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is provided by... erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) announcer: 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" s america. s the fire threat level for all of los angeles county is critical as officials fear strong winds could spark new fires. joe biden says a deal to achieve a cease-fire in gaza is on the brink of coming to fruition.

a look inside chinese factories fueling the success of fast fashion brand shein, where some laborers labor for 75 hours per week. welcome to world news america. the mayor of los angeles says urgent preparations are underway amid years close to hurricane force winds forecast for this week could spark new fires. 24 people are known to be killed and another 16 are missing, with the three biggest fires uncontained. the national weather service says rains are not expected to be -- winds are not expected to be intense as loss -- last weekend. fires are burning in three areas. the largest is the palisades fire, which has burned 23,000 acres.

the eaton fire is the second-biggest. the hurst fire has been almost fully contained. the chief of the l.a. fire department says firefighters are prepared for strong winds. >> as the wind event is upon us as we speak, the los angeles city fire department has maximized our resource capabilities and response capabilities. all available resources have been staffed. i have strategically pre-positioned engine strike teams and task forces which are dedicated to rapid response for new fires that break out in the city. >> let's go to helena humphreys and -- in arcadia at a distribution center. tell us more about what you have been seeing today. >> just take a look around me at the scene. so many people coming out,

either to volunteer or pickup much needed supplies. 90,000 people right now are under evacuation orders. some have had to flee in dramatic circumstances, grabbing what they can. they could get whatever they may need in terms of clothing, supplies for children, hygiene products, water, those things they really need. they don't know how long they will be away from home. in terms of the situation on the ground, president biden set our hearts go out to the 24 victims, 23 people confirmed missing, and the warmer -- the warning from authorities not to go into impacted areas of people have to comb the rubble looking for those remains. in terms of where we are, earlier today we saw will arnett the actor from "arrested development" among those coming out to volunteer.

i spoke with him about the community spirit. >> everybody is still reeling from it. it is nice to come together and volunteer. it is awesome and people are out here willing to help their neighbors and that is great. that is uplifting. it makes you feel good but at the same time, we are still in it. >> the point is that this is a long way from over. there is the risk of winds picking up of up to 70 miles per hour, particularly tuesday. the risk of fanning the flames further is also why we have seen in this area, if you look over the hillside, we saw 737 max aircraft, the biggest craft in the arsenal when it comes to going into the air and dumping water to try to get as much of a handle on the situation but the winds pick up. firefighters are working 40 hour

shifts, 20 hour shifts, trying to get the situation under control. >> thank you so much for the update. we can speak to california state assembly member for the palisades jackie irwin. thank you for joining us. you visited the incident command post over the weekend. tell us about the briefing you received on the scale of destruction and what is expected in the fires. >> i have been down to the briefing center for the last three days, and i toured the devastation area. it is apocalyptic, what we are seeing. the outlook changes hour-by-hour depending on which direction the winds are going. the onshore winds were sending the fire in the direction of ncl yesterday. there was an issue with

mandeville canyon. this is a tremendous fire with difficult geography. lots of the fire is creating its own weather. the firefighters have quite a big conflict on their hands, and as you have mentioned earlier, we are very concerned with the santa ana winds starting tomorrow. >> can you tell us more about that? another wind event forecast through wednesday. is there a sense on the ground of how dangerous it could be, during up new fires -- flaring up new fires? >> it is very dangerous. i just read a story about potentially the cause of the palisades fire might have been the fire that started a week ago and wasn't fully put out. that is a theory but there are lots of hotspots in an area of this huge. there is tremendous concerned that when winds reach 50, 60 miles per hour, new fires could

start in the same area. >> we heard from our correspondent at the distribution center. what are the affected residents in your district telling you about their situation? they want to get back to their homes but they can't yet. >> the situation in the affected zone is pretty dangerous. there are still live wires and lots of dangerous chemicals and the air quality is not good. for a while, residents were being left into get medication from their homes but that stopped during the wind event. a lot of them are worried about finding housing. they are sleeping on couches. they are at the evacuation centers. there are renters looking for short-term money to help them get through. residents are starting to look at, what do they do going forward? how do we get debris removal?

how do we apply for fema funding? how do we get insurance payouts as quickly as possible? they are facing a myriad of issues, not to mention people have children whose schools burned down. where will they go to school? we have tremendous short-term issues and then we will have to look at the long-term. the legislature specifically is looking to introduce a package of bills but right now, we need to get folks all the information they need to get the resources that are available. >> i would surmise that it will take a lot of federal assistance going forward to help with those issues you mentioned. >> absolutely. the -- initially we heard this was a $50 billion disaster. now we are hearing $100 billion. with the economic interference

that we could be looking at 100 $50 billion, an unbelievable amount of money. the city and county of l.a. and the state of california, we don't have the resources to deal with the long-term issues so we do need to have federal assistance. i was fortunate last week to be able to meet with joe biden and he declared his full support for the southern california and l.a. area. >> thank you so much for joining us on bbc were -- bbc news. wishing you and your community all the best. u.s. president biden on monday delivered a speech about his administration's foreign policy achievements a week before he leaves the white house to make way for donald trump. in an address to diplomats, biden said he forged alliances across the world and helped push back against china, iran and

russia. he claimed credit for the survival of ukraine in the face of putin's invasion and said the u.s. must never turn its back on kyiv. >> compared to four years ago, america is stronger. our alliances are stronger. our adversaries are weaker. we have not gone to work to make these things happen. during my presidency i increased america's power in every dimension. i increased our diplomatic power, creating more allies than the united states has ever had in the history of our nation. i increased our military power, making the most significant investments in defense in decades. i increased technology power, taking the lead in artificial intelligence and technology. we have increased the economic power. the most dynamic economy in the world, from the bottom up in the middle of, not the top down.

when we took office, our nation had become stronger at home, stronger in the world and now america is more capable and i would argue better prepared than we have been in a long time. >> let's bring in our state department correspondent who is covering the address. tell us more about what president biden said about his own foreign policy record. >> this was his attempt at a victory lap, his last foreign policy speech. a series of policy decisions he has taken over the last four years, what he said there broadly was since he took over from president trump four years ago, he has made the u.s. and its allies stronger and america's adversaries weaker. he talked specifically about the example of ukraine, saying it was the military support for ukrainians, the overwhelming support his administration had

given to the ukrainians, that had had in his words meant he was the leader that could stand in the center of kyiv and not president putin. that, to laughter and applause from the vips and state department employees here. this was about a moment of handover. he knows against everything he wanted, he has become the bridge between two trump administration's rather than what he would have hoped for, to prevent another trump presidency. he finds himself having to justify his policies while handing over america's place in the world the president trump, whose policies are set to potentially radically reshape some of those positions. >> before we let you go, what did he say on the israel-gaza war? >> eight referenced the fact -- he referenced the fact that there are talks between israel

and hamas. we know those are taking place. inside the same building, so that is a measure of how close things are. he said a deal is in his words, on the brink. he said they are pressed with urgency to get it across the line. the reality here is that it has been an effective deadline imposed with the incoming trump administration that put pressure on both sides. the biden administration will say it is because of his framework that the trump administration has said they will continue with that led to that. the trump administration will say it is president trump's pressure that got the side so much closer. the sides realized the terms are for now not guaranteed after the 20th of january and that is creating a sense of deadline. that is why we appear to be extremely close to a deal.

>> thank you so much, tom. we can speak to the chair of the middle east program in the center for strategic and international studies in washington. pray to have you back. i want to -- great to have you back. president biden said america is stronger under my administration. do you agree with his assessment of his own foreign policy record? >> he made cases that are true. china's economy is struggling. russia is struggling through the ukraine war. the iranians and all u.s. adversaries have had setbacks in recent months. there is a sense of uncertainty about where the u.s. is and will be, which for our allies especially is potentially going to create hedging behavior and make the next few years more difficult than he might have helped. >> we have to mention the

withdrawal from afghanistan is one of the major foreign policy crises, called by many, blunders of his administration's. how does that impact his policy record? >> the difference is, do you think it is a problem of conception or execution? a lot of people think the president was strategically correct, but staying in afghanistan for years and decades was something that had to stop. but the execution was flawed where the responsibility should live, is it with the president, the people working with the president? people in the state department and elsewhere? that is where it gets more confusing. my sense is that the president was correct in pulling the plug on afghanistan but the government was inadequate in anticipating how this might unfold. >> what about the israel-gaza war? it is ongoing. president biden said they are

close to a cease-fire agreement, yet this has been a massive crisis over the last year for his presidency, as well. >> there are people who argue on both sides that the president has made it worse either by not restraining netanyahu and the israeli side enough, not doing enough to assist the palestinians, not helping israel enough. the president in many ways, nobody thinks he has the right balance. equally, nobody knows when this will be over and while the president is optimistic that we are on the brink of a deal, i spoke to a former biden administration official last week told me i don't think there is ever going to be a deal. netanyahu doesn't want it, hamas doesn't want it. this could be a long trail end or we could be on the brink of a real resolution that reads innocent people and sends them home. >> do you think there is a biden

doctor and when it comes to foreign policy? if so, what do you are the contours of that? >> the biden doctrine in many ways is the american post-cold war experience that we are reliable, we work with our allies to constrain adversaries, we have an open hand to bring people back in. the most important thing the u.s. can do is be a predictable friend. to me, but we have seen with the trump reelection is the sense of america saying that is too expensive, too inefficient. people take advantage of the u.s. and we need to be more selfish. i think the biden doctrine, after 50 years in the foreign policy community, we advance our security by being a better friend and being less selfish. we will see what a turn away from that means. >> always great to get your

analysis. thank you for joining us. just a note that president biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation from the oval office wednesday. we will cover that live on bbc neurosis -- bbc news. hopes are growing for a breakthrough in the gaza cease-fire and hostage release talks. president biden said a deal is on the brink of finally coming to fruition, but sharp divisions over the potential deal have emerged in israel. 10 members of the governing coalition sent netanyahu a letter opposing a cease-fire. some are members of his own party. relatives of hostages confronted the far-right finance minister at a committee hearing monday for his opposition to the deal. the former defense minister benny gantz said his party backed an agreement and failing to free the hostages would be a catastrophe. the opposition leader said he

would back a deal. hamas is sending positive signals a better deal. one representative told the afp news that his group was keen to reach an agreement. our correspondent is covering the talks from jerusalem. >> the talks in qatar are intensifying. there is an israeli and hamas negotiation but they haven't talked directly. they have been negotiating mediators. -- through mediators. both delegations, while not in the same room, not meeting face-to-face, they are in the same building, working on technical details. some detailed points relating to how the cease-fire agreement might work on the ground. the broadbrush of the deal, it should be said it is a partial deal. it is the first of three phases.

the first has been fully spelled out in the draft deals being leaked from this process. that would involve 42 days of cease-fire and during the cease-fire, there would be a phased release of israeli hostages who were taken during the hamas attack on october 7, 2023. they would primarily be women, children and the elderly. for each hostage hamas released, israel would release dozens of palestinian prisoners. age trucks and fuel trucks, -- aid trucks and fuel trucks would increase into the gaza strip on day one and the israeli forces that are in gaza, the idea envisioned is that they would pull back from some of the more heavily populated areas of the

gaza strip into buffer zones. the people would be allowed to move gradually as part of a phased movement, to move back into their homes or what is left of their homes after having been in some cases, searched to make sure they are not carrying weapons. >> jenna fischer reporting. the bbc found workers in chinese factories making loathing of the fast fashion giant shein are laboring over 75 hours per week despite labor laws. the working hours are not unusual in this southern city with the findings add to questions about work conditions in the factories. our china respondent has more. >> few stop to eat during the breakfast rush. for those who work in this war and of over 5000 clothing factories, the clock competes.

at a job market, workers check the stitching they will be expected to do. they get paid per piece, so their skill and speed determine how much they make. >> it depends on how difficult the item is. something simple like a t-shirt is one to two yen per piece. i can make about a dozen in an hour. the cost of living is so high. >>'s travel thousands of miles this city to earn money to send back to their families. shein is a major employer. >> i think shein will become better. they pay suppliers on time. it is efficient and reliable. >> how many people work for shein in this region? >> i would say over 80% of the people here work for shein.

>> this is the beating heart of an empire. machines seldom stop. more than a dozen workers told us they labor 75 hours per week, in contravention of chinese labor laws. most have only one day off per month. by the door, the end product, ready to be shipped to europe, the u.k. or the u.s.. there is an almost constant supply of fabric from nearby vendors. shein's success is possible because this city in china has everything it needs. spending the day here it is clear that shein's meteoric rise had a positive effect on the local economy but that has come with increased scrutiny. there have been allegations of forced labor.

they have found incidence of child labor and there are accusations and staff are overworked and underpaid. we found a 75 hour week is not unusual for many companies in this industrial heartland. >> it is not unusual, but it is clear that it is illegal. it violates basic human rights. so it is a human rights issue. it is an extreme form of exploitation that happens. and this needs to be visible. people need to know under what conditions loathing is being produced especially in such an opaque company that does not really report what they are doing. >> the hum of machines continues into the night. in a statement, shein says it is committed to ensuring fair treatment of all workers in the supply chain and it is investing tens of millions of dollars in

strengthening governance and compliance. they strive to set the highest standards, they say, and partners adhere to their code of conduct. the work here will go on as long as someone in london or new york continues hunting for their next bargain. laura becker, bbc news. >> let's take you back to los angeles where we are continuing coverage of the wildfires. officials are announcing several prosecutions related to the fires. they said those are mostly on accusations of looting, which is an issue we know authorities have addressed in the last few days. authorities earlier said they were charging people who were, quote, seeking to exploit the tragedy for their own benefit. we have seen reporting from reuters that donald trump is planning to visit california to

survey wildfire damage and assess emergency needs. this could be a soon as next week according to a source familiar with planning of the inauguration, which is set to take place monday. we see more damage in los angeles. thank schools were destroyed in the palisades fire, still burning. most of the schools have reopened after a week of fires. we will monitor the situation on the ground and bring you the latest h announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it,

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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna navaz. on the news tonight, the death hour toll from the los angeles-area fires rises as high winds complicate efforts to combat the devastating blazes. geoff: we look at the the