:00:13. > :00:18.UN brokered deal to allow Syrian fighters to leave the Yarmouk
:00:19. > :00:23.refugee camp has suffered a last-minute setback. More than
:00:24. > :00:27.150,000 people in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil have
:00:28. > :00:32.been driven from their homes by some of the worst flooding in the region
:00:33. > :00:36.for decades. Meanwhile, in the UK, severe flood warnings, a danger to
:00:37. > :00:40.life, have been issued for parts of the North of England after several
:00:41. > :00:45.rivers overflowed. And we will find out whether ballet can really help
:00:46. > :01:02.treat sufferers of Parkinson's disease.
:01:03. > :01:09.A warm welcome to you. Plans to evacuate IS militants and Syrian
:01:10. > :01:13.rebels from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus have reportedly been
:01:14. > :01:16.halted. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said the delay is
:01:17. > :01:20.for logistical reasons in order to secure the road to Raqqa. The UN
:01:21. > :01:24.deal is said to provide a safe passage for the fighters and their
:01:25. > :01:29.families out of Yarmouk. It would have allowed the UN to deliver
:01:30. > :01:33.much-needed aid to the thousands of people who remain stuck inside the
:01:34. > :01:37.camp. One of the reasons suggested for the hold on the evacuation is
:01:38. > :01:43.the killing of a top rebel commander. The leader of the rebel
:01:44. > :01:54.group in question was killed on Friday in an air strike. It is not
:01:55. > :01:56.clear if it was a Syrian or a Russian air strike, but it is known
:01:57. > :01:59.that the rebel group have been instrumental in fighting IS. So what
:02:00. > :02:06.is the significance of the death of the commander? We take a look.
:02:07. > :02:10.A sophisticated search for a top target, an unusual operation for the
:02:11. > :02:16.Syrian government, but doable with Russian aid. The target is one of
:02:17. > :02:21.the most important and influential Islamist leaders in the suburbs of
:02:22. > :02:25.Damascus, Zahroun Alloush, leader of Jaysh al-Islam, was killed by fire
:02:26. > :02:29.from what activists say was a Russian-made jet. But it is not yet
:02:30. > :02:33.clear whether the plane was from the rational Syrian air force. Either
:02:34. > :02:39.way, the Syrian government has claimed the credit. Jaysh al-Islam
:02:40. > :02:51.is the biggest and most powerful rebel group that controls the
:02:52. > :02:55.eastern area. While the Government makes a deal with Islamic State
:02:56. > :02:59.fighters in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, they have killed the
:03:00. > :03:03.leader of a group who have been successful in defeating Islamic
:03:04. > :03:09.State militants and preventing them from getting closer to the capital.
:03:10. > :03:12.Zahroun Alloush's group was backed by Saudi Arabia and was represented
:03:13. > :03:17.in the Riyadh talks earlier this month that aimed at preparing the
:03:18. > :03:20.opposition for peace talks with the as art regime. But for Russia, the
:03:21. > :03:30.group is one of many identified as terrorists and should be fought.
:03:31. > :03:34.Since the start of Russian air strikes in Syria in September, there
:03:35. > :03:46.have been reports of targeted attacks against rebel groups while
:03:47. > :03:54.fighting IS. Russia claims it is fighting Islamic groups. This comes
:03:55. > :03:56.as a blow to the peace talks later this month. Zahroun Alloush was
:03:57. > :04:08.thought to be instrument to finding a resolution. These protests are
:04:09. > :04:11.some of many that took place calling for the release of prisoners and
:04:12. > :04:18.accusing Zahroun Alloush of betraying the goals of the
:04:19. > :04:24.revolution. He was even accused of being responsible for the kidnap of
:04:25. > :04:32.a veteran UN human rights lawyer. The group has appointed a successor.
:04:33. > :04:36.But this killing is a turning point in Syria's five-year war and sends
:04:37. > :04:39.one message - Assad and Russia will decide who they will sit with at the
:04:40. > :05:14.negotiation table. More than 150,000
:05:15. > :05:15.people in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil have
:05:16. > :05:18.been driven from their homes by some of the worst flooding
:05:19. > :05:23.in the region in decades. Witnesses say there was no time, the
:05:24. > :05:30.river rose with more force than it had for 50 years and above the
:05:31. > :05:34.city's 17 metres embankment. TRANSLATION: The river Justin Rose,
:05:35. > :05:41.we are used to crest of 12 or 13 metres, maximum 14 metres. -- just
:05:42. > :05:45.rows. This was out of our hands. This city is used to flooding,
:05:46. > :05:49.sitting on a river that separate Argentina from Uruguay. It is part
:05:50. > :05:57.of a wider river system, a basin which feeds into one of the largest
:05:58. > :06:02.river basins in the world. In Paraguay, many of the evacuated
:06:03. > :06:06.families have built a temporary shacks. More than 100,000 people
:06:07. > :06:11.have been forced from their homes and a number of power distribution
:06:12. > :06:14.points have been knocked out. The president has declared a state of
:06:15. > :06:20.emergency to free up disaster funding. November and December
:06:21. > :06:25.rainfalls exceeded the average by more than 300 millimetres in some
:06:26. > :06:29.areas. Flooding was predicted this summer due to help me, but
:06:30. > :06:42.authorities never expected anything on this scale. -- due to El Nino.
:06:43. > :06:45.Here in the UK, we've been receiving dramatic video all day of flooding
:06:46. > :06:48.More than 350 flood warnings and alerts
:06:49. > :06:51.are currently in force across England, Scotland and Wales.
:06:52. > :06:53.The northwest of England has been particularly badly hit,
:06:54. > :06:58.This is what happens when the rain just won't stop.
:06:59. > :07:02.Across the North of England, towns and villages lie submerged.
:07:03. > :07:12.they served Christmas dinner yesterday.
:07:13. > :07:16.Today there was no chance of a Boxing Day meal.
:07:17. > :07:22.As the water came in, the staff tried to bail it out.
:07:23. > :07:25.The water levels rising as we are standing here now,
:07:26. > :07:29.It is up to about two feet at the moment.
:07:30. > :07:32.And that's in the kitchens? The kitchen's completely flooded.
:07:33. > :07:36.We just have to wait for the level to drop.
:07:37. > :07:38.These flood defences were put in by the army yesterday,
:07:39. > :07:42.Ribchester was cut off this morning, and with the water rising,
:07:43. > :07:45.pumps and sandbags were brought in to keep it at bay.
:07:46. > :07:47.The extraordinary levels that we have seen, record-breaking
:07:48. > :07:49.river levels now across Lancashire, has just overwhelmed even
:07:50. > :07:56.So we always try - every house that we can keep dry
:07:57. > :07:58.is important, and we will always try and do that.
:07:59. > :08:01.But the levels that we have seen today right across the North
:08:02. > :08:05.of England are meaning that we are seeing significant flooding still.
:08:06. > :08:09.Fire crews went out in boats to help rescue those who were cut off.
:08:10. > :08:11.In nearby Whalley, when the downpour became a flood, people were forced
:08:12. > :08:27.Seven o'clock this morning, the water started coming up,
:08:28. > :08:31.and over the past few hours, it has just come up and up.
:08:32. > :08:33.We started trying to mop it up, which we soon...
:08:34. > :08:36.Quite a good job for about an hour, and then it just overwhelmed us.
:08:37. > :08:41.It is probably about two feet in our house now.
:08:42. > :08:43.In Greater Manchester, the power of the storm is best shown
:08:44. > :08:45.by what has happened to this 200-year-old building.
:08:46. > :08:48.The former pub sits on a bridge in Summerseat in Bury.
:08:49. > :08:50.As the rain hammered down and the river raged, it collapsed,
:08:51. > :08:57.In Rochdale, the River Roch surged through the town centre,
:08:58. > :08:59.flooding dozens of businesses and cutting off power
:09:00. > :09:04.In west Yorkshire, Sowerby Bridge is amongst several towns
:09:05. > :09:10.Cars which were parked in the dry are now roof deep.
:09:11. > :09:12.In Manchester city centre, an unusual sight -
:09:13. > :09:14.the River Irwell racing at speed, crashing past balconies
:09:15. > :09:25.The rain has continued all day, and as it falls, the anxiety levels
:09:26. > :09:34.Those in the middle of all of this feel as though there
:09:35. > :09:48.Hot and windy conditions have pushed bushfires out of control
:09:49. > :09:50.in the state of Victoria, in southern Australia.
:09:51. > :09:53.103 properties have so far been destroyed by fire in the popular
:09:54. > :09:55.holiday towns of Wye River and Separation Creek.
:09:56. > :10:03.Fast-moving flames and thick smoke have brought panic and fear
:10:04. > :10:05.to communities celebrating Christmas along Australia's
:10:06. > :10:11.More than 50 houses have been destroyed in Wye River
:10:12. > :10:22.Firefighters have struggled to control the blazes.
:10:23. > :10:31.This fire has the potential to burn in January and February this year.
:10:32. > :10:34.The forecast for a long, hard and dry summer is there.
:10:35. > :10:36.Boots on the ground were supported by water-bombing aircraft,
:10:37. > :10:40.The outbreak began last weekend, but intensified after being fanned
:10:41. > :10:42.by strong winds as temperatures soared.
:10:43. > :10:46.Many residents and holiday-makers were forced to flee as Christmas
:10:47. > :10:48.festivities were abandoned when the scale of the threat
:10:49. > :10:53.They were all prepared, putting their barbecues on,
:10:54. > :10:56.they were cooking away, and all of a sudden they could see
:10:57. > :11:00.They thought it was still four hours away, according
:11:01. > :11:03.And then all of a sudden it was an hour away,
:11:04. > :11:06.then half an hour away, so they just dropped everything,
:11:07. > :11:09.stopped cooking and hopped in their car and headed here.
:11:10. > :11:11.Conditions were so severe that authorities were advised to evacuate
:11:12. > :11:20.A cool change has subdued some of the fires, and some heavy rain
:11:21. > :11:28.Many bushfires are started by lightning strikes,
:11:29. > :11:30.while others are sparked accidentally by campers
:11:31. > :11:53.This is one of the most fire prone regions in the world.
:11:54. > :12:01.Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney.
:12:02. > :12:04.In other news, a wildfire in southern California
:12:05. > :12:08.of parts of a major highway and led to evacuation of around 30
:12:09. > :12:11.More than 600 firefighters were battling the fire,
:12:12. > :12:13.which swept through an area with an extensive network of oil
:12:14. > :12:23.Tensions remain high on the French island of Corsica -
:12:24. > :12:25.a day after demonstrators vandalised a Muslim prayer hall
:12:26. > :12:30.A fresh protest took place on Saturday as condemnation
:12:31. > :12:33.poured in from both Muslim leaders and French officials
:12:34. > :12:38.Police reinforcements are being called in and prayer rooms
:12:39. > :12:42.and mosques on the island are being guarded.
:12:43. > :12:44.A French journalist who wrote about China's policy
:12:45. > :12:46.towards its Muslim Uighur minority is to be expelled.
:12:47. > :12:50.Ursula Gauthier, who works for the magazine l'Obs,
:12:51. > :12:52.said the Chinese foreign ministry had confirmed
:12:53. > :12:58.She's the first foreign correspondent
:12:59. > :13:06.Afghan security forces in the southern town of Sangin
:13:07. > :13:09.are facing stiff resistance from Taliban militants.
:13:10. > :13:12.The insurgents have been attacking key government positions
:13:13. > :13:14.in the town in Helmand province for the past week.
:13:15. > :13:26.Harun Najafisada, has sent us this update.
:13:27. > :13:32.What the Afghan troops have done is basically stopping the Taliban from
:13:33. > :13:37.further progressing in Sangin district. They have taken the war to
:13:38. > :13:41.the Taliban, and they face stiff resistance by the militants. We are
:13:42. > :13:46.getting conflicting messages from Sangin on who controls this
:13:47. > :13:50.important and strategic town in south Afghanistan. The Afghan
:13:51. > :13:57.government says they are in full control of Sangin town. The Taliban
:13:58. > :14:01.claimed that they are there in large numbers, controlling parts of Sangin
:14:02. > :14:05.district. Now, the fighting in Sangin, the fight for Helmand, has
:14:06. > :14:16.been a difficult one, for the Afghan government. In 2015, the Afghanistan
:14:17. > :14:20.got full responsibility for fighting the insurgency in their country, but
:14:21. > :14:24.they are struggling, because they are lacking airpower, and that is
:14:25. > :14:28.why a small number of American and British troops are in Helmand,
:14:29. > :14:32.advising and helping Afghan troops in that regard.
:14:33. > :14:35.Stay with us on BBC News, still to come, all the results
:14:36. > :14:38.from the English Premier League football including Louis
:14:39. > :14:52.van Gaal's Manchester United lose their fourth game in a row.
:14:53. > :14:58.We saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach, it was
:14:59. > :15:03.complete chaos. US troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship
:15:04. > :15:07.of Manuel Murray aider. The Pentagon said it had been 90% successful but
:15:08. > :15:18.had failed in its principal objective. The hammer and sickle was
:15:19. > :15:25.hastily taken away, the Russian flag was hoisted over a Commonwealth of
:15:26. > :15:30.independent states. Day broke slowly over Lockerbie. You can see what
:15:31. > :15:36.happens when a plane eight stories high, a football pitch wide, falls
:15:37. > :15:39.from 30,000 feet. Christmas has returned to Albania after waveband
:15:40. > :15:46.lasting more than 20 years. Thousands went to midnight mass in a
:15:47. > :15:50.town where there were anti-Communist riots ten days ago.
:15:51. > :15:53.This is BBC World News. I'm Alice Baxter.
:15:54. > :15:56.The latest headlines: A UN-brokered deal to allow Syrian rebel fighters
:15:57. > :15:58.and their families to leave the Yarmouk refugee camp
:15:59. > :16:08.More than 150,000 people in Argentina, Uruguay,
:16:09. > :16:11.Paraguay and Brazil have been driven from their homes
:16:12. > :16:13.by some of the worst flooding in the region for decades.
:16:14. > :16:15.Iraqi government forces, supported by US air-strikes,
:16:16. > :16:17.are making slow but sustained headway against fighters
:16:18. > :16:21.from the so-called Islamic State group in the key city of Ramadi.
:16:22. > :16:24.The Iraqi army is now reported to be within 500 metres
:16:25. > :16:33.by snipers, suicide bombs and booby-traps.
:16:34. > :16:35.There's also concern about the safety of hundreds
:16:36. > :16:50.of families still in the city, as Thomas Fessy reports.
:16:51. > :16:57.The battle for Ramadi rages on. Iraqi soldiers are closing in on the
:16:58. > :17:01.heart of the city around the former government compound where the last
:17:02. > :17:05.Islamic State fighters are organising their resistance. It is a
:17:06. > :17:11.fight for several hundred meters each day, street by street, house to
:17:12. > :17:15.house. The jihadis have been using strong defensive tactics,
:17:16. > :17:19.transforming the city centre into a gigantic minefield.
:17:20. > :17:23.TRANSLATION: Our troops are now advancing towards their targets, but
:17:24. > :17:26.they were delayed because the criminals have booby-trapped
:17:27. > :17:30.everything. They have even loaded vehicles with explosives, more than
:17:31. > :17:37.they can hold, so they can cause maximum damage.
:17:38. > :17:41.It has been five days of yet another destructive war in Ramadi. The city
:17:42. > :17:50.has been a recurrent battlefield over the last decade. In May this
:17:51. > :17:56.year, Iraqi soldiers fled in front of triumphant IS fighters expanding
:17:57. > :17:59.their so-called caliphate in the country. Iraqi forces are keen to
:18:00. > :18:03.put such an embarrassing defeat behind them, and retaking Ramadi
:18:04. > :18:09.would bring momentum in the fight against Islamic State.
:18:10. > :18:13.TRANSLATION: A few days only, and we liberate the whole city, we are
:18:14. > :18:17.watching them and have killed many. Snipers have taken positions of the
:18:18. > :18:28.rooms, God willing we will liberate Ramadi soon.
:18:29. > :18:34.Coalition forces have carried out daily air strikes this week to
:18:35. > :18:42.support the Iraqi ground offensive. But the battle is not over, and the
:18:43. > :18:46.last IS militants holding out. Iraqi forces are facing stiff resistance
:18:47. > :18:49.from Islamic State in Ahmadi, they are also concerns for families
:18:50. > :18:54.trapped on the front line, how to get them to safety. The final
:18:55. > :18:56.showdown could result in mass casualties. Thomas Fessy, BBC News,
:18:57. > :18:58.Baghdad. One week on, authorities
:18:59. > :19:00.in the Chinese city of Shenzhen have officially apologised
:19:01. > :19:02.for a disastrous landslide that left more than 70 people
:19:03. > :19:05.missing, presumed dead. was caused by the collapse
:19:06. > :19:11.of a huge pile of construction waste,
:19:12. > :19:24.not by any natural movement TRANSLATION: We sincerely apologise
:19:25. > :19:27.to all victims, families of the missing people, injured people and
:19:28. > :19:38.other people affected, and the whole society.
:19:39. > :19:45.The incident was caused by a collapse of the piled up Marc,
:19:46. > :19:47.rather than a landslide. It is not a natural geological disaster, it is a
:19:48. > :19:50.workplace safety incident. It's a disease characterised
:19:51. > :19:52.by tremors, slow movement and stiff muscles -
:19:53. > :19:54.but new research has suggested an unexpected method of easing
:19:55. > :19:58.the symptoms of Parkinson's. Academics from the University
:19:59. > :20:00.of Roehampton in the UK, have found that ballet can have
:20:01. > :20:03.significant physical and emotional Jayne McCubbin joined a class
:20:04. > :20:17.in Liverpool Everyone in this dance studio has
:20:18. > :20:20.Parkinson's, some worse than others, a neurological condition which stops
:20:21. > :20:25.sufferers being able to control their movement, and yet they are
:20:26. > :20:29.here for this. For the last three years,
:20:30. > :20:34.researchers have monitored classes for parkinsonism is which of been
:20:35. > :20:42.led by the English national ballet. They found it made a big difference
:20:43. > :20:45.physically and socially. The problem is that you cannot coordinate your
:20:46. > :20:50.arms and legs, they do not go where you think they are going to go.
:20:51. > :20:56.Before a session, I meet Helen and Fiona. It does feel really strange,
:20:57. > :21:01.but it is so beautiful, that it is associated with Parkinson's, which
:21:02. > :21:05.is not beautiful. Ballet is very stylised, and it is as if your brain
:21:06. > :21:15.has to tell you what to do, so it is easier to do it. If it is
:21:16. > :21:19.spontaneous, it is much harder to do. The stylised movement you can do
:21:20. > :21:22.it, and in my mind's eye, I am dancing as beautiful as I ever did.
:21:23. > :21:32.This is where they come once a week, a class led by a ballet artist. When
:21:33. > :21:34.everyone is participating, we are all dancers, sharing the experience,
:21:35. > :21:38.the enjoyment of free expression. People might come in with a starter
:21:39. > :21:45.or feeling less confident, but when we leave, everyone walks through the
:21:46. > :21:49.door, free, fluid, that is really interesting to watch, that is great.
:21:50. > :21:53.The study has shown that classes allow many to better cope with
:21:54. > :21:58.symptoms, to become more fluid in their movement. It also helps to end
:21:59. > :22:02.the social isolation, with the disease. There have been people who
:22:03. > :22:09.say to me, the dancing has changed my life, I feel much more beautiful
:22:10. > :22:13.now, confident, graceful. And for people with Parkinson's, that is so
:22:14. > :22:18.valuable, because you can feel hideous with Parkinson's. The
:22:19. > :22:22.disease is left at the door, along with walking sticks. It is
:22:23. > :22:25.surprisingly see how confident the participants are when striding
:22:26. > :22:29.around the room. You know you have a condition which is in durable, and
:22:30. > :22:35.you have still got to live through the day, get on with your life. --
:22:36. > :22:43.in curable. It can be difficult. You have got to be positive, life is
:22:44. > :22:50.good. Howdy appeal? Feel beautiful! You are beautiful! Thank you so
:22:51. > :22:55.much. -- how do you feel? Let's catch up with all the latest
:22:56. > :22:59.sport with Marc Edwards. The pressure is very much on this
:23:00. > :23:06.man, Manchester United manager at Louis van Gaal. They were beaten by
:23:07. > :23:11.Stoke City 2-0 and are now without a win in seven games. They have lost
:23:12. > :23:16.four on the trot in all competitions, their worst run in a
:23:17. > :23:22.single season since 1961. Vanguard decided to start the game with Wayne
:23:23. > :23:28.Rooney on the bench. -- Louis vanguard.
:23:29. > :23:29.Obviously, when you leave out your captain,
:23:30. > :23:31.people will say, was that the right decision?
:23:32. > :23:34.I thought it was the right decision, otherwise I didn't do it.
:23:35. > :23:38.No, because in the first half we gave it away,
:23:39. > :23:41.and we did better in the second half, but then we don't have
:23:42. > :23:45.the accuracy of the reporting this week.
:23:46. > :23:50.Do you think you will be under scrutiny once again?
:23:51. > :23:56.Yeah, but I don't think that is interesting.
:23:57. > :24:03.I have said only that they have to stick by the facts,
:24:04. > :24:14.The scrutiny is all right for me, I am used to that.
:24:15. > :24:18.But I think always that you have to stick by the fact and that
:24:19. > :24:39.Louis van Gaal talking to Alistair Mann.
:24:40. > :24:53.Both goals were from Diego Costa. It is a fair result, you have to have
:24:54. > :24:57.respect for our opponent, which is in a winning streak, they are
:24:58. > :25:00.winning already for several weeks, and they had some very dangerous
:25:01. > :25:05.strikes, but I think in the end we could have made a little bit more.
:25:06. > :25:09.We had some chances in the first up already, it was a pity that Oscar
:25:10. > :25:22.slipped away for the penalty. The results from the rest of the Premier
:25:23. > :25:24.League matches. Southampton are beating Arsenal 3-0 with just under
:25:25. > :25:28.ten minutes to play. England finished the first
:25:29. > :25:31.day of the first test The test started badly
:25:32. > :25:46.for the tourists, captain I think we should be pretty happy
:25:47. > :25:49.with that, considering it couldn't have been better bowling conditions
:25:50. > :25:54.for them. Losing the toss and being put in on that wicket, we would have
:25:55. > :25:58.bowled ourselves, and the conditions could not have been much better, so
:25:59. > :26:03.a really good effort from Nick Compton, playing the way he did. It
:26:04. > :26:14.was enjoyable. That is all the sport for now, back to Alice.
:26:15. > :26:17.Thanks, that is all from us. The weather continues to cause
:26:18. > :26:19.problems, rain continues to fall