welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: there's mounting international concern as israel launches a wave of air strikes against what it calls ‘iranian targets‘ in syria. the uk threatens to cut funding for oxfam following claims the charity covered up a scandal involving aid workers and prostitutes in haiti. a double—decker bus overturns in hong kong, killing at least 19 people. the driver's been arrested. britain's foreign secretary says myanmar must ensure rohingya muslims return home safely. boris johnson's set to meet aung san suu kyi on sunday. and six golds are to be decided on day two of the winter olympics. the first goes to sweden's charlotte kalla in the women's skiathlon. hello and welcome to the programme.

the israeli military has described the air strikes it carried out in syria on saturday as probably the biggest of their kind in the last 30 years. a spokesman said 12 sites were hit, including four iranian targets in syria. the attacks took place after an israeli military aircraft was brought down. the us and russia have raised concerns, and the un secretary general has called for an immediate de—escalation in syria. our middle east correspondent tom bateman has more. what was left on israeli soil of one of the country's most advanced fighter jets. it crashed after its two pilots ejected, said israel, amid syrian anti—aircraft fire. one pilot was left severely injured. siren wails. israel said it scrambled the planes in response to this — a drone allegedly sent

by iranian forces in syria into israeli airspace. it was destroyed. israel then hit the site it said the drone had come from before further strikes against what it called iranian targets in syria. i've been warning for some time about the dangers of iran's military entrenchment in syria. iran seeks to use syrian territory to attack israel for its professed goal of destroying israel. israel is wary about the threat across its northern border with the syrian regime, backed by iran and its proxies — like these hezbollah fighters — back in control of much territory. syria's conflict has drawn in her neighbours. there have been dozens of israeli air strikes in syria in recent years. in december, israel hit what it said was a newly built iranian military site.

as recently as this week, a suspected chemical weapons factory was targeted. iran has accused israel of lies, claiming it has only military advisers in syria. israel says it doesn't want an escalation in syria but in a highly volatile atmosphere where any of the players is capable of miscalculation, there remains open the distinct possibility of precisely that. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. the british government has warned all uk charities working overseas that they will have their funding withdrawn unless they co—operate with the authorities on safeguarding issues. the warning follows allegations against some oxfam workers in haiti who were accused of using prostitutes in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. the charity says it's already set up a whistle—blowing hotline to prevent sexual abuse and misconduct. angus crawford reports. it was an earthquake that devastated haiti, killing more than 200,000 people,

affecting millions more. aid agencies from around the world stepped in to the chaos. 0xfam, with more than 70 years‘ experience, had hundreds of staff in the field. but an investigation by the times found that in 2011, four staff members were sacked and three others resigned over allegations of misconduct, including paying local women for sex. the n60 says it launched an investigation and kept the charity commission fully informed — something the commission now disputes. 0xfam's leadership denies there's been a cover—up. 0xfam was actually proactive in going to the british public, the department for international development and the charity commission, to explain that there had been serious misconduct and we'd taken action. more than £30 million of taxpayers‘ money is given to oxfam by the government every year. today, downing street called the allegations "truly shocking" and demanded a full

and urgent investigation. today, fresh claims some of the disgraced staff gotjobs at other aid agencies because 0xfam failed to warn them about the misconduct. it is clear it‘s a cover—up case. the fact that those folks were allowed to leave the country without any punishment, without even informing relevant haitian authorities about that, it was a cover—up. and now, the fact that they did such a crime, or there was such a cover—up, now we are wondering how many of those cases are still happening in haiti. we don‘t know. the haitian authorities want 0xfam to hand over all relevant documents so justice can be served there. the behaviour of a few has stained the charity‘s past reputation

and now threatens its work in the future. angus crawford, bbc news. police in hong kong say at least 19 passengers have been killed in one of the worst public transport accidents there in two decades. more than 60 others were injured when a double—decker bus overturned. the driver has been arrested. sophia tran—thomson has this report. you may find some of the images distressing. the 12m double—decker was taking spectators and workers home from the sha tin racecourse after the last race of the day. the bus appears to have slid and flipped onto its side, hitting a lamppost, which cut through it. the driver has been arrested on counts of causing death and grievous bodily harm by dangerous driving. translation: the driver was ten minutes late and he lost his temper when he started driving. some people were complaining and he drove the bus like he was driving a plane. when he turned, the bus crashed.

translation: it was very chaotic. he drove so fast, the bus toppled immediately when making a turn so all the people fell down and piled up. some passengers managed to climb out of the wreckage on their own. others had to be cut free by the fire brigade. authorities say ten of the injured are in a critical condition fighting for their lives, while a further 20 are in a serious condition. sophia tran—thomson, bbc news. let‘s take a look at some of the other stories making the news. at least 25 people are thought to have died in a bus crash on the indonesian island ofjava. the bus had been taking about a0 local tourists to visit hot springs in the subang region. it‘s thought the bus hit a motorbike while heading down a hill at speed, causing it to roll over several times. turkey says one of its military helicopters has been shot down in the north of syria. it happened near afrin, where turkish forces are fighting kurdish militants. kurdish fighters say

they brought the aircraft down, and claim that 16 turkish soldiers were killed. the turkish military said two soldiers on board the aircraft had died. two police officers in the us state of ohio have been shot and killed in the line of duty. the officers were responding to an emergency call in westerville when they were fired at. the suspect was injured and is receiving treatment in hospital. president trump says his thoughts and prayers are with the officers and their families. the british foreign secretary has arrived in myanmar, where he will call for rohingya muslims to be allowed to return safely to their homes. earlier, borisjohnson visited a refugee camp in neighbouring bangladesh, ahead of his meeting with the burmese leader, aung san suu kyi. from the border between the two countries, reeta chakra barti reports. cries of "welcome" to a guest from a people who have been kicked out of their home.

we‘re going to try and get you back home, guys. borisjohnson came to see and hear for himself from the victims of this huge man—made disaster. he heard story after story of arson, rape and murder committed, say the rohingya victims, by the military and buddhist mobs in myanmar. i‘m very sorry. what do you think of what you‘ve heard so far? well, it‘s overwhelming and obviously, these people have seen some pretty horrifying things and you‘re very conscious when talking to the — particularly to the young people — that you don‘t want to trigger terrible memories for them. it was very clear with the case of the guy who‘d only narrowly escaped and who‘d almost lost his daughter, who‘d been beaten, and who had to ransom his daughter back, and who kept breaking down in tears. the people that borisjohnson is meeting here are all in limbo.

bangladesh doesn‘t want them here permanently, but they can‘t go back to myanmar without guarantees of safety. so what can britain do to help? it‘s about finding a political solution, finding an answer in myanmar, from burma, creating the conditions for a safe, dignified return for these people. that‘s what they want. they do want to go back but they don‘t feel safe. that‘s the message the foreign secretary is taking to myanmar, where he landed tonight. he admits a safe return for the rohingya presently looks unrealistic. it‘s a very tough diplomatic battle he has to fight. reeta chakrabarti, bbc news, on the myanmar—bangladesh border. president trump has spoken out about his decision to block the release of a classified democratic party memo concerning the fbi‘s russia probe. mr trump tweeted that the document was "very political and long" and would have to be "heavily redacted" before it could be released.

our correspondent, david willis, has the latest from washington. last week, president trump signed off on the release of a republican memo detailing what it alleged were surveillance abuses on the part of the fbi involving a former trump campaign aide — a man called carter page — back in 2016. both the fbi and the justice department advised against the release of that memo, but president trump did so anyway. now, then the democrats got their rebuttal memo together and it went to ten pages — considerably longer than the original republican memo. the fbi and justice department again advised against it being released but this time, the president decided to back their recommendations. now, the president is a republican, of course, democrats

are crying foul. they say it‘s a double standard. they say this is all evidence of the fact that, in their view, president trump has something to hide. meanwhile, the president himself tweeted, basically saying the democrats knew that large parts of their memo would have to be heavily redacted. thus, by submitting it to the white house, they set the white house and the president up for claims of lack of transparency. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the day a united korea beat the world — a sporting tale of success and separation. there‘s mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa.

iran‘s spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he‘s passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories. head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: there‘s mounting international concern after israel launched a wave of air strikes against what it called ‘iranian targets‘ in syria. the uk has threatened to cut funding for oxfam following claims the charity covered up a scandal involving aid workers and prostitutes in haiti. in 1996, the racist, white minority leaders of south africa had replaced by the country‘s first democratic government led by nelson mandela. but after so many years of brutality and abuse, the past threatened the future peace of the new "rainbow nation." the truth and reconciliation commission aimed to help south africans bear the burden of their history. judge sisi khampepe shared her memories of serving on the commission with our witness team. we are charged to unearth the truth about our dark past, to lay the ghosts of that past

so that they will not return to haunt us. i was a member of the truth commission and also a member of the amnesty committee. south africans face a collective test today. the reaction to these hearings will show whether they are able to expose the sins of apartheid, yet free themselves of the desire for revenge against those who propped up the system. the tlc act allowed amnesty, only if the perpetrator confessed to having committed the crime. i did terrible things. i did terrible things to members of the anc. i grew up in soweto, which was rampant with security police. you people. let's get out now, very quickly, 0k? the army presence increased on streets that began to look like battlegrounds. it felt like hell. parents washed smoke from their children‘s eyes. being in a city required a special

permit if you were a black person. absolutely no freedom of movement. i had also suffered as an activist by being shot in the leg by the police while attending the funeral of a fellow student. it was at the graveyard where the police again started shooting. you have got two minutes to disperse! i survived. others were killed on the spot. it is a scar which is a constant reminder of where i come from. i knew the harshness of the system first hand. yet, as a member of the amnesty committee, i had to decide that these people had to be granted amnesty — not because they were apologetic, but merely because they disclosed the truth. that was really difficult. did you then shoot him?

yes, that is correct. people would cryjust by listening to the explanation that was given of how people were tortured. people were killed. what kind of man uses a method like this one to other human beings? there were occasions when people who applied for amnesty did say sorry. those were few and far in between.

but it was extraordinarily difficult for me when people did not even care to apologise. translation: there was no other way other than to eliminate these people. these hearings provide a forum for those who have been treated in the past as if they were rubbish. archbishop desmond tutu was the star of the truth commission. without his leadership, the commission would not have been able to attain its objective. i think the tlc process ensured that people were not vengeful, that there was proper public acknowledgement and recognition of those who had suffered. translation: we are asking from you do please forgive us. we are still going through a process of coming out of our grief. but here we have the lovely people who are generous, their generosity is always amazing. i wake up every morning and i am grateful that, after all, i am a south african.

judge sisi khampepe and her memories of serving on south africa‘s truth and reconciliation commission. new migration restrictions have led to long queues on colombia‘s border with venezuela. the main bridge between the two countries has been opening and closing intermittently since the colombian president, juan manuel santos, announced tighter rules for venezuela ns entering the country. more than 40,000 people have already left crisis—hit venezuela. thousands are expected to either stay or travel on to other countries in south america. now to the action at the winter olympics in pyeongchang, and some of the achievements on the first full day

of competition. the usa‘s red gerrard just received a gold. sweden‘s charlotte kalla won the first gold medal of pyeongchang 2018, in the womens cross country skiing event. in the same event norway‘s marit bjorgen took silver, her 11th winter olympics medal, in the women‘s cross country skiing event to become the most decorated female winter olympian of all time. i was quite nervous today and the olympics is something i have focused on for a long, long time. it just feels very great during the season but i know everyone wants to be in shape at the olympics. it was really exciting and fun to compete today. hosts south korea brought the day‘s

loudest cheers for their first gold as lim hyo—jun clinched the men‘s 1500m short—track skating title. and it was good day for germany as laura dahlmeier secured gold in the women‘s biathlon 7.5km sprint, and andreas wellinger won gold in the men‘s normal hill ski jump. you can stay up—to—date with the competition on our website. ajoint north and south korean hockey team is competing at the winter olympics, but it isn‘t the first time the two foes have joined forces. in 1991, they sent a unified team to the world table tennis championships. that was where south korean champ, hyunjung—hwa met the north‘s, ri pun-hui. the two friends led their team to sporting glory, and were then separated forever.

this is their story. the remarkable story of the ping pong pals separated forever. and its carnival season in brazil. rio‘s world famous sambadrome is packed with crowds to see the amazing sights and sounds as the samba schools parade through the stadium. elaborate floats, costumes and dance are alljudged to see which school comes out on top for this years bragging rights. thousands of tourists flock to the city every year with the carnival set to continue until the 17th. away from the sambadrome some of rio‘s most pampered pooches have joined in the carnival spirit. led by some enthusiastic owners they marched to the samba beat in a wide variety of colourful outfits. organisers said they were hoping to highlight how carnival is for all of rio‘s residents to enjoy. and you can keep up—to—date with all the latest stories on our website. don‘t forget, you can get in touch with me and some

of the team on twitter. join us again soon. hello there. it looks like sunday‘s going to be a brighter day than certainly what we had on saturday — all that cloud and rain. but it will be a cold — certainly colder than saturday. the gale force winds easing down in the morning. then we should see sunshine and wintry showers for many areas with snow, even falling down to lower levels as well. this is the deep area of low pressure which will bring these strong winds during the overnight period. and as we head into sunday morning, those gales will be easing from eastern areas. but it‘s going to be a blustery day with wintry showers piling into the northern and western areas. the gales easing away from the east areas, like i mentioned, but still quite a blustery day. it‘s going to feel cold. there will be plenty of sunshine around southern and central and eastern areas but i think into the afternoon, even a few wintry showers reaching the midlands, maybe into the south—east of england as well, but certainly very windy in the north of scotland with snowfall accumulations continuing to mount up. it‘s going to be a cold day. as we head on in towards sunday night, much of the same, really. with further wintry showers or even

longer spells of snow across the north and the west of the country and it‘s going to be a cold night. subzero values central northern areas, so there will be a risk of ice to watch out for first thing on monday morning. but actually, monday is not looking too bad. there‘ll be plenty of sunshine around. in fact, more sunshine than what we‘ll see on sunday. a few wintry showers across northern and western areas. the wind beginning to pick up here towards the end of the day ahead of the next weather front which will be moving in off the atlantic. another chilly day. temperatures five to around eight degrees. now, as we head through monday night into tuesday, this weather front will push its way eastwards across the country, encountering that cold air, so it looks like we could see some considerable snow on its leading edge, certainly across northern areas. over the pennines, central southern scotland could see quite a lot of snow as this weather front moves through. eventually, it clears through as we go through the course of tuesday with skies brightening up behind, but we will see further wintry showers moving into scotland and northern ireland. and those temperatures again chilly — 4—6 celsius. a brief ridge of high pressure calms

things down as we head on in towards wednesday. the next weather system moves in off the atlantic, and it‘s a repeat performance once again. it bumps into that cold air, we could see disruptive some snow across the northern half of the country. 10cm to maybe 20cm of snow over the higher ground of scotland, in fact, and even snow down to lower levels. further south, it will be mainly of rain. but it‘s going to be quite a messy day, i think, on wednesday. maybe something a little less cold across the south but it‘s still going to feel on the chilly side. as we head on through the rest of the week, thursday and friday looks much of the same — on the chilly side. this is bbc news. the headlines: tensions between israel and syria have intensified after israeli fighter planes launched bombing raids across the border following the shooting down of one of its jets. israel says it‘s been targeting iranian positions on syrian territory used to fly drones

over israeli airspace. the us and russia have expressed concern over the attacks while the un has called for an immediate de—escalation. the uk has threatened to cut funding for oxfam following claims the charity covered up a scandal involving aid workers and prostitutes in haiti. penny mordaunt, the international development secretary, condemned what she called the "horrific behaviour" of some oxfam staff. a double—decker bus has overturned in hong kong, killing 19 people and injuring 62 others. reports suggest the bus was going too fast. police have arrested the driver and charged him with causing death by dangerous driving. now on bbc news, click.