With more than a hundred bushfires burning, record breaking temperatures and extreme winds, New South Wales, australias most heavily populated state, has declared a 7 day state of emergency. Two volunteer firefighters have been killed in a road crash near sydney. Temperatures as high as 47 celsius are expected at the weekend. And Prime MinisterScott Morrison is taking some criticism for being on holiday as the crisis unfolds. Hes now released a statement saying, i express my sincere condolences and sympathies to the families of the firefighters who have so tragically been killed overnight, and adds that he will be returning to sydney from leave as soon as can be arranged. With more on the bushfire emergency, our science editor, david shukman. A roar like a jet engine as the flames advance. A line of trees is suddenly ablaze. In record heat and parched conditions, at least 50 of the fires are out of control. Lets get out of here, bro. This is an emergency on dozens of fronts. House by house. And this one is surrounded. Firefighters are doing their best. The wind is incredibly strong and this blaze is fierce. Its ferocious. The heat is unbearable. Australia has always had fires, but these battles are unprecedented. Theyre unusually early in the season, and theyre reaching areas not normally affected. New south wales has declared a state of emergency because the danger continues. This comes as much of australia injures a brutal heatwave, setting a new record, 41. 9 celsius, for the average maximum temperature. Severe drought resulted in the past three months being the driest on record. That left the largest ever area of australia, nearly 60 , at risk of fire. And the crisis has sharpened divisions over Climate Change. Smoke from the fires has drifted over sydney, almost hiding the famous landmarks. The air is so polluted that many people have resorted to wearing masks. We want to be listened to. Protesters gathered outside the home of the australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. He is sceptical of Climate Change and is accused of ignoring reality. Australian families are worried about Climate Change. Were worried about the Climate Change of the future, but were worried about the Climate Change of the present. But australia is the Worlds Largest exporter of coal. Burning coal gives off the gases that heat the planet but its a big earner, and the Australian Government lobbied hard in the un climate talks last week to protect the industry, and many australians support that view. Im not so sure that Climate Change is responsible for what were experiencing here. Possibly the drought has got a lot to do with it in australia. Were talking about 60, 70 metre flame heights. Every day, a new front line emerges. And the science is clear that as temperatures rise heatwaves will become more severe, and in this land of extremes therell be even more fires. David shukman, bbc news. Live now to melbourne and to dr richard thornton, ceo of the bushfire and Natural Hazards cooperative research centre. Thank you very much for your time. How does this fire season compare to others you have experienced . Certainly this is one of the worst fire season we have seen for a very long time across australia, certainly seeing that thoughts of temperatures we are seeing, the thoughts of dryness in the landscape that we have got now, and as a consequence of that we are seeing fires and just about every state and territory across australia. You have a sense of why this is happening, why this is so much worth . This particular year is clearly driven by a long term drought, probably one of the most severe droughts we have seen possibly since the white people came to australia, so this is a very significant drying of the forests, if you like, so even those that have traditionally been relatively wet are traditionally been relatively wet a re really dry traditionally been relatively wet are really dry this year and that is what is driving a lot of the fire behaviour that we are seeing and why we are seeing so behaviour that we are seeing and why we are seeing so many behaviour that we are seeing and why we are seeing so many fires at the same time. People are bound to be wondering about Climate Change, id know that is a particularly thorny issue for your current government. Lets not discuss that. It is very difficult to a tribute particular events to Climate Change anywhere but something is happening over all, quite clearly. What we do know from all of the measurements is that the fire seasons in australia are getting more intense, so when you look at their cumulative fire danger over a whole season that is going up over a whole season that is going up over the past 20 years or so. We are also seeing fire seasons start earlier and potentially finish later, so it is making the whole season much longer which is putting a realdrain on season much longer which is putting a real drain on the volunteer firefighters who are now on call, nine months of the year. Do you think somehow we need to reassess health players are dealt with . There is certainly a lot of discussion happening around these fires and they have been happening for quite some time, about how we resource these fires, if we need greater resourcing from aircraft but also what we can do to help prevent the impacts of these fires. Fires in australia are inevitable stopping there will always happen whether its the ones that happened in victoria in 2009 or this year. It is important that we reduce the impact on the communities, whether we do that in reduction in the forest beforehand or we look at the way we build and designed and placed things in landscape. All of those are options that are on the table for discussion now in the wake of these fires, or in the mid of these layers, because the fire season is nowhere near over yet quite thank you so much for giving us your time. Lets get some of the days other news. Russias main intelligence agency, the fsb, says one of its officers has been killed in a shooting near its headquarters in moscow. Five people are being treated for injuries, one of them said to be another employee of the agency. Russian media say the gunman, who opened fire with an automatic weapon, was killed by an armed fsb officer. The identity of the attacker has not been publicly confirmed. Queen elizabeth has formally set out the british governments legislative plans at the state opening of parliament. Its the second queens speech in less than three months, after the conservative partys emphatic victory in last weeks election. Tough criminal justice laws and an increase in funding for the National Health service are among the priorities. But of the 29 bills mentioned in the speech, seven of them deal with brexit. In a rare show of bipartisan unity, the us house of representatives has overwhelmingly approved President Trumps renegotiated trade agreement with canada and mexico. The democrat controlled house backed the billjust a day after voting to impeach the president. It must now be passed by the senate. It replaces the 25 year old north america free trade agreement, known as nafta. Lets take you live to macau now where chinas president xi jinping is attending a ceremony to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Southern Citys handover to the chinese. The visit is widely seen as a reward for the former portuguese colonys stability and its loyalty to Mainland China. Security has been tightened between macau and the neighbouring territory of hong kong where pro democracy protests continue. 0ur correspondent Shaimaa Khalil is in macau. Tell us more. It has been days of celebration and a real sense of pride here in macau, the skyline of this city really tells the story of prosperity, this has been called the las vegas of asia, you consider glitzy buildings and casinos, this is really the gaming hub of the region and it has been the story of political stability and more crucially, of loyalty to Mainland China that president xi jinping has been praising macau and as you say he has been presiding over the swearing in of the new ceo, but really xijinping has been swearing in of the new ceo, but really xi jinping has been trying to sell macau on this anniversary as a Success Story of the one country two systems formula. He praised the people and the leadership for the love of the motherland. He also said that the government and the people understand that macaus future are connected with that of the motherland. And what is really interesting, is that in no point in his speech did he mention the words hong kong, and yet this lavish praise, this direct praise of macau is also seen as an indirect rebuke of hong kong, its leadership and what has been happening there in terms of protest. The optics have been really interesting because throughout all the celebrations, carrie lam has been setting, has been watching and has been listening to this praise of xi jinping to macau. Can you give a sense why the political temperature there and macau is so different in hong kong . It is really interesting, there are so it is really interesting, there are so many it is really interesting, there are so many reasons to it is really interesting, there are so many reasons to be if you look at the economy, there are two very different places stopping this is a place that has really seen its economy and fortunes rise because of its links to china and its huge economic prosperity. This is a place where more than half of the population have emigrated from the mainland, so they have a huge affinity with china and that pays off. If you look at hong kong, its a very different story. Yes, its a Financial Hub but there is a young population who was very disenfranchised with the government, they accuse it of being too close to beijing and to corrupt and also have come out on the streets and said that there is a big wealth gap and that there is a big wealth gap and that they are walking against it and speaking out against it. So yes, its a one system, a similar system in the one country two systems formula but very different relationship between them and Mainland China and its government. Many thanks for that. At least three people have died in india during protests against the governments new citizenship law. Two deaths were in the Southern City of mangaluru where police opened fire on crowds trying to burn a police station, and another protester died in the Northern City of lucknow. Demonstrators say the new law is another instance of Prime MinisterNarendra Modis aggressive hindu nationalist agenda. Heres our corrspondent in delhi, rajini vaidyanathan. 0n the streets of india, a battle for the countrys secular soul. Hundreds of thousands are protesting a new law that they discriminates against muslims. From the north east, all the way down to bangalore and the south. From the economic capital to buy, to the Nations Capital delhi. The citizenship law offers a path to citizenship law offers a path to citizenship for Illegal Immigrants from three neighbouring countries. Pakistan, bangladesh and afghanistan. But crucially, it does not offer those protections to muslims, and that is why people are angry here because they say that this law violates indias secular principles which are founded in the constitution, which state that all religions in this country are treated equally. Half of the population is under the age of 25. Its the youth that are leading the charge. This is a secular nation, its a democracy. We are not a struggling democracy, we are not a struggling democracy, we are an established democracy, so it is wrong on so are an established democracy, so it is wrong on so many are an established democracy, so it is wrong on so many levels. We are standing here to defend our constitution, we are standing here to defend the poor and the uneducated. They say the government is trying to silence them. Mobile internet has been suspended across many parts of the country. Police have been accused of heavy handed tactics, including shooting protesters. This well known historian was seen dragged away from a peaceful demonstration. Many fair that this country underneath Prime Minister modi is inching closer to becoming a hindu state. The bjps version of hindu nationalism was hugely popular and helped secure him a landslide can term earlier this year. One of the Prime Ministers closest allies, ahmet shah, says this law offers a safe haven for oppressed minorities. Translation it doesnt discriminate against any religion. It is only a positive step for the communities who are persecuted in afghanistan, pakistan, and bangladesh. To indias muslims, there is another warry. The government is planning to publish a nationwide register of citizens. Everyone would be forced to provide documents to prove they are indian. Those who cant, would be considered Illegal Immigrants. Only non muslims would be protected under the new citizenship law. The largest protest since Prime Minister modi took office looks set to continue stopping does this leave the hindu nationalist agenda that propelled him to power . Rajini vaidyanathan reporting there. We should say that the bbc did invite the Indian High Commission in london for an interview to respond to that story, but they were unable to offer us one. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come from russia with love. An unexpected show of support for britains Prime Minister, but what is behind president putins magnanimous approach . Saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. The signatures took only a few minutes, but they brought a formal end to 3. 5 years of conflict, a conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. Before an audience of world leaders, the president s of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. The romanian border was sealed and silent today. Romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. From sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. This is bbc news. The top story New South Wales has declared a state of emergency as record temperatures continue to fuel more than 100 bushfires. Democrats and republicans are locked in a stand off about the next stage of President Trumps impeachment. It has been delayed until early january, at least, because they cant agree the format for a trial in the senate. Here is what the Party Leaders in the chamber have been saying. Over the last 12 weeks, House Democrats have conducted the most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair impeachment inquiry in modern history. Leader mcconnells 30 minute, partisan stem winder contained hardly a single defence of the president of the United States on the merits. Almost none defended President Trump, because they cant. Julia manchester is a political reporter with the hill. She joins us now from washington. Julia, thanks very much for your time. We are in a slightly curious situation now, arent we, where the democrats, having pushed so hard and fast with impeachment are now trying to slow it down. Explained to us what the tactics are here. So right now, unfortunately for democrats, they actually havent been able to come to an agreement with republicans when it comes to deciding which witnesses to call and what documents they can essentially request, and how they can come to an agreement as to how that would happen. Minority leader schumer and majority leader mcconnell did not come to an agreement as to how that would happen and we will not see that happen until after the holidays. That is definitely playing a role in this. However, Senate Democrats may try to slow this down because they want to try and call as many witnesses as possible, whether it is President Trumps chief of staff, mick mulvaney, or his former National Security adviserjohn bolton. So they are going to need to somehow strategise, because remember they have a very uphill climb in the senate. It is controlled by republicans, and President Trump is likely to be acquitted in the senate. So they need to build a case for the american people, essentially for the american people, essentially for the american people, essentially for the court of public opinion, because this is happening just months before President Trumps re election bid. Months before President Trumps reelection bid. And julia, President Trump has tweeted saying he wants an immediate trial in the senate, again complaining he has been denied his most fundamental rights. But then he turned down a chance to appear himself, he turned down a chance for his legal team to question witnesses, he blocked senior officials from testifying. He could have engaged more. He didnt. He didnt, and it is interesting that now he is wanting to engage in the senate. I think he wants to engage in the senate because he essentially saw impeachment as may bea essentially saw impeachment as may be a bit ofa essentially saw impeachment as may