the controversy in recent years over a lack of diversity and ethical lapses. earlier i spoke to variety magazine's senior awards editor clayton powell, who is optimistic about tonight's turnout. i think we're going to see a lot of stars tonight and a lot of the ones that are nominated. the only ones that we know for sure won't be there and that are actually boycotting due to past controversies would be brendan fraser, nominated for best actor in a drama for his performance

in the whale. he obviously accused former president phil burke of sexual molestation a few years ago, and he won't be attending tonight. tom cruise also is not expected to attend. however, after returning three golden globes last year, his three wins, this year he's actually filming the next mission impossible movie. so it's kind of a get—out—of—jail—free card. but everyone else we should expect to see on the red carpet. clayton, there was so much controversy over this award ceremony, particularly over the lack of diversity within its ranks. has that improved? it has improved. the hfpa has 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 i don't want them, and i think a lot of people would signal this to them —

the work isn't done yet. there's 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. theyjust need to clean up. but they have made great strides, and this is going to be a toe dip in the pond, so to speak, to see if actually hollywood is willing to take them back and embrace them back fully, because they are an important stop on the oscar train. indeed, and just to put aside the controversies for just a moment and talk through some of the excitement in terms of what's being nominated tonight, the banshees of inishering and everything everywhere all at once, as i understand it, are leading the nominations. any particular favourites tipped to win? well, you just mentioned the two right there. banshees of inisherin and everything everywhere all at once are battling out for the best picture comedy or musical category. i'm expecting the banshees of inisherin to reign triumphant in that race.

then on the best picture drama side, you have elvis, directed by baz luhrmann, going against steven spielberg's the fabelmans, which also goes against tom cruise's top gun maverick, directed byjoe kosinski. and i'm expecting elvis to win that race, just like bohemian rhapsody did a few years ago. the hfpa does love a good musical biopic, and it's been doing very, very well on the circuit. the controversial former vatican treasurer cardinal george pell has died in rome aged 81. the australian religious leader 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. but after serving 13 months in prison, his conviction was overturned on appeal. 0ur correspondent in sydney shaimaa khalil has more. cardinal pell was a controversial figure, cardinal pell was a controversialfigure, but cardinal pell was a controversial figure, but also quite cardinal pell was a controversial figure, but also quite an cardinal pell was a controversial figure, but also quite an influencin- cardinal pell was a controversial figure, but also quite an influencing and cardinal pell was a controversial figure, but also quite an influencing and senior figure. he has the highest

ranking australian catholic cleric. his influence, really, could not be overstated. he was the vatican treasurer between 2014 and 2019, in charge of the vatican's finances during that period, and one of the pope's closest aides. before that, here in australia he served as archbishop of sydney and archbishop of sydney and archbishop of sydney and archbishop of melbourne. he was then elevated to the college of cardinals and 2003 by popejohn paul ii. he made several appearances, speaking of the controversy here, at the royal commission into institutional 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, and in 2018 came that shocking case, a case that hugely embarrass the catholic church here and of course the vatican and really shocked the australian society, given how senior he is stopped

in 2018 george pell was convicted of sexually 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 had returned to rome, but he wasn't employed by the vatican when he did. you have outlined the _ vatican when he did. you have outlined the sort _ vatican when he did. you have outlined the sort of _ vatican when he did. you have outlined the sort of influence l outlined the sort of influence 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 mixed. 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 actually got reaction from the archbishop of

melbourne, who called him an influential and a significant church leader, sending prayers to his family. but of course, we also know that many were angered by the fact that he was freed. we know that the father of one of the choirboys who had 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. so it is a complicated legacy, and so the reaction to his death is bound to be mixed. there is lots more on our website about that story. and finally, he has driven buses in the west midlands area of the uk for more than a decade and he loves singing, which is why 59—year—old ranjit singh decided to make a music video about his job featuring many of his colleagues — and notjust to show friends and family in india, but also as a celebration of all the people he works with. he released it on youtube

and his song has become quite a hit. navtej johal reports. meet ranjit singh. there probably aren't many bus drivers who would choose to write an ode to theirjob and then hire a production company to turn into a slick music video. but, as you are going to learn, ranjit singh really driving buses, so what better location to chat to him than in his happy place. the 59—year—old grandfather from west bromwich is more comfortable speaking punjabi, his mother tongue. i started by asking him why he wanted to make the video. translation: it's always - been my dream to make a music video about myjob, so when i retire, i can watch it back as a memento and reflect back

on how me and my colleagues all used to drive buses together. the music video, performed in punjabi and featuring his colleagues, took one week to film and has received plenty of attention on video in his home country. translation: it's made me very happy and proud, - and it has made everyone really proud and everyone really likes it. i've been tagged saying your father—in—law is on tv, on tiktok. i was like, whoa! i don't have that. that is him doing his thing. the song celebrates the diversity of his colleagues, his passion for the job and the importance of health and safety. translation: if you put your heart into your work _ then you can achieve

great happiness. there is a lot ofjoy in thisjob. his enthusiasm is so infectious that in just a few minutes he was able to gather a group of colleagues to give our report a suitable musical ending. navteonhal, bbc news, west bromwich. my my producer has asked you to sing me out of the programme. i am not going to do that, but i will see you tomorrow. hello. our 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're 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 6:00am on wednesday morning,

most of us generally 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 instance, 60 mph gusts possible there. but even further inland, we're looking at 30, possibly 40 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 7—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. overnight, 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 north—west. this occluded front bringing some heavy showers, but down towards the south, we've also got more heavy rain across southern parts of 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 sea coasts and turning windy later in the day across the north—west too. so the next band of rain crosses from west to east, followed by sunny spells and scattered heavy downpours moving in from the north—west. temperatures still about seven to nine in the north but up to about 13, possibly 14 down towards the south—east. so it stays mild. a hint that through the weekend things turn a little less u nsettled. but those temperatures are going to drop a little bit until we get to sunday. bye— bye.