families of hostages heckle the israeli prime minister 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. russia's leading opposition figure, alexei navalny, has been found to be held in a penal colony in siberia. in charles uses annual christmas broadcast to emphasise the importance of universal values shared in what he calls a time of increasing conflict around the world. life from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it is news day. 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. chanting. he has also felt pressure from families of hostages who tackled him in parliament, demanding the immediate release of their loved ones. 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, i 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, gemma connell, visited the al—aqsa hospital where many of the injured from the meghazi 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 9—year—old boy, ahmed. 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 9—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, 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 slain 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.

and what is israel saying? they usually have — and what is israel saying? they usually have no _ and what is israel saying? they usually have no common - and what is israel saying? tie: usually have no common policy. —— comment. usually we get to hear about it through israeli media. this time like previous attacks. they have not commented on the special strike. �* , strike. and given everything that has happened - strike. and given everything that has happened in - strike. and given everything that has happened in the . that has happened in the region, talk us through the significance of this. we have to see this — significance of this. we have to see this in _ significance of this. we have to see this in light _ significance of this. we have to see this in light of - significance of this. we have to see this in light of the - to see this in light of the recent flareup. it has been two days since us officials say iran wants to draw and hit an oil tanker near the indian coast, 1000 kilometres away from iranian territory. iran today said they were not involved in this attack by us officials say the drone was launched from the iranian territory and we know houthis

any men have been targeting oil tankers in the red sea. those were involved. and this oil tanker was also related to israelis. at least 113 people have been killed in co—ordinated attacks by armed characters on farming communities in nigeria. the attacks started on saturday and lasted until midnight on sunday. 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. earlier i spoke tojournalist and former bbc presenter for focus on africa peter 0kwoche. i asked him what was behind

the fighting. there 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 an ethno—religious clash, because northern nigeria is predominantly muslim while southern nigeria is predominantly 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, so approximately 23 years now. now, the problem is the nonindigenous herders from northern nigeria who tried to move their cattle towards the south, so they can get grazing lands, and then the indigenous southerners in plateau state —

the settlers — they accused these herders of allowing their cattle to eat up all their farmland and all theirfarmed produce, and then that causes, that's the immediate cause of this clash. now, like i said earlier on, most of the northerners are muslims and most of the southerners, the indigenous plateau citizens, are christians, so religion now comes into the mix. and of course when i say climate change, its because the sahara desert is encroaching 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 when you add climate change to the mix. so it's a conflict that has been going on between 20 and 23 years, and it seems the nigerian government just doesn't have — or subsequent nigerian governments just haven't found — a solution to it.

of course, there are security issues across the country as a whole, isn't there? will this add to those problems as well? 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, say, 10 years ago — in the northwest, you've got a lot of banditry, in the south—east, you've got a separatist movement, the biafrans, who want to separate from nigeria. so, yes, nigeria is rife with all these problems — there's huge security issues. president bola tinubu 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. 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 2000 people took on the cold and windy weather on christmas day for the annual porthcawl christmas morning swim.

ina in a variety of costumes 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. alexei navalny has been found alive and well after apparently disappearing from the country prison system. there are still concerns about his well being. his spokesperson said he is being held at a penal colony in siberia. he is one of president putin's leading opponents. he has been injail since 2021 and his new prison is toughest in russia. lex of only�*s team lost contact with them on the sixth of december but have now confirmed his

location. 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 would 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. for the first time in more than a hundred 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 far from certain. james waterhouse,

bbc news, kupiansk. china has also been a celebrating christmas. temperatures in the city have frequently fallen below —10c this month. the government has urged people not to forget they live in a socialist country. christians are allowed to worship but only in churches registered with the government. 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 werejoined 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 not 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 every hardship for many, the king said, at a time 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. christmas is a time for celebration for many of us. connecting with family and friends but for some it can highlight feelings of loneliness and isolation. to discuss these challenges at this time of year we spoke to dr amanda ferguson, who is a psychologist and host of the psych for life podcast. i started by asking her why this season can be challenging for some people. the time of year we tend to think of family, our own families, what family means, relationships and even meaning of life, and, yeah, it seeing people on social media having a happy family time can be very,

make us very lonely. what advice do you give to people who are dealing with loneliness or even the loss of a loved one? loneliness is such a subjective problem. and the loss of a loved one leaves us with a certain type of loneliness, for intimacy. other types of loneliness are about social connectivity. so knowing why you may feel lonely is very important, as to how you then solve it, because they are so many reasons for this loneliness, and because it is so subjective, it is very hard for others to understand, because you cannot really see it or understand it. it is a feeling of loneliness, it is got nothing to do with how many people might be in our lives and how close the relationships might be with them. is there anything you can suggest people doing in order to keep their spirits up? oh, so many things. so knowing ourselves is a key thing in any psychological issue.

if your spirits are kept up by helping other people and giving love to other people makes you feel loved, then you know that about yourself. if being in nature does it for you, if being absorbed in an activity, a craft, a hobby, and art, even exercise, then lean back to that, and usually we give up the one thing that actually helps us in times of depression, loneliness and so forth, so try to go back to that one thing that lift your spirits, that you know is your thing. and you mentioned how social media plays a role in making people feel lonely. do you think that this issue has actually gotten worse because of the rising popularity of social media in recent years? we know that, we know that loneliness was already rising, and it is a major problem, an epidemic of our century, and then with social media, we are feeling less connected

than ever before, because of that so—called connection that takes us away from physically connecting. half our brain, or most of our brain, is devoted and developed for social, physical connection, and with social media, we disconnect physically and that makes us much more lonely. what about people who decide to volunteer over the holiday season? how does that help? take an example of someone who is actually been ostracised from their own family, who reaches out to the homeless in the kitchens and volunteers there. the feeling of connectedness, to start with, particular if you take the example of someone who does this regularly as a volunteer, that is their christmas thing, where they are with community, they are socially connected. rather than thinking about the loss of their own family they have got this wider community family. dr amanda ferguson.

highlighting a very important issue the society is facing. a reminder of our top story, the ongoing conflict in gaza and israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said the military will deepen its fight against hamas in the coming days, despite the warnings from the united states to lower the intensity of its fight. thank you for watching. that is it for the programme. 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, 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 200m 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.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. these are some of the most powerful images of the past year captured by freelance journalists. a lot of people are still under

the debris of the buildings. they work in challenging and dangerous places. but who are the people who capture these stories? why do they do what they do? how do they achieve such remarkable results? and what are the impacts for them personally? hello and welcome to the programme. i'm mark urban. each year, we step behind the camera and speak to people covering the biggest news stories of the day, often under very difficult circumstances and great personal strain. these freelance video journalists are honoured by the rory peck awards, which are named after a british freelancer who was killed covering the coup in moscow in october 1993. i knew and worked alongside rory peck, and even decades later, his determination, coolness under fire and great sense of humour have

stayed with me. in order to keep the memory of his example alive,