this is bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: how does it feel to be in canada? a warm welcome in canada for the saudi teenager whose efforts to escape her family gained worldwide attention. three people die and nearly 50 are injured in a powerful gas explosion at a bakery in central paris. another democrat throws their hat into the presidential ring — a former texas mayor, julian castro, announces plans to run for the us presidency in 2020. as central europe battles the worst snow in three decades, forecasters say there's even more to come. a saudi teenager whose efforts to escape her family gained attention around the world has finally arrived in canada where she's been granted asylum.

last week, rahaf mohammed al-qunun barricaded herself in a hotel room at bangkok airport to resist deportation. the 18—year—old feared she'd be killed by her relatives because she'd shared her story on social media and renounced islam. she arrived in toronto from where nada tawfik reports. rahaf al-qunun arrived with a smile as she took the first steps into her new life. rahaf, how does it feel to be in canada? she was escorted out by canada's foreign minister, chrystia freeland, who was on hand to welcome her and to pass on flowers from one of ra haf‘s supporters. after chronicling her ordeal on social media, she chose this moment, now safely in toronto, to let another speak on her behalf. she wanted canadians to see that she's here, that she's well, and that she's very, very happy to be in her new home. although she did comment to me about the cold.

it's been a whirlwind journey for rahaf al-qunun. it's extraordinary that just a few days ago she was an unknown teenager and now she has commanded the attention of the world's media and reignited a debate about the treatment of women in saudi arabia. and i'm still in the room. rahaf al-qunun had been trying to reach australia by way of thailand when her passport was confiscated and she was told she would be deported. the 18—year—old barricaded herself in an airport hotel room and sent out fevered tweets saying that she feared her family would kill her for renouncing islam. i'm not leaving my room until i see unhcr. i want asylum. within a day, the campaign #saverahaf went viral, piling on international pressure. thai immigration police initially said her case was a family matter, but reversed course and placed her in the care of the un's refugee agency. after a review, unhcr said she was a legitimate refugee. her family has denied any abuse.

saudi arabia and canada have been on bad terms ever since ottawa criticised riyadh‘s arrests of women's rights activists in a tweet months ago. ra haf al-qunun‘s resettlement will likely exacerbate the already tense relations between the two countries. nada tawfik, bbc news, toronto. let's get some of the day's other news. the british prime minister has warned mps who're preparing to vote on her eu withdrawal deal that a failure to deliver brexit would be "a catastrophic breach of trust in our democracy." she's written an article in the sunday express ahead of the crucial vote on tuesday, which she's expected to lose. an opposition presidential candidate in the democratic republic of congo, martin fayulu, has demanded a full recount of votes from last month's presidential election. another opposition leader, felix tshisekedi, was declared the winner, but mr fayulu has accused him of striking a power—sharing deal with the outgoing president, joseph kabila.

19 people have been killed and two are missing after a roof collapsed at a coal mine in northern china. a total of 87 people were working underground in the shaanxi province mine at the time of the accident. the search for the two trapped miners continues, while 66 others have been airlifted to safety. the cause of the accident is under investigation. three people, including two firefighters, have died and nearly 50 others injured in a powerful explosion at a bakery in the centre of paris. firefighters have been tackling the blaze throughout the day. police suspect a gas leak caused the blast. our paris correspondent lucy williamson reports. on the site of a local bakery, round the corner from the folies bergere, residents faced a charred and empty shell. the force of the gas explosion was felt in districts several miles away. along rue trevise, the blast

shattered windows, blew out doors, and sent locals and tourists into the street, straight from their beds. translation: when i walked past the entrance, i heard a huge explosion. i was hit by the debris. it's dry now and i washed off a bit, but there was a lot of blood on my neck and my head too. 200 firefighters were called in to help those trapped by the blast. among those whose lives they saved was a colleague, buried for almost two hours beneath the rubble. but two other firefighters died. translation: firefighters were dealing with the blaze. the explosion is probably from a gas leak. it has had a very heavy toll on civilians, but also on firefighters who were on site. helicopters waited near the opera house to evacuate the wounded, some of whom are still in a serious condition. the explosion is being treated as accidental, but there's a risk of further fires and emergency work will

continue all weekend. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. a texas democrat, julian castro, has formally declared he wants to run for president of the united states in 2020. he's a former mayor of san antonio who went on to serve in president obama's cabinet. the announcement makes him the first hispanic in what looks set to be a crowded field of candidates vying to challenge president trump. here's what mr castro had to say. when my grandmother got here almost 100 years ago, i'm sure that she never could've imagined thatjust two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the united states congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words, "i am a candidate for president of the united states of america." cheering and applause. the bbc‘s david willis in washington has more.

the former mayor of san antonio in texas, he gave a speech at the democratic national convention four years ago and was the youngest member of barack obama's cabinet. but more than anything else, he's looking to become america's first hispanic president. it's a real american dream story, if you like. indeed, mr castro said today that his grandmother, victoria, who came to the united states from mexico nearly a century ago, would have been amazed to know that one of her grandchildren would end up a member of the us congress. the other would end up running to president. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says he's optimistic that the us and turkey can reach an agreement on a way to protect america's kurdish allies in syria after its troops pull out. us forces have fought alongside the kurds in northern syria against islamic state jihadists. our correspondent, barbara plett usher, is monitoring his middle east trip from riyadh.

this dispute with turkey over america's kurdish allies has overshadowed mr pompeo‘s sweeping mid east trip. but he told journalists he'd spoken with his turkish counterpart and thought an agreement might be possible — one that would allow the turks to defend their country from legitimate terror threats and would also protect those kurds who'd been fighting the islamic state group alongside the americans and who he said were not terrorists. the turks think they are and have not publicly rolled back plans for military operations against them. mr pompeo really wants to turn the focus to countering iran. he is calling for a united arab front against what he describes as its destabilising activity, and saudi arabia is key to that. but outrage over the recent saudi murder of thejournalist jamal khashoggi has complicated the relationship. a senior us official said the americans wanted the saudis to give a more credible explanation of what happened and do more

to punish the killers, and mr pompeo would press them on this point. barbara plett usher, bbc news, riyadh. the french government says about 84,000 people took part in the lastest ‘yellow vest‘ protests on saturday, sharply up on last week's estimate of 50,000. but the interior minister said the demonstrations across the country had been largely peaceful. kim gittleson has more. from paris to toulon, what began as a protest against the now scrapped fuel tax at the end of november continues to draw thousands of french demonstrators to the streets who say they're protesting against the rising cost of living. translation: i'm a civil servant and i don't even have enough at the end of the month to take care of my son. is that normal after 25 years of service? at the end of the month, i'm reduced to eating pasta, and i'm not even the most unfortunate person here.

in many of the cities, much of the yellow vest anger was directed at the french president, emmanuel macron. translation: let emmanuel macron tell me that i need to make an effort. i work until 10pm four times a week. if i don't make the effort to feed my kids, who will? not him — he eats cake. for his part, mr macron is due to open the national debate on tuesday on how to tackle the grievances raised by the protesters. but with a number of demonstrators swelling once more, the question is if a listening tour will be enough to put this highly visible movement to rest. kim gittleson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: battling to clear the snow from the roads and rooftops of central europe with another metre forecast to fall on sunday. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait

has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished, as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: a young saudi woman who's been granted asylum in canada after fleeing her family is said to be "very, very happy." earlier, i spoke with women's rights campaigner mona who played a crucial role in rahaf‘s story becoming worldwide news. i asked whether she was hearing from other women inside saudi arabia who had heard about rahaf‘s story. yes, i've heard from several saudi women who have contacted me through various social media to tell me that they are very happy, they are ecstatic to see her free and safe, and many of them are saying, "i wish that was me too." i think it is impossible to exaggerate the impact of rahaf‘s courage and rahaf‘s victory, because what she has done, what this incredibly courageous 18—year—old has done is wrong foot

the saudi authorities and the thai authorities who had initially wanted to forcibly repatriate her, but also, show her saudi sisters back home that it is possible to escape and to be free, because they deserve to be free. do you think there are going to be more saudi women who will do what rahaf has done, put their plight on social media and then try and escape that way? yes, for years, saudi women have been trying to escape. sadly, some of them failed, some of them were killed, some of them, we never heard from. i mean, just two years ago, a young women failed in her attempt to seek asylum and was dragged home after her uncles bound her mouth shut, taped her mouth shut, bound her arms and legs and dragged her onto a plane back to saudi arabia from manila. but i know that there are many saudi women who want to leave, and i'm in touch with several of them who are already living for asylum in various countries across the world. so i think what we have to remember, celebrating rahaf‘s victory,

is that this young woman has imposed on the global consciousness what it's like to be a saudi woman today, living under the guardianship system, which is this system that upholds an extreme form of patriarchy that i called gender apartheid, that controls almost every aspect of a saudi woman's life. and this is why rahaf left and this is why so many other saudi women leave, and that's why it must be ended because saudi women should be able to live freely in their country without needing to escape. there was obviously a lot of reaction to rahaf‘s situation on social media. did you hear anybody doubting her story, saying that it was odd that they had not heard from the family, anything like that? oh, my goodness. from the first minute, the first tweet. so, i was initially alerted to rahaf‘s call for help by a saudi feminist who lives in exile. from the first tweet, rahaf and anyone supporting her, including myself, came under a barrage of hate,

people doubting that she existed, people doubting that her family were abusing her, people claiming that she was lying, people claiming that i orchestrated this and that i basically kidnapped this young woman, people saying i brainwashed this young woman. so, yeah, to this moment, even though this incredibly courageous woman is safe and free in canada, they are still — there is an orchestrated social media campaign that is incredibly spiteful and vicious that has been targeting rahaf and others, and myself and anyone who helped her, which is an indication of what many of us have been saying for a long time, that the saudi regime orchestrates social media attacks. south africa's governing party the anc has putjobs at the centre of its election campaign as it launched its manifesto in durban. thousands of supporters turned out to hear party leader and president cyril ramaphosa outline his promises to transform the economy. mr ramaphosa also appealed for men to unite against what he called a major crisis of rape and sexual assault in the country.

from durban, nomsa maseko reports. a show of force by tens of thousands of anc supporters as president cyril ramaphosa launched the party's election manifesto. it has been a while since south africa's governing party pulled such a massive crowd. especially in kwazulu—natal, which is former presidentjacob zuma's home province, who was ousted in 2017 after nine years at the helm. this is an annual event which sets the tone for the anc‘s plans for the year but this time it is even more significant. south africa marks 25 years since the first democratic elections and millions will be going back to the polls. most credible opinion polls suggest the anc will secure enough votes to form the next government. that is despite declining support and small economic growth. the party's president, cyril ramaphosa, said the anc would do all it can to regain the confidence of all south africans. today at the african national

congress, we launch our 2019 election manifesto. we do so at a crucial moment in the history of our nation. after a period of doubt and uncertainty, we have arrived at a moment of hope and renewal. the new leadership has vowed to raise millions of dollars in foreign direct investment to drivejob creation, particularly among the youth and women. there are more unemployed, you know.

so cyril ramaphosa will take all the problems of south africa and will cover all of them. to fight poverty, unemployment, especially for women and the youth. another critical electioneering point will be the party's land reform policy. and with the amendment of the constitution to expropriate land without compensation passed, the anc believes it is keeping its promises. nomsa maseko, bbc news, durban. parts of germany, austria and sweden are suffering exceptional amounts of snow. a number of ski resorts and mountain villages have been evacuated in austria. bethany bell reports from annaberg in the alps. the little town of annaberg is blanketed in white. like many mountain regions in germany and austria, it's experiencing unusually heavy falls of snow. these sensors are there

to protect houses from avalanches. the authorities are struggling to remove the snow. these volunteer firefighters are working to clear the roof of annaberg's primary school. stefan obermeister from the lower austrian fire brigade says they need to ensure the building is safe enough for children to enter. the big problem is that the snow is very heavy so we have about 3.5 metres on the roofs, and that's the big problem. because if the weather is changing and the snow gets heavier, the big problem is that the roofs crash down and so it's very dangerous for the people that are living here. cars have been buried under several metres of snow and it's a constant struggle to keep paths and roads clear. in neighbouring germany, the army is helping to clear away snow. several areas have been

declared disaster zones. and there's more snow on the way. the risk of avalanches remains very high. bethany bell, bbc news, annaberg in the austrian alps. now, for a bit of history. in the last years of stalin's life, the soviet leader pursued a campaign against many of the doctors in moscow, accusing them of attempting to assassinate high ranking soviet officials. natasha rapoport was the daughter of one of the doctors who was arrested, and she speaks to witness about the "doctor's plot". that night i was alone and then there was a very loud knock at the door. i opened the door and there was a crowd, a big crowd of men.

i have decided that they were burglars, that they came to take ourfurniture. and then there was a telephone call. one of them grabbed me and screamed at me, "talk, talk!" and it was too much for me... ..and ifainted. my parents came home. i didn't see it because i was unconscious for several hours actually. they took my father away. both my parents were medical scientists. it was the last year of stalin's life when he became extremely paranoid and he arrested all major doctors in the kremlin hospital. they were accused of spying for england, for israel, for america and deliberately killing high—level communist party members.

major targets werejewish doctors. you couldn't, you know, turn on the radio. the moment you turn it on, you hear about these jewish killer doctors. scum on the earth, people that sold their soul to the devil. my father was accused of spying for england. translation: rumours were spreading about the sort of punishment that would be meted out. there were threats of hangings on red square. but he refused to sign false accusations. he was kept there in manacles and many, many days and nights without sleeping.

if he signed the false confession, it would have been his death sentence. i didn't expect this happening to my father. i was brainwashed, i grew up in soviet school. march 5,1953, stalin died. and the situation of the doctors in prison changed immediately. translation: i remember the marvellous evening when i was suddenly called to go downstairs. i was taken in a prison van to the lubyanka to see a general and he told me, "you are free,

you have been totally rehabilitated and can go home". that was really a big celebration in our house, the time of stalin's death. because it was stalin's death and for us, it was the rebirth of my father. i think, i'm sure, that the doctor's plot accelerated stalin's death because he didn't have doctors to help him. all of them were arrested and when his stroke happened, there was nobody at hand to help him. and isn't it amazing? a new squad of mounted police wearing traditional outfits have gone on patrol in mexico city. the "charras" have been recruited to keep the streets safe

and help tourists find their way around. thirty of them are on duty around the capital's landmarks — the palace of fine arts, alameda central and garibaldi square and are proving a big hit with locals and tourists alike. saudi teenager who fled to her family who threatened to kill her as she renounced islam has been welcomed in canada as a refugee. don't forget you can find more on all the stories we're covering on our website. there's background on the "yellow vest" protests in france — along with a full round—up of all the latest brexit news. just go to bbc.com/news. or you can download the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ reged ahmad bbc. hello there.

temperatures on saturday reached 12 degrees in strathallan. 6 celsius higher than the january average in this part of scotland. it was a very mild day. we have some rain for western scotland and that rain continues to edge its way southwards. if you are heading outside over the next few hours, it is worth taking wet weather gear with you across scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england. it will be quite blustery and very mild as well. temperatures between 8 and 10 degrees celsius to start day on sunday. on sunday itself, we have two weather fronts to look at. the first front will move southwards across england and wales and a more significant occluded front here across northern scotland will bring heavy rain to the north of scotland with colder air following that. so for sunday, a cloudy day for england and wales with a few patches of rain working southwards. brighter weather in the afternoon with showers working into northern western areas with more persistent rain hedging

into the far north of scotland. wherever you are, it will be a blustery old day weatherwise, and temperaturewise, there will be big contrast from south to north across the country. for much of england and wales, we'll see temperatures similar to that on saturday, 11, 12 degrees. notice it gets cooler further north and cold weather in shetland where temperatures just reached just 2 degrees. indeed, a fair few wintry showers with a little bit of sleet and a few flakes of snow mixed in with showers during the latter part of the afternoon. the week starts mild, rain in the north and west, often quite windy and it's set to turn much, much colder as we head towards the end of the week. now, monday, we will have quite a sharp frost to start the day across scotland and parts of north—east england as well. sunshine initially, but then it turns cloudier with showers working into western areas of scotland. the mildest air tending to be across western and southern parts of the country, but quite cold air across the north and east. temperature around 1 celsius or so. tuesday and wednesday,

we have a slow—moving weather front that's going to bring heavy persistent outbreaks of rain to western scotland, particularly into the highlands and western isles looking pretty wet. temperatures are rising again, 10 degrees widely and temperature is reaching around 7 degrees here. it will get milder for all of us. as we reach wednesday and thursday, we will start to see a more significant push of arctic winds moving down and replacing these milder westerly winds. so for all of us as we head through thursday, the temperatures will drop, even a little below normal for the time of year but at the same time, with that colder air arriving, it should be a little bit more in the way of sunshine. that's your latest weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: a saudi teenager who fled from her family, fearing that they would kill her for renouncing islam, has arrived in toronto where she's been offered asylum. rahaf al-qunun, who's 18, barricaded herself in a hotel room in bangkok and used social media to highlight her case. theresa may has warned of a "catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust" in democracy if mps reject her brexit deal and the uk remains in the european union.

the prime minister has pleaded with parliamentarians to "do what is right for our country" and back her controversial exit plan. three people have died after a massive gas explosion in a bakery in central paris. two firefighters died after being called to investigate a gas leak, a spanish tourist was also killed. almost 50 people were injured. 10 are said to be critically ill in hospital. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.