welcome to bbc news. i'm aaron safir. our top stories: syria's refugee crisis worsens, as turkey's president warns 80,000 people have fled fighting in idlib province. the battle to control australia's bushfires. more than 100 are still raging in new south wales. india's prime minister defends his new citizenship law, after days of protests left at least 20 people dead. and fresh from playing an american tv icon, candid confession from tom hanks. i'm kind of loud, a median some ways, i'm a and homer, i probably

have deficit disorder. —— attention deficit disorder. president erdogan of turkey says more than 80,000 people have fled recent attacks by the syrian government on rebel—held territory in idlib province, and that his country wouldn't be able to cope if a new wave of refugees attempted to cross the border. there've been reports of civilian deaths in air strikes on towns and villages, and accounts of large numbers of people trying to flee. gareth barlow reports. it's an all—too—familiar story after eight years of war. serious fleeing fighting. — experience. some people haven't managed to escape in time. members of the rescue group

desperately try to help those caught up desperately try to help those caught up in the latest upsurge of violence. as the syrian government battles to regain territory held by rebels in the northern province of it live. but the tax president has warned his country can't cope with the number of refugees trying to escape the fighting. more than 80,000 of our brothers from the power started migrating towards our borders. if the violence does not stop this number will increase and turkey will not carry such a burden on its own. they are working with russia to stop the attacks, in fact they are sending a delegation to moscow tomorrow. russia is a key backer of serious president. the moscow support has changed the course of the conflict. government forces once again controlled the majority of the country. but years of fighting has displaced millions. we fled from the bombing and destruction and we do not know where

we will go. we have no refuge, we have nothing. we fled from the bombardment. russian warplanes are striking, there are helicopters, missiles and rockets. we cannot remain there. united nations estimate it live is home to 3 million people. a third of them children. jackie hopes the joint syrian russian operation can be contained to try to prevent another humanitarian disaster for communities already ravaged by war. fire crews in australia are assessing the damage from the weekend's bushfires. and while the weather has cooled down a little, the political debate is raging on. prime minister scott morrison has acknowledged a link between global warming and extreme weather and apologised for being on holiday during the crisis. shaimaa khalil has the story. it feels like a deserted was own but this is the aftermath of the

catastrophic bushfires that have ravaged new south wales. and in the village of balmoral. the devastation is everywhere. this man has been a volunteer firefighter for six years. he was out with this team trying to control the blaze in the village when his own fire was burnt to the ground. —— his own house. when his own fire was burnt to the ground. -- his own house. that's the mental side of it. when you continue to battle something you can't beat. the prime ministers got morrison appearing for the first time after fierce criticism of his holiday in hawaii, consider that more needed to be done to tackle global warming. with scientist saying dry conditions brought about by climate change have worsened the impact of bushfires. the catastrophic fires have subsided but the situation is extremely dangerous here, the roads remain closed off. balmoral was one of the worst hit areas by saturdays fires

and the community is pretty much in shock —— still very much in shock. many have returned to see what happened to their homes. 0pposite the road from the shattered house is a very different picture. craig stayed to defend his home during the fires, using up all the water reserves he had. flames like five or six story building. drawing all around you. scared as hell, you don't know what to do. australia's pressing itself or a scorching summer pressing itself or a scorching summerand many pressing itself or a scorching summer and many are pressing itself or a scorching summer and many are wondering where the next big fight is going to hit. —— big fire. let's talk now to the bbc‘s phil mercer in sydney. the conditions are easing in new south wales, how much is the firefighting effort dependent on the weather improving? australia is at the mercy of not only temperatures but also the wind and also the dry

conditions that a long drought, especially in eastern australia, is that much of the countryside... authorities taking advantage of far more that i conditions, the temperatures compared to the last few days have dropped by almost 20 celsius so that is giving authorities a helping hand and what they doing is assessing the damage from the fires of the last couple of days here in new south wales since friday. 100 houses been destroyed. there are still fires burning in a state of victoria and south australia, about 86 homes were lost in the adelaide hills. this is an area to the... it's quite close to the city of adelaide that is blanketed in smoke so the fires still rage, conditions are more favourable today but many people just wondering when the next extreme bout of whether it is likely to hit and what that will mean for the fires. and we heard in china's

report that the prime minister has conceded a link between climate change and events like this. but on the other hand he's absolutely doubled down on his defence of climate change industries like coal. australia's centre government led by the prime minister is an ardent supporter of the coal industry, cole generates the lion share of australia's lecturers are divorced up australia's lecturers are divorced up it also generates billions of dollars for the australian economy. there is a political dimension to this. in may this year, mr morrison w011 this. in may this year, mr morrison won a federal election, no—one was expecting him to succeed at that poll but that was in large part due to support from mining communities. they were worried the opposition policies for climate change may have impacted the mining industry so they supported scott morrison. mr morrison is acutely aware that part

of his political base is within those mining communities. he doesn't believe that changing australia's climate change policies is essential as he says, if you were to do so, in his words, they could be economic crunching of australia's economy so mr morrison acknowledging that link between global warming and extreme weather events, but not willing to shift australia's climate change policies. phil massa in sydney, virgo delivered there, thank you. in india, prime ministerand hindu nationalist leader narendra modi, has tried to calm anger over a controversial new citizenship law, saying indian muslims have nothing to fear from it. at least 20 people have been killed in days of protests over the law, with the police accused of using force. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. days of deadly violence, as indians continue to oppose a law they say is an assault on the rights of the country's 200 million muslims.

as curfews were imposed and internet was blocked in india's largest state, uttar pradesh, protesters say they've been brutally silenced. as the death toll rises, reports some victims were shot by the police — a charge authorities deny. at a rally today, india's prime minister, narendra modi, expressed his support for the country's police, but failed to mention the civilian deaths, and defended his citizenship amendment act, the caa, which offers only non—muslim illegal immigrants from certain countries fast—track nationality. translation: muslims who were born on indian soil shouldn't be concerned by the caa order and nrc. a national nrc would introduce citizenship checks for everyone in the country, something many protesters fear could target muslims. today, the prime minister

said his government hadn't discussed once since he came to power in 2014, but his close ally, home minister amit shah, has repeatedly promised to introduce an nrc, even in parliament. while the status of that is now unclear, experts say the party's wider agenda is not. there is no question that the bjp government, through its legislative agenda, is moving india in the direction of becoming a hindu state. when you introduce a law that brings religion into determining who is an indian, all indians become vulnerable. indians from all backgrounds have taken to the streets as the movement against the citizenship law and the modi government grows stronger. we are united like never before. we will continue to fight for as long as it takes. protesters say they are fighting for the future of india's secular constitution. they believe the government's trying to divide this country, and say about this show of unity

is the only way to stop that from happening. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. the death toll from two storms that have hit parts of western europe has risen to nine. spain and portugal are among the countries worst affected by the heavy rain and violent winds of storm elsa, which hit the iberian peninsula on wednesday but has since weakened. however, a second storm, fabien, has followed closely behind — bringing with it more flooding and power cuts. kathryn armstrong reports. a waterfront in southern france is battered by waves and high winds. 0ne battered by waves and high winds. one of several places to feel the effects of two powerful storms in recent days. storm also swiped in from the atlantic on wednesday and was closely followed by a second storm, fabian, which made landfall on saturday. spain has been the ha rd est on saturday. spain has been the hardest head with a severe flooding reported in many areas. seven people

of thought to have died there including a fisherman who was swept off rocks into the scene does back into the sea in the catalonia region. at these two people have been killed in neighbouring portugal we re been killed in neighbouring portugal were some towns have been submerged due to flash flooding and winds reaching speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour. the storms have over the —— only exacerbated the situation, they been dealing with the effects of bad weather for weeks. 12 people were stranded in this merchant ship after it hit rocks off the coast of sardinia and couldn't be rescued until conditions improve. there have been widespread power cuts in southern france and some rail services were cancelled due to the likelihood of trees falling on the lines. this was only added to —— has only added to transport chaos in france, roads have been gridlocked. the worst of

the storm fabian is expected to pass overnight but warnings will remain impulsive france and the mediterranean on monday. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: another christmas in makeshift churches — we report on the plight of christians in the indonesian province of aceh. the world of music's been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective — to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie,

over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots 10 days ago. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: warnings of a worsening refugee crisis in syria — turkey's president says more than 80,000 people have fled fighting in idlib province. firefighters in australia are struggling to control raging bushfires — more than 100 are still burning in new south wales. christians in the indonesian province of aceh are preparing to celebrate christmas in makeshift tents in the jungle.

their churches were destroyed four years ago by islamic vigilante groups and the police. church leaders say they want to rebuild — but they've been stopped from doing so by the local authorities. the bbc‘s asia editor rebecca henschke reports. this is the last service martina berutu's community were allowed to hold in their church, built in the 1960s. the next day, she had to stand by and watch authorities destroy it. translator: we were all afraid. we felt so sad. it was heartbreaking. now we have nowhere to pray.

a week before, angry mobs burnt down this nearby church after holding protests calling for all churches in the region to be demolished. translation: someone threw a molotov cocktailfrom a car and everything caught on fire. they also threw a bomb at the cross. then people came from everywhere. the police tried to hold them back but they couldn't. the president, joko widodo at the time, called for the violence to end, saying it was against the country's founding principles of unity and diversity. but four years on, new places of worship have not been built. the services now take place here, in makeshift churches in the jungle. the only province in indonesia that has islamic law brought in regulations two years ago that require at least 100 non—christians to support the building of a church.

something christian leaders here say is impossible, but a law, the local mayor defends. translation: there should be an agreement from both sides if the christians want a church permit, then permission from the muslims. in my opinion just follow the rules. that's the right way. indonesia, once known for moderate islam and multifaith society, has seen growing intolerance in recent years, and rights groups say that 200 churches across indonesia have been shut down in the last 12 years. with no hope of getting permission to rebuild the church, the minority christian community here is preparing to celebrate christmas here in the forest. ecuador is trying to contain the environmental impact of a fuel spill in the galapagos islands,

after a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel sank. the galapagos archipelago, a unesco world heritage site, is home to one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet. the accident occurred in a port on san cristobal island, the easternmost island in the chain, when a crane collapsed while loading a container onto the barge. the falling container destabilized the ship, causing it to sink. the premier league football club tottenham hotspur has promised a thorough investigation after its match with chelsea was marred by racist behaviour from the crowd. fans were warned three times during the game after monkey noises and racist chanting were aimed at the chelsea defender antonio rudiger. jon donnison has more. well, spurs have a tuesday statement this evening saying

they are conducting a thorough investigation and they will include speaking to the chelsea players. that statement says, "any form of racism is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our stadium." they say they will take the strongest possible action against any individual found to be paving in such a way, including stadium bans. one would imagine with all the cameras and the technology in the stadiums these days it might be easy to catch any alleged perpetrator. andy mentioned those incidents in the uk earlier this year and of course england players, black england players, being abused earlier this year when they played in bulgaria. today, though, just a reminder that

if there were people out there who thought that the issue of racism in football had gone away, that doesn't seem to be the case. tourists flocking to bethlehem in the lead up to christmas have been surprised to see an alternative nativity scene created by the elusive artist banksy in his walled 0ff hotel. the piece invokes the palestinian—israeli conflict — and is designed to make people think about how palestinians live in the city. courtney bembridge reports. dubbed the scar of bethlehem, the work depicts israel's concrete west bank barrier with a star—shaped hole in the centre and jesus‘s manger in front. the anonymous british artist says the work is a modified nativity. christmas known, with the star of bethlehem, that led people to the birthplace ofjesus. banksy called this nativity the scar of bethlehem, and as you see, there is a scar, there is a hole on the wall that marks the wall and the life in bethlehem, how it is today.

banksy is known for making political statements with his graffiti and has created a number of works in bethlehem, and on the barrier itself. israel says the barrier is needed to prevent terror attacks. palestinians say it is a device to grab land. the international court ofjustice says it is illegal. banksy first visited the occupied west bank ten years ago, and in 2017, he was part of opening the walled 0ff hotel, which is where this latest work is on display. this hotel is advertised as having the worst view of any hotel in the world with rooms overlooking a concrete section of the controversial west bank barrier. the artist designed the hotel and the rooms are filled with his work, much of which is about the conflict. nearby, hundreds of tourists gathered at the manger square to take selfies with a traditional display outside the church of the nativity, revered as the birthplace ofjesus, but for others, the alternate

version was more interesting. banksy found exactly how to tell without words the reality. it is really, really incredible. we are really lucky to be here today. the message is very interesting because the message of peace is done for palestinians and i think it is a very nice piece of art. as with many of banksy‘s pieces, this is a political comment, work of art and tourist attraction all in one. tom hanks' next film — ‘a beautiful day in the neighbourhood' sees him play the legendary american children's tv presenter mr rogers — as a reporter tries to uncover the man behind the on—screen persona. tom hanks himself is known for his wholesome image. he's been talking to our arts editor

will gompertz about being the ‘nice guy‘ of film — and what he's really like. # it's a beautiful day in this neighbourhood. # a beautiful day for a neighbour... tom hanks is the legendary american children's television personality, the kindly mr rogers, who finds himself the subject of a magazine profile by a hard—boiled journalist, played by matthew rhys. the film's director, marielle heller, told them the movie was really about men and their feelings. very nice. cut. any time a woman says to a guy, i'd like to make a movie about men and their feelings, strikes terror in the hearts of any man. you mean you want me... you want me to probe my inner f—f—feelings and try to bring them out? # it's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood. # a beautiful day for a neighbour. # please won't you be my neighbour. that was wonderful. do you identify with him — you, tom hanks? ithink... i have a reputation, and the word they always say is a nice guy, because i guess i am a nice guy.

i don't instilfear. i am not in this necessarily for power or influence, but at the same time don't piss me off, because i'll crush you. and... action. do you know what this is? did you learn anything about yourself, doing this role? oh, yeah, i learned an awful lot of my individual failings. iam kind of loud, iam needy in some ways, i probably have attention deficit disorder. yeah, can we have some of you sit over there on that bench, especially you two, who i am going to have there first to start it off? here we are again with a list of golden globe nominees, and no female directors. yeah. er... sooner or later, it comes down to, well, is it a meritocracy or what? i think you could look at any group of nominees and say, just these white guys, really? i wasn't surprised. i hate to say that but, you know... it's an old industry. there is a version of a director

that people have in their head. it's a white, older man in a baseball cap, sitting in a chair with headphones on. you know, i have it happen to me on every movie set, someone asks me if i am a pa or if i work in the art department. you know, i don't look like what somebody thinks a director looks like. you know, we have an unconscious bias. it's just there and, until more of us are around and people are seeing us and we are visible, that can't change. the awards season has barely begun. a bafta or an oscar directing nomination is certainly possible and, if neither happens... there are many things you can do. you can play all the lowest keys on a piano at the same time. will gompertz, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @aaronsafir. hello. sunday saw the winter solstice, that means that at least from an astronomer‘s point of view, we are officially into winter. the days are also starting to get just that little bit longer. how about the weather? the start of christmas week — a bit of a mixed bag, sunshine and showers on the way. we're in between weather systems, one weather front moving out towards the east, another one heading our way for later on monday. but during the day on monday, we're in this sort of clearer slot here, but it's not completely clear. you can see some speckles of cloud. those are showers coming off the atlantic and that's exactly what's happening right now. showers across western scotland, end of the night, start of the morning, maybe one or two further south, but generally speaking,

the weather is dry and it's not particularly cold even where the skies clear. six or seven in the south, a touch of frost there, as you'd expect this time of year in scotland. here's monday's weather forecast. so the weather is approaching but it's still way to the south—west of our neighbourhood, that does mean the weather is largely dry during the daytime itself, apart from showers which may affect western scotland for a time. there could be one or two moving through the lakes, but there's more clear weather than wet weather around on monday. so i think a very decent day on the way for cardiff but birmingham, as i say a few showers there for glasgow, edinburgh, maybe carlisle. 11 degrees, so mild in the south, nine in glasgow. we are watching the next weather front approaching the neighbourhood, the thinking is sunny after dark, it'll start to turn cloudy then wet in cornwall, devon, throughout wales, and that rain will move across other parts of the uk as well. with it also comes mild air, and it's notjust across the uk but also spreading deeper into europe too. so the weather is very mild throughout the continent

at the moment. let's have a look at christmas eve. you can see the extent of the cloud early in the day, outbreaks of rain, the rain will probably come and go from thicker cloud during the afternoon as well across the south but the trend will be for the weather to gradually improve through the day on christmas eve, and that's a hint of things to come for the big day itself, because christmas day is expected to be a fine day throughout the country. high pressure is expected to build, the winds will fall light, the sun should be out for the morning on, a bit of mist start with but on the whole, but overall a fine day to walk off those calories. temperatures around nine or 10 degrees in south, six degrees in the north. so we don't get the snow but we do get the sunshine this christmas. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the turkish president erdogan says more than 80,000 people have fled syrian government attacks on rebel—held territory in idlib province. and he's insisted his country couldn't cope with a new wave of refugees who might attempt to cross the border. there've been reports of civilian deaths in air strikes on towns and villages. more than 100 bushfires are still burning in new south wales in australia. as firefighters struggle to control blazes, prime minister scott morrison has acknowledged a link between global warming and extreme weather. he's apologised for being on holiday during the crisis. in india, prime ministerand hindu nationalist leader narendra modi, has tried to calm anger over a controversial new citizenship law, saying indian muslims have nothing to fear. at least 20 people have been killed in days of protests over the law.