Hello and welcome to bbc news. The australian Prime Minister, scott morrison, has acknowledged public anger at his decision to go on holiday while his country faces a bushfire crisis. Mr morrison said if he could go back, he would have made a different choice. 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. Gareth barlow reports. This is the remarkable, almost apocalyptic scene facing firefighters tackling australias deadly and devastating wildfires. Fire chiefs described saturday as an awful day. As thousands of personnel tackle raging infernos, the countrys Prime Minister, scott morrison, has been heavily criticised for being on holiday in hawaii, but the pm has cut short his trip to return home. I get it that people would have been upset to know that i was holidaying with my family while their families were under great stress. They know that i am not going to stand there and hold a hose, iam not a trained firefighter. Im conforted by the fact that australians would like me to be herejust simply so i can be here. An areas the size of belgium has been torched by the fires. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and at least ten people killed. The relentless nature of the season is taking a toll, and so is the geographic spread of the activity stop you might recall for several months between july and stop you might recall for several months betweenjuly and in september, most of our effort was concentrated in north east New South Wales, and now we have fire spreading from north east New South Wales and Queensland Border down to the south of New South Wales. This week has seen record high temperatures repeatedly broken. Scott morrison has long defended the use of fossil fuels, and the Prime Minister has criticised local politicians who have linked the fires to climate change. With australia hotting up in public letter rising, the pm said the government would take action on climate change. There is no argument about links between, in my view on the governments view, and any government in this country, about the links between broader issues of Global Climate change and weather events around the world, but i am sure people equally want to acknowledge that the direct connection to any single fire event, its not a credible suggestion to make that link. We must take action on climate change, we are taking action. Arson, lightning strikes, even self combusting piles of manure have all been blamed for triggering the blazers. First though, the authorities have to try and take control of the flames, before they can try and control the causes to prevent future fires. Ive been speaking to the bbcs shaimaa khalil, whos in hill top, New South Wales and she gave me this update. The weather has changed quite a bit here. Temperatures have dropped but were still getting quite a bit of smoke and haze. Firefighters have gone out to do damage assessments in the worst hit areas. Here in hill top most homes were spared, but many people have been evacuated, we met them as they were on their way to shelters. The village next door has been quite devastated. Even though the weather has changed and temperatures have dropped, firefighters are telling us its still very dangerous for anybody to go there. Many roads have been blocked. The reason for that is because the fires have been so devastating in these areas, there is a large number of trees that have been burned, and they are at a great risk of falling on either houses or cars, so people are not permitted in or out. Those who are still in these areas, in their homes, have been told to stay indoors. So movement in those villages and in those areas that have been devastated by fires is quite limited. But now its teams that are on the ground, firefighting teams and police investigators, who are looking to assess the damage to make sure everybody is accounted for and to essentially see how many homes have been destroyed. We are told there are smaller pockets of fire but not nearly as big as they were yesterday. And the problem is for so many of the firefighters, isnt it, is not only the number of fires but also the sheer size of some of these fires as well . Do you know, its interesting, i was just speaking to the Division Commander in this fire station, and he said something quite telling. He said we no longer use the word control. We can no longer control the fires. We can manipulate them to move into areas which are not densely populated, to limit the damage. That is how huge these fires are, how spread out they are, but also how unpredictable they are. He said wind changes are not ourfriend, and wind changes is what has been happening here. The problem with the wind changing is that it changes the behaviour of fires, small fires can merge with bigger ones and turn into fires that are very hard to control. Its also hard to know where its going to hit next, and how big it will have to be to prioritise resources. That is why it has been quite challenging for firefighters. Its the fact that so many of the conditions that determine the size of these fires are not really in anybodys control, because are controlled by the weather. Lets get some of the days other news. Croatians are voting in a president ial election just as the country takes the helm of the European Unions rotating presidency. Its a tight race between the conservative incumbent Kolinda Grabar kitarovic and rivals on the right and the left. Emigration, corruption and the quality of Public Services are seen as the key election issues. At least 18 inmates have been killed in an outbreak of Gang Violence at a prison in honduras. Officials say 16 people were injured in the northern port city of tela on friday. The fight was one of the worst recent outbreaks in the country where prisons are notoriously overcrowded. The cuban president has appointed the countrys first Prime Minister in more than a0 years the tourism minister, Manuel Marrero cruz. The post of Prime Minister was scrapped by the late leader of the cuban revolution, fidel castro, in 1976. It has now been reinstated and awarded to mr marrero, who has overseen a major boost in tourism to the island over the past 16 years. The street artist known as banksy has unveiled a seasonal new work in the Israeli Occupied west bank. It shows a manger scene next to concrete blocks seemingly pierced by a mortar shell. French president Emmanuel Macron has called colonialism a grave mistake on a visit to west africa. Speaking in the ivory coast a former french colony he said it was time to turn the page on the past. Mr macron and his vaorian counterpart have announced a new currency to replace the community of africa franc. Andy beatt has more. A whistlestop tour of west africa and president macron keen to break with frances colonial past. Meeting students and Health Workers in the ivory coasts main city, abidjan, part of a vast empire thats spanned half the african continent for more than a century. Translation too often today france is viewed as having an overly aggressive hegemonistic view and the trappings of colonialism. That was a grave mistake and a fault of the republic. Comments welcomed at a state dinner and across africa, but likely to prove more controversial at home. Two years ago, mr macron created a storm calling frances colonisation of nigeria a crime against humanity. Singing of la marseillaise but frances influence in the region remains a strong. Visiting french troops, a vow to step up the fight against islamist militants. Translation i hope to bring renewed force so we can win a fight that is key to stability and security, her and also in europe, because, if we let the threat flourish, it will impact us too. An operation by French Forces in neighbouring mali on saturday left dozens ofjihadist fighters dead. While critics question frances continuing military role, economic ties forged after the Second World War are loosening. President macron and his ivorian counterpart announcing a common west african currency to replace the colonial era franc. Translation this is a historic day for our country and the whole of west africa. This reform represents a big step in our determination to make the region an integrated and dynamic economic space and a source of prosperity. It is hoped eight countries will be using the new eco as early as 2020. This tightly choreographed visit concludes on sunday, with a visit to niger and a meeting with its president. Mr macrons mission to rebrand of franco african relations taking just three days. It will take much longer to see how successful he has been. Andy beatt, bbc news. We heard earlier about the fires in australia, well europes had some extreme weather of its own. Heavy rains and floods have seen roads and airports closed on the mediterranean island of corsica. Ferry services to mainland france have been suspended. Residents in some areas have been evacuated from their homes. In the french alps, firefighters have been called into deal with landslides. These buses were stuck in some buildings have been washed away. Residency the flooding is the worst they have ever seen. Residents say. Theres also been flooding in the south of england. Flights at Gatwick Airport have been disrupted and landslides have blocked some railway lines. Overall, nearly 60 flood warnings are in place across the country. Some areas have had 50 milimetres of rain in less than 48 hours. The disruption is all the result of two weather systems, storms elsa, and now storm fabien. Tomasz schafernaker. In the bbc weather centre, has more on whats in store. The weather has been very unsettled, very stormy across western parts of europe for a few days now. This is a storm fabian here as it was slamming into the coast of france, also the coast of portugal as well. In some areas, winds are gusting 120, 140 kilometres per hour and through the course of early sunday, the storm will track deeper inland, bringing bad weather to areas deeper in france and eventually germany, spain as well, to the south, this whole portion of europe are basically is infor portion of europe are basically is in for some really rough weather and on top of that, we have heavy snow expected in the alps, so yes, it may be very stormy around the coasts here, and structural damage from the winds, but that hour of bad weather will spread across other parts of europe in the lead up to christmas, which is what we do not want. 60,000 people have packed into tokyos new national stadium, to celebrate its opening, ahead of next years olympics and paralympics. They cheered the retired jamaican sprinter usain bolt as hejogged around the track. And there was a taste of how the 2020 Opening Ceremony might look, with traditional drummers and a parade of dancers. Mark eames reports. Expect a few more drums when they do this for real next year. In just over seven months time, the Tokyo Olympics get under way and the stadium that will be the centrepiece for the games and also the paralympics has officially been opened. The success of the recent rugby world cup, aided by the host nations run to the quarter finals, has given sport injapan a big boost. The stadium, which cost nearly 1. 5 billion, will hold 68,000 for the olympics. Those lucky enough to get tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies will see more of this nextjuly but on a far bigger scale. If you are celebrating the opening of your Olympic Stadium you need a highly decorated olympian. They dont come much bigger and better than this man, usain bolt certainly knows a thing or two about winning olympic titles. The crowd delighted to welcome the eight time gold medallist and he was persuaded to take part in a relay race which used the Olympic Rings instead of batons. Even though the jamaican has been out of the spotlight since his retirement he was impressed with the atmosphere. It was a great experience, actually, to be in here in front of so many people. I was happy and excited because i wont be competing at the olympics so the fact i got to run on the track was an experience in itself. The drums, the dancing in the spectacle. Japan certainly knows how to put on a good show. Stadium hosts its first sporting events, on new years day. The first athletics comes in may with the test event for the games themselves. Mark eames, bbc news stay with us on bbc news, still to come liverpool can officially call themselves champions of the world, after winning the Fifa Club World cup. The world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, whos died from suspected Heart Failure at the age of 53. He sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. The United States troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. The pentagon says its failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the United States to face drugs charges. The hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. In its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. Day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan ams maid of the seas, nosedown in the soft earth. You could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. Christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. Thousands went to Midnight Mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti communist riots ten days ago. This is bbc news. The latest headlines the australian Prime Minister cuts short his holiday as devastating bushfires continue to rage across three states. Lets stay with that story now. David bowman is professor of fire science at the university of tasmania. He gave us his opinion on whether the fires are being tackled in the right way. In the immediate term, yes, because theres no choice now. This is a historically significant fire crisis and, basically, theyjust have to use whatever resources theyve got and hope that eventually the rain will come to stem this. But all of the indications are that this event is going to continue for at least another month, possibly longer, and its important to stress that its notjust New South Wales that is being impacted by the fires, there are fires in south australia, victoria, western australia, and indeed tasmania, as well as in southern queensland. It has been going on since october. It probably will continue right through to the end of february. What did you think needs to change in the way that australia confronts these types of fires . Because clearly they are getting a lot worse, arent they . Thats right. It has been said that the best way to fight a bushfire is to fight it five years in advance. And what that means is you have got to do a lot of preparation, both in the Housing Stock to make the houses less prone to being burned down, better garden design, and then a better interface with the bushland to reduce the fire hazard in the bushland by using various techniques, including burning the fuels under controlled conditions, mechanical removal, and then, in some cases, using herbivores to eat grass and other combustible vegetation. So theres a Big Programme ahead of us, i think, to really get on top of fire preparedness and that we cantjust continue expecting to be able to manage these fire crises with just these incredibly amazing efforts of firefighters, particularly volunteer firefighters, who are putting themselves in grave danger. There has already been loss of life of firefighters. We cant expect that to be a norm. We have to do something different. And what you think australia can learn from, for example, other countries that suffer similar bushfires and forest fires . Well, my concern is that we are going to go down the american path of industrialising firefighting and there is a very good need for industrial firefighting and specialised aircraft and so on, but that is its only one part of a broader strategy. We have to see really significant reform and investment in our firefighting capacity and building up the capacity, particularly in the community and individual landowners, we really need to empower them so they have at a situational awareness, better resources so they can make betterjudgements into the lead up into the fire seasons and then a fire crisis, like the one that is unfolding. The worst thing we can do is simply invest in more kit. It has to at least be a 2 pronged strategy. Investment in specialised firefighting, but also investment in preparing the community to withstand these relentless fires. American airlines is to offer passengers non binary gender options when they make flight bookings. Customers will now be able to designate their gender as u or x, rather than male or female, by calling the reservations number, although the airline says it hopes to soon provide the same option online. President trump has claimed the United States and china will very shortly sign the first part of their trade pact. It was announced earlier this month, in a bid to end the tit for tat trade war between the Worlds Largest economies. Under the deal, the United States would agree to reduce some tariffs in exchange for an increase in chinese purchases of American Farm products. We also took the toughest ever action against china. And as a result, we just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal, and well be signing it very shortly, they are already buying billions and billions of dollars of products, agricultural products. The