I'm Stewart Macintosh with the BBC News. Hello.

The United Nations says the Syrian government has agreed to allow humanitarianaid to the besieged town of Madaya where people are reported to have died fromstarvation. Madaya, near the Lebanese border, has been surrounded by governmenttroops and their Hezbollah allies for months. Video from the location has shownpeople looking emaciated. Greg Berour is from the World Food Program saysgetting aid into Madaya is a major challenge. “We have to accept that thissituation that they would be moving into is incredibly tense. We are movingacross frontlines. We need to ensure that the access is there that there is norisk, that we can get the food in, and the other supplies that would becarrying on behalf of the whole humanitarian community, and then we can makesure that actually get to the people who need it most.”

Investors will be watching anxiously when China's main stock exchange reopensin a few hours' time without its circuit breaker safety mechanism. China'ssecurity regulator said it would suspend the tool after heavy losses triggeredan automatic shutdown for the second time this week just 30 minutes into theday. Our Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani is monitoringdevelopments. “People are extremely nervous. And not to put it too simply, butinvestors are selling because other investors are selling their shares. I thinkyou've seen that sort of panic reflected in the Chinese stock market when theyfell on Monday and trading was suspended. And thenthe shortest trading day, it's thought, in the Chinese stock market history. Soreally, there is a sense of anxiety and nervousness amongst investors there.”

The suspended head of European football Michel Platini haspulled out of the race to become the next FIFA president. He was banned fromthe game for eight years last month because of corruption allegations over apayment he received from the former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter in 2011. MichelPlatini says he still determined to overturn the eight-year ban imposed by FIFA'sEthics Committee.

In Paraguay, state prosecutors have raided the headquartersof Conmebol, South America's Football Confederation as part of investigationsinto corruption. The prosecutors said they were searching for documents at the requestof the United States which is leading a bribery investigation. Here is CandacePiette. “Paraguayan prosecutors said they were searching for documents orinformation related to racketeering and money laundering. They said they wereacting on a request from the United States which is leading an investigationinto the mis-selling of TV and marketing rights and associated corruption, particularlyin Latin America. Last month, the President of Conmebol, the Paraguyan JuanAngel Napout, was extradited to the United States to face charges there. Mr. Napoutis accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes. He's pleaded not guilty.”You are listening to the latest world news coming to you from the BBC.

French police have shot dead a man armed with a knifewho was trying to attack a police station in Paris. Officials say he shouted AllahuAkbar wore a fake suicide vest and carried materials in support ofIslamic State militants. He's been identified from his fingerprints as aconvicted thief of Moroccan origin. Our Paris correspondent, here is HughSchofield. “This was a known figure, apparently, that maybe have been accomplice.But pretty feeble, and the most he could be expected to do was kill that onepolice officer before being killed himself. He didn't succeed in any of that.But it is a reminder that Jihadist is in mandate Paris street all guys from thevery big grand coordinated text to this, which may just have been something,which a known figure cook up by himself under the influence of all propagandacoming out of Syria.”

Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been named African Footballer of theyear. Aubameyang, who plays for BorussiaDortmund in Germany, beat the Ivorian Yaya Touré who was bidding to win the award for afifth successive year.

The manatee, a species of marine mammal which is at risk of extinction for manyyears, is to be moved from endangered to threatened status after officials inthe United States decided that the population had recovered sufficiently. Manateeswere put on the endangered list almost fifty years ago after overhunting andcollisions with boats caused a drop in their numbers. The population has risen,though, to about 6,000.

Scientists examining a 5,300-year-old frozen mummyhave uncovered new information about the man's health before he was killed.Microbes from the stomach of Otzi, the iceman whose corpse was found in theItalian Alps in 1991, revealed that he had bacterial infection that's stillcommon today and which can cause stomach ulcers. The research team said thestrain of the Helicobacter pylori bacteria could provide clues about patternsof human migration. BBC News.