this is bbc news. i'm aaron safir. our top stories: 12 people are killed as a passengerjet crashes into a building in kazakhstan. dozens of people have survived. they all started screaming, kids we re they all started screaming, kids were crying and the lights were on in the plane but there was no sound, no instructions from the crew. the un says parts of idlib province in syria are almost deserted, as nearly a quarter of a milion people flee from a government offensive. as chile's president gives in to one of the key demands of anti—government protesters, we have a special report on how months of unrest have changed what was once one of latin america's

most stable nations. ben stokes, hero of the cricket world cup, is among those named in the new year's honours list. hello and welcome to bbc news. dozens of passengers have survived a plane crash in kazakhstan in which 12 people lost their lives. the crash took place in heavy fog, although the cause isn't yet known. the khazak company, bek air, operated the plane, and it crashed shortly after taking off from kazakhstan‘s largest city, almaty. it was en route to the capital, nur—sultan, with 100 passengers and crew on board. of those, at least 60 people are being treated in hospital, as our correspondent

sarah rainsford reports. rescued from the wreckage, a baby boy is rushed to safety. he was discovered in the arms of his injured mother after their flight crash landed. moments after take—off, the plane had rammed intoa building. it broke into pieces on impact. but there were survivors. and some even walked away from this unharmed. i was sitting next to an emergency exit. just hours later, aslan nazaraliyev managed to tell me what happened. he'd posted this photo on social media, showing his seat on the flight from almaty. he thinks most in front of him were badly hurt or killed. the plane starts swaying, like a boat. very intensively. everybody starts screaming, kids are crying. and the lights were on in the plane.

but there was no sound, there was no instructions from the crew. there was only the sound of people panicking in the plane. the businessman says it took at least 15 minutes for rescuers to arrive. so he and other survivors began pulling people to safety. it was dark, at the same time. we were lighting with cellphone lights, so helping out each other. so all of the guys were trying to take out people. because there was a high risk of a fire. what were you thinking when this was happening? i was thinking about my family. yeah, that's only what i was thinking. and helping people, that a fire should not kill who survived. the plane was a fokker 100, operated by the low—cost carrier, bek air.

its entire fleet has now been grounded, while the crash is investigated. kazakhstan‘s government says the plane's tail hit the runway twice during take off. the flight had barely got off the ground, before it came crashing back down, with terrible consequences that could have been even worse. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. the united nations estimates that nearly a quarter of a million people have fled syria's idlib province in the past three weeks. the government and russian forces are intensifying their attacks there as it's the rebels' last stronghold. the un says the maaret al—numan region in southern idlib is now almost empty. the newly—displaced are taking shelter in mosques and other public buildings. david swanson is from the united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. he's been telling me more about the conditions displaced people are facing.

sadly, the humanitarian situation in northwest syria, in particular idlib, continues to deteriorate as we speak. what we have, essentially, now is a crisis within a crisis. between the first of this month and christmas day, more than 243,000 people have been displaced. the vast majority, upwards of 80% of them, women and children, fleeing northward to urban areas and to idp camps in the north of the area. what about the kind of conditions that people are fleeing, what are people telling you and your workers on the ground about that? well, the situation on the ground was already dire, as you are well aware. at the end of april, we had a major surge and displacement. from the end of april until the end of august, we had more than 400,000 people displaced at that time. so, the latest displacement figures comes on top of that.

so what we have is one crisis compounding another. now, fighting in the area has escalated in recent weeks. i mean, how does that complicate the work that your organisation and other organisations do to provide relief? well, i think what's quite challenging is to understand the context of idlib is specific. it's about twice the size of luxembourg in landmass, but about five times the size of the population. so, at the moment, it is extremely densely populated. so you have large populations moving northward, and many of the aid workers and ngos that were working in the south, they themselves have begun being displaced. theirfamilies have been displaced. so it makes it a particularly difficult and challenging work environment for the humanitarian community to respond appropriately. and, of course, david, in that part of the world, it is winter. and i wonder what kind of complications that cold weather brings, and how difficult it makes it for the people fleeing? well, a lot of people don't realise how cold it can actually get.

it can drop below zero at night time in this part of the country. so it's an incredibly difficult time. so, obviously, shelter is a major concern for us. not to mention, winterisation, which is urgently needed as we speak. firefighters in australia are bracing themselves for more extreme heat as they continue to tackle uncontrolled bushfires. temperatures above a0 degrees celsius are expected in several bushfire—affected states including new south wales, south australia and victoria in the coming days. deadly bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares in five australian states, since september. courtney bembridge reports. almost 3,000 firefighters have been working around the clock since the bushfire crisis started in september. many of them are volunteers who've

given up their christmas break to try to contain the fires and to save homes. sporadic rain over parts of eastern australia has done little to help extinguish the flames, but firefighters have taken advantage of cooler temperatures in recent days to try and contain fire fronts. but the cool change won't last long. this is the forecast for monday, temperatures building up to 38 celsius or higher across most of the country. so that will elevate fire dangers and we know the winds will start turning the west and the northwest, which is why so much work has been going on over this last week, while conditions more mild. the crucial work involves strengthening containment lines to stop the fire spreading. and controlled backburning of dry grass, which acts as a fire fuel. that's seen as a last resort, an indication of how desperate the situation is getting. in new south wales, there are more than 100 fires burning, the largest to the west of sydney.

fires are also burning across south australia. in parts of the state, temperatures rose above a0 celsius, marking the start of a new wave of heat in the continent south. over the past two weeks, hundreds of people in south australia have needed medical attention for heat related illnesses. look out for the signs and symptoms that are generally associated with dehydration, and that includes headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and ultimately, potentially, collapse. authorities in new south wales are also worried about protecting water infrastructure, which could be damaged or contaminated by ash, including the dam, which supplies the majority of sydney's water. a city home to five million residents. what that means, when it rains again, what sort of runoff will there be, what sort of siltation will there be? ash soil, all of that stuff getting into the waterways. the situation is also affecting tourism. visitors to a famous rock formation in the blue mountains took

photographs in front of the sign, after the real thing was obscured by smoke. i've always wanted to see the blue mountains, so it's such a shame that when we've come, it looks like this. a bit disappointed, we came into sydney, the first couple of days, there was a lot of smoke and smoke haze. it made us cough a little bit, especially at night. trade is way, way down, and i'm doing about a third of what i would normally do at this time of year. i think that is the same for everyone. this is usually the busiest time of year for australia's tourism industry. and despite the hot conditions and smoke in sydney, more than one million people are expected to attend the infamous fireworks display for new year's eve. the famous fireworks display for new year's eve. courtney bembridge, bbc news. chile's president sebastian pinera has set a referendum for the 26th of april, to decide whether the country's constitution should be changed. he's agreed to the vote after more than two months of anti—government protests. they've taken their toll on the economy and its reputation

as one of latin america's most stable nations. arson, violence and reports of police brutality have dominated the national conversation. the bbc‘s cecilia barria has this report and a warning, it does contain distressing images. weeks of violence have scarred santiago. the main square is called ground zero, the metro system is burnt and the human cost of this crisis is clear. translation: we cannot go out on the street so i come home crying. i live a block away from the main square and i see the destruction. it is dark, there are no lights, it is terrible. graffiti is used to express anger. people feel the police are targeting them but many, like this young man, are scared to show their face and

speak out. translation: they grab me and squeeze my testicles. i was punched in the face and kicked. they meet me with, i don't know if it was gun and all. i was bitten by many members of the police. -- handle. this is the home of damien, he's one more than 100 protesters who have been blinded by security forces. he is telling me hejoined been blinded by security forces. he is telling me he joined the been blinded by security forces. he is telling me hejoined the brothers a week ago. he was targeted by security forces and hit by a teargas canister. by now he cannot work and he has lost his eye. translation: looked away and covered our eyes so we would not get shot. then i stood up we would not get shot. then i stood up and looked was a policeman and i felt it hit me. he shot right at my

eye. they no longer shoot to warn you but to hurt you. the financial costis you but to hurt you. the financial cost is also taking a toll. the u nrest cost is also taking a toll. the unrest has already cost businesses more than1.5 unrest has already cost businesses more than 1.5 billion dollars. many have closed and those who have escaped the looting, are struggling. carlos is a third generation of his family to run this shop. it has been open since 1935 and has survived ha rd open since 1935 and has survived hard times before but he thinks it may be hard to continue. translation: economically, things are terrible. it is just like a war. at this point, i have a lot of stuff working for me but i think it will be too complicated for me to keep them. while the authorities try to return the country back to normal, it is clear chile has changed and

there may be no turning back. cecilia barria, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: surviving an avalanche — a skier is found alive after being buried in the snow for five hours. we have the story. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're going to use money we picked up in belgium today. and then we'll be in france and again it will be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police

on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good. reporter: it was just good? no, fantastic. that's better. big ben bongs this is bbc news, the latest headlines: a passenger plane has crashed in kazakhstan, killing 12 people. most of the 100 people on board survived. the un says parts of idlib province in syria are almost deserted, where nearly a quarter of a million people have fled from a government offensive. in india, protests continue over the country's new citizenship

law, which grants amnesty to illegal migrants from three countries, but only non—muslim ones. since it was passed, more than 20 people have died in clashes. most of them were from the northern state of uttar pradesh where the police have been accused of using excessive force against protesters. officials deny the allegations. the bbc‘s india correspondent yogita limaye reports from uttar pradesh. in kanpur, a policeman appears to fire a gun at protesters who were throwing stones. in muzaffarnagar, those demonstrating are beaten. even an older man. in meerut, police break cctv cameras mounted on shops in a muslim locality. nearly a week since clashes broke out in the state of uttar pradesh over india's new citizenship law, videos have been emerging that raise serious questions about police behaviour against muslim protesters. shouting. 19 have died in the state — all civilians. most had bullet injuries,

like mohammed mohsin. his mother says he wasn't part of the protests, but had gone out to buy fodder when he was shot in the chest. the 28—year—old was the father of this baby. we wantjustice, the police killed my son, she told me. who will care for his children now? police say they didn't open fire. they claim that some among the protesters had guns. but that's not all security forces are being accused of. i went to one of the homes allegedly vandalised by the police in the dead of the night. in room after room, hardly anything left unbroken. there was jewellery in this box and cash in the tin — it was all stolen, i'm told.

"there were many policemen and some people in plain clothes. "they told us to go from here and that our house would soon become theirs," she says. "so what if i am a muslim?" "don't i have a right to live in india?" in every locality, we were told of homes that had been ransacked. many here see the police action — and the law — as part of the ruling party's hindu nationalist agenda. the government insist that indian muslims won't be affected by the new citizenship rules and it has blamed protesters for the violence. translation: there were 50,000 people on the streets, throwing stones, shooting, setting things on fire.

the police had to respond. and to catch miscreants, they had to go inside people's homes. things break sometimes in a scuffle. what they have witnessed over the past two weeks, has left many from the muslim community here worried about what kind of future they are facing in india. the government is trying to allay fears about the new citizenship law, but even before that is implemented, the handling of the protests has already had a tangible impact on the ground. religious polarisation has deepened. many areas of the state are now a tinderbox of fear and anger. a man has survived for five hours after being buried by an avalance in the

austrian mountains, something rescue teams say only happens once every 20 years. it happened at a ski resort in the state of styria near grobming. shaun hassett has more. the rescue was seen in this photo are calling it a christmas miracle. they were able to say the man who spent five hours buried beneath a metre of snow. police were contacted in the early evening on christmas day when 26—year—old did not from skiing. it took two hours to find him. translation: we send small groups to search all areas. we then found the avalanche, and then we started to search in detail and we quickly hit him. they were able to find him by picking up electromagnetic signals from an emergency transceiver worn on his body. but that was no guarantee he would still be alive. it seems he had quite a large hole for breathing, and this was his luck. otherwise he would not have been

able to survive. rescue teams in the area say surviving for five hours underan area say surviving for five hours under an avalanche only happens once every 20 years. the 26—year—old was taken to hospital with hypothermia, but had no injuries and has now been discharged. he is not the only person to survive another lunch this week. on thursday rescue teams freed several people from the snow at a swiss ski resort. two of them suffered minor injuries. the england cricket player ben stokes, who won the bbc sports personality of the year last week, is among those recognised in this year's new year's honours list, which was published tonight. he appears alongside a range of names from the arts, sciences and charity, including the singer and actress olivia newton—john, as lizo mzimba reports. # you're the one i want!# olivia newton—john says she's honoured and grateful to be made a dame for services to charity, cancer research and entertainment. a damehood too for floella benjamin, for her lifelong work with children's charities.

absolutely amazing to be recognised this way, for doing charity work. i realised that a childhood lasts a lifetime, and i had to give back to children. because when i did play school, 43 years ago, i realised children didn't have a voice. there are knighthoods for two british film—makers, steve mcqueen, who directed the oscar—winning 12 years a slave, and sam mendes, who directed bond films skyfall and specter. in the world of sport, eoin morgan, who captained england to victory in the cricket world cup, becomes a cbe, ben stokes an obe, jos buttler and joe root become mbes. an mbe for england starjill scott, for services to women's football. just feels really surreal. obviously it's been a greatjourney for women's football, from the time that i started playing to now. to see the recognition that women's football is now getting, it's very pleasing. # love is like a butterfly...#

in the world of entertainment, butterflies star wendy craig becomes a cbe. and singer billy ocean, an mbe. # when the going gets tough, the tough get going...# of course, the vast majority of those who will come here to buckingham palace or the other royal residences to receive their honours aren't those in the public eye, they're individuals who have done something special for their community or for their country. thank you, darling. people like d—day veteran harry billinge, who becomes an mbe in recognition of his charity fundraising work. and yewande akinola, an engineer who works to encourage girls to enter the world of engineering. it's a big deal to me. it really feels great to be recognised for, i guess, my passion in encouraging young girls to see engineering as a career option.

just a few of many honoured for trying to change the lives of those around them. lizo mzimba, bbc news. and you can read plenty more about that on the bbc news website. a michigan zoo has been celebrating a special gift that arrived just in time for christmas — the birth of a rare baby black rhino. the new arrival is particularly precious because the species is critically endangered due to poaching fuelled by the rising demand for rhino horn. kathryn armstrong has more. only a day old, and already finding his feet. the like baby rhino a welcome festive addition to this are in michigan. the calf, still yet to be named, is the first four new mum, dopsy. father phineas was moved from texasin dopsy. father phineas was moved from texas in 2017 in order to breed with her. the christmas eve birth was

broadcast live on the zoo's facebook page. black rhinos are an endangered species. only around 5000 of them are species. only around 5000 of them a re left species. only around 5000 of them are left today. the zoo says that fewer than two black rhino calves are born into human care every year as part of a species survival plan. british soldiers recently had to move a group of like rhinos from south africa to malawi to protect them against poaching. while the new mother and her baby are currently bonding behind the scenes, they will likely make their first public appearance ina likely make their first public appearance in a few months. now, take a look at this. this is xingyi city, in southwest china's guizhou province. for the last few weeks, the area has been swathed in pink blossoms, providing a spectacular array for locals and tourists alike — the result of the blooming of 5,000 winter cherry blossom trees. every winter, the striking colours attract a large number of locals and tourists eager to appreciate the stunning transformation of the landscape.

you can find me on twitter. i'm @aaronsafir. saturday morning is getting off to a mild but rather cloudy and murky start in many parts of the uk. it is going to stay mild throughout the weekend. in fact by sunday some spots could get up to 1a or 15 degrees. it should slowly turn a little brighter as well. but they will always be some rain at times towards the north—west. this is the earlier satellite picture. what we have had as a moist south—westerly flow across the british isles, bringing a lot of cloud, some list, american drizzle, and be thicker cloud up to the north—west associated with this waving frontal system here which will continue to feed rain into parts of northern ireland and scotland through the day ahead. this is a saturday's weather

shapes up. across england and wales, lots of cloud, mist and murkiness to start. the odd spot of drizzle but basically a dry day. i am hopeful that cloud will break up to some extent, especially across north wales, and of north—east england. rain will feed into parts of northern ireland, some very heavy rain across western scotland, but for the north—east of scotland, with some shelterfrom for the north—east of scotland, with some shelter from the mountains, for the north—east of scotland, with some shelterfrom the mountains, he has a fighting chance of seeing some brightness. on the murray coast we could see temperatures up to 13 degrees. generally speaking, ten, 11 or 12. that is above where we should be at this time of year. saturday night, it stays wet for a time across the west and north of scotland. further south, northern ireland, england and wales, predominantly cloudy, and increasing chance of seeing some breaks in that cloud by the end of the night. it is going to be another mile might as well, temperatures typically between seven and 10 degrees. some very mild air is heading away on sunday. this plume of orange on the charges heading towards the north—west of the country and that is where we

will see the highest temperatures. at the same time, hopefully we will start to tap into this drier air to the south which will allow us to break the cloud up a bit and give us a bit more brightness. sunday, still lots of cloud around, you can see some holes appearing in that cloud. the chance of some spells of sunshine across england and northern wales. a bit of rain to the far north—west, where it also stays busy. look at the temperatures. the north coast of northern ireland, the north—east coast of scotland, 1a or 15. it will turn a little bit cooler as we head into the start of the next week and indeed the final couple of days of 2019, especially in northern areas. those temperatures back down into single digits, closer to where they should be this time of year. further south, after a mild monday, it will turn bit cooler as we go into tuesday. tuesday night, if you are celebrating on new year's eve, it should stay mostly dry. it will be fairly chilly and there could be some patchy fog.

this is bbc news, the headlines" this is bbc news, the headlines: dozens of passengers have survived a plane crash in kazakhstan in which 12 people lost their lives. the crash took place in heavy fog, although the cause isn't yet known. the khazak company, bek air, operated the plane, and it crashed shortly after taking off from kazakhstan's largest city, almaty. the united nations says nearly a quarter of a million people have been forced from their homes this month because of fierce fighting in idlib province in syria. the town of marat al—numan is reported to be all but deserted and the main highway heading north has been packed with vehicles. australia is bracing itself for another heatwave that could escalate conditions for bushfires across the country. temperatures of over a0 degrees celsius are expected in several states. there are more than 100 fires burning, with the largest to the west of sydney.