a ceasefire in syria from midnight tonight, it has been brokered by russia and turkey. president putin says the syrian government and opposition groups have agreed to the basic terms and to the start of peace talks. after nearly six years of conflict those behind the deal say it's a window of opportunity that mustn't be wasted. the third document is about a readiness to start peace talks. warning from gps that patients in innard may wait more than a month foran innard may wait more than a month for an appointment because the system is stretched —— in england. the actress debbie reynolds has died at the age of 84, a day after the death of her daughter, carrie fisher. the deal has been brokered

by russia and by turkey, who've been on opposing sides in the conflict. the syrian government and main opposition groups have agreed to a ceasefire from midnight local time tonight. but some groups, including so—called islamic state, are not part of the agreement. the announcement was made in moscow from where our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. for nearly six years, syria has been torn apart by civil war. a country reduced to ruins. a conflict that has left more than 400,000 people dead. there have been peace initiatives before which brought no peace. but today russia announced a breakthrough. in the kremlin, russia's defence minister handed vladimir putin

a list of syrian opposition groups which had signed up to a ceasefire with president assad. 60,000 rebels, he said, would stop fighting. this is how president putin summarised the deal. translation: three documents have been signed. the first document between the syrian government and the armed opposition is about a ceasefire on the territory of the syrian arab republic. the second document is a set of measures for monitoring the ceasefire. and the third document is a statement about readiness to start peace talks on ending the syrian conflict. the syrian government was persuaded by russia to sign today's agreement. it's with an assortment of seven syrian rebel groups. turkey's role was crucial in convincing them. not part of the deal are so—called islamic state, or the main kurdish rebel group who are fighting them, the ypg. and there's confusion tonight over

whether the agreement covers a key rebel group, widely seen as linked to al-qaeda. sidelined is washington. withjohn kerry's diplomacy the us had been co—sponsor, with russia, of previous peace efforts for syria. but today the kremlin has snubbed the 0bama administration. moscow said it hoped america would join the new round of peace talks when donald trump takes over. but will the ceasefire hold? today the free syrian army, a loose alliance of rebel factions, was cautious. translation: during the talks the russian government guaranteed to us that they will keep the syrian regime forces and their allies under control. during these talks we have not met anyone from the syrian regime. meanwhile the violence in syria continues. this amateur video purports to show

the aftermath of an air strike today in the suburbs of damascus. schoolchildren running, screaming, through the smoke and the chaos. when it begins, can the ceasefire end this war? you can understand why many syrians have low expectations. 0ur correspndent steve rosenberg is in moscow and laura bicker is in washington. steve, a point you made at the end of your report which is really to do with how hopeful people in russia are that this deal could stick, what are that this deal could stick, what are your thoughts on that? this is potentially a diplomatic coup for russia and for vladimir putin. just look at how things have turned around for the russian president. 0ver around for the russian president. over the last year he has been criticised constantly by the west

over russia's military campaign in syria. moscow has been accused of indiscriminate bombing, even war crimes or complicity in war crimes. but today's sitting at his desk in the kremlin president putin could project himself as the deal—maker, the peacemaker in the middle east with american nowhere to be seen. and the deal actually bring peace? there's no guarantee of that because this is a very complex conflict involving many regional players and ending it will be very difficult indeed. given that it is being discussed as some sort of snub, what are your thoughts on it and the response, there? the state department says it welcomes the ceasefire and hopes it will be respected by all parties. but it did not elaborate as to why it played no role in these talks. the problem for president 0bama is he's got very little leveraging in syria. when he chose to back those cerium rebels he was so unwilling to

get bogged down in another war in the middle east that he only offered very limited support and their weapons we re [10 very limited support and their weapons were no match for those air strikes from the assad regime, backed by russia. and diplomatically turkey's role in this will raise quite a few eyebrows. they usually choose to coordinate their strategy with the us alliance but on this occasion they've chosen russia as the main player. and if that relationship continues it could further isolate the united states in the middle east. laura, thanks very much, and steve rosenberg, in moscow. the hollywood actress debbie reynolds, who starred with gene kelly in the musical singin‘ in the rain, has died. she was 84. her death was announced a day after the death of her daughter, the actress carrie fisher. her son said the news had been too much for her to bear, as our correspondent david sillito reports. # i'm singin‘ in the rain, just singin‘ in the rain. singin‘ in the rain, debbie reynolds was just 19.

she'd not really danced before this, but this performance made her a star. i was supposed to be an innocent, virginal little girl and certainly i was that. i think it was a tough deal for poor gene to be stuck with me, who had never danced. it would have been far better for him to have a great dancer. but i worked so hard that i think, in the end when i look at that performance of that little girl, i think i did a good job. # all i do is dream of you the whole night through.# 64 years later, her death comes just a day after losing her daughter, carrie fisher. she'd been planning herfuneral when she was taken ill. her son todd said the stress was simply too much. among the tributes, bette midler, who said it was hard to comprehend. damejoan collins said she was truly heartbroken. you could make an album,

i could produce it. that mother—and—daughter relationship, meryl streep and shirley maclaine gave us a taste of the ups and downs in postcards from the edge. but it was far from the full story. indeed debbie reynolds wanted to play the role but was told she wasn't right for the part. you want me to do well, just not better than you. what she was right for was old school hollywood song and dance. the show always went on, even when she was abandoned by her husband, eddie fisher, for elizabeth taylor. my personal life is always sort of like this. that little choo—choo train that says, "i think i can, i think i can, i think i can." i seem to marry very poorly. i have no taste in men. luckily for me, god was good and i have two wonderful children. and here she is, carrie fisher, six years old, watching her mother on stage. the photographer said she didn't move. 54 years later, debbie reynolds final words: "i want to be with carrie."

but if you want to remember what made her special, remember her like this. the actress debbie reynolds who has died at the age of 84. the head of the royal college of general practitioners has warned that patients in england could be forced to wait four weeks or longer, to see theirfamily doctor, in months ahead. helen stokes—lampard says surgeries are already over—stretched because of a shortage of gps, and years of under—investment. but the government says it's investing an extra £2.4 billion in family doctor services, by 2020, as our health correspondent robert pigott reports. hello, mrs richardson? come on in, i'm doctor helen. come on through,

come and have a seat. doctor helen stokes—lampard has been struggling to make routine appointments within three to four weeks at her surgery in lichfield. winter is increasing the demand on health services already under year—round pressure. gps warned that their service is stretched desperately thin and lengthening waiting times could pose a serious risk to patients. firstly, there just aren't enough gps out there, we don't have enough clinicians in the workforce. but also we haven't got enough nurses and other healthcare professionals, too. so the problem this winter is as bad as it's ever been. and that's a real worry. gps currently see more than 1.3 million patients every day and there are now 60 million more consultations every year than there were just five years ago. the doctor is available wednesday 11th. like other gps, the doctors at central surgery in rugby have found themselves caring increasingly forfrail, elderly people and patients with complex, long—term illnesses.

it's helped add i6% to gps' workload in the last seven years. experts estimate that family doctors now provide 360 million appointments every year in england, dwarfing the capacity of hospitals. there's a very small change in what gps are capable of doing. it could be capable of completely overwhelming the a&e departments and outpatient departments by increasing referrals. they are an absolutely key part of the health system and unless we look after them, the whole system could be in very deep trouble. gps have told the department of health that the nhs has been phenomenally successful both in nipping disease in the bud and in keeping alive huge numbers of people with chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. but they warn this preventative care could now be undermined with potentially serious and even tragic consequences for future years.

nhs england say gp services are on track to receive an extra £2.4 billion in real terms investment by 2020. to build on this track record of success and expand access to convenient appointments throughout the week. the royal college of gps welcomed the extra funding promised for england and scotland but said similar commitments have not yet been made in wales or northern ireland. robert pigott, bbc news. police in cornwall are investigating what they say are the unexplained deaths of two men. the bodies were found yesterday evening at a block of flats in st austell. one man was in his early thirties, the other was in his 20s. a review of the youth justice system has proposed that offenders who commit crimes before they're 18 years old should be given life—long anonymity. it's understood ministers are now considering introducing legislation applying to england and wales. the review says naming child offenders such asjon venables and robert thompson, who murdered two—year—old

james bulger in liverpool in 1993, undermines attempts to rehabilitate them. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is at the ministry of justice. tom, a controversial proposal? it is controversial, it is probably a small number of cases that anyone who is prosecuted under the age of 18 generally goes to the youth court where there is a right to anonymity until they are 18 but not further. this is likely to affect most of those that go for serious cases to the crown court. we are talking about child murderers. this recommendation would give a right to anonymity for life and it would mean that, for example, the killers of james bulger, the child killer mary bell in 1968 and clinic, who to get killed his teacher in 2014 but none of those would be named. deciding whether to go with this, the

government looks at the needs of openjustice, our government looks at the needs of open justice, our right to government looks at the needs of openjustice, our right to know government looks at the needs of open justice, our right to know who commits crimes, and way that up against the needs and views of families of those killed, victims of crime who may feel that they have no right to anonymity and sometimes get all needed and unwarranted publicity asa all needed and unwarranted publicity as a result of being victims. —— unneeded. the authorities in berlin say they've released a tunisian man, who was detained yesterday on suspicion of being involved in last week's attack on a christmas market. the 40—year—old was freed without charge. investigators have also revealed that the lorry involved in the attack was slowed down by its automatic braking system, probably saving many lives. 12 people died in the attack. russian officials investigating the crash of a plane in the black sea on christmas day say there was no explosion on board. the tu—154 came down shortly after taking off from sochi, killing 92 people. the country's transport minister said it had been established that the plane's equipment

wasn't working correctly. in three weeks' time, donald trump will be sworn in as 45th president of the united states in a ceremony on capitol hill before moving in to white house. but in the seven weeks since his election, mr trump has opted to stay at his home in trump tower in new york, a city that voted overwhelmingly for his opponent hillary clinton. as our correspondent nick bryant explains, trump tower has become a magnet for those who can't, or won't, accept the trump ascendancy. chrsitmas songs. christmas in new york city. it's hardly a season of goodwill towards