in the west midlands. over thirteen thousand migrants have been removed from the uk since labour took power — but the government admits the rate of illegal channel crossings is still too high. and santas on the run! the mexican capital comes alive as hundreds of father christmases speed through the city! the uk has announced a fifty million pound humanitarian aid package to help the most vulnerable syrians, including refugees across the region. foreign secretary, david lammy, announced the new emergency aid following talks injordan yeserday, alongside international leaders from the european union, the middle east, and the us, with the aim to build long—term stability across

the middle east. hts remains a prescribed organisation but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact as you would expect. we want to see a representative government and an inclusive government. we want to see chemical weapons stockpile secured and not used and we want to ensure that there is not continuing violence and for all of those reasons, using all of the channels that we have available that are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence led channels, we seek to deal with hts were we have to. hts where we have to. one of those welcoming the aid announcement is asif hussain, whose charity skt welfare has been operating in syria since 2012. go some way to alleviating the

suffering of the syrians and since 2011, we have a number of different ways we help them through food distribution, emergency health care. we have our own hospital underground and the province that is been there saving life since 2014. we have built six villages, we have just completed, 3000 we have built six villages, we havejust completed, 3000 homes forfamilies havejust completed, 3000 homes for families that have been living in tents and some of the farms will come to the welfare of the united nations as we carry out work on behalf of the different united nations agencies and that could be the un agency orfor example, even the world health organization and carrying out work on behalf of the governmental organisations within syria. our team is quitejubilant organisations within syria. our team is quite jubilant because some of them have actually been in prison themselves and were released and had family members there were just recently released as well and our hospital has treated no fewer than ten people that were

released from various prisons and damascus and were travelling to idlib province and treating them, helping them in any way they can and that includes psychosocial support, psychological support and mental health is a crucial thing for those who have been released and the team is as happy as you can expect them to be because they have severed themselves under the regime and also now, they're in a position where they can help their fellow syrians and we a move for by implementing bigger and better plans and hopefully rebuild a much brighter syria and a much brighterfuture for syria. we have had some experience where hts have controlled and it's important to understand that they have had at least five to seven years of serving the people in our experiences been that it is

the military wing but also the administrative wing and they're trying to help the people on the ground and i be lying if i say we haven't had issues, we have had some issues with hts but that's just down to administration. uk charity that were governed by laws and regulations and so, sometimes it can be extremely difficult to work within these areas because we are accountable to the uk public in the uk authorities. the un envoy for syria has said he hopes for a swift end to sanctions imposed on the group that led the offensive against the former president, bashar al—assad. on his first visit to damascus since assad left a week ago, geir pedersen said that reviving law and order — and security — are of paramount importance. he also said it was critical the country receives increased immedidate humanitarian assistance inside syria — and that he supported the lifting of sanctions against the islamist rebels

who now govern the country. the sanctions are not un sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the european union. do you support lifting them? yes, i think we need an orderly process and i am very much looking forward to continuing my discussions with the syrian caretaker government and the authorities here. it comes as the united states has made "direct contact" with the rebel group hts which now controls the country. the us currently still designates the rebel group as a terrorist organisation. america's top diplomat — secretary of state — antony blinken has been speaking injordan after a summit on syria's future with representatives from several arab countries, turkey and europe. he said it was important for the us to communicate with the islamist group. america and our partners have an important stake

in helping the syrian people chart this new path. we know what happens inside of syria can have terrible consequences well beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism. we know we cannot underestimate the challenges of this moment. meanwhile, syria's de—facto leader, ahmed al—sharaa, has condemned israel for its continued airstrikes on his country. our middle east correspondent, lina sinjab, in damascus has more on those comments. this is the first time that ahmed al—shara, known as al—jolani, the leader of the hayat tahrir al—sham, comes out to comment on israeli air strikes. it's been a week since the toppling of the president, bashar al—assad, but also a week of israeli air strikes on syria, nearly 400 throughout the week and 60 this night. so mr al—shara is under

pressure that he has to make comments, that he has to address this issue. he has been under criticism from, you know, syrians here. so he made his statement saying that israel is using false pretexts in its attacks on syria, but at the same time made sure that he doesn't want to engage in any conflict — he's focused on rebuilding syria, on rebuilding the economy. and this is what we are seeing today. it is the first week, the first day of the week after the toppling of assad. universities are open. i'm actually now in damascus, university students are pouring in to the university, going to classes. the children went to school this morning as well. public institutions are open, so everything is going back into action. and it seems that, you know, this is the focus of this interim government. in a meeting yesterday,

mr al—shara told people, told journalists that he wants to rebuild the country, that he may also nominate himself as a president for syria in case the people wanted him. and it seems that this is the time where also there is international diplomatic efforts to support i the transition to power, i provided that this transition will be inclusive and that the government is going to be representative of all syrian society, protects minorities�* rights, and protects women's rights. so while this new leadership is getting a lot of support from around the world, but also is being watched of its actions and how they are going to move ahead and not turn this country into an islamist state government. syria is under sanctions that really crippled the economy, crippled the livelihood of people, so many activists are now calling for the us and for the world to lift these sanctions. and having hts in power, and it is a designated also on the terrorist list, may hinder support or, you know, financial support coming into the country. so it seems that, you know, many countries are reconsidering how to deal with hayat tahrir al—sham and also watching how mr al—sharaa and the interim government are going to work. it's three months of

transitional government that after that should be an inclusive government that includes all denominations of the syrian society. israel says it will close down its embassy in dublin in light of "the extreme anti—israel policies of the irish government". in a statement, foreign minister gideon saar cited ireland's decision to recognise a palestinian state earlier this year and dublin's announcement of support for south africa's legal action accusing israel of genocide over its assault on gaza. irish prime minister simon harris has reacted calling israel's decision "deeply regrettable" and saying that he "utterly rejected" the assertion that ireland is anti—israel. "ireland is pro—peace, pro—human rights and pro—international law", he has tweeted.

the first aid flight has arrived in the french indian ocean territory of mayotte, which has been devastated by cyclone chido. local authorities say several hundred people have died. residents have spoken of apocalyptic scenes there. the mayor of the capital, mamoudzou, said nothing had been spared. houses have been destroyed, along with schools and the hospital. french emergency personnel are now on mayotte to assist. (00v) french emergency personnel are now on mayotte to assist. chido has now reached northern mozambique after picking up strength crossing the mozambique channel. earlier, i spoke to richard kagoe, our africa regional editor. he gave us an update on the current situation. so much devastation across the island and one of the major challenges is assessing the extent of the damage that was caused by the cyclone chido and especially for those involved in

the emergency response and finding a way of accessing and what's devastated by the cyclone yesterday. roads of been cut off and bridges have been washed away there's just so much devastation all over the island. the faster aircraft are carrying aid across this afternoon with three tonnes of medical supplies blood for transfusion and also medical staff expecting two other aircrafts to join also in the course and tomorrow morning, there been indications and tomorrow morning, there haven been indications there have been indications about 800 personnel will also join the 110 have been deployed already, the interior minister will be travelling tomorrow just to assess and come to terms with the extent of the impact of the cyclone. yes, it made landfall in northern mozambique and has since, made itsjourney inland

into another province. we are seeing so far as there is been significant damage, has been significant damage, especially to infrastructure in those two provinces. houses have been damaged, hospitals and also schools and this is what we're hearing now from humanitarian agencies in the effects are now beginning to be felt in the south were people have nowjust began reinforcing their roofs and from the red cross there, the whole region is currently on high alert because they have suffered previously from other cyclones. two people have been arrested after what police called �*a hazardous drone operation�* near boston's logan airport airspace. the arrests come after a spate of drone sightings in recent weeks across six states in the north eastern united states. let's speak to north america correspondent rowan bridge — he's

following developments from washington. bring us up to speed on these latest arrests? two men arrested in this follows an operation by boston harbour police run half past four yesterday afternoon and boston police say they were alerted to an object flying dangerously close to boston's local international airport and they use detection devices to work out and it's coming from one of the islands off the coast of boston and boston harbour police went up to long island which is one of those islands. and then chasing down two of those who they managed to capture and arrest 42—year—old robert duffy and 32—year—old jeremy full kick and they are now in custody and they also managed to get a hold of the backpack with a drone that one of the men was carrying and they have not been charged with trespassing on land they did not have permission to be on and they

may face further charges because this is the very start of the investigation but clearly flame the drone close to the airport could be extremely serious and was causing damage to helicopters or planes directly and indeed causing them to divert which releases the risk of their own. given we have been hearing drone activity above new jersey. drone activity above new jerse . �* , , ., drone activity above new jerse. h, ., ., jersey. there's been a spate of re orts jersey. there's been a spate of reports that — jersey. there's been a spate of reports that have _ jersey. there's been a spate of reports that have come - jersey. there's been a spate of reports that have come in - jersey. there's been a spate of| reports that have come in since mid—november and a lot of them, we covered a lot of them in the united states but particularly around newjersey and some of them have been extremely large and were talking about two metres across and not the sort of hobbyist drones that are the sort of things the police seem to have captured in boston. there's been a level of alert and alarm around this which is been rising over weeks is more of these sightings of come in and the fbi have said the event more than three dozen tips about these and so much so in

favour of the white house came out on thursday to say as far as they're concerned, there is no known threat to the public or to national security but thatis or to national security but that is not really done to alleviate concerns amongst politicians and the development security secretary has been out this morning singing extra fragile resources and technology and personnel were going to be sent to newjersey to try to track down what is been behind some of these drones. here, in the uk, the home secretary, yvette cooper, has refused to set out a timetable to reduce the number of small boats crossing the channel, despite admitting the figures are "far too high". it comes as the home office said it was on track to return the highest number of failed asylum seekers in five years, with more than 13,000 people sent to their home countries since the election injuly. damian grammaticas reports.

immigration enforcement, raids seeking to root out those in the uk without the right permissions. this is one arm of the government's strategy. it says deportations have gone up. and in italy this weekend, the other arm of the strategy. the home secretary shared the stage with ministers from the front—line mediterranean states, france, italy and malta. how are you? this is about building partnerships with countries either where migrant routes start or which they pass through. yvette cooper meeting her italian counterpart said it's about recognising migration is complex and can't be solved by empty slogans. there is a history of home secretaries and prime ministers making grand promises but never actually having a proper plan. the approach we are taking to this is really step—by—step. we are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, the much stronger law enforcement, the operations with germany to go after the smugglers,

supply chains, the operations with italy to go after the illicit finance. earlier in the week in london, it was ministers from northern europe she was meeting. germany has agreed to change its laws so it can try to stop the supply of small boats used to cross the channel. arrivals this way have totalled over 34,000 this year. last year it was 29,000. two years ago, a record 45,000. while the number returned is 13,500 since the election. the conservatives say they would seek to reinstate their rwanda scheme, which labour scrapped. we would aim to resurrect a deterrence—style scheme. now, whether the rwanda scheme is still available in five years' time, we will have to see. but certainly a deterrent scheme like that, where if somebody crosses the channel, dangerously, illegally, and unnecessarily, unnecessarily because france is safe, they will rapidly be removed somewhere else. and if you do that, it's common

sense that the people who are thinking of crossing simply won't do so. the government says with rwanda not a single enforced return happened despite hundreds of millions sent. the idea was a gimmick that did nothing to deter. as yvette cooper was in italy, another rescue and more lives lost in the mediterranean, all part of the chain the government is trying to break. damian grammaticas, bbc news. police are on the hunt for the driver of a stolen porsche after a toddler was killed in an apparent hit and run. the two—year—old died from his injuries and four other adults were hurt in the incident in smethwick in the west midlands. police say the driver of the sports car, which had been stolen earlier in december, fled the scene. in london — a woman has died in a triple shooting that has left a man fighting for his life in hospital. police were called to harlesden, in north—west london, just after 9 o'clock last night, where a woman, believed to be in her 405, died at the scene. two men, both in her 30s were also injured.

police have described the incident as "truly shocking" and say a team of experienced detectives are working to identify who is responsible. our reporter anisa kadri gave us more details no arrests have been made by the murder investigation has been launched and people in this area, it is in northwest london and they are in real shock. we've seen residents coming out of their homes, on their doorsteps, just looking overjust behind me at the police activity going on here. they say that they haven't seen anything like this. one person said that they heard the shots last night, that they thought that it was the sound of fireworks. and people here, theyjust can't believe that a woman is dead, that she has died in this way. now, the few details we know about the woman are that she's in her 405. it's believed she died at the scene, and that two other people were injured in this shooting. they are two men. they're in their 30s. one of them is said to be in a critical condition. the other one's injuries are said to not be life threatening.

but yes, a triple shooting that's caused massive, massive shock in this area and police activities going on here all day, to work out the circumstances of what happened. you know, detectives say they're working at pace to discover who's responsible, and they've appealed for information, wanting the public�*s help to find out who's responsible for last night's shootings. seven people have been taken to hospital in fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning. its believed all those affected were guests at a resort where they drank cocktails in the bar on saturday night and fell ill shortly afterwards. it comes just a few weeks after the death of six tourists in laos because of suspected methanol poisoning. our reporter — who's from fiji — vandhna bhan has the details. the alcohol take incident happened this happened at this 5—star

resort. very different to the incident we saw in laos where that happened at a different hostel. fiji, unlike many parts of southeast now, that's unlike the incident you mentioned in laos, where that happened at a backpackers hostel. fiji, unlike parts of southeast asia, isn't known to be a backpackers�* haven because it is expensive. it�*s predominantly tailored towards your honeymooners and your family holidays. so a different demographic there. now, the ministry of health of fiji have said that those hospitalised are aged between 18 and 56. four of them are australian, one american and two foreigners who live in fiji. so expatriates. so again, a different demographic because in laos we saw it was predominantly teenagers and young adults who were affected, some who sadly died because of bootleg alcohol. now it�*s key to note that in fiji, bootleg alcohol or fake alcohol is not necessarily a large issue like it is in parts of southeast asia. fiji are very careful and protective about their tourism image because it is their largest industry. it makes up for about 40% of their gdp. so i can imagine there are lots

of questions here in regards to how this happened at a luxury resort. so the police are taking this very seriously. it is, of course, in the early stages of this investigation. they have been at the resort interviewing people, seeing if others may have also suffered similar symptoms by drinking this drink, which we don�*t know exactly what that drink was at the bar that they had. the ministry of health is advising the public to just be cautious over the festive period for what they�*re consuming, and australia has also released a warning to travellers to fiji just to be wary of spiked drinks. and this is a busy period for travellers in the southern hemisphere to fiji as it is summer, and we are aware that two australian families are receiving consular support. but again, this is an unusual and out of the ordinary situation for fiji, so i can imagine authorities will want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. two russian oil tankers have sunk in bad weather in the kerch strait that separates russia from occupied crimea. footage shows one tanker split in half. an operation is underway

to rescue the crews and assess the extent of the oil spill. russia has been using a fleet of so—called �*ghost�* tankers to evade western sanctions. many of these are old and poorly maintained. the five remaining members of the so called "bali nine" drug ring have been freed and flown back to australia — after almost 20 years in an indonesian prison. the five australians were jailed for their roles in a heroin smuggling plot in bali in 2005. after years of advocay from the australian government, the group were flown back to australia today, after a deal struck between the two governments. the case made news worldwide when the gang�*s two ringleaders were executed by firing squad in 2015. prime minister anthony alba—nee—see revealed the remaining men have returned as free citizens and will not have to serve out their life sentences in australian prisons.

brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva, has been released from hospital after two emergency surgeries to fix a bleed on his brain. the seventy—nine—year old spoke publicly at a hospital press conference in sao paulo — saying he was "healed" and "just needed to take care of himself". he stressed that he was keen to get back to work as soon as possible with his medical team�*s blessing. one of several people being taken to court by the parking company but following publicity about the case and an mp describing this as a five—minute ripoff charge, the claims have now been dropped. before we go — there�*s just time to bring you these pictures we�*ve had in from mexico city. it�*s an annual event — where hundreds of competitors —

their children even pets dress up as santa claus and run through the capital. they run along three routes — of which the longest is ten kilometers. the shortest route is one kilometre which organisers says is reserved for athletes with dogs and strollers. the event is sold out online for runners and their dogs — and it might be hot — but you can�*t take part without wearing the mandatory santa suit during the run. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. much of the country today had a fine and largely dry one, and it was milder than it was yesterday, despite the lack of sunshine. now this mild theme is here to stay, certainly for the first half of this upcoming week, but it will be dominated by low pressure, so it will be wet and windy at times, and then all areas will be turning colder from thursday onwards, with an increasing chance of wintry showers on hills in the north. at the moment though,

we�*re in this wedge of milder air, rather cloudy skies because of a lot of moisture there. and on this boundary between the mild and colder air across northern scotland, we�*ve got a weather front which is going to bring persistent rain, which will drive into the western highlands, rainfall totals really mounting up even as we head into monday as well. elsewhere, apart from some drizzle across western hills, it will be mostly dry. variable cloud and a mild night to come, so it starts mild on monday for all areas. we�*ve got that rain still piling into the north and west of scotland, particularly the north—west highlands. elsewhere, variable clouds, some sunshine, a bit of drizzle i think, across western hills, but mild again with temperatures into 10 to 13 celsius. but we�*ve got some concerns of the amount of rain just falling across the north—west

highlands by the end of monday into early tuesday. some of the worst affected areas could be up to 150mm, so that could cause some localised flooding and some travel disruption. but as we move into tuesday, that weather front eventually starts to shift northwards as we start to pick up a southerly wind thanks to a renewed area of low pressure. and again it will be a mild start to tuesday. here it is, a new area of low pressure, more isobars on the charts. this one�*s a bit more powerful than we�*ve had over the weekend, so it looks like it�*ll be windier with gales around irish sea coast. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and into western scotland again, areas that really don�*t need any more rain. but i think the midlands eastwards are large parts of eastern england should stay dry all day on tuesday, but rather cloudy with limited sunshine. mild double figure values for most wet, windy weather with gales spreads across the country during tuesday night. another area of low pressure will arrive later on wednesday, but we�*re in between the weather systems for wednesday, so we should see quite a bit of dry weather across the northern half of the country with some sunshine. a few showers across western scotland and then we�*ll start to see wet and windy weather

pushing up from the south across england, wales into northern ireland. given some sunshine we could be up to 15 degrees across eastern england. it does turn colder for the end of the week. wintry showers across northern hills. a bit of sunshine in the south.

this is bbc news, the headlines... £50 million for syria — britain�*s foreign secretary pledges money to help vulnerable people and refugees, and confirms the uk is in contact with the country�*s rebel leaders. hts remains a prescribed organisation but we can have hts remains a proscribed organisation but we can have diplomatic contact and we do have diplomatic contact,

as you would expect. a two—year—old boy has died and four adults have been injured in a hit—and—run crash involving a stolen car in the west midlands. over 13,000 migrants have been removed from the uk since labour took power — but the government admits the rate of illegal channel crossings is still too high. now on bbc news, it�*s sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i�*m olly foster. the city slump continues, as united come from behind in the manchester derby. it went the distance at hampden park, celtic winning the league cup final on penalties against their old firm rivals. and beaten again in the european champions cup,

the premiership leaders bath go down by a single point in italy