in parliament, calling for the immediate release of their loved ones. it comes as benjamin netanyahu warns the fighting will deepen in the coming days. people flee their homes in central nigeria after more than a hundred are killed in attacks on farming communities. russia's leading opposition figure, alexei navalny, has been found to be held in a penal colony in siberia. in his christmas message, king charles emphasises the importance of shared values, at a time of "increasingly tragic conflict around the world". live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday.

hi there, thank you for being with us. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the military will "deepen" its fight against hamas in the coming days. his comments come despite the us urging israel to lower the intensity of its strikes. benjamin netanyahu has also felt pressure from families of hostages who heckled him in parliament, demanding the immediate release of their loved ones. and these images show the aftermath of an air strike on the al—maghazi refugee camp which reportedly killed more than 70 people. israel says it is investigating. the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says at least 250 people have been killed in the last 2a hours. meanwhile, in bethlehem in the occupied west bank, christmas celebrations were muted

because of the ongoing conflict. shaimaa khalil sent this report which some viewers may find distressing. crowd chants: achshav! achshav! _ heckled by the families of the hostages. "achshav" — "now" — they chant, a demand for the immediate release of their loved ones. benjamin netanyahu reiterates the only way to get them back was to keep fighting and that this military campaign won't wind down any time soon. translation: we won't succeed at releasing all the hostages - without military pressure, operational pressure, political pressure, and that is why there is one thing that we will not do — we will not stop fighting. mr netanyahu was in gaza speaking to the troops on the ground, some of whom he said wanted to keep fighting until the end. the war in gaza is not close to being over, said the prime minister, as the agony of gazans continues. bearing the brunt,

and overcome with distress. pointing to her pain. "it hurts here, mama," she says. her mother is trying to console her. late at night, their homes were bombed. the wounded kept coming to the nearby al—aqsa hospital, already overwhelmed, with no fuel or water and minimal supplies. in gaza, there is no respite for the people, or those trying to save them. for many, it was too late. the writing on these body bags says "remains of al—maghazi." abdul rahim survived the air strike. his wife didn't. he says that in his building, several children and displaced people were killed. translation: our block was meant to be safe, according _ to the israeli military maps. but there are no safe areas in the gaza strip. in a statement to the bbc, the israeli military said

it was looking into the incident, adding that it was committed to taking feasible steps to minimise harm to civilians. as the scale of the devastation becomes clear, so too does the challenge facing rescue teams who've been struggling to get in, with roads blocked after the strike. in bethlehem, christmas looks and feels very different. no tourists, no festivities, lots of prayers. this time of year, the eyes of the world would be on the birthplace ofjesus. but it's been stripped of any signs of celebration. instead, there are messages of solidarity and calls to end the suffering. for the people here, those images of destruction and death coming from gaza hit very close to home. the pain in gaza is felt very deeply here. this year, it's replaced what is normally a time ofjoy. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, bethlehem. the representative of the un humanitarian affairs agency ocha, gemma connell, visited

the al—aqsa hospital, where many of the injured from the maghazi refugee camp were taken. she described to us what she saw. what i saw again today, which i see every day that i'm here in gaza, is the absolute carnage and unprecedented suffering that's been caused by this war. i met a young nine—year—old boy, ahmed, who was hit by a strike not yesterday — with those images that you've ahmed came in with a traumatic injury to his head. he had been walking just outside the school that his family was sheltering in, and he passed away while i was in the hospital with him and his family. and it's stories like ahmed's that i hope make it to the world, because this nine—year—old child's doing what any nine—year—old child would be doing, except that that school was not a school, it was a shelter, and except that he died walking outside that school. that's the type of thing that we see here every day in gaza. the hospitals are overcrowded, they are overburdened, they are working day and night.

these health workers are absolute heroes, and i have no words to describe the phenomenal work that they are doing every day. but i had two doctors — two grown men, incredible professionals, heads of their professions — in tears with me today, lewis, because one of their colleagues, a nurse at the hospital, had stood there last night as the casualties entered, and one after the other, his family members were brought through the door — first his father, then his mother, his sister, his children and his grandparents, all brought through the door, one by one. and so these health workers are not only working every single day to save lives with patients piled up on each other, with patients who can't get surgery that would save their lives, but they're also dealing with the reality of the war themselves. they're not sleeping. they're working 2a hours a day to try and save as many lives as possible. and yet one of them said to me as i sat there, "we're all waiting for the minute when it's our families who come "dead through this door." next to iran, where the president

says israel will "certainly pay" for the killing of a senior general of the country's revolutionary guards. iran's state media has reported that sayyed razi mousavi had been killed by an israeli air strike in syria. he was reportedly responsible for coordinating the military alliance between syria and iran. here's parham ghobadi from bbc persian. sayyed razi mousavi was such an important commander, a senior revolutionary guard commander in syria, that iranian state tv interrupted this programme to announce his death. and...the iranian revolutionary guard also issued a statement saying that he was in charge of the logistics in syria and in lebanon. and he was a very close aide to the iranian general qasem soleimani, who was killed in a us drone strike in iraq back in 2020. so he was an extremely important figure. they also mentioned

that he was killed by three missiles that hit the building where he was staying in zeinabia, which is a town on the outskirts of damascus, capital of syria. more than 100 people have been killed in coordinated attacks by armed herders on farming communities in nigeria. the attacks in the plateau state began on saturday and lasted until midnight on sunday, when many residents were sleeping. local media say the attackers also burned down houses and looted farm produce. plateau is one of central nigeria's ethnically and religiously diverse states where communal clashes have killed hundreds of people in recent years. villagers were seen packing their belongings and fleeing the area in the wake of the attacks. back in may, fighting between farmers and herders left more than 100 people dead.

live now to journalist peter 0kwoche, former bbc presenter for focus on africa, who joins us from london. thank you so much forjoining us on newsday. if i can get you to explain what is behind the fighting? there are many facets _ what is behind the fighting? there are many facets to _ what is behind the fighting? there are many facets to this _ what is behind the fighting? ti” are many facets to this fighting in plateau state. plateau state lies at the crossroads between northern nigeria and southern nigeria, so some people call it and snow religious clash, because northern nigeria is predominantly muslim while southern nigeria is probably christian, but you add politics to the mix, you add agriculture to the mix and you add climate change to the mix, then you've got this huge flashpoint in what has been going on since the year 2000 and 2001 —— since the year 2000 and 2001—— ethno—religious. so approximately 23

years now. the problem is the nonindigenous from a northern nigeria, who tried to move to plateau, towards the south, so they can get grazing lands, and the settlers, they accused these herders of allowing their cattle to eat up all their farmland and all their farms produce, and then that causes cover that is the immediate cause of this clash. like i said earlier on, most of the northerners are muslims and most of the indigenous plateau citizens are christians, so religion now comes into the mix, and of course my say climate change, its because the zohore desert is so far south into nigeria that these herders have no choice but to move their cattle towards southern nigeria, where there is more grazing, and then that is what, when

you add climate change to the mix —— the sahara desert. it is a conflict that has been going on 20—23 years that has been going on 20—23 years that has —— subsequent nigerian governments have not found a solution to it. there are security issues across the country as a whole, isn't there? will this add to those problems as well? ., ., , will this add to those problems as well? ., . , ., will this add to those problems as well? ., ., , ., ., , ., well? not immediately, not as a direct result _ well? not immediately, not as a direct result of _ well? not immediately, not as a direct result of this, _ well? not immediately, not as a direct result of this, but - well? not immediately, not as a direct result of this, but like - well? not immediately, not as a direct result of this, but like you said, if you go to northeastern nigeria, where boko haram is still operating, albeit at a lesser level than ten years ago, in the northwest you've got a lot of banditry, in the southeast you've got a separatist movement, who want to separate from nigeria. yes, nigeria is rife with all these problems, there's huge acuity issues, the president has only been in power since may 29, and

security is one of the major issues that he needs to tackle, and this just adds to that prior and to that immediacy that he needs to do this and do it quickly.— and do it quickly. peter, thank you so much for— and do it quickly. peter, thank you so much forjoining _ and do it quickly. peter, thank you so much forjoining us _ and do it quickly. peter, thank you so much forjoining us on - and do it quickly. peter, thank you so much forjoining us on newsday and happy holidays to you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. people have been urged to check their christmas cheeseboards after the food safety watchdog warned of a possible e coli risk linked to two manufacturers. four products linked to lancashire producer mrs kirkham's were recalled on sunday, with the food standards agency recalling a further cheese made by route des terroirs on christmas day. a white christmas in scotland was officially confirmed by the met office following snowfall in the highlands. a mixture of rain and snow was reported in two areas this afternoon, despite mild temperatures elsewhere.

the weather service also provisionally confirmed the highest daily minimum temperature for christmas day on record, at 12.4 celsius. nearly 2,000 people took on the cold and windy weather on christmas day for the annual porthcawl christmas morning swim — in a variety of costumes, all for charity. it was the biggest turnout ever for the event, making it the largest event of its kind in the uk. you're live with bbc news. now to russia, where opposition leader alexei navalny has been found alive and well, after apparently disappearing from the country's prison system. the us state department has welcomed the news but said it remains deeply concerned about his wellbeing. his spokesperson says he's being held at a penal colony in siberia. navalny is one of president putin's leading opponents.

he's been injail since 2021, and his new prison is nicknamed the "polar wolf" colony. it's considered one of the toughest in russia. navalny�*s team had lost contact with him on the 6th of december but have now confirmed his location. let's hear from one of his team. there is no law in russia that is applied to alexei. they always create for him special conditions, and they don't have anything to do with the law. so we don't have any legal routes. we know that for sure in this new colony that his conditions will be even worse than they were before. but the thing is that this colony is very distant. it is very difficult to access. for lawyers, it will be very difficult to go there and to see alexei. 0ur europe regional editor paul moss has more on what we know about the penal colony. inevitably, one thinks that it's good news and terrible news at the same time.

good news because there really were fears for his life, this man, as i said, who has been a thorn in the side of the kremlin for so long. they probably tried to kill him before, some fear they've done it again, so, yes, he is alive and his lawyer says he's all right, to use her words. however, as you said, this penal colony he is in is really, really brutal. now, i haven't been to that region, but i have been in the same neighbourhood of russia, actually visiting a former penal colony in the far north of russia, in the arctic circle, and it's really hard to describe just how awful it is. i remember that i was wearing several layers of professional grade mountaineering gear, and yet i have never been to so freezing cold in my life, quite indescribably so. and i talked to people who'd worked in the prison camps there who were clearly not having the benefit of the kind of clothing i was wearing — tough beyond all measure. i think also that the timing of this is very interesting. there are presidential elections coming up in march. no—one has any doubt that

vladimir putin will win. but it seems like the kremlin is really not taking any chances at all. on saturday, they banned an anti—war candidate from standing on some technicality, and now this move to get navalny as far away as possible. his lawyer has said — i think we heard in that clip — that it will be hard to visit him. they don't want this man having any influence at all. in a terrible way, i suppose that is a compliment to the extraordinary power that alexei navalny still has, certainly in the kremlin imagination. china has also been celebrating christmas, but the chinese communist party has urged christians not to forget they live in a socialist country as they celebrate christmas. under the chinese government rules, christians are allowed to worship only in the churches registered with the government. for the first time in more than 100 years, ukraine is marking christmas day on the 25th of december, instead of injanuary.

it's a way of cutting ties with russia, which celebrates according to the orthodox calendar in january. but with the country at war, for many people, there'll be little cause for celebration — with fears western support is ebbing away. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports from one city on the front line. christmas in kupiansk is a celebration in name only. children were evacuated from this frontline city, and only 5,000 people remain. it used to be five times that. siren wails days are punctuated with artillery shells and sirens. life continues for those who've stayed. but it's a tense existence. translation: we all live in fear of death. i when we go to work, we don't know what can happen, whether russia will strike with rockets. we all live on the edge. we don't know whether we'll

come back home alive. 17—year—old sofia has lived through both occupation and liberation. her dad is fighting and she's not impressed with her country's fate being determined by skeptical western politicians. translation: perhaps they should | come here and see for themselves| what the situation is like and how much the aid is needed. if there's no help for ukraine now, russia will take its aggression further. the briefest of pauses for a christmas prayer. large gatherings are dangerous here when russian drones loiter above. instead of these troops forcing out their invaders, it is them repelling constant attacks. translation: it's day and night. there are no breaks. it's 24/7. we have more targets, so we need more shells. they throw lots of men

and machinery into battle. they don't pity anything. it's hard to sell a victory which seems distant. ukraine's struggle to contain western doubt has left it with a new year looking farfrom certain. james waterhouse, bbc news, kupiansk. in the uk, king charles has emphasised the importance of "universal" values shared between major religions, at a time of "increasingly tragic conflict around the world". it's the king's second christmas broadcast. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. at the church on the sandringham estate, the king and queen were joined by other members of the royalfamily for morning worship. the prince and princess of wales were accompanied by their three children, george, charlotte and louis, who feature in a new black—and—white photograph issued by kensington palace. the duke of york was with the family

at church, and making a surprise return to the christmas morning church appearance, the duchess of york. it's thought to be the first time in nearly 30 years that she's been seen in public with the family on christmas day. after church, the family returned to sandringham house for lunch and to watch the king's christmas message. for this second christmas broadcast of his reign, the king focused in particular on those who render service to others. over this past year, my heart has been warmed by countless examples of the imaginative ways in which people are caring for one another. my wife and i were delighted when hundreds of representatives of that selfless army of people, volunteers who serve their communities in so many ways and with such distinction, were able to join us in westminster abbey for the coronation earlier this year.

community projects were all the more important, the king said, at a time of real hardship for many, as his family had witnessed. then he turned to his great passion, the need to protect the environment. to care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none. we care for the earth for the sake of our children's children. and then a message for a troubled world. at a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world, i pray that we could also do all in our power to protect each other. the words ofjesus seem more than ever relevant. do to others as you would have them do to you. a christmas broadcast built around those three themes which matters so much to the king — service to others, the environment and interfaith relations — and concluding with a heartfelt

prayer that people and communities will respect each other. nicholas witchell, bbc news at buckingham palace. a christmas carol written almost a century ago has found a new audience after it was discovered by accident. called christmas eve, the song evokes the ringing of bells in the town of barnsley during the festive season. cathy killick has the story. # glad tidings of the saviour bring # peace reigneth as ye gaily ring # ring on, ring on # ring on # while the merry breezes sing of christmas bells. # composed 90 years ago, this is, as far as we know, the first public performance of this beautiful carol. it was published in the barnsley chronicle in 1933, but was recently rediscovered by michael hardy

when he was researching the history of barnsley town hall. the carol was published the same month the town hall opened, and survives on crumbly pages in the newspaper archive. it was almost a full page of the newspaper and i weren't expecting to see that. i've seen articles about the town hall and adverts for christmas. this kind of stood out cos i've not seen anything like this before in the paper. michael showed it to his colleague tegwin roberts, who's also a musician. a day later, she sang it on the town hall staircase. # the chime of bells inspires the midnight breeze... # she then put a video on youtube with scenes of barnsley christmases past. it went down a storm, and prompted more research into the writer — one arthur godfrey. he was born in barnsley in the 1870s. we thought he'd be quite well known, so we had a look through the paper to see whether he'd published other stuff and actually didn't find much. what we did find was that he was

a glass—bottle—maker in barnsley. he started age 12 and he worked throughout his life in that industry, but obviously was a really talented musician alongside that. # glad tidings of a saviour bring... # it felt quite emotional, hearing something that i'd found on a piece of paper being sung, and sung in the town hall as well. it feels really special. and i think for me as a singer, songs, they come alive when you sing them. and also to have the music published alongside the words — quite often, you get words published and no tune — so to be able to know what the composer intended at the time, and to be able to then recreate that, it's really, really special. as the carol becomes more widely heard, it's hoped choirs will learn the harmonies, and it canjoin the dozens of christmas songs traditionally sung in south yorkshire. a barnsley contribution from the past brought to life in the present. # ..sing of christmas bells. #

cathy killick, bbc news, barnsley. let's leave you with these pictures from the chinese capital, beijing, which is experiencing its coldest december since records began in 1951. temperatures in the city have frequently fallen below —10 celsius this month. i feel cold just reading that! that's— i feel cold just reading that! that's it _ i feel cold just reading that! that's it for the show. thank you for watching- _ hello. we had some christmas day weather contrasts. with a high of 13.6 celsius, it was the mildest christmas day since 2016, but at the same time, northern scotland had snow, and so it was a white christmas. this stripe of cloud here brought rain for some of us, but in the north of the uk, colder air was in place, and that colder air is now pushing just a little bit further southward. so a chillier day in prospect for boxing day. cold enough for some icy stretches through the morning

across northern parts of scotland. some further wintry showers here through the first part of the day, one or two showers elsewhere, but broadly speaking, it should be a much drier and brighter day with some spells of sunshine. some of the showers in northern scotland could turn thundery through the afternoon. and at the same time, cloud and rain will be gathering across the southwest of england and the channel islands, where temperatures will reach 11—12 celsius. but elsewhere, 4—9 celsius covers it in most spots. and then as we head through boxing day night, where we'll see cloud and rain spreading from the southwest, things turning very wet and very windy with some snow mixing in over high ground in northern england and more especially across parts of scotland. temperatures coming up as the night wears on. a big area of low pressure dominating the scene for wednesday. if you have travel plans on wednesday, things do not look too pretty, i have to say, with a combination of heavy rain, could well be enough rain in places to give some issues with flooding, but also some

significant snow over high ground in the northern half of scotland. some areas could see 10—15 centimetres of snow, say above 200 metres elevation. it's possible that some spots exposed to the south—easterly wind could see even more snow than that. and the wind will be a big feature, widely a very windy day, we could see gusts of 50—60 mph or more, gales around some of the coasts. temperatures, well, quite mild in the south, actually, 12—13 celsius. a little bit colder across northern parts of scotland, particularly where we will have snow falling. and then later in the week through thursday into friday, we'll see various weather systems working from west to east, outbreaks of rain, perhaps a little bit of wintriness mixing in as colder air tries to stage a comeback as we head towards the end of the year. that's all from me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after this programme. a moment in history —

the coronation of king charles iii. god save the king! congregation: god save the king! cheering. across three days in may, the nation celebrated the newly crowned king and queen. at a star—studded concert, a poignant tribute from prince william. as my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. and i know she's up there fondly keeping an eye on us. and she'll be a very proud mother. cheering. also this year, prince harry reveals family secrets in his bestselling memoir and in evidence as he takes on the british press.

and digging deep on his first official royal engagement,