in bethlehem in solidarity with the people of gaza. the usual tree has been replaced by a nativity scene in the rubble. this is live in vatican, where pope francis is leading a christmas eve mass at the saint peters basilica. and the uk home secretary, james cleverly, apologises after criticism of a joke he made about spiking his wife's drink. it's the christmas present many manchester united fans will have been hoping for. it has been announced that sirjim ratcliffe is buying a 25% stake in the premier league club —

in a deal worth more than a billion pounds — which, pending approval — will see him take control of football operations. he is also promising over £200 million of new investment. the multi—billionaire founder of the ineos petro—chemicals group, is a lifelong fan of the club. it's hoped by many supporters that it might mean the end of the controlling interest of the glazer family. our sports editor, dan roan, reports. when sirjim ratcliffe toured old trafford earlier this year, the british billionaire was hoping to buy manchester united. instead, he'll become a minority shareholder of the club he says he's always supported. the founder of petrochemicals giant ineos, ratcliffe�*s already invested in sailing and cycling teams and owns a third of mercedes in formula 1. the owner of two football clubs, including nice in france, manchester—born ratcliffe last year failed in a bid to buy chelsea, at the time hinting to me that united was his real goal.

some would argue you should be trying to buy the club that you grew up supporting. yes, i mean, i can understand that but manchester united's not for sale. with its rich history... they were supreme soccer champions of europe. legendary players... ca nto na! and dominance under managerial great sir alex ferguson, united became a commercial powerhouse with a global fan base. but since 2005 been owned by the glazer family and after years of protests by fans unhappy with the club's debt, lack of investment in old trafford and on—field decline, last season the americans put the club up for sale. qatari banker sheikh jassim wanted to buy it outright but withdrew, leaving the way clear for ratcliffe. one of united's top executives explained why fresh investment was needed. we are doing this for a very positive reason. we know we've got real ambition and a plan at united and we wanted to make sure that we attract the right investment to deliver that ambition. after a drawn—out and divisive process that's lasted

more than a year, now, many united fans will be dismayed that the glazers remain in overall control here at old trafford. the challenge facing sirjim ratcliffe is to convince them that he's the man to lead a revival in the footballing fortunes of this club. ex—british cycling chief sir dave brailsford overseas ratcliffe�*s various sports teams and is set to have a key role at united, the pair experiencing mixed fortunes at nice since ineos bought it in 2019. some environmental campaigners say that the petrochemicals company uses sport to give it a more positive image but those involved defend the investments. what do you think jim's motivation is? he loves a challenge bigger than any and i guess that's the drive for the america's cup and probably when you look at man united, a team that's been struggling in recent years, there no bigger challenge in sport right now than turning man united round. so, i think that's what drivesjim.

but ten years have now passed since united last won the premier league and after a difficult start to this season, the challenge facing ratcliffe is a formidable one. dan roan, bbc news. there has been some reaction from the man united legend gary neville: well, our sports correspondent, nesta mcgregor, has more on what happens next. they have agreed a deal but the premier league

must still sign this off. the 71—year—old will be subject to the owners and directors test which normally takes 6—8 weeks. they want to know if he has the money and where he got it from. 0nce that's done, maybe fans can fully celebrate and get to thinking about the glory days that gary neville�*s tweet has mentioned because united are 8th and are out of european competition. sirjim ratcliffe�*s 25% stake comes with a £200,000 cash injection, some of which will be spent on refurbishing 0ld trafford but more importantly ineos and sirjim ratcliffe will be in charge of footballing operations, meaning the signing and selling of players and the hiring and firing of managers as well. let's not sugar—coat this, because the glazers are still in total control but many fans are unhappy with how the american family have been running the club since 2005 and will see sir jim's place on the board as a step

in the right direction. gaza's health ministry says 166 people have been killed and 384 wounded over the last 2a hours — as israel's bombardment continues. this is the aftermath of an air strike in deir el—balah in central gaza. the united nations estimates 1.9 million of gaza's 2.4 million population have been displaced — that's nearly all of the population. the world health organization says the decimation of gaza health�*s system is a tragedy. the health ministry says more 20,1100 have been killed since the war began in october. the israeli military says troops are entering new hamas strongholds in the south of the gaza strip, where most displaced palestinians are trapped. the israel defence forces have released a statement saying they have finished an operation to dismantle the hamas headquarters in

northern gaza, adding that the bodies of five hostages were discovered. the deaths of the five people had been retold —— reported earlier. israel says 1a more soldiers have been killed in gaza since friday, taking the total during the ground assault to 153. speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting the prime minister said the war had come at a heavy price for israel. translation: the war has - taken its toll but we have no option but to keep fighting. 0ur troops have eliminated thousands of terrorists so far. we are fighting with full force until the end, until the victory, until we fulfil our goals. those are the elimination of hamas, the return of our hostages and the promise that gaza will no longer pose a threat to the state of israel. mr netanyahu also dismissed reports that the us has convinced israel not to expand its military activity. on saturday, the wall streetjournal reported that president biden

had "urged the israeli prime minister — to halt a pre—emptive "strike against hezbollah forces in lebanon, days after hamas "militants launched the october 7 assault on southern israel — "warning that such an attack could spark a wider regional war." this was the view across the israel—lebanon border earlier today, where we saw a thick plume of black smoke in the sky, as hostilities continue in the border area. hesham al sayyad works for penny appeal, a charity that provides medical aid and emergency food in the middle east and africa. he told us about the hundreds of thousands of palestinians displaced as a result of the israeli offensive. anyone displaced is not right, but we go back to now the amount of people displaced in gaza, especially now in the rafah governorate because of the bombings that have been happening in the south. you have a place now

in the rafah governorate which is basically desert, that people have been displaced. there is 1.2 million people living in a place which can probably house at most 200,000 people in an area the size of heathrow airport. if you can imagine 1.2 million people living in an area the size of heathrow airport, living on top of one another, with no irrigation, no water supplies, no basic essential needs for a human being like myself to survive. we are looking forward here to christmas from the warmth of our own homes, they have no warmth, hardly any shelter, and we are trying to provide for them. the numbers are harrowing. and antonio guterres, secretary general of the un, mentioned that four out of five of the hungriest people in world are 110w now in gaza. earlier i spoke to dr victoria williamson, who's a lecturer at king's college london. i asked her about the impact

of trauma of those affected by the conflict in gaza. people who have experienced traumatic and challenging events can develop mental—health problems like post—traumatic stress disorder or ptsd. they can also develop other difficulties like major depression and anxiety difficulties too. is ptsd a big risk for many of them? so, a number of people, after traumatic and challenging events can experience psychological difficulties and symptoms after trauma. i think it's really important to emphasise that experiencing psychological difficulties, symptoms, nightmares, difficulty with sleeping, things like that, is very normal after traumatic events and for most people those symptoms will come down after 6—8 weeks but for those people who find that their symptoms are very severe or they don't

improve in a month, six weeks, post—trauma, that would be the time to start thinking about reaching out to a medical practitioner to get some sort of formal psychological support. can you tell us more about the kind of help they will need to cope. the vast majority of people will recover on their own, post—trauma, but people who feel like they need extra formal support, some of the treatments available, like trauma—focused cognitive behavioural therapy or cbt, those sorts of treatments, are available, there are talking therapies and they have good evidence. it's important to stress that disorders like ptsd are treatable and the treatments available work for the majority of people. how do people know that they are suffering from ptsd? so, one of the key signs that you may be suffering with ptsd is you may experience nightmares, you may have

a lot of trouble with intrusive or unwanted thoughts. you may have difficulty with hypervigilance, a feeling of being constantly alert and you may have difficulties with blame and feelings of fear. it's important to stress that you can only diagnose ptsd after four weeks, four weeks after an event. if at that time, after 4—6 weeks post trauma or you feel like your symptoms are very bad and not getting better, that's the time to reach out to a medical practitioner. the us military says a drone which hit a chemical tanker in the indian ocean last night was launched from iran. iran has been accused of backing houthi rebels in yemen, who've been attacking shipping in the red sea in recent weeks. the us says it's also shot down four drones in the same waters. the possibility of hostilities spreading further in the region will concern many international

leaders, as rob watson reports. could the drone strike on this tanker being escorted to a port in india signal a dangerous new threat to shipping in the region and an escalation of iran's involvement? just a few days ago, a senior iranian commander threatened to close the mediterranean and straits of gibraltar, so the prospect has to be taken seriously. but its foreign minister claims escalation is not in iran's interest. translation: for us regional security is very important. - we are not seeking to as expand the scope of war. the solution to the problem is not to establish a so—called coalition in the red sea, but to stop the bloodshed of women, children and civilians in the gaza strip and the west bank. there have already been over 100 attacks on shipping in the red sea by the iranian—backed houthis based in yemen. the us accuses tehran of supporting and funding such attacks and is establishing a coalition

to patrol the red sea to protect what it calls a threat to global trade, not just israel's. the houthis aren't attacking just one country, they are really attacking the international community. they are attacking the economic well—being and prosperity of nations around the world. the sophistication of houthi attacks against shipping, including this extraordinary airborne assault on a vessel in the red sea, filmed by the attackers themselves, is already having an impact. hundreds of ships have been diverted from the area at extra cost to owners and customers alike. but despite such attacks and rising tensions, both the us and iran do seem anxious to avoid a wider war. the shipping companies and their customers will be watching nervously. rob watson, bbc news. christmas is subdued this year in bethlehem — the biblical birthplace ofjesus,

after christian leaders in the town cancelled all public festivities as a mark of solidarity with the people of gaza. the town, in the occupied west bank, would normally be packed with pilgrims and tourists celebrating christmas. but a senior catholic leader, the latin patriarch ofjerusalem, did pay his traditional christmas visit to bethlehem. this is some of what he had to say, speaking in manger square. we are here to pray but also, tonight, notjust for the ceasefire. a ceasefire is not enough. we have to stop these hostilities and turn the page because violence generates only violence and the message of christmas is not violence. it's peace. earlier, a large palestinian flag was carried around manger square. it followed the inauguration of an art installation nativity under the rubble, showing figures among the ruins of buildings, in solidarity with palestinians in gaza.

well, christmas, as local people know it, has been cancelled — as shaimaa khalil reports. inshallah, inshallah. on days like this, jawdat and his father would have been talking about christmas preparations. not this year. jawdat�*s family is stuck in northern gaza. he tries to reassure his father that he'll make it out alive and that they'll be together again, but his dad is overcome with grief. a week ago, jawdat�*s grandmother, nahida, was shot twice in the stomach. his aunt, samar, rushed to help her and was shot in the head. jawdat�*s parents and relatives had been sheltering in the holy family church. now they've buried their loved ones there. the family blames israeli snipers for their death. the idf says it will continue its investigation. "there's still shelling around us", his father tells me.

before he says goodbye, he has one last message for his son. "may god be with you, my son", he says. "take care of your sisters." the war in gaza weighs heavily on bethlehem. visitors from around the world would have been here by now. it's empty. the city is empty from happiness, from joy, from kids, from santa, from every celebration. there is no celebration this year. we cannot be happy because, you know, we are not in another side of the world. we are like, you know, still in palestine. translation: it's so difficult. we're really struggling. look at bethlehem. it's never been this way. the atmosphere is heavy with absence. the absence of any features of celebration, the absence of tourists. pilgrims would normally fill the square. bethlehem is many miles away

from the war in gaza, but the pain is felt deeply here. in an unusually empty nativity church, father issa thaljieh tells me his city feels like a shadow of itself. 12 years here as a priest of this church, and i was born in bethlehem. i never actually seen like this time of the year. we have also brothers and sisters in gaza. and this is what exactly makes it difficult also to celebrate and to have maybe music and to celebrate and to have parties, usually. but because of this, what's happening, so we just pray for them. in manger square, a nativity scene in the rubble has replaced the giant christmas tree, a tribute to the children in gaza and a call to end their suffering. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. here in the uk, the home secretary, james cleverly, has apologised for joking about spiking drinks. the remark is alleged to have been made on the same day he announced new measures to tackle the problem. our correspondent

ione wells has more. quite a backlash today after the daily mirror reported these comments last night. they say that at the reception which happened on monday, a christmas reception forjournalists, political aides and ministers, they say that james cleverly was speaking to some of the guests and made a joke about drink spiking, the act of putting drugs or alcohol in somebody�*s drink without their consent. they say that he said to some of these fellow guests that the ideal spouse is one that was always "mildly "sedated so she doesn't know that there are better men out there." the newspaper also claims that he mentioned the drug rohypnol, which is frequently used in drink spiking. this came on the same day the government announced a raft of measures to try and tackle drink spiking. a spokesman for the home secretary has said that it was understood to be part of a private

conversation and he made what they described as ironicjoke for which he has apologised but the comments have faced widespread criticism today. labour have called them appalling and say it is inappropriate to make jokes about drink spiking and also charities too including the charity women's aid who say ministers have a duty to show the survivors of drink spiking that they take the issue seriously rather than downplaying it. joining me now from dorset is lucy thompson who campaigns to raise awareness about the danger of drink spiking. it's lovely that you've managed to join us on christmas eve. this must really hit you because two of your friends had their drinks spiked, backin friends had their drinks spiked, back in 2021. so, hearing about the comments made byjames cleverly, what went through your mind? yeah comments made by james cleverly, what went through your mind? yeah i think it is absolutely _ what went through your mind? yeah i think it is absolutely sickening, - what went through your mind? yeah i think it is absolutely sickening, a - think it is absolutely sickening, a senior minister in charge of keeping

women and girls are safe things that something like this is a laughing matter. it happened to my friends and within half a day of putting out and within half a day of putting out a call for survivors to share their stories, the account i set up was inundated with hundreds of responses. if you ask any of your friends, if it hasn't happened to them, they'll know someone who has been affected by this so it's really upsetting. been affected by this so it's really u-asettin. been affected by this so it's really u ”settin . ,., been affected by this so it's really u-asettin. i. ., upsetting. so, when you have comments — upsetting. so, when you have comments like _ upsetting. so, when you have comments like this _ upsetting. so, when you have comments like this brushed i upsetting. so, when you have - comments like this brushed aside as banter or a joke, what's your response to that? i banter or a joke, what's your response to that?— banter or a joke, what's your response to that? i think the main issue with how _ response to that? i think the main issue with how we've _ response to that? i think the main issue with how we've been - response to that? i think the main issue with how we've been dealing with spiking is that victims are listened to. i think people go for help in club venues, the people of authority and it is brushed aside, they're laughed at and yeah often

they're laughed at and yeah often they're greeted with banter like this which means they haven't been taken seriously. we've made such progress in the last two years which is so heartening to see and itjust feels we are going backwards a bit, really. feels we are going backwards a bit, reall . ~ . ~ feels we are going backwards a bit, reall . ~ ., ~ ., feels we are going backwards a bit, reall. ., ,, really. when we talk about progress, one criticism — really. when we talk about progress, one criticism of— really. when we talk about progress, one criticism of what _ really. when we talk about progress, one criticism of what was _ really. when we talk about progress, one criticism of what was announced | one criticism of what was announced earlier this week is that it didn't go far enough in terms of making it illegal. it was that measures would be put in place. when you say that we've come so far in two years, i remember when your story first broke it was very much on the leeds club scene and the line was that there was a problem in leeds, at the clubs and pubs there. how much progress has been made in the two years? i was focusing on leeds but the account i set up was in tandem with the account originally set up in

edinburgh and by the end of the day similar accounts had been set up in every single university town across the uk. so what we realised was that it was so widespread and i don't think anyone realised the extent. we talked about a rise in spiking but the reality is that there were girls and boys messaging in to say that nothing has changed in seven years since they were at uni. it was only really the rise in illegal spiking that we saw that was so disturbing. i think the fact that a conversation was started, you know, was a huge, was started, you know, was a huge, was a huge positive. before then, no one was really talking about it, it was brushed aside.— one was really talking about it, it was brushed aside. lucy, i'm going to “um in was brushed aside. lucy, i'm going to jump in because _ was brushed aside. lucy, i'm going to jump in because we're _

was brushed aside. lucy, i'm going to jump in because we're running i was brushed aside. lucy, i'm going i tojump in because we're running out of time. it's great we having the conversation but looking at the experiences the conversations you've had, is it or isn't it illegal? well, it is illegal, it is illegal, however we can go further. we should go further. the response to spiking, you know, there is no coherent response at venues when something like this is taking place. we have preventative measures but there is no real response in place at the moment. , ., ~ i. no real response in place at the moment. , ., ~ ., moment. lucy, thank you and i hope ou have moment. lucy, thank you and i hope you have a — moment. lucy, thank you and i hope you have a peaceful— moment. lucy, thank you and i hope you have a peaceful christmas. - from giant glowing figures in colombia to spinning projections in australia, the world's cities are embracing christmas. have a look at some of the best sights across the world. music plays.

stay with us, plenty more coming up on bbc news. hello. the winds have been howling across northern britain today. and in the south of the country it has been one of the mildest christmas eves on record. temperatures have exceeded 15 celsius. and we may have beaten records, as well, but the met office will verify that in due course. here is the forecast, then, for the night. still some wet weather out

towards the west and the south, winds easing in scotland and northern england. pretty chilly here in the highlands, close to freezing, but look how mild it is elsewhere, 8—12 celsius. now, to sum up christmas day, it is going to be overall cloudy with outbreaks of rain and very mild indeed. if there is any chance of a white christmas, it is going to happen across the scottish highlands. in fact, here in the north, some snow possible around lunchtime, possible also for braemar with temperatures not far off freezing. but by the time you get to edinburgh and glasgow, it is much too mild. showers of rain here. showers and some sunny spells for belfast. cloudy conditions there for the lakes and lancashire. and lunchtime on christmas day is wet across wales, the midlands, and indeed much of the south. breezy, cloudy, with rain at times. if you want an evening walk and dry weather, you might have to wait for a while before that weather

front clears away towards the east. how about boxing day? it is looking very promising indeed. well, there is a lull in the weather. the winds will die down, some sunshine there for belfast, liverpool, for hull. in the south i think some hazy sun. if you want a dry walk, do it quick in the south—west because rain should reach you by the early afternoon, and that is a precursor of a rather large and strong area of low pressure. strong winds and very heavy rain coming our way midweek. in fact, look at all of that rain sweeping across the country. yes, that is snow across the pennines, across the highlands as well. gales in the south and the west. a really unpleasant picture, and of course many of us will be travelling through wednesday and into thursday again. so, bear in mind the weather could turn rough midweek, certainly wednesday, that will last into thursday, as well. heavy rain, snow across the mountains in the north, gales for many of us, and travel disruption is possible. here is the outlook that takes us into 2024, so the 1st of january. and indeed it has a very unsettled one. from me, it is a merry christmas.

this is bbc news. the headlines: manchester united confirm british billionaire sirjim ratcliffe has agreed to buy a 25% stake in the club in a deal worth over $1.5 billion. ratcliffe's ineos group will take control of the club's football operations. gaza's health ministry says 166 people have been killed and 384 wounded over the last

24 hours as israel's bombardment continues. the united nations estimates 1.9 million of gaza's 2.4 million population have been displaced. christmas celebrations have been "called off" in bethlehem in solidarity with the people of gaza. the usual tree has been replaced by a nativity scene in the rubble. this is the scene live in the vatican where pope francis is leading christmas eve mass at saint peter's basilica. saying, tonight our hearts are in bethlehem. now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm chetan pathak live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme:

has christmas come early for manchester united fans or not?