israel says it's interrogating hundreds of suspected hamas and islamichhad operatives who've been captured in gaza. the military said the men — some of whom had been hiding among the civilian population — have been transferred to israel for questioning. meanwhile israel's bombardment of gaza continues. for the first time in centuries ukraine will celebrate christmas not on the 7th january but on the 25th december. earlier this year president zelensky signed into law a parliamentary bill that aimed to "abandon the russian heritage of imposing christmas celebrations". more now on that story of a mother from alabama in the united states with a rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days. joining me now from birmingham alabama is dr shweta patel who's assistant professor

in the obstetrics and gynecology department at uab and was one of the doctors who helped manage the delivery. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. just tell us more about how this came about.— this came about. thank you for havin: this came about. thank you for having me- _ this came about. thank you for having me. kelsey— this came about. thank you for having me. kelsey was - this came about. thank you for having me. kelsey was coming| this came about. thank you for. having me. kelsey was coming in this came about. thank you for- having me. kelsey was coming in for her first new visit and we knew she had a condition with a double uterus. that is when we found out that not only was she pregnant in one uterus, she was also pregnant any other uterus. that one uterus, she was also pregnant any other uterus.— any other uterus. that must be incredibly _ any other uterus. that must be incredibly rare. _ any other uterus. that must be incredibly rare. it _ any other uterus. that must be incredibly rare. it is _ any other uterus. that must be incredibly rare. it is very, - any other uterus. that must be incredibly rare. it is very, very| incredibly rare. it is very, very rare. incredibly rare. it is very, very rare- that— incredibly rare. it is very, very rare. that is _ incredibly rare. it is very, very rare. that is something - incredibly rare. it is very, very rare. that is something that i rare. that is something that obstetricians go through their whole careers and never see. haifa obstetricians go through their whole careers and never see.— careers and never see. how that is actually work _ careers and never see. how that is actually work biologically? - actually work biologically? biologically her uterus developed in an atypical way. a normal uterus forms by having two ducts that fuse together. hers did not fuse and that

led to two separate uterus is into separate cervix is. she likely ovulated separately with separate eggs going down each uterus and spurn being fertilised separately as well, leading to two separate babies in each uterus.— in each uterus. wow, that is incredible. _ in each uterus. wow, that is incredible. how _ in each uterus. wow, that is incredible. how tricky - in each uterus. wow, that is incredible. how tricky was i in each uterus. wow, that is i incredible. how tricky was her pregnancy?— incredible. how tricky was her pregnancy? incredible. how tricky was her reunan ? , . _ pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in reuards pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that _ pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that we _ pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that we don't _ pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that we don't have - pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that we don't have a - pregnancy? her pregnancy was tricky in regards that we don't have a lot i in regards that we don't have a lot of evidence or data to know how to do her prenatal care. we took a lot of learning we know about how to take care of typical twin blitzes and applied it to her. luckily her prenatal care was not too out of the ordinary. it was a typical routine prenatal care, requiring more frequent visits and ultrasounds, but her labour was the part that was the most atypical. tell her labour was the part that was the most atypical-— her labour was the part that was the most atypical— a i most atypical. tell us about that. a lot of planning _ most atypical. tell us about that. a lot of planning was _ most atypical. tell us about that. a lot of planning was involved. - most atypical. tell us about that. a lot of planning was involved. we i lot of planning was involved. we only had case reports to help us decide how to progress with her

labour. case reports had shown they had both been delivered for china li, one would be the jowly and one c—section. since kelsey had prior delivery she was hoping for that kind of delivery and both babies were positioned like that. we wanted her to go into spontaneous labour as naturally as possible but she went past that time that we could allow that and required to be induced. but they didn't come out at the same time same day, so you now have twins that don't have the same birthday. no, they didn't. as most babies they had a mind of their own and one came... the first baby on the right uterus came in about ten hours later the baby came by c—section. and uterus came in about ten hours later the baby came by c-section. and the babies have — the baby came by c-section. and the babies have names _ the baby came by c-section. and the babies have names and _ the baby came by c-section. and the

babies have names and how - the baby came by c-section. and the babies have names and how is - the baby came by c-section. and the babies have names and how is mum| babies have names and how is mum doing? babies have names and how is mum doinu ? ~ , ., ., babies have names and how is mum doinr? ~ , ., ., babies have names and how is mum doing? mum is great and both babies are doinu doing? mum is great and both babies are doing well- _ doing? mum is great and both babies are doing well. the _ doing? mum is great and both babies are doing well. the baby _ doing? mum is great and both babies are doing well. the baby on - doing? mum is great and both babies are doing well. the baby on the - are doing well. the baby on the right is called roxy and the baby on the left side, who came by c—section, is called rebel. appropriately named. c-section, is called rebel. auroriatel named. ., , ., , appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank ou appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank you very — appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank you very much _ appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank you very much for _ appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank you very much for taking - appropriately named. roxy and rebel. thank you very much for taking us - thank you very much for taking us through that story. we hope, perhaps one day, to speak to kelsey ourselves here on bbc news. thank ourselves here on bbc news. thank ou for ourselves here on bbc news. thank you for having _ ourselves here on bbc news. thank you for having me. _ ourselves here on bbc news. thank you for having me. what _ ourselves here on bbc news. thank you for having me. what an - you for having me. what an incredible _ you for having me. what an incredible story. _ you for having me. what an incredible story. now - you for having me. what an incredible story. now on i you for having me. what an l incredible story. now on abc you for having me. what an - incredible story. now on abc news. now on bbc news...talking movies: martin scorsese special. sings in italian

hello from new york, and welcome to our talking movies martin scorsese special. i'm here in lower manhattan in the neighbourhood of little italy. in the 1950s and �*60s it was home to martin scorsese, who is without any doubt one of america's most celebrated film—makers. a0 years or so ago, prior to my move to live in new york, i was already a big scorsese fan. the director had made his mark with his defining films of the 1970s, like mean streets... i'm gonna pay you next week — i'm gonna pay you! ..taxi driver... are you talking to me? ..and the soon—to—be—released raging bull. there's no—one else around who wants to fight me. they're all afraid. all three starring robert de niro. the collaboration with de niro persists to the present day, but he has also worked closely with leonardo dicaprio and many memorable movies... ..gangs of new york... i'd check my pockets if i was you, because i do believe she lifted your timepiece.

..and the aviator... we don't care about money here, mr hughes. well, that's 'cause you have it. ..the departed, which brought scorsese his first best director oscar, and the wolf of wall street. i want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich! in all, he has made more than 45 features, often crime films, and won numerous accolades. it's a very impressive body of work. his films have been influenced by his italian—american background and by his catholicism. he nearly always features macho—posturing men and sometimes extreme violence. what i like about martin scorsese as a film—maker is that his films are about something. they have moral weight. also, he is incredible skilled as a director. he has his hallmark use of rapid editing at times, use of slow motion and freeze frames, and ingenious use of contemporary soundtracks. when people first heard that you were making this film,

they were surprised because they thought it was very different in terms of subject matter from your previous work. do you think it is a break in trend, or are there commonalities between this film and your previous films? after writing the script, some friends of ours who'd read it said it's similar in theme. i did sit down to interview martin scorsese 30 years ago when he made the age of innocence. is there someone else? someone else? between you and me? what i've always liked about scorsese, in a way, is that he is an outsider. he has never really been part of a hollywood studio system. he has always made brilliant cinema, usually on his own terms. now, martin scorsese, at the age of 80, has made killers of the flower moon — his first western. whose land is this? my land. the crime saga featuring once again his two favourite actors, dicaprio and de niro. the war hero has arrived. you made a good choice coming back here. one critic has described it as a landmark motion picture achievement. i don't disagree.

evil surrounds my heart. at its heart, killers of the flower moon, inspired by a book, is about love and deceit. why did you come here? but perhaps more than anything else, it is about naked greed. money flows freely here now. i do love that money, sir. it's based on the true story of the orchestrated so—called reign of terror in the 1920s in oklahoma in which more than 60 native americans were killed so white men could get their hands on the oil that lay beneath their land. there are many — so many hungry wolves. oil had made the osage nation extremely wealthy. when this money start coming, we shoulda known it came to something else. i've met you on red carpets and junkets over the years. yes, i've seen you over the years too.

ok, good — i hope in a good way. yes. well, martin scorsese, a very big, warm welcome to talking movies. i saw your film killers of the flower moon, and ifound it very, very powerful. why did you want to make it? well, i was really drawn to the story in the sense that one of my favourite genres is the western. we'd all be much better off if there wasn't a single gun left in this valley. a gun is as good or bad as the man using it. i back in the �*aos and �*50s, i grew up watching westerns. growing up as an urban kid on the lower east side, living in tenements, and not allowed to go near animals or run and play or do sports because i had asthma... come back! ..the western opened up vistas for me in black and white and technicolor, et cetera. miller! it was a fantasy land. what we could do is do...

but martin scorsese did not want to just make a western. he also wanted to tell a story of historic injustice towards native americans and, ultimately, he didn't want it to be a white saviour story. more than a0 roles in his film are played by osage actors. he had long known of their suffering. down in new york's little italy, around mulberry street in lower manhattan, violence is the first rule of survival. his little italy upbringing helped him understand the story. there was a great deal of street crime, organised crime, et cetera. a pretty good area, pretty decent people, but there were a lot of people doing some bad things. and so, i know that thinking and i found it was the same thinking in this story. now, you could take it from robbing somebody�*s store, mugging somebody, let's say, or take it to the point of wiping out an indigenous nation. there's a very little step that one could take and so, i wanted to immerse myself in that world.

well, look, i'm going to lay this out, kind of, and then, we're going to move it according to the drone. if you look at the history in hollywood and how it has portrayed native americans, do you believe there is a lot of catching up to do? and in a way, i mean, yourfilm does represent an effort to not just tell this story from the white person's point of view. hollywood started working with the native americans — you know, thomas ince, demille. they made these silent films —john ford. they had real native americans acting in them. in one case, a film i like very much directed by thomas ince, a two—reeler called called the last of the line in which sessue hayakawa plays a native american. they were still shifting and shuffling because he was a very big star at the time. right around the late �*20s and �*30s, it changed and that became the box office stars portraying native americans. to talk of peace is not hard. to live it is very hard. there were attempts, really by some interesting film makers — delmer daves, mainly —

and i think the key one is broken arrow, to understand the native american, the indigenous. and i think broken arrow was the first film i saw — in the beautiful technicolor — actual rituals and cultural elements of the native american that was not necessarily warlike. there was devil's doorway by anthony mann... if you are trying to say it's feeling for me, then i don't believe you. ..drum beat by delmer daves... i came to talk peace. but you talk about killing. ..apache with burt lancaster... i'm the last real apache left in all of this world. - ..played by robert aldrich. so, these were all attempts to understand the native american. however, all the native americans are played byjeff chandler, burt lancaster, charles bronson, that sort of thing, in order to get the box office. and that wasn't the case with your film? no, not at all. no. no, so, no matter what happens, no matter what approach i take, we have to make sure it is ok with all these guys.

we have to go in there. i have to know who they are. and that's what happened. chief geoff standing bear, we became, you know, good friends and we started going back and forth to oklahoma, and i became very friendly with many of the people there, and many of them are in the film now. ijust love money. i love it as much as i love my wife. it is a period film, in that it is set in oklahoma in the 1920s but, in many ways it's about greedy white men doing terrible things to another race. do you think that has contemporary relevance in america today? that hasn't changed in america. it hasn't changed around the world. i mean, you're saying white, but there are others who do that, too, in different parts of the world. in terms of america, the struggle is always there. the struggle is always there. the opportunity to make a change is there, too. the only thing is we have to know about it. we have to know about it. you can't hide it. you can't forbid people to read books or see films or see plays or hear certain music. you have to know about it.

let me ask you, if i may, about another matter which i know is very close to your heart, and that is film preservation. why is it so important, to your mind, that we do make an effort to preserve old films and restore them wherever possible? i guess the first thing that comes to mind, it's like saying why restore the vellum at the library at oxford? why conserve these books? you know, the knowledge in the books, the picture it gives us of who we are or who we were, the good things, the shameful things. these can't be swept under the rug. we have to know. we have to acknowledge it. cinema has a lot of that, there's no doubt. but also i've been for years — i really do believe it is a great art form. in fact, scorsese has been a passionate advocate for film preservation and has founded several organisations to that end. he has long been a fan of the celebrated british film—making partnership of michael powell and emeric

pressburger. both directors died more than 30 years ago. scorsese has sought to preserve their films, among them the 1948 the red shoes... why do you want to dance? why do you want to live? ..with its themes of passion and obsession... you shall dance and the world shall follow. ..which had a huge impact on him. thelma schoonmaker, scorsese's long—time editor, was married to michael powell, co—director of the red shoes. she worked on the restoration. thelma worked laborious work on that. digital really helped us on that. we went back to the original negatives. but, you know, i saw the film when i was about eight years old or nine years old. the images were so palpable, as if it was like taking a paintbrush and just brushing across the frame, but what struck me were the characters and this heightened, hyperworld of art and ballet. particularly, the whole thing comes down to — at one point she says "i want to be a dancer,"

and he said, "why do you want to dance?" and she says, "why do you want to live?" art can be that way. and as a child, i thought of that all the time. can you live without — if you can make art good, bad or indifferent — can you live without it? what's the point of living without it? that's what you do. and so ultimately, their lives are sacrificed for it, all of them, really, sacrificed by — the passion eats them up or devours them, i should say. and the passion's up there on the screen, particularly in the ballet of the red shoes. the movie stops for 17 minutes. these days, i mean, up to a certain point in time, people went and saw films where sequences would come on for 20 minutes of a dance sequence, but it started with red shoes, and it was ballet. it wasn't the american in paris dance. that's later and that was more modern dance. this is ballet, it's different.

martin scorsese has long been a very authentic voice in the movie business. he generally speaks his mind and, fouryears ago, in an interview with empire magazine which has been oft—quoted, he was asked what he thought of marvel superhero films and he was quite forthright. he said to him they resembled a theme park and they really weren't cinema. well, those remarks caused quite a stir. not only is he not comfortable with marvel films, the whole digital revolution and the ascendancy of streaming seems to have left him very uncomfortable. now, the revolution is so strong, it's at the point at which sound was invented. i mean, in that sense with streaming, with cgi. they're in it to make money. you make money by making pictures people want to see. higher, further, faster. that has always been

the case, hasn't it? it's always been the case but now, the only ones they're making are franchises and things — and some of them may be very good, by the way. i'm just saying that that is not the only film but that is what the studios are making. so, what i am saying is the money is there now for the franchise, for the action film, and that's where it's going to stay. what is happening to me? and you don't seem to have a very high opinion of them? oh, you're going back to what i said four years ago. you know, i tried — i tried to. they're not for me but i'm trying. as you get older, i'm trying to figure out where the hell to spend my time. i can't do it with them, i tried. i saw it. idid it. you know, i want to find other things, you see what i am saying? scorsese knows he and other film—makers are facing a changed landscape. he has to contend with a viewing audience that is more than ever fragmented and politically polarised. also in an age where there is greater scrutiny about who is represented

on the screen and how, scorsese moved with care to tell the story of the osage murders. he was determined that killers of the flower moon would give due weight to the indigenous characters. this was supposed to be a suicide, you dumbbell! in fact, the soul of his new epic does not belong to the white man portrayed by robert de niro and leonardo dicaprio, but to a native american woman played by lily gladstone. you have got nice—coloured skin. what colour would you say that is? my colour. the film obviously has a male protagonist in it, but do you think the soul of your movie does belong to a woman in a way, lily gladstone? there is no doubt. lily gladstone really is the heart of it. that is what leo said to me at one point. we were trying to work this script for 2—3 years and we got hit with covid, as everyone else did, and we did not know we were going to make the film, whether we would live or die. and if we were to proceed with the project, the way it was constructed by

david grann in the book in an extraordinary way, it would become like a police procedural. and i like watching those films but i don't know if i can do them. and i tried to change and i tried to make it and tried to make it and then, finally, leo dicaprio, at one point, because he was going to play tom white. i was sent down from washington, dc, to see about these murders. and at one point, he came to me and said, "where's the heart "of the picture?" isaid, "huh!". he said, "what if i play ernest?" "k..." i said, "we've tried everything else". speaks osage. that's how you are. i don't know what she said but it must've been indianj for " handsome devil". laughs. the real insidious and sinister nature is the love relationship. i work for my uncle. you're scared of him. because that's the ultimate trust and betrayal. does he really intend to kill her? i don't know. i think he's purely a weakling. you're going to make trouble, make it big. how much more his uncle

could've forced him to pursue. we decided to go ahead, make him ernest, work with lily and create this relationship based on what we could put together from family members who were still alive who ernest was. but she is the one. and as — ellen lewisjust showed me her in certain women, kelly reichardt film... ijust know if i didn't start driving, i wasn't going to see you again. i didn't want that. and i saw that face and i saw what was going on with her eyes that i said, "that's the one here". i said, "she's really interesting". one zoom call — because of covid, we still couldn't fly around — and immediately, i understood the intelligence and the heart that she had and the activism of her but also, the understanding of the love story. you don't operate in a vacuum. you are a director in contemporary america. this country is more polarised politically than ever. do you feel that film can be a unifying force at all? i'm not sure. i hope it can.

it still is a form of communication. the problem i — and i may be wrong on this — but the problem i see it's fragmented. that films are made for certain groups. another group. indies are indies. films made for different gender, different sexuality, etc. well, they should be films altogether, you know? yes, you can find certain things you like in specific categories but one shouldn't — what it is is that if those films are made for a good price and they bring back a certain amount of money, fine. it's almost like a token situation i'm concerned about. yes, well, what are they complaining about? those pictures are made. well, no. we want them bigger. we want more audiences to see them. bob, the kid doesn't look like a gangster yet. he has to look — the shoes have got to be shined. right. he has to — i think he should wear a shirt and tie. christie, i want you to be here. martin scorsese has, at times, been a director for hire but has fought to make movies on his own terms,

and it's usually paid off — at least in terms of artistic integrity. killers of the flower moon became a big budget undertaking. it was bankrolled by apple original films to the tune of $200 million. one of the things i found really rewarding about killers of the flower moon is that there was evidence of a single artistic vision — your vision — coming through, hopefully not interfered with on screen. you know, i also found that this year perhaps with barbie and greta gerwig's vision or christopher nolan and oppenheimer. i mean, how hard is it to make that kind of a film nowadays where your vision does prevail? the key there is the support from the financing in the case of our — in the case of apple, for example. once i gave them the idea of how we wanted to approach the story and what we wanted to do, they were open to me exploring every aspect. i kept changing it as we went along and i kept adding more and more of the rituals and the cultural aspects

of the osage. i never felt that there were people looking over my shoulder. you could say, "well, that's because you are who you are". yeah, but i'm 80 years old now, all right, so now, i was able to make a picture with nobody looking over my shoulder, in a sense. if they were, they were very quiet, so that they were always supporting to get what i wanted, you know, on screen. let me ask you — you mentioned getting older. i mean, actually, i'm only ten years behind you — i'm 70. oh, my...! i remember you when you had a — no white in the moustache. ok, well... chuckles. yeah, that's true. now, look at this! you look pretty good, let me tell you. but how does getting older affect the kinds of storytelling that you want to do as a film—maker? are there films that you feel you've got to do before it's too late? i know, and the funny thing is i have a few i really want to do. i hope i can make it. it comes down to what's in the frame, where to place that camera and where to spend whatever time is left

to your life telling a story. is it worth the deal? well, that's all from little italy and our talking movies martin scorsese special. we're going to leave you with one of my favourite moments of new york martin scorsese cinema. it comes from the 1990 film goodfellas and is a highly orchestrated three—minute tracking shot that begins outside the old new york copacabana nightclub. it really is wondrous cinema. thank you, sir. see you later. thanks. what are you doing? i you're leaving your car? let me just finish now by telling you that i remember your work — or film—maker's work — by kind of moments, and there's a great moment in goodfellas when ray liotta takes lorraine bracco into the copacabana. oh, yes. and it's a tracking shot. it's an incredible shot. was that — i mean, i kind of cry when i watch that. was that hard to orchestrate? well, yes.

however, we used the real copa, we used the real lobby and back area and through the kitchen. we would go in at rehearsal and say, "i need this here, "i need this here, i need this here," and i had the main actors — i had ray and lorraine — and even the real maitre d' of the copa, who — we sees him slip him some money, gets him the table. you pan over and the table comes by. when i used to go to the copa, that's what it was. you know, we always thought you had great ringside seats to see the show and just before the show started, three orfour tables would fly in the air, right in front of you. big wise guys would come and sit in front of you. laughs. you couldn't see a thing and you couldn't say anything! so, they did a beautifuljob. well, it was a really magical moment. look, martin scorsese, thank you so much for doing this interview. thank you. i really appreciate it. thank you. good to see you again. hello there.

we've got typical festive fare to come over the next few days. i'll show you that in a moment. today was another mild one, temperatures widely in double figures. there was even a bit of sunshine coming through the cloud as well. different story in scotland where we've had a wintry scene across northern parts of the mainland. the snow that was falling here has since turned to rain. and it's quite misty and murky, very wet at the moment. but the rain will ease off in scotland and northern ireland. the main rain band pushing down towards southern parts of england and across the northern isles. it'll be followed by some clearer spells for northern parts of the uk and a few showers. and it's going to be a mild start to sunday morning, christmas eve, but it's going to be a windy day for all of us on christmas eve, particularly so over and to the east of the pennines — could be quite difficult for driving high sided vehicles up and down the ai. very windy conditions also — widely in scotland with the strongest gusts 70 miles an hour in northern parts of the mainland and across orkney. and those really strong winds will drive in lots of blustery showers across scotland.

sunshine and showers will follow to northern ireland, northern england and eventually north wales and the north midlands as our main band of clouds sinks southwards, bringing rain for a while in wales and then more towards the south west of england in the afternoon. temperatures could actually reach 15 degrees across eastern parts of england, but those numbers do drop a little bit during the afternoon. cooler air is coming in behind that weather front there. that's bringing the rain and the cloud across southern areas. it's going to sit around overnight and will still be there into christmas morning. but we've got another weather system to the north and the two will combine to bring a lot of cloud, rain developing quite widely, some snow over the hills across northern scotland where the air is that bit colder, but otherwise, another mild day. temperatures could reach ia degrees in the southeast with the blustery winds. now, those two weather systems will sweep away overnight. things will calm down as we head into boxing day. the winds will be lighter. it's still a bit blustery across the north and west of scotland with a few wintry showers here just for a while. otherwise, a lot of dry weather, plenty of sunshine around.

there is some rain in the channel — that'll push back towards the far south west of england. temperatures will be a little bit lower. so let's summarise the next few days. we've got the strong winds and mild weather for christmas eve could bring some travel disruption, then rain develops for christmas day. if you're out on boxing day, it looks sunny. live from london. this is bbc news. bells mark a minute of silence in prague to remember the victims of thursday's mass shooting.

israel says it's interrogating hundreds of suspected hamas and islamichhad operatives who've been captured in gaza. rebecca welch makes history, becoming the first woman premier league referee, as she takes charge at this afternoon's match between fulham and burnley. and a piece of street art by the elusive banksy was removed shortly after being unveiled. police in london say they are investigating a report of theft. we start in the czech republic. a minute's silence has been held for the ia people shot dead by a student at a university in prague. thursday's attack also left dozens injured. the czech prime minister has described the "pain and sorrow" of an entire societyjust before christmas. the gunman killed himself when surrounded by police. from prague, sarah rainsford

sent this report. bells ring