eight months on since the war began in sudan, the bbc talks to a family trapped for months in the crossfire. south korean authorities have confirmed to the bbc that the actor lee sun—kyun from the oscar winning film parasite has been found dead in a car in central seoul in an apparent suicide. hello. the israeli military has continued its bombing of the gaza strip overnight, while heavy combat continues on the ground. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says at least 241 people have been killed in the past 2a hours. in his first interview since the war began, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, described the conflict as a "grave

crime" against his people. all this comes shortly after the head of the israeli army warned that dismantling hamas could take many more months. graham satchell reports. night after night, for weeks now, the families of those taken hostage take to the streets of tel aviv. they're putting pressure on the israeli government to bring the hostages back alive and stop the fighting. they need to look at other options. the military pressure will continue. but we see they don't have any results. the head of the israeli army herzi halevi said the war could take many more months. "there are no magic solutions," he said. "there are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organisation, only determined and persistent fighting." in gaza itself, hospitals are overrun with the injured and the dead. the world health organization says almost all the hospitals in the gaza strip have

now stopped functioning. there's blood everywhere in these hospitals at the moment. we're seeing almost only trauma cases come through the door and at a scale that's quite difficult to believe. it's a bloodbath, as we said before, it's carnage. in his first tv interview since the war began in october, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, described the situation as a catastrophe and warned the west bank could implode at any time. translation: a huge crime is being | committed against the palestiniansl over the past 79 days. notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says 241 people have been killed in the last 2a hours, taking the total to more than 20,000. israel's campaign, which it says is to destroy the leadership of hamas, shows no sign of ending. graham satchell, bbc news.

earlier, we asked our middle east correspondent yolande knell what else the palestinian president mahmoud abbas had to say. i mean, this was quite a wide—ranging interview, his first since the 7th of october attacks, and he spoke to egyptian television. of course, egypt has been playing a key role as a mediator, trying to broker a new ceasefire deal between israel and hamas in recent days. really, he talked about how this was unprecedented in the history of the palestinian people, how gaza had been rendered unrecognizable by the fighting that was going on. he was very critical of the us, accusing it of prolonging the war by consistently blocking resolutions at the un security council, calling for a ceasefire. but he also gave a warning that the occupied west bank, where of course his palestinian authority has limited governance, that that could also implode.

and just looking at what's happened overnight, we are hearing from palestinian health officials that six palestinians have been killed in one of the urban refugee camps in the north of the west bank, close to tulkarem. and that means that now more than 300 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces, by israeli settlers as well, since the 7th of october attacks. now, in tulkarem, the israeli military hasn't yet commented on what its operation there was all about. and yolande, you mentioned egypt's mediating role. there are reports in israeli and arab media about egypt proposing a ceasefire plan. do we know any more details about that? this was a ceasefire plan that also included an ability to release more of the hostages. of course, more than 100 hostages are still being held in the gaza strip. and we've had hostage families as recently as last night holding protests, accusing their government of not doing enough to bring their loved ones home.

but what we understand at the moment is that the talks — that the initiative that egypt proposed — has faltered with both israel and hamas really blaming each other for that. but there was a senior hamas official, who also came out, saying that egypt's initiative had prompted other countries to make their own proposals, that there were still negotiations going on in the background, even as the fighting on the ground remains extremely intense. russia has confirmed one of its warships has been damaged in an attack by ukraine on a black sea port. the airstrike took place in russian—occupied crimea, early on tuesday morning. the head of crimea, who was installed by russia, sergei aksyonov, said one person was killed in the attack, and several others were reportedly hurt. meanwhile, russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov is to meet with his indian counterpart. the ministers plan to discuss bilateral ties as well as the conflicts

in ukraine and gaza. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse sent this report. for ukraine, this was a high—value target. explosion the novocherkassk landing ship struck by a guided missile. the blast was colossal. moscow claims it was only damaged. kyiv says destroyed. it's going to need more than a lick of paint, regardless. crimea has been in russia's grasp since 2014. but sights like this have become more common with ukraine striking deeper into the peninsula. the novocherkassk would have almost certainly been loaded with either soldiers, hardware, or both. its loss will hamper russia's ability to supply troops further north, as well as further weaken its naval dominance in the black sea. what attacks like these have yet to do is apply enough pressure

on moscow for it to surrender ukrainian territory it has taken. but for ukraine, for president zelensky, it is a welcome announcement against a backdrop of waning western support. it's already affecting ukraine's frontline operations. and that's helping russia, with the capture of mariinka in the east. moscow calls the devouring of this town liberation. translation: the main focus was to disrupt the ukrainian i counteroffensive which was announced by ukraine and its nato allies. this task has been successfully completed. ukraine has only been able to liberate a few kilometres of its territory, and the head of its armed forces gave a sobering forecast for next year. translation: we're doing everything we can. - unfortunately, the enemy is not far behind us. you can see what is happening, especially recently. we're having powerful confrontations using various technologies. in feodosia, fragments of the ship were scattered for hundreds of metres.

strikes like this have chipped away at russia's control. but their impact isn't always realised immediately. the problem for ukraine is time is not its friend. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. there is more on the ball in ukraine on the website. —— the wall. it's been more than eight months since the lives of millions of sudanese people were plunged into uncertainty as a result of war. fighting in the country has caused one of the world s largest displacement of people and shows no sign of ending — in fact there's a warning the crisis could soon get worse. more than 6.5 million have fled their homes. aid agencies have struggled to access the areas where most of the fighting has occured. the bbc s anne soy has spoken to a family who have been trapped for months in the crossfire in the capital, khartoum. the form of an african giant.

once one of the continent's most prosperous nations, sudan is now a war zone. it started with a political fallout between two generals, one heading the national army... ..and another, its former sidekick, the now powerful paramilitary force rsf. millions of civilians have been caught in the middle of what critics have called a senseless war. it's now one of the world's biggest displacement crises. but many are trapped... hi, what's your name? ..like rasha amin and herfamily. he's so shy. are you taking pictures? her husband and children are british citizens. when foreign nationals were pulled out, they were eligible for evacuation, but she wasn't. even though the rules were relaxed later, the family remains stuck in the war zone. you can see my baby's bed over there.

her house in khartoum, the capital, was hit by a missile strike. shrapnel flew across her bedroom where her baby was sleeping. all the windows and some doors were blown off. luckily, no—one was hurt. we're still scared because we have to put our mattresses on the floor, away from the windows. we hear their cars around us. we hear their machine guns around us. so we have to stay as safe as possible, away from the windows, maybe in the corner of the house, because the corners are more safe than other parts of the house. the capital, and darfur, in western sudan, have seen some of the fiercest fighting. the region, which isjust emerging from what was described as genocide, has slipped back to anarchy. hundreds have been killed, their homes burned, and there are reports of widespread rape. western nations have described what's happening there as ethnic cleansing. we will do everything we can, along

with our allies and like—minded people, to bring those who perpetrate any form of human rights abuse and breaches of international and humanitarian law to account. ceasefires have failed to hold, and with no end in sight to the fighting, aid agencies have struggled to reach the people in need. we've only been able to reach khartoum with a convoy of trucks with food assistance once in the last three or four months. and the conflict is spreading. earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displaced had sought refuge. so, yet again, they were forced to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. ten people are known to have died after severe thunderstorms battered australia's eastern coast over the past two days. tens of thousands of households in

queensland are still without power, after strong winds brought down trees and power lines. live now to our correspondent phil mercer in sydney. thank you so much forjoining. those casualty figures have been going up in the past hour. can you tell us what more we know about the situation?— what more we know about the situation? ., ., , situation? the authorities here in australia have _ situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed - situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed a - situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed a tenth | australia have confirmed a tenth victim, a man. his body was found at a campsite in the southern australian state of victoria. it is understood he was camping with a woman who also died. now we understand that torrential rain had sent flash flooding through this particular campsite, submerging cars and also forcing many other campers to seek refuge on a bridge. police say they had to rescue a number of people from that bridge, given their

torrential nature of the rain and the deluge that followed. two women who were missing in the north—eastern state of queensland, tragically their bodies have been found as well. also near brisbane, the body of a nine—year—old girl was found in a storm water drain. in total so far, ten people have died in these massive storms that have struck parts of eastern australia on christmas day and on boxing day. certainly, as far as i can remember, we have never had such a deadly storm season around christmas time in australia for many, many years. what about the coming days? is the danger over now?— what about the coming days? is the danger over now? today is wednesday in australia. — danger over now? today is wednesday in australia, even _ danger over now? today is wednesday in australia, even in _ danger over now? today is wednesday in australia, even in time _ danger over now? today is wednesday in australia, even in time in _ in australia, even in time in sydney. there have been wild thunderstorms in this particular part of the city sporadically

throughout the day. thunderstorm warnings have been issued up and down the coast. we understand the situation in the next 24—hour should ease. as always in these situations, once the rain, they're very strong winds and flash flooding subside, the big clean—up continues. thousands of people have been left without power. reefs had been ripped from properties. authorities say the storms are so powerful that concrete —based electricity poles were ripped from the ground. certainly the weather seems to be improving in their next 2a hours. clean—up will take much, much longer. their next 24 hours. clean-up will take much, much longer.- their next 24 hours. clean-up will take much, much longer. thank you so much for that — take much, much longer. thank you so much for that update. _ take much, much longer. thank you so much for that update. there _ take much, much longer. thank you so much for that update. there will- take much, much longer. thank you so much for that update. there will be - much for that update. there will be more on the website. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the opposition serbia against violence movement says authorities are planning to charge people, who took part in sunday's anti—government protest in belgrade. police arrested dozens of people

after some of the crowd smashed windows at city hall. opposition leaders accuse the authorities of politically—motivated persecution. renowned australian chef bill granger, known as the "godfather" of avocado toast, has died. a self—taught cook from melbourne, granger became a celebrated global restaurateur and food writer. he passed away in a london hospital on christmas day, aged 54, with his wife and three daughters by his side. britain's transport secretary has told the bbc that by 2026 there could be driverless cars on both the uk motorways and other roads. mark harper also said he expected to see the owners of those vehicles being able to travel without having to watch where they re going by the end of that year. you're live with bbc news. the national trust has warned

that shifting seasons and increasingly unpredictable weather are causing chaos for nature. it warns climate change is making plants and wildlife more susceptible to disease. it comes as forecasters predicted next year could be the hottest on record. our climate editorjustin rowlatt has the latest. the seasons are changing, says the national trust, with hotter summers and milder winters. if you just look out across there. oh, yeah! and our shifting seasons are affecting the natural world all around us. there's quite a few of them, aren't there? there's stags in amongst them. so we've got a group there of about three or four hinds, two stags, and you can just make out a couple of the smaller calves. red deer are rutting later in the year. that is when stags do battle to attract females. it means their babies

are increasingly being born in the autumn instead of the summer. we're seeing some calves being born later. they're unable to get the fat reserves on to get them through the winters. these weather conditions take the heat and energy out of anything, and they're just not capable of surviving. so we're seeing a higher mortality rate. and it's notjust deer. all our plants and wildlife depend on the cycle of the seasons. you may have noticed grass needs to be mowed later into the year, for example. many plants and trees flower earlier, making them susceptible to cold snaps and affecting the pollinators and birds that feed on them. nature is an indicator of climate change because things are behaving in a different way. flowers, breeding cycles, it is happening. but we need to help nature in order to help ourselves. because nature can deal with the challenge, if it's given the space and the time. on this estate in somerset, the national trust has reset a river. diggers have filled in the main channel of the aller. over the years it had been deepened and straightened to help drain farmland.

now that has been reversed and the water is finding its own way through the flood plain. water particularly, itjust needs a bit of space. let the water do what it wants to do. and what it wants to do is create this amazing, amazing habitat with just channels all the way through the landscape, pools, ponds, wetlands and all the water. instead of going down like a drain, it's like a sponge now. it's just been soaked up into the landscape. so let's have a look, see if there's anything here. a vole! whoa! look at that! these represent another success on the same estate — baby beavers born to adults released into two large pens. now, they call beavers ecosystem engineers. just look at this dam! this is some serious engineering. it took just a few months

for the beavers to build the dam, and the new wetland area it has created is another haven for all sorts of species. it is evidence, says the national trust, that given space, nature can rebound and establish the resilience it needs to endure the impacts of our changing climate. justin rowlatt, bbc news, somerset. south korean police have confirmed that the actor lee sun—kyun has been found dead in a car near a park in the capital seoul. they are trying to establish whether the star of the oscar winning film parasite had taken his own life. lee was questioned recently by police about alleged illicit drug use and had been under investigation. live now to our asia correspondent, nick marsh. what more do we know? early this

morning, we had heard reports there was a man found unconscious in his 40s in a car in a park in seoul later it was confirmed to be the body of lee sun—kyuh, the actor. before that, police had received a report he had left his home and written a memo which appears to be some kind of suicide note. i say appears because like you quite rightly pointed out, police still have not established the cause of death. at the moment, at least in local media, it is being reported as an apparent suicide. the contextual of this, the — an apparent suicide. the contextual of this, the background, _ an apparent suicide. the contextual of this, the background, he - an apparent suicide. the contextual of this, the background, he was - of this, the background, he was being investigated. can you tell us more about that? —— a context of all of this. more about that? -- a context of all of this. ,, , , ., of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge star. he of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge star- he has — of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge star. he has been _ of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge star. he has been involved - of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge star. he has been involved in l of this. lee sun-kyuh is a huge l star. he has been involved in this big scandal. report evolved of him

visiting a hostess bar. worse than that, he had been accused of taking drugs which, in south korea, is quite a serious accusation. you can get quite a substantial time in jail even for consuming a small amount of drugs. he had always denied he was taking drugs. he said the substances he was taking he did not know were drugs. nevertheless, he was questioned by police, they launched an investigation in this weekend just gone he underwent this marathon session of questioning, i9 just gone he underwent this marathon session of questioning, 19 hours between saturday and sunday. that is the last we know about this case until we found out this sad news this morning. he until we found out this sad news this morning-— until we found out this sad news this mornini. ., this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. this morning. he mentioned the film parasite- can — this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. can you _ this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. can you remind _ this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. can you remind us - this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. can you remind us of - this morning. he mentioned the film parasite. can you remind us of how. parasite. can you remind us of how big a star he was?— big a star he was? even before

parasite when _ big a star he was? even before parasite when he _ big a star he was? even before parasite when he was - big a star he was? even before parasite when he was a - big a star he was? even before . parasite when he was a household name. he was a leading man in rom com and dramas. he had a squeaky clean, family man image. he was the face of many brands in south korea. understandably, as this candle had intensified when they started to drop in. he had another show in production. he had been dropped from that show as well. we were talking about a man who, over the past three months, had his life turned upside down through these allegations. he is not the only south korean celebrity to be accused of taking drugs. the government had started to intensify its crackdown on illegal drug use and celebrities are the ones who are most in the public glare when it comes to these sorts of accusations.— of accusations. thank you so much for that update. _ of accusations. thank you so much for that update. more _ of accusations. thank you so much for that update. more on _ of accusations. thank you so much for that update. more on the - for that update. more on the website, including reaction as it

comes in. a major us airline has apologised after mistakenly putting a six year old boy travelling alone for the first time on the wrong flight. jon donnison has the story. for six—year—old casper, this christmas wasn't so much home alone as flown alone. he was meant to be travelling unaccompanied from philadelphia to fort myers to meet up with his grandma. but a mix—up at check—in meant he somehow ended up on a plane to orlando. they told me, "no, he's not on this flight. "he missed his flight." isaid, "no, he could not miss his flight because i have the check—in tag." i ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and i asked, "where's my grandson? he was handed over to you at philadelphia." she said, "no, i have no kids with me." in a statement, spirit airlines apologised and said, "we take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation." how did that happen? did he get him out of the plane? did the flight attendant,

after mum handed him the paperwork, did she let him go by himself and he jumped on the wrong plane by himself? for now, though, after a worrying few hours, casper has been reunited with his grandma. jon donnison, bbc news. south korea has imposed sanctions on eight north korean nationals, whom it accuses of links with illegal nuclear and missile development, arms sales and cyber—activities. the foreign ministry in seoul said the move was a response to pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which was in contravention of un security council resolutions. those affected include ri chang—ho, head of north korea's intelligence agency. here in the uk, new guidance has been issued in england and wales instructing police to attend residential burglaries within an hour of them being reported. the national council of police chiefs has told forces that officers should prioritise getting to the scene within this "golden hour," as it

could increase the chances of the case being solved. the guidance says investigations should include forensic tests and obtaining cctv from doorbells or security cameras. no suspect is identified in three—quarters of all residential break—ins in england and wales, according to the latest home office figures, with someone charged in less than 4% of cases. stay with us here on bbc news. storm gerrit will continue to bring some travel disruption across the uk during the rest of today and into tonight. rain and gales quite widely, but across parts of central and northern scotland during daytime, there could be some fairly disruptive snowfall too. the winds themselves come in two features. one is this one here, which we'll come into tonight, especially across parts of england and wales.

but the strong winds quite extensively on those weather fronts, which is they hit the cold air, could bring over 20 centimetres of snow on the hills, being blown around by strong winds, so blizzard conditions, but could even see a covering to some lower levels at times in the north of scotland. that'll have an impact to the roads. more especially, the likes of the a9. rain quite extensively at the moment. it will turn a little bit drier in the west, before dropping. up to around 90 millimetres of rain in some western hills. a wetter afternoon, compared with the morning, east anglia and the south—east, and widely windy. widespread gales, 67 miles an hour gusts in the south—west. even wilder, touching 80 miles an hour, in the far north of scotland. that will temper the way things feel. so even those temperatures, 7 to 13 degrees, well above where we should be for this stage in december. tonight, it remains pretty wild in the far north of scotland, particularly shetland, with blizzards here. winds pick up around irish sea coasts, with winds touching 60, 70 miles an hour again. and we'll see batches of showers work their way across the country, but with some clearer skies, too. and with some more clear skies around tonight, compared with last night, it will be a bit colder, especially across england and wales. a touch of frost in scotland.

lighter winds here, though, for tomorrow morning. there'll still be some showers around. outbreaks of rain, though, will become more extensive in western scotland, with longer spells of hill snow too later in the day. most of us, though, a day of sunshine and showers. some longer drier spells for one or two of you. a bit more brightness around, but the showers could be heavy and thundery. temperatures still above where we should be. things turn cooler, though, into friday. northerly winds bring wintry showers more extensively to northern scotland once again. could turn wintry. this band of rain across northern england, northern ireland, as the cold air digs in. to the south of it, staying slightly milder, but it will be a bright and breezy day, with sunshine and showers. chilly night friday night, but into saturday, the next band of wet, windy weather pushes its way in. more snow across hills in the north. sunday, though, that should clear its way southwards and eastwards, so we finish 2023 a little bit clearer, before more rain arrives on new year's day. take care.

now on bbc news, the sports year in review. 2023 was a remarkable year for sport. up here, an historic treble. down under, a women's world cup. england and australia couldn't be separated in the ashes, whilst cricket, rugby union and netball all had

world cups of their own. golf came togetherfor the solheim and ryder cups. but the start of this sporting year was, for some, less a beginning and more a resumption. football had onlyjust returned after its unprecedented winter world cup break. also resuming, returning, the australian open once more welcomed novak djokovic, a year on from his deportation over his covid vaccination status. still no vax for novak, but here he was, back and unbeatable. his was a 22nd grand slam title. for irina sabalenka, a first. saudi arabia's bid to become a major player in global sport was laid bare. cristiano ronaldo becoming the figurehead for the fledgling football league. before the end of the year, they had all but been awarded a world cup. there was shock, too, injanuary, after buffalo bills' damar hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during an nfl game.

the world watched on, as he would eventually make a recovery.