militias'. israel carries out fresh air strikes in gaza, where it says it's intensifying its campaign against hamas. the un warns medical facilities are overwhelmed. and do shoppers still try to bag a boxing day bargain? as sales begin, we look at whether there is chaos at the tills. hello, i'm catherine byaruhanga. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has said he is grateful to his airforce for a missile attack that badly damaged a russian warship in the black sea. the novocherkassk was hit during an attack on the port of feodosiya in russian—occupied crimea overnight. local officials say at least one person was killed. ukraine said the ship was destroyed.

president zelensky wrote on telegram: �*the occupiers will not have a single peaceful place in ukraine'. the uk's defence secretary also commented on the incident. he wrote on x that: this latest destruction of putin's navy demonstrates that those who believe there's a stalemate in the ukraine war are wrong. they haven't noticed that over the past four months 20% of russia's black sea fleet has been destroyed." and he goes on to say that russia's dominance in the black sea is now challenged and the new uk and norway—led maritime capability coalition is helping to ensure ukraine will win at sea.

live now to james waterhouse. it isa it is a significant and that ukraine is showing it can penetrate russian air defences and hold onto this part of crimea that it is held since 2014. we have seen ukraine target military sites and ports as well as russian warships in the black sea leading to russia's naval dominance being diminished to an extent and that not all ukraine ports are blockaded on cargo ships can make it out but it's also clear significant because the novocherkassk is an enormous landing vessel and if you look at the size of the explosion, it was almost certainly being loaded and that will no doubt hamper the

ability of russia to supply its troops for the north and ukrainian territory it occupies and tries to defend. what is less clear is how long those operations will be disrupted and for that ukraine can capitalise on it but i think this is a welcome announcement for president zelensky against the backdrop where western support are starting to wane and is affecting front line operations for ukraine and other areas where russia is launching wave after wave of attack. what does this tell us about the direction of this conflict? a lot has been said about the stalemate in this war but do we get a sense of where things are going now? they are not going very far, really. we are very much in the middle of the winter stalemate. i think this time six months ago ukraine started its counteroffensive but any liberations come in the form of a few kilometres in villages

reduced to rubble to stop further south on the river separates russian and ukrainian troops and we are seeing little to no movement there and in the east what we are seeing is the russians launching wave after wave of attack through men and machinery to try to take cities and reefs in moscow claim the city of marinka reduced to rubble in the east of ukraine and ukraine disputes that. we were in a city that was occupied by russia last year and then liberated but you can see the intense fighting from the high point it sits on with the russians continue to push and there is a real fear that as western support continues to wane and our new mission —— ammunition supplies run

low, vladimir putin says he still wants the whole of ukraine. earlier, i asked dr patrick bury defence and security expert at university of bath and former nato analyst, for his reading on the attack. there is a picture developing in the black sea and the sea of asov where the ukrainians through drones and maritime vessels are increasing their ability to target russian vessels.

we saw another landing class ship destroyed in 2022 in the sea of asov and a number of radar sites in the west of crimea destroyed and now this attack on the landing ship, a very large cargo ship which is armed for the russians and it looks like it has been completely destroyed and there are numerous pictures starting to emerge which appear to suggest it has been completely destroyed and sunk and burned as well. the significance is that the ukrainians are turning the screw on the russians in this part of the wider theatre and it would be very interesting to see what was onboard the ship, there are some rumours it was potentially equipped with iranian—made drones, hence the large secondary explosion. in the wider scheme of things, the russians are attacking towards marinka.

russia says it's taken the town of marinka. the russians are attacking mainly in the east and also a ukrainian bridgehead over dnipro. the main attacking seems to be over a town which is in a salient and the russians are attacking it to force the ukrainians back but also reduce their defensive lines. the ukrainians are slowly withdrawing in some places but also inflicting heavy casualties on the russians as they attack.

if you look at the geography of marinka, it is a stretched town and runs east to west so could actually be the case where the russians control most of it but the ukrainians are still able to control the western part or at least bring it under fire so both sides can claim it has been taken. the footage coming from it is absolute devastation, this is world war i level complete obliteration which shows you the level of combat intensity going on there. israel is taking more casualties in the war in gaza, but the iraeli prime minister, binyamin netanyahu, says he'll intensify the war against hamas, designated a terror organisation by the uk and us governments. there are fears though that the conflict could spread

further across the region. the us says it has carried out what it calls �*necessary and proportionate�* airstrikes against pro—iranian militias based in iraq in response to attacks on american bases in the region. our correspondent shaimaa khalil is injerusalem. standing in what used to be her home. "ourthings, mum, they're gone." israel's bombing of rafah in southern gaza has continued, leaving those who fled there at a loss of where to go. translation: israel claims that there are safe - residential areas or secure zones, but this attack shows that that is a lie. israel's military operation has intensified in khan younis also in the south. this little girl was sleeping with her family. the bomb hit them and killed her uncle. we were sleeping, she says, then i heard a big bang. rocks landed on us. her baby sister is three days old. baby mariam is bearing the brunt of a conflict she

was born into. as the military operation deepens into gaza, tensions have risen on the israeli northern border with lebanon. israel's defence minister has visited troops in the north after he said they had received cross—border fire from hezbollah with the idea of targeting the group's infrastructure. hezbollah looks at what is happening in gaza and understands very well what we did in gaza can also be done in beirut. hezbollah operatives were also targeted by the us and iraq and the pentagon said us forces carried out air strikes against what it called iran's sponsored militias in response to an attack on the erbil air base. israel's war in gaza

is not close to being over says the prime minister, and in its wake, otherfronts grow more tense already volatile areas in the region. i spoke to simon frankel pratt, a lecturer in politics at the university of melbourne and asked him why the us opted to retaliate this way. the us and iran is trying to manage and maintain an intense array of deterrents and supplies for allies. i think the united states was obligated it felt to hit back in this case because its personnel were injured and one of them critically injured meaning necessary medical intervention to preserve life and maybe lifelong injuries which is not the same as having someone die but a serious enough threat that i think the united states military personnel would think what was going on if it did not strike back. the strike was very

limited and proportionate. iran and the united states have both said they don't want this to get out of hand but is there a risk that could be a larger and more widespread conflict in the middle east? i think everyone is looking at this with a degree of nervousness and it is difficult to predict if there will be an escalation but the fact that on all sides there is a lot of careful management of violence and a lot of focus on limited symbolic attacks designed to maintain deterrence rather than escalating gives me a bit of confidence things can probably be contained. these are life pictures looking from southern israel to northern gaza.

the focus is on the humanitarian situation in gaza. earlier i spoke to dr margaret harris, a spokesperson gaza. for the world health organization about the situation in gaza. they have far more patients than they can organise but every day losing health care workers and they themselves are losing family members and we heard this horrible story yesterday about a nurse who saw one by one family members, his own family members being brought in dead. the other difficulty is many of the hospitals lack the experienced and very specialist staff who can deal with a very,

very complex injuries that happen when you have these air strikes, these blasts, it is not a simple cut or broken limb, you have very complex head injuries, chest injuries, that only specialised surgeons can deal with and only two the hospitals south of gaza have the surgical capacity to even respond to that. and then you simply have basic needs that can't be met. food and water. people coming to hospital, people crowded into hospital, the workers themselves simply don't have enough food. i know at that world health organization you have wondered specifically about the spread of disease within gaza. that is continuing and simply getting worse. with people crowded so close

together with no clean water, they are having to defecate on the ground stop there as most basal ground for people and so you can imagine everybody is an heinous situation. you will get large numbers of cases of diarrhoea and we have seen at least 100,000 cases but it will be much higher, particularly among children. expect is hepatitis but we don't have the means to test because the laboratories are not functioning. hepatitis occurs when people are in highly unsanitary conditions, and all these diseases, particularly when people are starving and dehydrated, can very rapidly kill. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. homelessness among military veterans rose by i4% over the past year, despite government funding to support those facing difficulty with housing

and wraparound social care. according to the department of housing, 2,110 veteran households were assessed as homeless, up from 1,850 in 2022. thames water has apologised after several homes in surrey were left without water today. thank areas near guildford and godalming were worst affected. the company said it was working to fix the issues. the chancellor and local mp, jeremy hunt, has called for emergency bottled water stations to be opened. sam allison will be the first black referee in the premier league for 15 years when he oversees sheffield united versus luton town this afternoon. you're live with bbc news. sport, and for a full

round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. there are five matches in the premier league, we're approaching half—time in the first of them at st james park newcastle taking on nottingham forest. alexander isak with a penalty after he was fouled in the box. chris wood has just equalised for nottingham forest. two matches kick off at three. bournemouth against fulham and sheffield united are at home to luton, more on that game in a moment. leaders arsenal aren't playing until thursday so there could be a change at the top of the table. liverpool are the first with a chance of doing that. they will find themselves top if they avoid defeat at second from bottom burnley. i think burnley could have easily had much more points

because they had so many good spells in the games where they then don't finish the situation off from the young players in some positions. so i knew before that they are much better than the position and the points they have. we all know, if you win once and have the chance to play three days later again and you will want to win again, and that's exactly what we expect. aston villa could also finish the day on top. they're level on points with liverpool. they go to old trafford later, to play manchester united, who are in action for the first time since the news on christmas eve that sirjim ratcliffe is buying a 25% stake in the club. united desperate to get their season back on track after a poor start. we have to put things right. we have to do things different. and i really... we really appreciate all the time they're supporting us, even with the setbacks

we have during this season. they all the time behind us and we are really appreciating that. but, of course, we need any help. but first of all, the team and i have to do it. elsewhere today bournemouth host fulham, whilst down at the bottom, there's a really significant tie with luton taking on sheffield united. both came up from the championship last season and are currently in the relegation zone, but luton manager rob edwards believes that some of his side's critics have been harsh in dismissing their hopes of staying up being honest, i probably would have written us off as well from outside, but i think there's ways of doing that. i think some people were disrespectful with how they did it, and that angered me a little bit. but i don't use that and i don't — you know, in the end i can't affect what other people think, talk, write, say, whatever — it's down to us to to get results.

just one game in the scottish premiership this boxing day. leaders celtic travel to dundee, with the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the table to five points ahead of rangers. after today though rangers will have two games in hand on their rivals and they face each other on saturday. the boxing day test in melbourne is under way, australia will be looking to seal the series against pakistan after winning the first test in perth. australia, put into bat, made 187 for 3 on a rain affected first day at the mcg. marnus labuschagne top scoring on 44 not out. and south africa have started their test series against india — it's day one at centurion. and the the home side are on top. they won the toss and that looked to be a very good decision. kagiso rabada has taken five wickets. it's currently 176—7 at tea. and that's all the sport for now. a murder inquiry has been launched

after the bodies of five people were found in a flat north—east of paris. aged between nine months and ten years. their bodies were found late on monday evening in the town of meaux, 40km from the french capital. french media says a man was arrested on tuesday in a nearby town. i spoke to david chazan, the times�* paris correspondent, the man who has been arrested has not been named but is being described as the father of the children and the husband of the woman who was killed, and the local prosecutors said the crime scene indicated a frenzied attack. he said it was of extreme violence, and the mother and her two daughters, aged ten and seven had been stabbed repeatedly. the bodies of the two little boys, one aged four and the other only nine months showed no visible injuries so at

the moment the assumption is they may have been suffocated. the suspect was arrested outside the home of his father at a nearby suburb and was traced from cctv footage and his mobile phone signal. he is said to have been under psychiatric treatment since 2017. he has no criminal record but he did attack his wife with a knife in 2019. a psychiatrist concluded he was not responsible for his actions, he was sectioned, and on his release from hospital police dropped the case because of the psychiatrist report. high streets across the uk are open

after the christmas break hoping to attract shoppers with the boxing day sales. festive spending in high street stores was up 3.5% on last year according to the latest research from mastercard. the figures suggest online spending declined by more than 2.5% our business correspondent theo legget reports. christmas is done and on the high street the sale stickers are out in force. a boxing day sales or once a major event eagerly awaited by bargain hunters but in recent years pre—christmas discount events such as

black friday have stolen some of that cachet. it is also possible these days to shop online and find hefty reductions throughout the festive period. it�*s the first time in a long time we have come out on boxing day shopping. we normally do it online. we normally do it online but the mrs wanted to come out in the morning. we fancied a change, so we thought, why not. these are places we shop, and they were so much - better, but we were holding out for black sunday sales - because we always come - without the kids and it is time for us. some high street retailers won�*t be opening today. they include big names such as marks & spencer, next and john lewis, but experts say enticing offers shouldn�*t be hard to find. a lot of people spend less this year on their christmas shopping because of the cost—of—living crisis. as a result, retailers have a lot more stock on their hands. the good news for me and you is that there will be bigger discounts post—christmas. the question is whether people

will actually have money to spend. polling from barclays suggests they will. it predicts shoppers will spend an average of £253 each of the over the coming days. that would be the highest level in four years. but poor high—street retailers there is another major challenge — many consumers now prefer to do their shopping online, from the sofa. persuading them to surrender their phones and tablets and rushing to the town centre is not going to be easy. hello. today one of the better days this christmas period to get out and enjoy some fresh air. most parts of the country dry with some spells of hazy sunshine, before tomorrow potential for more travel problems as wet and windy weather pushes its way in, and plenty of snow on the scottish hills. that�*s the weather system brewing for tomorrow, that�*s the one clearing from christmas day. we�*re in the window between them.

most dry, even fewer showers across northern scotland compared with the morning. during this afternoon we�*ll see areas of high cloud drifting northwards, though, so sunshine a bit more muted for some of you during the second half of the day. temperatures down on yesterday but overall, at if not above average for the time of year. finish the day with rain in cornwall, channel islands, pushing its way northwards overnight. heavy rain at times later, and as that hits colder air in scotland, where we�*ve seen temperatures drop down to —4, —5 even maybe on the hills, on the tops of the pennines and the southern uplands too. into tomorrow, still some chillier air in the north of scotland but this is the weather system that will bring extensive rain and strong winds. the snow, though, even on modest scottish hills in central and northern areas, will cause some travel issues. could see some blizzards as well,

with over 15cm of snow mounting up and some strengthening winds, too. rain will be the issue elsewhere, lots of puddles, surface water, maybe east anglia and the south—east, though, some will stay dry here until into the afternoon, and it will brighten up after some heavy bursts of rain out in the west later. the other issue tomorrow, of course, the strength of the wind. strongest in the far north of scotland, 60 or 70 mph gusts, and around through some english channels. yes, ok, temperatures on the milder side of things for late december but don�*t forget, that will be tempered a bit by the strength of the wind. and it will remain windy through wednesday night. windier spell through the irish sea coast compared with the day. winds gradually easing down in northern scotland but, for most, the blustery conditions continue into thursday. winds down a little bit compared to what we saw on wednesday and a bit more sunshine at times but a scattering of showers, some of them heavy and thundery, and some longer spells of rain and even a bit of snow on the tops of the mountains later. to see out the new year, further rain at times. your best dry and brighter weather for the end of the week and weekend will be on saturday.

take care.

now on bbc news, the firing line. 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.