Im phillipa thomas, here at the bbcs headquarters in london. In this Special Edition of the programme, were looking at some of the best reports of this year from our network of correspondents from around the world. Coming up stand off in the skies above the south china sea. Rupert Wingfield Hayes flies over one of the most contested areas in the world, incurring the wrath of the chinese. 0ur captain is saying that were a Civilian Aircraft, not a military aircraft, it didnt make any difference whatsoever, theyjust repeated the threat to leave the area over and over again. Tiny victims of yemens forgotten war. Nawal al maghafi finds starving children in desperate need of aid. He just had fever and diarrhoea and because they didnt have his medicine he passed away. Weve just arrived in what is called the prong zone. Under fire on ukraines frontline. Tom burridge and his team meet one of the conflicts most volatile hotspots where the fragile ceasefire has collapsed. You cant make no mistakes, it cost you your life, literally. Ian pannell reports from barack 0bamas former hometown and finds gun crime is out of control. And battle of the sexes. We meet the moroccan warrior women taking on and beating the berber men of north africa at their own game. The bbc went to extraordinary lengths this year to get a rare glimpse of chinas determined expansion in the south china sea, one of the most contested areas anywhere in the world. Beijing is building huge artificial islands on the Spratly Island chain, which the americans and others insist are illegal. The area is difficult to get to, but rupert Wingfield Hayes flew in a small Civilian Aircraft into chinas self declared Security Zone 200 kilometres off the coast of the philippines. This is what he found. Its just before dawn on the philippine island of palawan. Even at this hour its hot, but theres no sign here of the trouble brewing a few hundred miles out to sea. Im about to take off on a trip the Chinese Government has tried to stop. As we roll down the runway, were all tense. No one has tried what were about to do. Were now heading south west towards a number of chinese controlled atolls. These are places where the chinese have being doing massive Land Reclamation over the last year and a half. We really want to go for two reasons. One, to see exactly what the chinese are doing, and two, to test to see if the chinese would try to stop us because the whole of this area is, according to most countries, international airspace. Just 140 nautical miles from the Philippine Coast, we spot new land. This place is called mischief reef. Until a year ago, there was nothing here, just a submerged atoll. Now look at it. Millions of tons of material have been dredged up to build this huge new island. Then as we close to 12 nautical miles, this. Down below, we can see a pair of chinese navy ships. 0ur pilots are nervous. They want to turn away. Were a Civilian Aircraft flying over International Waters and yet were being repeatedly threatened. So what were getting is the chinese sending out that message, Foreign Military aircraft, unidentified military aircraft, leave the area immediately. In chinese and english, our captain replied saying we are a Civilian Aircraft, not a military aircraft, but it didnt make any difference, they repeated the threat to leave the area over and over again. As we fly on, the full extent of the construction is revealed. The lagoon is teeming with ships. A cement plant is visible on the new land. Then for the first time, a clear view of the new runway china is building here. A chinese fighter taking off from here could reach the Philippine Coast in nine minutes. In the last year, china has built at least seven new islands and three new runways in the south china sea. 0ne here at mischief reef, another at subi reef and the biggest of all at fiery cross. The aim is to reinforce chinas claim to the whole of the south china sea. America and its allies are now responding. And over the radio we now hear one of them. What were hearing is an Australian Military aircraft asserting freedom of passage. More than 40 of the worlds trade passes through the waters below us. China is determined to assert its control. America and its allies say they wont let that happen. And as we have found out, it may already be too late. Rupert Wingfield Hayes, bbc news, in the south china sea. From the conflict in syria to whats seen as the forgotten war in yemen. The fighting there has pushed one of the poorest countries in the middle east to the brink of famine, threatening the lives of millions of people. More than 7,000 have been killed in the conflict between the countrys houthi rebels, who overthrew the government last year, and a Saudi Led Coalition backed by britain and the us. This has left around 7 Million People on the brink of famine, many of them children. And again a warning, nawal al maghafis report contains some distressing images from the start. In the villages of the yemen, its the children who suffer most. Wherever you go, you can see the human cost of this war. Seven month old fatima is weak and severely malnourished. Shes one of hundreds in this area alone. Her mother, sara, tells me she wont stop crying. It breaks my heart, she says. The only thing sara can offer her child is water. Shes so malnourished herself shes unable to breastfeed. This doctor took me from village to village and each time we saw the same thing. Yemen has always been desperately poor but the war has made things worse. Its notjust the villages that are struggling. This war has forced 600 hospitals to close down and lack of supplies has pushed this Central Hospital to the brink. Children are the most affected by malnutrition. Here, hunger has left 1. 5 million children starving. This is four year old chaim. His grandfather brought him here with fever and diarrhoea. Malnutrition has meant his immune system isnt able to fight a simple infection, and severe shortage of medicine means the antibiotic he needs isnt available either. Translation the antibiotics we have will not treat the type of bacteria that he is suffering from. All we can do is provide healthcare with the supplies that we have. The hospital is overwhelmed with children, but in some cases malnutrition has turned into outright starvation. Saleen is eight years old. 0nce able to play and talk with his brothers and sisters, his mother says although hes alive its as if hes not here. Translation i never imagined i would ever see a child like this in yemen. This boy is starving. It scares me that it may be the beginning of a famine. Four year old chaims grandfather tells me his condition has taken a turn for the worst. He just had fever and diarrhoea, and because they didnt have his medicine he passed away. Back in the village, ashwaq has some good news. After six days of phonecalls and negotiations, ashwaq managed to import his life saving milk. Translation youve made me so happy and filled our home with happiness. I hope i can do the same for you. Poverty has always affected yemen, but now theres the risk of losing an entire generation. Nawal al maghafi, bbc news, hudaydah, yemen. From yemens forgotten war to whats become known as europes forgotten conflict in ukraine. Tensions escalated there this year as europe struggled over whether to maintain sanctions on russia following its Military Intervention in the region. At the height of the crisis, tom burridge and his team travelled with the Ukrainian Military to one of the most volatile parts of the front line, on the edge of the town of avdiivka. He sent us this report. Venture into this Industrial Area known as the prong zone on the edge of a small ukrainian city, and this is the reality almost every night. Its really close. Go to the wall. Weve literally just arrived in whats called the prong zone, and you can tell why they call it hot, because its really. We need to go to the building. This Perpetual War Zone has been largely forgotten. After two and a bit years and countless diplomatic meetings, russia and the west have failed to deliver peace. Lethal warfare here sometimes feels mundane and monotonous. So five, maybe ten minutes after we arrived here in the so called prong zone, and sniper fire, the crack of machine guns, that the soldiers say are probably rpgs, rocket propelled grenades, essentially its welcome to the prong zone. So were changing positions now. 0ur walk through the Industrial Zone feels like it will never end. He chooses to walk but i would prefer to run right now, were right in the open. We made it that was intense we reach a building where we will spend the night. Fighting these ukrainian troops is a militia which controls two tiny unrecognised russian backed republics. 21 year old dima says he will die for land which he says is part of ukraine. The next day, On A Hillside nearby, we are shown the Ukrainian Military defences. This impressive network of trenches shows how ukraine has been digging in for months. They have not lost territory to the rebels in well over a year. And for that, they can claim some success. But any success has come at a cost. The front line town held by ukraine. We meet viktor. His wife was killed and his grandson disabled, both by shelling. Eastern ukraine is a deprived region. Invisible are bitter divisions. The conflict has become one of attrition which world powers have been unable or unwilling to end. Now to evidence of a startling rise in gun violence the us, including in barack 0bamas hometown of chicago. Killings in the city have reached a 20 year high. A deadly summer of violence brought this years death toll to 500. Most of the victims and their killers were young men. We spent a week in chicago and found a world where guns rule. In my neighbourhood, they start young. That is the edge, and they are dying from guns. Very young. We have to teach children how to defend themselves. It is like, what do you do . You would rather be caught with protection than without it. I have never seen so many guiis. Like, we have so many guns. But i have never seen as many as now. This is a rapper from the west side, now, the most violent part of chicago. He is a member of the vice lords gang. He has been imprisoned. And even he is shocked by what has happened. It is like somebody dropped off crazy amounts of guns in the neighbourhood. I think that many guys need to die to make it better. Some of these guys need to be killed and knocked off to make it a better place. Sirens. We have been standing here forfive minutes and i have seen two police cars and one ambulance. It is not safe here at all. Suddenly we were told to leave the area, as he and his gang sped off. Phone call what happened . Why did we have to leave . More people have been killed here since 2001 than us deaths in iraq and afghanistan combined. And yet, there is almost no outcry. Do you worry about your children . I do. Like, to be honest, i have a son of seven and a daughter of four, and i have not taught them how to ride a bike because the environment they live in is just not safe. I love you. I love you, dadda. I am trying to change the cycle. It is hard when you dont really have help, you know what im saying . We have been put in a weird position, you know what im saying, because. Hold on. Cut. This stuff dont end. With so many guns and so little control, the murders will rise. Rarely solved, and barely noticed. This may sound like the stuff of Science Fiction movies, but american researchers broke new ground this year by trying to grow human organs inside pigs. The Research Uses a pioneering technique called gene editing, which allows genes to be changed quickly. Some say this may end the organ crisis. But it also may raise ethical issues. You are watching two species being mixed. Humans stem cells are being injected into a one day old pig embryo. You can see them travelling down the tube. This biologist in california is trying to grow a Human Pancreas inside a pig. Our hope is that this will develop normally. But the pancreas will be made up almost exclusively out of human cells so that then that pancreas will be compatible with the patient for transplantation. The technique is known as gene editing. It uses molecular scissors to delete the Dna Instructions in the pig embryo to create a pancreas. The ambition is the human cells will fill the void and grow a Human Pancreas instead. The same technique might enable other organs to be grown for transplant. The bbcs panorama was allowed to film the sows filled with Human Embryos known as chimeras. Human stem cells are taken from a patient, they could be tissue match, reducing the risk of rejection. This Research Raises profound ethical concerns. Crucially, just how human and the piglets developing inside this sow . It is such a sensitive area that the chimeric embryos will not be permitted to go to term, but be removed for Tissue Analysis after 28 days gestation when they are about a centimetre long. They will crucially check whether the brain develops humanlike qualities. Another pioneer in this field told me this question has yet to be resolved. Whatever we tried to make, whether it is a kidney, liver, a lung, we will look at what is happening in the mind. And if we find it is too humanlike, it will be ended. New 0rganisations campaigning for an end to Factory Farming are dismayed by the image of organ farming. I am nervous about opening up a new avenue of animal suffering. We could consider it, but the basis has to be that there is no overall increase of pigs being used for human services. 7000 people are on the Transplant Waiting List in the uk and hundreds die each year before a donor can be found. But patient trials involving gene edited pig organs are still a long way off. Finally, for centuries, the men have proven their worth in fantasia, a moroccan tradition, Riding Horses and firing their rifles in unison. For the first time, female riders have been taking them on. We have been to meet the Moroccan Women warriors beating the man at their own game. Fantasia, a centuries old moroccan tradition, a way for men to show off their warfare and masculinity. But in recent years, more women riders are taking the reins. This is the leader of an all female troop. And today, the only woman competing in this fantasia. How different do you feel the image is to what people think a normal arab or moroccan girl should be . Did you not think maybe you cannot do it because no other girl has done it before . When you first started fantasia how did men think of you . Now they respect us. Did they not respect you before . That sounds horrible. Did that ever put you off . How did you find the Girls Foryourgroup . For good luck . Yeah, of course, for good luck. I am nervous and my heart is beating. The aim is for the teams to charge and shoot simultaneously. The winners are announced and the girls won bbc news, morocco. And that is all from this Special Edition of reporters looking back at some of the best reports from this year. From me, phillipa thomas, goodbye for now. After the fairly windy spell of weather that many saw over the festive period, things are turning colder and much quieter too. Heres the scene in Highland Scotland on monday, some snow over higher ground. Some sunshine to see out boxing day too across the isle of wight. High pressure is dominating the weather for everyone as we head through the day on tuesday. The isobars fairly widely spaced for the most part, much less windy than in recent days. Frost and fog patches around especially in parts of england and wales, further north, more cloud and breeze around. Looking around the country at 9am, across the bulk of england and wales, a fine start to the day. Pretty chilly, the coldest night we have seen in a little while, some frost around and a few mist and fog patches. Further north across Northern England and northern ireland, more cloud and again a chilly start to the day, some isolated showers in the far north west of scotland, perhaps some rain for a time towards the Northern Isles but that should clear then looking dry across the board on tuesday. A really decent day for heading out into the countryside for a walk, lots of sunshine on offer, some patchy cloud here and there and in a few places the mist and fog will be slow to clear. So colder than weve seen recently, highs between 6 8. Tuesday evening looks a bit chilly but clear and dry. The main problem will be mist and fog building once again. As we head into the middle part of the week, High Pressure stays with us across the country and with those light winds and relatively clear skies, i think we will wake up to scenes like this. Locally some dense patches of fog around, especially on wednesday onwards, through the rest of the week it will cause some disruption. If you have travel plans by air or road it could be a foggy picture by the time we get to wednesday, particularly across england and wales. Less fog in scotland and northern ireland, more breeze and cloud around here. Plenty of sunshine on offer by the afternoon. Temperatures between 3 9. Where the fog lingers in a few pockets it will be pretty cold and grey for much of the day on wednesday. Where the fog clears, some glorious spells of sunshine. Into the latter part of the week, a Weather Front to the far north west of scotland, a bit breezy here and perhaps rain later on on thursday but it is High Pressure dominating really. Looking ahead to thursday and friday, things are mainly dry, there will be variable amounts of cloud but watch out for the potential for some mist and dense fog around too. Bye for now. A very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. My names mike embley. Our top stories bugle sounds japans Prime Minister pays his respects at an American Military ceremony in hawaii, 75 years after the japanese attack on pearl harbor. Dozens of ships are still searching for the remains of the Russian Military plane that crashed into the black sea with 92 people on board. 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