this is bbc world news today. our top stories. the un says food aid in yemen on which millions of people depend is being stolen and illegally sold in rebel controlled areas. the search for survivors after an apartment block in central russia is devastated by a gas explosion. at least four people are dead — up to 35 missing. the democratic senator elizabeth warren gives the clearest signal yet that she wants to run for the us presidency in 2020. we can win. we can and we will. new year's celebrations in the middle east — this is the scene live in dubai, the latest place to welcome in 2019. this is moscow, the latest place to welcome in 2019. hello and welcome to world news today.

let's go straight to where the new year 2019 is dawning, and to moscow where festivities are under way to celebrate the new year. the kremlin, the red square and saint background. it is all below freezing but the crowds are huge. and more than 1,000 ice rinks have been opened for merrymakers. let's get it out of the atmosphere. doesn't that look absolutely beautiful? it is about minus five celsius. the walls eliminated so beautifully. we will be bringing all the very latest fireworks and celebrations through the various times on bbc news. moscow three hours ahead of the uk but we will bring you what happens in europe and

the uk and of course the united states as we get to 2019 throughout the world. states as we get to 2019 throughout the world. the world food programme says that food aid in yemen is being stolen and illegally sold in areas under the control of houthi rebels. a survey by the un agency said some people in the capital sanna had not received rations to which they were entitled. more than 15 million yemenis are facing severe shortages of food and rely on aid for survival. reem nada works for the un's world food programme in cairo. she told me what the wfp's investigation had found. we have seen in alias food being sold in bulk, oil sold by karsten, and a whole lot of food sold on the market in what looks like systematic systematic trade in food aid and this is what has prompted the world food programme into carrying out an investigation and now we have

evidence showing misappropriation of oui’ evidence showing misappropriation of our food into the evidence showing misappropriation of ourfood into the hands evidence showing misappropriation of our food into the hands of non—deserving people, our beneficiaries, some of them have said they have not received any food at all. so you're seeing the evidence is strong enough to justify allegations of criminal behaviour by the houthis? and this is what we are calling it, we are calling at stealing food from the modes of hungry people. we have photographs of lorries taking food from distribution points to unknown locations, and for the third to be appealing after that on the streets in the market in yemen, at a time when yemenis are struggling. the most poor are struggling to feed the little ones, others are seeing their children dying and wasting away while they are the rightful owners of this. i know that your

organisation is threatening to withdraw support from some of the organisation is distributing that food. don't you fear that could have a negative effect on the most vulnerable people you're speaking about? we are demanding that the local authorities take appropriate action towards the one organisation, the one partner, that we have identified as by diverting our food to undeserving people. there was a letter sent by the executive director of the world food programme to the local authorities, and it doesn't seed say that within ten days, if we do not see actions being taken, we will withdraw our assistance in that area and this has been reported already in that identified area. 40% of our

assistance is what has been reaching the people. rescuers in russia are searching the rubble after an explosion devastated an apartment block — killing at least four people. officials in the city of magnitogorsk say a gas leak was behind the blast. it happened at around 6am local time, and is thought to have ripped through the first floor, then collapsing the seven storeys above. more than 30 people are missing — in subzero temperatures, as our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. all day, rescue teams have been swarming over the ruins, searching for signs of life after a massive explosion. this pile of bricks, metal and concrete is all that is left of almost 50 apartments, the blast ripped through the block in the early hours of the morning, it is a public holiday here and most residents would have been sleeping, it is feared that dozens are now buried. officials say the explosion was caused by a gas leak, slicing a whole section from the ten story tower block, those who made it

out alive are still reeling. translation: everything collapsed, i look through the window, smoke was rising, we were told to leave. translation: i woke up with a feeling that i was falling down, i woke up in the street, my mother screaming, my son crying in the corner. as the scale of the disaster became clear, russia's president flew to the scene, in a freezing tent that is now an emergency headquarters, officials shared the grim details. translation: this is in the character of our people, despite the holidays, today it is not superfluous but necessary to record the date and the injured. a school is now a shelter for those evacuated from sections of the tower block still standing. locals have been sending supplies, though this is no way to see in the new year. scenes like this though are all too common here, there were over a0 fatal gas explosions in russian

homes last year alone. finding any more survivors from this one is now a race against time and the elements, with temperatures at —18 and falling. let's look at some of the day's other news. sudan's president, 0mar al—bashir, has said he has a roadmap to resolve the economic crisis facing his country. in a televised speech, mr bashir also promised an election would be held in 2020, but did not say whether he would seek another term in office. he was speaking inside his palace in khartoum, the target of the latest anti—government march. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he will not resign if he is indicted on corruption charges before his side of the case is heard. mr netanyahu is accused in three graft cases — he denies any wrongdoing. the israeli leader announced last week that a snap election will be held in april. the us democratic senator elizabeth warren has announced

she is considering running for president in 2020 — with a decision expected early in the new year. she's the first high profile democrat to put herself forward for the race. ms warren made the announcement in a video posted to her twitter account in which she outlined her vision for the united states. because no matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing. to be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and ta ke play by the same set of rules and take care of the people we love. that is the america i am fighting for and that is why today i am launching an exploratory committee for president. for more on this i spoke to gary 0'donoghue in washington. she has just followed up that their deal with a press conference which is still going on. she has got her husband and her dog as well, bailey,

in case you're wondering the name. and she talked about and america and the washington that works only for the washington that works only for the wealthy and well—connected, which will be a of hers throughout this campaign, and she says she's going to build a grassroots campaign with small donations like bernie sanders last time around and barack 0bama when he won victory. and she is clearly pitching her stand where we would expect, on the left of the party. she has been a champion if you like of workers' rights in terms of representation on the boards of big companies. she talked about raising the minimum wage significantly and she has been a scourge significantly and she has been a scourge in some significantly and she has been a scourge in some ways significantly and she has been a scourge in some ways of wall street and those sort of institutions. it is difficult, going to be difficult for her, because i will be other people on that wing of the party, not least perhaps bernie sanders himself who has a huge infrastructure already in place from the last time he ran, and with all

those people galvanised in the huge rallies. they will be in a similar territory, but the big thing is this field is going to be so crowded. there could be a part of a dozen or two d oze n there could be a part of a dozen or two dozen people in this field, and theissue two dozen people in this field, and the issue of course is not only are the issue of course is not only are the limited amounts of political space to shared out between these people in order to distinguish themselves from one another, but the bottom line is that as a limited amount of cash and a lot of them will follow to the us simply because the campaigns go broke. and briefly, how our leaders this sort of thing need to start? it is just under two yea rs need to start? it is just under two years until the next presidential election? tell me about it! two yea rs election? tell me about it! two years until the election and we had already off and running with the democrat nominee is. the reason they do this is partly because of the money, they need to hoover up the big boulders who are fewer numbers,

woo big boulders who are fewer numbers, woo them to the cause. they need to set out the stall politically, so they occupy the ground that other people have to come and pick and also crucially they need to get some of the keen operatives out there who know how to run a primary campaign. they need to be done in new hampshire, isleworth, and those are few and far between. so there are good reasons for getting in and getting going, which is what elizabeth warren is doing today. thank you. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come. we'll tell you why showing an unedited jackie chan film has cost an iranian tv executive his job this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. the un says food aid in yemen, on which millions of people depend, is being stolen and illegally sold in rebel controlled areas. rescuers search for survivors in russia after an apartment block is hit by a gas explosion. at least four people are dead and up to 35 missing. final preparations are being made

for a new year's eve celebrations in london including for the sold—out fireworks display. and chi chi joins us now live from the embankment. how preparations going? preparations have been under way for about a year. you can't see but thousands have been n from about 8pm to line the streets along the embankment. a fun fact, organisers didn't have access to the london eye, which you can see behind me, until 4pm today. that is when they started to put all the fireworks in and around the london eye, which is what makes this fireworks display different from any other around the world. that

everything is pretty much at the last minute. eight tonnes of fireworks are due to go off from different barges and pontoons. 348 of them along the river thames. eight tonnes of fireworks. 3000 people working really hard and diligently to try to make sure that everything you're going to see tonight is on point. the london mayor has said that the theme of the fireworks tonight is that london is open. he wants to give the message to the 1 open. he wants to give the message to the1 million people open. he wants to give the message to the 1 million people from open. he wants to give the message to the1 million people from in open. he wants to give the message to the 1 million people from in and around europe who have made london their home that it is open to them to work with regards to brexit, due to work with regards to brexit, due to happen in march 2019. so in about two and a half hours, the party will get louder, i don't know if you can hear it now, and then they should get the fireworks display and a p pa re ntly get the fireworks display and apparently we have been told that there is a particularly interesting end. we look forward to it. since

like the party is well under way already. thank you for bringing that to others. also planned is up north in edinburgh tonight. we can speak to andrew black — who's in edinburgh for us — and with the headline act of the night. how is the hogmanay atmosphere right now? you can tell the party is under way, 65,000 people will be here on princes street in central edinburgh to bring in the new year with lots of music and entertainment happening. transferred in nantes are the big headliners. let's have a quick word. —— franz ferdinand. where are you from? your share! a small town called castleford. why have you come all the way to edinburgh? i saw the pictures online and look amazing so i thought i had better come. anything you're looking forward to in particular? the fireworks! i can't wait. have a good night. amid all the backdrop of

brexit tonight the event is also going to be celebrating scotland's's historic links with the rest of the eu. no matter what happens, most voters in scotland decided to vote against leaving the eu in 2016. if you look up here, you will see the definite outline of edinburgh castle. that is where the main event tonight is happening, everything building up to a huge fireworks display to be launched from the esplanade of edinburgh castle at midnight to see in 2019. doesn't it look just lovely? let's midnight to see in 2019. doesn't it lookjust lovely? let's return to more news. the electoral commission in bangladesh has rejected opposition demands by the opposition to hold fresh elections, despite widespread reports of vote rigging, voter intimidation and fraud. the governing party, led by prime minister, sheikh hasina, has been declared the winner. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye reports from the capital, dhaka. the morning papers declare the

results. a historic third consecutive term, a landslide victory. at her official residence, the prime minister told foreign observers and journalists why she was the people's choice. the last three years, they are getting a better life. but there are allegations of vote rigging from around the country. one instance caught on camera by the bbc. i asked about it. there have been reports from different parts of the country about the leading of results in favour of your party and that is also video footage of a ballot box which was filled even before pauling began. do you believe it was a fair election? expert are any irregularities, that election will

be held afterwards. so we never encourage that. sometimes something may happen but we took no action. day after violence marred the national election, things have been peaceful around the country. the opposition has demanded fresh polls but it is unclear yet what the path ahead will be. for many, the absolute concentration of power with one party for the third time is a cause for worry. the question that the government is intolerant dissent. mass protests were held over road safety. this photographer had criticised how the government handled the demonstrations. he was jailed soon after. that is a climate of fear, that there is so much in

security and bridges and buildings don't give you a quality of life, and at the end of the day you have people who want to breeze again. that is not such an unrealistic desire. for a country listing itself out of poverty, development is necessary but many are asking if it is coming at the cost of freedom. iran's state broadcaster has sacked the head of a regional tv channel after it broadcast a jackie chan film without removing a sex scene from the film. iranian media said the scene was ‘immoral‘. my colleague from bbc persian tv, rana rahimpour, has more details about the incident. it is probably a genuine mistake, so instead of aiding the censored version they have a of the non—censored version, but it is a violation of the rules of the country. but it has been received with a lot of anger because over the

last couple of weeks that have been so many incidents in which innocent people have been killed, there was a fire at a school and the bus crash in which ten students have been killed, and no authority has been dismissed because of those, and people are now angry that the cause of such a minimal mistake somebody has been dismissed. but the other authorities are still holding their jobs despite the fact of what they have done or their mismanagement has cost lives. it is a gorgeous country and they seem to care more about the morality of what is happening, so thatis morality of what is happening, so that is why we still have morality police on the street and the television is so worried about not crossing the lines of their religion, rather than many more serious problems that the economy is facing. the country is in turmoil, hector very badly by the us sanctions and its people are struggling, and even today as we are speaking we know there are protests

in front of tehran university in the capital, but this is all happening and we know that the authorities are more worried about aslan rather than people's lives. that's get back to new yea rs people's lives. that's get back to new years celebrations. this is the scene live in paris. at midnight the promised a spectacular fireworks display. we can see the yellow vests, protests on going, but organisers say this will not affect the paris new years celebrations. meanwhile in asia and in the middle east there have been some spectacular firework displays, watched by thousands of revelers. we'll leave you with some of the best pictures so far. hgppy happy new year! the deepening. as we head into the

new year and the weather is set to change significantly and that is coming down from the north. for most of us today we in this cloudy but mild airstream of us today we in this cloudy but mild air stream but behind the whether front line is colder air coming down with the chance of more sunshine as well. clear skies by midnight, all the way down into the central belt of scotland, plenty of showers in the far north with it will be very windy. gusts of 70 and shetland. across northern ireland and the far south of scotland and north of england, it will be cloudy with light rain and drizzle. south of that, a few breaks but on the hall, fairly mild and pretty cloudy. quite whether from many parts of the country. winds easing in the

north—east, the clearer skies pushing down into the far north of england than those temperatures beginning to drop a bit as well. the weather changing because of the position of high—pressure changing, it has been to the south of the uk with cloudy atlantic ear heading our way. the position of the changes allows us to pull down and called earlier across the country behind that very weak weather front. we're going to find stronger winds blowing down the north sea coast for a while on new year's day, not many showers because pressured is so high. most ways to see sunshine coming through. across other morse parts it could be cloudy for most of the day and maybe a few spots of rain and drizzle. double—figure temperatures but temperatures elsewhere lower than we have seen for the last few days. with clear skies and leg glance overnight, many places will get a frost, down to —4. probably not quite so chilly for easter morse

parts but cloud moved again of the north sea but even that tends to break up on wednesday and we see sunshine developing far and wide with the wind like as well after a frosty start in many places, those temperatures lower than we have seen for quite a while. 0nly temperatures lower than we have seen for quite a while. only three, four in scotland, 5—7 across england and wales, and frost to follow. planning called for the first week of the new year with some frost and perhaps fogged returning. more sunshine and for most of this, still bright. this is bbc world news, the headlines. rescue teams in the russian city of magnitogorsk are searching the rubble for survivors after a gas explosion devastated an apartment block. at least four people are dead — up to 35 are missing the un says food aid in yemen — on which millions of people depend — is being stolen and illegally sold in rebel controlled areas leaving thousands hungry. us democratic senator elizabeth warren says she could be in the running for the presidency in 2020. she's established an exploratory committee which will allow her

to start fund raising and organising support. and celebrations have been taking place to welcome in the new year — 2019. sydney was one of the first cities to mark the event