orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq.ime minister, scott morrison, has restated his support of the coal industry, despite conceding that climate change is a factor in the extreme hot weather fuelling the country's bushfires. despite the heat easing today, more than 100 fires continue to burn across the state of new south wales. phil mercer has more. the fires that have incinerated the land and left communities in ruins have been called monsters and beasts. lives have been lost and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. a long drought has made the ground bone dry. hot and windy weather has conspired to raise the threat level in parts of australia in recent days to catastrophic. scott morrison's centre right government is an ardent supporter of the coal industry. it generates much of australia's electricity and pumps billions into the economy. to some of his critics, he is a climate criminal. mr morrison concedes there is a link between global warming and the bushfires, but he says there is no need to panic and impose new c

orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq. chief executive, dennis muilenberg, has been sacked — after serious criticism following 2 major plane accidents, which killed 346 people. the sports minister says the government is committed to working closely with the football authorities, to stamp out racism after chelsea's antonio rudiger said he heard monkey noises during yesterday's match against tottenham. five people have been sentenced to death in saudi arabia — for the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. but a un investigator says the "masterminds" behind the crime have walked free. prince charles says his father, the duke of edinburgh, is being treated very well, on his fourth day in hospital in london. he was speaking to well—wishers, as he visited flood—hit communities in yorkshire. dan johnson reports now from the village of fishlake, hit hard by torrential rain, last month. set up your picnic seat. clear the streets. this was a first for fishlake, an unprecedented visit after an unparalleled flood. the mints were s

orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq. have been sentenced to death by a court in saudi arabia for the murder of government critic jamal khashoggi in istanbul last year. three more have been givenjail sentences totalling 2a years. the prosecutor said saud al-qahtani — an important aide of crown prince mohammed bin salman — had been investigated but not charged and was released. the country faced international condemnation for mr khashoggi's murder in the saudi consulate in turkey last year; saudi arabia blamed it on what they called a ‘rogue operation‘. our middle east correspondent martin patiencejoins me from beirut. the saudis will be hoping to draw a line under this here, is this possible? i think with time, with these prosecutions, you are right. this has been saudi arabia pass worst diplomatic crisis in many yea rs. worst diplomatic crisis in many years. the central contention, critics accused the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman of being behind this killing or having known something about it. that is an accusa

he told orla guerin that a different kind of is has emerged.sis is taking advantage of the situation. this stretches from the iranian border going all the way up to mosul and the syrian border. they have easy access of travel through these areas. we see now the activity increasing and we think that the reorganisation stage is over now. there is a major security vacuum in these no—go areas between the iraqi forces and the peshmerga forces? nobody is dealing with the security threat in these areas? isis is patrolling it, unfortunately. do you think this is the same phase as 2012 when they were starting to rebuild and starting to become a serious threat? i think it is more stronger than 2012 to be honest. my main concern is the political instability in baghdad. this will feed into the future of isis. if we have political unrest this is heaven for them, this is christmas come early for isis. do you think it is a new beginning for them? i would say it would be a different type of isis. no longer will they want to control land or cities, i think they

the bbc's orla guerin has this report. orla: from the hilltop in northern iraq, a sweeping vi of territoryeclaimed from the islamic ate. the kurdish peshmerga, who helped to drive them out, tell us now they are making a comeback. the militants are exploding an area of no man's land, disputed terrain between kurdish and iraqforces. oking at this territory right in front of us, do isis have free reign? >> yes, i can say yes, especially between the tigris river. orla: are you worried? of course i'm worried. they are really big threat. day by day we can see the movement oisis, activiti. they reorganized themselves. orla: i.s. has done that and hour's drive away in what was their last stronghold in iraq. the authorities have planted the flag, but the militants hunting local officials. n it iight that i.s. emerge, spreading their terror as bere. this chilling propaganda video shows a mukhtar being led away to his death. 9 have been killed in this area alone. i the artense. we had to travel with an armed escort. iraqi forces facin

orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq. nada: let's take a quick look at some other news. more than 50 people were injured in a massive car pileup in the u.s. state of rginia. two of them were critically injured, though no fatn ities have breported. police say they are investigating the cause of the accident which involved more than 60 cars. they bieve that fog combid with icy conditions would happen factors. the latest "star wars" film is proving to be another blockbuster hit. "the rise of skywalker" raked in $374 million in global ticket sales in its opening weekend. however, that figure is below earlier films in the trilogy. still, the latest installment ranked as one of the best december openings in north america. we are days away from christmas, about a week a year, and as for the start of donald trump' impeachment trial in the u.s. senate, that is anyone's guess. in a letter to his fellow senators today, democratic leader chuck schumer asked for more documents to be included in mr. schumer has called for further witnesses, which has angered some republicans. senate m

orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq.itv show love island, caroline flack, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend at herflat in north london. helena wilkinson was in court and she updated us a little earlier. caroline flack, the television presenter, went into court in front of the magistrate today, she was accompanied by a police officer as she went into the dock, plus a very packed public gallery and in that public gallery, and her boyfriend, the man she is accused of assaulting on december the 12th. she spoke very briefly, confirmed her name and date of birth and address, then she was asked to enter a plea and she pleaded not guilty to that one charge. the court heard from the prosecution during the hearing. it is alleged caroline flack hit her boyfriend over the head with a lamp while he was asleep, because she feared he was cheating on her, and the court also heard from the prosecution who said when police turned up to herflat, the door was opened by caroline flack and her boyfriend, it is alleged they we

orla guerin, bbc news, northern iraq. let's turn to the united states. suggests the trump administration ordered the pentagon to withold aid to ukraine, just 91 minutes after the us president spoke to his ukrainian counterpart volodymyr zelensky. democrats are pointing to this newly surfaced email obtained by the investigative journalism organisation, the center for public integrity. the email was sent by a senior white house official and tells the pentagon to hold off releasing funds to kiev. the phone call between the two leaders took place lastjuly — and it's this phone call that led to president trump being impeached by the house last week for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. as the case goes to the senate, democrats are pushing for more documents and more witnesses. they have so far refused to hand over the charges to the senate — they want assurances from this man, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, that their chosen witnesses will be allowed to testify. well, today, mr mcconnell said he hasn't ruled out allowing witnesses. what we

he spoke to the bbc‘s orla guerin about the growing indications that the is group is re—organising.ntral government has left a lot of land, and isis has taken control of the situation, this stretches all the situation, this stretches all the way from the iranian border to mosul and the syrian border, and they have easy access, for travel through these areas. we see now the activity increasing, and we think that reorganisation stage is over now. so there is a major security vacuum in these no—go areas between the iraqi forces and depeche patch forces, nobody is dealing with the areas — peshmerga. forces, nobody is dealing with the areas - peshmerga. isis is patrolling, unfortunately. do you think this the same as 2012 and they we re think this the same as 2012 and they were starting to build and becoming a serious threat? i think more stronger than 2012, but my main concern is the stability in baghdad, because that would feed into the future of isis. if we have political unrest, this is heaven, or christmas come early for isis. do you think it isa come early for isis. do you think it