welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: george michael, one of the biggest pop—stars of the last 30 years, has died at the age of 53. the music world is paying tribute — elton john described him as a beloved friend and a brilliant artist. a major search operation pinpoints a russian military plane that crashed into the water with 92 people on board. it's been announced that the british singer george michael has died. he was 53. police say they were called to his home in oxfordshire shortly before 2pm on christmas day. they've confirmed he was found dead at the scene. it's being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.

george michael shot to fame in the 1980s with the group wham, and went on to have a hugely successful solo career. andy moore looks back at his life. # well, i hadn't seen your face around town a while so i greeted you, with a knowing smile... he burst onto the scene in the early 1980s when he formed wham with andrew ridgeley. the duo had number one singles around the world. they even conquered china, becoming the first western pop band to perform there. george michael loved fame but never became used to it. to be obviously a part of people's lives as an artist, that's what i dreamed of and that's what i'm still grateful for. but my god, i wish i could cope with the other stuff the way other people do. i wish i'd been born with that particular suit of armour, you know, because i wasn't.

# you know not everybody has got a body like you. but i gotta think twice before i give my heart away... as his career waned, he hit the headlines for other reasons. he was stopped for a series of traffic offences leading to a spell in jail. he was cautioned and fined for drug possession and received treatment for addiction. # time can never mend the careless whispers... in 2011, he suffered a life—threatening bout of pneumonia while on tour in austria. police said his death was unexplained but not suspicious. his family said he had died peacefully at home. they called him a beloved son, brother and friend. george michael, who's died at the age of 53. tanya hart, the host of hollywood live spoke to me a little earlier from los angeles. she says george michael's death comes on a long list of talented musicians that the world

has lost in 2016. when i heard about george michael today, my stomach started hurting. i can't imagine losing another person. i was thinking yesterday, it's almost the end of the year, can we get through without losing anyone else? apparently not. he was such an important person in the world of music, especially during the 80s and 90s and was really one of those transition people that made the world of pop music, he made that big transition leading into where we are now with the musical world and with a lot of the alternative music that they now call alternative music, and a lot of the real club music we hear, george michael was at the forefront of that. some incredible collaborations with maryj blige and aretha franklin and he was doing it at a time others weren't. that's right, he was a leader in a lot of genres.

you met him during his wham! days, tell us about that. i did, it was a long time ago. it was in the 80s when he and andrew was starting out. i was a reporter in boston and everybody came through boston in those days and they were so energetic and adorable. he was a handsome guy, let's face it, they both were, they lit up the stage and i got a chance to interview them and both of them but george was always the electric guy, there was something and electric about him. i've got to tell you, i feel today like it is like the soundtrack of my life seems to be leaving, you know? he said that he loved being famous but he also struggled with being in the public eye and he wished he could do it like other people.

tell us a bit about how he battled with that. it was a big battle for him. when i first met him he was very young and it was before the whole addiction thing took over his life. people have no idea how hard it is to be on the road like these guys are on the road constantly. you had no life of your own and everybody says that's what you get, if you're famous that's what you want and that's what you get and you do what you want to do and that's what they do. but we are now learning sleep deprivation is a really serious problem, nobody sleeps in the music business. you drink too much and you do other things too much and after a while it gets to you unless you have the right people around and most of the time celebrities don't. he was planning a comeback of sorts, he was about to work with a producer in a documentary coming out next year, what are your memories of him

and how would you want him to be remembered? i think he should be remembered as first of all a very important artist. an important artist of our time and the 21st—century because of the way he crossed the bridge and led the way to the new music that we have now and literally led the way to the digital world. he came out of the analogue world and took us into the digital world, and i think that's very important. younger people don't exactly understand that now but i think they will when they start listening to the original music that george michael and wham! were doing and how they crossed over and how everybody else, or many people did at least, followed them in the digital world. the host of hollywood live, tanya hart, speaking to me earlier. many have expressed their grief

on social media, including a lot of the singer's celebrity friends. tyra banks, one of the supermodels who starred in michael's music video freedom, posted a photo on instagram with the caption: singer geri halliwell shared a picture with michael, writing: and musician rob thomas wrote: thom geier is managing editor of the entertainment magazine, the wrap.

he explained why george michael was such a significant musician. i think george michael came of age as a pop star in the early 1980s just as the music video phenomenon was really beginning to take off. it was the early days of mtv and he was really one of the pioneers that helped launch that format as a vehicle of expression for music and for pop music in particular. you think back to some of his early hits like careless whisper, faith, wake me up before you go—go, whether with wham or as a solo artist, he was really on the cutting edge of that whole phenomenon. he also managed to make the transition that a lot of people don't quite make from boy band pinup to actual serious, respected artist. that is true. he started out as this kind of teenybopper star with andrew ridgeley and wham and transitioned very quickly to be this kind of new male sex symbol

that we hadn't really seen before, a guy who goes from being the teenybopper pinup idol to the stubbly guy wearing the levi jeans in the faith video. it was really a remarkable transformation. that faith video was interesting, we saw him bringing in models and he went on to work with a number of other people from different types of music, collaborating with people from r&b, now that's quite a common thing to do but it was quite ahead of its time at the time, wasn't it? absolutely. for him to work with artists of different genres, whether r&b artists or symphony orchestras more recently in 2014 in his collaboration with symphonica. the other thing too to remember is he was one of the early stars to come out as gay, first as bisexual and then as gay, so that whole evolution that we've seen in terms of the public acceptance of gay artists,

he was really at the cutting edge of that phenomenon as well. i mean, it wasn't in the circumstances that he may have chosen. but as you said, it was hugely significant, wasn't it? absolutely. he became a face for that phenomenon somewhat reluctantly in some cases but his advocate interview in 1999 was really one of the seminal coming out moments that we saw in terms of a public figure of that stature accepting and embracing his status as a gay man. how was that reflected in his music and how did it go on to influence his career? there was a new openness that you saw in the 1990s. his output at that point was not nearly as popular as his earlier stuff in the 1980s and yet there seemed to be a kind of legacy attachment and certainly among the gay community, he continued to be embraced

as this seminalfigure. how do you think he will be remembered? one of the things that is remarkable is he died on christmas day and he's also associated with two of the biggest pop hits associated with christmas. last christmas, one of the last singles he did with wham, and do they know it's christmas?, the band aid phenomenon from 1984, he was one of the singers on the bob geldof hit. those two songs on this day is a kind of carol that calls to mind everything that made him successful and popular. thom geierfrom the entertainment magazine, the wrap. now to other news — the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has held talks with the us ambassador after summoning him to explain why the united states cleared the way for a un security council resolution criticising israel. at his weekly cabinet meeting mr netanyahu criticised the us, but praised the incoming trump administration. 0ver decades, american

administrations and israeli governments have disagreed about settlements but we agreed that the security council was not the place to resolve this issue. we knew that going there would make negotiations harder and drive peace further away and, as i told john kerry on thursday, friends don't take friends to the security council. russian authorities say the location where a military plane with 92 people on board crashed into the black sea has been pinpointed. more than 100 divers have been exploring the seabed. so far, they have recovered 11 bodies. vigils have been held to remember those who died in the crash. most of the passengers were members of the russian army's famous band, formerly known as the red army choir. the transport minister says investigators aren't ruling out any possible reasons for the crash — that includes terrorism. steve rosenberg reports from moscow. this is one of the final images

of the tupolev 154 jet. it was taken by a journalist before he boarded the plane. the flight would end in tragedy. the aircraft crashed into the black sea. the russians scrambled helicopters and ships, but the search became a recovery operation. there were no survivors. the plane had taken off from a military airfield near moscow. it flew south, stopping in sochi to refuel. the final destination was syria and russia's airbase near latakia, but minutes after leaving sochi it crashed. president putin offered his condolences to the families of the victims and promised them his full support. on board were more than 60 members of the russian army's famous song and dance ensemble once known as the red army choir. they'd been due to give a concert at the russian airbase in syria. most civilian airlines have stopped

using the tupolev 154, once the workhorse of the russian aviation industry. in 2010, a tupolev 154 carrying the polish president crashed in russia while trying to land. the following year a similar plane caught fire in siberia before takeoff. throughout the day, muscovites brought flowers to the headquarters of the russian army choir. this disaster has left russia stunned and silent. the kremlin has promised a thorough investigation into this tragedy. it's also declared tomorrow a day of national mourning. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: more on our top story — the death of the singer george michael at the age of 53. we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach,

and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been 90% successful, but it's failed in its principal objective, to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of the pan—am's maid of the seas, nose—down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news.

i'm lebo diseko. the main headline: the british singer george michael, who shot to fame in the 1980s with the pop group wham!, has died. he was 53. wore no matter main story. —— more 110w wore no matter main story. —— more now on that. as we've been reporting, the british singer george michael has died peacefully at his home in oxfordshire. police, who were called to his house shortly before 2pm on christmas day, say his death is unexplained but not suspicious. paul lester is a freelance music journalist who's written for the guardian, and sunday times newspapers here in the uk. he explained how george michael used his celebrity status as singer to focus on other causes that he cared about. i think he was like prince, one of those artists that really wanted to be taken more seriously and he did try to make moves into the political arena and he did espouse causes, so i think it wasn'tjust about songwriting and singing, there was more to him than that

and i think that's what he wanted to do latterly. it was of course what he had done by his mid—20s, was absolutely achieve everything you could possibly achieve as a songwriter and musician. he was one of the biggest stars in britain, he made the move to become a global superstar, he played in china, he did everything you could do, there was really nothing left for him to do in the musical world and so he was looking outside of that to espouse causes that were dear to his heart. that was freelance music journalist paul lester speaking earlier. there's been growing discontent in india since the government decided to get rid high—value banknotes. it was done to try and crack down down on corruption and tax—evaders. but it's ended up hurting those who are entirely dependent on cash in a country where most transactions are done with it. one group very badly hit is india's migrant workers, as sanjoy majumder reports.

normally you would see a lot more people gathered here, three to four times more, all hoping to find some daily work. they get paid in cash and because there is a little cash in the system is not enough work. —— there's not. i've travelled 1000 kilometres east of dearly to come to this village, one of india's poorest states and it is where most migrant workers come from. in fact every household in

this village has sent one person to work in the city. now they are all trying to figure out what to do next. noel kioko is one of kenya's most promising young ballet dancers. he grew up in a slum in kenya, but now is training in dance in the united states. he returned to his home city this christmas to perform in a production of the nutcracker, as caroline davies reports. no bar, no mirrors and often no shoes. noel kioko's love of ballet started ina noel kioko's love of ballet started in a broom just like this. he grew up in a broom just like this. he grew up in in a broom just like this. he grew upina in a broom just like this. he grew up in a shanty town in the nairobi suburbs. where i came from various poverty, there is stealing, drugs. it is like the lying in the jungle. you have to make sure you are the one who roars and everyone follows. so where i live, if you are not strong you just fall. now 16, he only discovered dance five years

ago. from the beginning, he went to ballet classes and there was nothing he could talk about. it was just ballet, la, ballet. studying done to the us, he is back for holidays. faster! keep going! and couldn't resist a moment on stage, directed by the dance teacher who gave him his first break. he is the real deal, so we will have to see, what i'm pushing him to go for the stars. the royal ballet, here we come! but wherever he ends up, he has already made a leap no one expected. for the first time in nearly 30 years, queen elizabeth has missed the christmas day church service at sandringham. buckingham palace says she's still recovering from a heavy cold. in her pre—recorded christmas message, the queen said she often draws strength from meeting ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. morning service at sandringham part

of the but with one significant member, the queen. while other members of the family gathered at the church, the queen remained at sandringham house, continuing to recover from what was described as a heavy cold. it was assured she would ta ke heavy cold. it was assured she would take part in the christmas celebrations, but the absence from the church service is understood to bea the church service is understood to be a precautionary measure and there is no sense of undue concern. also absent from sandringham are the duke and duchess of cambridge and their children, george and charlotte. they attended church in the berkshire village bucklebury, where they're spending christmas day with the duchess's family, the middletons. in her christmas day broadcast, recorded at buckingham palace several weeks ago, the queen talks about inspiration. she reflects on the achievements of olympic and paralympic athletes from britain and the commonwealth,

many of whom she met at a palace reception in october. and in this year when the queen she marked her 90th birthday, she'll refers to the inspirational work of the many charities with which she has been associated during her reign, and she will talk also about the work of the many unsung heroes she meets around the country. carers, community leaders and good neighbours — "ordinary people," as she puts it, doing extraordinary things. back at sandringham, the royal family, minus the queen, left church led by the duke of edinburgh, to return to sandringham house for christmas lunch and then to settle down to watch the queen's broadcast. nicholas witchell, bbc news. it might be christmas but not eve ryo ne it might be christmas but not everyone can spend time at home with loved ones. some people have to work. we had a look at some of the people spending a different

christmas. a long way from home but celebrating christmas the best way they can. us soldiers at an iraqi army base near mosul. plenty of turkey and tinsel, thoughts are obviously elsewhere. mosul. plenty of turkey and tinsel, thoughts are obviously elsewherem is kind of rough because this is —— this is my first be collared a way from home, so i feel like a lot of people are getting homesick. i miss my family, but i'm sure everybody else does. everybody is getting ready for the holidays and we are stuck here. some people are stuck even further out, the crew of international space station, orbiting the earth at the height of 400 kilometres certainly gives you a different perspective on this festive occasion. there is another very important aspect of being on iss and that's seen the planet as a whole. it reinforces the fact that we should live as one people and strive for peace. from this crew we wa nt strive for peace. from this crew we want to wish you were merry christmas and a happy holidays. back

on earth, christmas was celebrated in different ways. in macedonia, a fun runfor in different ways. in macedonia, a fun run for days. 300 people dressed as santa claus. 0rganisers said it brought a nice, red ambience to the streets. and in southern italy this father christmas is took to the water, cried —— kite surfing, a great way to release after a night of celebrating. just time to remind you of our top story. the singer george michael has died at the age of 53. police were called to his house in oxfordshire shortly for 2pm on christmas day. they said his death was unexplained, but not suspicious. if you want to get in touch with us here at bbc world news, you can do so on social media. and i'm @lebo ?diseko on twitter. hello there. for most of us christmas day 2016 was very mild, almost record—breaking and that's because of the south—westerly

winds across the country, ahead of our next named storm — storm conor. there's an amber warning in force from the met office for the day haead. storm force winds are in the forecast for the north and north—east of scotland, the northern isles and, for a time, the western isles as well, so they're really going to cause some issues. 0bviously dangerous conditions out to sea and we've had reports of dangerously high waves, so those will be affecting some coastal areas. it's not as if it won't be windy through the remainer of the night, severe gales around the coasts, gales inland and some wintry weather. those snow showers have been coming in thick and fast and they will be even falling at lower levels across the north of scotland. so it could be a bit wintry, with as few centimetres of snow building up by morning, by daybreak and, of course, as a consequence, a little icy. coldest for all of us first thing, then the rain clears away and it is a much drier and brighter day in the south. further north it's a stormy day, indeed, even for this part of the world.

unusually windy and combined with the snow showers, plenty of them. but very few further south. we've replaced the cloud with the sunshine. a bit of a breeze and temperatures won't be the teens we had on christmas day, 6—8 is about average. but, given the sunshine, pleasant enough. further north, however, initially there could be a few wintry showers for the hills of northern ireland and scotland. gale force winds here. then escalating further across the northern half of scotland. it will be a stormy day, even for this part of the world. then it goes on to batter scandinavia and around the baltic sea. further south, you can see across the mediterranean, still some nasty weather through cyprus and turkey, with heavy snowfall inland, courtesy of low pressure. 0therwise some fina and dry weather. the intense high pressure will be building through the latter part of monday, pushing that windier weather away into the north sea and scandinavia, where it will cause some potential power outages and travel disruption. dangerous conditions — we've had and enormous waves already reported out to sea. coastal waves will be pretty large. through tuesday, as you saw — things are calming down. wednesday, the calming process continues. a lot of sunshine on tuesday, will be getting contaminated with low cloud and fog as we move into wednesday.

where the fog lingers it will feel much colder. could be some freezing fog around. some nasty conditions around at the moment, however the amber warning in force for boxing day. as ever the details on the website. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm lebo diseko. the british pop singer george michael, who shot to fame in the 1980s with the pop group wham!, has died. he was 53. his publicist said he died peacefully at home. wham achieved worldwide success with hits such as wake me up before you go—go and careless whisper. a huge search operation is continuing through the night off russia's black sea coast for victims of a military plane which crashed — killing all 92 people on board. thousands of rescue workers are searching a wide area. vigils are being held in sochi and several other cities. queen elizabeth has missed her

annual christmas day visit to church in sandringham because of a heavy cold. in her christmas message she said she drew strength from ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things' like volunteers, carers, community workers and good neighbours who she described as unsung heroes. coming up next it's business live — a review of 2016.