live from singapore, this is bbc news. whole neighbourhoods burned to the ground — devastation in los angeles with wildfires still raging completely uncontained. at least seven people have died and nearly 200,000 people are fleeing their homes. also in the news donald trump is set to be sentenced tomorrow after the supreme court denies his bid to delay his hearing. and former us president jimmy carter will be buried in his hometown of plains, georgia, after a state funeral in washington.

welcome to news day. i'm steve lai. officials in los angeles of warning that they expect the number of people killed in a series of devastating wildfires to rise as emergency crews struggle to contain powerful blazes. at least seven people are confirmed to have died as flames fanned by strong winds tore through homes and businesses. the body of one man was found outside his levelled house, a garden hose still in his hand. about 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes. and the strong winds that are fanning the fire are set to continue overnight. you can see the smoke above those homes. many neighbourhoods have been left unrecognisable. residents have described the firestorm as "apocalyptic". there are still 5 major fires alight around the city. authorities say the two largest are completely uncontained. one is the palisades fire, which was the first to erupt on tuesday.

emergency services have finally started to make a dent in the fire. in the last hour they have said the pasadena fire is now 6% contained. —— palisades. in those two major fires more than 10,000 homes have been destroyed. authorities say they are hopeful the tide is turning with one of the fires now contained. we will be live on the ground shortly and hearfrom cal fire about their effortrs to fight the vlazes but first, —— blazze. authorities say they are hopeful the tide is turning. we are live on the ground and we will hear about efforts to fight the blazers, but ist, a report from our correspondent emma vardy. still, they burn — the most catastrophic fires los angeles has ever seen.

0vernight, the hollywood hills resembling a disaster movie. a huge crescent of flame engulfing an iconic community of california. more than 130,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes. here, just one of many properties engulfed, turned to a shell. at least five major fires have been burning across los angeles county. the scale and spread has stretched firefighting crews on the ground, and in the air. 16,000 acres and counting consumed by the inferno. 0ne street filmed by a local resident moments before he left. i thought maybe i would be able to get some extra stuff

that we didn't take and come to see that the whole street isjust gone. it's like a war zone. and we had so many memories in here that cannot be replaced. i had these great old pictures of my grandfather from world war ii, both grandfathers, and i was going to get them framed. and now they're gone and they're lost. and i had so many things that are just lost forever. itjust — i know we're safe, but i don't understand. the scale of this disaster is clear to see. this is pacific palisades, block after block a blanket of destruction. more than a thousand buildings burned in this community alone. emergency services unable to save them. we had everything, like the sentimental things. like, my mum passed away, i had only a few things of hers left. my wedding dress, our wedding

album, we left everything. 0uralbums, our... we have just whatever we're wearing. we're wearing the same thing for the last two days. copy that. fuelled by hurricane—force winds, these fires have struck at a vulnerable time. la hasn't seen any significant rainfall for months. abandoned neighbourhoods are now falling prey to crime. in the midst of the emergency, we've all seen individuals who are targeting vulnerable communities by burglarising and looting homes. this is simply unacceptable. as dawn came in the palisades, it revealed the grim reality of what the fire has left behind. there are miles and miles of streets like this and utter shock at the devastation here. communities just vanished, now ghost towns,

and once dream homes turned to dust. no one is immune, mansions now ash. the homes ofjennifer aniston, adam sandler and paris hilton among those evacuated. and this was filmed by the wife of take that star mark 0wen as they escaped through the flames. some are returning to the ruins to see what remains. a scene that will be repeated in this ravaged city over the coming days. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. one of the worst hit neighbourhoods is altadena. 0ur correspondent helena humphrey is on the ground and i spoke to her in the last hour. firefighters are very much continuing their battle, notably because the warnings from the authority is that we're not out of the woods, farfrom it. in fact, we see 0% containment in some

of those blazes right now. have seen fire crews, even ourselves today, doing, as they've been coming into communities like this in altadena, trying to put out the hotspots because the concern is today is have had a bit of a lull in those notorious santa ana winds but they could be coming back tonight, over the weekend, next week and they can re—fan the flames. you can see behind me, this burned—out family home, it is one house in scenes repeated up and the street in altadena. it is still under an evacuation zone. some residents have been able to come back and take a look at the devastation and, understandably, they have been incredibly emotional, tearful. i was speaking to one family who came back on behalf of their grandmother who leftjust with a suitcase

and they have been trying to find an urn containing their grandfather's ashes and sadly they were not able to retrieve that. we know president biden has spoken once again today and he said people in communities like this one, that they will have all the resources they need to recover and to rebuild but i think right now for these residents, listening to that and looking at this destruction, the fact that ash is still falling from the sky, so much of that feels unfathomable right now. how do you rebuild when the destruction, as you can see, is just so vast. and heartbreaking for these residents but where are they now and how are they coping with the day to day?

it is an important point to mention that la county is a very diverse set of communities. you have the wealthy neighbourhoods of pacific palisades, for example, and also places like these with these well loved family bungalows, for example, so people are going through different things in order to seek shelter. some people go to evacuation centres that remember schools have also burned down here. i was hearing from one person that three generations of family have lost their homes and media go to when you cannot go and stay with your aunt, for example, with your cousin? perhaps people in some financial means going to hotels. we know airbnb is offering accommodation for free to help people who have been effected by this but i think the fact that president biden promised firefighting resources for 180 days just shows you the scale of the challenge right now and how long these fire crews, this community could be facing this. they are in it for the long haul.

we have some news that has come in that i want to read to you. the ventura county sheriff's of the says the lapd has an arson suspect in custody regarding the kenneth fire, which burnt around 1000 acres and ventura county is sending a detective to question the suspect and we will have more on data that as it comes —— becomes available. for more on what has been happening on the ground, i'm joined by the president of the pacific palisades community council. she has since evacuated from her home. thanks forjoining us. i know it is a difficult time. i understand your home, whole neighbourhood has gone up in these fires. tell us how you are coping and how your community are coping. it is a hard thing to imagine and cope with, frankly. i have

not spoken to anyone who is not lost a home. the neighbourhood is usually completely safe from fires, but has been completely wiped off the map. the fire did start in the hills whether usually start, but typically the firefighters get on it fast enough to put out the flames. this time we had 80 mile an hour winds and low water pressure and they did not have a chance. it didn't matter how good they are, how many they work those poor firefighters did everything they could and yet they could not really save much. , . . much. this feed at which the fire is moved _ much. this feed at which the fire is moved through - much. this feed at which the fire is moved through the - fire is moved through the palisades area caught everyone by surprise. reports a 96% of properties in the pacific palisades will face wildfire risks over the next 30 years. is this the first time you have had to evacuate your home

because of fire?— had to evacuate your home because of fire? no. we had to evacuate before. _ because of fire? no. we had to evacuate before. that - because of fire? no. we had to evacuate before. that was - because of fire? no. we had to evacuate before. that was part| evacuate before. that was part of the problem for me. previously we have great the dogs, couple of things at the next day have been told to come back. this time grabbed the dogs, grabbed photo albums, but thought, we will be back in a day or two, so we did not take any clothes or a lot of things we needed and we got out of there and within, i don't know, 24 there and within, i don't know, 2a hours, our house was gone, our entire neighbourhood was gone, so now we are just trying to get over the grief and focus on the future and how grateful we are we all got out safely. that is sort of where we are right now. it is hard to describe ready. it is strange. it is a difficult moment. i know you are a real estate

agent, so you understand the area, the properties, the financial implications to all those people who would have lost their homes. can you talk us through a bit more about the area? it us through a bit more about the area? ,, , area? it is basically in terms of suburbs _ area? it is basically in terms of suburbs of _ area? it is basically in terms of suburbs of los _ area? it is basically in terms of suburbs of los angeles, | area? it is basically in terms| of suburbs of los angeles, it is one of the more wealthy suburbs, the properties are very expensive, multi—million dollar properties everywhere. i don't know what will happen now, i do not know who will rebuild, who will decide to move away. what i do know is we have had a long list of clients contact us today. everybody needs a place to rent, to go and we have to look in other areas of los angeles for because there is really nothing there. i'm trying to go back tomorrow to walk up the street, but there is nobody there. the business is burned, the

churches, the schools, supermarkets, restaurants, stores, everything, everything is gone, so i don't know if everyone will rebuild. some might choose to move away. it is hard to know right now. it really is a difficult situation. we really do appreciate you talking to us about what has been happening in los angeles. you're also the president of the pacific palisades community council. have you been busy and how has the community come together to try to help each other with what has been happening? . it is, iwill what has been happening? . it is, i will tell— what has been happening? . it is, i will tell you we have most tightknit community you can imagine. it is like a small town, pretty idyllic, everybody knows everybody, everybody is friendly. as a community council we have meetings a couple of times a month by zoom and we had to cancel the one

tonight because everyone is scrambling but we plan to have a meeting on the 23rd and how people from the mea's office, a city councilwoman and state senators office, anyone we can get, to come together and try and help the community understand what sort of help they can get. —— mayor's. and what our first step of the path forward will be. right now there is a big whatsapp group, so many methods of communication and i've heard from so many people. everybody has a devastating story and everybody is grieving and not quite sure what to do next. thank you very much for talking to us. we do appreciate that.

president of the pacific palisades community council. around 2000 residents are on evacuation notice which means they may have to plead with just the clothes on their back. what happens to those who have lost everything? where do they go? 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth has been to one area near beverly hills and has been speaking to some people who were evacuated. this particular evacuation centre has catering provided by the salvation army and, of course, for lots of those people having seen their homes burned, there is nowhere else to turn. 0ne homes burned, there is nowhere else to turn. one of those people is marina. she arrived from ukraine as part of a

programme that has brought thousands of people from ukraine to america. marina, what happened to you yesterday? i left from my home to work and i left from my home to work and i saw a little smoke near my home, but i do not think that it was something that would be big, so when i tried to come home afterfive hours, i thought that the roads were closed and too many fire department and police cars, and i started to worry. and then i just came back to santa monica pierjust to watch it happened because everything was in smoke and i saw the fire claims — they were so big. and then i saw the place where my home is, it's burning and it is burning everything, like cars, nature,

houses and mind. so, ijust lost everything. ijust houses and mind. so, ijust lost everything. i just went to work like that and i don't have anything, no documents, nothing. it is a very terrible, terrible story.— terrible story. you have only been in america _ terrible story. you have only been in america for- terrible story. you have only been in america for four - been in america for four months. you came here escaping the war in ukraine. what will happen to you next year? i don't know but i will not give up don't know but i will not give up so i willjust try to move on and start my life again. that's it. on and start my life again. that's it— on and start my life again. that's it. ., ., ~ , ., that's it. marina, thank you for talking _ that's it. marina, thank you for talking to _ that's it. marina, thank you for talking to us. _ that's it. marina, thank you for talking to us. we - that's it. marina, thank you for talking to us. we wish i that's it. marina, thank you l for talking to us. we wish you all the best in these very difficult circumstances. we have seen all day—to—day volunteers turning up here, bringing food and supplies. with a disaster like this, everybody in this city know somebody who has been affected. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news:

the pound fell 0.9% against the us dollar on thursday, to its lowest level in more than a year, as uk borrowing costs hit their highest level for 16 years. economists warn rising costs could lead to further tax increases or spending cuts. treasury minister darrenjones has played down economic concerns, saying there is "no need for an emergency intervention". former health secretary jeremy hunt has apologised to the families of lucy letby�*s victims at the thirlwall inquiry at liverpool town hall. letby was able to kill seven babies while working at countess of chester hospital. temperatures in parts of the uk could fall below minus 16—degrees celsius overnight as a major cold front continues. fresh weather warnings have been issued, with snow, ice and fog forecast across southern england, wales, northern ireland and northern scotland. disruption to road and rail

services is expected. you alive with bbc news. the us supreme court has denid a last—minute bid by president—elect donald trump's to halt sentencing in his hush money case. the top court rejected donald trump's emergency application seeking to block friday's sentencing by a 5—4 vote. the president—elect has been convicted in a new york court of covering up payments to an adult film performer. the two conservative judges joined three ripples to reject trump's bid to delay the hearing. donald trump has ready expressed his anger at the decision. they call for an appeal and they acknowledged what the judge said about no penalty and there is no penalty but we're going to appeal anyway, just psychologically, because frankly it is a disgrace. it is a judge who should not have been the case. it is a highly conflicted judge and they called for an appeal, and i

read it and i thought it was a fair decision actually, so i will do my thing tomorrow. they can have fun with their political opponent. i am under eight gag orderfrom political opponent. i am under eight gag order from the judge. this is an attack of a political opponent, and if you take a look at it — i am not supposed to be talking about it, so i won't. after the news broke, we spoke to former federal prosecutor sarah krisoff. i am not particularly surprised this is where they ended out. the 5—4 ruling shows again how divided the court is. i imagine it was a very contentious day there as they sorted this out. i am not surprised the court basically said you can appeal this case in the normal course of business. as every other criminal defendant does. "we're not going to allow you to hop scotch here "and bring this to the supreme court. "we're not going to stop this from going forward. if you have appalate issues to raise

you can raise them after the sentencing like everybody else does. in many ways, i really think president trump is the luckiest criminal defendant in the world because he has a sentencing judge who has essentially already told him what is going to happen. most defendants go into sentencing as scared as can be because it is one of the most contentious and pressure—filled moments of their whole experience, but in this case we know what it is going to happen. judge merchan qualified his statements a little bit, and said "obviously i need to consider this "and that and follow all the rules but essentially "you're not getting prison time "or a fine or any supervision by this court going forward, "we are ensuring this conviction stays in place." in a separate case a federal

appeals court ruled in the last hour that the justice department can release a report on president—elect trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. donald trump wants to block its release. it is now expected president—elect trump will ask the supreme court will block the report written by special counseljack smith. jimmy carter is being laid to rest alongside his wife, rosalynn, in their home in the town of plains, georgia. he was buried in a private ceremony. the rest of america said farewell in a state funeral at the national cathedral. jimmy carter's casket was draped in stars and stripes, and accompanied by his family. 3,000 guests, including the last five presidents, leaders from around the world, and jimmy carter's friends and family, attended the funeral. sarah smith has this report on the longest lived president in history, jimmy carter. this formal farewell came with military precision and the full grandeur of the american state on display, asjimmy carter's coffin left the us capitol on this finaljourney. inside the national cathedral

all five living former presidents. donald trump chatting amiably with barack 0bama, as george w bush and bill clinton took their seats alongside them. joe biden, now in the dying days of his own presidency, has just 11 days left in the white house. carter's achievements in office were lauded. the peace deal between israel and egypt, and his humanitarian efforts afterwards, culminating in a nobel peace prize. we have all heard a lot lately about guinea worm disease. it's an ancient and debilitating disease of poverty and that disease will have existed from the dawn of humanity untiljimmy carter. # amazing grace... joe biden, a friend ofjimmy carter's for over 50 years, praised above all his predecessor's character. a white southern baptist who led civil rights.

a decorated navy veteran who brokered peace. a brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear non—proliferation. a hard—working farmer who championed conservation and clean energy. # imagine allthe people... jimmy carter, born one century ago in a house with neither electricity nor running water, who made it to the white house, now returning to plains, georgia, where he will be laid to rest alongside rosalind, his wife of 77 years. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. let's ta ke let's take you back to los angeles and share some live images of how things have been playing out this evening. you can see aerial shots — there are those shots. they have just gone away from us but there is

more information on our website. thanks forjoining us. hello there. winter continues to hold a firm grasp across the country. so it will be a freezing friday in store. yes, a frosty start with some freezing fog as well first thing in the morning, gradually lifting to sunny spells. but as we head towards the weekend, something a little less cold on the horizon but still under the influence of high pressure. still the wind direction coming from the north. the only exception into the far southwest. here we've got cloud and showery outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow for a time down to the southwest, some freezing fog lingering in the southeast, and some icy stretches. they will lift to sunny spells into the afternoon. could still see a few coastal showers across the far north and east, but on the whole, not a bad afternoon. a little more cloud pushing through. wales, the midlands and southern england are showery rain continues to the southwest here. we'll see highs of seven degrees, but after that bitterly cold start, temperatures in manyjust a couple of degrees above freezing and that is going to lead to another cold frosty start into the weekend.

once again, our weather front starts to drag more cloud in from the west though, here preventing those temperatures from falling too far but in sheltered central and eastern areas once again, a widespread hard frost on saturday morning. so saturday will gradually see more cloud pushing in on this weak weather front. not that much in the way of rain on it. a few spits and spots of showery rain from time to time. central and eastern areas starting off crisp with some sunshine but clouding over from the west. a little less cold here, where we've got that blanket of cloud, but don't expect a dramatic change quite just yet. we're looking at highs of around 7 or 8 degrees, with the best of the sunshine again between 2 and 4 celsius. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday and the week ahead, it looks likely that the wind direction will change as southwesterly flow will drive in weather fronts to the far north and west, but mild air right

across the country. so we will start to see a change by the middle part of the week for all of us. takes its time in arriving across central and southern england, but by the middle of the week we're back to double figures. but there will be a little bit of rain to go with it. take care.

tiktok will make its final appeal to the supreme court on friday at a potential ban in the us. and as wildfires in la continue we look at the hefty cost to residents and insurers as they brace for losses in the billions of dollars. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. the us supreme court is set to hear arguments on friday on an impending law what would force the chinese company bytedance, to sell social media platform tiktok to an america company, or bebanned in the us. the bbc�*s north america technology correspondent has more on how this could unfold. congress passed that law in april on national security grounds. lawmakers expressed concerns that tiktok�*s chinese ownership, bytedance, means that the data of millions of americans could be compromised, and that they are also prone to manipulation by china's communist party.