welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. president biden faces tough questions from reporters, after a second set of classified records are found — this time in his garage. classified materials . next to your corvette — what were you thinking? hey it's in a lock garage so it's not_ hey it's in a lock garage so it's not like to sitting the street _ as more storms are forecast to hit california, the human cost of the floods become apparent. i saw him face up. he was floating face up. it is hard to process. ukraine says heavy fighting with russian forces is continuing in the eastern town of soledar — with a senior defence official saying the situation there was "difficult".

# as it was...# and, the brit award nominations are out, with a notable absence of women in the category of artist of the year. we begin in america where there are now two special counsels investigating whether two us presidents broke the law in their handling of classified records. after a second set of classified documents were found atjoe biden�*s home, the us attorney general has appointed robert hur to investigate whether any crimes have been committed. former president donald trump is also facing a criminal investigation for taking classified papers to his mar a lago estate. here's our north america editor, sarah smith.

after admitting he was keeping classified documents at his delaware home, stored in the garage alongside his vintage sports car, president biden has a lot of explaining to do. classified materials next to your corvette, what were you thinking? my corvette's in a locked garage, ok, so it's not like it's sitting out in the street. people know i take classified documents and classified materials seriously. i also said we are cooperating fully and completely with the justice department's review — earlier this week we learned that classified documents had been found in a washington office mr biden used after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. that prompted his lawyers to search his residence in wilmington, where a small number of documents were found, and immediately turned over to thejustice department. wholly different, says the white house, to the hundreds of classified documents uncovered when the fbi raided former president trump's florida home last year. president biden condemned trump's actions then as "totally irresponsible".

not once, but now we're finding in two different locations, classified information just out there in the open. anotherfaux pas by the biden administration, but treating the law differently based upon your political beliefs. america's top lawyer, the us attorney general, has to be seen to apply the law equally. he has already appointed one special counsel to investigate mr trump's actions. today, he appointed another, to look at mr biden�*s retention of documents. the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter. this appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. the white house insists that the case of the biden documents is nowhere near as serious as the trump document saga, but parallels keep emerging. classified material being stored at home and now a special counsel being appointed to investigate. that means this story will now drag on for months,

and could well overshadow any plans president biden had to announce soon that he was running for president again in 202a. the white house says it's confident a thorough review will show the documents were inadvertently misplaced, and were handed over as soon as they were discovered. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. earlier i spoke to javed ali, professor at the university of michigan's ford school of policy, who previously served as senior counterterrorism director on the national security council. i began by asking him how damaging this could be for the president. it looks like it will be a major political issue for the biden administration to navigate. how much that affects the agenda over the next couple of years it's too early to tell but this is something that i would think will put the administration on its back foot for quite some time. in terms of the procedures going forward, we understand that a special counsel has been

appointed to this case can you talk us through what we should expect in the next few weeks and months? just like the appointment of the special counsel in the mishandling of classified documents for former president trump, thejustice department had no other recourse but to basically apply at the same process for this unfolding development with the current president, so hopefully the special counsel will try to conduct a fair and impartial investigation that is insulated from any political influence, white house and even from within the d0] to a degree. this is all about getting the facts straight in this matter. how did these documents wind up in these two different different locations, for president biden who had access to them when they were in these locations, how sensitive

was the intelligence in the two batches or pools of documents? is there a potential risk to sources and methods or has national security already been compromised as a result of the fact that the documents were outside of their normal sensitive storage areas and facilities? these are things that require a thorough investigation and hopefully the american public will get some clear a nswers. you have worked with these kinds of documents before how unusual is this? how much security is involved when dealing these source of documents? my whole career was spent around dealing with the most sensitive intelligence we had in the us intelligence community and making sure every day we treated it the right way to make sure it never left our sensitive facilities that when documents needed

to be destroyed even within the facilities, they would be destroyed or we would lock them up in safes or cabinets. but at no time did any of us as intelligence professionals think about walking out of the front door of an intelligent organisation to keep these documents in our possession. so both in the case of former president trump and now as it appears in the case of president biden something completely different has happened and at least the case of president biden it seems was that this was the suggestion of that bad staff work or unintentional mishandling which may be true but we need a special counsel to get those types of answers to get clarity. these are both incidences of classified documents and to upward they should not be, should not the same principles be applied to both cases? i think that same principle

will apply through these parallel special counsel investigations and based on media reporting, it suggests that the special counsel investigation with former president trump's mishandling may potentially incur criminal charges. they may go forward or may not and perhaps that same principle will apply here with the case of the mishandling with president biden. are they the same potential criminal violations if it is obstruction ofjustice or espionage act will any of those be brought forward in the case of president biden, we did not know. obviously this investigation is just but it will perhaps proceed in the same direction as the one of former president trump. to california now — where cyclones continue to batter the state. now — the tragic stories of those caught up in

the disaster is emerging. they include 5—year old kyle doan, who told his mum to �*be calm' before he was swept away by floodwaters. at least 19 people have been killed by flooding and mudslides. our correspondent james clayton reports from san francisco. a brief lull in the rain in northern california has allowed authorities to assess the damage from successive storms. a search had been under way for kyle, a five—year—old boy living in sonoma. he liked people. he liked to dance. he was very outgoing, active. on monday, the floods submerged the car he and his mother were in as she drove him back from school. rescuers were able to get to his mother, but kyle was swept out into the water. and my wife just happened to be closer to them. and when she was able to reach out to the rope that they were able to have and the flow of my son was farther down and they saw him. he was face up. he was floating face up. it's hard to process.

elsewhere, a 43—year—old woman, daphne fontenot, was found dead in her car after floodwaters submerged her vehicle. at least 18 people have now died from the storms. in san francisco, some of the city's homeless have been living through relentless rain. we're at a flyover here. and as you can see, it gives a little bit of shelter to people who were living on the streets. but even here, it's been raining so much that a lot of ground water has swept in. and we've been told that some of the tents here were flooded over night. the flood water came up to morris's tent. was this bit here was flooded last night? yeah, the centre island here. the water was coming over the top. so these are your clothes here? yeah. yes. and are they 0k? are they dry? all wet. ashley has been sleeping rough and says she's used to her tent flooding now. has your tent been flooded at all? yes, it has. terrible. everything has to go most of the time.

it's not raining at the moment, but there's more rain forecast here for friday and the weekend as the city and those who don't have homes brace for yet more flooding. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. lisa marie presley has reportedly been rushed to a california hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. the daughter of rock and roll legend elvis regained her pulse after receiving cpr, according to entertainment outlet tmz. lisa marie presley — a singer and songwriter in her own right — was last seen in public attending the golden globes ceremony this week with her mother priscilla. she has confirmed that her daughter is receiving the best care in hospital. a russian mercenary group fighting in ukraine claims its found the body of one of two uk aid workers who've been reported missing. the bbc hasn't been able to verify the claim. twenty—eight—year—old chris parry, seen here on the left and andrew bagshaw, who's a8, were last seen

on friday, reportedly heading to the town of soledar in the east of the country. soledar is the scene of fierce fighting at the moment, along with the neighbouring town of bakhmut. the bbc�*s james waterhouse, who's in kyiv, gave us his assessment of the situation. the town of soledar and nearby bakhmut a city have become the focal points on the eastern front of ukraine. it is an area where contract soldiers, a private army called the wagner group, is doing the bulk of russia's fighting and they are throwing everything at the town of soledar and bakhmut to try and achieve some immediate gain. we're in a phase of this conflict where they are throwing everything at it, at a huge human cost. and i wouldn't be surprised to see ukraine make some kind of tactical retreat to wait for russian forces to exhaust themselves, if you like. for now, kyiv is adamant the defensive lines are holding and they say the wagner group are putting some of their best soldiers into soledar to try

and make more immediate gains. the russians are claiming that it has control, but there are, as ever, conflicting reports in terms of the military significance. i wouldn't place too much on soledar. this is about a propaganda trophy for vladimir putin to present to critics back inside russia. the direction of the war i don't think will be influenced greatly by what we are seeing in the east. but the fighting is fierce and the human cost is great. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... the social media personality andrew tate, investigated in relation to organised crime, we hear about his popularity among young people. 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 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. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. 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 9610th 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. our headlines. the usjustice department has appointed a special counsel to investigatejoe biden�*s handling of classified documents from when he was vice president. more severe weather is forecast for northern california, which has now seen at least 19 flood—related deaths. police in romania have raided more properties, as part of their investigation into the social media personality andrew tate. now you may not have heard of him but if you've got teenagers — particularly boys — they almost certainly will have. the self—proclaimed �*misogynist�* has a loyal following on social media, despite being banned from facebook, instagram, tiktok and youtube. some british schools are so worried about his influence that they're devoting entire lessons to trying to counteract his views. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. andrew tate is in a romanian jail but he still sits in

the minds of british teenagers. why is it that andrew tate has had so much impact? at the st dunstan�*s college, they don't ignore the problem. the online influencer had millions of followers but views he admits are misogynistic. he's been arrested as part of a rape and human trafficking investigation, allegations he denies. what is it about his videos that give the perception of them being so popular? because at first, seemingly, his most videos he might have like a funnyjoke at the beginning, but as you watch more and more of his videos, his radical views develop and it kind of like seeps into your mind. another reason it's - so successful is because it's controversial, so it . will invoke a reaction and make people angry, - which will then make them more likely to like talk about it. someone who like dresses really well, has lots of money,

lots of cars and he brings that into his videos a lot, and he kind of like connects that with his views. if they see loads of views, it's something they are going to click on, because they want to be with the crowd. just raise your hands if you were aware of andrew tate before all this happened. so you are all aware. most of you, almost everyone in the class. 0k. even those who have reported them as offensive can't escape them. with andrew tate videos, i got one of him and i put it makes uncomfortable, like, i don't want to see it again. i'm not interested. and i still get them. like, i got one yesterday. some people would say you just need to ignore the views of andrew tate. yeah, i absolutely hear that but the reality is that these young, vulnerable teenagers with the growing minds are in that space and they are listening to people like andrew tate and it's having a hugely negative impact on their outlook on life. so how to tackle the views not just of andrew tate but others who have moved into the online space? the government points to proposed new laws to tighten the age restrictions on those looking at harmful content online, but it's clear tech

companies, schools and parents all have a role to play. and parents are grappling with the consequences. simon wondering about the messages his son is taken away. it wasn'tjust, you know, him talking about it, he was actually taking the stance of andrew tate with the way andrew tate sits. isaid, you know, "why are you doing this?" he says, "well, dad, this guy, he's rich, he's famous, what's not to like about him?" with kids, we've always taken the approach that you set right from wrong. it's ok to express your masculinity but don't do it in an obnoxious and misogynistic way. a conversation that many are now hoping. lucy manning, bbc news. the brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva, has accused the security forces of opening the doors

of the presidential palace for thousands of opposition demonstrators who vandalised the building on sunday. the president said there was no evidence of forced entry. supporters of the former president, jair bolsonaro, also stormed the congress building and the supreme court headquarters, calling for a military coup. president lula described the attacks as a huge warning showing that fanatic bolsonaro supporters were very dangerous. japan's prime minister fumio kishida is due to meet us presidentjoe biden later for talks where the two are likely to discuss increasing security cooperation, and the global economy. japan has already signed major defence deals with the us and the uk to counter, what they say, are rising threats from north korea and increasing aggressiveness from china. a little earlier, i spoke to michael wesley, who's the professor of politics at the university of melbourne. he told me whyjapan is increasing its defence spending.

i think especially since the outbreak of the war in ukraine most countries are feeling less secure than they were a year ago. i think that russia's launch of a war in ukraine took a lot of people by surprise. many such as myself thought that it was completely irrational for russia to attack ukraine. and i think the big lesson coming out of russia's attack on ukraine is that we cannot rely on authoritarian regimes like russia simply to behave rationally. that we have to prepare for them to behave irrationally as well. i think that is why countries such as japan happened shoring up security ties other countries. this all coming against the backdrop of increased concerns in this part of the world about china's actions when

it comes to taiwan. how much do you think that is a factor? i think it is a major factor. not only is there china's intentions but also their rapidly growing military capabilities. we have been watching for about three decades now rapid growth of all arms of china's military capabilities. those are of particular interest to countries like japan, china's maritime and naval capabilities as well as its missile and air capabilities. all growing at a formidable pace. and making countries like japan think about their own preparedness and think about their ability to defend themselves were china to decide to become even more assertive. is there a danger, do

you think, professor, with each country boosting their defence capabilities you end up in an arms race all countries increasing defence spending when conversation may help more? i think it is more than a danger. i think it is a reality. my own belief, looking at the patents of armament spending for at least the last 20 years is that there is a substantial build—up of weaponry in this part of the world. it has been facilitated by the very rapid economic growth of most asian economies. which means they are able to afford more and more sophisticated military capabilities, particularly in those areas i mentioned, maritime, missile, submarine and air capabilities.

so what it means is that if were were to break out if war were to break out in this part of the world it would be a very high intensity war, high stakes war. and it is hard to tell which side would prevail at this stage. nominations for the brit awards have been announced, with former one direction star harry styles and indie rock duo wet leg emerging as frontrunners with four nods each — including best album. but in the prestigious artist of the year category, there's a noticeable absence of women.. our music correspondent mark savage has more. # holdin�* me back # gravity�*s holdin�* me back # i want you to hold out the palm of your hand # gravity can't hold him back, harry styles had the biggest selling single and album of last year and now he is up

for four brit awards including song of the year. # as it was...# ..for as it was. # hey, you, overthere # on a chaise lounge in yourunderwear...# also picking up four nominations are wet leg, the isle of wight band who burst onto the scene 18 months ago with the hit single chaise longue. we started the band and we just thought we would get to go to a few festivals, so to go to the brits and to be nominated, it'sjust... it's a bit more than we bargained for. # if i was an astronaut, i'd be floating in midair...# sam ryder makes history. he's the only eurovision act ever to be nominated for best newcomer. that's bonkers. i truly had no idea about that. sometimes, like, the stats and facts and figures pass me by but i didn't know that one. that's bonkers. that's amazing! # ijust can't explain...#

but a year after the brits got rid of gendered prize categories, women are entirely missing from the best artist prize, with acts like stormzy and george ezra taking all the slots. organisers say female artists and female fronted bands do account for 42% of the overall nominations... ..with acts like cat burns up for multiple awards. the winners will be announced at a star—studded ceremony on sunday the 11th of february. mark savage, bbc news. in australia, a local man has well and truly earned the title of "wildlife warrior" after rescuing a cuddly native. this is the moment queensland man will thornton dashed out on to a busy highway barefoot to escort a koala safely across four lanes of traffic. he spotted the animal from his balcony and bolted down to stop the cars.

after the heroics, mr thornton says he's just glad the koala made it safely. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello then. week two of january 2023 has been another wet one and in fact we are starting to see the signs of that out to the west. there's been some localised flooding. this was carmarthenshire thursday afternoon and through north—west england and parts of wales, some areas have already exceeded their monthly average rainfall totals and we're not even halfway through the month yet. now thursday's low pressure continues to pull away. this little ridge of high pressure builds and quiet thing down for friday until the end of the day. more wet weather waiting in the wings. so we'll start off with a northerly wind driving in some showers on exposed coasts here. a narrow band of showery rain into northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england. but elsewhere we will still see blustery winds, but some sunny spells coming

through and pleasant enough, mostly dry, with temperatures peaking between six and 11 degrees. but as we move out of friday into the early hours of saturday morning, we'll start to see more wet weather. and unfortunately, the heaviest of the rain is likely to push across those areas that have already exceeded the monthly rainfall totals. so that mightjust exacerbate any potential flooding so that a frontal system is going to move away and then a trail of showers tucks in behind. so it's a wet start for england, wales, for northern ireland, southern scotland. the rain pushes off to the north, say a trail of showers packs in along north and west facing coasts. but there will be some sunny spells into the afternoon. still mild in the south—east with 12 degrees, but somewhat cooler conditions starting to kick in now across the far north. and that is going to be the tone into the third week of january. so from sunday onwards, noticeably colder. we will start to see some frost and we haven't seen those so far this year. and yes, any precipitation may well turn wintry

because we're going to see that northerly flow. and with any little weather fronts moving into that cold air, some of those showers could turn wintry even at lower levels. so you need to keep abreast of the forecast over the next few days. on sunday, we'll see some showers, rain, sleet and snow along north and west facing coasts and noticeably colder afternoon just a couple of degrees above freezing in scotland, highs of seven degrees further south. cooler with further wintry showers to come monday into tuesday. take care.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour, straight after hardtalk.