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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ lewis: hello, i'm lewis vaughan jone you are watching "the context" on bbc news. >> if the fire were to approach the highway, the highway would be closed and the evacuation would be fully by air. >> you connection breed. -- you can actually breathe. all i could smell was the fire

smoke. >> we were seeing the longest fire season, we have huge demands on our fire crews. and we have been working since the middle of may. lewis: in canada, 20,000 people are told to leave their city as the fires close in. it is the country's worst wildfire on record. also on the program, in cape verde survivors sent a month at sea before being rescued. it is thought more than 60 people died. we will be talking about the dangers of global migration. the warning of a risk of a war at sea between nato and russia. what is at stake in the black sea. and is bradley cooper right to ever prosthetic nose to play

the legendary jewish composer leonard bernstein? want to start with developing news out of the u.s. this is geoia, and this is to do with him proceedings against donald trump -- criminal proceedings against donald trump. you may be aware of the latest of elements in georgia and the allegations of election interference. the way the system works, there is something called the grand jury system. members of the public sit on that and they make it really -- they make up luminary decision about whether criminal proceeding should go ahead. in this case they did. there have been reports in the last few hours that personal details of those members of the public have been allegedly leaked online. we now have a statement from the fulton county sheriff's office. let's take a look at that, and then we can unpack it. it said in a statement, "as the

lead agency, our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in fulton county and other jurisdictions." that's the statement in the last hour or so from authorities there. we understand that it relates to social-media details, potential personal details being put up online. normally, grand jury members' names in the jurisdiction are included in documents but nothing else. so there have been allegations that people have been putting up personal details, things like addresses or social-media profiles. we have no knowledge of whether the details are incorrect, but there are reports in the last couple hours and in the last hour can we get the confirmation

not of the details, but of the fact that fulton county, the lead agency is investigating. that statement again, as the lead agency, "our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in fulton county and other jurisdictions." we will be keeping you across the details of that development. just more broadly, four sets of criminal charges. now the georgia case the latest relating to january 6 and election funding in new york. this is the latest one in georgia. there is also debates and legal arguments of where and when that case will be heard, whether in the state or federal level. this is a new and separate

development about those potential personal details of members of the grand jury being put up online. as we get any more on that, we will bring it to you. right, we are going to go to canada now to get the latest on the wildfires. the latest for one city, 20,000 people effectively being told to get out and get out now. these pictures show you some of the reasons why, extraordinary wildfires still burning, northern territories badly hit. the provincial capital is a place called yellowknife. 20,000 people live there and they've been told to get out by noon friday. they have been given a deadline to evacuate their homes because the fires could reach the outskirts of the city by this weekend. they have been given a deadline of friday. some people have been leaving already. we can take a look at a picture of the queues on the motorway.

cars -- we can to bring you those pictures -- we can't bring you those pictures right now, but some people have been leaving already. the background of all of this, canada's worst wildfire season on record. 1,100 fires are burning as of wednesday. let's get the latest with the journalist from the cbc. thank you very much for coming on the program. talk us through what the latest is. >> latest is that we have an out-of-control wildfire still burning. it is about 15 kilometers to the west oyellowknife. that fire began to threaten our city earlier this week. we saw this unprecedented evacuation order for our city of 20,000 people. i'm one of the people who did get out quite early. and now we are waiting to see what happens with that fire and

how these people are going to get to safety, which is rather far away. yellowknife is a very remote community on the north side. it is a tremendously long drive to get to any of the evacuation centers. the closest that has been established so far for people driving is 4000 kilometers by car. lewis: so a huge distance. talk us through what the personal decision was for you. what things were you weighing up? >> i actually was on vacation at the time. i wasn't reporting. i have two children. and i have read earlier in the spring the book "fire weather" by john valiant, who talks about this very thing, the issue of climate driving more dangerous wildfires that effectively can't be stopped that massive amounts of rain or otherwise act of god. i felt fearful and i booked flights. today i landed in calgary --

that's where i am now -- that night the first evacuation alert was announced for parts of yellowknife. in the next day the whole city was ordered to get out. lewis: just how unusual is this for people living there? >> it's so striking, i moved to yellowknife in 2013, and the following summer was terrible, terrible year of fires. it's remembered now as the summer of smoke. we had fires burning all over the territory. it was relentless. fire tankers were in the sky at all hours of the day. that season, looking back on it, was extremely mild compared to what we see now. we saw a total of one community evacuated briefly in 2014. it was a community of about 40 people. they received another alert this morning to get out now for their own safety. but that was it. this year we have seen multiple communities evacuate, and some more than once. we have seen fires go right into

communities and take houses out of the edges. we saw total destruction of a first nation back in may. this people are evacuated again for their own safety. it is unheard of. in the very idea that one would order a city of 20,000 to empty out in the face of out-of-control fires is not something a lot of people were prepared to imagine. lewis: is there any sense of when this will end? have been reporting on developing's for a while now. is there any sense -- you mentioned you needed an act of god or rain or whatever. is there any kind of prediction what happens next? >> that's really the million-dollar question. i heard an interview a few weeks ago with fire writers -- firefighters working in québec who said the firefighters they are dealing with need a season-ending event -- that's what they called it. i believe that means a deluge of rain or otherwise massive change

in the weather situation. but with the extreme dryness we are seeing here, the lack of rain, just really not sure what is going to change thsituation that we are in right now. lewis: ok, well, we really appreciate your time and expertise giving a clear picture of what is happening. thank you very much for being on the program. >> my pleasure. lewis: we are going to head to west africa now. more than 60 migrants are presumed dead after their boat was found drifting in cape verde . it was that they were trying to reach the spanish canary islands. the boat was found 300 kilometers from cape verde. almost all those on board came from senegal. these pictures show some of those rescued, 38 people including children brought a --brought to shore. officials in senegal say they are making arrangements to bring survivors home.

but we can speak now to -- thank you very much for coming on the program, from the international organization of migration. thank you for your time. this is just a dreadful story we have been covering here. can you just give us an idea of some of the risks and dangers of the journeys like this? >> yes, thank you for having me. yeah, so as you mentioned, these people were drifting for about a month, actually. it's thought that they left senegal around the 10th of july and they were just rescued two days ago, which means that during this one month they were act see without adequate water -- at sea without adequate water, without food, without any shelter close of the main risks, to -- that is one of the main risks, to be drifting at sea

without being able to get any coast and being able to access food, water, shelter, without being able to access also medical services that you need to survive. and the other obvious risk of these very dangerous journeys is drowning. lewis: given those risks, why two people make this particular trip -- why do people make this particular trip? andrea: yes, the purpose of the people taking this journey from the west african coast to the canary islands is different. it's different type of people, but most of them are really desperate, as you can imagine. you can only take this journey, which you know is so dangerous, if you are completely hopeless and desperate. you are probably looking for safety. many of them are looking for safety, fleeing violence, conflict in their countries, or they are also fleeing extreme poverty, which also poses great risk to them, or they are in

general seeking for a better life. lewis: what in general do you want to see happen to try and stop people taking these huge risks? andrea: yeah, we have seen that people are taking these risks now and will continue taking them if -- if nothing changes. one needs to change is that there should -- what needs to change is that there should be more safe routes for migration for regular migration, that it is orderly, and that these options are also accessible to a wider part of the population, part of the population that is embarking on these journeys now. that is something very important. another very important thing is that there needs to be more safe rescue operations. not only more, but it needs to be coordinated among all the

countries that are sharing these coastlines, and it needs to be really robust. lewis: andrea garcia borja, thank you very much for coming on our program. andrea: thank you. lewis: around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a quick look at other stories. schools start in 10 scottish local 30 areas will go on strike on the 13th and 14th of september. members include nonteaching school staff, projecting pay of 5.5% in april, calling it on acceptable. unions say the offer does not come close to to match the surging cost of living. the family of a pregnant woman killed by a speeding driver welcomed a decision to have his 12-year prison sentence reviewed by the court of appeal. the woman died along with her unborn daughter when the car

crashed into the car after he found himself driving at 123 miles per hour. an mp has told a public meeting he will pursue a log ranting better production -- granting better protection for heritage venues after the demolition following a fire. about 100 people attended the meeting on what happened that day. you are live with bbc news. next, saudi arabia's crown mohammad bin salman has been invited to visit the u.k. the visit is likely to conquer sharp criticism over the gulf leader's human rights record. it would be the first trip to the u.k. by the crown prince since the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi at the saudi consulate in istanbul 2018. u.s. intelligence agencies concluded the prince must have authorized the killing. we asked our security

correspondent frank gardner to explain a little more of why's visit has been so controversial. frank: because really he is such a paradox. on the one hand he is transforming saudi arabia for the better. he is freeing it up socially, he has scrapped the absurd ban on women driving get the religious clerics insisted on for decades, he has allowed public entertainment, he is diversifying the economy away from the dependence on oil, he started these huge mega projects which may or may not work, but he has a vision for the future, which is incorporating something called vision 2030. but on the other hand, he's presiding over a country that has a very poor human rights record, and specifically he suspected by western countries of having ordered or at least been complicit in the very easily murder fight -- gri sly murder five years ago of 70 journalist jamal khashoggi. he denies that. they say it was carried out by rogue agents. there is no such thing in the

gulf. i've lived there for years, this doesn't happen. these were saudi officials who flew unofficial planes. on unofficial planes-- on official plans. saudi arabia is an anonymously rich, powerful, and important country, and britain wants a slice of its trillion dollar- plus investment. it wants to do partnership with saudi arabia on things like high-tech bioenergy, a lot of cutting edge technologies. that is only going to happen with the say-so of this man, which is why he is being invited to britain. the government i'm sure will bring up human rights and it will be discussed, but i'm not sure it is necessarily going to change the practices saudi arabia has been doing. lewis: thanks to frank for that. a professor of international politics at lancaster university, thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me. lewis: why do you think the u.k. is extending this invitation? >> -- i think as her colleague

frank has outlined, there is a real economic opportunity for the u.k., and it's an opportunity that rishi sunak really needs for him, his personal career, and he deems it necessary for the british economy. and that is the city f -- and that necessity for rishi sunak and his colleagues at least means sacrificing the broader british ideals of human rights and democracy on the altar of realpolitik, and that looks to be the real justification for the invitation. lewis: how do you tnk this will be received? >> well, mohammad bin salman has been very keen to deepen relations with u.k. perhaps the most obvious example is the purchase of newcastle united by the sovereign wealth fund. but it is deeper than that. there is increasing numbers of students in saudi arabia coming to british universities, undergraduate, graduate students. there is going level of

cultural exchange. i think that mohammad bin salman will be open to that, but he will want other things as well. some are suggesting he is after better access to military hardware that the u.k has been selling over the years. there will be serious demands from riyadh for london to deal with. lewis: let's return to frank last point about bringing up those difficult conversations about human rights such as been outlined. frank basically not particularly confident that even if those topics are raised anything likely changed. you shaking your head, you have the same opinion? >> completely. there are serious per dynamics and imbalances in play here. saudi arabia is an incredibly powerful state, becoming more and more powerful by the day. we know that mohammad bin salman is the power behind the throne, the one that is driving this transformative vision. if some of these big projects this move away from oil, really

do come off, it will leave saudi arabia increasingly powerful and influential on the world stage. the u.k. struggling to have a way of finding its own niche there. while rishi sunak may decide to raise these issues, he may well not and may think that it will do more harm an good to raise human rights. i certainly hope he does raise it because it is incredibly important. but it may be that he deems them to be sort of sacrific able in order to get access to this huge amount of money for the government and the british economy and the number of businesses that would benefit from the transformative processes going on in saudi arabia. lewis: thank you very much for coming on the program. >> thank you. lewis: we are going to go to hollywood now and talk about bradley cooper, the actor, and the row over his nose, specifically his prosthetic nose that he has used to play leonard

bernstein, the famous jewish composer of "west side story." this is a picture of bradley with his nose. some jewish groups say wearing a prosthetic nose like this played up the offensive jewish stereotypes. this is the original man himself. his family, mr. bernstein's family, say they are "perfectly fine" with the actor using makeup to amplify his appearance. the film is called "maestro" and will premiere at the venice film festival next month. here's the trailer. >> how long do we have to do this for? >> we need to build a very strong connection. ♪ are you itching to move?

>> no, i'm not. actually, i don't know. i'm thinking of a number. >> [laughter] oh, i don't know, nine? >> no. >> five? >> you have to think. >> [laughter] ylewis: you do have to think f it has raised a number of issues. joining me is an adjunct professor at the university of maryland. thank you for coming on the program. >> of course, thank you for having me. lewis: there has been quite stinging criticism of this from many quarters online. outline the issues that this is raising. >> the issues this is raising -- the truth is that bradley cooper is not jewish himself and is playing this jewish character, and jewish stereotypes are throughout hollywood, so him

wearing this purse that i can nose is sort of -- this prosthetic nose is propagating visa serotypes according to these groups of people. it has happened a lot over the years in hollywood, non-jews playing jewish roles. lewis: what do you make of the support of the family for bradley cooper here? david: i think that everybody has a right to their opinion on these things come and in this specific instance the family is saying his nose was bigger and their dad would have been totally fine with this. i guess theare saying that in this but a good instance, it still brings up -- in this particular instance, it still brings up jewish representation in hollywood that is worth examining. in this instance, the family is cool with it. i don't think it makes the conversation go away. lewis: interesting, the conversation being about casting. it a conversation specifically about the use of prosthetics and making changes that could be seen as insensitive, or is it a wider one about casting and who plays

which roles? david: i think it's both. i think there is particular just not a lot of roles available for jews, particularly jewish actors. it stems from the eastern european jews who were the ones who founded hollywood a long time ago but because of anti-semitism, they were not casting jews in roles, nor were there jewish roles available. that has, based on experts i've spoken with, been an issue that has plagued hollywood for a very long time. while there have been in opportunities for jews in hollywood and there have been jewish roles, those have not necessarily gone to jews, and if they have, they are full of stereotypes, whether it is a bigger nose or frizzy hair or thick new york accent, all these things are certainly signifiers in some ways, but jews are all different kinds of people and don't all fit these specific stereotypes. lewis: interesting. let's move it more broadly about casting in hollywood, more

broadly. we are in a very different place from 10 years ago or so, aren't we. there are big debates and choices and decisions going in. on one hand you have people saying these are actors, let them act. others say, no, let's have more authentic casting process. david: yeah, based on reporting that i have done, i think that it is give-and-take. in a perfect world anybody could play any role, and that is what everybody would like to see because they feel that acting is creating this new identity. but we can't have that necessarily based on people i've talked with that unless there is more opportunities for everyone, more opportunities for queer people, trans people, jewish people, all different minority groups. that is when we would actually see people getting to mix around a bit more. but i think that conversation is ongoing and worth discussing. lewis: it's an absolute fascinating issue.

david oliver, really appreciate your time coming on and talking us thrgh, entertainment reporter for "usa today" an adjunct professor at university of maryland. thanks very much f your time. plenty more on that story and all the others we are featuring online. can get me there, too, and getting on social media. i'm lewis vaughan jones and this is bbc news. bye-bye. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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