wildfires doubles to ten. a fire official says there's currently �*no evidence�* the fires were started deliberately. up to 10,000 buildings have been destroyed, with 180,000 people ordered to leave their homes. the national guard's been deployed amid reports of looting. donald trump says he's arranging a meeting with vladimir putin. earlier he reiterated his willingness to negotiate an end to the war in ukraine. the american singer chappell roan has been named bbc�*s sound of 2025. the first event to mark bradford's status as the uk's city of culture 2025 begins tonight, despite the icy temperatures. let's return to our top story this morning, and those fires in the los angeles area. president biden has described the la fires as the most devastating in california's history. have a look at these before and after images

of the devastation the flames have left behind. this was someone�*s home in altadena and this is what it looks like now north of there, the pasadena jewish temple and center has been completely gutted. and this business in the pacific palisades, where the largest fire has been burning, was not spared either. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth has been to the palisades and spoken to some of those affected. late into the night, we watch one of america's wealthiest neighbourhoods burn. the flames so intense the fire crews are powerless to stop them. so if i very quickly take my mask off, the air is absolutely thick with smoke. the fire crews here tell us they have a shortage of water. and in many instances they're having to stand and watch

these properties burn. it is a losing battle. they're using what little they have sparingly, trying to contain the spread. defying the evacuation orders, some residents are defending their own homes. with all the surrounding properties burning, i helped tony and his neighbours, scooping water out of the swimming pool and dousing the flames at their boundary. since 1993 i've seen a couple of fires, but nothing like this. i wouldn't see this in my nightmare. i never thought i would come through here. david was hoping his home might have survived, but the whole neighbourhood has gone. and with it, his house too. i would have thought i'd be seeing more planes flying over with water.

i mean, there appears to have beenjust two. i mean, in california, are there not, like, 20 or30 of them, that they could have got you already? i would have thought the firemen would, like, take a stand on a certain area. maybe they did and i'm just not seeing it. but... wealth and privilege are no protection from this disaster. with the ordinary human defences rendered futile in the face of its devastating force. john sudworth, bbc news, pacific palisades. the devastating fires that are destroying large parts of los angeles are on track to be among the costliest in us history. the private forecaster accuweather said it expected losses of between 135 billion to 150 billion dollars, as the blazes rip through an area that is home to some of the most expensive property in the world. fire authorities say more than 5,300 structures have

been destroyed by fire in the palisades area. and between four and 5,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the fire in eaton. here's our north america business correspondent, ritika gupta. wildfires engulfing swathes of los angeles are expected to be one of the nations' costliest natural disasters. the blazes burnig around some to monaco and malibu are consuming some of the most pricey real estate in the us, affecting areas where the median home value is more than $2 million. in addition to the human cost and property damage in la, there is likely to be lasting health impacts and medical costs due to acrid smoke, as well as a dent in the lucrative tourism business. 0n thursdayjp morgan warned the potential cost to insurers is expected to surpass $20 billion. these figures could rise further, as the fires are not controlled and continue to spread. many affected homes were not insured. some of the biggest insurers,

hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters over the years, have seized writing or stopped renewing policies in high—risk coastal and wildfire areas like pacific palisades. hurricane katrina in 2005 is the most expensive us natural disaster, with an estimated cost of $200 billion according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. blazes across california in 2018, including the camp fire, caused an estimated $30 billion of damage. russia has said there may be progress on setting up a meeting with donald trump and vladimir putin. the kremlin said it welcomed the fact that the president—elect was demonstrating a desire to solve problems through dialogue. no timeline has been given for a meeting. responding to a question from a reporter at his mar—a—lago club, mrtrump reiterated his willingness to negotiate an end to the war in ukraine:

it isa it is a war it isawari it is a war i will try to stop as quickly as i can. the number of people dying on a daily basis, and i get to the report every day, largely soldiers at this point, but the number of people both russian and ukraine, it is staggering. the uk's first offical consumption room for illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, will open in glasgow next week. it's hoped the service will reduce overdoses by providing a safe place to use drugs, and support people wanting to tackle their addiction. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has more. hey, girl, thank you very much. in the east end of glasgow, a place where people recovering from addiction can get a warm drink, food, support and advice. paul and barry volunteer here. they're both in recovery after years of abusing drugs. talking about like heroin and that. i started taking like 1a, 15 a day and just get worse. it just progresses. you're smoking it one minute and the next minute you're jagging it and then

in the prison, for years. been very lucky to come out of the overdoses. and what i see with a consumption room is so many people are dying on the streets. and what we need to remember is that's somebody's son or daughter or uncle. you need to remember that and give these people a chance. around 100 people every month are dying from drug misuse in scotland, and the issue is most acute in glasgow. preventing deaths is one of the aims of this new facility, which will be the only one of its kind in the uk. that area is a using space. they'll speak to nurses about the equipment they're going to use today, and they'll be given a clean set of equipment. do they bring in their own drugs or do you provide the drugs? no, they have to bring in their own drugs — it must be purchased off—site. we've got very strict rules. there can't be any selling, buying or sharing of drugs within the site at all. so here we have the booths. staff will be able to monitor up to eight users at any one time, who'll be injecting drugs

such as heroin and cocaine. so we do anticipate we will see overdoses. these are not overdose prevention centres. do you think that'll be a rare occurrence? it will happen quite frequently, but we're able to respond to them. and that's the difference from people overdosing at home, alone or out in the street. critics argue that the safe consumption room is not the answer, and that much more needs to be spent on rehab and getting people off drugs entirely. it's not in any way innovative or progressive, you know, to watch somebody harm themselves so drastically and so catastrophically, and to not have access to services that can actually help them get well. i think it's an absolute travesty. it's a devastation for scotland. but those behind the new facility say it's part of the jigsaw to try and tackle scotland's drugs crisis. a decade in the making, it's also involved a change in prosecution policy

for possessing drugs. is this in effect decriminalising drugs? so certainly people won't be prosecuted for possession of their drugs inside this facility. but this is a single facility and even in the context of the city of glasgow, i don't think it can be described as decriminalisation. what it is, though, is it does push the barriers in terms of policy. it's estimated around 200 addicts could end up using the drug consumption room every day. this pilot aiming to reduce overdoses in one small part of glasgow in a country struggling to tackle the numbers dying from drug misuse. lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. in the us, the supreme court will hear closing arguments today in a case over whether tiktok should be banned in the country, if it doesn t separate from its chinese owner bytedance. the split is required by a biden administration law which says it's necessary to protect national security. tiktok and some its content creators have argued the ban would violate

their first amendment rights to free speech. tiktok says it's used by around 170 million americans. the new law is set to take effect in nine days time. 0ur north america technology correspondent lily jamali has more. well, 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. tiktok has consistently denied those allegations. they have expressed confidence that they will get the outcome that they seek from the supreme court. president—elect donald trump, meanwhile, has weighed in despite once trying to ban the app himself. he has now filed a brief in this case, asking the supreme court to temporarily block the law so that he can try to save it.

the price of re—sale tickets for live events in the uk could be capped under government plans to clamp down on touts. ministers are also looking at dynamic pricing after 0asis fans were caught out by a lack of transparency last summer. 0ur correspondent chi chi izundu has this report. # you've gotta roll with it....# just last august, when one of the biggest bands in the world announced they were getting back together and going on tour, the scramble to get tickets was huge. for them to suddenly change it and move the goalposts is really frustrating. it puts pressure on you, you think you've got to do it, because i by the time i actually got there, i think the tickets were £453. while you were in the queue for that time, there was no indication of how much the tickets would be once you actually got to the end point. and that seems quite unfair,

and i think that there's probably a lot of people that have spent beyond their means. fans were annoyed because of something called dynamic pricing. that's where prices increased as demanded, as people queued for hours to try and get their hands on those tickets. and then when the tour sold out, tickets appeared on resale sites for thousands of pounds. but the government says it wants to clamp down on some of those practices. the department for culture, media and sport is launching a consultation. it's proposed a number of things, including capping the amount you can resell a ticket for up to 30% above the original price. that is to try to clamp down on touts hiking up prices by sometimes thousands on resale sites. they want to limit the number of tickets a reseller can actually list for sale on resale sites, and they want to increase the accountability of ticket resale websites and apps so that they are held legally responsible for the accuracy of information provided to fans. when it comes to dynamic pricing, the consultation is calling for evidence on that and other pricing practices in the live events industry. but there have been calls for tougher regulation in ticketing.

we need to see action from the government sooner rather than later to stop these poor practices. so exploitative practices like dynamic pricing, for example. if this consultation means that things like that come to an end, it can only be a good thing. and it can only be a good thing for fans as well, because it means they should be able to see theirfavourite musician, their favourite sports team, whatever it might be, without fearing they are going to lose hundreds, thousands of pounds, or need to pay hundreds and thousands of pounds to try to secure those tickets. # i'm in love with the shape of you. # we push and pull like a magnet do. this 12—week consultation isn'tjust about gigs. it's also calling for information about ticketing with theatre, comedy and sport. so, with a packed year of live events ahead, fans will have to wait and see if any of these become law. chi chi izundu, bbc news.

the american singer chappell roan has been named bbc�*s sound of 2025. roan's 80—influenced synth pop with lyrics centred on queer relationships has exploded in popularity in recent months. every concert on her us tour last year had to be upgraded to a bigger venue. the bbc sound of 2025 is voted for by 180 musicians and critics. let's speak to our music correspondent, mark savage. it's been quite a meteoric rise for chappell roan?— for chappell roan? yes, everything _ for chappell roan? yes, everything got - for chappell roan? yes, everything got a - for chappell roan? yes, everything got a rocketl for chappell roan? yes, - everything got a rocket boost last year after she had been plugging away at her career for ten years. she was actually signed to her first record ten years. she was actually signed to herfirst record deal when she wasjust 17. signed to herfirst record deal when she was just 17. she lived in a small town in missouri in america. she posted a couple of songs to youtube and she was whisked off to la, and recorded

a lot of things that sounded very current at the time, inspired by lana del rey and they did not connect with the audience. it's only when some friends of her�*s to a gay bar in los angeles and she discovers go—go dancers and everything else, that she switched up her sound and made what she has now, really colourful, flamboyant, theatrical music that she started to connect. for the last 12 months, like you said, all of her gigs had to be upgraded, she got a number one album in the uk and the us, the next couple of weeks she is nominated for six grammy awards, including album of the yearfor her debut album, awards, including album of the year for her debut album, the rise and fall of a midwest princess. rise and fall of a midwest printm— rise and fall of a midwest princess. ., , ., princess. how has she come to be voted _ princess. how has she come to be voted the — princess. how has she come to be voted the sound _ princess. how has she come to be voted the sound of- princess. how has she come to be voted the sound of 2025? i be voted the sound of 2025? this poll has been running for more than 20 years. every year we go out and ask the people that a book glossary festival, the producers behind jools holland, radio djs, musicians themselves, an artist who they think is going to dominate the next 12 months in music. and we

collate all of the votes, and this year rhone travel was the runaway winner. i don't think i've ever seen anyone gain as many votes as she did. it was a real vote of confidence for the music industry, having done so well last year that she is going to go on to even bigger things in 2025.— going to go on to even bigger things in 2025. what difference would it make _ things in 2025. what difference would it make to _ things in 2025. what difference would it make to her, - things in 2025. what difference would it make to her, given - would it make to her, given that she is already immensely successful?— successful? one of the things we have seen _ successful? one of the things we have seen with _ successful? one of the things we have seen with the - successful? one of the things we have seen with the music| we have seen with the music industry over the last ten years or so, with the advent of streaming, is that attention spans are very, very short. sales of albums are dropping. you can reach the top of the charts, or you can have cloistered success, without becoming a household name or a mainstream act. an award like this puts you in front of people who might not have heard your music before. it is a vote of confidence from the industry that you are going to achieve great things. we know that rhone travel will headline the

reading and leeds festivals this summer, i think she will be announced at glastonbury when they reveal their line—up, and by the end of the year the prediction is that she will be someone that even your mum knows. . ~ someone that even your mum knows. ., ~' , ., , . getting a tattoo is relatively simple — but getting rid of them can be more difficult. there are calls for tougher regulations in the industry, particularly over the sale of the lasers that carry out the removal process. 0ur reporter fiona lamdin has more. there's an art to getting a tattoo. and it seems there's also an art to getting them removed. as if by magic, wayne and his laser machine can make them disappear. are you ready? one, two, three. and just talk me through exactly what's going on there. popping.

so what you're hearing over there, that popping sound, is the ink particles shattering underneath the skin. so what we're trying to do is smash these particles, which are just too big at the moment for your body to metabolise. we're trying to break them down into smaller bits to make it easier for your immune system to sort out. hey! you 0k? how are you? yeah. good. thank you. this is jade's first session. one little tap first. yeah. see how you feel about it. the wedding's in may, and it's on my, like, kind of wedding hand, i call it, because obviously with all the pictures with the rings on. i started really having, like, low confidence and stuff because i had my tattoos and i decided i didn't like them, so i didn't like how i looked with them. just remind me, how old is your tattoo? . 2016 — round about. it's like the end of the world. like, just never going to be happy with myself any more. 0k? yeah. it's not cheap. it can cost a little bit more than the actual tattoo. you're talking about few hundreds of pounds. when you're looking at larger tattoos —

sleeves, back pieces, that kind of stuff — then you're looking into a couple of thousand. they, to me, look like drawings. you know, when you're at school and you start drawing, doodling on your arm and hands and stuff. i feel like, to me, that's what they look like. i'm like, "it's my skin. why do i want drawings all over my skin?" removals are on the rise, but wayne says there has also been an increase in cheap laser equipment, damaging his industry. the biggest concerns in the industry right now is the access to equipment that doesn't do what it's supposed to do. yes, they can remove tattoos, but the condition of the skin afterwards can be completely damaged and then leaving the client in a worse—off space than what they were before. so this is your very expensive — costing thousands — laser machine. correct. i don't have a tattoo, but i want to know what it feels like. no problem. ready? yes. there we go. is it going to hurt? it's not going to tickle, but it's not going to be too diabolical. one, two, three. oh, yeah. it feels like a very, very hot pin going in, in, in.

so on a level of1 to 10, if one's easy and 10 is a bit uncomfortable, how did that feel? probably three. hello. hi. how are you? good. how are you? very well. next in is betsy. it's her second visit. last year, we ended up seeing this guy who was a tattoo artist. and we all got a little bit drunk, and he said, "if we win the south african world cup or south africa will win the world cup, then he's going to give free protea tattoos to everyone." you need a break? no, i'm all good. all right. it was a dreadful thought, realising that it was going to be on my body for the rest of my life. i'm definitely feeling happy that i can...| can get rid of it. and, you know, the fact that there's a chance that it will go completely is brilliant. removing tattoos safely cost time and money. but for those who change their minds, there's hope. their body art no longer needs to be permanent. fiona lamdin, bbc news. the spotlight will be on west yorkshire this evening

as the first event to mark bradford's status as the uk's city of culture for 2025 will go ahead, despite the icy temperatures. the open—air event, titled rise, has been co—created by the bradford—born magician steven frayne, formerly known as dynamo. more than 200 performers will take to the stage at city park. 0ur media and arts correspondent david sillito reports from bradford. bradford, and final preparations for a spectacle to open its year as city of culture. and one clue — the cards. there's going to be a touch of magic because one of the organisers is a magician. steven frayne, known to the world as dynamo. it's a little bit chilly at the moment. you know what? if it gets too cold, we can hug. i grew up on the delph hill estate in bradford — the oldest of four kids. this is where he grew up, and this is more than just another show. so many people told me it

would be impossible that a boy from delph hill could come this far. this means a lot to you then, doesn't it, tonight? this means more than i could ever put into words. to be in a place where there's a massive stage, put right in the centre for people to come and share in some amazement, like, that's like a dream come true — it genuinely is. so we've got a phone and a bottle. watch. this is where your street magic began then, isn't it? yeah. literally, right here i used, to perform street magic. i'm super proud to be from bradford. it wasn't necessarily the easiest place to grow up. it's very easy to live in a small town and feel like you don't matter. feel like you're insignificant in this huge world we live in. so to be a small, tiny part of this, it's just incredible. i'm the proudest bradfordian you'll ever meet. you know, i tell everybody about it. i'm never letting this yorkshire accent disappear — ever.

you see, they don't even want it to go. they're making me keep it. it's got to stay in. i want you to both think of a country. one, two, three. france. must be a good feeling to be... everyone be gathered here for what is a good story, isn't it? oh, this is an incredible story. and this is the sort of thing that we want people to talk about when they talk about bradford. you know, were you there that night when those 10,000 people from all different walks of life were standing in unison, sharing in amazement. some of those people who might have felt invisible and now getting to shine, and some of them are going to be on that stage, and you do not want to miss it. digital and online gaming may be a booming industry — but is the humble board game re—emerging as a popular night out option? ben boulos has been looking into this.

from games consoles offering action adventures to word challenges on your smartphone — if games are your way of relaxing, well, there's never been more choice. yet the humble board game seems to have survived the challenge from flashy tech, advanced graphics and virtual reality. so what's behind the enduring appeal that keeps the makers of games like monopoly in business? when we have so much pressure on our time, we're spending more time on screens, the opportunity to play together, to enjoy the highs and lows of a board game continue to appeal. and one of the biggest—selling board games is now even bigger with this life—sized version for those who really want to immerse themselves in it, with all the familiar pieces, locations, squares, even the player rivalries. rolling a. 3, 2, 1. roll. they're really fun to play with your family. you can beat your friends and your brothers. do you tend to win or do you tend to let them win? i tend to win.

do you? and what about you? i normally let him win, but i think my favourite thing about the game is, like, the thrill and the excitement of it. and it's notjust the kids getting involved. 30% of adults in the uk regularly play board games. in fact, we spent nearly £128 million on them last year. that's up more than 4% on the year before. the origins of some classic games, like chess and draughts, go back more than a thousand years. but whether vintage or relatively modern, there's always been a certain kudos to triumphing over your fellow players. well, there's always one, isn't there, who ends up with a hotel on park lane? thanks for landing on my square. i think you'll find you owe me 1.3 million.

now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello, there. coldest morning of the winter so far this morning. temperatures down to —14.4 celsius in altnaharra. if it's all getting too cold for you, there are changes on the way. it's going to be a slow change, though. gradual thaw into the weekend after a frosty start and the risk of some freezing fog. just how cold it's been compared to normal, you can see by the blue colours here on the chart with the coldest is relative to normal across europe. 0ur anomaly chart though shows we switch them for reds, especially across scotland and ireland and some in northern scotland. you might be around 25 degrees warmerfor the start of the mornings next week, compared with what we've seen today. —14, as i said in altnaharra, but widely a very, very cold start to the day and some struggling to lift above freezing even this afternoon. we have more cloud though, towards the south west, south wales as well. that's producing some outbreaks of light rain or drizzle. some snow over the moors, a few rain, sleet and snow showers close to eastern coast of scotland and england. most, though, staying sunny through the afternoon. and, as i said, temperatures struggling to get above freezing for some of you. and they will drop straightaway as we go into tonight.

lighter winds tonight. that means fog could become a bigger issue across wales, central and southern england. cloud, outbreaks of rain and sleet into northern ireland, but with the winds lighter across scotland a bit further east, it's the grampians where we could see some of the lowest temperatures, maybe down to a —15 or —16. so, this is the chart for saturday. high pressure, not much wind around, not many isobars. but this weather front out towards ireland is going to produce cloud, outbreaks of rain in the morning. it will slide into southwest scotland. increased cloud across many western areas. but notice here, across parts of southern england, east wales and the midlands, some could sit in fog all day long. away from the fog, lots of sunshine around but still temperatures struggling for most. but notice changes. belfast seven, plymouth eight degrees. milder air is trying to push its way in. it's going to be a slow process. it's going to come around this area of high pressure that's with us into the start of the weekend and through much of the weekend. but eventually the mild air will topple down. notice it arrives in the south and east last of all, through monday and tuesday next

week. so, a quick look at sunday for you. lingering fog patches potentially again across some parts of england and wales. more cloud through scotland, northern ireland and parts of western england and wales. temperatures well above freezing by this stage, but still a chilly one towards the south and the east. but even here, temperatures will rise as we go through much of next week. that's how it's looking. see you soon.

live from london. this is bbc news.

the number of people killed in los angeles' worst wildfires doubles to ten. a fire official says there's no "conclusive evidence" that the fires were started deliberately. thousands of firefighters are still battling to control blazes, and there's no sign of any rain for the rest of the day. around 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes. we will bring you reaction and analysis of the fires. also coming up... the uk's home office says a team from its homeland security group is monitoring elon musk�*s social media posts. a warning of further travel disruption as snow and ice continue to affect many parts of the uk. hello, i'm martine croxall. ten people are now