this is bbc world news. i'm sharanjit leyl. our top stories: in syria, the first evacuations begin from a rebel—held suburb near damascus. but there's no relief for the hundreds more trapped in ghouta. record snow falls on the us city of erie, burying homes and cars under deep drifts. you know, it is a little ridiculous but i keep pecking away at it. meanwhile in the uk, snow and ice cause widespread disruption to travel, on the roads and in the air. barack obama urges the responsible use of social media, in his first interview since leaving office. he's been speaking to prince harry here on the bbc. hello and welcome to bbc world news. aid workers and syrian volunteers

have begun to evacuate dozens of critically—ill patients from a rebel—held suburb near damascus. last week, international aid agencies made an appeal to president assad to allow the evacuation of seven children with cancer. the first of the patients were taken out of eastern ghouta overnight by the red cross and the syrian arab red crescent. more patients should be evacuated in the coming days as part of a deal between the government and rebels. but hundreds more are in need of treatment. the medical situation for people living in eastern ghouta is desperate after four years under siege. martin patience reports from beirut. seven—year—old imjy is preparing for a shortjourney, and it will almost certainly end up saving her life. she is suffering from haemophilia, but last night she was among four critically—ill patients to be evacuated to damascus for life—saving treatment. this is what she's leaving behind.

eastern ghouta is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds, fighting the government of bashar al—assad. it's been bombed and besieged for four years, with fighting intensifing in recent weeks. i think it's a combination of everybody‘s efforts, that at this really low time in syria there is a ray of light, and it's the children. it's the children who are missing growing up in syria — we must sort them out, to give syria a chance of a prosperous and peaceful future. but food is hard to come by. malnutrition is now widespread. human rights groups accuse the syrian government of trying to starve the rebels into submission. this evacuation may have the appearances of a humanitarian gesture, but that's simply not the case. we've been told by two sources that the syrian government only agreed to it as part of a prisoner exchange. the main rebel faction

in eastern ghouta agreed to free 29 syrian government hostages, and in return the same number of critically ill patients are being allowed to receive urgent medical care. but the united nations says hundreds of others need to be evacuated. among them, three—month—old karim, who was injured by government shelling. he lost his left eye. his mother was killed. despite a prominent social media campaign, he is not being allowed to leave eastern ghouta. translation: karim is injured, he's going to lose his sight. here in the ghouta he can't get treated. the doctor wants to perform an operation, so that he doesn't lose the sight in his other eye. for some there is now hope, but for most, help is not coming any time soon. martin patience, bbc news, beirut.

anastasia isyuk is the spokesperson of icrc. earlier she explained the situation her colleagues are facing as they evacuate people from ghouta. the situation is very difficult, as you can imagine. already it was clear that the situation was deteriorating and people were angry. mothers who had to look for food for their children on a daily basis and now as the weather gets worse, with the lack of fuel and medical supply, the lack of fuel and medical supply, the situation is practically impossible the people. the current evacuation taking place, carried out by the searing red crescent and my colleagues, it is in its very early

stages and we fully realise that it is not something that can resolve all the issues. we do hope it can continue but people in eastern ghouta need regular at a and an unimpeded supply of basic items. how challenging is it to get the patient is out in terms of getting ambulances and convoys in bass well, you know, last night we started this operation with colleagues from the syrian red crescent and it has been a long process and an agreement has been reached. we do hope that in the coming hours and days, we are able to evacuate people according to the agreement that has been reached so farand we agreement that has been reached so far and we hope that in the coming weeks we can do more. the evacuation is in its early stages but you

hopeful more patients will be allowed out and will that entail more negotiations with the start government and potentially the rebels. —— bashar al—assad government. these are very complex negotiations. to provide guarantees to ask, we provide only humanitarian intermediary and she and we help people in critical conditions to reach hospitals in the massacres. we hope that in the coming weeks that can be more of these and all people in need of medical aid can receive it and more people who stay and continue to live in eastern ghouta could have access to humanitarian aid. this is certainly a positive step but more needs to be done in the coming weeks. an arctic cold snap is bringing sub—zero temperatures and heavy snow to large parts of north—east

america and canada. temperatures have been reported as low minus fifteen in toronto. while the us lakeside city of erie, in pennsylvania, has had a record 1.5 metres of snow in 48 hours, with more on the way. demarco morgan from cbs news has the story. a snow emergency in erie after record 53 inches of snow in less than 36 hours. you cannot even tell how bad it is. so is bearing cars and bringing traffic to a halt. all i could do was a laugh. it is a little ridiculous but i keep pecking away at it. as people tried to pick out, moris piling up across the la kes. out, moris piling up across the lakes. it will not stop. emergency management say plough drivers are

working around the clock to clear the streets. they have been doing a fantastic job but with the streets. they have been doing a fantasticjob but with the elements out there, it is hard to keep up with this amount of snow. it is making for tough commute. i could only do 20 miles an hour. more than 40 only do 20 miles an hour. more than a0 accidents in missouri on tuesday. three people killed in three separate caches. —— crashes. it could reach a0 below zero in some parts of the region today. the wind is the hardest part. city officials are not sure when it they will be out of the state of emergency but are asking everyone to stay inside until cruise clear the street. —— streets. ben rich from bbc weather‘s here with me — and ben you can tell us why the great lakes are particularly badly affected. north america is used to cold winters but they rarely bite quite as hard as it is. temperatures are well below average and, some places,

particularly on the eastern shores of the great lakes, have seen the huge amounts of snow courtesy of la ke huge amounts of snow courtesy of lake effect snow, when cold winds from the arc pick blow across the slightly less cold water of the la kes. slightly less cold water of the lakes. the moist air rises forming clouds which are then blowing into the eastern shores of the great la kes the eastern shores of the great lakes and that moisture is released not as rain but as huge amount of snow. 0ver not as rain but as huge amount of snow. over the next few days we can expect more of these because of the cold air sitting in place is not going anywhere fast and the winds will still be blowing down across the great lakes picking up that moist and slighter warmer air and delivering it in the form of snow across the eastern areas. any further snow across this part of the world will not be welcomed. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: an improvised explosive device has gone off in a supermarket

in the russian city of st petersburg. the city governor's office says ten people are in hospital, one of whom is in a serious condition. they say the incident is being investigated as attempted murder but that no theories have been ruled out. a court in bosnia has sentenced a croat woman, known to her victims as the "mistress of life and death", to fourteen years in prison for atrocities committed during the bosnian war in the 1990s. azra basic, a former member of the bosnian—croat forces, was found guilty of war crimes, including murder and the torture of ethnic serb civilians. there's been another day of protests in the moroccan city ofjerada following the deaths of two brothers in a disused coal mine. the mine had been closed for years, but the protesters said many young people have no option but to carry on working below ground. they demanded action against unemployment and rising living costs. snow and ice are causing disruption in many parts of the uk, with thousands of homes

without power and dangerous conditions on the roads. the runway at stansted airport was closed twice during the day with a number of flights cancelled. phil mackie reports from kenilworth, warwickshire in the english midlands. horn blasts. the motorway at a standstill. it's always busy here anyway, but throw in five centimetres of snow and you've got chaos. 0n the aia things were even worse. this lorry span out of control, leaving drivers stranded. good morning. it's just gone past ten o'clock in the morning. as you can see, we're stationary here on the aia, not going anywhere. i've been here for five hours, and... ..so have these! my name is tara, i'm on the aia trying to go eastbound to northampton. i set off from my house in hinckley at 6am this morning,

as you can see, there's nothing going in the other direction. i'm a bit cross, i'm canadian so i'm used to this kind of weather. i know you guys aren't. in the end, they were stuck for seven hours before the road was cleared. stansted airport had to close twice to clear snow from the runway. birmingham airport had to do the same for a short while too. and the weather kept ground crews busy, as planes had to be constantly de—iced. a swathe of central and southern england was worst affected, from gloucestershire, to warwickshire, to the chilterns. and it didn'tjust lead to hazardous driving conditions. thousands of homes lost power, too. obviously the snow came in, it settles on our overhead conductor. then, with the cold wind chill, that freezes into ice and therefore

that takes the conductors down. likewise, it's the same with tree branches. normally they would not be near the line but they've taken our conductors down. as the snow started to melt, there was a new danger... flood warnings followed the thaw as streams became swollen and rivers started to rise. that meant more hazards to negotiate, and not everyone made it... another warning tonight as temperatures are falling. snow and slush beginning to freeze. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: towering over tel aviv — residents of the city hope this lego construction will set a new world record. the most ambitious financial and

political change ever attempted has gotten under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow will in holland we will use muggy we picked up in belgium today and we will use the same muggy in france. it has got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. as 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of murder.|j think it was good. just good? no, fantastic! that's better. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines:

syrian volunteers have evacuated the first group of critically—ill children from a rebel—held suburb near damascus. record snow has fallen on the us city of erie, burying homes and cars under deep drifts. how do you stop poachers from devastating wildlife in remote parts of africa? one solution is military—style training and tactics. it's being used in the vulnerable state of chad, where zakouma national park has lost 90% of it elephants over the past a0 yea rs. alastair leithead travelled to the remote park where the population is finally recovering and tourists are now helping fund the conservation work. they were the herd heading for extinction. but the elephants of zakouma national park have made a dramatic recovery. translation: before, there used to be elephant carcasses everywhere . so what has been the difference,

since african parks took over? translation: since african parks arrived here, we no longer see carcasses of elephants in the park. across the continent, a private, not—for—profit conservation group called african parks believes it has the answer to saving africa's disappearing wildlife. and it's controversial. they are arming rangers and giving them military—style training. in some places, it's become a war against poachers. adoum allam is a sniper with fast response unit mamba number two. his father was killed by poachers in this park. he jumped at the chance to join. "it's a very dangerous job but i love doing it", he said. it's a good income. but it's also personal. this was zakouma, ten years ago. decades of poaching killed 90% of the park's elephants and many rangers as well.

but, today, it's a much healthier picture. they haven't lost an elephant in two years or a ranger since 2012. and last year, the population started to grow again. there were more than 20,000 elephants in this parkjust a0 years ago, but now there arejust over 500. what's encouraging, though, is that they've now got babies, they're reproducing, their numbers are starting to go up. and if the poachers can be kept at bay, the population is going to recover. this is the best way to counter raids from the heavily armed sudanese horsemen. the main perpetrators who've been poaching ivory here for centuries. but now, both sides have automatic weapons. and local communities are a key to success. schools are being built, kids are learning about conservation. villagers now often tip off the rangers,

if poachers are seen nearby. african parks take on delegated management of protected areas in africa. normally where public sector has failed, african parks will step in and, with donorfunding, will then manage protected areas. but eventually it should pay for itself. zakouma is now attracting high—end adventure tourists who cover one third of the park's budget. 0ther, marginal reserves in africa will never make money. animals have to be worth more alive than dead, notjust to rich westerners, but to local people as well. alastair leithead, bbc news, zakouma national park, in chad. the former us president barack obama has issued a warning about the irresponsible use of social media. in an interview with the bbc by britain's prince harry, mr obama said such actions were distorting people's understanding of complex issues. he did not mention donald trump,

his successor, by name. but he emphasised that people in positions of leadership should exercise care when posting messages. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the story. prince harry, first of all. you are very welcome to our studio. good morning. joining the today programme for the day had been a big learning curve, harry said, but he had enjoyed being the interviewer rather than the interviewed. it was quite fun, especially interviewing president obama. his principal scoop had been to persuade barack obama to give his first interview since standing down as us president. the word "trump" was never mentioned but may have been in mr 0bama's mind when he warned about the use of social media. all of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. they can be just cocooned in the information that

reinforces their current biases. harry had also interviewed his father — the main focus had been on climate change. the issue prince charles has championed for decades and for which he was sometimes derided. maybe now, some years later, they are beginning to realise that what i was trying to say may not have been quite as dotty as they thought. i mean, the issue really that has to go on being focused on, big time, i think, is this one around the whole issue of climate change which now, whether we like it or not, is the biggest threat multiplier we face. and then, at the end of the programme, it was time to face questions rather than ask them. first about his fiancee, meghan markle, and herfirst christmas at sandringham. she really enjoyed it. the family loved having her there. and yeah, it's. .. there's always that family part of christmas. there's always that work element as well and i think,

you know, together we have an amazing time. great fun, staying with my brother and sister in law. harry's commitment to issues he cares about like the armed forces and mental health had come through strongly. so how does he see his future? part of my role and part of myjob is to shine a spotlight on issues that need that spotlight, whether it's people, whether its causes, whether its issues, whatever it is. so i will continue to play my part in society and do myjob to the best of my ability, so i can wake up in the morning and feel energised, and go to bed hopefully knowing i've done the best that i can. not so long ago, harry admitted to having doubts about a royal role. clearly no longer. nicholas witchell, bbc news. we heard a bit from prince harry's interview with former us president barack obama earlier in the programme. they discussed the dangers of social media and the spread of misinformation. they also took time to tackle some of the big questions. clips from the interview are proving

popular. you clips from the interview are proving popular. you can clips from the interview are proving popular. you can watch clips from the interview are proving popular. you can watch them and read more at bbc .com slash news. a tower made from lego bricks has been built in israel's coastal city of tel aviv. the 36 metre construction in rabin square is designed to set a new world record — the previous record was set in 2015 when the italian subsidiary of lego built a 35 metre tower for the milan world expo. faith 0rr reports. brick by brick this huge lego tower is painstakingly assembled. it stands at 36 metres tall and has been constructed from over 500,000 plastic bricks donated by residents of tel aviv. idiots in memory of an eight—year—old lawyer who died of cancer in 201a. he had enjoyed building lego towers during his illness. translation: we saw how

much lego was in his house and decided that we need to do something in order to remember him. for his family and friends who suddenly had a big hole in their lives. so we decided to construct a tower. first we constructed a ten metre high lego tower in the kindergarten. the tower was put together in over 20 community centres around tel aviv. everyone from children to senior citizens took part. translation: the most important message from the tower is unity of all. arabs, jews, 93v, tower is unity of all. arabs, jews, gay, straight, religious, secular, all are part of this tower and have put a small piece of this tower. together we did something people thought was impossible. the project has taken one year to complete. proving tel aviv is not toying around with this world record attempt. many of the staff working in a belgian zoo spend christmas day away from theirfamilies.

belgian zoo spend christmas day away from their families. it was worth the wait after one of the zoo's asian elephant gave birth in full view of everyone. the zoo estimates that the baby elephant, yet to be named, weighed between 85 and 100 kilograms at birth and there may be more good news to come for the zoo with two more pregnant elephants. a reminder now about top story before we go. syrian volunteers have evacuated the first critically ill patients from a rebel held suburb near damascus. aid groups had urged the syrian president to allow help for the desperate emergency medical cases. be a role in an area that has been under government siege for yea rs. been under government siege for years. —— they are all in an area.

if you are out and about early this thursday morning, there in mind that conditions could be slippery out there. frost and ice to contend with where we had wintry weather during wednesday and that clever way. in the sky cleared overhead and thursday starts off with the risk of ice. there are still wintry showers exacerbating the risk across some northern and western areas. freezing fog developing across parts of northern ireland as well perhaps and if that fog develops it could linger through the day. for most of us, thursday is a cracking day. plenty of sparkling winter sunshine. a closer look at three o'clock in the afternoon. despite the sunshine through the midlands in central southern england, temperatures will only reach three degrees, possibly hitting five in london. kent into east anglia are much drier day with a lot of sunshine. find the bulk of northern england. a few showers drifting across north—west england, fading as the day goes on. sunshine

across much of scotland butjust a couple of degrees. wintry showers still in the far north. for any fog that develops earlier crossed are northern ireland could stick through to the end of the day. thanks guys for the most part. fine for much of wales and for the bristol area. somerset and dorset into devon. for cornwall a change. cloud and outbreaks of patchy rain. it will not amount to much as we go on into thursday evening. thursday night will be another cold and frosty one for the majority. but then things begin to change from the west. alam brea ks begin to change from the west. alam breaks of rain flooding in from the atlantic, running into that cold air and that could temporarily give snow to northern ireland, wales, the midlands and during friday proper northern england and southern scotla nd northern england and southern scotland could see some snow, even to fairly low levels. still a lot to play for with the details on that and we will keep posted and up—to—date. to the north of the weather system is still cold and to the south is much milder. 10 degrees

there in the far south—west. as we go on into the weekend that mild weather will increasingly make its presence felt. be frontal system bringing rain and perhaps i'll snow in the north through the early part of saturday and then once it leaves we are left with fairly brisk and mild south—westerly wind. some showery rain, spells of sunshine as well. mild in the south but still cold air holding on further north. that mild airedging cold air holding on further north. that mild air edging northwards as we enter sunday. still some showery rain and spells of sunshine as well. that is all from me. bye for now. this is bbc news, the headlines: the first of a group of critically—ill patients has been evacuated from a rebel—held suburb near damascus. a total of 29 are being taken out of eastern ghouta under a deal agreed by the government and rebels. aid groups had urged president assad to allow treatment for urgent cases, including seven children with cancer. in the us, record—breaking snowfall of more than 150 cm has hit the pennsylvanian city of erie over the christmas period,

and more snow‘s expected. forecasters say the extreme weather is caused by very cold air passing over the unfrozen great lakes. the former us president barack obama has warned against the irresponsible use of social media. in an interview with britain's prince harry, he said such actions were distorting people's understanding of complex issues and spreading misinformation. now on bbc news, it's time for a programme to mark the 20th anniversary of bbc hardtalk.