tonight at ten — prince harry hails a great day for truth as he scores a legal victory over tabloid newspapers — but a former editor bites back. last summer the prince set a modern legal precedent by his appearance in court — today he was awarded over £140,000 by the high court. thejudge ruled his phone was hacked by mirror group newspapers — but piers morgan — a former editor — gave a scorching response as for him saying this is a good day

for truth, the duke has been repeatedly exposed in recent years as someone who wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him around his california—tanned face. also tonight — the israeli military expresses deep remorse after it mistakenly shoots dead three hostages being held in gaza. in the us, rudy giuliani — donald trump's former lawyer — is ordered to pay over £100 million for false claims of vote tampering in the 2020 election. the british boy alex batty found this week after six years — french officials give details of what happened to him. and on the eve of the strictly final — we hear from the three couples giving it their all — in the hope of dance floor glory. on newsnight at10:30... i've never hacked a phone or told anyone else to hack a phone and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that i did. that wasn't the ruling delivered

by high courtjudge today. good evening. earlier this year prince harry became the first senior royal of modern times to give extensive evidence in court in person — today he was awarded over £140,000 after a judge ruled he was the victim of phone hacking by mirror group newspapers — who published the daily mirror, the sunday mirror and the people. the prince hailed the decision as "a great day for truth" and accountability. the judge also said the former editor of the mirror, piers morgan, knew about the practice — a finding mr morgan vigorously rejected — saying he had never hacked a phone or ever asked anyone to do so. the company which now owns the papers has apologised unreservedly. here's our media editor katie razzall. a significant victory. in 15 articles about prince harry in all three mirror titles,

the newspaper group has been found to have intercepted private voicemails and gathered other information unlawfully. phone hacking at the papers, thejudge found, was widespread and habitual. prince harry's lawyer read out his client's words after the 386—page judgment was delivered. this case is notjust about hacking. it is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour, followed by cover—ups and destruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings. the articles include this in the people in 2003, about a row between harry and his brother william, about whether to meet their mother's former butler. thejudge says both probably had their phones hacked. a serious security concern. most of the 15 unlawfully gathered articles relate to his time with former girlfriend chelsy davy, including this in the mirror in 2005 about ms davy�*s plans to dump him and this in the sunday

mirror in 2007. phone hacking involved in both instances. prince harry has said the relentless press intrusion killed their relationship. he's awarded the largest individual damages for this article in the people about his date with the late tv presenter caroline flack. £15,000 in damages and distress to the prince. in all, he takes away just over £140,000. two senior executives, former ceo sly bailey and former legal director paul vickers, knewjournalists and private detectives were breaking the law, said thejudge. better known, and a name that often came up in court, was piers morgan, who edited the daily mirror from 1995 to 200k. royal author 0mid scobie gave evidence that mr morgan knew a 2002 story about kylie minogue came from voice mail interception. mr scobie was a reliable witness, said thejudge. this afternoon, piers morgan fought back. as i've consistently said for many years now, i've never hacked a phone or told anybody else to hack a phone.

and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that i did. i wasn't called as a witness, it's important people to know this, for either side in the case, nor was i asked to provide any statement. i would very happily agreed to do either or both of those things had i asked. —— had i been asked. his former employers, mirror group newspapers, had earlier welcomed thejudgement as giving them clarity. "where historical wrongdoing took place," they said, "we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation." this is a significant decision on a story from a different media age where the tabloids were read by millions and apparently all too often broke the law to get their exclusives. thejudge ruled hacking of prince harry's phone was modest, but it did go on. a senior royal hacked byjournalists whose bosses knew. mirror group always said that didn't happen. through his barrister, prince harry explained how much thejudgment means to him. today's ruling is

vindicating and affirming. i've been told that slaying dragons will get you burned. but in light of today's victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. the mission continues. piers morgan gave short shrift. as for him saying this is a good day for truth, the duke has been repeatedly exposed in recent years as someone who wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him around his california—tanned face. he demands accountability for the press, but refuses to accept any for himself for smearing the royal family, his own family, as a bunch of callous racists without producing a shred of proof to support those disgraceful claims. prince harry, seen here leaving court in the summer, has had hisjudgement. he now turns his attention to other newspaper groups. his mission, as he

calls it, goes on. katie razzall, bbc news. today marks an important moment in the lengthy phone—hacking saga. but how did we get here and what happens next? tom symondsjoins me now to explain. tom. the long road to today's judgment started way back in 2006 when a reporter and a private investigator were convicted of phone hacking. newspaper executives said these two were just rogue operators, nothing more to see. 17 years later, it's now clear phone hacking and other unlawful activities were widespread. many have sued, and the newspapers have paid vast sums to settle those claims. in the case of mirror group newspapers, that's £105 million paid to more than 600 people — not including today's bill. today's judgement is a landmark — it's very rare for cases to go to trial. so what are the implications? well, it's a big morale boost for prince harry. he's also trying to sue associated newspapers, the publisher of the daily mail

and mail on sunday, and news uk — the publisher of the sun. and it could be a boost for around 80 people who, like him, have cases against mirror group newspapers. but today the judge, mrjustice fancourt ruled that two of prince harry's co—claimants fiona wightman and the actor nikki sanderson had run out of time for taking legal action — the law gives them six years. he said they should have realised they had a case in around 2015 when mirror group newspapers said, "we're sorry for phone hacking," admitting it had happened. the company believes many others will be in the same position, and that their cases will be thrown out. its share price rose today. the company's opponents may appeal that part of the judge's findings. this was a ruling in a civil court, not a criminal one, but today prince harry called on the metropolitan police to investigate, bringing charges against those who have broken the law. there has already been an investigation, and arrests,

in 2015 ten mirror people, including piers morgan, were told they were in the clear. tonight the metropolitan police told us, "we will carefully consider the civiljudgment handed down today at the high court. there is no ongoing investigation." but prince harry's very public battle against media intrusion is very much ongoing. tom, thank you very much. you can see more about claims of phone hacking in the british press in the documentary scandalous: phone hacking on trial which is available now on the bbc iplayer. the israeli military has said its troops shot and killed three hostages being held by hamas in gaza, after mistakenly identifying them as a threat. the three men were abducted on october 7th when hamas, which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the uk government, carried out its attacks on israel. the country's prime minister benjamin netanyahu said his heart went out to the hostages' families. from jerusalem, here's our correspondent lucy williamson.

israel's army is in gaza to kill hamas fighters and bring hostages home. clear targets obliterated in the chaos of conflict. three of those shot dead in the northern district of shejaiya, not hamas gunmen but the captives israel came to save. one of them was yotam haim, 28 years old, a drummer with a heavy metal band, kidnapped from kibbutz kfar aza. his mother spoke to the bbc last month. they are talking about to release a few here, a few there. i know that they are playing with us, with our minds, with our hearts. we must hope. another of those killed was 25—year—old samer talalka, the eldest son of ten children from kfar hura, who worked with his father and brother in a hatchery and loved motorcycles.

and alon shamriz, kidnapped from kfar aza. israel's army said yotam, samer, and alon were mistakenly identified as a threat. prime minister benjamin netanyahu called it an unbearable tragedy. tonight, israel's armed forces are once again bearing the weight of their failure to protect. translation: the idf - mistakenly identified three kidnapped israelis as a threat. the force fired at them and they were killed. after the shooting, an immediate suspicion arose about the identity of the dead and their bodies were quickly transferred for examination in israel and there the hostages were identified. at a vigil to mark the end of hanukkah yesterday, alon's mother said she still had hope. hostages would be back for hanukkah. but unfortunately it didn't happen. even so, we remain in hopeful anticipation and optimism that it will happen soon.

the torment expressed by the families of hostages has cut deeper tonight. already angry with israel's prime ministerfor tonight. already angry with israel's prime minister for not negotiating the release of more hostages, they also have his promise ringing in their ears that israel's military campaign in gaza would help bring their relatives home. well, tonight an army spokesman has been speaking to the bbc and giving a few more details about what went wrong. he said that the hostages were dressed in the same kind of clothes as the hamas fighters and that there were clashes before and after they were shot between israel and hamas. tonight, the families of some of those gaza hostages are now marching to the army headquarters here in a spontaneous protest. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said israel will address its wounds and learn the lessons. but tonight he is under more pressure

than ever. lucy, thank you. lucy williamson reporting there. three men accused of being linked to hamas have appeared before an investigating judge in germany, accused of planning to carry out attacks on jewish institutions in europe. a fourth man has been arrested in the netherlands. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera joins me. how significant are these arrests? it appears this group was under surveillance and the allegation is that they were trying to locate and retrieve a cache of weapons that had been hidden in europe, with the possibility of then using them for a later attack perhaps againstjewish later attack perhaps against jewish institutions. later attack perhaps againstjewish institutions. it does not look like anything was imminent and these men have not yet been charged with anything. but the reason this has attracted attention is the idea that they may be linked to hamas's military leadership. that is significant because hamas has not been thought to have carried out terrorist or any other kind of attacks in europe in the past. it is attacks in europe in the past. it is a proscribed terrorist organisation,

but that is largely thought to have been linked to fundraising rather than trying to carry out attacks. so if there was evidence of that, that would be considered significant, and potentially a step change, is one official told me. but we have not seen hard evidence yet. it does come after some other arrests in denmark in the last 2a hours or so which is a sign, i think of rising concern. what about here in the uk? it is worth saying the threat level set by counterterrorist authorities has not risen, it is that substantial, which is historically a bit lower than it has often been in recent years. certainly there are some concerns about individuals being inspired or made angry in carrying out some attack and the longer term risks around radicalisation but it's notable that so far the threat level in the uk has not yet been raised. like gordon, thank you. gordon corera, there. in the last hour, a court in the us has ordered donald trump's former personal lawyer — rudy giuliani — to pay over

a hundred million pounds in damages to two women in the state of georgia for falsely claiming they tampered with votes in the 2020 presidential election. let's go to our north america correspondent nomia iqbal who's in washington for us now— a huge amount, what is the background to this? brugen, van brugen well, a judge had already decided that rudy giuliani had spread false information about these two women, ruby free man and shaye moss, mother and daughter, and during the civil trial, they both described how their lived had almost been destroyed after december 3rd 2020 when rudy giuliani suggested that both women they were election workers so they were counting ballots that had somehow taken part in election fraud to turn the election against donald trump in the key swing state of georgia, now, both women gave really emotional testimony in which they

talked about how they had received racist and threatening messages, foal called that people turned up at their homes calling for them to be kissed and miss moss's teenage son was targeted in such a way he couldn't finish his school education he had to fin it —— finish it at home. in terms of whatjeweljowl had to say, he never gave evidence, he never testified but his law said he never testified but his law said he should not bear responsibility for the abuse directed towards these women. now whether or not he can pay this huge amount, we don't actually know, because during the actual civil trial, know, because during the actual civiltrial, rudy know, because during the actual civil trial, rudy giuliani refused to disclose just exactly how much he is worth. thank you the medical examiner in los angeles has ruled the death of the actor matthew perry was an accident from the acute effects of ketamine. the actor — who was best known for playing chandler bing in friends — was found unresponsive in a pool

at his home in october at the age of 5a. the missing british teenager alex batty spent years on the move, according to french officials, after he was found this week near the city of toulouse. alex disappeared on holiday with his mother and grandfather in 2017 when he was 11. his grandmother today expressed her relief that he is safe. nick beake sent this report from toulouse. the little boy who went on holiday and was never seen again — until now. these photos of alex batty were taken more than six years ago. since then, he's been on the move from country to country. but this week, alex, now 17, left his mother in their remote community in the french mountains and reappeared on this street with his remarkable story. french police say he seems to be a normal teenager, despite everything. translation: the young man was described as tired _ by the police and doctor

who were able to see him. but in overall good health, and intelligent, despite having never attended school during his entire journey. the prosecutor revealed that alex's grandfather, who he was traveling with when he disappeared, died six months ago. he said the community in which alex lived was not a cult. translation: he says, there was no physical i violence from anyone. he talked about a spiritual community and didn't mention the word cult. we still need to find out more. on 30th september 2017, lex left 0ldham to go to marbella on holiday with his mother and grandfather. alex was last seen a week later in malaga on the day they were due to fly home. the following february, alex's grandmother, his legal guardian, said she believed he'd been taken to morocco to live with a spiritual community. the french police believe he could have been there for two years, before moving to spain and then coming to france and living with a travelling community

in the pyrenees mountains. but this week, after walking forfour days, he re—emerged and was picked up by a passing driver and taken to the town of ravel, then to toulouse, as he identified himself as alex batty. and in france tonight, preparations are under way to fly the 17—year—old home. the authorities say he will be on his way monday or sunday, it will be a reunion with his gran who said words couldn't express how happy and relieved she was that he had been found safe and well. in terms of what happens next, it is believed that alec�*s mother has gone to finland, alex when faced with that said he didn't want to go there and in fact he wanted to return to the uk to the life he used to lead. thank police in norwich who are searching for gaynor lord,

who's been missing for a week, say they've found a body. formal identification hasn't yet been carried out, but the 55—year—old's family have been informed. it's been a frustrating week for ukraine — as the country's grinding war with russian occupying forces continues. on tuesday, president zelensky�*s visit to washington failed to secure a new package of us military aid — blocked by president biden's opponents in congress. now hungary's leader victor 0rban has vetoed a £a3—billion eu aid package to help ukraine's struggling economy. and while european leaders did agree to start talks on ukrainejoining the eu, they've warned it could take years. almost two years on from russia's invasion, ukraine's counter—offensive has stalled and its leaders fear western support is fading. jessica parker reports now from kyiv, on the harsh reality faced by ukraine's people. a school day in ukraine

can often end up here. underground, but safer from missile threats that pepper their days and nights. it is very scary when you manage sleep and you heard "boom". underground, but safer from missile threats that pepper their days and nights. it is very scary when you manage sleep and you heard "boom". 13—year—old ivan dreams of being a pilot — and at peace. we need in future to build our country, and it will be very hard, but i know that we will do it. teachers' wages are among the many things that eu aid helps pay for, but fresh funds are stuck. so is new us defence money. we need this help very much now, don't be, you know, just a side. participate, help our children, we do our best, but with the help of other countries, we will do even more.

we have been down here for more than an hour now, and of course it is highly disruptive to the children's education, they can't be taught properly down here. that being said, everyone's very calm, they are getting on with it, they are used to it. this is the reality of daily life for ukrainian children. 0n the streets of kyiv, patriotism can't disguise these difficult days, after efforts to take back territory from russia stalled. an application to join the eu did progress this week, but for elena it is the story of her home, occupied luhansk, which absorbs her. translation: it is very painful for me to watch | what is going on in our territory. do you feel hopeful for ukraine at the moment? i believe ukraine will be free, and willjoin the eu, but i don't know when it will happen. getting on the next step of a long

ladder to possible eu membership is a boost for morale here, but you also need money, and lots of it, to fight a war. if president zelensky wanted to counter narratives of wavering western support, this hasn't been the week he would have hoped for. back in the bunker, the children wait to hear when it is safe to leave. a generation raised in the exhausting realities of war. jessica parker, bbc news, in kyiv. if you think it's been cold here this december, spare a thought for the people of china. president xijinping called for "all—out" emergency response efforts amid fears temperatures could plummet as low as minus a0 degrees celsius in some areas. heavy snowfall caused severe disruption to transport, and left the great wall of china looking like this. and in beijing, two subway trains collided, after one of the carriages failed to brake going downhill. over 500 people were sent to hospital, and it left over 100 with broken bones.

the body that investigates the most serious safety issues in the nhs has told the bbc that computer failings are causing patient harm. it says it errors have become one of the most pressing issues facing hospital trusts across england and is calling for urgent action. the government says the reports are "concerning" and it will work with nhs england to take necessary action. 0ur health correspondent sharon barbour reports. martin dawe had been waiting for weeks for his hospital test results. to see if he could find out any information, he checked his nhs app and was shocked to discover he had three serious medical conditions, including cancer. there were prostate cancer and cirrhosis of the liver and also pulmonary fibrosis. all three of these i have never been told about. i was never informed that i had any

of these conditions. i made an appointment with my local gp. i was told that i don't have any of these conditions. it's not on their systems. the words were, "we have no idea why this has not been updated. we can't explain why it's not on your record." but martin isn't the only person to have suffered from problems caused by communications and it issues. i think it's a major driver of potential harm to patients. we have seen evidence of patient deaths as a result of it systems not working. the health services safety investigations body, which examines serious incidents across england, says it failures have become a critical issue. we looked at people getting lost in the system after their outpatient appointments and found that was due to different it systems not speaking to each other. and we've also seen impact of delayed diagnosis of important illnesses like cancer. it's a serious problem and it needs urgent action.

last year, one of the country's biggest and busiest trusts, guy's and st thomas's in london, suffered a catastrophic failure when their it system went down. a critical incident report showed some patients were put at serious risk after operations were cancelled because doctors couldn't access their records. a new £450 million it system has just been launched at the trust. it issues in general are a very big problem. professor mamode was the lead transplant surgeon at st guy's until he retired last year before the critical incident. what we've not been very good at in the nhs is instituting a proper back—up system which is not going to be susceptible to the failures of the it system. it's one of the most urgent issues that the nhs faces. they really need to address it as soon as possible.

martin has since been told he doesn't have prostate cancer. tests are now being carried out to see if he does have cirrhosis or pulmonary fibrosis. his local hospital has apologised for the incorrect cancer diagnosis on his app and his gp surgery admits it has been confusing. sharon barbour, bbc news. after 12 weeks of tangos, salsas and foxtrots, the strictly final is tomorrow evening, where they'll be sashaying it out on the dance floor for the glitterball trophy! the three couples in the final are bobby and dianne, ellie and vito and layton and nikita. sophie van brugen went to meet them ahead of the big day. strictly theme. last year, over nine million tuned in to watch the strictly come dancing final. tomorrow, the programme will crown its 21st winner. so who is in the running?

from eastenders, bobby brazier and his partner dianne buswell.| people love it. there's people that have loved it for as long as i've been alive, you know, and keep showing up, and they maintain the kind of enthusiasm year after year. actor layton williams - and his partner nikita kutzmin. i feel like, if you win it is kind of the perfect kind of well done, you did that. and finally actor ellie leach l and her partner vito coppola. it would be mazing to lift the glitterball, but if we don't, i already do feel like i've won, i have had the most incredible journey. and thatjourney continues... remember — keep dancing! ..as the show will soon be celebrating 20 years of being on television. sophie van brugen, bbc news. and you can see more of sophie's

interview with all the contestants on breakfast in the morning. a bit more glitterfor you now, and last night some lucky star gazers spotted the geminids meteor shower. visible around the world, the meteors can be seen with the naked eye as long as the sky isn't too cloudy or affected by light pollution. this shot in the dark was taken in chirnside in the scottish borders by bbc weather watcher skywatcher. this one over cwmbran in wales by a bbc weather watcher pilgrim. and tom wright took this very clear picture of a meteor above holy island's lindisfarne castle. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. chris what are the skies like tonight for the shower? well there is a lot of cloud round at the moment but there are a few breaks in the cloud, right now across parts of southern and eastern england you have a chance of catch, a sight. lovely end to the day across north east england, few breaks in the cloud there to allow the final rays

of the setting sun through. it was across eastern england scotland that had low temperatures today but it will be turning milder as we head on into the weekend. 0vernight we do have extensive cloud. there are a few breaks at the moment in southern and eastern england. damp weather in scotland, patches of drizzle for northern ireland, and for western coasts and hills of wales around western england as well, but it is a relatively mild night. on into the weekend we get this weather front stuck across the north—west of scotland. this could bring pretty large rainfall totals into the highlands, some where between 75 and maybe 200m l of rain. that would bring the threat of flooding and landslip. there is an amber weather warning for that, we will keep watching it. through the weekend away from that north—west corner of scotland where it will be wet. a bit of drizzle for the rest of scotland, wail, england. no great rainfall

amounts, with stronger