this is bbc news. i'm christian fraser. the headlines at midday. 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 politicalfight as his likud party decides who will lead them into the country's third general election in a year. england make a strong start in the first test against south africa with james anderson taking a wicket with the first ball. and a special edition of witness history hears the personal stories of some extraordinary moments in space exploration.

that's in half—an—hour, here on bbc news. 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. adam hancock reports. christmas was far from peaceful in the central philippines. typhoon

phanfone has bought sustained winds of almost 200 kilometres per hour and made a nine volt several times gci’oss and made a nine volt several times across a number of islands. the trail of destruction it because it is now becoming clear. fishing trawlers tossed on the beach and seaside towns left devastated. heavy rain has left many homes flooded, more than 16,000 people had to spend christmas night in improvised shelters and at least 100 families have been left homeless. the rescue operation is under way and supplies are needed for those worst affected. a lot of people have lost their homes and they need food, hot meals, so, we homes and they need food, hot meals, so, we are serving homes and they need food, hot meals, so, we are serving hot meals but it is not enough, obviously. add water has been interrupted in certain areas. so, there is an awful lot of things to be done. the storm also know deadly as aslef first made knable on tuesday night, passed over the central philippines on christmas day and is headed out

towards the south china sea. filipinos are well used to tropical storms and typhoons with around 20 hitting the island nation every year. the most deadly in recent times was typing tie on in 2013 where a massive storm surge left more than 6,000 people dead. many of the areas worst hit by then have borne the brunt of this latest storm. adam hancock, bbc news. the chairman of the philippine red cross, richard gordon, spoke to the bbc, about how the country is coping. first of all, access is very difficult because especially this christmas people are stranded, you have to support them from the piers, and you have to bring the goods you have to deliver, several big islands have been affected, coastal areas are hard to get to. a lot of people have lost their homes, and they need food, hot meals. we are serving hot meals but it is not enough, but we are trying our best

to do that. and lights have been been affected, power. there is a complete blackout in certain areas which will be solved within the next two weeks. and water has been interrupted intermitttently in certain areas. so, there is an awful lot of things to be done. the rescue phase is over, hopefully. nonetheless, we now have to come in with our support, in terms of relief, food, water. we have a lot of first aid interventions. certainly our doctors are supporting some hospitals that have lost their buildings, providing pans and beds, so people out there can be provided with a bed where the hospital has lost its roof. we are also fighting the earthquake,

and also the recent typhoon in other provinces, we are not finished there. so, definitely, there is an awful lot to be do by the philippine red cross with vaccinations, polio, measles and the like. 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 and gave us this update. 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, 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. 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 distance 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. 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. 64 others were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals and shelters. 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.

let's speak now to our middle east correspondent barbara plett usher who joins us from jerusalem. he has led the party for 20 years, is his grip slipping? well, it is slipping, if he is getting this kind of a challenge, there has been a united front in the likud party, after two elections when he was unable to form a government, and charges of corruption. he is very popular still, there is a lot of loyalty, but this is showing a crack, a challenge not expected to unseat him necessarily, but one that shows disquiet amongst members of the likud party, not senior members particularly but gideon saar has a growing amount of support amongst

the grassroots, local party leaders. the concern is mr netanyahu may have lost his magic touch. he couldn't form a government and in a third election he will not be able to form a government and the likud party could go into opposition, this is gideon saar‘s campaign. this is one to watch, if benjamin netanyahu wins substantially, he wants to quell dissent. what is the fear for those at grass roots who may have turned against him? the fear is he is no longer going to win elections for them. in the last year, he was expected to be able to form a right—wing majority government which is what he has had over the past decade. he also hasn't been able to form a coalition

government, and so, the members are concerned if it continues in this way, he will get weaker and ultimately the right wing will lose its grip on power and rivals, allied to more centrist and leftist parties, will get in. it is about party politics, pragmatic things like will they keep their seats? there is loyalty towards mr netanyahu in there is loyalty towards mr neta nyahu in the there is loyalty towards mr netanyahu in the party, a tradition of fierce loyalty to the party. but if it looks as if he is gradually going to lose his touch in terms of providing them seats in government, you may see this dissent grow. they are celebrating hannukah holidays, how do they feel about another election, if their general election coming up and a vote within the likud party, is there fatigue setting in?

there fatigue has very much set in, a great deal of unhappiness when the third election was announced, and a blame game on either side. a coalition government had been attempted after the second election. they knew people were fed up with the political stalemate. they wanted a government, not a caretaker government, but one that can make decisions also on social issues. a very unpopular election coming up. that is adding to the disquiet. thank you very much. turkey has announced military backing for libya's internationally recognised government. in a speech in ankara, president erdogan said he will present a bill to parliament on the deployment of turkish troops. last month, turkish and libyan officials, signed an agreement on security and military co—operation. let's hear more about what the turkish president had to say.

translation: god willing we will pass it in parliament onjanuary eight and ninth and does respond to an invitation. we have given and will give all forms of support to the tripoli government which is fighting against the general backed by arab countries and europeans. the royal navy had to skip yesterday's festive celebrations, in order to monitor a russian ship as it made its way through the english channel. the hms tyne was sent at short notice from portsmouth, to track the vessel over a 48—hour period. the commander thanked his crew — and said national security didn't stop for christmas. 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. 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 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.

there was a sensational start to england's opening test against south africa in centurion, with james anderson dismissing gfx)opener dean elgar with the first ball of the match. anderson is playing in his 150th test. sam curran and stuart broad have picked up two wickets apiece. south africa were 111 for five. they've recovered now to 161—5 after being put into bat byjoe root. you can follow this one on the cricket social via the bbc sport website and app. 15 minutes to go until the boxing day football is under way. it's a busy time of year for footballers. liverpool's fixture list as busy as any. having just got back from winning the club world cup, the premier league leaders face second—placed leicester this evening before playing wolves on sunday. win both and it could go a long way to securing a maiden premier league title, butjurgen klopp is concerned about the toll it'll take on his players. 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 itjust should not happen. it should not happen. one man who won't have to worry about the fixture pile—up is alex oxlaide chamberlain. the liverpool and england midfielder is out until the new year after injuring ankle ligaments in that club world cup final on saturday. the early kickoff is at the tottenham hotspur stadium with spurs facing brighton. 16 years since spurs last lost on boxing day but they'll be without son heung min who's serving the first of a three—game ban for his red card in the defeat to chelsea last sunday. ryan sessegnon and harry winks come into the spurs team. six three o'clock kickoffs. two have new managers, too. carlo ancelotti in the everton

dugout as they host burnley. mikel arteta taking charge of arsenal for the first time away to bournemouth. despite having been in thejob less than a week, he's been impressed with what he's seen so far. 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 past few games. and i think they play with more 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 live 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 yacht race. the skies around sydney harbour were relatively clear of smoke from the bushfires, for the start. nine—time winners and defending champions wild oats 11 are in the lead — just. ten hours gone. a70 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. you're up—to—date. we'll have more after 1pm. india s national human rights commission has asked police in the northern state of uttar pradesh to respond to allegations they violated protesters‘ civil rights during recent demonstrations against the controversial citizenship law. the legislation has been criticised as being anti—muslim. at least 2a people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes in cities across the country over the past weeks.

ari behn, the former son—in—law of norway's king, has died aged a7. ari behn, the author of several novels and plays, married princess martha louise in 2002 and the couple had three daughters together but divorced years ago. his spokesman told norway's ntb agency that ari behn had taken his own life. deborahjames, 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. oh, 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. come here. 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. 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. 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'm working out, it makes me feel like i'm wonder woman, like i'm on top of the world. physically, it does wonders to your body. i'm small, i'm petite, but it makes me feel like i'm beast mode, like, this monster comes out in me. i'm gurpreet kaur, i'm 23, from coventry, and i do bodyweight training. and i'm a sikh. it's unusual in the indian community for a sikh female to be doing the exercises. people find it very shocking. on my instagram, i started to get some negative reviews on that from people worldwide, saying that, "a woman's place is in the kitchen, you shouldn't be working out." that made me feel angry and built this fight inside of me, and i wanted to prove them wrong, show them that women can do

whatever men can do. i draw strength from the music i listen to when i work out. they're like sikh religious hymns. when i'm struggling with an exercise, it's an extra bit of motivation that gets me through the end of my work—out. it reminds me of who i am, ijust manage to finish it with them in the background. what i do makes me stand out, but as sikhs, we're meant to stand out from the crowd. that's why we wear the turban, so we can be spotted if anyone needs help. a lot of people don't realise that, in this day and age, sikh women can also wear the turban. hopefully, a few years down the line, i hope to start a sikh female motorbike group. i haven't seen any sikh women riders around in the uk, and i feel like we should get out there, let the world know who sikhs are and that we can be badass as well and riding motorbikes.

christmas wouldn't be christmas, without a bit 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 — 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. time for a look at the weather

with matt taylor. hello. after christmas day sunshine, boxing day clouds bringing outbreaks of rain and gusty winds to southern and west in areas where the heaviest rain has been. turning patchy at this afternoon pushing into southern scotland. something drier for a this afternoon pushing into southern scotland. something drierfor a time but then heavy showers pushing into wales and the south—west. temperatures up to 12 degrees. cooler further east. not a temperatures up to 12 degrees. coolerfurther east. not a bad boxing day for the far north east of scotland. this evening, some patchy rain in eastern areas. the wettest weather will be in the west and south. weather that cloud, it will be mild, 11 degrees. still cool in eastern areas. this is the big

picture for friday morning. this weather front pushing across eastern areas bringing milder air. weather front pushing across eastern areas bringing milderair. it weather front pushing across eastern areas bringing milder air. it will be with us into the weekend. a little on the chilly side in eastern counties. a wetter day for scotland to killeen in the north, heavy rain at times. some patchy rain in northern ireland. a damp start for england and wales. a few breaks in the cloud will allow sunshine, temperatures lifting up. a mild night into saturday. rain at times in northern scotland. elsewhere, a dry day on saturday. some sunshine breaking through.