this is d.w. news live from berlin syrian forces pound province residents flee for their lives government troops backed by tanks are mounting the ground assault on the last pockets of resistance hundreds of thousands of people in rebel held areas have taken to the road with nowhere to go but makeshift camps where conditions are squalid also coming up remembering the 2004 indian ocean tsunami which killed more than 200000 people 15 years on we need one woman who lost almost her entire

family. and a ring of fire blazes across the middle east and asian skies will have everything you need to know about the last solar eclipse of the decade and whether you can see it where you are. i'm mary in evanston it's good to have you with us. we begin in syria where according to a relieved group more than 200000 people have fled a government assault on its lid province most of them have been heading towards the turkish border syrian regime forces backed by tanks are continuing their ground advance against rebel held areas in southern and eastern it live about 250 people have been killed in the latest flare up of violence. syrian tanks far. on targets

as the ground assaulted it with province advances. government forces captured village after village their immediate opening a major highway that's been close to 7 years the army ultimately wants to recapture even a province from the al qaeda the militias which control it. as the troops push forward civilians try to flee the line of fire tens of thousands are on the run. that are we are leaving because of the shelling we're worried about our children and that the situation will get worse why else would we leave why would anyone leave his house. a regiment table. with the turkish border closed the only option for shelter is makeshift camps like these it's cold and damp the conditions are desperate. because of the shelling. you can hardly survive here sort of mud. people are suffering because of the work

record. the situation in the camps is likely to deteriorate tens of thousands of syrians are already stuck in places like these. and every day thousands more take to the roads to get out of the war zone. earlier we spoke to a human rights activist riad najem of which is the leading n.g.o.s syria focused on child protection he described the situation facing people on the ground the situation is that it is catastrophic brutal continue illiterate targeting civilian infrastructure and homes over 200000 syrians have been forcibly like this since the start of the assault and according to unicef 60000 children have been. placed since

december the 11th marriage in norman now is a ghost town 103135 schools in the city have been closed completely. 48500 children have been denied their right to education as 348 schools in the region have been suspended. the host communities for the displaced people are struggling to keep up with the hard lights as many of them are already have been displaced before. nowhere is safe in. the moment as even camps are being targeted. even though there are no armed groups or military installations in the area. communities across asia are marking the 15th anniversary of the indian ocean tsunami on the morning of december 26th 2004

a 9 point one magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit coastlines across the region the disaster killed more than 200000 people in thailand people place flowers at a memorial to the tsunami in the village of bonn on cam the village was the worst hit place in thailand and at least 1400 people died there. 3 lanka's eastern coast was hit especially hard more than 10000 people died in the southern part our region. can die a slow but i looked out over the indian ocean nearly every day. and deter life 15 years ago when she lost almost her entire family to the massive tsunami. only a little bit good if not good all 9 of us lived near the beach so many tonight when i think about the children i get very sad i only managed to save one little go but

i never saw the others again when i got back my house was destroyed. but i. can die and now shares her home with the one granddaughter she rescued and her small child the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. has helped many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected areas southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of lucidity happens and they have got the thing that's trained to come out of these things and that big ben's on that had doubts at them. control and competence to begin with the problems the children's anxiety and stress that much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatry's formed

a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. with the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. let's get a check now to some of the other stories making news around the world. at least 11 soldiers have been killed in another terrorist attack in birkenau faso earlier the country's president called for 2 days of mourning after 35 civilians almost all of them women were killed by jihad is near the town of our been on tuesday. more than 200 homes have been destroyed after forest fires went through the port city of wild to you so in chile several districts have been evacuated and more than 3000 people

are without electricity authorities say they believe the fires were started intentionally a russian opposition politician though they say in a volley is says one of his key staff has been forcibly conscripted into the military the military says it was launch of it enough seen here with no ball in the earlier this year is being made to perform his obligatory service at an arctic base involving said the move amounted to quote kidnapping. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had to interrupt an election rally after a warning of an incoming rocket from gaza the rally was taking place in the southern town of ashkelon just a few kilometers from the gaza strip israel says its air defenses successfully intercepted the rocket. well our next story will be of special interest to our viewers in the middle east and asia where a rare solar eclipse is visible today what's known as an annular eclipse has

already dark of skies over the united arab emirates and other parts of the arabian peninsula its path of visibility is now moving slowly eastwards across the indian ocean before it's set to and over the pacific about 3 hours from now for. all right to tell us a bit more about this natural phenomenon we're joined by anonymous from the astronomical society of singapore because i can hear it's a bit noisy where you are right we're hearing the eclipse in fact has already reached its maximum phase and singapore where you are. didn't generate a lot of interest it seems like quite a lot of people came out to see it. absolutely so we have said that you spoke terrible standards stops. fashion with and singapore and we've had

a few 1000 people come to witness any large solar eclipse there's been a lot of interest as you can see the whole place now that. you're in the case you had a lot more. around me we had a few 100 people actually know how to fix it use. so you can. all right so we've said that it's called an annular eclipse now what exactly does that mean like how is that different from your ordinary solar eclipse. ok so. you are 3 different types of solar eclipses one of the partial ones of. this one what did you experience today's annular so that you learned so much that's very similar. except for the fact that the size of the moons appears to be slightly smaller than the sun because the morning slightly farther away from the earth.

while it is covering the sun during the total solar eclipse the size of the moon and the sun are almost the same. as the sun starts historically. because of this. cuts that we experience today. the moon being slightly smaller than the sun probably is about 8885 to 90 percent of the sun so. the rest appears like the rain around the more so than appears like a ring and that's why we call it the ring of fire ok said doesn't need to look like a ring in the sky now tell us i remember being i should never look directly at a solar eclipse is this the case also by the annular eclipse even though most of the sun is covered is a dangerous time. absolutely just like you. when you look at the sun on any given day during it's as it's well we should not look at the sun directly even more so

during it and it gets because we tend to think ok it's going to be because of the more of the sun it's covered by the moon and knowing you end up looking at it longer there by that meeting and. exposing ourselves more to some like. i don't see it just made to look at. are and it looks it's true. all right so you should use the solar filter when looking at the eclipse the nuns from the astronomical society of singapore we thank you very much indeed. all right turning now to the united kingdom where queen elizabeth delivered her traditional christmas address with a focus on peace and reconciliation she reflected on this past summer as the 75th d.-day anniversary commemorations as an example of people's capacity to overcome deep seated divisions she also praised young environmental campaigners but after

a year of turbulent british politics and challenges facing the royal family the queen acknowledged that 2019 had been difficult. it's a christmas tradition for the royal family and afternoon trip to the church near the queen's sandringham estate but this year the party was smaller than usual no prince philip he's just out of hospital prince harry and his wife megan are taking time out in canada rumors of a family rift abound. and then there's prince andrew he's keeping a low profile after giving a t.v. interview to deny he was involved in a sex scandal involving the convicted pedophile geoffrey epstein he was our church but in the morning well away from the cameras it's been anything but clear sailing for the royals this year. well for their country i mean the drama of bragg's it's. a brave face for the christmas message jesus christ would show the world how small

steps taken in faith and hope can overcome long held differences and deep seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding many of us already tried to follow in his footsteps the path of course is not always smooth and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy. among the photos clearly visible on her desk during that speech the 3 men next in line to the throne they also feature in this royal video making christmas pudding for charity it's worth remembering that it is often the small steps not the giant leaps that bring about the most lasting change and so i wish you all a very happy christmas. and especially happy christmas if only because this difficult year will soon be over.

you're watching t w news coming to you from berlin i'll be back again at the top of the hour with another update for you i'm marrying evan's teen from me and the entire news team thanks for watching up next is business with stephen beardsley. invites us to see people in particular. by. the books on you tube. that 77 percent. are younger than. me and me you.