and asjoe biden enters his final week as president, we focus on what donald trump's return to the white house could look like, particularly for those on his bad side. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. nearly all public schools across los angeles have reopened after almost a week of wildfires. but the city is bracing for further flames with forecasters warning that strong winds are set to return. the strongest winds are expected to be on tuesday in ventura county, north of la. while they're not not expected to match last week's intensity, wind gusts could reach 70 miles per hour, about the force of a categoryi hurricane.

three major fires are still burning. the palisades fire has burned more than 23,000 acres and is now 14% contained. the eaton fire remains the second largest. there have been stories of people helping each other through the difficult fires, but also scenes of those taking advantage of those already struggling. the la county district attorney has charged several people with looting saying those charged were "seeking to exploit this tragedy for their own benefit." 0ur correspondent emma vardy reports. the debris still smoulders. thousands of acres of damage still untouched by recovery tea ms. today, road blocks and patrols by the national guard have visibly increased. there have now been more than 60 arrests in evacuated areas, mainly for looting and burglary. 0ne offender caught was disguised as a firefighter. the criminals have decided that this is an opportunity, and i am here to tell you, that this is not an opportunity. you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted,

and you will be punished to the full extent of the law. some have lost more than possessions. one of the victims of the palisades fire was 32—year—old rory sykes, a child actor from the �*90s british tv show, kiddy kapers. he lived with cerebral palsy, and his mother says she escaped but could not save him. the biggest fear i had was that it might burn and hurt, because i think burning must be the most painful death, and the fire department chiefs said "no, "he will have died of carbon monoxide poisoning first." ijust can't believe my baby's not going to be here. the clean—up task is so vast, it will stretch on for months. there have been promises by officials that the rebuilding process will be made as quick as possible, by cutting red tape, to help people put their lives back together.

but there is frustration that in many places it is still too dangerous to start, and the job of rehousing people will take time. it will take months, if not years. i know that, in hawaii, it took at least temporary housing for a year, so we don't know what the situation will be here. all around, signs of the trauma the city has suffered, as the fires overwhelmed communities. as people tried to escape from the oncoming flames in this part of pacific palisades, manyjust abandoned their cars, and you can imagine the sense of panic, manyjust appearing to have crashed into each other as they tried to flee. and you can see why they ran, because here is what's left, after the fire reached this spot not long after. 23 people are still missing, and many addresses are still to be searched for human remains. help continues to arrive.

today, the national guard set up a base for incoming troops on the seafront. they'll provide security and logistical support to the city, as it reels from disaster. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. the bbc�*s clive myrie has been speaking with emergency crews who've been working around the clock to stop the fires. los angeles, the city of angels, is still threatened by fiery demons. in the hills above, a taste of what might come. and in the thick of it, fire officer erin alexander. the wind and the... i mean, that the kind of stuff we were dealing with. wow. is that you? that was me. there's certain weather factors that we can't control. obviously, the winds were some like i've never seen.

and we put one fire out and another one right down the down the way is starting again. you have these houses that catch fire, that send off embers, that catch other houses on fire. and we didn't have enough water to put the fires out. and it was, you know, there's only so much you can do. here is erin with colleagues on the day she became a firefighter, saving lives in people's homes her calling. but the scale of this disaster has been tough for all the emergency crews. can't even imagine what you would do if everything, your house, and it burned to the ground like there's nothing left. and sometimes fast moving fires, even if house catches on fire, we can get in there and put it out at some point and then they have something to go home to. but this fire burned so hot and so fast that it burned everything to the ground, and they have absolutely

nothing to come back to. and in the cold light of day, a wasteland. lives, livelihoods, homes, destroyed. the winds are pretty light at the moment, but the fear is they could pick up in the next couple of days. that's what everyone is worried about, that those hurricane force winds could bring about even more of a calamity than we've already seen. they're trying to rebuild. these crews are working to get the power back on, but it'll be some time before residents are allowed to return to this corner of greater los angeles. the authorities aren't convinced they've recovered the bodies of all those still missing, now presumed dead.

i'm joined now by david ulin, sho sato professor of english, at the university of southern california — he has written extensively about los angeles, its history, environment and culture. thank you forjoining me. you know quite a bit of the modern history of los angeles — can you give us some of the significance of these neighbourhoods, the geography and the people who live there? i think, obviously, ithink, obviously, it's impacted residential neighbourhoods. it's impacted neighbourhoods. it's impacted neighbourhoods that are in hills. the loftie—eaton fire in pasedena crept up through a canyon. the palisades fire also going through other canyons. and those are the most susceptible areas of the los angeles basin to wildfire, because they're fairly rural, they're fairly compact. they're densely forested in certain ways. and when you have a kind of situation that we have now where we have a lot of rain

last year which led to a lot of growth of vegetation, but there has been very little rain — almost none — this fall and winter, that vegetation dries and with the santa ana winds through the canyons, like the winds come through the canyons and shoot through and build speed and momentum — it's a circumstance that's just ripe for disaster. circumstance that's “ust ripe for hastenh circumstance that's 'ust ripe for disaster.h for disaster. and these fires have been _ for disaster. and these fires have been deadly _ for disaster. and these fires have been deadly and - have been deadly and devastating for many families losing their homes, all of their possessions and family heirlooms. you've known many people who have been affected by this personally, family and friends. what are the initial discussions? what are they talking about as these events have been unfolding?- have been unfolding? well, riaht have been unfolding? well, right now. _ have been unfolding? well, right now, the _ have been unfolding? well, right now, the people - have been unfolding? well, right now, the people that. have been unfolding? well, right now, the people that i know who have lost their homes are just — you know, they're reeling. i mean, it's a brand new situation for them. and you know, everyone who lives in southern california understands that this is part of the landscape. it's a wildfire ecology. it's a landscape that is marked by natural disasters

— earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. but it's one thing to be aware of that in the abstract. it's another thing for the concrete reality of it to come to roost. so most of the people i know who have been seriously affected by the fires — right now, they are just sort of trying to figure it out day—to—day. they're trying to get... you know, they have a family. they're trying to get to a stable place to stay where their kids or their pets can be safe. and then they're sort of just at the earliest stage of surveying what the damage is and figuring out what's going to happen. there are a lot of gofundmes and outreach programmes starting up. a lot of people who are donating. a lot of organisations who are donating goods. so one of the things that happens in a community like this where these sorts of disasters are part of the landscape is — you start to see how people react in real time. so the people who are affected are, as i say, looking for stable ground to take stock of where they are. and those of us who have been fortunate

enough to be affected are aware that you know, to borrow the cliche — there but for the grace of god — so you see a lot of community activism and community donations as the community donations as the community rallies around the people who have been most affected by the fires. find people who have been most affected by the fires. and what about officials _ affected by the fires. and what about officials and _ affected by the fires. and what about officials and businessesl about officials and businesses in california and those places that have been impacted? there is going to have to be a rethink, isn't there, about how the city functions and how it carries out what it does? well, i mean - _ carries out what it does? well, i mean - you — carries out what it does? well, i mean - you know, _ carries out what it does? well, i mean - you know, yes, - carries out what it does? well, i mean - you know, yes, and l carries out what it does? well, l i mean - you know, yes, and no. i mean — you know, yes, and no. i mean — you know, yes, and no. i think there will certainly be a lot of reckoning and a lot of conversation about what the city... about how the city functions, as you say. but the real challenge here is that we're into a new kind of fire. i mean, as you know, california — southern california particularly, but california in general, has been prone to fires forever, for as long as california has existed, even before it was called california. and certainly, in terms of the interface with the human—built landscape, it's

been affected by fires all the way throughout. but because of climate change and because of everything being exacerbated — both rain and then drought and all of these things, we're dealing with a level of fire that we haven't really seen before. and i don't think it is just a california situation. i think you know, we saw it in hawaii. we saw it in oregon and the pacific north—west in 2020. we saw major wildfires in the northeast, the northeast of the us last fall. australia certainly, which is also a fire ecology, was devastated by... has been devastated by fires in the last several years. so i think what we're really looking at is a kind of — i don't want to say a global reset but a global reckoning. this california is ground zero of this kind of configuration. but i expect that we're going to see more and more of these as climate change exacerbates and as we move into whatever the future looks like for all of

us. . future looks like for all of us, ., ., , ., us. yeah, that is what the science — us. yeah, that is what the science is _ us. yeah, that is what the science is telling - us. yeah, that is what the science is telling us, - us. yeah, that is what the science is telling us, isn't| science is telling us, isn't it. thank you very much, david ulin. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. sir keir starmer, has launched a major overhaul of the government's approach to artificial intelligence — saying he wants to make the uk an ai super power. the prime minister unveiled a plan to involve the technology more deeply in public services, and encourage further investment. downing street has insisted that rachel reeves will be chancellor for the whole of this parliament, as she faces criticism over the falling pound and rising government borrowing costs. borrowing costs are rising for many countries across the world, but some have argued that decisions made in the budget appear to have made the uk more vulnerable. activists from the environmental protest group, just stop 0il, have spray painted "one point five is dead" on the grave of the scientist, charles darwin,

in westminster abbey. the graffiti appears to reference the confirmation that last year was the first to breach a key global warming threshold. two women have been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage. you're live with bbc news. hope is growing that a ceasefire deal may be close between israel and hamas to end the fighting in gaza and see a return of hostages taken on october 7, 2023. a palestinian official familiar with negotiations has also told the bbc that terms of a deal between israel and hamas are being finalised. an israeli official told news agency reuters that negotiations are in "advanced stages", with a deal possible in "hours, days or more". white house national security advisorjake sullivan also said a truce and hostage deal could be done this week.

and in a speech on his foreign policy achievements, outgoing presidentjoe biden said a deal to secure the release of hostages and achieve a ceasefire in gaza is on the brink. pressing hard to close this. the deal we have instructed would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the palestinians who have suffered terribly in this war that hamas started. 0ur correspondentjonah fisher is covering the talks from jerusalem. there's a feeling tonight, i think, that those talks in qatar are intensifying. they've been going on for a while involving both an israeli delegation and an hamas delegation, but they've not been talking to each other directly. they've been effectively negotiating through mediators. what we are hearing tonight is that both of those delegations — while not in the same room. they're certainly not meeting face—to—face. they are in the same building, and

that they are working on technical details. some quite detailed points related to how this ceasefire agreement might work when put in practice on the ground. the very broad brush of this deal — well, it should be said that it is a partial deal. it's the first of three phases that are envisaged. really only the first phase has been fully speued first phase has been fully spelled out in the draft deals that have been leaked from this process. that would involve 42—day ceasefire. and during that ceasefire, there would be a phased release of israeli hostages — hostages who were taken during the hamas attack of october seven, 2023. they would primarily be, we believe, women, children and the elderly. and for each hostage which hamas released, israel would in turn release dozens of palestinian prisoners. aid

trucks and fuel trucks — there would be an increase in the amount of them getting into the gaza strip on day one. and the israeli forces that are in gaza — well, the idea envisaged in this draft agreement is that they would pull back from some of the more heavily populated areas of the gaza strip into buffer zones, and that people would be allowed to move gradually as part of a phased move ment back — to move back into their homes or indeed, what's left of their homes, after having been in some cases, searched to make sure that they're not carrying any weapons with them. i'm joined now by saeed khan, associate professor in near eastern studies at wayne state university. as we've just heard, the details of the ceasefire plan are quite complicated. are you optimistic that this time a deal could be struck?

i think the optimism comes from the timing than the substance. it is interesting to hear president biden speak that this is a deal and a proposal that he has put on the table for several months. i think that thatis several months. i think that that is something that scholars will debate. but at the same time, you also have president—elect trump claiming credit that he sent his incoming middle east envoy, mr whitcoff to the region and pressured prime minister netanyahu to accept a deal that had been on the table for quite some time. so i think that this is seems to be really about, as often times it is, american jostling for credit on this. the deals have been under negotiation for quite some time. many people who are on the inside, particularly on the israeli side, have claimed that prime minister netanyahu has procrastinated and in fact, impeded the ability for these negotiations to go forth several months ago. so the negotiations to go forth