18/12/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

The Headlines; hopes are dashed for the thousands waiting

It's another freezing night as a deal to send buses to fetch

rebels and civilians is again put on hold.

But there are now hopes of a deal at the United Nations to send

Gunmen in Jordan carry out a series of attacks

in the historic town of Karak, killing at least ten people.

Poland's political crisis shows no sign of ending -

And Real Madrid come out on top, winning football's Club World Cup

for the second time in three years.

Thousands of people in rebel-held areas of Aleppo are enduring another

night of freezing conditions - after plans to evacuate them

Buses appeared at the crossing point in western Aleppo but that's as far

The failure of a simultaneous evacuation of government

supporters elsewhere - may have contributed.

In New York, the UN Security Council has met to discuss

a monitoring mission for the evacuation -

and there are reports that a compromise has been reached.

With the situation in Eastern Aleppo increasingly

desperate, looking after the frail and wounded is becoming

With more, here's our correspondent Quentin Sommerville

If only the ceasefire in Aleppo hadn't collapsed,

then this might never have needed to happen.

They are doing the best they can here, but this hospital

There are none left in eastern Aleppo, so nurses

TRANSLATION: The child has a birth defect.

We immediately brought the mother here to the operating

room for a Caesarean, which we are doing now.

The mother is in a bad way and her baby boy even worse.

But everyone here is at their wits end.

TRANSLATION: As soon as the patient arrived,

I told the Red Cross that the patient needed emergency

surgery but there was no answer because the evacuation

Some of the sick made it out of here on Thursday

After 24 hours, the ceasefire collapsed.

There are now 100 badly injured people trapped here.

He has been stuck here for three days, says this man.

We have tried to leave but they stopped us.

Rival factions attacked buses that were meant to free trapped sick

Only when they are freed will the regime allow convoys

And only after Aleppo's misery would you consider this salvation.

The buses that bring them are so crowded there

is no room for luggage, but here, there's relief.

TRANSLATION: Rockets, Russian jets and warplanes all bombing us,

We kept fleeing from one place to another.

There was hunger, poverty and sleeping in the streets.

This woman made it here with her twin girls.

The camp may be crowded but here the sisters can breathe again.

TRANSLATION: It is better than it was in Aleppo,

We have new friends walking and playing together.

There was a food shortage back there.

We hated life but here we are eating biscuits and everything.

Every minute and every hour of the ceasefire that is lost,

is another moment of life denied to the children of Aleppo.

Well, in New York the Security Council is discussing

resolution on UN Monitoring of these evacuations - let's

go to Gary O'Donoghue who is in Washington for us.

There appears to be movement on this. What more can you tell us?

They had about three hours inside the Security Council behind closed

doors discussing a French proposal to put monitors, UN monitors on the

ground to ensure people could get onto these buses and get out of

eastern Aleppo safely. That was opposed by the Russians initially.

We felt there was going to be a stand-off effectively. After that

three hours they seem to have emerged saying they have some sort

of compromise resolution they are going to vote on tomorrow or Monday

morning at 9am local time in New York. So that does give a glimmer of

hope that there may be some kind of oversight of what is actually

happening to those civilians in eastern Aleppo. We don't know the

detail of how it will work but the US ambassador Samantha Power did say

that she could envisage some of those monitors being on the buses

when they were moving out of those areas. The question will be the

extent to which the Syrian government will have control over

how that works. That's something that was a stumbling block for

Russians initially. We know that evacuations have been halted for the

time being. Is it the case that we are waiting for a decision from the

Security Council for the evacuations to continue? I think it's more

complex than that in the sense that part of the reason the evacuations

stopped from eastern Aleppo is because of what happened in these

other Shia villages west of Aleppo where these buses were allegedly

burned that were meant to be taking Shia members of those villages out

of the area surrounded by the rebels. The government was very keen

to make that part of the whole deal. There was a lot of anger because of

the sabotage of those buses. That's why to some degree the halt was

called to the evacuation in eastern Aleppo. Big concern from the

international community is while there is not anybody around to check

what's going on and that there could be war crimes committed, there could

be massacres. People have talked about not having another Srebrenica,

you remember when those civilians were killed in Bosnia in 1995. So

that's the concern. So time is of the essence. There are UN people in

the vicinity. Samantha Power talking about re-purpose and those people to

be monitors. We don't know how quickly they can be in place to get

this effort moving. And temperatures are plummeting. Without shelter that

is the real potential for it, and evermore escalating humanitarian

crisis in the area. Thank you for that update.

In neighbouring Jordan officials say at least nine people

have been killed - including one Canadian

a series of attacks in the historic city of Karak.

They targeted two police patrols in separate attacks,

while gunmen also opened fire at the ancient Crusader castle.

Armoured personnel carriers racing through the streets of Karak.

They are responding to a series of shootings in and around

The security forces desperately tried to establish

There is panic, confusion and more gunshots.

This amateur footage shows police and special forces closing

in on the gunmen who have now taken refuge in the Crusader Castle

and are still firing on those around them.

The medieval citadel draws tourists from around the world,

and there were initial unconfirmed reports that some had

Others were able to get out as the battle raged around them.

This is where most of the casualties were found.

All were Jordanian except for one Canadian woman who was killed.

Tonight, the city appears calm although it is unclear

There will be relief the attack is contained but it will be another

blow to Jordan's reputation as a sea of calm in a region of crisis.

A look at some more top stories this hour.

The Islamic State group says it was behind a suicide attack

in Yemen which left at least 40 soldiers dead.

They were queueing to collect their pay -

The head of security in the city is reported to have resigned.

It follows the killing of 50 soldiers in a similar

Government troops in Myanmar have taken a key position from the rebel

Both the military and the insurgents suffered heavy casualties amidst

intense fighting to retake the Gidon outpost.

Four US senators are calling for the setting-up of a panel

to investigate allegations of Russian hacking.

The US government has claimed that Russia,

as well as other foreign countries, were involved in cyber attacks

designed to influence the outcome of the US election.

Opponents of the Polish government have been staging a third day

of protests in the capital, Warsaw over the government's plans

to restrict journalists' access to parliament.

Demonstrators gathered outside the constitutional court

today, while opposition MPs continued their sit-in

A short time ago I spoke to Yarlsaw Vordowcheg,

the President of the Press Club in Poland, from Warsaw.

The truth is that the speaker of the lower house is not liking

He didn't make, when he started a year ago, until now, even

The government is saying it is not unusual to accredit

journalists in this way across Europe.

I don't, of course not because they give as an example

The European Parliament is very liberal.

Of course nobody can enter the Parliament room,

either in Poland or in Brussels but it's easy access

to all European Parliament members and now we've got easy access

Yesterday night we met with the speaker of the Senate,

and we will continue talks tomorrow at noon, Warsaw time.

He declared that they will not change the rules

This is the result of the mass protests we organised,

over 30 of the largest media outlets, Friday, under

The protest today, without politicians,

we had no politicians in printed press, radio and television, empty,

blank pages and the blank screens sometimes on television stations

How much is the Polish public actually paying

attention to these protests, given that the government,

The government is very popular and has so many people

against the government and people who are pro.

In the afternoon, after a few hours of our journalist protests,

which is not political, this is only about the access

to information and the freedom of speech, the opposition blocked

the Parliament, saying we want to support journalists,

and then people went onto the streets and said

I'm very suspicious when politicians are supporting journalists.

And I'm very suspicious especially when today,

the opposition and yesterday, the governing party

That was the President of the Polish Press Club,

Stay with us on BBC News, still to come:

Britain's Prince Harry - his life and charitable work

in Africa is captured in a new documentary.

The signatures took only three minutes but brought a formal end to

three and a half years of conflict that has claimed more than 100,000

lives. The former leaders put their names to the peace agreement.

The Rimini and 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 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 ever president to be

impeached. Thousands of people are holding out

in freezing temperatures in Eastern Aleppo as attempts

to resume their evacuation fail. Gunmen in Jordan carry

out a series of attacks in the historic town of Karak,

killing at least ten people. While investigations continue

into last Sunday's explosion at the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo,

families of the victims Twenty-four people were killed,

most were women and children. The Egyptian president has

blamed a suicide bomber, Mahmoud Shafiq, alleged

perpetrator of the Church He was sentenced to two years

in prison earlier this year. He was convicted of belonging

to the Muslim Brotherhood and of But he fled the village

before the verdict. Outside his family home,

journalists waited for hours hoping The only interview she gave was to a

local newspaper. I couldn't tell if it was a local or

international number. He does not talk much. He knows our calls could

be recorded by the police. I don't believe he was a suicide attacker.

Maybe somebody did it in his name. The explosion, which killed

and injured dozens of Christians, was claimed by the so-called Islamic

State. It is hard to verify

it was Mahmoud who did it. The suicide bomber walked

through this door to blow himself We can still see stains of blood

covering the ground and the pews. The blast did not only cause severe

damage to this place, He lost his dad and she lost her

husband, the church guard. Nothing is left of him but a mobile

phone with his pictures on it. TRANSLATION: Every morning,

the boy asks me, where is my dad? People like her are now having

to rebuild their lives, but picking up the pieces after such

a tragedy will not be easy. A Philippine senator who's

calling for the impeachment of President Rodrigo Duterte,

has told the BBC she fears for her life -

but won't be silenced. Leila de Lima, a former

justice minister, said she'd taken on extra security

since she began criticising This is what Ms De

Lima told BBC News. I certainly believe that he is a

killer. He admitted it. Of course his defenders, his spokesperson will

try to explain it away by saying it's just part of his bravado and

probably just a joke. We've had enough of those so-called jokes.

Such acts are impeachable. Let's call a spade a spade. That is a high

crime, committing mass murders. And mass murderers do not only pertain

to victims of the death squad but also current victims of the current

so-called war on drugs. There are real security threats against me. Of

course I take extra security measures, I have my own security

compliment. But I cannot be cowed into doing and saying what I don't

want to do and say. Manchester City put their recent

problems behind them, moving up to second place

in the Premier League table after beating

Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad. City had

to come from behind. It was Raheem Stirling

who scored their winner 20 minutes from time,

but earlier Theo Walcott had opened the scoring for Arsenal

after just five minutes. City are now seven points behind

league leaders Chelsea. Of course, it was quite

similar to Chelsea. With Chelsea, we didn't

win, and today we did. We have problems with

important players not That is very difficult to accept

in a game like that. I believe there is a lot going

on the moment that is not serious. It is unbelievable,

but every time the decisions go against

you, and unilaterally. Spurs are now only a point behind

Arsenal, in fifth place. They beat Burnley 2-1

at White Hart Lane. Like Manchester City,

Spurs also had to come from behind. Danny Rose scored the winner

20 minutes from time. Earlier Ashley Barnes had given

Burnley the lead before Dele Alli I think always the Premier League

is hard to win games. Today we knew that Burnley is a team

that fight a lot, run a lot, every ball, they

are ready to challenge. I think the team played

in a very good way. I think that we fully deserved

in the end the victory and I am pleased with that because it

was a difficult win. And in the other Premier League

match, Southampton won They were 3-1 winners

at Bournemouth. Elsehwere, Real Madrid have

won the Club World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo scored

a hat-trick as they beat Japan's Kashima Antlers 4-2

in extra time. After Karim Benzema had put

Real ahead early on, Gaku Shibasaki equalised

just before the break. And then the Antlers went ahead

with this fine strike. The J-League champions,

who only qualified as hosts, seemed on the verge of the biggest

shock in the history But Ronaldo equalised

with a penalty before putting his side in

front in extra-time. He then

added his third on the night and the Spanish club's fourth

to secure the championship. It's Real's second World Club

title in three years. England's hope of a consolation

victory in the fifth and final test India batted all the way

through the third day That's 86 behind England's

first innings score, with Rahul falling just one run

short of a double century. On Day 4 of the first Test

between Australia and Pakistan at the Gabba in Brisbane,

Asad Shafiq scored an unbeaten century as Pakistan chased

a daunting 490 runs to win. They began the penultimate

day on 70-2 and reached Scotland's John Higgins and Marco Fu

of Hong Kong are into final session Fu is 8-4 up, he needs just

one more for victory. Prince Harry has been speaking

frankly about his royal life. at a young age made him

question his position, but that he now views life "very,

very differently". Prince Harry looks in his

element as he helps out in a centre teaching life skills

to young people affected by HIV. It is run by a charity

he co-founded ten years ago in the small southern

African state of Lesotho. Sentebale have helped

more than 21,000 people, And Harry's clearly

passionate about its work. HIV/Aids is the number one killer

of adolescents across sub-Saharan You have a bunch of kids

who have no idea about HIV. They are not allowed

to talk about it. And now that we have the drugs and

pills to be able to give these kids a healthy, happy,

long life, yet we're not educating them or empowering

them to make their own decisions. Harry first visited Africa in 1997,

not long after his mother's death and he says he still feels

a connection to the continent. I think the first time that I went

to Africa, I was tiny. I think I went with my dad

to a Spice Girl concert Not only have I found that escape

but I have found a way to try and use the name and

the position for good. In recent weeks, Harry's

relationship with actress placed him firmly in the media

spotlight once again. He says, in the past,

he resented his position and wanted to bury his head

in the sand. Now, though, he's excited to be able

to use his profile to help A rare Asian elephant calf has been

born at Chester Zoo. was born to 12-year-old mother

Sundara after a 22-month gestation. She's the 19th elephant to be born

at the zoo in its 85-year history. Keepers say both mother

and daughter were doing well. Asian elephants are officially

listed as endangered, and calves are born

into captivity in the UK only From me and the rest

of the team, goodbye. Hello. Looks like the Christmas

weather will be more windy than white and next weekend will be very

different from this