this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 11am. a powerful typhoon tears through parts of the philippines killing at least 16 people and leaving thousands homeless. fire fighters continue to tackle out—of—control bushfires in australia with a warning that more record—breaking temperatures could be on the way. the owners of a spanish hotel where a british man and his children drowned — say their deaths were a "tragic accident". israel's prime minister benjamin neta nyahu faces a political fight — as his likud party decides who will lead them into the country's third general election in a year. england make a positive start in the first test against south africa with james anderson taking a wicket with the first ball.

and 2019 saw the hottest month on record. in half—an—hour on bbc news weather world looks back at some of the most significant meteorological events of the year. at least 16 people have been killed by a typhoon in the philippines which has left a trail of devastation through the centre of the country. wind gusts reached 200 kilometres an hour tearing roofs off houses and leaving tens of thousands of people stranded at ports. the storm has been following a similar track to typhoon haiyan in 2013, the most powerful to hit the area in decades. catherine karelli reports.

a far from peaceful christmas in the central philippines. typhoon phanfone has brought sustained winds of almost 200 kilometres an hour, terrifying local people... woman screams ..and leaving a trail of destruction. heavy rain has left many homes flooded. more than 16,000 people had to spend the night in improvised shelters and at least 100 families have been left homeless. the typhoon, which has damaged infrastructure, stopped many people visiting their families for christmas. filipinos are well used to tropical storms and typhoons, with around 20 hitting the island nation each year.

the most deadly in recent times was typhoon haiyan in 2013 where a massive storm surge left more than 7,000 people dead. and many of the areas worst hit back then have borne the brunt of this latest storm. catherine karelli, bbc news. the chairman of the philippine red cross, richard gordon, spoke to the bbc about how the country is coping. while, the search is difficult because people are standing, you have to bring the goods you have to deliver, several islands have been affected. a lot of people have lost their homes, and they need food, hot meals. we are serving hot meals, we are trying our best to do that.

power has been affected, there is a com plete power has been affected, there is a complete blackout in certain areas which will be sold in two or three weeks. water has been interrupted in certain areas. so, there is an awful lot of things to be done. we are giving us but in terms of relief, water, food, first aid interventions. providing beds for hospitals that have lost their roof. after the earthquake and recent

typing, we are not finished there. definitely there is a lot to be done, with polio, measles and the like vaccinations. thousands of people in australia have been forced from their homes for the holidays as the country battles some of its worst bushfires in years. since september, almost 3,000 fire fighters have been out every day in new south wales tackling fires, some of which are the size of small european countries. 0ur correspondent phil mercer is in bilpin, which is around 90 kilometres north west of sydney. i asked him just how bad things are. i think australia is on a type of war footing when it comes to this bushfire crisis. we have squadrons of water bombing helicopters in the skies supporting thousands of boots on the ground and it's worth pointing out too, the military has been brought in to help with this enormous fire fighting effort.

this fire fighting effort is increasingly stretched. many of the fire fighters we have in new south wales, for example, are volunteers and some of those have been on the front line for weeks, weeks and weeks and this is a crisis that shows no sign of ending. this is the town of bilpin, as you say, to the north—west of sydney in the blue mountains. the weather now is quite nice, quite cool. these cooler conditions are helping the fire fighting efforts. they are building containment lines, these are fire trails. they also do something called back burning, that is lighting a fire, that eats into the main fire front, this thus depriving that main blaze of fuel when the weather turns. and the weather is expected to turn — more hot and windy conditions are expected. we're not sure exactly when the danger will return, but safe to say, there will be more dangerous days ahead. i am looking at the scene behind you, it is devastating. what can you tell us how residents are being supported and where they are going once

they have their homes? the scene you can see behind me is clearly grotesque and it is repeated time and time again. we were at a business just a short time down the road. it is another orchard, a very famous area for apples. the area, and that particular business, had been crushed by the fires. this used to be a packing shed for another orchard. 0n the other side of the track, there is a business owned by a man who moved to australia from lebanon, when he was four years old. he has lived in this area for 35 years. 40% of his orchard has been destroyed and he was telling me how he and his youngest son were fighting the fires with the volunteers and the water bombing helicopters. he was describing flames a0 metres high. a0 metres high! it's extraordinary he confronted that and he is a farmer who has some fire fighting skills and he says

he was very lucky to escape, because the wind changed direction very quickly and he thought he was safe. but these flames were bearing down on him. clearly, he managed to escape but he says he almost didn't make it. i would imagine there are more and more of these stories as people come back to their homes. this road has only recently been reopened and residents are coming back now to find if they've still got a house or not. so a horrible christmas clearly, for many, many people. the drowning of a british man and his children in a swimming pool on the costa del sol was a "tragic accident" — according to the resort owners. the three family members were found unresponsive on christmas eve at "club — la costa world", near fuengirola. sean dilley reports. this was the scene of a christmas tragedy at one of spain's most popular tourist destinations. a nine—year—old british

girl is thought to have found herself in trouble in this pool before her 16—year—old brother and 52—year—old father jumped in to help her. why none of them emerged alive is the subject of a major investigation. a british tourist told the bbc she spoke to the children's mother. i noticed a woman was walking towards where i was. she looked really distraught. when she came closer, she — she was saying "help me. help me. please help me. my children are drowning." it was horrible. i — i didn't sleep. i can't even begin to tell you how distraught i feel, and i don't want to imagine what the mum is going through. it's still not clear how three members of one family came to die here but the owners of club la costa world, which runs the resort, claim spanish police found nothing wrong with the hotel's facilities. they say:

meanwhile, the foreign & commonwealth office says it's offering its assistance to a british woman in spain. sean dilley, bbc news. a murder investigation has begun in south—west london — after a man was shot dead on christmas eve. police were called to battersea church road at around 9pm on tuesday where they found the victim believed to be in his 30s. no arrests have been made. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is a facing a vote today for his leadership of the likud party, from long—time rival gideon saar. it's said to be the biggest challenge mr netanyahu has faced to his 20—year rule of likud. yesterday evening, a rocket fired from the gaza strip, interrupted a party rally in the border town of ashkelon. the prime minister and his wife were escorted from the stage after sirens went off. 0ur middle east correspondent barbara plett usher is injerusalem. she explained a little earlier,

why benjamin neta nyahu is being challenged now. prime minister netanyahu has been in powerfor ten years and has been a very popular prime minister. he has been credited with economic success in israel and also security success and he has a right—wing government and the majority do self—identify as right wing, so, why is he being challenged now? he has been weakened over the past year with corruption charges hanging over him. he was indicted on three counts of corruption just last month and there have been two election so far, and he has been unable to form a coalition government. he is clearly weakened, and the challenge is coming from a former cabinet minister called gideon saar and he is saying, he is not saying mr netanyahu should resign because of the indictment,

he is saying benjamin netanyahu has shown himself of incapable of keeping the right wing in power. there is going to be a third election in march, he will not be able to form a government then and runs the risk of being in opposition if it doesn't change its leader. that is the campaign argument of gideon saar. i don't think benjamin netanyahu is going to lose, most people think he will win, but the question will be by how much. if he doesn't get at least two—thirds of the vote, it will look as though his grip on the party has been weakened. what can you tell us about this attack last night? that was rockets fired from the gaza strip and that was the second time in the last few months that mr netanyahu has been taken off stage at a campaign rally, which is close to gaza. the campaign was streamed live, so, there was no effort to conceal the fact he was there, which is probably why the rocket was fired. nobody has claimed

responsibility for it. it is not the kind of images mr netanyahu would want to have been shown just before this leadership contest. he did try to make the best of it, he came back and said the islamist movements in gaza, hamas and islamichhad, don't want me to be prime minister. so, he tried to make the best of it. but it is the kind of thing that causes his critics to say, he is not the mr security he claims to be, he needs to be tougher with the islamist groups in gaza. quickly, looking ahead to march and this indictment on corruption charges, are they seriously looking as if they are going to damage his chances? where are we on that? it is difficult actually to say because coalition politics mean you don't have a major party winning enough seats to form a majority government. it is all about if he gets political allies. broadly speaking, his main rival, the blue and white party, has an edge on him.

he is lagging in the polls, but it is too close to call at the moment. the big question is whether that indictment will mean that he is not legally able to form a government. that question has not been answered yet. the offices of russian opposition leader alexei navalny have been raided by security forces, who are currently conducting a search. videos posted online by alexei navalny and his team show the door of their office being opened by security forces with a chainsaw. mr navalny says at one point he was dragged out of this office — but he was not detained. the anti—corruption activist says this latest raid is connected to a criminal case opened against his team for refusing an order to delete a film accusing russia's prime minister of corruption. the headlines on bbc news: a powerful typhoon tears through parts of the philippines,

killing at least 16 people and leaving thousands homeless. fire fighters continue to tackle out—of—control bushfires in australia with a warning that more record—breaking temperatures could be on the way. and the owners of a spanish hotel where a british man and his two children drowned say their deaths were a "tragic accident". sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. good morning. well into the afternoon session in the boxing test in centurion with south africa recovering after the worst possible start to the first test against england. james anderson dismissed opener dean elgar with the first ball of the match. a wicket a piece for sam curran and stuart broad too.

james anderson playing in his 150th test match. you can follow this one on the cricket social via the bbc sport website and app. it's a busy time of year for footballers. call it a christmas tradition. well, liverpool managerjurgen klopp is experiencing his fifth season managing in england at this time of year. and he's not too chuffed with the scheduling. most teams play today and then again at the weekend — with leaders liverpool at second placed leicester in the late kick off — before playing again at home to wolves on sunday. none of us managers has a problem with boxing day. none of us. but playing on the 26th and then the 28th is a crime. that's absolutely not ok, and yet we still have it. this year we have the 26th and the 29th and it's like a holiday.

i understand all the others who are not moaning, but telling that it just should not happen. it should not happen. alex 0xlaide chamberlain won't have to worry about tight turnaround. he won't play again this year due to ankle ligament damage sustained in liverpool's club world cup win on saturday. just over an hour away from the first of nine games in the premier league today. tottenham face brighton without son hueng min. he was sent off against chelsea on sunday and his appeal to have it rescinded was turned down. there'll be two familiar faces in a premier league dugout this afternoon. carlo ancelotti manages everton for the first time at home to burnley, whilst mikel arteta will lead arsenal at bournemouth less than a week after being appointed. despite not having long to work with his new team, he's been impressed with what he's seen so far. i think we are much more committed. i think we are much more committed. i think we are much more committed. i think we have a different kind of aggression, every time we lose the ball. i think the body language was

much better in the last few games. and i think they play with more passion as well in the game. 0bviously, passion as well in the game. obviously, there were things to improve but at least those have to be non—negotiable, they have to be on the table for every game, every training session, and the way we knit together. a busy day in scotland too with celtic manager neil lennon calling for focus from his side at st mirren with an old firm derby against rangers looming on sunday. celtic are five points ahead of their second—placed rivals who face kilmarnock. celtic know a win will guarantee top spot ahead of the winter break. you can see all of the day's fixture's online and app. thousands gathered in sydney overnight to see off the crews for the 74th sydney hobart yach race. the skies around sydney harbour were relatively clear of smoke from the bushfires, for the start. nine—time winners and defending champions wild 0ats 11 have taken the lead in the last hour too. nine hours gone. a65 miles still to go to tasmania.

it's expected the best crews will take nearly two days to complete the race — compared to more than six when they first sailed it in 19a5. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. shoppers are expected to spend £200 million less in the boxing day sales this year with environmental concerns being the biggest reason for the drop. almost seven in ten consumers plan to spend less on so—called "fast fashion" because of the impact of its production on the environment. according to barclaycard, around four in ten uk adults will spend an average of £186 each today. deborah james, or bowel babe as she's known to anyone who has followed the podcast you, me and the big c, has shared every step of her cancer journey. this time last year, she didn't think she'd be celebrating another christmas,

but that changed thanks to some new treatment and her medical team at the royal marsden hospital. she's been back to meet them — let's take a look. this time last year, i honestly thought i was celebrating my last christmas. my cancer had progressed. the actual words from my oncologist were, "i can't promise you it won't progress quickly". i'm deborah james. i have metastatic bowel cancer and i have been living with cancer for three years. i host the award—winning podcast you, me and the big c on bbc radio 5 live. hi! hello! welcome back! thank you! it's nice to see you. you're looking well. i was going to say it's nice to be here not as a patient. 0h, absolutely, absolutely! cyberknife is amazing. it has stopped the growth of two of my tumours that

were in inoperable places — one was wrapped around an artery — and i couldn't be more grateful to have this treatment. we know that we've constantly got you in the right place, so, we can give a higher dose more safely. it's a team effort. but ultimately, a team effort that is saving my life and prolonging my life and i couldn't be more grateful for that, so, thank you for that. oh, you're very welcome. you're very welcome. when did you start feeling like you've got a temperature? yesterday. over the last year, i have been taking some new, targeted drugs. i'm one of the first people actually in the uk to be on that combination. it has actually stabilised my cancer. i've had hundreds and hundreds of tests. you never get used to them. and you never get used to them. people like beth that help administer those drugs are very much part of my family. i trust you guys... good! ..and i know you are what you are doing... good. ..and it's a friendly face all of the time. yeah. so, like, never underestimate what you do, it's amazing, so thank you. oh, thank you, deborah. thank you very much. let me give you a hug.

i'm probably going to cry! don't cry. it's all right. the more we move on with cancer, the more we find out about it, there are more examples of people like me living, and that is because of new treatments, because of new ways that we are being treated. hello! and actually, that's something we should be celebrating. nice to see you. as part of your treatment, we tried to zap all your tumours. i love that — splat the tumours! splat the tumours, exactly. this is the tiny probe, which is very thin. i've never seen this. i cannot believe this actually goes inside of me! yeah, it's thin and sharp. thank you for literally destroying, zapping, burning, ablating. you have used every tool in the box to help keep me alive and just thank you. you are very welcome. very welcome. so, i'm now in a very weird place where i am living with cancer. but we all know that at some point, my luck might run out and the drugs might run out and actually, the cancer may be on the move again, and none of us know when that might be.

and living with that dark dog of fear is really, really challenging and i don't have a solution for it. but i know that having an army of people who have your back helps. this every single person plays a massive part in keeping me alive. my new year's resolution is to stay alive. and maybe run a marathon and maybe do strictly. giggles. and you can listen to you, me and the big c on the bbc sounds app. at least seven people have died, when a boat got into difficulties in lake van in eastern turkey. the boat was carrying migrants from afghanistan, pakistan and bangladesh. the lake is near the border with iran from where people often cross into turkey on theirjourney towards europe.

6a others were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals and shelters. people across the world have been looking to the skies this morning, hoping to spot a rare solar eclipse. sadly, it wasn't visible here in the uk, but much of the middle east and south asia witnessed the annular solar eclipse which is also known as a "ring of fire" where the moon doesn't completely cover the sun. she's 23—years—old, likes to work out, and is a sikh. in the latest in a bbc series about young british people who express their faith in ways you might not expect, you're about to meet gurpreet. she started posting her workouts on instagram but was trolled by people who said it wasn't the sort of thing sikh women should be doing. she plans to prove them wrong.

when i am working at it makes me feel like i am wonder woman, i am on top of the world. it does wonders to your body. i am small, petite, it makes me feel unbeatable. iama unbeatable. i am a pete, 23, from coventry, and ido i am a pete, 23, from coventry, and i do body weight training. and i am i do body weight training. andiama i do body weight training. and i am a sikh. it is unusual in the indian committee for a seat female to be doing these exercises i have been doing. people find it very shocking. 0n have been doing. people find it very shocking. on my instagram i started to get negative reviews from people worldwide saying that a woman's case is in the kitchen, you shouldn't be working out. that made me feel angry, i had a fight in me and i wa nted angry, i had a fight in me and i wanted to prove them wrong, showed them women can do whatever men can do. i draw strength from the music i

listen to when i work out. i like sikh religious hymns. when i am struggling with an exercise, it gives extra motivation and gets me to the end of my work—out, reminds me who i am. what i do makes me stand at but as sikh, we are meant to stand out from the crowd which is why we wear that irbin. people don't realise in this day and age, sikh women can also wear the turban. i hope in a few yea rs wear the turban. i hope in a few years down the line i hope to start a motorbike group, i have never seen sikh women motorbike riders around the uk and ifeel we sikh women motorbike riders around the uk and i feel we should sikh women motorbike riders around the uk and ifeel we should let sikh women motorbike riders around the uk and i feel we should let the world know who we are, riding our bikes. christmas wouldn't be christmas, without abit of glitz and sparkle — so, strictly come dancing returned to our screens for the annual festive special. former contestants

dusted off their dancing shoes and took to the floor once more. but it was debbie mcgee that lifted the trophy with her professional partner, kevin clifton. so, did you tune in to find out what was ‘occurrin‘ last night? the gavin and stacey christmas special was watched by an average of 11.6 million viewers, making it the most watched festive special of the decade. the christmas special — which ended on a huge cliff—hanger — this has been a hit with the critics and fans who are hoping for another series. but the show‘s writers james corden and ruthjones said there are currently no plans to bring it back — as it's difficult to find time to write more. but the pair did get together to watch the programme go out last night. now, it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. after the sunshine yesterday, more

cloud today and for some it has already been wet and windy. some spreading northwards and eastwards, turning patchy in northern england. heaviest bursts of rain easing for a time but more downpours in wales and the south—west. still a blustery day. highs of 12 degrees. much of scotla nd day. highs of 12 degrees. much of scotland will remain dry. the best of the sunshine in the north east of scotland. into this evening, patchy rain and drizzle will affect eastern areas. later, western scotland will turn wetter and windier. keeping temperatures up in western areas, 11 degrees.

hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: a powerful typhoon tears through parts of the philippines, killing at least 16 people and leaving thousands homeless. firefighters continue to tackle out—of—control

bushfires in australia, with a warning that more record—breaking temperatures could be on the way. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, faces a political fight as his likud party decides who will lead them into the country's third general election in a year. the owners of a spanish hotel where a british man and his two children drowned say their deaths were a "tragic accident". in a year that saw the planet's hottest month on record, nick miller and sarah keith lucas reflect on the most significant meteorological events of 2019 in weather world. this time on weather world, we're in cambridge, where right here during 2019's record—setting european heatwave, the temperature was the highest the uk's ever recorded.