this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at four. in syria, the evacuation of eastern aleppo resumes, but north of the city, buses brought to move supporters of the regime have been burned. trade secretary liam fox says britain could remain a member of the eu customs union after brexit. ahead of another strike by southern rail conductors tomorrow, rmt leader mick cash, denies accusations his union is using the dispute to take on the government. and great britain's heroes of rio could be in for more success at tonight's bbc sports personality of the year awards, with the winner chosen by the public. and in half an hour, christian fraser presents a special programme looking at the uk's journey towards brexit. the sports stars are starting to arrive. we will find outjust before nine o'clock who has been named the

sports personality of the year. and in half an hour, christian fraser presents a special programme looking at the uk's journey towards brexit. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the russian ambassador to the united nations say they will veto a united nations say they will veto a united nations proposal to put in monitors to check the situation in aleppo. there are reports that buses sent to rescue people from two besieged towns in the north of syria have been set alight and attacked. the buses were on their way to the towns of foah and kefraya, which are surrounded by rebel forces. in a deal between the government and rebels, in exchange for the evacuation of people from those villages, thousands are due to be escorted out of the opposition held part

of eastern aleppo. a number of buses containing fighters and their families have started to leave the last rebel—held enclave, according to reports from syrian state tv. richard lister reports. more buses lining up, as it seemed this on—off evacuation would continue. red cross vehicles could also be seen waiting to go into the city. the authorities said they would oversees the situation, but the evacuation has still not happened. and the smoke still lying over the city shows just how difficult this has become. caught in the middle are tens of thousands of people in the besieged eastern part of the city. for the past week, people have been told to gather at assembly points, but only for the evacuation to be called off and go home. just 10,000 are believed to have gone so far. just a fraction of those trapped here.

one reason for the delay has been the status of two villages wesdt of aleppo held by opposition fighters, which had been part of the ceasefire agreement. but the buses sent did not arrive. they were set on fire. it is unclear who was responsible for the attack, but it is believed that islamist rebels may have been responsible. across europe, thousands have demanded that the west play a more active role. the united nations will consider those issues today. but whether russia would accept that remains unclear. but in government—held western

aleppo, there is relief that the city is no longer on the front line. we hope this ceasefire will pass without problem and we hope that all the gunmen will leave and go back to where they came from. they have destroyed our country and destroyed this city. the evacuation buses have now been seen moving into the east of the city to continue the operation. but it is a complex and dangerous operation which has failed before and could yet do so again. it would be a brave or foolish person who would believe that this evacuation from aleppo would be completed without another pitch.

evacuation from aleppo would be completed without another pitchm isa completed without another pitchm is a very complex operation. it is not just about removing is a very complex operation. it is notjust about removing the people from the eastern part of aleppo, but i also involve this choreographed simultaneous evacuation by these two villages hill by the rebels. they we re villages hill by the rebels. they were meant to happen at the same time. 0bviously, were meant to happen at the same time. obviously, this has run into a serious problem because the buses sent to the government area were attacked and set on fire. the exact impact of that we wait to see, but it could not have got off to a worse start. as we were discussing, we knew the united nations was going to vote on a resolution to send monitors into the east of the city

and nobody hearing that russia is going to use its veto to block that resolution. the united nations working very far from united. we have seen the conflict debated at the security council for umpteen times. because the leading countries are bitterly divided as to how they see this conflict. 0bviously, many of the western countries and the united states, see very differently from russia. this proposal the united nations monitors be deployed immediately to make sure that civilians could be safeguarded from the eastern part of aleppo. but the strongest information is that the russians are not going to go along with this. even if this idea got

through, how it would work out on the ground with the forces of syria, with the socially cooperate with that? 0nce with the socially cooperate with that? once again, we have seen many teams, united nations forces asking to go into a war zone and finding themselves refused entry. international trade secretary liam fox has refused to rule out britain remaining a member of the european customs' union, which could limit free trade deals after brexit. he told the bbc‘s andrew marr he was "instinctively a free trader" and he would have his say in the cabinet. here is our political correspondent, mark lobel. british businesses approach the end of year with element of doubt hanging over future customs arrangements, such as whether a new trade deal will bring less bureaucracy, or more, to our borders. speaking to the bbc this morning, the international trade secretary left open the possibility that we could remain a part of the eu customs union.

we need to look at all the options, all the possible... including staying in the customs union? the reason i asked, and in a non—confrontational way, if we stay inside the customs union, we cannot do the type of deals that your department was set up to create and, therefore, there is no need for liam fox. there would be limitations, in terms of tariff setting, which would limit what kind of deals you can do. that is quite correct. the customs union includes all 28 eu nations and turkey, monaco, san marino and andorra. all can trade freely, but they must impose the same tariffs. they are also barred from doing bilateral trade deals with other countries. now only a back—seat driver to cabinet discussions, george osborne was asked what type of trade deal should be done. we should have a ha rd—headed assessment of what is in our national interest. it is true that the grass may be greener outside of those arrangements

and we may be able to conduct new free—trade deals with australia, the united states and so on, but that shouldn't come at a price of giving up the existing free—trade arrangements we have with germany and france. and you think we can keep those? that is where i would start from. you cannot say we are a beacon of free trade in the world and then perpetrate a huge act of protectionism — the biggest in british history. in spite of hearing from one of the brexit big hitters today, we are really no closer to knowing what type of deal in spite of hearing from one of the brexit big hitters today, we are really no closer to knowing what type of deal is on the table and which options will be off it. hundreds of thousands of commuters on southern rail face another day

of disruption tomorrow, when rmt workers go on strike. there were three days of strikes earlier this week. british airways cabin staff are due to strike over christmas, as well, and some post office workers will walk out for five days from tomorrow. meanwhile, theresa may is allegedly getting some flak from within her party, for not curbing the powers of striking unions. speaking to my colleague martine croxall earlier, rmt leader mick cash denied the accusations that his union is using the dispute with southern railway to take on the government. this is not part of any trot conspiracy to try and bring down the government. we are here to make sure we have a safe railway. that is the only thing we are concerned about. we are trying to make sure we have the safety of the passengers and all our workers at the forefront. but your president has said, any trade union with any sense would want to bring this bloody working—class hating conservative government. that was what he said.

why would he say that? that was said at a small fringe meeting. but he is the president of your union. 0ur dispute is about ensuring we have safety on every train. we have done it with a number of other train companies and we want to see it done on southern. why can we keep guards on certain trains, but not on these ones? but why would your president make such a statement? he is a significant figure within your union. our focus is on the safety of people on the trains. this started at the beginning of the year, when the contractor said they were going to take on the guards,

take on the unions and get them out of there. you should ask questions towards the secretary of state, whose franchise head is trying to have a bust—up with the unions, when we are trying to make safety the priority on the railways. are you saying that your union is a not involved any coordinated effort and would not want to see the government brought down by your actions? there is not any coordinated action. we change our government via the ballot box. this is all about issues over safety. we have real concerns. that is our priority. we want to see the safety of passengers put at the front of this.

that is why we are in dispute. that is why we have staff going on strike at southern this week. no other reason. a suicide bomber has killed at least a0 soldiers in the southern yemeni port city of aden. many others were wounded. the islamic state group says it carried out the attack, which targeted a crowd of soldiers as they were queueing up to receive their salaries near a military base. it is the latest in a string of such attacks, targeting army recruits in yemen. a week ago, islamic state militants killed 50 troops in aden, which is under the control of the injordan, a canadian tourist and four policemen have been killed in a drive—by shooting. in the southern city of karak.

unidentified gunmen targeted police patrols and a security checkpoint. the attackers were chased to an ancient castle in the city. elite special forces have now been sent to the scene and reuters news agency is reporting that several tourists are thought to be trapped inside the castle. the government is drawing up plans to make all civil servants and holders of public office swear an oath to uphold british values. writing in the sunday times, communities secretary sajid javid says it is not possible for people to play a "positive role" in public life unless they accept such basic values as democracy, equality and freedom of speech. mrjavid's proposals would mean every new recruit in the public sector, including the nhs and the bbc, would be expected to commit to the oath, which may have to be read out loud, before starting the role. i have been speaking to conservative mp and former culture secretary, john whittingdale, who gave me his reaction to the idea. it is a good idea that people taking up public office should subscribe to this. when parliament returns, every mp swears an oath of allegiance to the queen as part of the parliamentary procedure.

this is a similar kind of situation. shadow home secretary diane abbott says making public officials swear an oath to british values would make little or no difference. she has been speaking on the murnaghan programme. it will not make a difference with regard to radicalisation. you will identify that a problem is, if people come to this country, if they feel that the values of great britain did not apply to them or that they want to destroy them? i have not seen any experience of that. i have a very diverse

population in my constituency. they come to this country because they value what it has and do respect the institutions within it. i do not think this oath would make any verifiable difference. the headlines on bbc news. in syria, the evacuation of eastern aleppo resumes but, north of the city, buses brought to move supporters of the regime have been burned. trade secretary liam fox says britain could remain a member of the eu customs union after brexit. ahead of another strike by southern rail conductors tomorrow, rmt leader mick cash denies accusations his union is using the dispute to take on the government. sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. southampton came from behind to win

the premier league's south coast derby 3—1 at bournemouth. england's jay rodriguez was the man of the match, with two goals. his second is a contender for goal of the month. joe lynsky rounds—up the action. bournemouth has spent much of the existence looking up at southampton. it was not long since there was a0 places between them in the english football pyramid. inside the opening five minutes, the home side took the lead. his third goal of the season. the southampton goalkeeper came to the rescue. perhaps it was let off which spun southampton into life. the full—back shot finding the corner. the second—half would be

defined by one player, jay rodriguez. he has had to battle injuries and this was just his second premier league start in two yea rs. second premier league start in two years. southampton claimed the local bragging rights. that was the lunchtime kick—off. there are two apm matches today. manchester city and arsenal are playing at the etihad, where either team can go second in the table. arsenal lead i—0, through theo walcott. and tottenhamn against burnley also kicked off at four. india are now looking very slim. india batted all the way through the third day in chennai, closing on 39i—a, nowjust 86 behind england's first innings score, as rahulfelljust one run short of a double century. jim lumsden has the details. there has been little falling to

sing and dance about in this series. anything they can do, i could do better. after a77 on the first innings, i set about reducing it. it was taken down and some style patel by and rahul. a couple of wickets to fall cheaply. but what about rahul, completing his fourth test hundred. but it was often pedestrian stuff from england in the field. the last thing the captain picked up a bat, he stayed along for days. not this

time. but england's frustration was clear. rahul looks certain to make a double century, only getting out on 199 to this dreadful shot. scurrilous and a fantastic win over the french giants toulon, giving them a chance of reaching the quarterfinals. saracens and sale, who are in the same pool as scarlets, get underway at 17.30. ulster are currently on the

receiving end of the 28—0 deficit. john higgins is taking on marco fu in the final of the scottish 0pen in glasgow this afternoon. the matches is poised at a—a. it is the first to name. that is all sport for now. you can keep up to date with all those stories on the bbc sport website. it has been an incredible 12 months for home—grown sporting success and, to reflect that, an unprecedented 16 contenders have been shortlisted for sports personality of the year 2016. last year's winner, the wimbledon and olympic tennis champion, andy murray, is in the running again. the ceremony takes place at the nec arena in birmingham. and our sports reporter kate grey is there for us. 16 contenders for the fake final.

how many of them have arrived? many of them have arrived. three of the 0lympic heroes have analysed. lots of sports stars are flooding past. 0ne of sports stars are flooding past. one of the award winners was already announced, the young sports personality of the year, ellie robinson. that looks like a very heavy trophy. what did it mean to you? it means so much. it hasjust been an amazing year. firstly,

qualifying for the olympics and then having the chance of a medal, this has topped the year of. ijust wa nted has topped the year of. ijust wanted to enjoy it. but it has been such an amazing time. looking out for any other sports stars.|j such an amazing time. looking out for any other sports stars. i will say hello to a few of them if. i am a bit shy. adam peaty, i noticed he passed by and give you his congratulations. yes, it isjust amazing when people like that show such an interest. there is also a lifetime achievement award which was announced earlier today, that went

to michael phelps come in the united states legendary swimmer, who has w011 states legendary swimmer, who has won 23 gold medals at the olympics. we can look forward to five other awards. including the team of the year and the overseas star of the year, before at nine o'clock, the sports personality of the year. i have already mentioned the likes of adam peaty and andy murray. he has already won it twice and he would be the first person to win at forrester time. a huge list of people from the 0lympics who have also been nominated, the likes of nicola

adams, and nick skelton. the show kicks off just before adams, and nick skelton. the show kicks offjust before seven o'clock this evening. from five o'clock, we will be live on the red carpet as the sports stars start to arrive. if thatis the sports stars start to arrive. if that is not enough. 13.1 million viewers tuned into strictly come dancing last night to see bbc sports presenter 0re 0duba and his partnerjoanne clifton take home the glitterball trophy, beating fellow competitors danny mac and louise redknapp. last night also marked len goodman's last appearance as a judge, as our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports.

and i can now reveal the strictly come dancing champions 2016 are... 0re andjoanne! the moment that 0re 0duba was crowned strictly come dancing 2016 champion. he was voted the winner after a public vote during the evening's final. the bbc sport presenter thanked the show and paid tribute to his dance partnerjoanne clifton. you are the most incredible person. this is the greatest ever experience of my life. i've learned to dance. i've made a best friend. i've been on the show that i've loved for 12 years. he beat the evening's other two finalists, the actor danny mac and the singer louise redknapp, thanks to his performances of three dances. # walk down the lane...# an american smooth... # with a happy refrain...# ..a show dance... # this is what i say...# ..and ajive. the latter two routines were given perfect scores by the judges. 0re might be this year's winner,

but for many, a close runner—up was ed balls. the former shadow chancellor's lack of dance skills may have resulted in consistently low scores from the show‘sjudges, but he was kept in the contest a week after week by routines, which included a gangnam style dance, until he finally left the competition last month. # gangnam style...# the evening's final was also len goodman's last appearance in the series, and he was given a standing ovation in the studio. len goodman has led the judging panel since the programme began 12 years ago. good afternoon. nothing very much

sparkling about the weather. we are talking about fog last thing tonight and first thing tomorrow. particularly in central and southern england and wales. it could be a touch of ground frost. things gradually improving during the course of the morning. in the north of scotland, some outbreaks of rain. some brightness for many parts of england falling. single figure temperatures, but most between 5-9dc. but

temperatures, but most between 5—9dc. but things are taking a bit ofa 5—9dc. but things are taking a bit of a change during the week ahead. hello. this is bbc news with anita mcveigh. the headlines at a.30: the evacuation of civilians from eastern aleppo is hit with another setback, as rebel fighters reportedly set fire to buses trying to get into two pro—government villages north of the city. the trade secretary, liam fox, said britain could remain a member of the eu customs union, after brexit. the leader of the rmt, mick cash, has denied that his union is using the dispute with southern rail to take on the government. thousands of commuters have been affected by the strike action over who should control train doors. now on bbc news it's time for the brexit effect —

the second in this series. hello and welcome to the brexit effect, with me, christian fraser. is the uk economy standing at the cliff edge — or is there a soft landing the other side of brexit? we will hear from business leaders in bristol on what type of relationship they want with the eu. i employ 50 plus people here. some of those are eu nationals. there is no clear visibility on what's going to happen to those guys post hard brexit, soft brexit, whatever brexit. they have been lean years for the pig farmers of yorkshire — migration from europe is at a record level. but what will end freedom of movement mean to the uk economy and how will it work in practice? we have an special panel with us this evening