this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: north korea condemns the latest round of un sanctions and vows to strengthen its nuclear deterrent. tens of thousands of people are left homeless after a tropical storm in the philippines that's left more than 200 dead — and dozens missing. two men have died in a crash involving five vehicles that closed part of the mao in oxfordshire for several hours last night. christians in the iraqi city of mosul gather in their cathedral, to celebrate christmas for the first time in years. also: britain's political leaders use their christmas messages to praise those who help others. theresa may thanks the armed forces and emergency services. labour'sjeremy corbyn urged people to think of the lonely and those in conflict zones. sir bruce forsyth, liz dawn

and sir roger moore — just a few of those who left us this year, and whose lives are celebrated in review 2017: we remember. that's in half an hour. good evening and welcome to bbc news. good evening. tens of thousands of people have been left homeless after a tropical storm in the philippines that's left more than 200 dead and dozens missing. authorities are trying to provide food and shelter to those who've been displaced, with rescue teams struggling to reach some of the affected areas. our world affairs correspondent richard galpin reports. at last, some aid now getting to those most in need, after this latest storm to hit the philippines begins to subside. troops helping deliver supplies here in the southern region

of mindanao, which lay right in the path of the storm. reaching these impoverished areas has not been easy. they were hit by a landslide, mudslides, caused by an inordinate amount of rainfall that caused the ground to move and killed people innocently. as well as surging currents from swollen rivers that overcame the banks, it swept people out of their homes and killed many others as well. the speed with which the rivers were turned into lethal torrents over the weekend caught people here by surprise. many drowning in their own homes, others buried under mudslides, including children. the call for people to evacuate in good time before the storm didn't have an effect. the storm passed over some of the poorest areas in the whole philippines.

at least 200 people are known to have died. large numbers are still missing and tens of thousands have been forced to move away in search of emergency shelter. in rome today, pope francis offered prayers for the people of mindanao in his weekly blessing to the crowd on st peter's square. translation: merciful lord, take in the souls of the dead and comfort those who are suffering as a result of this calamity. let's pray for these people. at least tropical storm tembin has now been moving away from the philippines. it's currently over the south china sea, where it's picking up strength again and has been categorised as a typhoon. it's expected to hit vietnam later this week. meanwhile, the people of the southern philippines continue the search for loved ones. they will be hoping for much more help to reach them

in the coming days. richard galpin, bbc news. north korea has described the latest united nations sanctions as an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade. the un security council imposed the measures — drafted by the us — on friday in response to pyongyang's ballistic missile tests. north korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear deterrent to frustrate america. sophie long sent this report from the south korean capital seoul. north korean state television broadcast the first reaction to the sanctions. it described the un resolution as an act of war that violates peace and stability on the korean peninsula. please raise their hand. pyongyang promised to punish those that voted for the us—drafted resolution. that includes china, north korea's main ally and trading partner. beijing urged restraint on all sides.

it's previously called for an end to joint us—south korean military drills, like this one, in exchange for a halt to north korea's weapons programme. a so—called freeze for freeze. there is little hope either side will agree to that. instead, the toughest sanctions yet. the americans had wanted to go further, but they were pleased with the support they got. i am grateful to my colleagues for the serious measures we have enacted on behalf of the north korean people, and i ask you keep them in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season, as we continue to fight against this, the most tragic example of evil in the modern world. the new sanctions include a ban on the import of nearly 90% of oil supplies to north korea, vital to its missile and nuclear programmes. they demand the deportation of north koreans working abroad, to stop them funding the regime. there will also be a ban on exports of some north korean goods. the sanctions come in response to this.

pyongyang's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of november. one, it said, could reach the us mainland. the resolution is intended to push pyongyang to the negotiating table and towards a diplomatic solution. but instead, it's vowed to strengthen its nuclear capability, and it's got form. this is the third set of un sanctions to be imposed on north korea this year. within weeks of the previous two rounds, it carried out its biggest nuclear test and fired its most powerful missile. today's response shows little sign it is willing to stop now. sophie long, bbc news, seoul. police are appealing for witnesses after two men died and several people were injured in a crash on the mao involving a number of vehicles. emergency services were called to the scene, just before midnight yesterday, on the northbound stretch of the motorway in oxfordshire. the motorway reopened this morning.

opponents of president putin have held a series of mass rallies in cities across russia in support of a candidate to challenge him in elections early next year. the opposition politician alexei navalny, who's beenjailed in the past for criticising the president, told supporters he will stand against mr putin. but it's not yet certain if he'll be able to run as he is officially disqualified. let's cross live now to bethlehem where midnight mass is being celebrated at the church of the nativity in bethlehem that is of course in the west bank. there are fewer pilgrims visiting this year. there is normally a huge number of tourist. however, because of increasing tensions between the israeli army and palestinians since

president trump recognised drusilla is the capital of israel, palestinians said they are were unwilling to co—operate with any peace negotiations and have been accused of abandoning them. an important service, however, tonight marking the birth ofjesus. pope francis has held midnight mass in rome. he carried out the service in st peter's basilica. his sermon included a condemnation of human traffickers who were described as modern day herods. in northern iraq, mosul is celebrating its first christmas since the city was taken by islamic state militants in june 2014. since then, iraqi christians were persecuted and driven out, while residents who remained were brutally oppressed until iraqi forces were able to retake the city. alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral,

marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just christians. fled. this was a coming together, notjust christians. was once helped to prepare the church for this special service. they were here at as well, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands

of civilians were killed and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin. the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. our message is that after everything that happened and our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must now all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: we are from the muslim community and today we share this glorious celebration with our christian brothers in the city of mosul. we share theirjoy today and hope our brothers outside of iraq from the christian community will return to mosul because we are brothers and we are united. beneath the cross on the cathedral this

christmas eve was some of the best of the spirit of this time of year. nowhere needs it more than mosul. controversial plans to scrap the army slogan "be the best" have been stopped by the new defence secretary, gavin williamson. half a million had been spent on a re—branding exercise that would have got rid of the slogan because it was felt to be elitist. the king of spain has called for unity and mutual respect following the catalonia parliamentary election in which separatist parties won a small majority. in a conciliatory televised christmas message, king felipe vi urged the catalan people to choose coexistence, rather than confrontation over independence. the king had been criticised for a speech in october when he condemned the leaders of the catalan separatists for what he called their disloyalty but did not comment on police violence used to try to stop the unlawful referendum. around 150 skiers have been rescued in the french alps after a ski lift broke down.

as you can see here, rescuers used a helicopter to get everyone safely back on the ground. the operation took two hours but went off without a hitch. luckily no—one was hurt. shoppers across the uk have been out all weekend trying to grab a last—minute christmas bargain. yesterday was dubbed ‘super saturday‘ as it was the last full day of trading before christmas. and shoppers were out in force. our business reporter sebastian chrispin has been giving me more details. yesterday there were 17.4 million people planning to make purchasers and they were spent a total of £1.6 billion. that covered people making online purchases and bricks and mortar. if you were in shock yesterday and thought it was busy, thatis yesterday and thought it was busy, that is because there are 40 million of those planning to go shopping yesterday. and many of them were men leaving it to the last minute. ino

thatis leaving it to the last minute. ino that is a horrible stereotype that is true, isn't it? there is no gender breakdown but the person we are likely to buy a last—minute gift for is our partner and the grab and go items, things like toiletries and chocolate. they are not imaginative, are they? they are best as the stocking filler. how about black friday? that was the other big day in november where people were supposed to be getting ready for christmas and getting bargains. another colourful name for a different event in a retail calendar. the final friday in november where retailers make the discounts to encourage us to spend money. it does work, we spent more on black friday this year than we did last year and the black friday spending pushed up the overall retail sales for november. a few interesting things, however. while the overall amount we spent went up, the overall amount we spent went up,

the number of people entering shops is going down. it is a stark reminder of the shift towards online shopping that many of us are doing. the second thing is that the money we spend on black friday is money that we probably would have spent at some point anyway so we just distorts the figure slightly. perhaps we bought an early christmas present or delayed some are spending. it is not new money we're spending. it is not new money we're spending because we were drawn in by a great fight. what is the year been like then generally for retailers? we do not have figures for the whole year yet and the figures for super saturday was based on intentions. in the year today we can say there is a picture of gross. we are purchasing more than we were in the same period one year earlier. there are many challenges facing retailers. one of thoseis challenges facing retailers. one of those is the shift to online shopping. toys "r" us, a big toy

retailer who invested heavily on shop presents but did not build online and their business suffered. beyond that changing consumer habits there are economic things going on that makes things challenging for retailers. one is that the pound is comparatively weak. if retailers need to import goods, it becomes more expensive so that affects their balance sheet —— balance sheets are the cost of living and inflation is going up and going up faster than people's wages. yet the pound you own is not going as far and people have less money to spend on goods and finally, interest rates. they rose in november and while we are not expecting an immediate interest rate rise, they are on an upward trajectory and when that happens, people are more likely to save rather than spencer is further pressure. we will come back to him

ina pressure. we will come back to him in a little while. the owner of an oxfordshire fishery, which displayed a sign banning polish and eastern european anglers, says it's been taken down after his family was threatened. bill evans of field farm fisheries near bicester, said the sign was put up after he'd caught anglers stealing fish. he's now considering closing the lake to the public. the equality and human rights commission had called the sign unlawful, and threatened to take enforcement action to have it removed. the headlines on bbc news: north korean state tv describes as an ‘act of war‘ new economic sanctions imposed by the united nations. pyongyang has vowed to strengthen its nuclear deterrent. the united nations has warned of a dire humanitarian situation in the southern philippines, which has been battered by an intense tropical storm. two men have died in a crash involving five vehicles that closed part of the m40 in oxfordshire for several hours last night. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre,

katherine downes. hello, good evening. saracens are up to second in the english premiership after they won 29—17 at leicester. saracens began the day fourth in the table and they took the early initiative and led 17—o after this jamie george try was converted. leicester fought back in front of a crowd of more than 23,000 at welford road. mathew tait's try helped reduce the deficit to seven points at half—time. but the visitors pulled away after the break, thanks to the boot of england fly half owen farrell. 29—17 it finished to saracens with farrell having kicked 19 points. serena williams is set for a busy christmas. she's expected to make a return to competitive action on saturday at an exhibition match in abu dhabi four months after giving birth. the 23—time grand slam champion will play the french open winner elaine 0stapenko as part of her preparation to defend her

australian open title. the last time she played was in melbourne last january when she won the title while eight weeks pregnant. sheffield wednesday and middlesbrough are both looking for new managers after the two teams met at hillsborough yesterday. wednesday confirmed carlos carvalho has left the club after yesterday's 2—1 defeat. they're currently 15th in the championship. wednesday released a statement earlier saying both parties believe the time is right to go our separate ways. carvalho had been in charge for 2.5 years. meanwhile, middlesbrough parted company with monk only a few hours after they had beaten wednesday yesterday. he leaves just six months after he was appointed with the club ninth in the league. to cricket now, and even though the ashes have already been regained by australia, there's been plenty of verbal sparring ahead of the fourth test on boxing day. both england and australia will be without key bowlers in melbourne. england's craig overton because of a rib injury and australia's mitchell sta rc with a heel problem. here's patrick geary.

melbourne is a city which reaches for the sky. there are more tall buildings here than in london or in beijing. a reminder to england of their now impossible climb. 3—0 down, the ashes gone, surrounded by criticism and jibes from the aussies, now england have to come here and in this place, it's very easy to feel lost. it's happened before. the last england test team to come to the mcg were 3—0 down and ended up losing the series 5—0. so how are this side any different? the morale in the group is still really high. there's no bickering, there's no separation within the group. it's good that we've all stuck together. i wasn't here on that previous ashes tour, but by all accounts, there was differences within the camp. but then it doesn't feel like that here. everyone is working hard to try and win this test match. if there is hope, maybe

it's in a damaged heel, belonging to mitchell starc, the top wicket taker in the series. he'll miss the test, to be replaced byjackson bird. some in the england camp have claimed australia's bowling back—ups aren't up to the standard of the front line. in response, mitchell starc cannot bowl actual bouncers, but here is a verbal one. it's quite humorous, actually. they haven't taken 20 wickets yet in the series. we have and they are having a crack at our depth and i think they've got more things to worry about than the depth of australian fast bowlers. hopefully, jacko takes five. as i said on and off, he still bowls quick enough, faster than the pom bowlers as well. maybe in adversity, england will find their true character, but australia is preparing to celebrate and humiliate. and around here, one thing preoccupies them more than anything. the fourth test gets under way on boxing day. that is all the sport for now. have a very merry christmas. for one little boy, christmas came

early following an international man—hunt for his toy monkey, mac. oh, yes! are you happy? thank you so much. look at that. he is so happy. are you happy? thank you so much. look at that. he is so happylj are you happy? thank you so much. look at that. he is so happy. i love him. finn regan—alexander left the cuddly toy on an aer lingus plane after the family flew from gatwick to knock to visit relatives last tuesday. when his mother louise put out a tweet appealing for help to find him, sightings of the monkey were reported in pubs, planes and even in glasgow. luckily, the real mac was found by the airline and returned to finn yesterday, just in time for christmas. now, from surfing dogs to gymnastic pandas and kitty power play in westminster, animals regularly find a way to make the news. here's a look back at some of the best animal stories of the year.

this does not look like a walk in the park. dog owners and their pets in california have hit the waves in the second annual world dog surfing championships. here are the pictures. there's style, confidence, the size of the waves. some events have really big waves, some have small waves. there's a lot of style and technique, it's really interesting. the competitors' main challenge is to stay afloat on the board. this is near san francisco, but there are also prizes for the best dressed and tandem surfing dogs. the winner, of course, being crowned top dog. that's a shame, we've run out of pictures. cheese!

dog howls. ooh, that was a good one. poor simon. in a moment, the weather. but first, where's santa? here is the tracker. he is over the atla ntic here is the tracker. he is over the atlantic ocean, just passing prince paid. he is heading for ghana. we have just been tracking where he has been and he is zigzagging all over the place, all over the west african coastline and dipping down into the atla ntic coastline and dipping down into the atlantic ocean. if you look at the

top right—hand corner, he has delivered 3,760,000,000 presence and counting. who would have bought. now the weather. the typhoon caused devastation as it made landfall. it is now moving towards the west. you can see this in the south china sea. it is heading towards the southern tip of the numb. it is likely to weaken a little bit. making landfall around the far south of the nam. very heavy rain, damaging wind but also big waves around the coast. coastal flooding will be a problem. rainfall totals will mount up, we could see landslides. the storm continues to wea ken landslides. the storm continues to weaken before moving out into the gulf of thailand towards southern parts of thailand, so another heavy burst of rain and some strong winds likely here. storm will weaken a

touch. it is quite slow—moving and it will have further impact. making impact on monday, could bring more than 300 millimetres of rain. flooding and landslides likely. as well as gust about 130 kilometres an hour. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: north korea says the latest un sanctions are an "act of war" as they amount to a complete economic blockade. pyongyang has vowed to strengthen its nuclear deterrent. rescuers are searching for victims of a tropical storm in the southern philippines. more than 200 people have died in mudslides and flash floods. emergency services have yet to reach some of the affected areas. two men have been killed following a multiple vehicle crash on the m40 in oxfordshire. it closed a section of the motorway near banbury for several hours last night. four people were injured, one seriously. christians in the iraqi city of mosul are celebrating christmas

for the first time since 2014, after so—called islamic state were driven out earlier this year. celebration are taking place in bethlehem amid rising tensions in the region following the us decision to recognisejerusalem as israel's capital earlier this month. controversial plans to scrap the army slogan "be the best" because it was felt to be elitist have been stopped by the new defence secretary, gavin williamson. now on bbc news, we celebrate the lives of those who've died this year in review 2017: we remember. before we do, the bbc news channel would like a word. happy christmas! they got it right! they have been

practising all evening! i tell you, never work with children, animals or producers. and now, the year in review, 2017, we remember. # deep down in louisiana cross to new orleans # where back up in the woods among the evergreens # there stood a log cabin made of earth and wood # where lived a country boy named johnny b goode# # 0h maybelline...# half of the young people go to school so that's why i wrote about school, i wrote about cars and most of all the people, they'll soon be in love. # it's a jumping little record i want myjockey to play # roll over beethoven i got to hear it again today #. and you monsieur are the famous simon templar. but what about brother vincent, supposing he notices something he thinks clinton should know about.

mr...? bond. james bond. is there time before we leave for lesson number three? absolutely. there's no sense in going off half cocked. stir in some crushed ice, shake, strain and pour. top it off with one olive. two. i said two. you were perfect up until the olives. two olives. that way you see they can gently bounce up against each other. i'm afraid the spectacle of two olives gently bouncing up against each other is a pleasure i shall forego. oh, you don't want to bust up a pair.