winds are expected to pick up again, strengthening the flames, a further 166,000 people have been warned they may have to leave. the uk conservative leader, kemi badenoch, calls on the pm to sack the treasury minister, tulip siddiq, because she's been named in a corruption investigation in bangladesh. siddiq has referred herself to the prime minister's standards adviser and has insisted she has done nothing wrong. a police officer dies after being hit by a lorry in north yorkshire. pc rosie prior had pulled over to deal with a collision on the a19 near thirsk. police issue an appeal for witnesses and for drivers with dashcam video. it's 4:30am in the morning in los angeles where firefighters are continuing to battle the wildfires that have destroyed huge

swathes of the city. the number of people killed has risen to 16 and a dozen are missing after five days of the devastating fires. we've also been taking a look at the devastation in another part of los angeles, the neighborhood of altadena. that's near the eaton fire, the second biggest fire, which has burned more than 1a,000 acres. here's helena humphrey. with so many communities destroyed and evacuation orders still in place, you have to look around areas like this one to get clues as to people's story, how they got out when the fires came through here. as you can see here, for example, didn't even have time to flee in their cars, but some of them completely burnt out. and just the dichotomy of others that are relatively unscathed. and as you go through areas like this one here in altadena, what you'll see on the landscape time and time again is chimneys like this. essentially gravestones, really, of where these houses once stood.

and of course, with people now in shelters, staying with family, of course, they've got nothing to come back to, you startjust to get to indications as to who might have lived here. in this home, for example, perhaps you canjust make out behind me here, that twisted metal of what appears to have been a home, personal gym. that is some of the destruction that we are seeing in these areas. of course, as firefighters continue to battle those blazes, we just saw a fire crew from arizona coming in here trying to tackle some of the hot spots, otherfire crews are coming in from canada, mexico, for example, because the concern is that these winds could pick up once again, they could fan the flames further. and the warning from authorities is a grim one. the death toll is rising now in areas like this one. theft they are, very sadly, having to send in cadaver dogs to try and help people recover their loved ones

as that death toll continues to grow and authorities and fire crews really battle to try and get these blazes under control, with limited success. carl nasman has been speaking to california state senator ben allen. he represents the district that includes the pacific palisades and brentwood. ijust got off i just got off the phone with a good friend who is a firefighter.— good friend who is a firefighter. good friend who is a firefi . hter. , ., firefighter. the fire is tough out there- _ firefighter. the fire is tough out there. the _ firefighter. the fire is tough out there. the winds, - firefighter. the fire is tough out there. the winds, as . firefighter. the fire is tough | out there. the winds, as you mentioned, i picking up again. we have very low humidity right now is that we are certainly concerned. that being said, we're hitting it with everything have. we have a lot more assets and firefighters and planes. the winds are not so bad that we cannot continue while these aerial drops that you have been looking at. i think they are feeling cautiously optimistic but it is a heck of a fight and the conditions are not great. but they have a lot of resources, a

lot of firefighters all around and they are just giving it everything they have god. it really does have a lot to do with the conditions there. the wind speeds. we saw earlier in the week how strong those really were. just walk us through how concerning it would be if, in the next hour or so, we see those wind speeds pick up we see those wind speeds pick up to 50 or 60 mph once again. that would be very problematic. part of why the fire was so devastating in it the palisades was because the wind speeds were over 90 mph. they ran through the neighbourhood. i have been a couple of times over the past couple of days. it is extraordinary to see the damage, the destruction that it wrought. what is interesting is, because it was so ferocious but also so fast, part of my structures that are right in the middle of the fires and did not get burned even though many others were getting burned to a crisp and it is because of the speed. the speed. the fire moved through so quickly it destroyed everything that it touched but of course it did not touch everything. these are

going to be heavy winds tonight though not as bad as they were on tuesday and again we have a lot more assets in place now and we have dropped a lot more water and so i am hopeful that will make a big difference and save those communities up there. ~ ., ., there. we are looking at pictures _ there. we are looking at pictures right _ there. we are looking at pictures right now- there. we are looking at pictures right now are i there. we are looking at pictures right now are a | there. we are looking at. pictures right now are a fire thatis pictures right now are a fire that is continuing to burn in another area that you represent, along topanga. there is obviously up in areas that really were hit so hard. what have you been hearing from people that have been affected by the place is there? film. by the place is there? oh, cosh. i by the place is there? oh, gosh. i spoke _ by the place is there? oh, gosh. i spoke at _ by the place is there? oh, gosh. i spoke at a - by the place is there? oh, gosh. i spoke at a service | by the place is there? oi gosh. i spoke at a service last night for a local community, local temple that had got together to pray together and together to pray together and to be together and it was so devastating. hundreds of people showed up and nearly all of them were at least evacuated and may be a third or have of them had actually lost their homes and it is to see the looks on eyes, families just don't make they woke up on tuesday morning, a normal day, getting ready for work, going

to school. in many of them left to school. in many of them left to go and later they were not allowed to get back in and then their houses were gone. this is an area not due to this kind of fire or disruption. it is nearly all gone now. at least, certain but it's therefore doubly so devastating for our community. it is a community i know really well and i have got so many friends who have lost their homes. it has been so heartbreaking.— their homes. it has been so heartbreaking. and we have heard these _ heartbreaking. and we have heard these tensions - heartbreaking. and we have heard these tensions over. heartbreaking. and we have i heard these tensions over cuts to the firefighting budget. we know that there were some warning alerts that went out to the wrong people in the region. we have heard stories, of course, they'rejust we have heard stories, of course, they're just not being enough water to meet the demands of firefighters. have you been hearing any of those frustrations from anyone in your area? the people you have been speaking with? {iii your area? the people you have been speaking with?— been speaking with? of course. i am aware _ been speaking with? of course. i am aware of _ been speaking with? of course. i am aware of every _ been speaking with? of course. i am aware of every single - been speaking with? of course. i am aware of every single one | i am aware of every single one of those issues and like so many there is an absolute reason to be angry and frustrated and there is also a reason why things went the way

they did and i'm happy to talk about any of those issues if you like. i about any of those issues if you like-— you like. i 'ust want to get our you like. i just want to get your response. _ you like. i just want to get your response. we - you like. i just want to get your response. we have i you like. i just want to get. your response. we have seen you like. i just want to get - your response. we have seen so much commentary from people like elon musk, even the president elect donald trump, and i should say a lot of it is potentially misinformation or at least misinformed. what would you say to those who are spreading that kind of message right now while these firefighting efforts are taking place? it firefighting efforts are taking lace? , ., , place? it is not helpful. there is auoin place? it is not helpful. there is going to — place? it is not helpful. there is going to be _ place? it is not helpful. there is going to be so _ place? it is not helpful. there is going to be so much - place? it is not helpful. there is going to be so much time l place? it is not helpful. there. is going to be so much time for accountability, for all of the people in charge. and i am not... i don't think any politician could ever try to excuse themselves from accountability. this is a massive catastrophe and there is going to be a lot of attention on this issue for a long time but for right now we need to focus on fighting this fight and taking care of the people are in the zone, making sure everybody is safe and that has got to be with the focus is. i will say, has got to be with the focus is. iwill say, a has got to be with the focus is. i will say, a lot of the claims that have been amplified even by high—profile people

have been false, at worst, misleading at best. again, there are some things to be discussed and, quite frankly, debated and for people to be frustrated about. it is true. they did cut the fire budget from the fire chief and the city of los angeles is really insolvent. it is not in a strong financial position and it is part of why they did that. we need to have that discussion. why is that? a lot of legal payouts for lots of different things and the mail was trying her best to manage a very difficult budget and made this decision that, in retrospect, looks like a real mistake. that is a discussion we need to have coming out of this fire but i will say that some of the rumours that have been out there are absolutely misleading and the focus really needs to be on fighting this fire and getting all the research that we can get to fight this fire. this is not about partisanship right now. there are republicans on that hill and democrats up on that hill. these are americans. is a fellow human beings and their homes deserve to be saved and the lives deserve to be saved.

while rescue efforts continue to save property and people from the fires, organisations have pulled together to rescue stranded pets. one of these organisations is �*friends of normie'. its founder, ladan davia, spoke to my colleague nicky schiller. we've taken hundreds off the streets and helping owners with their pets since it started. today, we took in about 50. and it's a combination of pets on the streets and also the owners surrendering them for the time being, while they try to figure out what they're going to be doing during these fires. we are seeing some of the cats that you are helping, they're enormously, sweet little animals. how are they coping? because they're quite resilient, cats, aren't they? they really are, they are resilient. and, you know, unfortunately, they're...

the ones we're pulling are very sick. i thinkjust they're injured, probably from fleeing. the air quality is not good, it's literally raining ash in los angeles, so they have bad upper respiratory infections, eye infections. so we are treating them as quickly as we can and they are in good spirits. i think when we're first pulling them, they're a little bit shy, they're not sure what's going on. but once they get comfy inside for a day or so, they're starting to warm up and decompress. you said you'd rescued 50 today, where are they going now? yeah, so we were not prepared, we were a small rescue, it's just two of us that run the rescue. so we have a makeshift kind of situation where we're pulling them from the streets, putting them in a kennel kind of environment, just to assess them. then from there, when we can assess the level of care that they need, we're

getting them into our vets, getting their medical done and then they'll go into foster from there. so, we rely heavily on fosters. we are a foster and volunteer—based organisation, and the outpour of love and volunteers we have gotten, who have stepped up to help these animals in need, has been unbelievable. we genuinely have never seen anything like this. people are really stepping up to help. and if someone has had to leave their pet behind, which i know, as a cat owner, you'd try really hard to take your cat with you, but of course some people have had to flee so quickly, how are you going to be able to start reuniting those cats and dogs with their owners? yeah, it's such a good question. so, we were actually able to reunite one today with her family. they were so happy.

it was a crazy situation because they had to flee. some people were at work when the evacuation orders came, so it's really unknown which pets survived and which made it out. so luckily, the kitty that we reunited today was microchipped, we were able to find the owners that way. other than that, we are posting on pawboost. people are emailing us, asking us if we have found their pets and we're doing the best to try to match to see if there is a lost kitty that could go home. so we are really trying more than anything to reunite people with their animals. and if they do not have a home or an owner, we are taking them into our rescue and they will be available for adoption. we have much more on our website, of course, and we will

be back with this story throughout the day here on bbc news. the leader of sudan's paramilitiary rapid support forces has admitted losing a key city to its army rivals, one of its biggest setbacks since the civil war began. these images are from wad madani, where celebrations broke out after the sudanese army officially announced the capture of the city. but in an angry audio message, the rsf�*s general mohamed hamdan dagalo vowed to continue fighting until victory, even if it took another 20 years. the group had held wad madani for the past year. since the start of the war in april 2023, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 11 million people displaced. 0pheera mcdoom was the former reuters head of office in sudan

and now runs a school in khartoum. help us to understand the significance of the army capturing it from our sf? thank ou for capturing it from our sf? thank you for having _ capturing it from our sf? thank you for having me. _ capturing it from our sf? thank you for having me. this - capturing it from our sf? thank you for having me. this this - capturing it from our sf? thank you for having me. this this is i you for having me. this this is the major city in the way to the major city in the way to the capital and it is also the agricultural centre of the country so a lot of the food is grown there and a lot of the residents fled there. they fled their first. residents fled there. they fled theirfirst. the residents fled there. they fled their first. the army has been making grounds and this is seen as the gateway to taking back the capital where the army has also been making significant ground recently so you have seen jubilation on the streets of every city and probably every city in the world where all the sudanese are now refugees. they are absolutely ecstatic. , , , ., ecstatic. just help us to

understand, _ ecstatic. just help us to understand, because i ecstatic. just help us to | understand, because we ecstatic. just help us to - understand, because we talk about the latest fighting starting back in 2023 but, of course, we know that the situation on the ground across it and has been really bleak for many, many years. you have got these two groups, the our sf and the sudanese army, these two generals at the head of them battling each other. why is it that the our sf is so strong across the country? well, unfortunately, with the civilian government after the revolution ousted the former president, the our sf was brought to the capital. it was a militia and it was brought to the capital by the former president to try to stop him being ousted and unfortunately they brought many trips so it became, you know, the people who took over from bashir aligned themselves with the rsf and when that happened, and you

have two armies in and when that happened, and you have two armie