Firefighters in the australian state of New South Wales were bracing for what are being termed catastrophic fire conditions. Temperatures have soared above a0 degrees and are set to fuel more than a hundred fires burning across the state. In South Australia, one person has died overnight in a blaze east of adelaide. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison, widely criticised for being on holiday during the crisis, is expected back in australia over the weekend. I got the latest from our reporter phil mercer. We have, as you say, a catastrophic fire warning for three large areas here in New South Wales. More than 100 fires are burning across australias most populous state. Roads have been closed, Rail Services have been disrupted, and what with just a few days left until christmas, summer holidaymakers hoping to go north, south, and west of sydney have been urged to stay at home today and to delay their trip until tomorrow, because conditions are very, very dangerous, as you say, very hot temp
More catastrophic fire warnings have been issued for parts of New South Wales, with temperatures set to hit the mid 40s celsius. In south australia, one person has died in a blaze east of adelaide, while crews are also battling outbreaks in the west of the country and in victoria. The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, whos been widely criticised for being on holiday during the crisis, is expected back in australia soon. Dr Sarah Perkins kirkpatrick, who is a climate scientist at the university of nsws Climate Change Research Centre joins me now from sydney. Thanks forjoining us here. Personable, if i can ask, how unprecedented are these fires . These fires are unprecedented in a number of ways, firstly in their size, there have been over 2 million hectares that have been burnt, and the time of year. We dont usually expect bushfires to occur and be this extreme at this time of year, so this extreme at this time of year, so particularly with this catastrophic fire rating, this is the secon
On a new defence agreement. The aukus pact aims to counter chinas perceived threat in the indo pacific. Its expected to agree the supply of Nuclear Powered submarines to australia. Youre watching bbc news. Now its time for fault line the un and the quake in syria. Screaming the earthquake strikes. Un aid arrives in turkey immediately, but takes several days to reach North West Syria. Bbc news arabic investigates. Un teams are supposed to deploy within 48 hours of a request. In North West Syria, that didnt happen. What matters in terms of responding to an earthquake is time and what the sort of, the immediacy of the response. And the un just stood there, like, completely paralysed. In this film, we ask, what took the United Nations so long . To deliver humanitarian aid across an international border, we need either the consent of the government or in the case that we have in syria, a Binding Security Council resolution. On monday, the 6th Of February 00. 47am, an earthquake of magnitude
also in the programme. president zelensky addresses the european parliament saying ukraine is fighting to protect europe s way of life president zelensky pleas for. we start with the devastation following monday s earthquakes in turkey and syria, where mass graves are being dug, as the death toll climbs rapidly. nearly 20,000 are known to have lost their lives. rescuers are continuing desperate attempts to find and free survivors, four days after the quakes hit. the world health organization has warned there could be a secondary disaster with survivors living on the streets with very little food and water and in freezing temperatures. our middle east correspondent anna foster is in gaziantep the epicentre of the biggest earthquake to hit the region on monday. this heavy machinery is starting to arrive mainly in the big cities like this one, it has to be said, when you think about the rural villages, towns that are as badly affected, it is so much harder to get the equip
also tonight. president zelensky takes his appeal for more weapons and fighterjets for ukraine to brussels. and. # ijust don t know what to do with myself. we ll remember burt bacharach the man behind dozens of hit songs who has died. and on bbc london, donations from londoners for earthquake and coming up on the bbc news channel, the idea has been dismissed once already but there are fresh calls for a european super league. welcome to the programme, on a day when the devastation caused by the earthquakes in turkey and syria became ever more clear, as the death toll rose above 20,000. in the region, rescuers continue to work through the rubble, sometimes still finding people alive. tonight, we ll share the stories of those working with survivors, including doctors looking after a tiny baby this little girl who was born in the rubble and whose mother, father and siblings have all been killed. we ll hear from three of our correspondents, one very close to the syrian