A vast area of australias east coast, including sydney, is facing some of the worst threats from bushfires the country has ever seen. There are dozens of blazes across New South Wales and queensland. Authorities have predicted catastrophic conditions on tuesday. A state of emergency has been declared in both states. The head of the Rural Fire Service has warned that the fire danger will increase in the coming hours. We still have 52 fires burning gcioss we still have 52 fires burning across New South Wales. 30 of those are uncontained, and weve got 13 at watch and act alert level. We are certainly starting to see an increase in fire activity, and therefore the fire danger is increasing accordingly. The reality is conditions will simply continue to get worse and to deteriorate over the coming hours, and particularly into this afternoon, when the combination of the hotter temperatures, the drier atmosphere and the strengthening winds all come together to drive fire behaviour. 0ur correspondent Shaima Khalil joins us from sydney. Good to talk to you. I think it is 1pm in the afternoon there. What is the latest . Well, the main danger is, as you have heard, going to be focused on the areas around sydney, the greater sydney area, north and south of that, so east coast in New South Wales. Mind you, this is a very populous area we are talking about. Were talking about 6 Million People who are bracing themselves for conditions. As the day grows hotter, as the winds grow stronger, this is where we are going to hear more localised, big fires. 0bviously all of this under the umbrella of this catastrophic fire danger. Syd ney wo ke this catastrophic fire danger. Sydney woke up to a haze as the smoke from other areas, neighbouring areas, has come and settled near the skies here. I certainly, and people around me, felt it. You could smell it in the air. And really, as the day progresses, the danger becomes more severe. The firefighters and the fire authorities have been updating people on an hourly or two hourly basis, and now we are seeing more localised fires, really. But it all comes down to the heat into the wind, because things can get out of control really quickly. And i think people have been told that, if they are in vulnerable areas, they should leave. Because firefighters are trying to control some areas. They cant be everywhere all of the time. And in those areas close to the fires, people have described to us, even before the fire reaches cars, say, there is so much eucalyptus in the air, because explode before the fires get to them. All this exacerbated by, i guess, the bone dry ground, and a strong drought. Strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity. I think these are the three elements that make it extremely difficult to control and predict the size of it. Already we are seeing thousands and thousands of hectares of one fire alone, and we are talking about dozens and dozens we are talking about dozens and d oze ns of we are talking about dozens and dozens of blazes in the New South Wales area. And, despite firefighters trying to control it, whether it is by being on the ground 01 whether it is by being on the ground or whether by aircraft, with water bombs, or even people volunteering, its very, very difficult to predict how big or how out of control it is going to be. So some people have been staying put, trying to defend their own homes. But really, with their own homes. But really, with the emergency state of emergency, thatis, the emergency state of emergency, that is, that has been announced in queensland and then New South Wales, that gives firefighters and fire authorities the powers to evacuate areas, even if people want to stay put. But already were seeing thousands of people in evacuation centres. 600 schools, up to 600 schools, have been closed. And we are still in kind of mid afternoon, so we are are still in kind of mid afternoon, so we are expecting temperatures to rise and expecting winds to get stronger as well. Thank you very much indeed for that. Poppy brown is the head of red cross in New South Wales. Thank you for your time. I am sure you are very busy indeed. What are you are very busy indeed. What are you facing here . Well, look, as you have already said, it is a really unprecedented situation in the state at the moment. And there has been, you know, over 1 at the moment. And there has been, you know, over1 million rugby pitchers that already. We know that, as you said, the most populous areas in terms of sydney, wollongong and newcastle, are facing this catastrophic fire danger at the moment. We are in a state of emergency, and we are prepared, but everybody is bracing for what potentially is a very, very dangerous day for New South Wales. And copy, use the word unprecedented. You have really seen nothing like this before . Not at this scale poppy. So reports on the news have indicated that we had a very bad black saturday bushfires in victoria about ten years ago. There has already been double the amount of hectares burnt as in those fires. So we are in a very difficult day and very extreme situation. We have had fires across the state since about friday, and really extreme levels. We have had lots of evacuation centres open for people, where they cant stay in their homes. And we are there helping prepare people for what could be a very dangerous day. Prepare people for what could be a very dangerous dayli prepare people for what could be a very dangerous day. I know there are reports at least three people have died, thousands, of course, displaced. Given the danger, though, it seems amazing that more people have not been hurt. Yes, look, that is very distressing, obviously, for the people who have lost their lives already, but fortunate that we have not had any more lives lost to date. And that is credit to the fire services, who have been working absolutely around the clock to support and protect communities. And iamjust support and protect communities. And i am just here at the moment in the Fire Service Control Centre in sydney, which is very busy, and you can hear the noise behind me, and they are doing fantasticjob. Thank you so much. Thank you. Within the past few hours, riot police in hong kong have fired tear gas at a University Campus and transport links across the territory has been disrupted. Schools and universities have suspended classes. It is a second day of disruption after monday became one of the most violent days so far during five months of pro democracy protests. One man was shot in the chest by a Police Officer and a another man was set on fire during an argument with protestors. He is now fighting for his life with severe burns. Stephen mcdonell sent this report. This is how the day of extraordinary violence starts. A Police Officer, arresting the person in white, is approached by another protester, wearing black. He is shot at point blank range. And it is all captured in a Facebook Live video. The 21 year old is seriously injured. Yet somehow, despite his injuries and amidst the chaos, he attempts to flee, but is captured and is taken away in an ambulance. Elsewhere in the city, a Police Officer drives into a group of black clad protesters, veering the motorbike towards them three times before taking off. He has since been suspended. Hours later, a middle aged man argues with hard line protesters. In an act too graphic to show, he is doused in flammable liquid before being set on fire. Theres no question that escalating violence could get what the rioters want. Not from the government, not from society at large. And yet, this evening, the clashes continued. Gunshots there has been an outpouring of anger here today, and a very tough police response. It seems that the city is now locked in an ever deteriorating cycle of violence and retribution. And now its no longer, like, just a protest or strike. Its war now, and its a war that i think all hong kongers must win. I think i even cant imagine what is going to happen tomorrow. So, yeah, i dont know. More than 250 people were arrested today. With both sides digging in, there are fears this conflict could only escalate further. Stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, hong kong. Chief executive carrie lam has just been speaking. She has been saying the protesters who are trying to pa ralyse the protesters who are trying to paralyse the city are in her words extremely selfish and she urges all stu d e nts extremely selfish and she urges all students not to participate in the violence. 0n students not to participate in the violence. On monday, as stephen was mentioning, carrie lam said the demands for democracy made the demonstrators now the peoples enemy. Joining me from hong kong is laurie wen, a pro democracy advocate. What are you making of all this . There is no simple answer. A lot of very disturbing things have happened, especially recently. 0ur hearts are heavy. But i think we cannot be distracted from what the fundamental problem is. Why is it that millions of people for five months have engaged in many, many peaceful, large scale protests, and we still dont have what we demand . That is the fundamental problem here. Because the Carrie Lam Administration is not accountable to the people here. She and her administration, they are accountable to the Chinese Communist party. The fundamental problem is that we do not have democracy here, in 2019. 7. 5 million hong kongers, we still dont have democracy. That is what the crux of the problem is. But do you not feel, we do not acknowledge, that this is getting massively out of proportion, and possibly damaging to the pro democracy cause . Yes, we have seen a protester shot with live ammunition at point blank range. Yes, we have seen a Police Motorcyclist driving into protesters. We understand that officer has now been suspended from duty. But also a man who was simply arguing with protesters about the fa ct arguing with protesters about the fact they had attacked the translation is doused in flammable liquid and set on fire. Yes, i understand. I personally do not support violence of any kind, except in self defence. When it is not self defence, violence is something i personally abhor. We do have millions of people in this movement, and it is a leaderless movement. People have different ideologies, tactics and strategies, so u nfortu nately i tactics and strategies, so unfortunately i cannot control the behaviours of every Single Member of this movement. People who share the same goals unfortunately dont a lwa ys same goals unfortunately dont always agree. I understand that, but the protesters have a sense of how other protesters are feeling. It is possible for it to be made clear to the people who are doing this kind of thing that this kind of thing is unacceptable, is putting it mildly. Yes, and its youre right, in that of course we make it clear to each other how we feel. But let me put it this way. If this is the 18505 put it this way. If this is the 1850s and we are in the United States, and i am a member of the abolitionist movement, i can make it very clear to other members that millions of other members of the abolitionist movement, because we all think slavery is wrong, there are other people who believe, you know, were going to use violence. We are to go do things that the peaceful, non violent camp doesnt agree. And we disagree, but that doesnt mean that all of a sudden i am no longer a member of the abolitionist movement. It doesnt mean that all of a sudden i then support slavery. So just because there are things. Just because there are things. Just because there are things. Just because there are members of our movement who engage in behaviours that i really disagree with, that i really do not condone, doesnt mean the cause of our Democracy Movement becomes less true. We are going to have to leave it there for the moment. Thank you very much for talking to us. Thank you. A former British Army Officer who helped set up the Syrian Rescue Group the White Helmets has been found dead in turkey. The body ofJames Le Mesurier, who received an 0be in 2016 for his work in syria, was found on monday in istanbul. The turkish authorities have launched an investigation into his death, as our Diplomatic CorrespondentCaroline Hawley reports. It was on the street outside the building where he was staying thatJames Le Mesuriers body was found early this morning. There has been no official statement from the police, but Security Officials have been quoted as saying they believe he fell from a balcony. James le mesurier, who was in his 40s, set up the mayday rescue charity, which helped train syrias volunteer rescuers, known as the White Helmets. These are the White Helmets in action. They operate in rebel held areas of the country, saving survivors of indiscriminate air strikes by the syrian military, and its backer, russia. Speaking to the bbc five years ago, he paid tribute to their courage. It has been a source of immense pride for everybody whos been involved in the training and support to these heroes. They provide an incredible amount of inspiration, in an environment that is otherwise so devoid of positives. Seen here just yesterday, the White Helmets rush into danger in idlib province, the last area of the country still held by the rebels. For the work they do, the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier have earned the hatred of both the kremlin and the syrian regime. 0nly last week, the Russian Foreign ministry accused him of being an m16 agent, and of having links with terrorists. The russian charges against him that came out of the foreign ministry, that he was a spy categorically untrue. He was a british soldier. Hed been to sandhurst. But above all, he wasnt a serving soldier when he founded mayday and the White Helmets. He was a real humanitarian, and the world, and syria in particular, is poorer for his loss. Whatever the exact circumstances of his death in istanbul, friends and colleagues say hell be remembered for helping save countless syrian lives. Caroline hawley, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come feeling stressed . Meet lilou, the worlds first airport therapy pig. She is hogging the limelight at San Francisco airport. The bombastic establishment outsider, donald trump, has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. I feel great about the election result. I voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. Its keeping the candidates name always in the public eye that counts. Success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the local Campaign Headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. Berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. And with nobody to stop them, it wasnt long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. Yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. Palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. After 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. Women ministers whod long felt only grudgingly accepted in the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcomed. This is bbc news. The latest headlines a vast area of australias east coast, including sydney, is facing some of the worst threats from bushfires the country has ever seen. Within the past few hours riot police in hong kong have fired tear gas at a University Campus and transport links across the territory has been disrupted. And some breaking news. In the last few minutes it has been announced the former us president , jimmy carter has been admitted to hospital. He is 95 years old. A statement from the Carter Centre saying he is to have a procedure on tuesday to relieve pressure on his brain. This is caused by bleeding due to recent polls. They say he is resting comp doubly, his wife, roslyn with him does make he is resting comfortably. He was the 39th us president. In the last few minutes the former bolivian president evo morales has confirmed that he is taking up the offer of asylum in mexico, after he was forced to stand down on monday. His resignation has sparked clashes between his supporters and police. The Mexican Foreign minister said mr morales life was at risk in his home country. At least 20 people have been hurt. Katy watson reports from la paz. For many in bolivia, the demise of the regions longest standing president could not have come soon enough. 0vernight, celebrations turned to violence yet more unrest with buildings torched and vandalised. This is one of many barricades that you see across la paz blocking the streets in the city. This one is Anti Government and people here say that despite the fact evo morales has resigned they are still here for democracy because bolivia still does not have an interim president and neither do they know when new elections will be called. A few people, however, braved the journey to work. Translation we are all afraid. It does not matter which side you are on. We are afraid of what is going to happen. Everyone is calling for conflict but what matters are the people. Elsewhere, people on the streets are still calling for change. These protesters were blocking access to the president ial palace, making sure no government member could return to their office. Translation evo morales could have left through the front door if he had respected what people were saying. Unfortunately he tried to perpetuate himself in power and that made people not want him anymore. A few minutes later, a Police Convoy carrying the politician expected to step in as interim president later this week. There is still so much uncertainty. No one knows when the new elections will be and until then, instability in this poor country is a constant threat. Lets get some of the days other news the british, french and german governments are saying theyre extremely concerned that iran has restarted enriching uranium at an underground site south of tehran. They describe it as a fresh breach of the commitments the iranians gave in the International Nuclear deal. It was signed with several world powers, but the United States has abandoned it. In a confidential report seen by bbc news, the uns nuclear watchdog, the iaea, says irans stock of enriched uranium is growing. Boeing says it expects its 737 max aircraft to resume commercial flights in january. The planes were grounded earlier this year after two of them were involved in crashes off indonesia and ethiopia in which nearly 350 people died. The turkish government says it has started to deport suspected militants from the Extremist GroupIslamic State back to their countries of origin. Seven germans will be sent back on thursday. 11 french and two irish citizens are being processed. It is reported one american has already left turkey. The government in ankara has criticised western states who have been reluctant to take suspects back. Boris johnsons electoral fortunes have been boosted by a Brexit Party Announcement that it wont field candidates in seats won by the conservatives in 2017. The brexit party leader, nigel farage, said he wanted to prevent a Hung Parliament and another eu referendum. The conservatives deny making any agreement with the brexit party. First it was flint, michigan and now in newark, newjersey americans are finding higher than normal amounts of lead in their Drinking Water and people are outraged. The mayor has a plan to speed up the replacement of lead Service Pipes to remove the toxic threat. But as nada tawfik reports, thats not enough for those who live in fear of the water in their homes. Its dinnertime and alika is making pasta with her kids. But to boil it, only bottled water will do. She lives in newark, newjersey, the latest American City to grapple with a lead water crisis. 0fficials gave her a filter, but she still doesnt trust the water. Im always spending money on water. I spent more money on water than on buying food for the house. Newarks problems began when a Corrosion Control treatment failed at its water plant, causing lead from pipes to seep into the water. 0fficials switched to a new treatment, but it will take months to be fully effective. Now, the mayor has announced an expedited plan to overhaul the infrastructure. Across the city, crews are ripping up the streets in order to replace lead pipes with copper ones. Under the programme, all 18,000 lead pipes in newark will be removed in under three years at no cost to homeowners. When the lead Service Lines are replaced then 100 , you know, there will be no lead in the water. If you have a filter, the filters are working and so you should use your filter and if youre using the filter then youll be perfectly fine. Still, some members of their community believe officials were slow to respond to the crisis and war residents, including those who are now suing the city. I still am unsure about when i am getting lead service line replacement, even though i put in for it over six months ago. So its all of this that really leaves me frustrated. What happened in flint, michigan, and now here in newark, newjersey, has once again raised questions about the safety of the nations water infrastructure. Decades after lead pipes were banned, many still remain in place in older homes and buildings. And part of the fear is that many people simply do not know if they have lead pipes or not. Despite assurances, churches and charities continue to hand out bottled water. Efforts may be under way to finally rid the city of lead pipes, but rebuilding trust could take much longer. At least 200 elephants in zimbabwe have died from a lack of food and water because of severe drought. Zimbabwes parks and Wildlife Management authority said it was planning to move 600 elephants from a Conservation Area in the south east of the country to three other national parks. Spacexs falcon nine rocket has launched successfully on monday from Cape Canaveral in the us, carrying 60 mini satellites into space. The satellites are intended to help set up a network for global high Speed Internet connectivity. Spacex wants a big share of the future internet market from space its rivals include 0neweb and amazon. In San Francisco a rather unusual member of staff can be spotted among the corridors and departure gates of one of the citys airports. Sporting a pilots cap and pink toenails, five year old lilou is helping stressed travellers have a more enjoyable journey. She trots around the airport with her owner, raising a trotter to greet you. The idea, the wag brigade was designed to cheer up passengers, as we said. And this live shot from hong kong. Protesters getting ready for my protests. They were confined to the weekend but now have spread into monday and tuesday. Chief executive carrie lam has spoken in the past few minutes. Just the other day she told protesters enemies of the people. Daisy called them extremely selfish. She has urged students not to participate in the violence. Walker you any time on the bbc website. You for watching. Hello there. Its been a very unsettled start to november, even indeed before november, weve seen a lot of rainfall around. Low pressures been firmly in control and it has been quite cold as well. The rest of the week stays unsettled thanks to low pressure, it will be quite windy too and we will see some snow around as it will remain cold, particularly over the higher ground. Lower pressure firmly in control of our weather for tuesday, bringing fairly strong wind from the north west there will be a lot of showers circulating around it. Early on tuesday, it looks like most of the showers will be across parts of scotland and Northern Ireland, Northern England, some wintriness over the high ground of scotland but further south, it should be dry with lengthy clear skies. But that does not mean it wont turn quite chilly here. 1 3 degrees here with the showers, generally 11 5 degrees to start tuesday. So we start with sunshine across the south, and in other areas, but bands of shower and long spells of rain spreading into south eastern areas into the afternoon. And there will contine to be some wintriness over the high ground. It will feel cold with temperatures 7 8 degrees. Out on the wind, itll feel quite raw. Low pressure pushes off into the north sea and allows a bump of High Pressure to build in before wednesday before this next weather system moves in wednesday night into thursday. It could bring some areas quite a lot of rainfall, unfortunately. Through wednesday, though, it could be a chilly start in central, eastern and Northern Areas but dry and bright thanks to that bump of High Pressure. The next weather system will be arriving across Northern Ireland and wales and the south west of england, bringing some heavy rain here later in the day and it will be another chilly one, temperatures struggling to get up as much as 4 degrees across scotland. Through wednesday night a few showers here and the weather front across the south west will push northwards and eastwards, itll pivot as well, we think. Bit of uncertainty too, its northwards or southwards extent but some areas could see quite a lot of rainfall it could be the flood affected areas in the midlands and Northern England could see quite a bit of rainfall. But again, i have to emphasise theres some uncertainty on the position of the weather front. There are a number of flood warnings still in force and this rain could exacerbate that. So stay tuned to the forecast and head onto the bbc weather website. Has we head out into friday the weather front eventually starts to fade and move southwards and eastwards. So it could be quite cloudy on friday across southern and eastern areas, one or two showers here, quite blustery. But further north and west, we will see a ridge of High Pressure move in. Its an improving picture here with some good spells of sunshine. And temperatures again on the low side, sticking in single figures for most. This is bbc news. The headlines hundreds of schools and colleges across the australian state of New South Wales have been closed as the region prepares to deal with potentially catastrophic bush fires. A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales and in neighbouring queensland. It is a second day of disruption by protestors after monday became one of the most violent days so far during five months of pro democracy protests. Within the past few hours, riot police in hong kong have fired tear gas at a University Campus and transport links across the territory has been disrupted. Schools and universities have suspended classes. The ousted bolivian president evo morale is on his way to mexico after the government there granted him asylum. The Mexican Foreign minister, marcelo ebrard, said mr moraless life was at risk in bolivia, where unrest is continuing