its highest level in a decade. official figures for november show the sector grew for a seventh month in a row boosted by the weak pound and the state of the global economy. the global economy is growing. we're a small trading nation and that rising tide is also lifting the uk boat. but in contrast, the construction sector saw the biggest fall in output for the past five years — we'll have the details. also tonight: after the mudslides in california at least 15 have died but rescuers find some survivors, including babies. we dug down and found a little baby, i don't know where it came from, we dug it out, got the mud out of its mouth, i hope it's ok they took it right ot the hospital. a special report from jordan where thousands of injured syrian children are facing long waits for treatment. the record number of orphaned seals found along the cornish coastline over the past few weeks.

and, the latest production secrets from the director who brought us wallace and grommit. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news. the var experiment continues. chelsea and arsenal's efl cup semifinal is the second club match in england to use the new system. good evening. manufacturing output in the uk is growing at its fastest rate for a decade after recording a seventh consecutive month of growth in november. performance has been boosted by the weak pound and by the revived state of the global economy. but in the same period construction output fell by the biggest margin for the past five years reflecting the subdued nature of the domestic economy, as our economics editor

kamal ahmed explains. the sound of better economic news, and the manufacturers which are making the goods a faster—growing world is demanding. the weakness in the value of the pound makes everything britain sells abroad more competitive, and firms that export are taking advantage. so this machine actually is a high—end wire edm machine... like brandauer in birmingham. among other high—tech materials, it makes the switches for 90% of all the kettles in the world, billions of them. its order books for household goods, the car sector and aerospace are bulging. we've always exported a huge percentage of what we make. currently, that's around 70, 75%. global growth of our customers and the manufacturing supply chain means growth for us. our customers are doing well, and technology demands are ever—increasing,

which means brandauer, as a net result, will do well. it's been a ten year roller—coaster for britain's makers. manufacturing suffered badly in the financial crisis and has only slowly recovered since. but, in the last year, things have taken a turn for the better and output is now at its highest since april 2008. behind these betterfigures is a big economic trend, global growth. for the first time since the financial crisis ten years ago, all the economic centres — the usa, china, japan and the rest of europe — are seeing stronger growth, and that rising tide is lifting britain. confidence is flowing back. it's not all good news. construction figures are poor and there are still the problems of falling wages and the increase in prices. many economists warn that britain is not out of the economic woods,

including a former adviser to the chancellor. what we've seen in the uk relative to elsewhere is growth relatively stable. now, that is still better than most predicted at the start of 2017, because the brexit negotiation was expected to have a more dampening impact on growth, but the global environment has actually ended up being much stronger, and i think that has supported uk activity. the uk is still the laggard, though. manufacturing is a bright point, but atjust 10% of the uk economy it's not everything. the strength of britain overall will only become clear when the full set of figures are published at the end of the month. many economists believe they will now be more positive than expected. kamal is here with us now. manufacturing is one thing, clearly an important thing, but there's more

to the economy? the economy is a complex mix of different trends, that's why myjob is so interesting. but yes, this global growth story is based around very low interest rates which have met that. they were put in place to help the global economy through the financial crisis, meaning consumers and businesses are borrowing very cheap money, spending that and finally, the world is coming out of the financial crisis funk that it's been in for the best pa rt funk that it's been in for the best part of a decade which is helping britain. that is only one part of the british economic story. we know that pay squeeze is still with us, higher prices are affecting the price of things like food in the shops and, of course, there's the brexit negotiations. they're going to hang over everything about economic sentiment this year, how good they'll be, and tonight, philip hammond, the chancellor, has really tried to kick start those negotiations towards whatever the new free trade deal may be with the european union with a warning at a dinner in front of business leaders

in germany in berlin where he said that the eu should start offering some solutions, they should stop talking about punishing the uk, it takes talking about punishing the uk, it ta kes two talking about punishing the uk, it takes two to tango, he says. come on eu put on the table what you want to see happen, trying to kick start on a very tight timetable. i think in brussels, the response to that will be some raised eyebrows. britain decided to leave the eu, the eu didn't decide to leave britain, you broke it, you fix it. i think the key m essa g e broke it, you fix it. i think the key message all year will be from europe, as we have always been hearing, britain cannot have a better deal outside the eu than it had in the eu, we are not going to be able to have our cake and eat it. thank you very much. in southern california at least 15 have died in the mudslides as rescue efforts continue people still trapped. more than 50 people have been rescued already but many places are still inaccessible with major roads closed. for the latest, let's join our correpondent

james cook in montecito. huw, the latest is that more than a hundred homes, including ones behind me here have been destroyed, more than 300 have been damaged. that is before this entire area's even been fully surveyed. they are still, they say, trying to find survivors, but much of the focus now is on recovering bodies. 0n california's pacific coast, ordeal by the elements continues. first, they endured the largest fire in the state's history. next came torrential rain, more intense than anyone here could remember. then, within minutes, destruction, caused by an unstoppable wall of mud and debris. 14—year—old lauren cantin survived, but even she does not know how. firefighters using rescue dogs heard her screams and worked for hours to pull her from the wreckage of her home.

her family's fate is unknown. everyone here, it seems, has their own incredible story of a struggle to survive. once the boulders and trees came through our house we climbed up onto the roof and waited until the creek went down a bit and then we climbed off the roof and got to our neighbour's garage. we just got pulled out of there by the firefighters now. but he's been out rescuing neighbours. we heard a little baby crying. we dug down and found a little baby. i don't know where it came from. we got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. i'm hoping it's ok. they took it right to the hospital. but it wasjust a baby, four feet down in the mud, under the rocks. i'm glad we got him. there was a young man that was washed away that ended up half a mile away

from here on the freeway, and survived that. and has recall of actually being washed through houses and under vehicles, and survived that. these coastguard pictures show the rescue of a family of five. first a mother and her newborn baby are winched to safety. then a little girl makes it onto the roof. her seven—year—old brother is saved too. terrifying moments, but they are the lucky ones. how do you describe it? it is devastating, what happened. the fire created a situation where the dirt was able to wash down. had we still had all the vegetation on the hills it would not have been as much of an issue. we just feel very sorry for the people who have lost their homes and their lives. that's coast village road, montecito. montecito. so why did this happen? the downpour soaked an area which had been scorched by wildfire,

burning grass and shrubs which hold the soil in place and baking the earth, leaving it slick and hard. the water had nowhere to go but down, fast, into the town of montecito with deadly, devastating effect. this is one of the most exclusive communities in the united states, home to stars including actor rob lowe and tv presenter ellen degeneres. but no amount of money can stop a mudslide. there used to be a fence right here. that's my neighbour's house. devastated. oprah winfrey posted this video as she assessed the damage in her garden. see how deep the mud is. the destruction was not confined to the coast. further inland in burbank, a suburb of los angeles, the cameras captured another mudslide in action. the power of this mudslide is graphically demonstrated here.

the people in these homes, and there were some people who stayed in this area, it must have been terrifying as boulders like this and other debris swept down from the hills. firefighters insist there is still some hope of finding survivors, but it is fading. the financial cost from this disaster will be immense. the human toll much higher. questions are knew being asked about whether this community could have been better prepared. after the fires, everybody knew if there was heavy rain, then it would cause a problem, perhaps not as serious as this, but a problem nonetheless. there was an evacuation order given. it was not mandatory for this particular community, perhaps it should have been, perhaps people should have been, perhaps people should have been, perhaps people should have listened, but most of

all, people are saying here, no—one expected the ferocity of this mudslide which has caused such, such trauma. thanks for the update, james. the trial of the former football coach, barry bennell, on charges of child sexual offences has for the first time heard from an alleged victim. a man who claims he was sexually abused as a child has told the court that bennell had what he called a ‘power hold' over young boys who dreamt of being professional players. the defendant who's now known as richard jones denies 48 charges of child sexual abuse as our sports editor dan roan reports. back in the 1980s, barry bennell worked with some of the most promising young footballers in the north—west of england. youth team coach at crewe alexandra. he also had links with manchester city. today, liverpool crown court was told the 64—year—old, who now calls himself richard jones, exploited young boys' dreams of becoming footballers in order to sexually abuse them. with bennell watching on via video link, the jury was shown

footage of the first complainant's police interview. he said he first met bennell when he came to a training session as a scout for manchester city. now in his 405, the alleged victim said he was abused up to 100 times along with other boys by bennell, at his home above a shop he owned in the derbyshire village of furness vale. he claimed bennell had up to three boys share a bed with him. the complainant said none dared speak out for fear of jeopardising their football prospects. it was almost like an untold rule, he said. it's going to be frank and open and it will cover details of sexual abuse. the court was shown a recording of this bbc programme from november 2016 featuring other alleged victims which the complainant said left him in complete meltdown, prompting him to contact police for the first time. appearing behind a screen in court, he was cross—examined by eleanor laws qc for the defence, and asked if his complaint

was financially motivated. i am not in it for the money, he said. the court was read transcripts from bennell‘s interview with the police, in which he denied ever abusing the complainant. i've had no sexual contact with him. he said. i remember thinking he was the one that got away with it. he wasn't one of my victims. it's impossible. the trial continues. dan roan, bbc news, liverpool. police in stockport have found human remains in a back garden. their search was instigated when a woman went to police at the weekend and told detectives she'd killed a man. 0ur north of england correspondent, judith moritz, is in stockport. what is being said there this evening, judith? well, huw, the police tell us on saturday afternoon, a 63—year—old woman walked into a police station and confessed to officers that she'd killed a man some years ago and

buried him in the garden. that sparked a forensic search and last night, detectives confirmed they have found human remains at the property behind me. now, the bbc understands that the body recovered is that of a man named kenneth coombs and that the woman who went to the police and is 110w woman who went to the police and is now being questioned on suspicion of murder is his daughter barbara. neighbours have been asked by the police if they remember mr coombs, he would have been in his late 80s in 2005. detectives say they are searching for information, their investigation is at an early stage but that a postmortem examination should help them to establish how and when mr coombs died. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories. lawyers representing victims of the sex attackerjohn worboys are urging the parole board to ban him from the greater london area when he's freed from prison. agency officials are due to meet tomorrow to discuss his release,

but no final decision will be made on the conditions that he will face. cancer patients at the churchill hospital in oxford could face delays to their treatment due to a shortage of staff. that's the warning from a senior doctor in a leaked staff memo. the hospital trust said there are no formal plans to change cancer treatment. the head of 0fgem, the energy regulator, has apologised to mps for failing vulnerable consumers. he said he regretted not taking swifter action to cap standard variable tariffs. he said a new government cap would "go a long way towards fixing the market." the former liberal democrat leader, tim farron, has said he regrets saying that gay sex was not a sin. he made the statement during the 2017 general election campaign after which he resigned, saying he'd found it impossible to reconcile the demands of politics with his christian faith. he says he was "foolish" to allow himself to be pressured into saying something which he didn't believe was right. president trump has told south korea

that the us is open to talks with north korea "at the appropriate time" and "under the right circumstances. " the comments followed yesterday's negotiations between north and south korea which resulted in the north saying it would take part in the winter olympics in the south next month. the white house said south korea had thanked mr trump for his "leadership in making the talks possible." 0ur correspondent, nick bryant, is at the white house. nick, this is quite a change, isn't it, in the space of a week or 10 days? only last week, donald trump was boasting that his nuclear button was boasting that his nuclear button was bigger than kim jong—un‘s nuclear button. a few months ago he was trashing his secretary of state, rex tillerson, saying he was wasting his time pursuing diplomacy with pyongyang. this new openness to talk really is a meaningful shift. the most conciliatory language we have heard from donald trump on north korea since he took the oath of office 12 months ago. it follows the

meeting on the korean peninsula yesterday between the north and south corp row ya. there was good energy he shared at the white house an hour ago. he is claiming credit for that for his hardline stance on north korea, the tough economic sanctions the pressure on china, the fire and fury rhetoric. the digitalised kraber rateling on wit twitter. we will see a continuation of much of that. don't be surprised if donald trump mocks kimjong—un as little rock man. the white house saying it will ex—cert maximum pressure. the question is how north korea will respond will it lead to a pause in nuclear and missile testing. if it doesn't it's hard to see direct talks taking place between washington and pong cong. nick thanks very much. 0nce between washington and pong cong. nick thanks very much. once again, nick thanks very much. once again, nick bryant with the latest for us there at the white house. in syria, at least 85 people have

been killed in the past ten days in a besieged suburb of damascus, which is under rebel control. the united nations has condemned the recent upsurge in attacks on eastern ghouta by government forces, calling the situation "a human catastrophe. " the area's been under siege for more than four—and—a—half years. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from syria. this report contains some distressing images. the bombs fall every day now in eastern ghouta. rescue teams rush in to bring survivors out. frightened children, trapped inside, not knowing where to run or hide. this footage, filmed by the western backed white helmets, in the neighbourhood of hamoria. they are digging in the rubble with whatever tools they find, often it's just bare hands. the attacks by syrian and russian warplanes, on this last rebel—held enclave of damascus, intensified weeks ago,

scarring entire streets. the attacks don't go only one way. rebel groups controlling this area, including ha rdline islamists groups linked to al-qaeda, fired more than a dozen rockets into the heart of damascus yesterday. this is the face of a war now approaching its eighth year. this is its sound. crying these children in eastern ghouta have known no other life. they survived the latest air strikes, blood being wiped away, not the pain, nor the fear. and it stocks the old too, already broken by years of a punishing siege. the history of syria is written here amongst these stones. three—year—old samer was buried yesterday by his uncle, his father is badly injured.

many now say syria's war is over. but it's not, not yet. lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus. the children's charity unicef says that attacks on hospitals and other health facilities have become commonplace in syria, with less than half of the country's health facilities operating at full capacity. they're struggling to cope with the number of children seriously injured in the syrian conflict, which is now entering its eighth year. bbc news at ten has been following the story of two young girls, rahaf and qamar, who were badly burnt when a shell hit their home in syria six years ago. they've both undergone operations in jordan, where they now live. 0ur correspondent, caroline hawley, has been back to tojordan to see how they're both getting on. qamar barely remembers the day, six years ago, that changed the course of her life. she was only three when a shell hit the family home in homs, slamming into the children's

bedroom, setting fire to qamar in her bed clothes. qamar‘s hands were so damaged, she needed help to feed and dress herself. she was so distressed by her appearance, she couldn't look in the mirror. her sister, rahaf, was also badly burnt and when we first met the family, neither of the girls would go out of the house, but today they're on the way to school. it's taken immense strength and courage and countless operations to get to where they are now. this was the two of them in syria before the war. when qamar was four, we watched as she had surgery at a hospital run by the charity medecins sans frontieres injordan, where the family fled to for treatment. two years later, she had to wear this mask to help another skin graft heal. these days they spend much more time at school than in hospital.

syrian refugees come here in the afternoons and the girls love it. qamar has had to get used to how other children react to her. their teacher's worked hard to get their classmates to accept them. she admires qamar‘s bravery. her parents worry about the social

stigma their daughters will face as they grow up, that life with their injuries will be harder as young women. when the children draw for us, qamar‘s first picture is of her dream house and then she draws a mosque. but rahaf has now been discharged from msf‘s hospital, the doctors have done what they can. qamar is waiting for more surgery,

but with all the conflict around the middle east, the hospital is inundated with new cases, and the waiting list is wrong. caroline hawley, bbc news, amman. millions of pounds‘ worth of jewellery have been stolen from the ritz hotel in paris tonight. armed robbers smashed the windows of the hotel where the jewellery was displayed. three members of the gang were detained at the scene and police say two remain on the run. conservation charities say they've been "overwhelmed" by the number of stranded seals found along the cornish coast over the past few weeks. record numbers of sick and abandoned pups have been discovered after a series of winter storms and high tides. rescue centres say they are struggling to cope. 0ur correspondent, jon kay, reports. on a suburban estate... 0k, shall we get them out? ..a pop—up seal sanctuary. with the local rescue centres full, these orphaned pups are having to be housed in a garage near st ives.

father and son, david and dan, are fully trained and caring for the seals 2a/7. are you struggling to cope then? we're at the point where we really are. i mean, this sort of speaks for itself, really, having all of these guys here. you know, the rehab centresjust don't have the space to handle this many pups in such a short amount of time. every day, volunteers from the group are racing to the cornish coast to rescue unprecedented numbers of sick and starving pups, orphaned and injured in winter storms. here's the tube, in the corner of its mouth. providing emergency food is the easy bit, finding them somewhere to recuperate is much more difficult. they've had nearly 300 call—outs already this winter. i think we've been out 55 times this year so far. what, since the 1st january? since the 1st january this year,

we've done 55 calls and we've rescued 25. the situation we find ourselves in is completely shocking, beyond belief. it's notjust south—west england, elsewhere in the uk there have been similar increases. don't be fooled by today's blue skies. why this winter? why's it so bad now? because we've had a succession of storms, over really high tides, flooded all the beaches, washed all those seal pups out without enough food inside them to survive. here at the cornish seal sanctuary there are a couple of spaces tonight, so dave and dan can bring in two pups from their garage. but any more that are found might have to be taken hundreds of miles to other parts of the country until there is more room. once these pups have recovered, they'll be sent back into the sea. but conservationists say if we're going to avoid an accommodation crisis next winter, we need to start planning now. jon kay, bbc news, cornwall.

the animation company that gave the world wallace and grommit and shaun the sheep, aardman, and its oscar—winning director, nick park, are about to release a new film, a prehistoric comedy called early man. it's been five years in the making and nick park has been showing our arts editor, will gompertz, exactly how he's made his creations come to life on the big screen. the initial idea was, you know, what if cavemen invented football? and, i hadn't seen a prehistoric underdog sports movie before. come on, everyone. let's show them what we've got. this is one of my first sketches. i loved sketching all the time, that's where the characters tend to come from. and are you thinking as you sketch in terms of plasticine? yes, i do. i sort of think in 3d all the time.

i'm always drawing as if they have dimension and i'm thinking about how they will interpret... how they'll translate into models. what strange magic is this? we try and prepare for every shot before the animator starts. we do quite often live—action videos. so nick will act out almost the entire film in front of camera, and we go through that with him, and that's our starting point. we wanted, following nick's initial brief, to keep it all looking very handmade. so all of these sections are made of plasticine, but the mechanics inside are made of lots of different materials. so underneath we have armatures, which we make all in—house. they look something a little bit like this. so we have sort of ball and socketjoints in here and hinged joints and rotates, and then fundamentally that's what sort of sits inside our main characters. just a little bit more!

there are aspects of it, are there not, which hark back to your earliest days, back to wallace and gromit? yeah, i know. i mean, it is. it is at the heart of it, it is these two characters. dug is a caveman and his pet hog hognob. i set out to try and be a bit different to wallace and gromit, but i guess there is a sort of default. you know, i can't help it. the eyes are close together and there is a sort of like a man and dog sort of relationship, i guess. i mean, a man and hog in this case. it's one thing trying to make it the film you want to make and to stay true to your vision. but you're hoping that it also does work for people out in the audience.