:00:00. > :00:19.Our top stories. The needles and storms leave at least 29 people dead
:00:20. > :00:30.in the southern United States. Here are warnings of an historic blizzard
:00:31. > :00:35.to come. Flooding has left thousands without electricity in the north of
:00:36. > :00:44.England. Battles to take the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State group.
:00:45. > :00:48.And the British man who successfully rode his boat salt from the United
:00:49. > :00:53.States of the week across the Pacific to Australia describes his
:00:54. > :00:57.journey. It has been difficult the hallway but in fairness that is what
:00:58. > :01:02.I was looking for. I just did not realise it would ease so difficult.
:01:03. > :01:35.Daesh would be so difficult. There has been severe weather in the
:01:36. > :01:48.southern United States. In the cold light of day,
:01:49. > :01:51.the devastation caused by tornadoes The worst-hit area was in Garland,
:01:52. > :01:55.where eight people were killed. Cars blown off highways
:01:56. > :01:59.and homes were flattened. All the glass, which
:02:00. > :02:20.was here, just cracked. Officials have said that more
:02:21. > :02:33.than 600 buildings were damaged. The Dallas area is the fourth most
:02:34. > :02:35.populace in the United States. This was the moment when one
:02:36. > :02:39.of the tornadoes hit Texas. Size only made apparent by power
:02:40. > :02:44.flashes as electricity It was a normal freight train type
:02:45. > :02:51.sound, the next thing that we knew, all the neighbours, everybody,
:02:52. > :02:57.we went out, took safe areas. Among the fatalities,
:02:58. > :03:11.several were killed when cars The tornadoes have been
:03:12. > :03:20.following a week of storms, leaving This one tore a path 100 miles long
:03:21. > :03:32.between Mississippi and Tenessee. Flooding in Alabama was the result
:03:33. > :03:39.of record rainfalls. As of Sunday morning,
:03:40. > :03:43.more than 400 flights cancelled, With a histroric blizzard forcast,
:03:44. > :04:07.people in Oklahoma and Texas have Let's get more on this. On the line
:04:08. > :04:14.now from the National weather service in Dallas we have a senior
:04:15. > :04:18.meteorologist. Tell out in the coming hours what is the situation
:04:19. > :04:23.like for residents where you are? Now we have had a very strong cold
:04:24. > :04:29.front moved through. We are just above freezing but the winds are
:04:30. > :04:34.gusting through up to 45 mph. Combined with rain and thunderstorms
:04:35. > :04:44.we are even seen Hill reports. It is pretty awful idea still. Let's stop
:04:45. > :04:49.more about that. You said the wind was still severe in some places. Are
:04:50. > :04:55.we likely to see to needles like those which have struck in the past
:04:56. > :05:00.24 hours? There are some further to the east over East Texas and
:05:01. > :05:11.Louisiana generally knew the Tyler areas and up towards more northern
:05:12. > :05:15.parts. Overcoming these Texans will have too braced themselves for what
:05:16. > :05:21.has been turned an historic blizzard. Doc as to what will
:05:22. > :05:26.happen. That will stay well off to northern parts but it is generally a
:05:27. > :05:30.strong upper low-pressure system which will lift over the top of the
:05:31. > :05:37.called air tonight in areas like Oklahoma City, areas to the west and
:05:38. > :05:41.north-west of Dallas up to Texas and Oklahoma where they have already
:05:42. > :05:46.been hit hard by blizzard conditions so they are looking at close to one
:05:47. > :05:50.foot of snow and loathing snow which will make travel very hazardous.
:05:51. > :05:56.Compared to the weather we have seen strike the area in previous years
:05:57. > :06:00.how unusual is this? It is unusual in the fact it is not our peak
:06:01. > :06:05.season for needles but with our proximity to the very warm Alf of
:06:06. > :06:09.Mexico and with the Rocky Mountains of to the West we have combined
:06:10. > :06:15.different wind patterns coming together with moisture and strong
:06:16. > :06:21.winds. We could a sickly get tornadoes any time of the year here
:06:22. > :06:26.and there have been previous in 2006 and 2009 around this time we have
:06:27. > :06:33.had a tornado out rate. Thank you for joining us.
:06:34. > :06:36.Some 500 soldiers have now been brought in to deal with the severe
:06:37. > :06:39.flooding in northern England, with another 1,000 put on standby.
:06:40. > :06:41.Rescue teams have been evacuating residents in York,
:06:42. > :06:43.where water levels are still rising, and across Yorkshire,
:06:44. > :06:45.Lancashire and Greater Manchester thousands of people
:06:46. > :06:49.David Cameron has pledged to do "whatever is needed" to help people
:06:50. > :06:53.affected by what he called an "unprecedented" situation.
:06:54. > :06:56.There are currently 223 flood warnings and alerts in place
:06:57. > :07:00.across England and Wales.Of those, 24 are severe flood warnings,
:07:01. > :07:05.defined as those which present a risk to human life.
:07:06. > :07:09.In Scotland, there is now just one flood alert in place.
:07:10. > :07:29.After Cumbria and Lancashire it is now Yorkshire was much turn.
:07:30. > :07:31.The people knew that the city was vulnerable,
:07:32. > :07:34.The call to evacuate was made last night.
:07:35. > :07:59.Last night we started putting water and sandbags up.
:08:00. > :08:01.The water came so quickly, before we could get everything
:08:02. > :08:05.But not everybody has been happy to leave,
:08:06. > :08:08.Some people have wanted to stay in their homes,
:08:09. > :08:12.and although the weather is good, a dry day, it is when it gets
:08:13. > :08:14.to the evening, and starts to get dark.
:08:15. > :08:16.That is when people are going to change.
:08:17. > :08:19.On this road, east of the city centre, the water levels have been
:08:20. > :08:31.Never seen anything like it. and is worried she may
:08:32. > :08:33.I'm concerned at the level it's getting to.
:08:34. > :08:38.Might need to look at getting out the flat.
:08:39. > :08:41.Mountain rescue teams are helping from across the north of England.
:08:42. > :08:47.It is part of a massive emergency effort.
:08:48. > :08:50.In York, this is the nerve centre, keeping track of the floods
:08:51. > :08:58.Dynamic situation, driven by the water levels,
:08:59. > :09:17.A plea has been made for an extra 5,000 sandbags.
:09:18. > :09:21.Some of the barriers had to be lifted, pumps overwhelmed,
:09:22. > :10:01.We have decided to deploy more personnel, but the emergency
:10:02. > :10:04.As we just heard, the city of York has been dealing with unprecedented
:10:05. > :10:08.A little earlier I spoke to Judith Moritz who gave us
:10:09. > :10:23.Ironically it's been a nice day with sun in the sky but the water
:10:24. > :10:26.very much still on the ground and that is partly because of
:10:27. > :10:32.You need to understand the way the Yorkshire Dales function
:10:33. > :10:35.to understand why we are seeing this flooding happen in the way
:10:36. > :10:52.It is not thought likely the river will reach its peak until lunchtime
:10:53. > :10:58.tomorrow. The river Ouse is at the moment about 5.1 metres above the
:10:59. > :11:04.level it would be in the summertime. ER flood defences in the city that
:11:05. > :11:08.can cope with what up to 5.4 metres so the anxiety is that people are
:11:09. > :11:14.waiting here to see whether the water will continue to rise
:11:15. > :11:16.overnight and into tomorrow and whether it will be contained within
:11:17. > :11:21.those defences. You can see already a lot of the defences have an
:11:22. > :11:27.breached because water have run over the rivers into the city centre.
:11:28. > :11:31.This is typical, a lot of roads like this were the only way to get along
:11:32. > :11:36.is by boat and people have been forced to get out of their houses
:11:37. > :11:41.and apartments and in some cases we have had to be rescued by the Army,
:11:42. > :11:47.the Fire Service and buy mine to rescue teams who have come in here
:11:48. > :11:50.to help as well. On that note, lots of able have been forced to leave
:11:51. > :11:58.their homes but I the emergency services still there and what are
:11:59. > :12:02.they doing to aid them? You can see possibly just behind me there are
:12:03. > :12:06.lights on in the building behind me. Those are flats which are not
:12:07. > :12:11.flooded yet. The point is that the right on the cusp of possibly been
:12:12. > :12:16.flooded and I have spoken to several able today properties like that who
:12:17. > :12:21.have said our premises have not been flooded yet. Nobody has told us to
:12:22. > :12:27.get out, we are watching the water keeping higher. The sandbags are out
:12:28. > :12:32.and we are hoping nothing will affect us directly so we will stay
:12:33. > :12:35.put at the are other people whose homes have been flooded and that
:12:36. > :12:39.happened so quickly they have had to be rescued the Cosby thought they
:12:40. > :12:44.had time and it was not going to happen but in the event he had to be
:12:45. > :12:46.pulled out. We heard from people for whom it happened so quickly they had
:12:47. > :12:53.to call for emergency help. The weather has been wreaking
:12:54. > :12:54.havoc elsewhere too. More than a hundred thousand people
:12:55. > :12:57.in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have been forced
:12:58. > :13:00.to leave their homes because of some of the worst floods
:13:01. > :13:02.in the region in five decades. In Paraguay, the worst affected
:13:03. > :13:05.country, the authorities say water In Argentina, some 20,000
:13:06. > :13:07.people were evacuated Officials in Paris say one
:13:08. > :13:16.of the men who carried out the deadly Islamist attacks
:13:17. > :13:18.on the French capital last month, Samy Amimour, has been buried
:13:19. > :13:20.in an anonymous grave. They say he was buried on Thursday
:13:21. > :13:24.in a suburb of Paris He was one of three suicide
:13:25. > :13:28.attackers who killed 90 concert Meanwhile, the authorities
:13:29. > :13:35.on the French island of Corsica have banned street demonstrations
:13:36. > :13:38.in parts of the capital Ajaccio following several days
:13:39. > :13:41.of anti-Arab protests. Security forces in Corsica also
:13:42. > :13:45.cordoned off a largely-Arab housing estate, where two fire-fighters
:13:46. > :13:50.and a police officer were injured in clashes on December
:13:51. > :13:55.the twenty-fourth. The following day protesters went
:13:56. > :13:57.into the housing estate Stay with us on BBC World News,
:13:58. > :14:21.still to come, all the sport Stuart Broad takes three wickets on
:14:22. > :14:32.day two to give the tourists a slight advantage in Durban. We saw
:14:33. > :14:34.this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people started to run.
:14:35. > :15:33.It was complete chaos. As a series of tornadoes and storms
:15:34. > :15:39.leaves at least 29 people dead forecasters warn that some areas now
:15:40. > :15:42.face major blizzards. And here in Britain,
:15:43. > :15:45.the army is called in to help deal with unprecedented flooding
:15:46. > :15:47.in the north of England - homes have been evacuated
:15:48. > :15:49.and thousands of people Iraqi forces have made fresh gains
:15:50. > :15:58.against militants from the so-called They're on the verge of retaking
:15:59. > :16:02.the major city of Ramadi - west of Baghdad - which fell
:16:03. > :16:06.to IS in May in what was seen It's the last key
:16:07. > :16:13.position in Ramadi. IS have been using the compound
:16:14. > :16:17.to organise against the Iraqi army - who have been trying
:16:18. > :16:30.to retake the city for weeks. The BBC's Thomas Fessy sent this
:16:31. > :16:33.report from Baghdad. This is what it takes to retake
:16:34. > :16:36.a city from so-called Islamic State. The scene in Ramadi after a six-day
:16:37. > :16:39.offensive with Iraqi soldiers leading a ground campaign,
:16:40. > :16:41.supported by air strikes Iraqi troops fought a battle street
:16:42. > :16:44.by street, house to house. IS fighters had months
:16:45. > :16:46.to build their defence, the whole city centre
:16:47. > :16:49.was booby-trapped. But the security forces have
:16:50. > :16:53.now forced the jihadis to abandon their stronghold,
:16:54. > :16:56.the former provincial government compound, from where
:16:57. > :16:59.they organised their resistance. Taking control of this position
:17:00. > :17:05.is key to retaking Ramadi. Sporadic fighting continues
:17:06. > :17:12.in the neighbourhood, but Iraqi forces are confident
:17:13. > :17:18.they now have the upper hand. TRANSLATION: Our operations
:17:19. > :17:24.started a few days ago, so a rough day today for the armed
:17:25. > :17:28.forces and counterterrorism forces, but we gained control to enter
:17:29. > :17:37.the governmental square. And this is what Iraqi
:17:38. > :17:40.soldiers want to forget, when they abandoned the city
:17:41. > :17:43.to Islamic State fighters. Pictures of their hasty retreat
:17:44. > :17:46.were an embarrassment It has taken months for the security
:17:47. > :17:52.forces to work out a plan to retake They first isolated the city
:17:53. > :17:56.from all sides to cut off IS militant supply routes
:17:57. > :18:00.before this final push. This is a success in the fight
:18:01. > :18:03.against Islamic State, but it is only the start of a battle
:18:04. > :18:07.that will get much tougher The director of Israel's missile
:18:08. > :18:16.defence programmes has been sacked for what's been described
:18:17. > :18:20.by the government as a grave breach The Israeli media say Yair Ramati
:18:21. > :18:27.stored classified documents Yair Ramati was responsible
:18:28. > :18:31.for overseeing projects such as the Iron Dome and Arrow
:18:32. > :18:35.anti-missile interceptor systems. Pope Francis has called
:18:36. > :18:37.for Central American countries to show generosity in dealing
:18:38. > :18:40.with the rising numbers of Cuban refugees who have become stranded
:18:41. > :19:02.in the region as they attempt to get The Pope made his remarks following
:19:03. > :19:09.his blessing on Sunday to people in the square. My thoughts go at this
:19:10. > :19:11.moment to the numinous Cuban migrants who find themselves that
:19:12. > :19:18.difficulty in Central America. Many are Vic aims of human trafficking. I
:19:19. > :19:23.call on the government to renew a commitment to find a solution to
:19:24. > :19:27.this human drama. There has been an 80% rise in the number of Cubans
:19:28. > :19:32.seeking to reach the US this year. There are worries that the lesions
:19:33. > :19:36.between Washington and Havana made give preferential treatment to the
:19:37. > :19:41.Cuban migrants. As many as 5000 people are stranded in camps on
:19:42. > :19:49.Costa Rica was much order with Nicaraguan. The allowed travel
:19:50. > :19:55.across the territory sparking a diplomatic row between the
:19:56. > :20:01.neighbours. As migrants continue to flow, Costa Rica tried to broker a
:20:02. > :20:04.deal with its neighbours before suspending transit visas ten days
:20:05. > :20:10.ago and warning future arrivals would be deported. That has had a
:20:11. > :20:16.knock-on effect with 300 Cuban migrants now stranded in Panama.
:20:17. > :20:18.Many have hitched tents near the border in anticipation of a long
:20:19. > :20:21.wait. England will feel they have a slight
:20:22. > :20:27.advantage over South Africa at the end of the second day
:20:28. > :20:31.of the first test in Durban. Stuart Broad was the man who helped
:20:32. > :20:34.to shade it for the tourists as he took three wickets
:20:35. > :20:36.as the hosts finished England were 253-8 before a late
:20:37. > :20:41.flourish saw them finish Nick Compton made 85 on his return
:20:42. > :20:46.to the side. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel
:20:47. > :20:48.were the pick of South Africa's bowlers who finished
:20:49. > :20:51.with four wickets each. South Africa were in trouble
:20:52. > :20:56.when Broad struck with two early wickets, as the hosts slipped to 14
:20:57. > :20:59.for two before Dean Elgar De Villiers went for 49
:21:00. > :21:08.as Broad struck again, finishing with three
:21:09. > :21:20.wickets for just 16. The morning session will be crucial.
:21:21. > :21:27.We were hoping for more of a swing than we got. We threw it into the
:21:28. > :21:31.car more than we wanted. It is a heavy outfield and the bowlers
:21:32. > :21:34.suffered a camp from that. If we get out early tomorrow morning and get
:21:35. > :21:40.more of the swing we will hopefully get some wickets in that first hour.
:21:41. > :21:42.Over in Melbourne, a dramatic collapse in the final session left
:21:43. > :21:45.the West Indies in trouble as they reached 91-6 at stumps
:21:46. > :21:47.on the second day of the second test with Australia.
:21:48. > :21:50.It came after centuries from captain Steven Smith and Adam Voges drove
:21:51. > :21:53.the hosts to a daunting first innings declaration of 551-3.
:21:54. > :21:55.It leaves the Windies 261 runs short of the follow on
:21:56. > :22:05.Pakistan bowler Yasir Shah has been charged with an anti-doping
:22:06. > :22:06.violation and provisionally suspended by
:22:07. > :22:11.Yasir tested positive for the banned substance following the second
:22:12. > :22:25.one-day international against England in Abu Dhabi last month.
:22:26. > :22:27.The 29-year-old made his test debut for Pakistan
:22:28. > :22:30.last year, and earlier this month was named in the ICC's Test team
:22:31. > :22:34.Yasir has made no comment and the ICC has said that no further
:22:35. > :22:36.information will be released until a full investigation
:22:37. > :22:39.The Scottish Premiership Champions Celtic missed the chance
:22:40. > :22:43.to extend their lead at the top of the table as they were held
:22:44. > :22:45.to a 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle.
:22:46. > :22:50.Twice they took the lead, but twice Hearts pulled level.
:22:51. > :22:53.Their second goal came in the 90th minute, as Celtic move just one
:22:54. > :22:54.point clear of second placed Aberdeen.
:22:55. > :22:57.Saracens maintained their 100% record in rugby union's Premiership
:22:58. > :22:59.this season with a 26-16 win over Wasps in Coventry,
:23:00. > :23:01.a result that sees the defending champions return
:23:02. > :23:06.Elsewhere, Harlequins left it late to rescue a point against Gloucester
:23:07. > :23:13.In the day's other game Bath beat Worcester 21-14 for only
:23:14. > :23:41.Elsewhere Edinburgh beat Glasgow warrior 23-11. That is all the
:23:42. > :23:44.sport. A British man has become the first
:23:45. > :23:48.person to row non-stop and solo across the Pacific Ocean
:23:49. > :23:50.from North America to Australia. John Beeden, who's 53,
:23:51. > :23:52.set off from San Francisco on the first of June and rowed
:23:53. > :23:55.for an average of fifteen John Beeden celebrated
:23:56. > :24:07.with family and friends, after completing the journey
:24:08. > :24:12.we could only dream of. The 53-year-old Briton has been
:24:13. > :24:18.rowing for up to 15 hours a day, It has been difficult,
:24:19. > :24:26.but that is what I was looking for. I did not realise it was
:24:27. > :24:30.going to be so difficult. I did the Atlantic, three years ago,
:24:31. > :24:35.and although it was hard work, I found the process of doing the 53
:24:36. > :24:40.days, relatively easy, I wanted to look for
:24:41. > :24:49.something more difficult. John had hoped to reach
:24:50. > :24:52.the north-eastern Australia, weeks ago, but was slowed
:24:53. > :24:56.down by bad weather. After travelling more
:24:57. > :24:59.than 14,000 kilometres, he was greeted one month
:25:00. > :25:02.later than expected, Getting pushed back hundreds
:25:03. > :25:15.of miles you've already rowed Some much needed downtime,
:25:16. > :25:22.after returning to home in Canada. But what will be next
:25:23. > :25:24.for this adventurer? He said he's not going to get
:25:25. > :25:28.in another boat for a while, but after a couple of weeks,
:25:29. > :25:31.I'm sure he will be The latest Star Wars film continues
:25:32. > :25:44.to sweep all before it, becoming the fastest ever film
:25:45. > :25:47.to make $1 billion dollars The movie achieved
:25:48. > :25:50.the feat in just 12 days. The news comes as the director
:25:51. > :25:53.and cast of the Star Wars film were in China for the
:25:54. > :26:00.official premiere there. Don't forget you can get in touch
:26:01. > :26:04.with me on Twitter -