katy watson, bbc news.nd three years for an illegal border crossing when they tried to flee hong kong by boat. the trial has mostly been held in secret, and has been criticised by some members of the international community — the us, for example, said the only supposed crime the group had committed was to try to flee tyranny. our correspondent stephen mcdonell who's in beijing gave me some background to the case. in august this year, a dozen hong kong activists attempted to flee their city via speedboat. the goal was to try and reach the self—governing island of taiwan to seek sanctuary. they'd already been charged in relation to certain activities during the protests, the upheaval in hong kong last year, and they feared their punishments. but their dash across the sea was unsuccessful. they were intercepted by the chinese coastguard and, today, in the mainland chinese city of shenzhen, they received their punishments. meanwhile, in hong kong, theirfamilies waited for these verdicts. and what they soon foun

katy watson, bbc news, sao paulo. let's get some of the day's other news.pple daily founder jimmy lai will be remanded in custody until april the 16th next year after being denied bail over a fraud charge. two other executives of next media have been granted bail. mr lai has repeatedly denounced beijing's increasing controls over hong kong. a british charity has warned that thousands of unaccompanied migrant children may have suffered damage to their mental health making the perilous sea crossing from africa to the canary islands. save the children estimates at least 2,000 minors made long crossings from places such as senegal and gambia in the past two months. half a million south korean students are sitting the annual university entrance examination, including 35 from their hospital beds. strict measures are being observed to ensure that the tests do not become a coronavirus superspreader event. the former french president valery giscard d'estaing has died at the age of 94 after a short illness. his seven years in office were marked by the liberalisation

katy watson, bbc news saoaulo. >> is such a tough time for everybody around the world the term animalssing hast. this footage of moose, deer and bearsas been released by utah's division of wildlife. the animal bridge was reduce wildlife accidents at this busy highway. initially, officials thought it would take yrs to change their migratory patterns but as it turns out animals are pretty quick learners. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... language specialists teaching spanish, french and more. raymond james. by judpeter blum kovler foundation; pursuiam solutions for ica's neglected needs. an tby contributions s pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. yuyi: i came to the un yedpbs. states when i was rs old. i did not speak any english. i felt very, very lost, really not knowing what to do with my life. one day on tv there was sesame street. gr ernie aner and cookie monster. and it's not only that lea, now i know how to live in the united states. so this is how you do it! now i'm powerful. now i know i can do anything i want. i will make myself

katy watson bbc news in caracas. katty: it is catastrophic for venezuelans at the ment.e world leaders are calling the election of political sham. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo says america will continue to recognize juan guaido as venezuela's interim president. earlier i spoke to mr. guaido at his home in caracas, and -- in an exclusive interview. following these elections, what the position at the moment of the opposition in venezuela? mr. guaido: the most important thing at this moment for the venezuelan democracy, the democratic movement, is to have a legitite supporter of the people in order to find a solution. the demand of our cause is to have fe presidential and parliamentary elections. nicolas maduro's fraudat it was de. not only in the streets, but it was seen by the international community, which saw that there should not be conditions for participating in the process. the right to elect and be elected, it is simple. i cannot be part of that process as i was disqualified. but neither could 300 other venezuelans, because they were being jailed or persecut

our south america correspondent, katy watson, is in caracas. this is a queue for petrol.la. people here are at the head of the queue. they have been waiting here for five hours, and that's a good day. most drivers i have spoken to say they have spent four, sometimes five days sleeping in a car. it's really, really tough. this has been an important week for the government here in venezuela because of the parliamentary elections but it's a foregone conclusion who is going to win because only the government is taking part. the opposition has said they are fraudulent and they are holding their own parallel vote, if you like, a referendum on the future of the country. but you speak to people here and people are tired. they don't want anything to do with politics any more. there used to be so much division between the opposition on one side and the government on the other. most people here seem to agree more on the fact they don't want anybody than choosing a side at all. i can speak now to paul dobson, who's in the city of merida in northwestern venezuela. calls for a boycott.

katy watson abandon her vehicle after it broke down on the 101 and walks down the freeway with her childying to get help. officers arrested her on driving under the influence of drugs. her baby is now in the custody of child protective services. >>> firefighters in, and warning of the dangers of ashes in the higher place after an overnight fire. it started about 2:45 this morning on north fifth street. the homeowner throughout the ashes at least a day ago but they were still hot and reignited. >> we approach the cold weather and the holiday season, people will start using fireplaces. we want to remind people just be careful how you dispose of your ashes. >> the fire did spread to the attic and the garage. the man and his dog inside of the house both got out safely. >>> some california now with firefighters in orange county getting the upper hand on the bond fire. the fire is at 60% containment. it started five days ago with the silverado canyon area. the bonfire burned through more than 11/2 square miles threatening some 5800 structures. officals say over the weekend, crews were able to