and glynn simmons, the longest—serving wrongly imprisoned us inmate is declared innocent , what his case could mean for other wrongly accused prisoners. hello, i'm carl nasman. we start in the middle east, and the hamas—run health ministry has said that more than 200 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours, as air strikes continue. the israel defence forces say that five of their soldiers have been killed in the gaza strip since friday. fighting has been raging despite a un resolution demanding more access for humanitarian deliveries. the us abstained in that vote, and president biden said he spoke to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu by phone on saturday — but did not demand a ceasefire. mr netanyahu said he reiterated that the war will continue until all the objectives

are met. with more, here's our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson. explosions. in gaza, this is the new normal. drone strikes in the border town of rafah, emptying the local market. 17—year—old joe, filming on his phone, still clutching his bag of shopping and calling on god for protection. america has blocked un calls for a ceasefire. israel says it needs to keep fighting to keep up the pressure on hamas. if you want a ceasefire, that, from israel's perspective, can only happen with the release of hostages. as you know, hamas continues to hold over 100 hostages. there's a chance, because they want that ceasefire, they need that ceasefire, they will agree to the hostages but to be frank, had we agreed to the un secretary—general�*s proposal over a month ago for this unilateral ceasefire, we would never have got the 110 hostages out that we

did in november. israel's army said this week it had killed tens of hamas fighters in an ambush near gaza city. and that it's preparing to expand operations to new areas in the south. israel is keen to show it's making progress against hamas. its security forces say 700 palestinian fighters have been taken to israel for questioning. 200 of them in the last week. but palestinian groups are still firing rockets into israel and there's no sign of the hamas leaders israel blames for the 7th of october attacks. strikes in khan younis yesterday reportedly killed around 50 people. gaza's hamas—run government says most of those killed in the war are women and children. mass funerals held daily at hospital morgues. translation: the mask of humanity has fallen. i what's going on in the corridors of the un security council is nothing

more than theatre and farce. confirming the continued murder and extermination of civilians. this is a genocide. israelis were told this war would bring security. to gazans, it's bringing the opposite. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. meanwhile in tel aviv, thousands of people attended a rally on saturday, calling on israel's government to secure the immediate release of all hostages being held by hamas. it's thought that more than 120 people remain in captivity in the gaza strip. a palestinian official says egypt has presented a new plan for a two—week truce with an exchange of israeli hostages and palestinian detainees. earlier this week, hamas said that it would not release any more hostages until the end of the war. and in bethlehem in the israeli—occupied west bank, a christmas grotto in support of gaza has been installed outside the church of

nativity on manger square. the display includes figures which are covered and standing amongst rubble and razor wire fences. who about half a million palestinian refugees are currently registered in lebanon — they were mostly displaced there in 1948 and i967. for many of them, the current war in gaza is both a traumatic flashback — and a worrying development for the future. lina sinjab reports from the shatila refugee camp. a slum in the south of beirut. shatila camp is home to thousands of palestinian refugees. translation: 0ur| house was on a hill. it was very beautiful. dawood is originally from nazareth. he arrived in lebanon with his family in 1948 when he was six. translation: we walked from palestine. _

like him, many arrived in 1948. up until may that year, britain had governed palestine under a un mandate on a promise to establish a national home there forjewish people. in the war that followed israel's declaration of statehood in may 1948, about 700,000 palestinians were expelled or forced from their homes. dawood's family members now live in lebanon, europe and gaza. this latest war has reopened old wounds and has pushed people to the extreme. translation: if you look. at hiroshima, it is not as bad as what they did in gaza. they want to exterminate all palestinians, not only hamas. the bloodshed has been going on since 1948. the israeli defence forces say they are trying to minimise civilian casualties in gaza, but here, there is a widespread sense of anger. many share dawood's views as now, over 20,000 people have

been killed in gaza. nearly half of them are children. because of the sectarian divisions in lebanon and the palestinian involvement in the lebanese civil war in the mid—70s, to this day, the lebanese government does not recognise any rights to palestinian refugees, not even property ownership. and poorly paid jobs are the only ones allowed for young people in this camp. the united nations agency unwra has been providing help here for decades. security is very bad. sanitation, water is always a problem and unwra is struggling to provide these very basic services to the palestine refugees that should be standing on their own feet, 75 years later. this museum connects personal belongings of refugees. some people have even kept their old house keys, hoping one day to be back. but as war continues in gaza, the future

for many looks bleak. netanyahu does not want a state of palestine. so what can we do? we are in need of a partner that will also say ok to peace. today, people in the camp have taken to the streets to express solidarity with people in gaza. generation after generation here keeps palestine in their heart and mind. since the war in gaza broke out there have been concerns that it will spread wider. a drone raid has damaged a ship with links to israel in the arabian sea, off the coast of india. a british maritime security firm said the attack happened 200 miles southwest of veraval. it caused a fire on board, but there were no casualties. the strike came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by iran—backed, houthi rebels, in yemen. they're targeting vessels

passing through the red sea, forcing shipping companies to change course. but it is not yet clear who was behind this strike. anbarasan ethirajan — our south asia regional editor — has more. according to one of the maritime security agencies this particular cargo ship, which was carrying chemical products, which started from saudi arabia, on his way to one of the ports in southern india, came under attack by an unmanned aerial vehicle. this happened just 200 nautical miles off the coast of the western part of india, from the state of gujarat, into the arabian sea. now what is significant here is that we've been hearing about a on cargo ships and containerships passing through the red sea by the hooty rebels. by the houthi rebels. they've attacked about ten ships so far. but this particular

incident happened probably, approximately about 2000 kilometres away from that area. it shows how far this conflict can spread. and it's also a big question, who could have carried it out. no group, no country have said they were responsible for this attack. there was a fire on the boat. it was put out. there was some structural damage to the ship. it also took some water. there were 20 indian crew, so it is a big danger to all these commercial vehicles carrying a huge amount of cargo because the security firm also says that the ship was linked to israel and that's why probably came under attack. a warning sign for countries in the region, including india. a minute of silence has been held for the 14 people shot dead in the czech republic by a student at a university in the captial of prague. thursday's attack also left dozens injured. the czech prime minister has described the "pain and sorrow" of an entire society just before christmas. the gunman killed himself after he was surrounded by police. from prague, sarah rainsford

sent this report. bell tolls. a nation paused today to remember the victims of an attack people here can't make sense of, but has brought pain and suffering. church bells rang out across the czech republic to mark the moment. to honour those killed when a student attacked his own university, shooting in the corridors and classrooms. so far, we know three of the dead, including lenka hlavkova, a teacher, who was 49. there are shrines like this outside universities all over the country. here at the arts faculty that was attacked, some have personal connections to the victims. one of our...not friend, but neighbours of our city died here. she was a professor, a music professor.

so, it's very, very sad. sorry... unbelievable for us, this occasion. a friend of these women survived by locking herself into a classroom to hide. translation: she cowered under the table. _ i saw her yesterday and felt sorry for her. she was still shaking. images from a bodycamera show the police hunt for the gunman inside charles university. at this point, the 24—year—old was prowling the corridors above. we're told most of his victims were female, but we have no idea of his motive. in the end, he turned his gun on himself. many people were seriously injured, carried out of the building by police. this attack has not only brought horror here to prague, it is a national tragedy. there are so many questions to answer about how exactly it was possible, and how to prevent anything like it in the future.

but for now, the focus is on mourning the dead, and on remembering the injured. the mass shooting is the worst this country has ever known, and it targeted young students and teachers who should have been returning home to theirfamilies now, for christmas. sarah rainsford, bbc news, prague. for the past several days, we have been following the story of glynn simmons — an oklahoma man who spent almost 50 years in a us prison for a crime he had no part in. at 22 years old, simmons was convicted of murder. he's now 70, and he onlyjust got out of prison. ajudge ruled on tuesday that simmons is innocent. as simmons argued all along, he was in a different state at the time of the murder in 197a. he is believed to be the longest—serving prisoner to eventually be declared innocent, in us history. america takes pride in calling itself the land of the free, so how does an innocent man

spend almost 50 years behind bars, and how many other innocent people are wrongly imprisoned across the united states, waiting for the day they are exonerated? i'm joined by ngozi ndulue — special adviser on race and wrongful conviction for the innocence project. thank you so much for being here. 48 years in prison for a crime that he didn't commit. just talk to us a bit how something like this could happen to a man like glynn simmons and how, common are cases like this?— cases like this? this seems like an extraordinary - cases like this? this seems like an extraordinary case, | cases like this? this seems . like an extraordinary case, and it is because of the sheer length of time before being exonerated. unfortunately, we have seen several cases like this where it's taken decades for people to be exonerated. our client leonard mack was exonerated after 47 years,

since his wrongful conviction. no, he didn't spend all that time incarcerated, he spent seven and a half years incarcerated. we saw in october another oklahoma man who was exonerated after 35 years. so what we can take from this is that, though we have a justice system that allows, is supposed to ensure that the right people are convicted, there are opportunities for people who have been wrongfully convicted, to actually get their freedom, that there are issues that continue. that are issues that were problems with the justice system at the time that mr simmons was convicted, and problems with the justice system today that we still need to be working to remedy to make sure there are pathways to prevent new wrongful convictions and to ensure we can actually write the wrongs of the past.

can actually write the wrongs of the past-— can actually write the wrongs of the past. can actually write the wrongs ofthe ast. ~ ,, ., , , ., of the past. when simmons is of course an _ of the past. when simmons is of course an african-american - of the past. when simmons is of course an african-american manj course an african—american man living in the south of this country. what role does race play in wrongful convictions like this one?— play in wrongful convictions like this one? well we know that race — like this one? well we know that race plays _ like this one? well we know that race plays a _ like this one? well we know that race plays a huge - like this one? well we know that race plays a huge role i that race plays a huge role throughout our criminal legal system so we shouldn't be surprised that race is, racial justice issues show up throughout wrongful convictions across the country. so for the innocence project, the vast majority of the people that we have exonerated in our 30 years have exonerated in our 30 years have been people of colour, two thirds have been people of colour, 57% have been black people. so we know that this is disproportionate to the amount of people that have, that committed crimes in this country, to the amount of people who are actually incarcerated in this country, we know something is going on. and we see from studies from the national registry of exoneration that black people are seven times more likely, innocent black people are seven times more likely to be

wrongfully convicted then white people. and that comes from a lot of different places. we see that if we think about police misconduct is a leading factor in wrongful convictions, and we know that the ways that policing is deployed disparately in communities of colour. we know that there are issues with cross racial eyewitness identification, we know that there are issues with inadequate legal representation and the use of forensic science, so we see that there are number of places where racial bias can fit in to the way that a wrongful conviction is produced. so when we are looking at ways to actually remedy and prevent future wrongful convictions, we actually have to be looking at bigger picture solutions that are going to ensure that the way that policing and courts work, the way that sentencing

works, does not actually allow for this racial bias to seep into the process. one thing i will note about glenn simmons's case, it was a death penalty case. we see specifically the death penalty cases how pernicious racial bias is. and starting through the charging phase all the way through sentencing and conviction, and they end up being executed. it's very predictive of who is going to get a death sentence and we see studies, doctor jennifer everhart did a study in philadelphia just the facial features of the person facing the death penalty, if the person was black and more dark skinned and have more traditional features that were associated with african—americans, associated with african—america ns, they associated with african—americans, they were more likely to be sentenced to death. so we see the ways that... ., , , , , that... really briefly, i “ust want to make i that... really briefly, i “ust want to make sure, i that... really briefly, ijustl want to make sure, because that... really briefly, ijust- want to make sure, because this is such a momentous case, nearly 40 years in prison. we're short of time, but what

do you think this exoneration could mean for anyone else who might also be wrongfully convicted?— might also be wrongfully convicted? , , ., convicted? they should open --eoles convicted? they should open peeples eyes _ convicted? they should open peeples eyes to _ convicted? they should open peoples eyes to the - convicted? they should open peoples eyes to the fact - convicted? they should open peoples eyes to the fact that| peoples eyes to the fact that peoples eyes to the fact that people who are serving very long sentences who should never have been there in the first place, i think that that could make a difference with prosecutor's offices that need to reassess and review cases to make sure that people are not there in prison currently who have not been, who are serving sentences they shouldn't be serving, it should also give us some pause about parole boards. mr simmons was in front of the parole board repeatedly and was not paroled. and look at legislation across the country to say are we actually making sure that people are not being wrongfully convicted, one example right now is in new york, we've been pushing for a wrongful conviction act that would give people who have pled

guilty, because people often falsely confess give them a pathway to actually get there wrongful conviction overturned and that doesn't exist right now. so i think that the existence of somebody who has beenin existence of somebody who has been in the system for so long for something that they didn't do, should really spur change across the board.— across the board. thank you, secial across the board. thank you, special adviser _ across the board. thank you, special adviser for _ across the board. thank you, special adviser for race - across the board. thank you, special adviser for race and l special adviser for race and wrongful conviction for the innocence project, thank you very much. innocence pro'ect, thank you very much._ in london, a man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage, after a piece of street art by banksy — painted onto a road sign — was taken shortly after being unveiled on friday. the artwork comprised images of three military drones on a traffic stop sign. our culture reporter, noor nanji reports. this was the extraordinary moment when two men took down a banksy work in broad daylight, within an hour of the street artist confirming it was his. that prompted the local council to make an appeal for its return. banksy put this art here

for the people of peckham. the local community want it back. the council represents the local community and we are going to get it back. we have already contacted the borough commander and we've also submitted a formal report to get it back, and also we notice that there is quite strong resolution footage of the people taking it down, so we kind of hoped that they would bring it back. the metropolitan police say they have arrested a man on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. it says the man remains in custody and investigations are ongoing. anyone who may have information about the incident is being asked to call the police. the artwork was taken down from this spot at around lunchtime on friday, in full view of a crowd of assembled passers—by. a new traffic sign has since been put up for safety reasons. local businesses have also said they are disappointed that the work by the famous street artist is no longer there. the work showed a red stop sign with three military drones painted on it.

it was widely interpreted as being a call for a ceasefire in gaza. estimates of what the artwork could be worth have been flooding in. i would think that, if it had certification from banksy, which it won't, because it's street art, although he has been known to give certification to some pieces of street art... with certification, i would say between £400,000 and £500,000. a local artist, meanwhile, took matters into her own hands, installing her own version of banksy�*s work. she said art should be accessible to everyone. noor nanji, bbc news. let's turn to some important news around the world... rebels in burundi have claimed responsibility for killing at least 20 people and wounding nine others along the country's western border with the democratic republic of congo. the dead include 12 children, two pregnant women and a police officer, according to a government spokesman. rebels have been battling the country's government from bases in eastern congo since 2015.

and — rebecca welch has made history by becoming the first woman to referee an english premier league match. she took charge of saturday's game between fulham and burnley. the 40—year—old began her refereeing career 13 years ago with university and sunday league games, before climbing through the ranks. burnley manager vincent kompany says women in football, but also in general, will see her progression as "a way to achieve at the highest level". for the first time in over a century, ukraine is going to celebrate christmas on december 25th. injuly, president zelensky signed into law a bill that aimed to "abandon the russian heritage of imposing christmas celebrations". it followed the decision of the orthodox church of ukraine to move to the gregorian calendar, which changed christmas day from january seventh to the 25th of december. meanwhile, near kyiv, a factory that produces hand—made christmas toys has resumed work after previously being occupired by russians

occupied by russians at the beginning of the invasion. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse visited that factory. bauble painting on the outskirts of kyiv. in a war which takes so much, there's no stopping christmas. some, though, are more experienced at making decorations than others. this woman has done this since 1978. "i like it. "it's interesting for me. "i enjoy it," she says. this factory in the kyiv region was one of three to supply the whole of the soviet union. it still creates pieces of christmas cheer, but on a much smaller scale. this time, there's an unmistakable military theme. translation: | think that i everyone who will take a look at a bauble like this will hope for the victory of our nation sooner. despite the cold industrial exterior, there's still

a warm magic inside. the meaning of christmas, despite everything, has not changed for ukrainians, but the way they celebrate it has, in a cultural shift fuelled by russia's aggression. fewer places know that aggression better than the town of bucha. a memorial stands on what was once a mass grave for 500 civilians killed by russian troops. ukraine is moving christmas to 25th december to both distance itself from russia, which marks it on 7th ofjanuary, and align itself with the west. for father andriy, it's more than just a diary change. translation: unfortunately| for many people in the world, ukraine is always viewed in the context of being a neighbour of russia. but i think that we are more a neighbour of europe. could you ever forgive russia

for what it's done to ukraine? god forgives the sinner, but only those who repent. we don't see yet that the russians want to. so i think it's too early to talk about forgiveness. for ukraine, that would require russia to stop its invasion. there are no signs of that happening. james waterhouse, bbc news, bucha. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we had some heavy rain in scotland on saturday, and as a result of that there are a number of flood warnings in force across the north of the country. we have had some disruption too. for most of the uk it was a very mild day, but not for everyone. massive contrasts in northern scotland as the mild air butted up against the cold. ten degrees in braemar, ten miles down the road in balmoral, just one. and with those lower

temperatures across the far north and east, well, on saturday we did see some snowfall. so for some, a winter wonderland. however, since then the snow has been turning back to rain and our main concern as we get through christmas eve is the strength of the winds. they could disrupt some travel plans that you may have, so stay tuned. the winds then will pick up over the next few hours, becoming quite gusty across england and wales with outbreaks of rain here. rain could be heavy enough to cause one or two localised flooding issues across mid wales. some showery conditions across scotland and northern ireland. for most, temperatures in double figures as we start the day on sunday. cold air stilljust about clinging on across the far north—east. now, the strong winds will be affecting scotland through the day, particularly late on. they could bring some distruption here. and over to the east of the pennines, winds could gust 50—70 mph, potentially strong enough to blow over some high—sided vehicles, maybe knock down one or two trees. so there is a risk of seeing some transport disruption during the day on sunday, christmas eve, so it is worth checking conditions before heading out on anyjourneys

you may have planned. and the winds could get even stronger actually for a time during the evening across northern scotland. on into monday, christmas day, for the vast majority of the uk we are in mild air, so rather than it being a white christmas it is a grey christmas. a lot of cloud around, outbreaks of rain, quite heavy rain for a time. quite windy conditions, but colder air starts to move back into northern scotland and that could start to turn some of the rain to snow across some of the higher hills of northern scotland. so for a few of you, it could just about be a white christmas, but not for many. looking beyond that into boxing day, we get colder air moving back southwards across the uk. with that there will be a lot more in the way of sunshine, so that is one positive. it will feel quite a bit colder, mind you. and there will be some showers around, particularly across scotland. one or two for northern ireland, one or two for the north—west of both england and wales. the showers could come through wintry at times, so maybe a bit of sleet mixed in with some of these, maybe a bit of hill snow as well. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines straight after this programme at the top of the hour. 2023 was a remarkable

year for sport. up here, an historic treble. down under, a women's world cup. england and australia couldn't be separated in the ashes, whilst cricket, rugby union and netball all had world cups of their own. golf came togetherfor the solheim and ryder cups. but the start of this sporting year was, for some, less a beginning and more a resumption. football had onlyjust returned after its unprecedented winter world cup break. also resuming, returning, the australian open once more welcomed novak djokovic, a year on from his deportation over his covid vaccination status. still no vax for novak but here he was, back and unbeatable. his was a 22nd grand slam title. for irina sabalenka, a first. saudi arabia's bid to become a major player in global sport was laid bare. cristiano ronaldo becoming a figurehead for the fledgling football league.

before the end of the year, they had all but been