our neighbourhood and our neighbours have been eviscerated. it is really devastating to see generations of people's lives and livelihoods completely wiped out. rachel reeves becomes the most senior uk official to visit china for seven years. the chancellor wants to improve links with the world's second biggest economy. and will tiktok be banned in the us later this month? the app's fate is now up to the supreme court. in los angeles, where firefighters are still battling to contain those massive devastating wildfires. they've been dropping water onto the fires. in the last few hours more

mandatory evacuation orders have been issued as the palisades fire continued to burn toward the 405 freeway and san fernanbdo valley. one of the warnings is in brentwood where the us vice president, kamala harris, has a home. the popular art gallery, the getty centre, which survived a fire in 2019, is also in one of the evacuation warning zones. forecasters say more high winds are expected in the coming days, which could stoke an already perilous situation. at least 11 people are now known to have died, and about 10,000 homes and buildings are either destroyed, damaged or at risk. a night—time curfew is in force in the worst—affected areas to protect abandoned homes. police have warned that anyone involved in what they called "despicable" looting will be arrested. there are five fires still burning and only limited

progress has been made in containing them. the biggest fire is still the palisades one. the california governor, gavin newsom, has ordered an investigation into the loss of water supply by some firefighters. he said it had probably hindered the effort to protect homes. the eaton fire is just 3% contained. prince harry and his wife meghan have meeting some of the first responders and victims of the fires at a world central kitchen site where food is being distributed. the couple spoke to people who'd been affected by the eaton fire. it's believed they had already contributed clothing, children's items, and other essential supplies. our first report this hour is from helena humphrey in la. iam going i am going to take you to

beijing's. at press conference between the uk chancellor rachel reeves and the vice president of china speaking at the moment. i think we have got a translation so we can just dip into here the words from the chinese vice premier. translation:— the chinese vice premier. translation: , ' ., , ., translation: china's efforts to romote translation: china's efforts to promote peace _ translation: china's efforts to promote peace talks _ translation: china's efforts to promote peace talks and - promote peace talks and political settlement have been well recognised by the international community. facing global challenges only through solidarity and cooperation can we jointly opened up a bright future. china will work with the uk as strategic partners to uphold open cooperation and tap into corporation highlights to achieve results, adding new impetus and positivity to a development of our relationship. past experiences have shown as long as china and the uk respect each other, see common ground or aerial sharing

differences, our relationship will be able to achieve sound development. hong kong can become a bridge for even closer cooperation between our two sites. both sides agreed to step up collaboration between competent authorities in economic and financial sector and compare notes on the implementation of deliverables and priorities. to make cooperation deeper and broader. both sides agree also to hold the next dialogue in the uk at a proper time. thank you. thank you, vice premier, that will be the end of a statement. thank you for your attention. please accept... studio: china's vice premier ending that press conference with the uk chancellor rachel reeves in beijing. rachel reeves in beijing. rachel reeves in beijing. rachel reeves in that trip to china which has been criticised given the uk public finances

situation, the ongoing turmoil, uk borrowing costs hitting a 16 year high and we fall in the value of the pound as well. rachel reeves maintaining that decision, defending her decision, defending her decision to travel to china in order to, she spoke earlier to say that she wants to improve economic ties with china. and she wants to ensure that growth will be delivered which will make working people in every corner of britain better off, as she put it. she wants that relationship to be improved. any fallout we will bring about we're going back to the ongoing fires across los angeles. we have been watching the destruction of so many homes and we have this report. they got out. that's what matters most. amid the ash and ruin, a hug from dad promises everything will be all right.

even if this family doesn't yet know how. when the fires tore through altadena in the dead of night, daisy and keith bundled their young children into the back of the car. they had no official warning, just instinct. my husband was very positive, like, if we have to leave, we should be getting like a text message. we should be getting like some sort of alert. the sheriff's department will come with, you know, with the... loudspeakers and everything. they would tell us and i'm like, well, you know, i'm waiting for that. i'm waiting to get some sort of like urgency that we got to leave because it's getting more dangerous. but we didn't get anything. it was just my gut feeling that said, we have to go. it was 1.30 in the morning and when i saw more flame going up, i said, we have to get out. like so many here, all this family has left is each other. the dream home they worked day and night for gone in an instant. it was absolutely terrifying to see that. i've lived through fires up in the foothills before that got really close, but never got into the houses so much.

but this one, it moved so quickly. it was, you know, on a distant ridge one minute and then ten minutes later, it was like right on top of us. it was crazy how fast it moved with the winds blowing it. traces of christmas still linger, but it feels like a lifetime ago. all the gifts are gone. the rare toy rescued from the rubble now seems like a miracle. i found this and this. and my brother found this. how do you explain to children so young that the only place they've ever known, a place meant to be safe, is no more? i loved that swing set and i wanted to play. with it every day. it's things like this swing set which is still smouldering, which really bring it home. what the next generation has lost here. and with an ever—warming planet, what they'll have to worry about in the future. for now, authorities are focussed on the immediate crisis.

california governor gavin newsom is calling for an independent investigation into reported water shortages that hampered firefighters efforts. and with the hardest hit areas still burning. president biden has warned that things could get worse before they get better. mr president, have you been told that the loss of life is likely to increase significantly in california? it is likely it will increase. whether significantly or not, we don't know yet. there are still a lot of people that are unaccounted for. we don't know where they are. i think the toll is likely to go up, whether it's significant or not. pray god it's not, but it could be. the duke and duchess of sussex have visited a fire relief centre, where they met first responders and those impacted by the fires. we went to visit some - of the families in the impacted area, and then they wanted to go visit the first - responders and personally thank them for their efforts _ to help our familiesl and our neighbours.

forfamilies like daisy and keith's, all they can do is cling on to each other. looking for a glimmer of hope through the lingering smoke. our north america correspondent david willis is in altadena. he gave this update on the fire that is continuing to spread — and what the firefighters make of it. they had been hoping for a break provided by a lull in those very high winds, and that break only really exists until monday night, when they're expected to return with a vengeance. but within the last couple of hours, the pacific palisades fire, the biggest fire that has been raging since earlier this week, took a turn and is now heading, as you mentioned, towards the san fernando valley and the densely populated cities of encino and tarzana,

and as well the upscale town or city of brentwood, which is home to, amongst other people, the american vice president, kamala harris. that is a very bad sign if firefighters fail to get it under control. and as i say, there was a lot of hope today that they would be able to do so, that they would be able to make use of this break in the weather by virtue of the water dropping planes that have been brought in. they've been dropping water, gallons of it and flame retardant from helicopters and planes overhead, and it has clearly made something of a difference. but this was a crucial period, as i mentioned. and that turn of events isn't what the firefighters had been hoping for, to say the very least. behind me and behind the burnt out cars and behind the burnt out homes that lie behind the burnt out cars are national guard officers,

members of the california national guard, hundreds of whom have been drafted in here over the course of the last 2a hours to protect sites such as this from looters. and already we are told about 20 people, would you believe, have been arrested for looting. and in a bid to clamp down on that, they have also imposed officials here a dusk to dawn curfew. it's extraordinary to think that, given the heartbreak that some people here have experienced, that they could then eventually return to their homes to find that some of the most valuable possessions that remain have been stolen. so officials clamping down on that very hard indeed. david acuna is battalion chief with the california department of forestry and fire protection. he's been giving us his assessment as to what caused the fires.

so, what's happening is these winds that came through earlier this week, going to 60 to 100mph all blew out over the ocean, creating a large air massjust sitting off the coast. well, as soon as the winds stopped from the east, all the winds that are off on the shore just blew right on back into the coast. but now, instead of being the onshore humid winds, they're still very, very dry, which is why we're seeing expansion of the fire perimeter to the north and to the east. now, we're very fortunate because we have a lot of really good partners. la city, la county, the angeles national forest, as well as all the local co—operators and cities down there. every one of them works very hard, and we all train the same way, so that when a large incident like this happens, we all are working together with the same terminology and the same objectives. there's been a large addition of water tenders, trucks that have water tanks on the back, and what they're there is just to just to supply the fire engine so they can do the work of spraying

down these hotspots. slowing down and potentially increasing containment. right now, the largest, the palisades, is only at 8% containment. and while we want to increase that, we also don't want to give a false sense of containment. and then it blows across the line when these red flag warning winds come in early next week. well, i have been right next to a wildfire, and i've also had the sad duty to be at evacuation shelters where people who have lost everything are there trying to get help and just being there in that sense and just feeling their pain, the best thing we can do is support, and the best thing the public can do is be prepared. as some of the folks have said, that when if they can prepare an evacuation, go bag, have an evacuation plan, that is the best thing, especially since the entire region is looking at having these fire winds, at least for the foreseeable future. richard weintraub is a resident

of la, who was among those who battled to save his home. he's been telling us how he defended his home. so, in 1993, my wife i and i had lost our home in a fire in malibu, - ironically, and i didn't, i saw that how that played out, and i didn't not like the end - of that story. and so i decided against advice to stay and to fight the fire. . and i got three hoses- going with powerful nozzles to wet down all the foliage - around us and to wet the ground and to put out the embers. the smoke was incredibly thick. you could not breathe. but i was there for many, many hours alone. - and by grace of god and a lot of blessings and prayers, - our home was was saved. but it was not without danger in doing so. i stefan doerr is professor of wildland fire science at swansea university. he gave his assesment

on what caused the fires. yeah, the main problem here has been the combination of meteorological conditions. so we've had these really strong santa ana winds. they're not unusual this time of the year, but they have been very strong. but the more critical factor here is that we haven't had any winter rainfall. this is a mediterranean area. drought is normal in the summer, but this time of the year, you would have expected winter rains to wet the vegetation. and this hasn't happened. so essentially we are dealing with a tinderbox and these conditions that make it extremely difficult to fight the fires, like we've heard earlier. in previous years, there was a lot of rainfall, which arguably ensured that that vegetation that you're talking about grew very, very strongly. but then with the drought and with the lack of rain, as you were saying, it made that really dry and just a tinderbox. and this is what we're seeing now, the flames of all of that vegetation.

yes, that's exactly right. so, we basically had two relatively wet winters that allowed very good growing conditions. and we're actually seeing this more around the world, these seesaw conditions where we have very strong rainfall and very wet conditions. and then later on we have very dry conditions. and that combination is essentially the worst case scenario you can imagine forfires. and unfortunately that is increasing notjust in california but in many places around the world. and so arguably the consequence of that is that we're seeing just the unimaginable pictures. of course, this is an area that they're used to wildfires. but what's your assessment of the scale of what we're seeing? of course, in this case, the scale is almost, as you say, unimaginable. the number of evacuations, the number of buildings destroyed. in fact, the number of buildings destroyed isn't actually greater than what we've seen in 2018 in california. but, of course, you know, a lot of the buildings are very expensive here.

so the insurance losses are likely to be the greatest, at least in this century. but in terms of the overall movement of the fire, we do see this in other areas as well. for example, in australia, we see this in eucalypt forests. we've seen this in greece, in mati and the disaster some years ago. we've seen this in hawaii. but of course we have that combination of a lot of buildings and an interface between vegetation that is very flammable and many, many houses that lie in the path of the wind. so really, again, it's the worst case scenario we have here. and don't forget, you can continue to follow developments from southern california on our app and website — we are running a live page with continuous updates from our team of reporters. we know at least 11 people have been killed. much more also coming up on bbc news. we will be returning to this ongoing story. the us supreme court appears

poised to uphold a law that bans tiktok in the us over national security concerns unless its china—based parent company sells the platform ahead of a 19january deadline. representatives from tiktok appeared before the court on friday, as the us government argued that without a sale, the app could be used as a tool for spying and political manipulation by the chinese government. an official decision by the court is due in the next few days. president—elect donald trump is critical of the ban saying he could negotiate a �*political resolution�* to keep the app legal once he takes office. earlier, i spoke to dr eleanor drage, who is a senior research fellow at the university of cambridge and co—host of the good robot podcast on whether the app could be used as a means for spying and political manipulation. this narrative has been around for a very long time, and it's part of what we call the ai arms race, which is

a fabricated narrative that the us has been pushing for many years to boost their sinophobic rhetoric. so, they're pretty anti—china, they always have been. there is no evidence to suggest that china is doing more damage now with cyber security issues than it has ever been in the past. but the reason why trump has had this u—turn is possibly because now there is less concern about china among the public. we are not as afraid of covid and of china as we were before. the tiktok spy narrative has died down a little bit, and there's lots of other reasons to suggest that the public doesn't have china at the forefront of its minds.

we're also not quite as concerned about bytedance, which is tiktok�*s parent company, which was at one point thought to be a rival to openai, which is thejewel in silicon valley's ai crown. so today, instead, trump is saying, well, actually, i love tiktok and i'm a big tiktok star, so let's keep tiktok. and actually, perhaps what he's trying to do is create some political leverage and say, well, the supreme court may be against tiktok, but i will be the saviour. and when the ban comes in, which would be the 19th, that would be the day after he comes in as president. so he could potentially be tiktok�*s saviour and redeem tiktok on behalf of the youth population, which he now believes tiktok was very important for getting that audience to him. of course the inauguration of president—elect donald trump will be on the 20th of january. it was the biggest rape

trial in french history. gisele pelicot waived her right to anonymity and became a global icon. dominque pelicot was found guilty of drugging and raping his wife, and inviting 50 men into their home to abuse her while she slept. gisele's daughter caroline darian stood alongside her mother in court and told her father that he would "die alone like a dog." she believes that her father also drugged and abused her. she's spoken to the bbc in herfirst broadcast interview since the trial. anna collinson has more. don't really remember the father that i was that i thought he was. i look straight to the criminal. to the sexual criminal he is. caroline darian received a phone call from her mother in november 2020 that changed her life forever. she's been speaking to the bbc�*s emma barnett. it was like an earthquake or like a tsunami in my own living room.

caroline's father, dominque pelicot, had been drugging and raping her mother for over a decade and had encouraged dozens of other men to abuse her, too. i was so close from my father. you can't imagine how hurt it is. it was a nightmare. that nightmare became even darker when police told caroline they'd found semi—naked pictures of her on her father's laptop. and i was shown two pictures of me totally unconscious. with a pants which is not mine. so, you know, i was in shock. as the world watched france's largest rape trial unfold, she hoped herfather would finally admit he'd

sexually abused her. but he's always denied it. i'm convinced that he raped me. yes. the only difference between my mum and me, i don't have any evidence like she did. applause. gisele pelicot has been hailed as a feminist icon, while her ex—husband, along with dozens of other men, is in prison, including for the indecent images he took of his daughter caroline. he was always a sexual pervert. always. there's no way you can wake up in the morning saying, ok, i'm going to drug my wife for rape her. he should die in prison. he is a dangerous man. he is dangerous. caroline is now working to raise awareness about chemical submission, where drugs or alcohol are used to assault victims. she says she will never see

pelicot again or call him dad. i don't want to think that i'm dominique's daughter. and i want to be proud of our of the rest of our family. i think we all have a responsibility to speak up. you can watch the full interview pelicot trial — the daughter's story — on monday at 7pm on bbc2 or on the iplayer. and if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this film, details of help and support are available... let's return to the fires in los angeles, where firefighters are still battling to contain these devastating wildfires, they've been dropping water onto the fires.

california's governor has called for an independent investigation into how critical fire hydrants ran out of water and "impaired" the fight against the los angeles area wildfires. at least 11 people have been killed in the fires so far and its estimated more than 10,000 homes and other structures have been destroyed. an evacuation order has expanded near the palisades fire as officials work to contain the blaze, which has raged since tuesday. presidentjoe biden describes los angeles as a "war scene" while warning the death toll is "likely" to increase. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello again. it was a bitterly cold night across many parts of the uk. temperatures widely below freezing and we had scenes like ths, a hard frost on ground and again the continuation of ice for some of us this morning as well. in fact, it was the coldest night of the winter so far. in northern scotland, the thermometer went down to —18.9 celsius. it will gradually get milder or less cold as we go into the early part of next week. for this afternoon, a bit of rain moving into scotland, northwest england and wales, that could fall temporarily as a bit of snow over higher ground. sunshine in eastern areas. still a really cold day for most of us, temperatures up to four celsius but less cold in northern ireland, west wales and southwest england, temperatures here up to six celsius. tonight, some cloud moving eastwards, temperatures

dropping quickly but perhaps recovering slightly into the early part of sunday morning. regardless, towards eastern areas, another hard frost expected, temperatures widely below freezing. not as cold again towards western areas because we have this milder, southwesterly wind bringing in some higher temperatures through the next few days. so for sunday, we will see those temperatures higher again for northern ireland and northern and western scotland. sunshine for most at first, perhpas more cloud in central and eastern areas on sunday afternoon, compared to this afternoon. and temperatures a smidgen higher than today, about four degrees but in the west again, up to nine celsius. on monday, thse southwesterly winds affecting more of us. it will bring a lot of cloud to scotland and northern ireland, into northern parts of england. outbreaks of rain here but temperatures rising. notice the greens and oranges whereas the far southeast of england still holding onto the colder conditions. through next week, this is the temperature compared to average. outbreaks of rain here but temperatures rising. notice the greens and oranges whereas the far southeast of england still holding onto the colder conditions. through next week, this is the temperature compared to average.

it iniitally starts of below average by the blues there but gradually, the oranges and reds here, above average temperatures spread further southwards across the uk. so, temperatures coming up to around 12 celsius throughout the week. it will be gradual but with that, some risk of melting and thawing snow which could bring some flooding issues. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

a night—time curfew is in force in parts of los angeles worst—hit by devastating wildfires, which have killed at least 11 people. new evacuations have been issued in the area of the palisades fire as it continues to burn. rachel reeves becomes the most senior uk official to visit china for seven years. she says that agreements reached with china are worth £600 million to the uk over the next five years. and the us supreme court appears poised to uphold a law that bans tiktok due to security concerns unless its chinese company sells the platform ahead of the deadline. let's return to our top story and those fires in los angeles, where a night—time curfew has come into force in parts of los angeles to stop people looting areas that have been abandoned due to the wildfires. let's return to our top story

and those fires in los angeles,