this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: somalia's president says his country won't be demoralised after a bomb attack kills more than seventy people. translation: you will never succeed in discouraging the somali people and their government and you will never stop us from achieving our goals in developing and rebuilding oui’ goals in developing and rebuilding our country. democratic presidential contender joe biden says there's no legal basis to force him to testify at donald trump's impeachment trial. hong kong police break up a demonstration at a shopping mall, arresting protesters near the border with mainland china. the flooding misery that's lasted for months — parts of east africa where it's rained since october.

hello and welcome to bbc news. somalia's president has pledged his country will not be demoralised after a massive bomb killed more than seventy people — in the capital mogadishu. the explosion took place at a security checkpoint in the south—west of the city. it's being reported that at least 16 of those killed were university students. no—one has yet admitted carrying out the attack but it's assumed the al—shabaab group — a long time threat in somalia — is to blame. our africa correspondent andrew harding reports. moments after the blast, an eyewitness films the scene. smoke still billowing from a vehicle, the remains

of what is thought to have been a massive car bomb. shocked civilians move in to look for survivors. the attack was timed to catch the morning rush—hour in mogadishu. many students had been heading to classes. dozens were killed when the bomb exploded at a busy intersection in the somali capital. attacks like this are not unusual here, but they are seldom so deadly. this man said the blast caught him as he was getting out of a minibus heading to work, his leg injured. within minutes, emergency workers were at the scene. somalia, plagued by violence for decades, is still wrestling with extremism. the country's president quickly blamed the islamist militant group al—shabaab. he said their aim was to instil terror and to prevent the country from rebuilding. "they will never succeed," he said. al—shabaab, linked to al-qaeda, is still a threat in a country

plagued by drought, feuding clans, and the aftermath of a terrible civil war. but the group has lost ground in recent years, targeted by american drones and african union troops. today's devastating attack will fuel the fears that somalia's security forces are too weak and divided to protect civilians in mogadishu and that foreign troops, who are supposed to be on their way out, will be needed here for many years to come. andrew harding, bbc news. as we heard, somalia's president has blamed the islamist militants calling themselves al—shabaab for this latest attack. i asked somalia security expert abdullahi halakhe about the situation involving the group. it is really devastating. this is the third deadliest attack after 2017 were over 500 people were

killed and we are still not sure about the death but it really is an opportunity also to ask the hard questions, notjust of the authorities in somalia, of the federal government but also all the countries that have sent in the troops since 2011. just given that, the number of troops there, the effo rts the number of troops there, the efforts that have been made, just how is the group able to carry out such a deadly attack?” how is the group able to carry out such a deadly attack? i think it's one thing that we have to bear in mind, some of the territories used to control attacks and get money, the groups still capable of carrying out these kind of attacks, because of the lax level of security inside the country. just to give you a sense, when these attacks were going on, the government passed the bill,

the electoral law, that is not been debated about, just to demonstrate that, the political elite inside somalia are not really at the cynical level at which they would be able to exploit these things and al—shabaab able to exploit these things and al—sha baab is well aware able to exploit these things and al—shabaab is well aware of this and it exploits the so that troops drawdown is next year, the election is next year, with these kind of security situations, it's going to be incredibly difficult to conduct a one man, one vote inside somalia. so given that, what needs to happen now to try and prevent more attacks like this? i think one of the things that might not be very popular for a lot of people to hear, particularly at this delicate time, is we are past agreeing that al—sha baab this delicate time, is we are past agreeing that al—shabaab can be defeated by the use of force. it is a question now of the authorities not just

a question now of the authorities notjust inside somalia but also the neighbouring countries, can you, ethiopia and other countries in the east african region and including the regional authorities, the intergovernmental authorities as well as the african union in the east african community to figure out a political solution out of this because al—sha baab will a political solution out of this because al—shabaab will not be com pletely because al—shabaab will not be completely defeated using force. and you can find much more on our website — including a profile of the islamist militant group al—shabaab, suspected of being behind this latest attack. just log on to bbc.com/news. us democratic presidential hopeful joe biden has tried to clarify comments in which he appeared to rule out testifying at donald trump's impeachment trial. mr biden told reporters in iowa he had always complied with legitimate requests from congress in the past but he insisted the trial should focus on president trump's conduct. the whole point of this is, anyone

subpoenaed relating to this investigation of a president has to be able to have some knowledge to share on whether or not he committed the offences is accused of committing. i have no first—hand knowledge, there is no basis to that's my point was, it would be no basis on which to call me as a witness. joe biden. our north america correspondent chris buckler explains how the former vice president has been caught up in all this. in this impeachment trial, donald trump stands accused of abusing his power as president by trying to force ukraine into lodging investigations into political rivals including joe biden and obstructing congress in their investigation by ordering officials in the white house and other parts of the administration to ignore subpoenas, legal demands for information or for

people to come and give testimony to congress. it has been widely criticised by democrats and in a newspaper interview in the last couple of days, joe biden, who was one of the party's leading contenders to become the presidential candidate to challenge donald trump in 2020, he said that he would defy a subpoena if he was asked to testify during donald trump's upcoming impeachment trial. that has been widely criticised and has led to some allegations of hypocrisy. as a result, mr biden has 110w hypocrisy. as a result, mr biden has now released a statement on twitter trying to clarify. he says he has a lwa ys trying to clarify. he says he has always complied with legal orders and what he calls legitimate requests from congress but he said there was no legal basis to give testimony in this case. republicans have suggested that at times they might try to turn this whole impeachment trial on its head and ask questions about the bidens. you

might remember donald trump is made unsubstantiated investigations of corruption regarding joe biden and his son hunter during business dealings in ukraine, they have strongly denied that an statement, joe biden said it's important to recognise this impeachment process should focus on donald trump's conduct, and not his. riot police have clashed with protesters inside a major shopping centre near hong kong's border with mainland china. the retail outlet near the chinese city of shenzhen is popular with shoppers from the mainland. our asia pacific regional editor michael bristow reports. in a few days, it will be a new year, but in hong kong it's now an old story — violent clashes between police and protesters. plainclothes officers arrested just over a dozen activists at a shopping centre near hong kong's border with china. the protesters have been trying to disrupt trade that takes place with the mainland.

chinese shoppers travel to hong kong, buy cheaper products in bulk and then go back across the border to sell. shops had to close their doors, trapping some customers inside. pictures will do little to dispel the criticism that on occasions they use too much force. the man in the red shirt gets a full burst of pepper spray. demonstrations, violence, arrests and injuries, it's been the story of the last six months. there have been few concessions from the authorities, either in hong kong or beijing. it is difficult to imagine the pattern of this year not being repeated in the next. michael bristow, bbc news. parts of east africa are struggling to cope with the effects of more than two months heavy rain that has caused widespread flooding and landslides. it's thought that at least 265 people have died in the region

since october and tens of thousands more have been displaced. one of the worst affected areas is around the kenyan town of kisumu. kathryn armstrong has more. scenes like this are an all—too—common sight in kenya at the moment. residents searching through their flooding homes for anything they can salvage. translation: there's no place to sleep, we don't even have tents, no water to drink and i have to take care of my children. translation: all our food went with the water, school shoes and the books for the kids too. my belongings are outside here and i don't know where i will go. for more than two months, heavy rain fall has plagued east africa, due to warmer water on the western side of the indian ocean. part of a climate system known as a dipole.

scientists say it's of a magnitude not seen in years, maybe even decades. many other countries in the region have been affected, including somalia, tanzania and south sudan, where the rain has pushed a country devastated by drought to the brink of famine. with further rain forecast, there are now growing fears that water—borne diseases could make the situation much worse. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. a german mother and daughter have been killed in an avalanche in the italian alps near the austrian border. another 7—year—old girl was dug out of the snow in a critical condition, but she died on her way to hospital. two other people from the same skiing party were also injured. the incident happened around 2,500m up on the val senales glacier. the british government has apologised for inadvertently publishing online the addresses of a number of prominent people awarded new year's honours. when the list was uploaded on a government website — the addresses were mistakenly included. one expert has described the data security breach as "stunningly bad". katy austin reports.

among more than 1,000 people to receive an award in the new year's honours list this year are celebrities and sports people but also senior politicians, police and security personnel. a list containing recipients‘ addresses was published, meaning some people were able to download the information. many appeared to be personal addresses although no contact information appears for six ministry of defence staff. the document was discovered by a member of the public. you i saw the new year's honours list was coming out, wondered who was on it, went to the gov.uk website and downloaded a csv file of all of the recipients, opened it up and it had full names and addresses of all the recipients including street numbers, names and postcodes, everything, which was quite remarkable.

a cabinet office spokesperson said: it's believed the document was online forjust under an hour before being removed, but there are questions to answer about how it got there in the first place. katy austin, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: a glimpse of some of the rarest birds in the world — how careful conservation may save the spoon—billed sandpiper. 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: at least 76 people are reported to have been killed by a car bomb during morning rush hour

in somalia's capital. the president has blamed al shabab militants for the attack. democratic presidential contender joe biden has said there's no legal basis to force him to testify at donald trump's impeachment trial. nearly 2000 people have taken shelter in evacuation centres as tropical cyclone sarai batters fiji. the cyclone has brought high winds and rain, causing flooding to rivers and coastal areas on the pacific island nation. one man is believed to have drowned and another man is reported missing. james ra nsley reports. tropical cyclone sarai wreaking havocin tropical cyclone sarai wreaking havoc in mvg. this vehicle, carrying six people and a cow, washed into a raging river. it is thought they all made it to safety. winds of up to 90 mph and swells up to five metres

have parted the small island nation, calling flooding and widespread damage. authorities are urging people to remain vigilant. an 18—year—old student is believed to be the country's latest drowning victim. the man is believed to have been swept away by strong currents when he was swimming with his friends. more than 2000 people are in evacuation centre ‘s across the country and aid agencies have been out in force. volunteers have been going out into some of the worst affected areas to assess what people need and have been delivering things such as extra shelter items, or torches, there have been some power outages in both the west and central divisions and trees down on the roads and flooding in low—lying areas. as the cleanup begins in fiji, the category 2 storm is expected to reach tonga next. james ransley, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. a day of mourning has been held in kazakhstan for the 12 victims

of friday's plane crash. 47 other people remain in hospital. flags are flying at half mast and many events have been cancelled. the plane was carrying more than 90 passengers and crew when it crashed shortly after take—off. doctors in the syrian province of idlib say their hospitals are full and they lack the resources they need to cope with close to a quarter of a million people who've been displaced by the lastest fighting. syrian government forces, supported by russian warplanes, have been advancing on rebel—held positions in the south of the province. protesters marching against the french government's planned pension reform clashed with the police in paris on saturday. trade unions have spearheaded nationwide strikes since early december. the yellow vests, an anti—government movement, joined the rally of several thousand people. algeria has a new prime minister after months of policial upheaval. academic and former diplomat abdelazizjerad — on the left here — was named by algeria's recently—elected president, abdelmadjid tebboune. jerad previously served

in an administration in the ‘90s, before apparently falling out of favour. a new high security hospital has opened in the uk, replacing the notorious broadmoor psychiatric facility, which housed some of the countries most dangerous offenders. past inmates have included charles bronson and killers such as ronnie kray and the yorkshire ripper, peter sutcliffe. bbc news has been given exclusive access to the new facility, where staff and patients contributed ideas for the design. our health editor hugh pym reports. broadmoor has as much security as a prison, but it's reluctant to discuss its business because the patient there are patients. the old image of broadmoor, a bleaker security institution housing, among its patients, some notorious killers since it opened in the 19th century.

but as a mental health hospital the building latterly was unfit for purpose. i think broadmoor, building latterly was unfit for purpose. ithink broadmoor, it's fairto purpose. ithink broadmoor, it's fair to say, has been criticised about the environments for quite a long time now. have been modified as best as we could modify them, but patently they didn't have the room that patients require, they didn't have the space for things like group therapy or interviews or even boardrooms so by this is the original broad more building, based have been accommodated here for more than 150 years, the building will 110w than 150 years, the building will now be sold off in the patients have been moved to the new broadmoor, which is right next door —— broadmoor. we were given an exclusive tour of the new hospital shortly before patients moved in. there are large open plan communal areas designed for easier monitoring by staff, workshops, and a multifaith room, and enhanced cctv. one former patient involved with others on the design of the new facilities explained the likely

benefits. because of the way the wards have been created, with better lines of sight, is more spacious, more comfortable, friendly environment, it should make for happier patients and that is quite possibly going to result in people getting out quicker. whether patients have been sent to broadmoor from the courts and prison service oi’ from the courts and prison service or have been referred by the nhs because they are a danger to themselves or the public, the aim in themselves or the public, the aim in the new hospital is more effective care. i think the opportunities that oui’ care. i think the opportunities that our patients have two access treatments and therapies, perhaps at a quicker stage, we would expect to see a shorter length of stay here. a length of stay at the moment is about five and a half years. one of oui’ about five and a half years. one of our objectives would be that we bring that down further. management stressed that security and the safety of staff and the public remains a key priority. they hope something better can be offered to patients and, perhaps, there can be

a change of image for the hospital after 150 yea rs. hugh pym, bbc news. some sports news now — and the english premier league club west ham have sacked their manager, manuel pellegrini. the announcement was made shortly after the team lost 2—1 at home to leicester. it's west ham's ninth loss in 12 matches and leaves them just one point above the relegation zone. pellegrini spent 18 months in charge, having been given a three year contract. in a statement, west ham said a change was needed to get the club back on track. britain's andy murray has pulled out of next month's australian open because of a pelvic injury. the 32—year—old champion was aiming to play in his first grand slam singles event since melbourne 12 months ago, when he announced that his career might be over because of injury. cricket, and england opener rory burns' unbeaten 77 gave his country hope of chasing an unlikely 376 to beat south africa in the first test in centurion. the opener, who put on 92 for the first wicket with dom sibley, steered england

to 121 for1 at the close of day three. england still needs 255 for what would be it's highest run chase. one of the world's rarest birds, the spoon—billed sandpiper, has been successfully reared in captivity for the first time, raising hopes the species can be saved from extinction. it's taken almost a decade, from rescuing eggs in russia's far east wetlands, to breeding two of the birds, at the wildfowl and wetlands trust here in the uk. victoria gill reports. the first sign of a conservation breakthrough. these spoon—billed sandpiper chicks hatched from eggs collected in the far east of russia and brought into captivity in the uk. that rescue mission was eight yea rs uk. that rescue mission was eight years ago. now, at last, those critically endangered birds have read their own cheques, the first

captive bred spoon—billed sandpiper ‘s. captive bred spoon—billed sandpiper 's. we have to cover up our outdoor close, so everything from rubber boots that we can was on the way in, to overalls, to this very attractive handout, because we don't want to be taking anything in there, into the aviary, where there are these very precious but that might hurt them or make them sick. this is their breeding avery that they now live in. they are kinda still babies. what are they just a few in. they are kinda still babies. what are theyjust a few months?” think they are beyond their migration. we still see them as babies. your babies. laughter. this long mission, though, has been punctuated by highs and heartbreaking lows. chicks first hatched here back in 2016, but they survived only a few days. it has takenjust survived only a few days. it has taken just under ten years and what feels like a lifetime of no sleep to find the recipe or close to the recipe for reading spoon—billed

sandpiper 's recipe for reading spoon—billed sandpiper's in an recipe for reading spoon—billed sandpiper 's in an arc, in a captive situation stop there are 1500 other waterbirds that use the same place. so if we can save it and we're starting to do so then we can save a lot of other birds and plants and people who depend on the wetlands site where those animals survive. 2019 was the that scientists put a very big number on the extinction crisis. a global report published this year estimated that around 1 million species of animals and pla nts million species of animals and plants are at risk of extinction. the loss of natural habitats in our human engineered environment is an increasing threat. so conservationists hope that this will go much further than one charismatic little bird. and that protecting the spoon—billed sandpiper and the wetla nds spoon—billed sandpiper and the wetlands it depends on will prevent many other species from being lost. victoria gill, bbc news.

that is it. get on touch with me on twitter. this is bbc news. hello there. saturday sunshine was in short supply. many of us got stuck with grey, gloomy conditions stop only the favoured few got to see much anyway brightness. a hopeful though that through the day ahead a few more of of us will get to see something just a little bit brighter and it certainly is going to feel mild, especially in the north of the uk with the speed of really warm f you can see these orange colours extending in our direction from the south or the south—west. and at the same time we are going to start to tap into some of the strayer across the near continent so that should allow us to break some holes in the cloud and give us a little bit more in the way of sunshine. so this is how we start off sunday, with a lot of cloud, the cloud began up in parts of the west

to give the odd spot of drizzle, submissive, murky conditions, but through the day, of east anglia, the south—east, north wales showers northern england, northern ireland, southern and eastern scotland, these areas expected to see some bright and sunny spells developing. some rain will continue to play the far north—west of scotland. the other half of the uk seeing nine or 10 degrees in the northern half lower. with this south or south—westerly winds, blowing across the high ground, where you get some shelter to the north of our grant on the north coast of northern ireland on the murray coast of scotland, you could get to 14— 15 degrees, that is pretty exceptional for this time of year. as you go through sunday night, we will keep some areas of cloud but that cloud will tend to break upa cloud but that cloud will tend to break up a little bit more. we will see more clear spells developing. this band of rain in the north—west will try to make some progress south—east was. it's going to be a slightly cooler night than we've had of late. so as we go into monday then, this front will be sitting around across north—west trying to make some progress south—east was,

bringing some rain for scotland and northern ireland through the day. you can see the outbreaks of rain pushing slowly south—east was with a mixture of sunny spells and a few showers coming in behind. had of that rainband it's stay largely dry day four much of england and wales, some areas of cloud. i think the very amount of sunshine by this stage. and at this point the mildest weather will be in southern parts, highs of 12 or 13 degrees. enter tuesday, remember the weather front in the north—west, it will have workers way southwards, lingering across the south—west of england may the spot of drizzle, some extra cloud, most with the bright skies, but we also feel the effects of something cooler and fresher, just five degrees in glasgow. up to ten in london. and then as we go through tuesday night into the very first pa rt tuesday night into the very first part of 2020, well it is looking predominantly dry. there will be simply as well, it will be quite chilly, but there could be some fairly dense fog.

a trap their sprinkler fell over back up lots what yet was it was on i got so don't know

this is bbc news, the headlines: the somali president has condemned a massive bomb attack in the capital mogadishu, which killed around eighty people. he believes al—sha bab, a group of islamist militants, are to blame but said they wouldn't succeed in demoralising the somali people. the us democratic presidential hopeful, joe biden, has tried to clarify comments in which he appeared to rule out testifying at donald trump's impeachment trial. mr biden told reporters that he had always complied with legitimate requests from congress. riot police made arrests and fired pepper spray in a hong kong border town after about 100 masked demonstrators gathered in a shopping mall. they were protesting against shoppers from mainland china. demonstrators have been targeting malls across hong kong all week. more protests are planned leading up tojanuary 1.