just a week before he leaves the white house. plus — donald trump wants greenland. we hearfrom a danish lawmaker who says they don't want to be american. and from some greenlanders, who say they don't want to be danish either. hello, i'm carl nasman. fire crews in los angeles have made some progress in their battle to contain several fires still burning in the area, but the two largest are still raging largely unchecked. the fires have burned through 40,000 acres and 12,000 buildings — killing at least 16 people. 16 others are missing. officials say high winds are forecast and the threat of more blazes is �*very high�*. at least 20 people have been arrested for looting, including two — who officials say — posed as firefighters. california's governor gavin newsom says 1a,000

people are working to fight the fires in what he says may be the worst natural disaster to hit the country. so far, firefighters have managed to contain one of the smaller fires in the west hills neighbourhood, the kenneth fire. that means it is no longer spreading. the 800—acre hurst fire, in the sylmar area of the city, is also mostly contained. but the largest fire, the palisades, is still expanding, threatening the suburb of brentwood where vice president kamala harris has a home. and the second largest, the 14,000—acre eaton fire, is only 27% contained. firefighters have told the bbc that they're "cautiously that they're beginning to gain the upper hand. the crucial difference, they say, has been the ability to bring in aircraft as the wind speeds dropped. over the past week, our reporterjohn sudworth has spent days and nights watching the work of the fire crews up close and has sent this report

in this unprecedented disaster, fire crews have faced an unprecedented fight. an overwhelming wildfire, ripping through one of america's most densely populated cities, fuelled by hurricane—force winds. let us know if we are in yourway, too, 0k? go ahead. all right. cool, thanks, guys. but battalion chief brent pascua now believes their fortunes are shifting, for one main reason. we are cautiously optimistic because it's not going to be 70 mph winds. the rug got swept out under us from the wind down in our aircraft. they�* re just. . . we can't use them, it's too unsafe for the pilots and the retardant doesn't even make it to the ground when it's over 50 mph. so we had to ground our aircraft. the helicopters did what they could but it stilljust shows you how important it is to have that coordinated effect with the firefighters on the ground and the ones in the sky. now, as those wind speeds have dropped, the aircraft have been able to get off the ground.

bombarding the fire with water and fire retardant. for the past two days, they've been flying sortie after sortie right around—the—clock. in coordination with the ground teams, the hills around this city have been turned into a smouldering moonscape as they begin to get on top of the fight. on wednesday night, we saw for ourselves how firefighters, without the air support, were left helpless. facing water shortages, as pressure drops, this crew was forced to watch these homes burn while trying desperately to save the other side of the street. two days on, and the fires here have finally burned themselves out. as expected, every single property here is now a gutted shell. this is where the fire truck was that night and the extraordinary thing,

against the odds, they won the battle they were fighting. their careful use of the small amounts of water they had, saving every property on this side of the street. many thousands were not so lucky. left facing a crisis of unimaginable scale. but in the fight against the fire, at least, they're now daring to hope the worst may be over. helena humphrey sent this update. this is just this isjust one this is just one of the areas where the palisades fire came through, if you take a look in every direction it is 360 degrees worth of destruction here. this is a scene being played out right across la county, tens of thousands of acres that have been destroyed like this, with all of these houses raised to the ground. as

we have been here in the area we have been here in the area we have been feeling those notorious santa ana wind picking up once again these are the enemy of those fire crews fighting so hard to control those fires. essentially they could whip up the flames once again, that is the concern in those fire crews are stretched to the limit right now. we know today president zelenskiy of ukraine is offered to centrefire teams from ukraine to help in the effort, here in this area today we have ed aerial drops of water which have been effective, half a billion gallons of water dropped from the sky to try and control the blazers but it is a race against time now with the wind. we have heard from the la mayor saying she is confident the president—elect donald trump will come to see the devastation on the ground, he has criticised the response from california politicians, saying it is incompetent. we

also heard from the governor of california gavin newsome calling on people to stay in la, stay here and rebuild. but when you survey the scene is here again and you take a look at the challenge ahead in doing so that road to recovery and how long it will be you see the challenge of people to stay here and rebuild, especially when we know climate change is exacerbating these weather—related events and ultimately they could just find themselves in the path of harm once again stop helena humphreys reporting the fmla. while the devastation from fires in wealthier neighborhoods has caught the world's attention, other communities fear they could be left behind. some residents of historically black and brown suburb of altadena have expressed concern — that they may not get adequate resources to rebuild their homes. according to us census data, the black home ownership rate in the area is at 81.5—percent. that's almost double the national average.

historically, altadena was a rare neighbourhood where black residents could buy a home without facing discriminatory practices — known as red lining, which was outlawed nearly 50 years ago. i've been speaking to nikki high, she's a business owner who's been leading efforts to help rebuild her community in altadena and the surrounding areas. i asked her about the neighborhoods concerns surrounding rebuilding. walter dean is a picturesque mountain town lots of black folks have been here for generations so many black—owned businesses are black and brown community are very prominent in altadena, we have made the city our home for decades upon decades. ian is the primary concern is there are predatory people who will try to do a land grab, and we are concerned

that many of our residents especially elderly residents, will be taken advantage of. d0 will be taken advantage of. do ou aet will be taken advantage of. do you get the sense everybody there will be able to afford what comes next, are some people left without the type of insurance they might need to be able to come back to the community and rebuild? yes, that is deeply _ community and rebuild? yes, that is deeply concerning - community and rebuild? yes, that is deeply concerning as l that is deeply concerning as well, there is a misconception about this extraordinary wealth in altadena, this is a working class city. we definitely do have some generational welfare as well but, we are regular every day, working class citizens. and so right now what i'm trying to do along with many other folks is get the immediate needs met, but we don't know what's going to happen next week or the week after. the hotel rooms are

completely filled, there are waiting lists for air b&b, we don't know where we are going to go. and so many of these homes multi— generations live in these homes so these are people, families of seven, ten, 11 being displaced. i don't know what we're going to do for the long—term. greenland is in the international spotlight this week — after president—elect donald trump said again that he wants to take control of the territory. he first raised the idea of buying greenland during his first term in 2019. but this time, he hasn't ruled out using economic — or even military pressure — to seize the land, which has been under danish rule for more than 300 years. with his father's renewed interest, donald trumer made a brief visit to the nation's capital nuuk this past week. greenland is equi—distant from both the us and russia. the world's largest island holds significant strategic value, and crucial natural resources. several european countries — including denmark — have warned against trump's

plans, saying that the autonomous danish territory is not for sale. our special correspondent fergal keane has the view from greenland. it is one of the world's last wild frontiers. glimpsed in the short winter sunlight, we're travelling into a place of pristine beauty... that's suddenly been overtaken by a diplomatic crisis. this place is so remote that it's hard to imagine it as the front line of a major geopolitical row. but up and down this fjord and isolated settlements, and across the island of greenland, they're talking about trump. those who live here know the strain of harsh weather and the demands of survival. you need to be hardy for this every day. but again and again, i would

hear this is their land. welcome to...home! welcome to this wonderful place. angutimmarik hansen and his family hunt and raise sheep for a living. what do you feel about trump? what a stupid human in the world, like trump. that's what you feel? yeah. i mean, we think about the us and trump. this is different. we need to maybe work together with us and not trump. there's worry here. an inuit culture that struggled against danish colonialism doesn't want any new power taking over. this man is a village pastor. this isn't an argument about owning greenland, he says. it's about a people's culture and history.

translation: our country as something that can - it is wild and weird. we don't view it as a purchasable land. we have been here for a long time. we're used to our ways of living. in the capital, nuuk, there's a feeling that the trump intervention has brought world attention to greenland's campaign for independence. and there's pragmatism. a desire for strong links and financial help from america and denmark. donald trump is a politician. he's a hard businessman and we know his rhetoric. and that rhetoric is something we have gotten used to since 2019. but what is necessary here is that greenland, as a sovereign state, should negotiate directly with the united states and not denmark. newsreel: the eskimo are very

primitive, and the danish - government is doing its best to keep civilisation from spoiling them. to understand what greenlanders feel about the colonial past, it's important to know about racism and abuses. ..when a ship comes in. hedvig frederiksen was only 1a when danish officials fitted her with a contraceptive coil without her permission in the 1970s. she's one of over 100 women suing denmark for its efforts to limit greenland's population. translation: it was i a very awful experience. i was still a child. it was just awful. i think the danish people looked down on us, especially back then. what do you need denmark to do? i want them to apologise. however mighty, those wanting to control this land must reckon with an enduring struggle for dignity and self—determination. fergal keane, bbc news, greenland.

rasmus jarlov is the chairman of denmark's defense committee, and the spokesperson on greenlandic affairs for denmark's conservatives. he told me he was shocked about trump's recent comments. thanks for taking the time to be here, donald trump claimed that us needs greenland for national security purposes, he's been casting doubts on denmark's claims to greenland, what your reaction to what donald trump has been saying? we are surprised that most importantly that out of nothing, they want to take part of our territory. the population does not want to be american, no politicians that said it would be a good idea and of course know whether we can and over 56,000 of our citizens to come americans so that should be the end of it, hopefully but it's also weird that an important ally would do

a thing like this against denmark has been a very, very good friend of the united states for more than 80 years and we certainly didn't expect that they wouldn't respect international treaties and borders and the nato treaty that says that you should not threaten your allies so it's a very weird situation. you brought up nato there and of course in the past few days, donald trump was asked and refused to rule out military action when it comes to the territory, how do you view that and do you think that denmark would consider military force in order to defend the territory? we don't expect it to come to that. they would just be very strange, i can't remember any time in american history for the past years or more where they have taken territory from an ally so we don't expect that to happen at all but of course, at a rhetoric is not good, it's not constructive and we always have good relations with the us

and we also have very good co—operations with them in greenland where they have an air force base that protects them from potential nuclear missiles coming from russia, so if they needed for security reasons then the door is open because they used to have more military presence in queensland to protect themselves from russia and if they want to upgrade that and then all they had to do was ask and they would sort it out. when it comes to minerals, then you cannot just say that you think you need the territory for which you have absolutely no legitimate claim and then think you can have it. of course, you cannot. you can buy minerals from greenland and they are more than welcome to do that but we're not handing over our citizens and this is not something we think doesn't matter because i hear some americans talking about this very casually like it's no big deal, maybe denmark willjust give it up.

this has been under the danish crown for 600 years. they have members of our parliament, most of them speak the danish language, 15,000 of us living in denmark and many thousand danes living in greenland so notjust going to turn that into america. it's very strange that someone from american just takes a plane thinks they can run it better. ., ., ~' plane thinks they can run it better. ., ., ~ ., plane thinks they can run it better. ., , ., better. looking at greenland itself... better. looking at greenland itself- -- i _ better. looking at greenland itself... i don't _ better. looking at greenland itself... i don't see - better. looking at greenland itself... i don't see anything | itself... i don't see anything from the — itself... i don't see anything from the us _ itself... i don't see anything from the us been _ itself... i don't see anything from the us been better - itself... i don't see anything from the us been better for| itself... i don't see anything . from the us been better for us. from the us been betterfor us. what are the people who live in greenland think, there has been a movement pushing towards independence from green —— denmark? independence from green -- denmark?— independence from green -- denmark? absolutely they do have the desire _ denmark? absolutely they do have the desire to _ denmark? absolutely they do have the desire to become i denmark? absolutely they do have the desire to become an independent country and they can do that if they want because for many decades it has been promised by various danish

governments that they could just have a referendum and go for independence. it is not easy because of their geography which is very big and the challenges that you have with a small population. for the moment they still depend on subsidies from the north and the aid they get from the danish defence forces, the police, from healthcare system, all of those things. maybe they will be independent for the future but i don't think it will be an independence that will be an independence that will be an independence that will be completely without denmark. will be completely without denmark-— will be completely without denmark. ., , , denmark. donald trump will be takin: denmark. donald trump will be taking office — denmark. donald trump will be taking office in _ denmark. donald trump will be taking office in a _ denmark. donald trump will be taking office in a matter- denmark. donald trump will be taking office in a matter of- taking office in a matter of days how prepared you think denmark is for the next four years and what is denmark prepared to do, to hold onto its territory because it doesn't seem like this is an issue that will be going away anytime soon? it issue that will be going away anytime soon?— issue that will be going away anytime soon? it is a hard know from us there _ anytime soon? it is a hard know from us there is _ anytime soon? it is a hard know from us there is no _ anytime soon? it is a hard know from us there is no symbol- from us there is no symbol politician or member of the parliament that wants to hand

over greenland to the united states, that is out of the question is a hard know and from there it is up to the americans what they want to do. hopefully they won't pursue this idea because we can't do that, we want to have good relations with the us and hope they don't exacerbate the situation because there is nothing we can do to meet the claim from the us that is totally groundless, without any history behind it, in legitimacy at all. they even signed a treaty with denmark in 1916 with salt the us virgin islands to them where they agree to recognise danish control over the entire island. it is so weird in so many ways theissue it is so weird in so many ways the issue should be even discussed. hopefully they won't do anything they won't pursue the idea and give it up. the military presence is welcome and always has been we have a military agreement and business cooperation is also very important.

cooperation is also very important-— cooperation is also very important. cooperation is also very imortant. , . ., ., important. given all that and ou important. given all that and you mention _ important. given all that and you mention the _ important. given all that and you mention the relationship between the us and denmark how has this potentially change the relationship there and how do you think this might affect things going forward? i mean, it's a bit hard _ things going forward? i mean, it's a bit hard to _ things going forward? i mean, it's a bit hard to ignore, - things going forward? i mean, it's a bit hard to ignore, you i it's a bit hard to ignore, you have a close ally all of a sudden wants to take your territory, it's not what allies should do to each other. it does affect relations no question about, our foreign minister and prime minister won't say that because they just want to get back to normal we want to carry on our close cooperation with the us since the second world war which is crucial to us and we understand the us is a very powerful country which doesn't mean they can'tjust country which doesn't mean they can't just take our territory. we can't agree to that, that's impossible. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a policewoman in north yorkshire has died after being hit by a lorry. constable rosie prior was off duty when she chose to help

at the scene of another crash. pc prior and a motorist, ryan welford, were standing on the verge of the a19 when they were killed. a teenage boy is in a serious but stable condition in hospital. a 65—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. a nurse is in a critical condition after being stabbed in a hospital's accident and emergency department. police were called to the royal 0ldham hospital where they arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder. the nurse, a woman in her 50s, is said to have suffered life—changing injuries. the process of bestowing sainthood on a nun from londonderry has begun at a ceremony in spain. clare crockett was killed in an earthquake in ecuador in 2016, when she was 33. her friends said there was disbelief when she originally said she was going to be a nun, while holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. you're live with bbc news. breaking news and those

wildfires. the number of people confirmed dead in the los angeles fires has risen to 24. the county of los angeles medical examiner published a list of fatalities without giving details of any identities. eight of the dead were found in the palisades fire zone, and 16 in the eaton fire zone, the document said. us president biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu held a phone call sunday to discuss gaza. the white house said the two leaders discussed ongoing negotiations based on an agreement biden proposed last year, which was then endorsed unanimously by the un security council. a delegation from israel has arrived in qatar for talks about a peace deal. israeli and palestinian officials have said since thursday that some progress has been made but did not elaborate. according to the white house the president has spoken to the israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu about the urgent need for ceasefire deal and the immediate return of hostages being held by her mass, the white house also said that president biden asked for the increase of humanitarian aid going into gaza which has been enabled by a halt to fighting. comes a day after the prime minister sent a senior delegation of fishes to qatar with the negotiations are taking place. and this is part of a long running variety of efforts by the biden administration to come to some sort of deal, and a deal has seemed imminent several times only to fall apart at the last minute. the president—elect donald trump has also spoken about this issue, saying all 15