on an egyptian dive boat. 11 people died when it sank last year. i was ready to die. and, to be honest, it is very weird to be alive compared to the others. and as strong winds are forecast to return in los angeles, nine people are charged in connection with looting. hello, i'm lauren taylor. after more than a year of bloodshed, a ceasefire agreement between israel and hamas appears close. outgoing us presidentjoe biden said an agreement was on the brink. the deal would see israel remove its troops from the most populated parts of gaza in return for the gradual release of israeli hostages. a palestinian official has told the bbc that the terms of the deal were being finalised with negotiations continuing in qatar —

both sides working in the same building for the first time. this is what president biden had to say about a possible deal. we are pressing hard to close this. the deal we have enstructured will 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. rushdi abualouf is the bbc correspondent formerly based in gaza, and is now in istanbul. he gave me this assessment. i think the final round of talks started this morning and it's already going. what i understand from a senior palestinian official who is familiar with the talks is they are putting in place the wording for the final announcement, which is supposed to be from the qataris, the main mediators in this negotiation in doha.

we might hear an announcement soon, maybe an hour or two hours, talking about the progress they have made in the talks. we understand that all the issues have been solved and now it's just the final touches, the technical details are involved. two teams, a team of negotiators from hamas and from israel, they are in the same building, conducting indirect talks. and they are very close to an announcement and they believe that the deal is imminent. talk us through what you know about how the deal would work. i think it's three stages. the first stage, 42 days where hamas would release 3a israeli hostages, including women, children, sick people, and also female soldiers. in exchange, israel would release about 1000

palestinian prisoners, including 200 people who are serving 15 years or more in prison. but most important for the people of gaza, abouti million people who are displaced about a year ago, they would be allowed to go back to gaza after about one week of the deal starting. some of the problems about this, israel insisted that they wanted to make sure that none of the militants from hamas or any other group would be allowed to go back to the north, or any military equipment. this is where the qatari and egyptian roles started because they are going to send a team of security officers to monitor and to help and assist the israelis to make sure no militants are going back, only civilians and people from northern gaza will be allowed through certain routes with cctv cameras and screening machines. but this is a very significant issue for the people of gaza

who were displaced over a year ago in southern gaza. but just to say that over the last 2a hours the hamas—run health ministry say about 50 palestinians were killed when israel intensified air strikes across the gaza strip as the negotiators in doha are trying to close the deal on the table in a big escalation. what about the issue that had been a sticking point previously about how far israel had been prepared to pull back. will there be a buffer zone, how might that work? yes, the israelis will stay in a buffer zone about 800 metres on the very long eastern border and northern border. israeli troops will remain in gaza. hamas said in the first phase, and we don't know yet whether they will stay for longer. they are talking about 42 days that israeli troops

will remain in this area. also most important is the border between gaza and egypt which israel for a long time accused hamas. .. there is the philadelphi corridor which includes the rafah crossing. these issues hamas rejected for a very long time, the idea of keeping troops in gaza. they were all the time insisting israel should complete his withdrawal from gaza in the first stage and guarantee that in the war. the two things are not included in this deal and this is what hamas called painful concessions that they have made to make the deal happen. strong winds are forecast to return to los angeles, threatening to undermine the progress made against the city's wildfires. forecasters are expecting gusts of more than 70 miles per hour — about the same force as a category one hurricane. these are the same type of santa ana winds that caused the initial spread of the blazes last week. three major fires are still burning.

the biggest one in the palisades has consumed more than 23—thousand acres, and is still only 14% contained. president biden has warned that it will cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild the dstroyed areas of los angeles. and after a spate of crime during the wildfires, prosecutors have charged nine people with crimes including burglary and looting. will grant has more. as the wildfires in los angeles enter their second week, they keep burning, and the stories of destroyed lives stack up. amid the ruins of his block, michael soto was incredibly fortunate. his home survived while his neighbours were left with nothing. now, he stands guard — to protect what he still has from looters — patrolling a devastated neighbourhood. i moved to this area, you know, for my kids — to have a better upbringing for them and for them to have a better future. it was a beautiful community, you know, it was mixed, it was nice.

everyone, you know, looked at each other, waved and all that, you know. so it was just nice. i wanted my kids to have a better future for themselves. but, um, yeah, i... it looks like we're going to have to start all over again and rebuild, come stronger. the affluent suburb of brentwood has so far avoided being razed to the ground with the same destructive force. but with the santa ana winds still a majorfactor, the residents aren't out of the woods yet. as the blaze swept through here, the crews faced a huge task in trying to contain it. the aim now is to protect these vulnerable homes and communities that lie below the line, in essence, to make sure there are no smouldering embers that could kick up into the winds and spark fresh fires. meanwhile, help has arrived from across the border. dozens of mexican firefighters are in la to help contain the fires and carry out the grim task of search and recovery of the victims. as neighbours, mexico and california haven't always had

the smoothest of relationships. but like all good friends, they simply turn up in the hour of greatest need. translation: historically, . mexico has been a government and people of great solidarity, and this is a moment to build closer ties and to show that no border can separate us. when it comes to humanitarian assistance, there are no borders, and we are prepared to stay for as long as we're needed to help the american people. with nine people charged over looting, there's real nervousness among evacuated homeowners. so much so, the national guard has now been deployed, setting up a command centre on the beach front. this has been the toughest week which many in los angeles can remember. the scenes of destruction are nothing short of apocalyptic. and even once the blazes are finally all contained, then the long and painful journey to rebuild begins. will grant, bbc news,

los angeles. earlier we heard from cbs correspondent charlie de mar. he gave us the latest update on what's going on where he was based. we are in the pacific palisades, as you can see this is what so many homes look like, home after home really reduced to twisted metal, but the concern now, the national weather service has released a particularly dangerous situation, one of the most severe warnings and pretty ominous in this case. there needs to be a number of things in effect, dry conditions, the lack of rain in the forecast and strong winds expected to pick up once again. there is concern that if this combination of strong winds reignites the fires, but those aircraft, those planes and helicopters we have seen from the air that have been so instrumental in containing this fire, they may be grounded in all of this and we might be back where we were just last week. the outlook for later,

given what you've said, how are they managing the possibility they might not have those planes flying? that has again been a great asset and a great tool in this firefight because some of these fires are in areas where firefighters simply cannot get to, they are on really steep terrain where the average firefighter just would not be able to get to, the only way to get it is from the air. this time around there is about 15,000 firefighters on the ground, that gives fire officials here some confidence moving forward that they will be able to address it no matter what they are faced with this time. you mentioned the state of some of the houses behind you, presumably people are still being kept out because of the danger of what is on the ground there, they are not necessarily allowed to go back to their houses? yeah, people are not able to get back to their homes. there is frustration, of course, even people who know their homes are

total losses want to see for themselves, understandably, but police and fire officials are asking people to stay out because of the grim task of looking for remains, but is yet to begin because firefighters are still going through these areas looking for hotspots so firefighters need to look for those remains and also the materials, the ash, they could contain hazardous materials, there are downed power lines so at this point fire officials want to keep people out. in terms of the crime situation, people are still being arrested for looting and burglarising homes dressed as fire people and so on? that was an issue in the first few days of this. the national guard is here, the governor ordered an additional 1000 national guard troops, we have seen those tanks, those humvees stationed at various intersections coming

into this neighbourhood. there are men and women in military fatigues that they have done a good job of patrolling the neighbourhoods, keeping people out, making sure people are not looting, not doing what they are not supposed to, taking advantage of people at their lowest. there have been a couple of dozen arrests for looting and trespassing at this point but it feels that the national guard have it under control. and the police. charlie de mar. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the bbc has been told of safety failings on board an egyptian dive boat that sank last november, killing 11 people. authorities have previously blamed the disaster on a "massive wave," but one leading expert has questioned the theory. 0ur correspondent joe inwood reports.

it is almost unimaginable. 35 hours trapped here, in a boat that is slowly sinking. for luciana, it has taken a terrible toll. i was ready to die. and for me, to be honest, it's very weird to be alive compared to the others. she was one of the last people to be rescued from the sea story, a dive boat that sank in egypt's red sea. we've interviewed nearly a dozen survivors who, for the first time, have spoken of the terror of that night. we remember looking at the boat, and the boat kept sinking, and we just screamed, "swim away from the boat!" on november the 24th, the sea story set off from port ghalib, heading south for sataya, a popular dive spot. this video was recorded just hours before the disaster, after one of the small boats slipped off the back and had to be recovered.

you know,a few of us even looked at the crew and asked, "is this normal?" we sort of got shrugs. so we didn't realise the danger that we were in. it was just before three in the morning. the boat quite roughly tilted to the right. it kept going like this, and then all of a sudden it went, bang. all the lights flickered and i sort of saw everything fall out of the cupboards. and then we were in total darkness and silence as well. i didn't know if i was walking on the floor, on the ceiling, on the side, i didn't know where i was. sarah and hissora were on opposite sides of the lower deck. sarah's door was now on the floor, hissora's on the ceiling. and i could hear the water coming in the room, but i could not see it. but i could hear a lot of water coming in. they both managed to escape into the hallway and headed for the emergency exit at the front of the boat. and we sort of had to climb along door frames and beams and things to make our way out of the boat.

obviously, it was quite disorienting in the dark with everything flipped, but it was very, very slippery. while the others were escaping, luciana, who was in this cabin, was just realising the danger. i think we panicked and we didn't really realise that the boat was upside down. but yeah, we jumped and almost drowned. and then we appeared in this air pocket that was in the fuel tanks'... in... i'm sorry. hissora, sarah and many others made it to the upper deck. then i got over the side of the boat where there were some other guests holding on to the side, sort of blocking the exit. we were shouting at them to move out of the way so that we could get out the exit.

then we had tojump in the water and i had no life jacket on. the current was very strong, so my friend chris got swept away one way, i was swept away another way. and i thought if the boat was going down, we needed to get away from it so that it didn't pull us down with it. it's thought 16 people failed to make it out of the boat. amongst them were lucianna, her partner christophe, and a dive guide called youssef. the whole of the boat is like this and everything is in the water. and us, we are in this little part in the corner of the hull. and this is where they were stuck, the air pocket that trapped them for 35 hours. "we had to remove our luggage, open the door," he says, "swim out here. we almost didn't make it."

meanwhile, sarah made it to one of the two life rafts. she says safety essentials were missing. we found a torch, but again, it didn't have any batteries in it, and we realised we didn't have any water or any food, despite being told that the rafts had that when we were in the briefing. over the next few hours, sarah, hissora and 28 others were rescued and taken ashore, while lucianna and her group were stuck in the hull of the sea story. we had no communication with outside, nothing. no one's tried to see if there was someone alive in there. i was just wondering how i would prefer to die. to drown, because i would try... i would try to to get out of this boat.

or if i needed to wait to be thirsty and hungry. yeah, i was ready to die. and for me, to be honest, it's very weird to be alive compared to the others. in total, four bodies were recovered from the sea story. another seven people have never been found, including jenny cawson and tariq sinada from devon. speaking after, the egyptian authorities were quick to blame a huge wave. we've spoken to 11 survivors. many of them questioned that version of events. it felt very rough on this boat, but when we were in the water, the waves weren't so big that, you know, we weren't able to swim in them. those suspicions now have expert backing. i've had a look at the available data for that region, for wind conditions, and there is no way that a large wave would have caused the vessel to capsize.

that really then boils down to two options. either pilot error, or in this case, navigator error, or an error in the design of the vessel. the chances are it could be a combination of both. we've tried to contact dive pro liveaboard multiple times to get their response to the survivors' claims, but they never got back to us. we also tried to put our findings to the egyptian government, who also did not reply. this was the moment lucianna finally came ashore, after an ordeal that she says is still with her, and always will be. we are lucky to be alive, but there are so many people who didn't come back from this. and i want theirfamily to be able to grieve. joe inwood, bbc news. a us department ofjustice report released to congress

says donald trump took part in an "unprecedented criminal effort" to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. the report was written by jack smith, the lawyer appointed to investigate the case, and it says mr trump would have been convicted if he hadn't won re—election. the incoming president has responded by calling mr smith deranged and desperate, describing the findings as "fake". scott lucas, who is professor of international politics at university college dublin's clinton institute, says he's pleased the report has been released. i think it was essential that this report was released, and thank goodness the trump appointed judge finally lifted the ban on its being released. and that is because we accept that donald trump is going to be president onjanuary the 20th, jack smith, the special counsel, says you cannot put a sitting president on trial, but

given what donald trump did after the 2020 election, in their view of the special counsel's office, there are issues of accountability, of the law, of us democracy in the entire system, because what smith sets out on this 174 page report is that donald trump and his co—conspirators carried out, a direct quote from the report, unprecedented criminal acts to try to overturn that election including pressure on state legislators to overturn their elections, including what is called false electives, false representatives to go to washington to vote for trump instead ofjoe biden as president, it included putting their own attorney general to overthrow the election, it included pressure on president to block the — included pressure on president to block the certification - included pressure on president to block the certification of - to block the certification of joe biden and when that'll failed, yes, it the instigation

of those involved in the january sixth 2020 attack on the us capital. studio: joe —— donald trump has called the special counsel to range. do you think you think this is safely behind him and it is safely behind him and it is safe to move on? —— called the special counsel deranged. i don't care what he thinks, and i will explain why. on one hand i will explain why. on one hand i have 174 pages of evidence and analysis from the special counsel setting out the case against donald trump.- against donald trump. scott lucas talking _ against donald trump. scott lucas talking to _ against donald trump. scott lucas talking to us - against donald trump. scott lucas talking to us earlier. l lucas talking to us earlier. the impeachment trial of south korea's suspended president ewan has had its first hearing before being adjourned because mr ewan did not attend. he is facing charges over his failed attempt at imposing martial law. shaimaa khalil told us what will happen next. i5

what will happen next. i3 expected he did not attend the first impeachment hearing, his lawyers have told us that, citing safety concerns and other objections about the logistics of the hearings. it lasted about four minutes, it was very quick. essentially it was very quick. essentially it was the marking of the start of the impeachment trial procedures. we are at the hearing later this week, this is protesters against mr yoon continue to gather outside the presidential palace. the constitutional court has to decide whether the declaration of martial law by mr yoon earlier in december was unconstitutional and whether it was illegal. it has many weeks, even months, to decide, about five months now that they hearings have started. it could drag out but they are under pressure to make a quick decision because of the instability south korea finds itself in. this comes after a month of parliament deciding to

vote to impeach the president after he declared martial law and then withdrew that very, very quickly. if the impeachment is upheld, then mr yoon is out of power and that will trigger a snap election that will has to be done within 60 days. if it is dismissed here is reinstated and back in power. that will not go down well with the opposition, not with many members of the public who again continue to gather outside his presidential palace expressing their anger about what happened in early december. i will be back with the headline shortly, stay with us on bbc news. hello again. it's been a quite cloudy start to the day for many of us, but through the day it will brighten up in places. high pressure is still in charge of our weather. you can see from the squeeze on the isobars that it is quite breezy across the northwest.

but as we go through the next few days we hang on to the milder conditions, as represented by the yellows and the ambers on the chart. now, today, we still have the remnants of the overnight front sinking south with its cloud. it's a weak feature, might have a little bit of drizzle on it but not much more than that. some drizzle coming out of the thicker cloud across the northwest, where it's breezy. but some sunny skies developing, especially eastern scotland and also northeast england. these are the temperatures, ranging from about 9 to 13 degrees. now, into this evening and overnight, quite quickly we'll see some fog develop across the south—eastern quarter of the country. some of that will be dense. there will be some pockets of fog elsewhere. still breezy across the northwest and not a particularly cold night, our lowest temperature around about 3 or 4 degrees. starting tomorrow, then, we've got the fog across the southeast. now, this will be slow to clear. it may lingerfor much of the day orjust lift into low cloud, but brighter

skies across parts of scotland, northern england, also northern ireland and later into parts of wales. with the weather front not too far away from the northwest where it will remain windy. temperatures, 9 to about 11 degrees. then as we head on overnight wednesday into thursday, our high pressure starts to drift away. our weather front starts to sink south, but then it drifts northwards again during the course of thursday. so we start off on thursday with some mist and fog, again, slow to clear. our weather front takes its way northwards into the northern isles. in between there will be something drier and brighter, some sunny spells developing as we go through the day, and these are our temperatures, so a little bit down on what we are looking at on wednesday. around about 7 to 10 degrees at best. now, beyond that, as we head on into the weekend, the high pressure continues to drift away. still quite breezy at times across the northwest. around sunday it looks like our weather front is going to make inroads coming in from the west. now, the rain on it won't be particularly heavy, but note

as we head through the ensuing few days the temperature starts to slide a bit once again.

this is bbc news, the headlines... hopes that a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas is close. the bbc is told final details are being negotiated. the special counsel's report to congress states donald trump engaged in an unprecedented

criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election result. the 100% property tax plan for non—eu residents. how spain is thinking of tackling its housing shortage. the latest phase of the covid inquiry begins with a focus on treatments and the vaccine rollout. hello, i'm lauren taylor. drones delivering drugs and weapons to british prisons are becoming so frequent that inspectors fear they could pose a threat to national security. her majesty's inspectorate of prisons says organised crime groups now effectively control the airspace over two of britain's prisons. our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani has more. a drone over manchester, a video showing how easy it was to get over the walls of the city's jail. this social media clip one of many bragging about deliveries by air to prisoners. this is the scale of the threat

now identified at one of england's highest security prisons.