winds of up to 70 miles an hour are forecast in the los angeles area, raising concern that wildfires could spread again. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. we start in seoul, where the suspended south korean president, yoon suk yeol has been arrested over his shortlived martial law declaration in december. )we have pictures coming to us from outside the presidential residence where there have been angry scenes and clashes thorughout the morning. investigators forced entry into his residence to arrest him early on wednesday morning. it was their second attempt to arrest him after being thwarted by president yoon�*s security staff. in the last few minutes, president yoon himself has released a video message saying

he has agreed to appear for questioning to prevent any bloodshed. i'm joined now by our reporter rachel lee who is there for us outside the presidential residence. get us up to speed with the latest develop amendments of the arrest?— corruption investigation office had a stan— latest develop amendments of the arrest? right, as you said, corruption investigation office had a stan: this place _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to be _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to be filled - this place used to be filled with people. just a few hours the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to be _ the arrest? right, as you said, this place used to be filled - this place used to be filled with people. just a few hours ago, right after the news ago, right after the news reports saying that yoon has reports saying that yoon has been arrested and he has now been arrested and he has now left the presidential left the presidential residence, it is now empty. residence, it is now empty. people are leaving. but some people are leaving. but some people were saying that they people were saying that they should not give up, and this is not give up, and this is not the end. now, earlier should not give up, and this is not the end. now, earlier today, at around 5:30, the today, at around 5:30, the presidential security office presidential security office and... inaudible ..and the and... inaudible ..and the corruption investigation office corruption investigation office

had a stand—off. had a stand—off. inaudible hello? had a stand-off. inaudible hello? w had a stand-off. inaudible hello? 3 u, had a stand-off. inaudible hello? , ., hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k. hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k- do _ hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k- do carry _ hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k. do carry on. _ hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k. do carry on. you - hello? hi, rachel, can you hear us 0k. do carry on. you were . us 0k. do carry on. you were telling us about the stand—off between the presidential security staff and police. we seem to be having some problems with rachel there. we'll see if we can connect with her and get back to her on the ground outside the presidential residence in seoul. but as you can see, there are numbers beginning to dwindle of supporters for president yoon. they were outside the presidential residence in large numbers. some still appear to be there carrying on support for him. but others, as you can see, are also making their way away from the area. we'll try to reconnect with rachel if we can. in the meantime, perhaps we can connect with our guest, sydney seiler, korea chairfor

the centre for strategic and international studies in washington. the developments happening in the last half—hour or so with the last half—hour or so with the arrest of president yoon. what is the latest with the developments? i what is the latest with the developments?— what is the latest with the developments? what is the latest with the develo - ments? ~ ., , developments? i think that this is an encouraging _ developments? i think that this is an encouraging development| is an encouraging development thatis is an encouraging development that is going to move the process forward.

that is going to move the proc( his ’orward. that is going to move the proc( his lawyers saying that he from his lawyers saying that he was willing to go into the cio, seemingly wanting to go in under his own terms. um mentioned there the support that we've seen out in front of the streets in front of the presidential residence. we have seen large numbers there, but we also know that according to many polls, that he's a very unpopular president with the majority of south koreans wanting him to be impeached. so what happens now that he is in custody? what happens now that he is in custod ? ~ ~ �* , custody? well, i think he's t in: custody? well, i think he's trying to — custody? well, i think he's trying to change _ custody? well, i think he's trying to change the - custody? well, i think he's - trying to change the narrative. yoon, the insurrectionist to yoon, the insurrectionist to yoon the martyr who has willingly given himself up to avoid bloodshed. the ruling party, the opposition party, which had been going after yoon politically, accused yoon of being pro—us, anti—china, anti—russian. and too close to japan. and with this fighting

commentary on yoon�*s policy really is politically motivated or because he ran the country into the grouped. and i think that yoon will have two processes going forward. the constitutional court, which has 180 days from december ia to come do a ruling to uphold the impeachment, orto come do a ruling to uphold the impeachment, or to overturn it. and then meanwhile, the second investigation, president yoon has shown a willingness to cooperate, and i think that that in itself will be seen as somewhat undermining the political attack that the opposition party has been trying to execute through these various accusations and lawsuits and impeachments. find lawsuits and impeachments. and 5 dne , i lawsuits and impeachments. and sydney, i understand that you've recently returned from seoul. what's your sense of what this prolonged saga has meant for south korea's democracy?— democracy? well, it's interesting, _ democracy? well, it's interesting, because. democracy? well, it's- interesting, because there's a lot of frustration and

disappointment at president yoon�*s actions. but there's a lot of confidence that the people when to the streets. the national assembly gathered. votes from taken. the action was seen as cause for the impeach: it's going through this process. —— impeachment. it's going through the process. it will be complicated where if yoon is impeached and then an election that will follow 60 days after the impeachment, there will be a lot of political manoeuvres for power. it will be a lot of accusations, but you know, korea has endured through similar such controversies in the past such as the 2017 impeachment of then president. so i have confidence that the democracy itself will survive this, although there will be questions about balance of power between the executive and legislative branches, and whether some different type of system may better guard against these types of developments taking place in the future. and

i 'ust taking place in the future. and i just want _ taking place in the future. and i just want to _ taking place in the future. and i just want to come _ taking place in the future. and ijust want to come back to i just want to come back to something that you mentioned earlier about the narrative that president yoon is trying to press — president yoon the martyr, saying that he wants to go into cio to prevent bloodshed. is that really realistic? do you see that as something that holds water? was there ever a danger that this could become where he's having the support that he claimed he had? ., �* , the support that he claimed he had? . �*, . . the support that he claimed he had? . �*, ., ., , ., had? that's a great question. and i believe _ had? that's a great question. and i believe that _ had? that's a great question. and i believe that if - had? that's a great question. and i believe that if you - had? that's a great question. and i believe that if you look| and i believe that if you look at over the last 2a—a8 hours, it looked like the groundwork was being laid for the inevitable. there was no way that the government was going to use force to go in, because that would be again a significant victory, a political victory for president yoon if he was seen as somebody otherwise intending to follow the law, but forcefully dragged out as it were. so i think you know, it will bring some legitimacy to the process. both sides are going to have to

regroup and figure out what their message will be. you know, the polling is roughly, and i know there's a lot of questions about polling — about a2% or so in favour of impeachment. a0% in favour of yoon and the ruling party. so there be some in the middle who, as time goes on, the martial law as agregious as it was and as drastic as it was, will begin to fade in memory and what they'll think about is and what they'll think about is a president under siege. that's what his supporters are hoping for. , . ~' what his supporters are hoping for. , ., ~ , for. sydney, thank you very much. we'll _ for. sydney, thank you very much. we'll leave - for. sydney, thank you very much. we'll leave it - for. sydney, thank you very much. we'll leave it for - for. sydney, thank you very l much. we'll leave it for now. we'll be keeping an eye on this story throughout the day here on bbc news. in the meantime, let's turn our attention to the middle east. 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, its 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 the reconstruction of gaza — a process that could take yea rs. for more on the situation, here's an update from our state department correspondent, tom bateman. the sense remains that these two sides are extremely close to a deal and that an announcement could come either within hours or within days. it is hoped 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 backing for 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 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, that 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 administration is trying to placate 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. that now all gets handed over to the trump administration. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. treasury minister tulip siddiq, has resigned from the

government, after growing pressure over an anti—corruption investigation in bangladesh. her aunt, sheikh hasina, is the former bangladeshi prime minister, and is being investigated over claims of a lucrative land grab. in a letter ms siddiq said she had done nothing wrong but the issue risked becoming a distraction for the government. the government has banned the import of cattle, pigs and sheep from germany, after a case of foot and mouth disease was detected in berlin. there are no cases of the disease in the uk, but the chief vet said "robust contingency plans" were being put in place to protect farmers and food security. the princess of wales has revealed she is in remission from cancer after making an emotional return to the london hospital where she received treatment. after visiting the royal marsden hospital, kate — whose husband prince william is first in line to the throne — spoke of her "relief" and said she remained i.

"focused on recovery . you're live with bbc news. firefighters in los angeles are braced for the return of strong winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour on tuesday evening as they continue to battle fires that are still of control. exactly a week after the first fire, at least 12,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed, 25 people have died. question will show you images of the two largest fires now. you can see here the two largest firest — 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. stealing $200,000 worth of ro -e . stealing $200,000 worth of --roe . , ., , ., property. the promise that we made when — property. the promise that we made when we _ property. the promise that we made when we started - property. the promise that we made when we started this, i property. the promise that we l made when we started this, that these criminals would be

arrested, they would be prosecuted and they will be maximally punished. it’s prosecuted and they will be maximally punished. it's 'ust one maximally punished. it's 'ust example i maximally punished. it's 'ust one example of i maximally punished. it's 'ust one example of the i maximally punished. it'sjust one example of the crime . maximally punished. it'sjust i one example of the crime wave authorities are 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 massive recovery effort. it's auoin massive recovery effort. it's going to _ massive recovery effort. it's going to cost _ massive recovery effort. it's going to cost tens _ 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 going to need congress to step up to provide funding to get this done. up to provide funding to get this done-— this done. despite talk of recovery. _ this done. despite talk of recovery, the _ this done. despite talk of recovery, the flames - this done. despite talk of recovery, the flames are | 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. as well as the thousands of homes destroyed, in an ltadena alone, six schools have also burned. this one, 0dyssey charter school — you can see the play ground. this of the younger children's classrooms — all destroyed. and

here, 800 pupils aged between a-13 here, 800 pupils aged between a—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 cyber trucks travelling to affected areas to provide wi—fi using the portable satellite system, starlink. ., portable satellite system, starlink— portable satellite system, starlink. ., ., starlink. you can't even make a -hone starlink. you can't even make a phone call— starlink. you can't even make a phone call out — starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. _ starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. there's - starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. there's no | phone call out here. there's no internet out here. so just being able to provide that is a critical need out here. and help continues _ critical need out here. and help continues to - critical need out here. and help continues to reach . critical need out here. and help continues to reach la in many forms. more than 800 prison inmates being trained in fire fighting 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. i'm joined now by david kipen, a lecturer at ucla. david, thank you for speaking to me today david, thank you for speaking to me toda