donald trump's pick for defence secretary pete hegseth vows to restore a "warrior ethos" to the military — but faces questions from senators over his views on women in combat. welcome to this extended hour of world news america — where we'll bring you a full hour of live news and analysis from here in the us, the uk, and around the world. negotiators meeting in qatar have raised hopes that israel and hamas are on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage release deal after months of deadlock. qatar's foreign ministry said key issues have now been addressed. but israel has cautioned that the deal is not there yet. us presidentjoe biden and egyptian president abdel fattah

el—sisi are calling on both sides to show flexibility to achieve a truce. a palestinian official told the bbc that the first stage of the deal will likely include the release of 3a israeli hostages, including women, children, the wounded, and the sick. in return, it's expected that israel will release 1,000 palestinian prisoners, including about 190 prisoners who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more. the final stage involves an agreement about the reconstruction of gaza — a process that could take years. for more on the situation, here's an update from our state department correspondent, tom bateman. the sensor means that these two sides are extremely close to a deal and that an announcement could come either within hours or within days. it is hope for at some point this

week and certainly before the inauguration of president trump next monday. we also had in washington a pretty significant intervention by the secretary of state antony blinken. both reiterating that the administration believes they are on the brink of a deal here. but he also went into some details about the postwar plan that the administration wants to hand over to the trump team. for what would happen in gaza in terms of both reconstruction but also future governance and this is where things get important because it gives you a sense of what the biden administration thinks it has achieved and its diplomacy and the wider region that it can try and get back into this. what they are talking about is an interim governance proposal that would not involve the full control of the palestinian authority. that is the entity that was set up after the oslo accords that now has some form 0slo accords that now has some form of self—governance in the occupied

west bank. but instead there would be a mix of local politicians, some palestinian authority, but also international partners as mr blinken put it, the united nations. critically on the issue of security, it felt this would largely be an internationally led operation probably involving arab countries although he did not name them. but what you have a sense of fear is the way in which the ministration is trying to duplicate both the israelis who don't want full palestinian control, but also air countries who want to see some sort of progress towards palestinian self—governance for gaza. the administration trying to work a compromise. something that if they could get to, they would have been the guarantors for. at that now all gets handed over to the trump administration. joining me live is mara rudman, former middle east envoy. is this moment the people of gaza, israel and the wider middle east have been waiting on?

hopefully it is. as we know, internationally and certainly in this region, a deal is not done until it is done. so i think we are still waiting for the final word on this but as many have said it is close. . ., ., close. the timeline coming from the white house — close. the timeline coming from the white house would _ close. the timeline coming from the white house would suggest - close. the timeline coming from the white house would suggest that - close. the timeline coming from the | white house would suggest that this could be done this week. is that a fair assessment? could be done this week. is that a fairassessment? i could be done this week. is that a fair assessment?— fair assessment? i think that that is the hepe _ fair assessment? i think that that is the hope and _ fair assessment? i think that that is the hope and you _ fair assessment? i think that that is the hope and you can _ fair assessment? i think that that is the hope and you can see - fair assessment? i think that that is the hope and you can see from| fair assessment? i think that that l is the hope and you can see from a number of parties including i should say president—elect name to middle east envoy that has been in the region. the hope is the deal can be done during these last days of the president biden administration. of course the repercussions of it and the phases of it would enter well into president—elect trump's beginning of his term. just

into president-elect trump's beginning of his term. just on that issue about _ beginning of his term. just on that issue about how— beginning of his term. just on that issue about how the _ beginning of his term. just on that issue about how the trump - beginning of his term. just on that - issue about how the trump and bynum teams have been working together here to make some progress on talks that have been not moving very fast for many months now —— biden. you have good familiarity on how this works so can you talk to us on how that diplomacy may have moved. first i would that diplomacy may have moved. first i would suggest _ that diplomacy may have moved. f “st i would suggest that it has been moving, but in fits and starts for some period of time because in fact all of the reporting is that on the frame that they have adopted, this close to final framework, it is very similar to what president biden first laid out many months ago. as i heard in secretary blinken�*s comments as well about postwar, post—conflict plan for gaza with a lot of similarity as well. a lot of different times in these situations it takes a lining up of various elements for the parties to

recognise that this is their best route to conclusion of the conflict and i think that is what has happened in these closing days of president biden�*s term. if happened in these closing days of president biden's term.— president biden's term. if this initial phase _ president biden's term. if this initial phase of _ president biden's term. if this initial phase of getting - president biden's term. if this initial phase of getting a - president biden's term. if this initial phase of getting a deal| president biden's term. if this i initial phase of getting a deal of giving hostages out with prisoners released and flooding in that much needed humanitarian aid, but what you think the phase after that would look like? , ., ., , look like? remember that as i understand — look like? remember that as i understand it _ look like? remember that as i understand it the _ look like? remember that as i understand it the release - look like? remember that as i understand it the release of i look like? remember that as i l understand it the release of the hostages is not more than one phase itself so the numbers i have heard are talking about about 33 is really hostages to be released in the first phase, still not clear how many of them would be living hostages and how many would be those who have already died in captivity. that would accompany a release of a certain amount of palestinian hamas names prisoners being held in israeli prisons at this point. the

next phases after that would both involve the release of more hostages and more prisoners and movement of the various israeli troops that are in gaza, movement and as you know of humanitarian aid that would also complement the first phase and talks about giving to a permanent cease—fire which israel has been reluctant to do and hamas has been pushing for as i understand. part of the details of this current framework are what kind of commitments have been made about getting to a permanent cease—fire at the end of these phases. getting to a permanent cease-fire at the end of these phases.— the end of these phases. looking at israel's domestic _ the end of these phases. looking at israel's domestic situation - the end of these phases. looking at israel's domestic situation that - the end of these phases. looking at israel's domestic situation that the | israel's domestic situation that the climate exists for doing that longer—term deal? the climate exists for doing that longer-term deal? climate exists for doing that lonuer-term deal? . . ., , longer-term deal? the climate has existed for some _ longer-term deal? the climate has existed for some period _ longer-term deal? the climate has existed for some period of- longer-term deal? the climate has existed for some period of time - existed for some period of time in israel for doing this deal and i think along the way first to be cleared on the hamas side but within israeli politics that she has been much more about prime minister netanyahu's ability to hold onto you

hold —— to hold onto power when two members of this coalition represent an extreme right wing viewpoint however right you may feel and they have been very clear that they don't want to see any kind of deals and are not don't feel particularly strong about the release of hostages as shocking as that sounds and have threatened to topple the coalition that prime minister netanyahu holds. if you were to make this kind of agreement. the reporting has he has reached various agreements in various ways that has secured his coalition even if those two go through with their threat to leave the coalition as a result of this deal being done. but that should not be confused where the majority of the israeli people are which has beenin the israeli people are which has been in support of getting an agreement like this for now. find agreement like this for now. and for: ettin: agreement like this for now. and forgetting the — agreement like this for now. and forgetting the hostages home well but we await to see what happens in the hours and days ahead.

firefighters in los angeles are bracing for the return of strong winds of up to 70 miles an hour today as they continue to battle fires that are still out of control. exactly a week after the first fire, at least 12,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed, 2a people have died and more than 60 square miles have gone up in flames. you can see here the two largest fires — the palisades and eaton fires, which continue to burn. firefighters in los angeles are warning that the strengthening winds may spread the flames further. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy has this report. this is the moment looters enter an evacuated home in the palisades. they were later arrested and charged with stealing $200,000 worth of property. the promise that we made when we started this, that these criminals would be arrested, they would be prosecuted and they will be maximally punished

is a promise we are keeping. it's just one example of the crime wave authorities are now tackling in the wake of the fires. joe biden has promised that la will get government money to help the massive recovery effort. it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get los angeles back to where it was. so we're going to need congress to step up to provide funding to get this done. despite talk of recovery, the flames are still spreading. this is ventura county, north of la, where a new fire broke out yesterday. crews battled through the night, but it's still uncontained. definitely on our territory. as well as the thousands of homes destroyed, in altadena alone, aix schools have also burned. this one, 0dyssey charter school, you see the playground. this was the younger children's classrooms, all destroyed. and here, 800 pupils aged between 4 and 13 now have little idea of where they'll go.

with power and internet still down in large parts of los angeles, an idea by tesla owner elon musk has led to owners of his futuristic cybertrucks travelling to affected areas to provide wifi using the portable satellite system starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. so there's certainly no internet out here, so just being able to provide that is, i think, a critical need out here. and help continues to reach la in many forms. more than 800 prison inmates being trained in firefighting skills have been working on the ground for days, and crews from mexico have also joined the unprecedented effort to deal with this historic disaster. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. the battle to contain the fires has sprawled into an international effort. in addition to neighbouring us states sending emergency responders — firefighters from mexico and canada have also been sent to california for assistance.

canada's emergency preparedness minister harjit sajjan says more than 60 front—line firefighters from canada made their way to los angeles. they're expected to stay for at least two weeks. he said alberta is prepared to return the favour, after 115 of california's firefighters came to help during its 2023 wildfire season. that region in canada is familiar with firefighting efforts — these pictures are from july 2024 in the city of jasper, where a fire burned 96—thousand acres, destroying nearly 360 structures. mr sajjan says that in addition to the 60 firefighters already deployed, officials are working to send more resources in the days ahead. and we can go live now to harjit s sajjan, who is president of the king's privy council for canada, in addition to the minister of emergency preparedness. you have offered a lot of support to california authorities, given canada's experinece of fighting widldfires,

what sort of presence does canada have there currently? as we stated this is what good neighbours do and california and other states have always been there for canada during our wildfire season and in canada we have a lot of experience injasper is one of these examples when it comes to these examples when it comes to these types of fires when it comes to extreme wind. so we're sending our best and most experienced to provide support. bc and alberta have already sent support but there also have been problems like bc and quebec already had agreements in place where they have sent personnel and also water bombers. we made significant resources available and what i have told my officials is as we monitor the situation on the ground, we want to anticipate what the actual needs are and get them ready so if official request is coming and we are ready to send more. so we have highly skilled people and about another hundred across the country ready to go in 20 person teams that can deploy with

equipment. additional aircraft made available by ontario and even by alberta aircraft with night vision capabilities and that is what we want to do is keep a good eye on things and have things ready to go so there's absolutely no gap in response. this so there's absolutely no gap in response-_ so there's absolutely no gap in resonse. a i. , response. as you said there it is neighbours _ response. as you said there it is neighbours helping _ response. as you said there it is neighbours helping neighbours. | response. as you said there it is - neighbours helping neighbours. does that response transcend politics. the initiation in this country will change next week and we have heard president—elect donald trump make remarks about making candid of the sist remarks about making candid of the 51st state of the us. remarks about making candid of the 51st state of the us.— 51st state of the us. absolutely. that does 1410 00:14:36,76