brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. finally, they can leave. relief for the people of aleppo. convoys of civilians and wounded fighters reach rebel-held territory outside the syrian city. thousands of people could be evacuated after government forces secure a major victory did we will talk to you one official who monitor the up -- a u.n. official who monitored the operation. >> how prior that our priority today's making better on the ground. brent: sanctions on russia been

extended but observers are expecting nothing more than a strong statement on the recent bloodshed in syria. we will get more from our correspondent in brussels. and u.s. tech company yahoo! hit by the biggest security breach in history. over one billion e-mail accounts have been hacked. what can customers do, and will the company be able to recover? brent: i am brent goff. it's good to have you with us. tonight they are finally leaving. another group of evacuees has made it out of aleppo and into rebel-held territory beyond the city. in total, over 1000 people escaped the city today under the terms of our fragile cease-fire. and and buses carried wounded -- and and buses carried

wounded civilians and fighters to relative safety. reporter: and balances -- ambulances and buses arriving in aleppo's western countryside from a sign of the fragile cease-fire deal finally holding after collapsing on wednesday amid fresh writing. earlier, the slow-moving convoy of around 2000 vehicles, with 1000 on board, snaked out of eastern aleppo. it passed through a government-held area before reaching a rebel-held region. with the retreat of the rebels, president bashar al-assad has declared liberation of aleppo from the opposition. in a message posted on social media, assad described the rebel defeat as history in the making and a key turning point in the conflict. the syrian government claims it is fulfilling its part of the evacuation deal. "as long as the withdrawal plan

in any name or form can help protect civilians in aleppo, we will surely support it. it is not the first time we implement such a plan of protecting civilians and ending the armed conflict. reporter: the regime said at least 4000 rebels and their families would be evacuated from the last opposition-held districts. some reports say as many as 50,000 people remain in eastern aleppo. it is unclear how many are prepared to leave now, despite assurances of state passage. -- safe passage. brent: it has been almost impossible to get independent reports from inside eastern aleppo, but people on the ground in the city are sharing their experiences, and many are heartbreaking. of course, that information coming from social media. this powerful video was

published by the aleppo media company. when you can see here is footage from aleppo today. there are aid organizations attending to rescue children, the elderly, and the interim as quickly as possible. you can still see there is plenty of chaos. crowds of people with all their belongings by the amulets -- ambulances. "guardian" middle east correspondent has posted his aerial picture of the green evacuation buses. any caption accompanying -- in the caption a competing, he said "a symbol of the worst displacement. it is like a scene from dystopia." this shows some and taking his caged birds on a bus out of east aleppo, especially poignant considering that he is escaping a war zone with all his worldly possessions.

very powerful material being shared online from aleppo tonight. syria was at the top of the agenda today at an eu leaders summit in brussels, but despite anger at the bloodshed, members have little appetite for fresh action. instead, they opted to extend by six months the sanctions already imposed on russia, not for syria, but for its annexation of crimea. free still about, it is -- four east aleppo, it is too little, too late. reporter: as eu leaders arrive in their secure vehicles, it is this man who draws attention first, the city council representative of east aleppo. he is set to meet the leaders and deliver a desperately. -- desperate plea. "i want a courageous position from the eu. i want them to send forces to monitor evacuation of civilians." one of his strongest supporters is french president francois

hollande, who is the many a clear message from the eu. "if the 28 cannot agree on such crucial questions -- for instance, how can the civil population be saved, how can we stop a war that is already going on for five years and how can we denounce the massacres that took place with russian, syrian, and iranian involvement -- if we have no answers, what are we good for?" what the eu can actually do regarding syria, however, is limited. leaders are likely to issue a statement strongly condemning the assault by the syrian regime and its allies, especially russia. but as eu's foreign policy chief makes clear, additional sanctions against russia are not on the table. >> it is clear that the regime and its allies, russia and iran, have a responsibility in what happens and is happening in aleppo. our priority today is to try to make things better on the ground

for civilians. reporter: for the german chancellor did not want to comment on the shadows hanging over the summit, such as russia, turkey, or brexit. "the agenda is pretty packed and i will keep you informed." brent: all right, also keeping you informed is our correspondent max hoffman. he is in brussels covering the summit for us. good evening to you, max. the representative from eastern aleppo we just saw in our report, he has been telling eu leaders that history will judge them if they fail to protect the citizens of eastern aleppo. looks like they have already failed to do that. when impression has that had, though, on europe's leaders today? max: it was quite a surprise that he even got to talk in front of the 28 liters, but apparently he made the most of it. when we are hearing is that the leaders were very impressed -- as we heard in the report -- by his desperate pea to help them,

and they started rewriting the conclusions -- they always have a draft, and they start rewriting that, it means they really want to change something good the problem, and you said it, is that the eu has proven to be rather powerless when it comes to the events in syria, and words are not going to change that. brent: the european union has decided to extend its economic sanctions against russia, but that decision is basically an extension of the response to the annexation of crimea. there are no additional sanctions plan for russia's role in syria, are there? max: well, there are sections against this year just the syrian regime from the european union already in place but they're -- there are no additional sanctions. the once extended are because of what is happening in eastern

ukraine. there was never really huge doubt about it, although some countries are not very accountable with extending the sanctions because the economies are being hurt by it. diplomats here in brussels have been working for weeks to be able to extend those transitions because what is happening next year might block further extension of the sanctions, with a possible president in france who is against the sanctions and even if you look to the united states. we don't know what a future president donald trump might do there. brent: max hoffman at the eu summit in brussels. max, thank you very much. there has been a major development in inquiry into an egyptair plane that crashed into the mediterranean in may. egypt's civil aviation ministry says it found traces of explosives on some of the victims. flight 804 was flying from paris to cairo when it plunged into the sea, killing all 66 people

on board. additional data from the flight recorder suggests a fire broke out. the evidence of possible explosives turns the probe into a criminal investigation. so far, no one has claimed to have attacked the plane. berlin has announced almost 1000 german soldiers will train an act as a military advisers to afghanistan's security forces until the end of next year. the german parliament voted by a large majority today to allow for the soldiers to be based in and around the northern afghan city. that is where just last month, taliban fighters attacked the german consulate, killing at least six people. despite germany's continued deployment in afghanistan, the government here says it is safe to deport failed asylum-seekers there. the first of them arrived back in kabul this morning, but critics say they should not have been repatriated to a country

with such a volatile security situation. reporter: the 34 rejected asylum-seekers arrived in kabul early this morning, the first group to be sent home under a deal of repatriations signed in october. the deportations are controversial. critics say afghanistan is not as a country. the german interior minister says one third of the men were criminals. speaking in berlin, he also said deportations were unnecessary in order to keep the asylum system functioning. "integration for those who have a right to stay and repatriation for those who are obliged to leave. those are the two sides of the same coin. you can't play the one off against the other." some of the returnees won't be able to go back to their home regions, because the security situation there is too bad. the men don't know what will become of them. "because i went to europe, i lost everything.

everyone loves their country. i also love my country. but what should i do here? do i have to go in joined the taliban or i.s.?" there were protests at frankfurt airport as the men were about to depart. the german refugee advocacy group says the deportations are wrong. "how safe is it? just look at where the german armies station. taliban are everywhere. and the german government says once we believe these people at kabul airport, it is the responsibility of the afghan government. it is sadly watching its hands of the whole affair." germany is planning to send a second group to afghanistan in early january. brent: china has installed weapons on artificial islands it has built in the south china sea. that is according to a new report by a u.s. think tank. it has been tracking satellite images since june and they

reportedly show antiaircraft and missile-defense systems on the islands. reporter: these man-made islands in the south china sea appear to have become china's newest military outposts. according to a report from the u.s. think tank center for strategic and international studies, these show weapons including large antiaircraft systems. china lays claim to almost all the south china sea, despite competing claims from countries like malaysia, vietnam, taiwan, and the philippines. in july, an international arbitration court ruled there was no legal basis for china's territorial inroads. china ignore the verdict and continued building the seven artificial islands that have now been turned into military bases. they deny the deployment of

weapons to the islands have anything to do with weaponization. china is building facilities on its own territory is completely normal. this is the norm or white of the sovereign nation under international law -- normal right of the sovereign nation under international law." the south china see is rich in resources like oil and gas but also has strategic importance as a vital shipping route. experts are concerned that the tensions could threaten stability in the region. brent: you are watching "dw news ," live from berlin. still to come, the biggest cyber attack in history. yahoo! reveals more than one billion user accounts were hacked. christoph we'll has that will have that story in business. and an exclusive report on tanzania's last fisherman. they are plying their trade with bonds and destroying coral reefs in the pross. we will be back on the

other side of a 60-second break. we will be right back.

brent: welcome back. you are with "dw news," live from berlin. the first convoys of evacuees eastern aleppo have reached rebel-held territory outside the city. the evacuation is part of a cease-fire deal following a month-long syrian army offensive. eu leaders have agreed to extend sanctions against russia due to the annexation of crimea. there were no new sanctions imposed on moscow over its role in the recent bloodshed in syria. time now for business news. the latest on that mother of all

hacks. christoph: we are talking yahoo! or rather, oh boy! it is said to be the biggest data breach in history. more than one billion user accounts were hacked in 2013. yahoo! claims that bank and payment data has not been stolen. still, if you haven't done so in the past couple years, do change your password. according to white house officials, the fbi is investigating the case, and as for yahoo!, the company has broken its own embarrassing record. reporter: the hacking revelation kicks yahoo! while it is down. one sacred law of silicon valley, protect consumer data, has been broken for a second time, just as the firm seeks a buyout deal. data security experts warn of a rude awakening for businesses. >> companies are something not taking security sufficiently

seriously. these horrible hacks hopefully will persuade companies that they simply have to spend more time thinking about security. there are plenty of solutions out there. you do need to spend time and the money to achieve them. reporter: yahoo! says the stolen user account data may have included personal information such as names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers. but financial data was not stored in the system believed to be affected. investigators are looking into the source of the attack, which took place in 2013. >> might recently hackers trying to show off what they can do. possibly could be criminals. from what we understand from yahoo!, they got a hold of explicit -- they did not get a hold of explicit backing numbers, that sort of thing, needed for real value. i am only speculative at this stage. reporter: in september yahoo!

disclosed a separate attack affecting 500 million accounts. it affected a deal with telecom giant verizon to by the court business. this will test the revelations of business partners alike. christoph: the owner of television network fox news is looking to expand his tv empire in europe. rupert murdoch wants to buy the remaining 61% of british broadcaster sky that it doesn't own yet. the deal means his company would have unfettered access to 20 million customers in the u.k., on top of sister firms in italy and germany. the fox board approved the plan today, but some have raised concerns, saying the deal is anti-competitive. annexed the payment for greek low income pensioners -- an extra payment for greek low income pensioners over the holidays. it is raising concerns with the eurozone officials. they argue that charity is not

part of the 86 billion-euro bailout program that the highly indebted greece has signed with its creditors. but greek prime minister alexis address is -- alexis tsipras is under pressure in his home country. reporter: it is a christmas present for greece could 1.6 million pensioners will get a bonus. prime minister alexis tsipras and his cabinet want to pay every pensioner without clearing it with the country's creditors. >> the extra amount that comes above the agreed surpluses is an amount that can be used from the greek government to special categories and to give benefits to those that have been most harmed from the crisis and i believe that the greek government should havefor maneuver. reporter: the european lenders were taken aback by the end of your bonus. finance ministers agreed on a

last-minute debt relief package just 10 days ago. "i think it is impossible to. impose debt relief for greece, which is from one site indispensable and from other side, the social justice that the greek people expect." on a trip to berlin, the greek finance minister spoke in favor of the talks. >> it is not much of a compromise if we get more austerity and note that -- no debt. that is part of the logic i'm asking people to sit down and get together and understand that we need a compromise, that all parties can work with. reporter: greece can use the surpluses for supporting the poor and reducing taxes, according to the agreement. but only if they clear it with creditors first. christoph: that is all your business for this hour. brent: thank you very much. here is a look at the other stories making headlines around

the world. facebook has announced measures to curb the spread of fake news on its social network. it plans to roll out several new tools to make it easier for users to report stories they think are hoaxes. facebook is also working with several fact checking organizations, usually known as journalists, to flag fake and disputed content. germany has introduced border controls along the major highway with their variant and austria. bavarian officials say the move is to combat illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. the checks will be in place until further notice. an austrian lawmakers have voted to confiscate the house where not to dictator at all hitler -- adult hitler was born. it ends years of legal wrangling could have been trying to stop the site from becoming a shrine for neo-nazis. it is unknown what will happen to the house. the woman who owns it will receive compensation.

sports news now, and soccer. real madrid are through to the final of the club world cup in japan. they passed mexico's club america. cristiano ronaldo added a second in stoppage time. real will face japan in the final on sunday. now, a shocking and explosive story from tanzania, and it is about the use of explosives to catch fish on the once-pristine coast of tanzania. gangs of so-called blast fishermen have been sweeping the coastline using explosives to wonder: reese for -- to plunder: reef -- corral reefs for fish. reporter: they have the gangs that need no cover, with weapons worse than you would find on the

streets. these are tanzania's blast fishermen using homemade bombs to get bigger catches. we can reveal what they are trying to hide. corral once teeming with life turned into ocean wastelands. we have spent a year investigating this trade and of sina data suggesting they have blasted 55,000 times. we have been out for several hours and seen six last fishermen and several blasts. the fishermen we are with your do not want to be identified because of how dangerous these guys are. when you approach them, sometimes they hold of the dynamite and threatened to throw it at you. it doesn't stop there. this fisheries officer arrested 72 of them before they poured acid over his face. this is the first time he has spoken out on camera, and he

says the blasters hardly ever went to jail. >> and a lenient sentence. most of the future -- if you are attacked, not a good job. you can see the dynamite, they are doing well. reporter: so well that they are blasting inside the country's gas wells. one blaster. within 100 meters. >> the damage would be catastrophic. the processing plant can stop, and the effect can cascade to national economic impact. reporter: it is not only life and limb under threat, but whole ecosystems, too. from fishing towns to desert islands, it is the same story. earth's wonders disappearing bomb by bomb.

>> takes over 50 years to regrow again. there is no life for creatures, special fish. no homes. reporter: the men responsible or often unrepentant and are willing to take great risks to plunder the sea's resources. >> i saw friends lose their limbs. one blew himself up. it was a way of life. we didn't realize the damage we were doing to the sea. reporter: we took our story to the government, and they say they will break up the gangs. they are considering fishmarket inspections and tough new laws. >> i personally feel these people should be charged with the international sabotage act. if nothing is done now come at this point, in the next 10 years we will not have life in our shores. reporter: right now the blasting goes on, even outside the fishery officer's house. it is their final insult to the man they have scarred, and with every bomb, they scar the

world beneath the waves as well. brent: here is a reminder of the top stories we're following for you. the first convoys of evacuees from eastern aleppo have reached rebel-held territory outside the city. the evacuation is part of a cease-fire deal following a month long syriaafter a short be back to take you through the day. stick around for that, everybody. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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