But this is the aftermath of the catastrophic bushfires that have ravaged New South Wales. And in the village of balmoral, the devastation is everywhere. The prime minister, scott morrison, appeared for the first time today after fierce criticism of his holiday in hawaii. It is quite humbling as you, you speak to families and speak to individuals, you speak to the volunteers, and you see the best of australia on every single occasion, and that is what we are seeing here again. Russell has been a volunteer firefighter for again. Russell has been a volunteer firefighterfor six again. Russell has been a volunteer firefighter for six years and was out with his team trying to control the blaze in the village when his own house was burned to the ground. It wasnt until this morning when i came back, because we couldnt get backin came back, because we couldnt get back in because it was too dangerous, so when i came back this morning, to check the chickens, i then had a look at the property, and thats when, you know, its gone. Russells main worry now is what happens in the next few weeks. There are so many happens in the next few weeks. There are so many of the brigade that are so are so many of the brigade that are so tired, that is the mental side. When you are continually battling something you cant beat. The only thing that will beat this is Mother Nature when she opens the heavens up and put this out. We cant. We are running out of water. The fires have subsided but the situation is still extremely dangerous here. The roads remain closed off. Barrett moral was one of the worst hit areas balmoral. And the community is still in shock. Many havent returned to see what happened to their homes and village. Create pearly state to defend his home during the fires, using up all the water reserves he had. Flames like a five or six Story Building just roaring all around you. You dont know what to do. You try not to panic, but we got the job done, so we saved most of the stuff. At the heart of all of this is the divisive Climate Change debate, with many australians linking the ferocity of the fires to the Severe Weather conditions here. Australia is bracing itself for a scorching summer, and many is bracing itself for a scorching summer, and many are is bracing itself for a scorching summer, and many are wondering where the next big fire is going to hit. A six Year Old Girl has opened a pack of Tesco Christmas cards to find a message saying they were packed by prisoners in china being forced to work against their will. Tescos says its stopped production at the factory while it investigates. Greg mackenzie reports. It was six year old schoolgirl florence widdecombe whod sat down at home to write out her christmas cards to her friends and family when she discovered one of the cards had already been written out. We were writing in them and about on my sixth or eighth card, there was somebody already written. Had already written in it. There was a message which read, we are foreign prisoners in shanghai china, forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify Human Rights Organisations. The first thought was that it was some kind of prank. But on reflection, we realised it was actually potentially quite a serious thing and so i felt very shocked, but i also felt a responsibility to pass it on to peter humphries, as the author asked me to do. The family did just that and contacted the human rights journalist who had spent time at the jail, having been alleged to have taken part in a corruption scandal. Well, i spent two years in captivity in shanghai between 2013 and 2015 and my final nine months of that captivity was in this very prison in this very cell block where this message has come from. So this was written by some of my cell mates from that period who are still there, serving sentences. A tesco spokeswoman says the company was shocked and would never allow prison labour in its supply chain. It has now launched an investigation. Greg mckenzie, bbc news. The family of harry dunn, who was killed outside an raf base in august, have met with the home secretary, priti patel, to discuss the case this morning. Ms patel is considering seeking the extradition of the wife of an american diplomat who has been charged with causing death of the teenager by dangerous driving. Duncan kennedy reports. Very nice to meet you. The home secretary arrived in harry dunns home village to brief his family in person. Inside, she met harrys dad, tim. This is a good opportunity, and thanks for coming to listen to what we need to say, and then hopefully we can move forward and up and help other people if they ever get into this situation. Priti has come to try and hear from all of you. The fact that priti patel made thisjourney, along with Andrea Leadsom, the local mp, is a sign ofjust how much impact this case is having at the highest political levels. It is four months since harry dunn died in a Road Accident in northamptonshire. Anne sacoolas, pictured here on her wedding day, is the American Woman who has been charged with causing harrys death by dangerous driving. The home secretary said she was here to explain the extradition process to the family. Lawyers for Anne Sacoolas say she has been left devastated by this accident, but they say she wont return voluntarily to the united kingdom. Harry dunns family say they are now leaving matters in the hands of british lawyers. It will now be for a judge to decide the merits of extraditing Anne Sacoolas to the united kingdom. That decision will then be passed to the home secretary for a final say on what will happen. Duncan kennedy, bbc news, in northamptonshire. The duke of edinburgh has spent a second night in hospital, where hes being treated for a pre existing condition. Prince philip, whos 98, was admitted on friday on the advice of his personal doctors. Our correspondentjon donnison is at the king edward vii hospital in london for us. Jon. Well, almost 48 hours now since Prince Philip was admitted here to hospitalfor Prince Philip was admitted here to hospital for what, as you say, Buckingham Palace said was a precautionary measure for treatment and observation of a pre existing condition. No further update from Buckingham Palace. We do know that the queen this morning attended a Carol Service at church in sandringham, along with Prince Edward and his family, and of course, the queen will traditionally attend another service on Christmas Day at the same church, and the big question, whether Prince Philip will be able to join her. The sense we have had from Buckingham Palace all along is that this was a precautionary measure, no real sense for alarm, but the truth is, we dont know what his condition is, and the question of whether he will be home for christmas. More than 70 flood warnings remain in place across england and wales after more heavy rain overnight. Flooding is affecting a number of places across the uk, and theres particular concern along the river severn as it flows through worcestershire and gloucestershire. Fallon sherrock, who earlier this week became the first female player to beat a man at darts in a pdc World Championship match, has won her next match there. She beat the world number ii Mensur Suljovic 3 1 at Alexandra Palace to make it through to the third round. Afterwards she expressed her surprise and said she was proud to be raising the profile of the womens game. Its all just trying to sink in at the moment. Its still not sunk in. So, im still in disbelief about whats going on. Ive definitely like helped put womens darts on the map. Ive definitely heard a lot of stories about how ive inspired more younger people to play, like younger girls, more women to take up the sport. The artist banksy has produced what hes calling a modified nativity at a hotel in bethlehem in the west bank. Dubbed the scar of bethlehem, the work shows the crib scene next to israels separation barrier, which appears to have been pierced by a blast. The work is one of a number of collaborations between the Hotels Owners and the british artist. You can see more on all of todays stories on the bbc news channel. The next news on bbc one is at 4 50pm. Bye for now. Hello. Youre watching the bbc news channel with julian worricker. More now on one of our main stories and tesco have suspended production at a chinese factory following reports that prisoners were being used as labour to make christmas cards. It comes after a six Year Old Girl from south london told the sunday times that shed found a message from a shanghai prison inside a box of cards. Florence widdicombe and her father ben have been speaking to the bbc about what happened. We didnt open them on the day we got them. We opened about a week ago and. We were writing in them and about on my sixth or eighth card, there was somebody already written. Had already written in it. 0k, and so, ben, tell me exactly what had happened. So, about ten days ago, my wife was coming home from work and popped into a tesco to buy some christmas cards, because florence and my other children wanted to write christmas cards to their friends at school. So, on sunday, a week ago, my wife was here cooking and florence was actually at this table here, just going through the cards and writing to her friends and she opened one up and started laughing and said, oh, mum, look, somebody has already written in this card, isnt that funny . When my wife looked at the card, its. Of course said what it did, which is that the card had come from somebody imprisoned in shanghai and was raising Human Rights Concerns and asked whoever found the note to pass it on to peter humphreys. What did the card say . The card said that the author was part of a group of foreign prisoners in qing pu prison in shanghai. They were asked or forced to work against their will and please could Human Rights Organisations be made aware and specifically could it be passed on to peter humphreys. When you read the details of what had been written in the card, what did it make you feel . Well, first, incredulity its, of course its not what you expect. The first thought was that it must be some sort of prank. But, on reflection, we realised it was actually potentially quite a serious thing and so i felt very shocked, but i also felt a responsibility to pass it on to peter humphreys, as the author asked me to do. Peter humphrey is the journalist who took this story to the sunday times. Here he is on why his name was mentioned in the card and who may have written it. Well, i spent two years captivity in shanghai between 2013 at 2015. My final nine months of that captivity was in this very present captivity was in this very prison in this very cell block where this message has come from. This was written by some of my cell mates from that period who are still there, serving sentences. Do you think it was written as a collective, or one of them wrote it to you . Would it have been decided as a collective thing to do . Im pretty sure this was written as a collective message. Obviously, one single hand produced this capital letters handwriting and i think i know who it was. But i will never disclose that name. No. And tell us about life in the prison. What were the conditions like . What were the other inmates like . The foreigners cell block in qing pu prison had about 150 foreign prisoners in it when i was there, today it has about 250. These prisoners are living a very bleak daily life. There are 12 prisoners per cell. Each cell is painted in grey. Paint is flaking off the ceilings. They sleep in very rusty iron bunk beds with a mattress which is not more than about one centimetre thick underneath them. In the winter, its extremely cold, there is no heating in the building and in the summer its extremely hot because there is no air conditioning in the building. They get up around 5 30am, 6am every day and they have to go to bed again at about 9 30pm in the evening. The day is punctuated by a highly regimented programme of work or study. It now seems that theres more work done than study. When i was there, manufacturing, labour work, was voluntary. Prisoners could do that as a way to earn the pennies that they need to buy daily necessities like soap and toothpaste and biscuits. But what has happened in the last year or so is that work has become compulsory. So, when i was there, it was a relatively easier situation than it is now. And everyone i know in there at the time was in there for very questionable reasons. I met so many people who i considered to be the victims of wrongful imprisonment or at least reckless sentencing for minor offences. Peter humphrey speaking earlier today. Australias prime minister, scott morrison, has acknowledged public anger at his decision to go on holiday while his country faces a bushfire crisis. The fires are expected to worsen with more hot, dry weather expected. Mr morrison did acknowledge the role of Climate Change, but said warming temperatures couldnt be connected to any single fire. For more, im joined live from sydney, byjames morris from the New South Wales royal fire service. Bring us up to date, james, whats the scale of what youre tackling just now . Good afternoon. These fires are massive, certainly the biggest weve ever seen in New South Wales, burning since july. Biggest weve ever seen in New South Wales, burning sincejuly. More than 3. 1 million hectares of bush and grassland. We currently have 100 fires burning across New South Wales. One of those which has been elevated in the last five minutes or to emergency warning threatening homes around the blue mountain. Even though here in sydney at the moment its just after midnight, where we would typically see very cool, calm and collected nights, we are seeing very erratic fire behaviour. Flames are ten, 20 metres above the tree tops, threatening homes very close by. Still very challenging and erratic conditions being seen by firefighters doing a wonderfuljob, battling to try and save as many houses as possible. Unfortunately, saturday we saw catastrophic bushfire conditions right across parts of New South Wales. We believe we have lost around 100 homes just in that fire alone and we have seen to 1000 in this fire season alone. Devastating times in New South Wales and on top of that we have seen eight lives lost on the two of those being our own firefighters in recent days. Very hard and challenging times forfire days. Very hard and challenging times for fire crews but they are continuing to do what they do to protect communities across the state. Given the scale of what youre facing, how on earth do you prioritise what you must tackle first . It can be challenging at times, especially at one point about six weeks ago, we saw 17 fires burning at the emergency warning alert level. That alert level for us means weve got homes and lives under threat. Typically in previous seasons weve only seen a maximum of four fires at the emergency warning site. 17 at that level is massive and takes a lot of logistical and Operational Management from right across New South Wales and a number of Emergency Services. We prioritise as much as possible the areas that those fires are burning in and how many lives and properties. We have thousands of firefighters on the ground each and every day and we have support from other Emergency Service that is from other firefighting counterparts from right across australia and even assistant at the moment from america and canada. What is the Weather Forecast for the next few days . We are very lucky. We saw a bad weather day on saturday and weve now got about four or five days of favourable conditions before we start to see conditions before we start to see conditions elevate once again with hot, dry temperatures. And reports of wind coming through. Christmas day hopefully will allow some of our firefighters to be able to spend some time at home with their family but considering how dry it is at the moment, we are still going to see probably more than 2000 firefighters out on the field and not at home with theirfamilies, out on the field and not at home with their families, trying to protect communities in New South Wales. We wish you well, thank you. James morris in sydney. In the last few minutes the home secretary priti patel has been speaking after her meeting with the family of harry dunn the 19 year old who was died in a road crash outside an raf base in august. Im very grateful to the dunn family today for making the time to meet with me and obviously, ive had a private meeting with them. And its very, very difficult, in terms of what theyre going through right now. All our sympathies and thoughts are with them. For me, it was a nice opportunity to hear from them about what theyve been experiencing, going through and to reassure them at what has been a very difficult and traumatic time for them. Its been fantastic to bring the home secretary, priti patel, to come and see harrys family. And, you know, our hearts go out to them. Its just the deepest, deepest tragedy for the dunn family and nothing will ever bring harry back. They seem to be quite reassured that priti has set out what the next steps are and i do think that we will now be able to give them perhaps a little bit of relief, temporarily, whilst that process continues. But i have absolutely assured harrys family that i will do everything i can to ensure we getjustice for harry. We know we cant talk about the legals of this, but what is the next step in terms of extradition . The next step is that the cps sends all the papers to a judge and thatjudge then reviews all of the papers and all of the different aspects of the case. And then passes the papers onto the home office who assess them and make their recommendation to the home secretary. Are the family reassured from the meeting with the home secretary today . Yes, can i firstly, before i answer that, thank andrea personally from the bottom of my heart for everything she has done for us over the last few weeks. It has been a tough journey, as you know. But having our constituency mp visit us and talk to us regularly has been very welcome and thank you, andrea. It has been amazing to have the home secretary over today to meet with the family. We feel incredibly reassured that this whole saga will end up being dealt with under the rule of law, which is absolutely critical to all of us. Notjust to harrys parents. Dialogue is always good and sometimes there is misunderstandings, but when you come together and you look at each other in the eye and resolve any issues. But you hear from some of the most senior politicians in this country that this will be dealt with under the rule of law. Absolutely, theyre going to go to bed tonight feeling reassured. When you saw Anne Sacoolas lawyers statement saying that she wont come back to the country voluntarily, how did the family react to that . Angry, they dont understand why this lady is back in feel angry, they dont understand why this lady is back in american and feel they shouldnt havent ever been allowed to go and she should jolly welcome back. And they are concerned they have one of the finest lawyers in america seeking to undermine our very fair and mature and well developed legal system which has fairness at its heart. This lady is absolutely entitled to a fair trial, she is guilty of nothing at the moment, and if she comes back, when she comes back, she will get a fair hearing, which is what we are all entitled to. Comments made outside the family home of harry dunne in the last half an hour. You saw Andrea Leadsom and home secretary priti patel has been there this morning. Now, millions of Brussel Sprouts will be eaten across britain over the next few days, with supermarkets expecting a 500 increase in sales. The bitter tasting vegetable often divides opinion, but new varieties are being grown to try to win skeptics round. Sam fenwick reports. As you tuck into your christmas dinner, its likely that the sprouts on your plate will have been grown here, in the scottish borders. Theyre planted in rows, and the cool north sea winds make for ideal growing conditions. Its been a very good harvest, weve had a very good growing season, the sprouts are looking very healthy, theyre standing up, theyre looking really good. Sprouts are really good for you they have four times more vitamin c than an orange, but theyre not always everyones favourite vegetable. I dont like sprouts because theyjust make me go eugh the sprouts are tasty. Ive never tried sprouts. Nope, not my thing. Nope. But theres Something Special going on in these scottish fields that might change your opinion of the humble sprout. This variety of sprouts has the compound glucosinolate, been altered in it. Its more of a sweeter tasting sprout, these wont have the bitterness that people associate with sprouts. Sales of sprouts increase by 500 at christmas, tesco alone will sell 90 million of them. And how many sprouts that you peel a day . 40 baskets, which is about half a tonne a day. Thats a lot yeah, its a lot. Now, im one of those people that doesnt really like sprouts, ill maybe have three on my plate on my christmas dinner ill move them around, maybe try and hide them under a piece of turkey. But im told its because im not cooking them correctly. Ians here, hes our expert in growing sprouts and cooking them. Ian, what am i doing wrong . I think youre cooking them too long. You mean putting them on the boil in october is too soon . it is. Its the last thing you should cook before you put your plate together for your christmas dinner. Really . Yeah. They only take a few minutes and they stay lovely and green, and they taste really, really nice. These have been boiling for three minutes, and thats them ready now. Here we go, can i pick a little one out . You can have any sprout you like. Its hot, mind. Its very hot they taste very green. Correct. So, this christmas, maybe its time we gave sprouts a second chance. Mm sam fenwick, bbc news. That is very good. Im sure not it was a ringing endorsement but that was sam fenech reporting. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres holly hamilton. Im not convinced about the spouts either if im perfectly honest. Good afternoon. Moving on to todays premier league matches. Paul pogba is on the bench for Manchester Uniteds game at watford this afternoon. Its the First Time Since the end of september that hes been in the united squad. Hes been suffering with a persistent ankle injury and illness and hes missed 21 games for club and country in that time. Theres bad news for aston villa midfielder john mcginn broke his ankle in yesterdays defeat at home to southampton. He was forced offjust eight minutes into the match, after appearing to get his studs caught in the turf. The club confirmed the extent of the damage today but theyve yet to say how long hell be out of action. Liverpool bossjurgen klopp has praised his players for passing test after test after they won the Club World Cup for the first time. They beat flamengo of brazil in extra time in the final in doha Roberto Firmino scoring the winning goal, just as he had in the semi final. Its liverpools second trophy of the season so far, after they beat chelsea to win the uefa super cup in august. Game after game after game, they are really showing their desire to make the next step, showing their desire to win the next game, showing their desire to win the next challenge. I said before the game i didnt know exactly how it would feel. Now i can say, its outstanding. Absolutely sensational. Im so proud of the boys and yeah, couldnt be better. Liverpool now turn their attentions back to winning the premier league theyre ten points clear at the top while fifa have ambitious plans of their own, for their club competition. Olly foster has been following the tournament in doha for us. Thats the Club World Cup done for another year. Itll be back in qatar in 12 months. The european clubs domination of recent years continues. Liverpool worthy winners, upgrading their European Champions League title to a world title now. Juergen klopp speaking about how he didnt really know how to feel about this tournament but he now knows that its sensational, he said. Absolutely outstanding. They head back to the premier League Winter now to see if they can stay in front of the chasing pack. Ten points clear at the moment ahead of Leicester City and wouldnt they just love to add a premier league title . Their first in the top division in england for almost three decades. To all those other titles they won this year. As for this tournament, well, it will stay with the six continents, the best from them, next year, before it expands hugely in china in 2021. 24 teams will be involved. Many clubs and associations from around the world have their reservations about that, as fifa try to expand their own interests into the club game around the world. That will become a tournament every four years. We will see exactly how that beds down. As for liverpool, they are world champions and very, very worthy winners. With some key members of the england cricket squad still laid low by illness, the side laboured to a draw in their three day warm up match against south africa a in benoni. Stuart broad, jofra archer and jack leach were still unable to play any part in the game, as the hosts made 325 5, James Anderson taking two more wickets and sam curran picking up one. The first test starts on boxing day. Staying with englands cricketers, and it was defeat forjames vince and tom currans sydney sixers in australias big bash. They lost by 48 runs to the brisbane heat, thanks in most part to a brilliant innings from chris lynn he smashed that six over. He smashed that six over currans head to move to 94 not out offjust 34 balls. He went for his third six in a row to set the fastest ever big bash century, but he was caught. You can see his frustration. British freestyle skier izzy atkin has won herfirst world cup medal in the big air event. She took bronze in atlanta, thanks to a brilliant second jump. She also finished third at the World Championships this year, and in 2018 she became the first briton to win an olympic skiing medal, with bronze in the slopestyle. Big air will make its Winter Olympics debut at beijing 2022. Thats all the sport for now. Thousands of people have gathered at stonehenge today to mark the winter solstice. The solstice has been celebrated by pagans for thousands of years to mark the start of winter, and the shortest, darkest day of the year. It occurs when one of the earths poles has its maximum tilt away from the sun. Reporter Michele Cross went to stonehenge to talk to people who are celebrating. My husband made our headdresses, and we come like this every year, just to mark the solstices, get with the people. The atmosphere is amazing and we love to bring the kids. You know, its a really family atmosphere, theres never any trouble. Its beautiful. And you brought your daughter, chloe
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