gerald tann reports. >> reporter: an eerie silence hangs over australia's great ocean road. the scenic route outside the city of melbourne is usually packed, a tourist magnet. it is off limits now after bushfire swept through the towns of the coast. >> today's really assessment day. whether it is assessing damage to property, the safety of roads, power, water, environmental issues, the other issue today, of course, is smoke, and what impact that will have in terms of those who have got underlying conditions. >> reporter: overnight rains helped to get the 2200 hectare blaze under control, but the area is still not in the clear. >> this fire doesn't go away. it is a fire that will remain with the potential to burn in january and phenomenon-- and february of this year. >> reporter: firefighters battle into the night on friday. water bombing aircraft were brought in, but the flames continue to engulf trees and homes. many residents and tourists spent their holidays at evacuation centers. >> i can see a plume of smoke on the highway and thought it looks like it is getting close t

gerald tann al jazeera >>> the u.s. state of albe that as it may ahas-- alabam a has declared an emergency after storms swept through the region. several houses have been destroyed and power outs. 15 people have been killed. are ken saw and miss sip people -. 150,000 people have been left homeless. paraguay have been hit hard, parts of brazil, uraguay. >> reporter: severe flooding in the southern part of south america driving more than 150,000 people from their homes and spending christmas looking for higher ground. in the city of concordia, north-east argentina, it has been called the worse flooding in a quarter of a century with the river flooding its banks. thousands were force. >> translation: the water level was in high inside my house. 20 or 30 centimetres was there. >> reporter: the nearby dam was nearing capacity as it tried to contain more flood waters. >> translation: above all the priority today is getting control of the situation, helping the 6,000 eau vacuum ewe eaus-- evacuees and containing areas. >> repo

gerald tann reports. >> reporter: on the outskirts of this area battles are raging. houthi fighters and those loyal to the former president still hold their ground in yemen's third largest city, but pro-government force raz undeterred. >> translation: we will continue our march. all left of the rebels are snipers and land mines >> reporter: similar scenes are playing out to the north-east. groups fighting to fully restore the president's position to power are receiving air and ground support from a saudi-led coalition. there are no easy victories. eight and a half months of war is taking a punishing toll on civilians. yemen was already one of the most difficult places to access food. u.n. warns that half the population is on the brink of famine. >> it is a combination of both in terms of availability of funding for the coming year and, of course, we seek the support of all parties to be able to give us freedom of movement to reach out to the people that are in absolute crisis at the moment. >> reporter: planned u.n. talks in geneva have hit several hurdles and delays

gerald tann >>> we can go live to our correspondent in baghdad. the status of the fighting, what's happening at the moment? >> the fighting is still going on in neighbors that iraqi neighborhoods succeeded in control three days ago. three days ago they said the controlling on the whole city it will be not just a matter of time. some iraqi military leaders said they will control the whole city in 72 hours. now some leaders says that fighting and the liberation of ramadi will take a longer time and this because detectives of that is using the i.s.i.l. fighters in the city. now some iraqi leaders, especially the head of anti terrorism forces, he talked yesterday about a new tactic, new roadside bombs and mines used by fighters in ramadi. they said these mines make huge destruction and huge effect for the iraqi armed vehicles. he said some of the mines can turn upside down, some vehicles that weigh 27 tons. steve warner, he talked two days ago and said the battle of ramadi will take a longer time, more than expected at the beginning of this operation.

gerald tann >>> it's very much a different story in the northern territory in australia where there is flooding because of severe storms. annie vacuum ewation order is in place for hundreds of people living west of darwin. the nearby catherine river is expected to flood surrounding the countryside. rescuers are still searching for a man swept away. heading flooding in south america has force more than 150,000 people to leave their homes. paraguay has been hit hard and other areas have also been affected. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: severe flooding in the southern part of south america driving more than 150,000 people from their homes and spending christmas looking for higher ground. in the city of concordia it has been called the worst flooding in half a century as nonstop overnight rains forced the river to flood its banks. thousands forced to evacuate u >> translation: the level of water was high in my house. >> reporter: the nearby dam was nearing capacity as it tried to contain more flood waters. >> translation: above all the priority today is related to getting control