this is bbc news. our top stories: vladimir putin's political rival barred from the election lashes out as the president's supporters prepare to kick—start his campaign. protests in peru over the president's decision to pardon the country's former leader. we must not allow fujimori to die injail. justice is not revenge. investigators in moscow are trying to find out why a bus ploughed into a subway entrance, killing at least four people. preparations under way in liberia ahead of the second round of voting to choose the country's next president. hello. his main rival has been banned from running for the presidency — and later on tuesday supporters of vladimir putin will meet in moscow to begin the formal process of nominating him

as their candidate for president. the russian leader won't even be attending that event — some will see that as a sign that he's pretty confident. there's now very little standing in the way of his re—election in march. virginia langeberg explains. he has spent almost 18 years in powerand is a manfamiliar with a grand entrance. however on this occasion, vladimir putin is expected to not even turn up to his own nomination event. some have read that decision as a sign of confidence, but the kremlin says the president has a prior engagement. today marks the official launch of vladimir putin's presidential campaign. he runs as an independent and has until the end of january to collect 300,000 signatures to register his bid. there is little doubt he will be re—elected. there are no strong rivals now that anti—corruption campaigner alexei navalny has been formally disqualified. the central electoral commission

deemed him ineligible because of the corruption conviction which he says is politically motivated. translation: it is not about me, it is about the fact that a candidate is needed who will finally come to the election and speak openly about everything that happens in our country now, who will describe our reality honestly. absence of prospects, poverty. i did that and that is why you don't want to let me take part in the election. following the ban, alexei navalny called on his supporters to boycott the election. who says he will launch an appeal in the russian constitutional court. for a comfortable re—election, meaning he will remain in powerfor another six years, until 202a. hundreds of people have taken part in protests through the streets of lima for a second day,

following the release of former leader alberto fujimori. he was serving a 25—yearjail sentence for human rights abuses, but was pardoned on medical grounds by peru's president on sunday. shuba krishnan reports. gunshots, tear gas and mayhem. protesters clashed with riot police through the streets of carew‘s capital. for them, president kuczynski has agreed to release a mass murderer, a man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people during his government's war against left—wing rebels in the 19905. translation: we are demanding the resignation of kuczynski and we wa nt the resignation of kuczynski and we want alberto fujimori sent back to jail. the announcement of alberto

fujimori's release came days after kuczynski survived an impeachment vote in congress. many believe the president made a deal with the opposition to release alberto fujimori in exchange for his political survival. mr kuczynski denies the allegations. translation: this has been the most difficult decision of my life. this deals with the life and the health and the possibilities of life of an ex—president who has been found guilty of access and great error. he was sentenced and has served 12 yea rs of was sentenced and has served 12 years of punishment. we cannot allow alberto fujimori to die in prison. justice is not vengeance. mr mack -- act to make's sun posted this photo, showing his father overcome with happiness when he realised he was free. 0n the streets of carew it is a different story, with many people

angry that the former leader, convicted for human rights abuses, has been pardoned. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. authorities in the philippines have ordered a criminal investigation into a shopping mall fire in mindanao. the fire started after a storm hit davao and flooded parts of the city. at least 37 people died. the building's administrators have denied suggestions that emergency exits were inadequate. britain's royal navy has detected an increase in the number of russian ships travelling through or near uk territorial waters over the holiday period. since christmas eve, two vessels have passed close to uk waters and areas of national interest. russian investigators are trying to work out what caused a bus to career into a pedestrian subway in moscow, killing at least four people. victims include a woman in her thirties and a teenager. the driver told officials he'd been trying to apply the brakes, but they didn't work. faith 0rr reports. it is a task nobody would envy. these emergency workers are picking up the pieces after a bus crashed into an underpass.

it killed several people and was only stopped by the roof of the tunnel. this was the terrifying moment the vehicle barrelled down the steps, hitting pedestrians. officials say they are working to try to establish what caused the crash. translation: the bus was driving away from the square and due to unknown reasons, drove into a pedestrian underpass. an investigation is under way. four people died and nine were hospitalised, two people refuse to go to hospital. the driver is in shock and investigators are working with him to try to figure out what happened. the driver has been detained by police but there is no suggestion this was terrorism. an inspection of the entire moscow bus fleet has now been ordered. however it happened, it is a tragedy that will leave a scar on the city into the year to come. a diplomatic row between venezuela

and canada has intensified. canada is banning venezuela's ambassador from returning to ottawa and expelling its charge d'affaires. canada's foreign minister has said it's retaliation for the expulsion of its most senior diplomat from caracas over the weekend. leonardo rocha, americas editor for bbc world service, gave us more analysis earlier. canada and venezuela have been at odds for a few months. canada has been supporting, to some extent, the opposition, which venezuela is protesting against, the lack of democracy and what they say are rights violations. what canada says, a strong statement. they said, "canadians will not stand by as the government robs these people of their fundamental democratic and human rights." also, two days ago, venezuela expelled the brazilian ambassador. what i believe is happening is venezuela is making a clear stand

in giving a strong message to those who criticise the government of president nicolas maduro. we won't listen quietly, we will act. in the meantime, they are releasing 80 political prisoners and political activists. this comes at months before the presidential elections are expected to take place, in the first half of next year. how far do you think this will go diplomatically? in trade and economic terms with canada, they aren't really important for venezuela. what really matters are relations with our allies. mainly russia, cuba, other countries in the region that support venezuela like bolivia. and the united states, selling oil to the united states. all

the economy is in trouble. inflation is out of control. it is a message from the government of nicolas maduro. venezuela is saying they are taking orders from the trump administration. they are making a clear stance that they will not take abuse. at the same time, they have a weakened opposition with many leaders injail or having escaped the country with the prospect of president nicolas maduro, probably in april or may next year, running for another six—year term and securing and other term. people in liberia are going to the polls today to decide who is going to succeed ellenjohnson sirleaf as their president — who has been in office since 2006. the second round race is between her vice president — and a former football star. stay with us on bbc world news,

still to come: the world's top wingsuit flyers in a jaw—dropping bid for the world title. we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach, and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful but it's failed in its principal objective — to capture general noriega and take him to the us to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day breaks slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's 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 shkroda where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: vladimir putin's election rival is barred from running as the president's supporters prepare to officially launch his campaign. violence on the streets of peru following a decision to pardon the country's former president. south korea's defense ministry is launching a special team on north korea. it's an attempt at responding more effectively to increased threats from the country's communist neighbour. north korea has made big strides in its nuclear and missile programmes in 2017 and is expected to continue on the same path in the new year. our world affairs correspondent paul adams has been to seoul to take

a look at how the locals have been reacting to this new reality. changing the guard in seoul. ancient rituals in the heart of this modern city. in the past, the threat came from imperial rapacious japan but today the danger is just over the heels and this year it seemed to grow and grow. month after month, north korea tested ever more fearsome missiles. the biggest thought to be capable of reaching almost anywhere in america. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. the new man in the white house responded with insults and threats. we will have no choice but to totally destroyed north korea. and there were bigger and bigger

displays of american military might. the great armada of ships, air exercises involving the most advanced jets in the world, but nothing so far seems to work. the world failed to prevent north korea from becoming a nuclear state. at the border, curious visitors ca ptu red the border, curious visitors captured glimpses of life on the other side. thanks to a steady trickle of defectors, south koreans have a rough idea of what goes on in the north but there is much that is unknown also. translation: looking through the telescope is very heartbreaking. it made me think about the recent soldier who defect that and how he must have felt. we founder a lot in 2017 about north korea's ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities. it is likely that next year we will find out even

more but we still do not really know is what does kim jong—un what all this technology for? is in want to be treated with respect or does he have more aggressive intentions? south koreans are less afraid than kim jong—un then you might imagine. when this man takes his impersonation of the north korean dictator to the streets of the capital, the reaction is hardly one of honour. some guys say he is dangerous but we are not afraid. we are not afraid of kimjong—un. dangerous but we are not afraid. we are not afraid of kim jong-un. but it is talk like that which infuriates the self—declared hardliner and university infuriates the self—declared ha rdliner and university professor. i think saying not to worry, in order to protect our sons and daughters, we need to take the hard

course which is to prepare for the worse—case scenario. course which is to prepare for the worse-case scenario. if you are genuinely worried about the prospect of nuclear attack from the north, you might want to invest in one of this. a nuclear proof bunker which are about $50,000 you can have installed in your garden. inside, everything you might need for an extended period of living underground at how likely is this doomsday scenario? most people expect the provocations to continue but to stop well short of armageddon. the good news is that the north korean leadership is rational, circular and it wants to survive. it is manageable. deterrence can fail but the bluster and rhetoric is not helpful, the fear mongering. for all the theoretical danger, most south koreans seem to agree. they know the

north is on the verge of realising its nuclear ambitions. they wish it was not so but like the ivan are, the city seems unnaturally calm. paul adams, bbc news. a short time ago i spoke with jacob shapiro, director of analysis for the intelligence firm geopolitical futures. if you look at every piece of rhetoric out of north korea, every statement, it is all about nuclear war or impending mass destruction. i think this is all an effort by north korea to make everyone extremely afraid of them and i think they have done a very good job of that. ultimately, no, i do not think that north korea is about to launch a nuclear war on the world, and certainly they're not going to let a little thing like further un sanctions drive them to that step. the assumption generally is that the north korean leadership is not suicidal, it does not want to start a war but it is clearly not going to give up its nukes either. how does this end do you think? does the world just get used to a nuclear armed north korea? i think that is exactly the point. the north korean leaders

are not only not suicidal, i also think they're very rational and very logical. and the calculation that they have made is that nobody is going to come and take their nuclear weapons from them and that even if somebody comes and tries, they will be able to endure so, yeah, i think that ultimately the world is going to have to get used to a nuclear north korea. i will say htat i'm not sure that a world with a nuclear north korea it that different from a world with a non—nuclear north korea. if north korea used nuclear weapons, the united states would obliterate it the next day. so ultyimately i think this is all a way for north korea to try and use lverage to get what they ultimately want, which is re—unification of korean peninsula under their terms. it seems almost a bizarre thing to say, given the weapons involved and the millions of people already suffering and the million of people at risk, in a sense though, in this region, north korea is a side show, really, isn't it? i think it is a side show. i think it is used by foreign powers to play against each other. when the korean war broke out in 1950 it was really a conflict

between the soviet union and the united states, and china got involved. right now, some of the same dynamics are happening. you see the conflict between china and the united states playing out in north korea, you see russia trying to play around there in order to cause the united states problems and then the united states responding in kind by selling anti—tank weapons to ukraine. and i think ultimately, when you think about the larger importance of this, it is that yhe us, increasingly more self—absorbed, is pulling back from the region and we're going to see japan and china competing more and more for regional power. and that may play out on the korean peninsula. how do you expect that competition to play out? well, i think that competition is already playing out. if you look at china's one belt one road initiative, you can find japanese investments in all those countries as well. if you look at all of the defence relationships that china is trying to establish, you see japan there as well, you see them also in central asia.

i do not see this reaching a military conflict any time soon but i think around the periphery you will see different powers competing and i think ultimately they will try to constrain north korea to keep this problem in north korea. this is the worse for the chinese because if a major war does develop there, they have to worry about millions of north koreans streaming over the border and they don't want that. a tropical storm that was threatening southern vietnam has weakened and is expected to dissipate within forty eight hours. almost a million people have been told they may need to evacuate their homes — forecasters are warning up to half a metre of rain could fall. in the state of uttar pradesh in india, each year around 2,000 women are killed over dowry demands. but an 80—year—old grandmother has been waging a unique fight for gender equality. parkashi tomar is india's oldest shooting champion. here's her story. not to be messed with.

if you've enjoyed a day of festive excess — eating and drinking a little too much — perhaps the most exercise you want right now is reaching for the remote. so spare a thought for competitors in the wingsuit flying world cup. they spent most of their christmas jumping out of planes or balloons in china, atjinngu in yunnan province, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. you know what they say — what goes up must come down. a principle they understand all too well at the wingsuit flying world cup. teams from around the globe competing in this extreme and hair—raising sport. translation: i travelled more than 400 kilometres to see this. we arrived here early in the morning, just to watch the wingsuit flying show. it's spectacular! you can say that again. a couple of skydivers perform a 360—degree rotating nosedive. while others piggybacked from their teammates. not everybody was happy with how things turned out.

translation: i think our performance this time didn't reflect our real strength. we will get to our best through regular competition. i hope we perform better next time. the chinese team finished third overall, behind the winners, france, and the united states, who came second. it is a non—profit event, and the local school received a cheque worth more than $30,000. so some charitable spirit, combined with a little heart—stopping terror. how can you get more festive than that? some of you may have been enjoying a white christmas this year — there's also been some unexpected snow in parts of the us. this was the scene in maine — where they got quite a coating. and in seattle city workers were called in from their holidays to help grit the streets. in portland, oregon, icy road conditions caused some traffic problems, with a rare

inch of snow recorded. that's it for now, thanks for watching. hello. not quite in sync with the big day itself but our wether for boxing day the weather will feel more christmassy and, in the next few days, some of us will see some snow. the reason why, colder air is moving back in across the uk. 13 degrees celsius the top temperature for christmas day. most of us in single figures fora few days to come. an indication ofjust how cold it's getting will be the threat of ice on untreated surfaces as boxing day begins. more especially in scotland, parts of the pennines too. and we're getting some sleet and snow to begin the day in the southern uplands, northern pennines, to the relatively low levels in places, for a wintry start to boxing day, so be aware of that. there will be more wintry showers ciming into northern scotland. a few showers for northern ireland. a massive mixture of rain, sleet and snow for some across the pennines, northern england. and a few showers to come into the north—west,

to add to that as we go on through the day, that could have a wintry flavour to these as well, more especially on hill. south of all of that, though, i think you'll be struck by sunshine for a change, after several grey, murky days. but it will feel colder. as we go on through the day, if you are planning a boxing day walk, to it early. south wales, south—west england, you see what's coming — heavier rain coming back into the afternoon, with a strengthening wind once again. so let's take a look at that — 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it will be pretty wet here. the rain beginning to extend further east across southern england as well. to the north of that, take advantage of the drier and sunnier weather. still a few showers dotted about in northern england, mostly rain at this stage, into northern ireland too. but quite a bit of fine weather, a sunnier afternoon for southern scotland, for the central belt, compared with the morning but there weill be quite a few sleet and snow showers peppering northern scotland at this stage. and behind those things, it could well turn icy again going through the night. going through boxing day evening, into wednesday, we need to watch this weather system for snow

developing into parts of wales and the midlands. sill some uncertainty about the details here. but some sleet and wet snow possible too. the back edge of this, as it begins to pull away eastwards going into wednesday. if you are travelling, through the night and into wednesday, do pay close attention to updates on this forecast. further intry showers in northern scotland on wednesday. but actually as this weather system pulls a way, there will be a lot of fine sunny but chilly weather on wednesday and quite a frost going into thursday morning, which again, the gap between weather systems will offer a lot of fine weather before this system slowly comes in on friday. so quite a nice day on thursday for sunshine but quite cold. friday into the weekend, more cloud, the weather system from the atlantic turning milder, but also wetter and windier once again. this is bbc news, the headlines. vladimir putin's political rival, alexei navalny, has described the decision to bar him from running in russia's presidential election due to a corruption conviction

as "politically motivated". meanwhile, mr putin's supporters are preparing to officially launch his bid for re—election. thousands of peruvians have taken to the streets in the capital lima, against a decision to pardon the jailed former president, alberto fujimori, on health grounds. opponents of the current leader pedro pablo kuczynski, who issued the apology, say the apology is an attempt to secure his own political survival. an investigation is under way into why a bus ploughed into a pedestrian underpass in the russian capital moscow. four people were killed and several others injured. the driver, who has been arrested, says the breaks failed to work. —— the brakes failed to work.