this is bbc world news. our top stories: vladimir putin's supporters nominate him to run as an independent candidate in next year's russian elections. his political rival is barred from standing. counting votes in liberia's presidential election, where former world footballer of the year, george weah, is seeking the country's top job. peru's former leader, who was serving a long prison sentence for human rights abuses and corruption, asks for forgiveness, after receiving a presidential pardon. iam aware i am aware that the results produced by my government were well received by my government were well received by some but i recognise that i have let others down. to them, i ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart. and english footballer harry kane smashes a 22—year—old record for most premier league goals scored in a calendar year. hello and welcome to bbc world news.

a group of russian electors have formally given their support to vladimir putin as a candidate in next year's presidential election. mr putin is seeking a fourth term in office and will run as an independent this time. he still needs 300,000 signatures before his nomination is confirmed. on monday, putin's main rival, opposition leader alexei navalny, was barred from standing in the election. but the move has already prompted a call for an opposition boycott, and has raised fears of a lack of political choice. absent from this presidential nomination was vladimir putin, a p pa re ntly nomination was vladimir putin, apparently so confident of winning this election he did not turn up. that did not dampen the enthusiasm of his reporters. they voted unanimously to back mr putin for an fourth term. translation: our country has been transformed from a

country has been transformed from a country that was destroyed and without future, it into a really powerful state. their candidate, meanwhile, was he with children. invited to a new year ‘s party at the kremlin. this was vladimir putin the kremlin. this was vladimir putin the benevolent. thinking of the future of his country. earlier, russian saw images of put in the powerful entering his cabinet. here he told a boy of the ruling a country russia was not hard. but after 18 years of him doing just that, the kremlin is struggling to inject energy into this re—election race to ensure people come out to vote when everything is so predictable. this man is now planning to make their task even harder. navalny calls himself the only real rival to vladimir putin but this week the popular

anticorruption campaigner was ruled out of the presidential race the big he has a criminal conviction he says was politically motivated. translation: it is not about me. it is about the fact that a candidate 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 darl‘ reality honestly. the absence of prospect, poverty. idid reality honestly. the absence of prospect, poverty. i did that and thatis prospect, poverty. i did that and that is why you don't know —— want to let me take part in the election. so now, mr navalny is calling for a boycott of the entire process, to undermine its legitimacy. mr putin will not be too worried with a boycott a nd will not be too worried with a boycott and in street protests grow. otherwise, he is betting that his message of strength and stability will secure him another six years in power. in the past hour the international committee of the red cross said that the evacuation of critical medical cases had begun from eastern ghouta in syria. eastern ghouta, a suburb near damascus, has been under the control of the rebels

and almost 400,000 people besieged by forces loyal to president bashar al—assad. the united nations had pleaded for him to allow the evacuation of patients who will die without medical care. counting is under way in a runoff election to choose the next president of liberia. it is a straight fight between the current vice president joseph boakai, and world renowned footballer george weah. umaru fofana reports from the capital, monrovia. voting went peacefully with no reports of incidents. accompanied by his supporters, vice president joseph weah cast his vote. he sounded confident. asked as to whether he would accept the results he responded with a qualified yes.

after that a decision will be made. were willing to work for whatever the final result is. for supporters of the former football superstars george weah it looked like a victory dance when he went to vote. the man who will won in the first round sounded confident. i'm not associated with losing. i will win. boakai associated with losing. i will win. boa kai cannot associated with losing. i will win. boakai cannot win, and george weah can. what happened cannot happen again. initial indications are that the run—off was better organised than the first round. materials arrived on time and there have been no complaints so far of multiple voting according to the main local observation group. turnout seemed low. it has been quiet here at this high school. election officials are

nibbling around without a lot to do. they say there's been like this for most of the day. only one person has come here in the last 30 minutes to cast their vote. was a result expected this week, liberians are looking forward to the outcome. this is the first time in over 70 years that this country has set the stage for a peaceful transfer of power from one elected president to another. a british woman has been sentenced to three years in an egyptian prison after being found guilty of smuggling drugs into the country. laura plummer, who's 33 and from england's north, was arrested in october when she was found carrying 290 tablets of the painkiller, tramadol, in her suitcase. daniela relph reports. laura plummer‘s family and friends say she is naive, not a criminal. but today the 33—year—old shop workerfrom hull is beginning a three—year sentence injail in egypt. her mother, roberta, and her egyptian partner, omar caboo, have been at court to support her during the hearings this week. laura plummer had been travelling

to the red sea resort of hurghada to visit omar in october when she was stopped by the authorities. in her suitcase were 290 tramadol tablets, a painkiller which is legal on prescription in britain, but banned in egypt. she said the tablets were for her partner, who suffers from severe back pain, but she was arrested and has been held since then in a communal cell with up to 25 women. herfamily at home in hull have described today's sentence as horrendous. she's just a normal girl who works in hull. she just sells clothes, she comes home, she watches telly and she goes to bed. she doesn't drink, she doesn't smoke, she doesn't do anything. she lives to go to egypt. she loves egypt. she loves the egyptian people. she's in love with omar. we cannot believe this has happened to her. we are absolutely devastated. her supporters say she has been let

down by the country she has loved. this woman doesn't deserve to be incarcerated in an egyptian prison and, to be honest with you, as much as i respect the customs of egypt and the laws and the judiciary and everything else, this will put people off travelling on holiday to egypt in the future, and i think the egyptian authorities need to be mindful of that. the egyptian legal system is complex. laura plummer will now appeal against the three—year sentence, a jail term her family say is shocking and unjust. daniela relph, bbc news. the united states has placed sanctions on two north korean officials, kim jong—sik and ri pyong—chol, over the country's nuclear programme. the us treasury says both men were key leaders of north korea's ballistic missile programme. the un security council imposed new sanctions on north korea on friday in response

to ballistic missile tests. north korea said the move was "an act of war." a heavy snow storm on the island of sakhalin in russia's far east has caused severe disruption. the authorities have opened mobile ‘warming centres' for pedestrians, many of whom were forced to walk after public transport all but ground to a halt. a pensioner is recovering in hospital after being blown off a balcony. the airport and the ferry service with the mainland were closed. angry kosovans have hung hundreds of neckties on the fence outside the government's headquarters on tuesday. it's after prime minister ramush haradi—naj said he was justified in doubling his own salary, because wearing smart clothes was part of his job. he sparked outrage by passing a measure raising his salary from about $1800 to $3,500 a month. a peruvian football official accused of taking bribes has been cleared by a jury in the us.

manuel burga, who led football in peru until 2014, was accused of taking cash in exchange for distributing marketing and media rights to matches. two other south american football officials were convicted by the same jury on friday. peru is divided over the legacy of its former president, alberto fujimori. some see him as the man who saved peru from economic collapse and communism. to others, he was a ruthless autocrat who authorised death squad killings. he had been serving a 25—year prison term for human rights abuses. but the current president, pedro pablo kuczynski, has granted him a medical pardon. in a video posted to facebook, fujimori said he's deeply grateful. translation: this has had a strong

impact on me. i have had mixed mixed feelings of extreme joy and sorrow. iam aware feelings of extreme joy and sorrow. i am aware that the results produced by my government were well received by my government were well received by some at a whole i recognise that i have let others down. to them, i ask forgiveness from the bottom of my heart. michael reid is a senior editor on latin america at the economist. hejoined me from lima a short time ago and i asked him what the mood is like there. it came as a huge surprise to people. demonstrators took to the streets on christmas day in large numbers andi streets on christmas day in large numbers and i think there will be continuing protest. just as important is the reaction and political opinion here and internationally. as you mentioned here is a divisive figure and many protesters believe this pardon was somehow a legally wrought about. what is the general opinion among the people you speak to. it was a lwa ys the people you speak to. it was always going to be controversial. he

has been injailfor over ten years. he was found guilty in an exemplary process of human rights violations. but the circumstances in which the pardon came about are quite suspicious too many peruvians because it came three days after a vote in congress in which president kuczynski survived an attempt to impeach him, thanks to the abstention of ten congress members supported of fujimori. it looks too many peruvians like a sordid quid pro quo, however much the government proclaims that its main motivation was that it was worried for the deteriorating health of the imac and did not want him to die injail. deteriorating health of the imac and did not want him to die in jail. to what extent do you think the current government and president kuczynski

is in government and president kuczynski isina government and president kuczynski is in a weakened state as a result of this? he is in an extremely weakened state. there is no doubt about that. 3:12:11 iii—ii. %§;i w 555 ;::.-.: figs; the :iza;a.i iii—ii. %§;i w 555 g—gs.;:— 5.35. -; :iza;a.i iii—ii. %§;i w 555 ..gs.;:— 5.35. the to impeach: 71” w n 7— :iza;a.i iii—ii. %§;i w 555 ..gs.;:— 5.35. the to impeach him, w n 7— survived the attempt to impeach him, which was, one must say, an attempt at political vengeance by the fujimori majority in congress. he has only a small group of supporters in congress. he did survive that vote by appealing to the country as a democrat who is being faced with a parliamentary coup by what he saw or what he portrayed as an undemocratic group of fujimori supporters. those who gave him the benefit of the doubt and supported him, many of them now feel that he betrayed them by immediately turning around and pardoning fujimori. this is bbc world news. stay with us

because still to come, australia rules of the ashes. after winning the series their batsmen make the english visitors were card in the fourth test. —— work hard. 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 world news. the latest headlines: vladimir putin's supporters nominate him to run as an independent candidate in next year's elections. his political rival is barred from standing. votes are being counted in liberia's presidential election, where former world footballer of the year, george weah, is seeking the country's top job. now to some action from the ashes. australia opener, david warner, struck a century, as england endured a tough time in the field on the opening day of the boxing day test in melbourne. warner dazzled with some fine stroke—play in a one—sided morning session against an england side that looked flattened after surrendering the ashes in perth.

the tourists fought back and warner could have been dismissed on 99, only for tom curran to be denied his maiden test wicket when replays showed that he had overstepped. the bbc‘s patrick gearey is in melbourne for us, and i asked him if australia was looking to take home their advantage today. they are. that is because who they are going up against. steve smith, the immovable object, the omens are not good for him. the last time he was out on a test match on this this ground was in 2014. he scored 434 i’u ns ground was in 2014. he scored 434 runs since that dismissal, and is averaging 140 on this ground. that is even more than the great sir donald bradman, the best there ever was. 65 not out, smith. england will

be desperate to get rid of them early on the second day. to their credit, they did well on the first day after the swashbuckling century from david warner. but things will not get easierfor them from david warner. but things will not get easier for them on the second day. the temperature is expected to reach 35 degrees, really high, not the weather you want to run in. australia will feel they can back them out. it will be an endurance test for the bowlers and fielders. the sunny day having an impact. it has been a great day for the home crowd. there has been criticism of the pitch at the melbourne cricket grounds. there has. it is called a drop—in pitch. that is because it is all so use for afl. it has been criticised for being slow and flat. shane warne, a man of melbourne, called it flat as

an ironing board.jimmy man of melbourne, called it flat as an ironing board. jimmy anderson said it was not the right surface for a contest for the big crowds at the mcg. if you are to take wickets on this pitch, you have to bowl defensively and dry up runs. that is not a thrilling spectacle. whichever side wins, they will have to fight hard. that victory will be earned in sweat. english footballer, harry kane, has set a new record of 39 goals in the premier league in a calendar year, doing it in style, with a hat trick at wembley. kane headed in a free kick from christian erikson to give tottenham hotspur a 1—0 lead over southampton and break alan shearer‘s 22—year—old record. a second goal followed just before half time as he swept in across from son heung—min. and midway through the second half, son was again provider, as kane completed his hat trick with a delicate chip over the keeper. that takes his haulfor club and country to 56 goals, making him the leading

goalscorer in europe for 2017. earlier, the bbc spoke to bradley allen. he has been a coach at spurs for 13 years and coached harry kane as a youngster. he also witnessed harry kane make history at wembley as a co—commentator for bbc radio london. my colleague geeta guru—murthy began by asking him what he made of his new record? it isa it is a remarkable achievement. something all of tottenham hotspur is‘ supporters and the academy and those who worked with harry kane on this incredible journey, those who worked with harry kane on this incrediblejourney, they have loved it and it has been an outstanding year. has anyone heard from him since? i have not had the opportunity to actually watch him live this afternoon, working on my media capacity. i have seen develop

and have worked with him as a 14—15 year old kid. he has become a great footballer. this is just year old kid. he has become a great footballer. this isjust the number visible achievement. did you spot it early? were the signs there? he showed glimpses. one of the biggest compliment i could give him if he was just a fantastic learner. —— compliments. it is just a small part the coaches have played along the way. he deserves a lot of credit. the new club owner has allowed him to blossom. can you explain what it

is he does so well? strength? speed? skill? what makes him so good? any idea he was given, he would be prepared to work on those aspects of his game and more, you know? ithink a player of frank lampard's attitude. frank lampard really got the maximum amount of the ability that he had. the same with young harry kane. you know? he comes from a tremendously stable and supportive family. he is just a tremendously stable and supportive family. he isjust a lovely and humble young man. he is a credit to himself and the people around him. how big is his future career potentially, do you think? his achievement is exceptional. i think totte n ha m achievement is exceptional. i think tottenham supporters will be hoping inafew

tottenham supporters will be hoping in a few years, with the new stadium on the horizon in the fascinating, that harry kane will play his best football. —— in 2018. you have the world cup in russia next summer, of course. and to be truly regarded as one of the greats, harry would most definitely know he would have to achieve and produce at the biggest tournament. he will be looking forward to that. first and foremost, he loves playing for tottenham hotspur. he thoroughly enjoys scoring goals. formula one world champion, lewis hamilton, has apologised after sharing a video, on instagram criticising his nephew for wearing a dress. in the video, which has since been deleted, the driver says "boys don't wear princess dresses."

the post was then the subject of an online backlash. hamilton later made an apology in a series of tweets, calling his behaviour unacceptable. out of all the photographers waiting to snap a picture of the royal family at the christmas day service in sandringham, it was a mum from norfolk who managed to capture the perfect image on her phone. the photograph ta ken by karen murdoch has now been used by publications from all over the world. mike cartwright reports. the photograph that's gone everywhere. the picture that everybody wanted. taken, not by the press pack or a royal photographer, but karen at sandringham with her daughter on her phone. the two of them and their dog, luna, back there today. that picture, all over the papers. it wasn't intentional, it was just that it captured the right moment at that time, and there was no planning, it was just fun. it was lovely. i caught the moment, and it was great. somewhere in the crowd, the two had been here on christmas day before. but they wanted to see meghan. walking to church, the duke and duchess of cambridge,

prince harry and meghan markle. karen never dreamt she'd scoop this. a picture that may go down in history, and now, help pay her daughter's college fees. i don't know how much i am expected to get. a bit, i've been told. anything. for me, when somebody said, £50, i was like, "yes! yes! 50 quid! but it's going to go on my daughter. i work on my daughter, she's my pride and joy. oh, i think it's fantastic. i think my mum deserves it. i know she didn't do it intentionally, but good things happen to good people. now shared dozens of times on social media, that moment captured by karen in the right place at the right time. mike cartwright, bbc look east. several people, including six children, remain in a serious condition in hospital after a fireworks explosion at a popular cuban carnival on christmas eve. amateur video captured the incident in which injured 39 people

in the central town of remedios. the centuries—old parrandas festival takes place every year and draws thousands of cubans and tourists. authorities say the cause of the explosion is being investigated. that is it for this bulletin. i am sharanjit leyl. that is it for this bulletin. i am shara njit leyl. thank that is it for this bulletin. i am sharanjit leyl. thank you for watching. some of us have already seen snow already this festive season. for a few more, wednesday starts on a wintry note. low pressure. this drifting northwards in the cold air. while the system is delivering rain, mixed in with that, sleet and snow drifting across southern and

south—eastern areas across the day. northern england, northern ireland, scotland, potential for icy stretches with clear skies through the night. through the day, scotland, northern ireland, western areas of england and wales, that will have the best of the sunshine towards the south and east, struggling to clear up. the london area will stay pretty cloudy. across kent, up into east anglia, here, outbreaks of rain sleet and snow mixed in right through the afternoon, coupled with a strong northerly wind. that combination could cause disruption. northern england, half of scotland, a fine and crisp and cold sunny afternoon. showers in northern scotland. showers in northern scotland. showers filtering into northern ireland. three degrees in belfast. a scattering of showers in wales. the west midlands and parts of the south—west as well. sunny spells in

between. temperatures, for degrees in plymouth. a cold and fairly breezy date wherever you are. wednesday night, staying cold. temperatures dipping below freezing. again, that will lead to icy stretches. one or two showers in northern fringes. temperatures close to freezing, perhaps below in some spots. thursday, this bump in the isobars, the ridge of high pressure, drummersing a isobars, the ridge of high pressure, drummer sing a decent day for many. a cold and frosty start. —— promising. some wintry showers in the north. then a change to the south—west. clouding over. outbreaks of rain temporarily. snow on the leading edge, especially on the high ground. calls at this stage, six degrees at best. —— cold out. a breezy day. look at the south—west.

temperatures just beginning to climb. 10 degrees in plymouth. taking that that trend with us as we go to the weekend. temperatures climbing into double digits in places. a lot of cloud. often windy. outbreaks of rain at times. this is bbc news, the headlines. a group of vladimir putin's supporters have nominated him to run as an independent presidential candidate in next year's election. his political rival alexei navalny, has been barred from standing the evacuation has begun of critically—ill syrian patients from eastern ghouta, a rebel—held suburb near damascus. on saturday, aid agencies appealed to president assad to authorise the evacuation of seven children with cancer. votes are being counted in liberia, where a presidential election run—off has been taking place between a former international football star, george weah, and the current vice president. both said they were confident they'd win. peru's former leader has asked peruvians to forgive him, two days after the current president

pardoned him over corruption and human rights abuses. alberto fujimori said he had let people down when in power nearly two decades ago.