this is bbc world news today. i'm gavin grey. our top stories. the pope, in his christmas blessing, has called for negotiations to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians translation: on this festive day, let us ask the lord for peace forjerusalem and for all the holy land. russia's election commission says the opposition candidate alexei navalny can't run for the presidency. he says he'll appeal. venezuela's president under fire as canada expels his ambassador and says maduro is robbing people of their democratic rights. and queen elizabeth uses her christmas message to pay tribute to the people of manchester and london following terror attacks this year. hello and welcome to world news today. in rome, pope francis has called for an end to the suffering of children, and for peace in the middle east. it comes as christmas celebrations in bethlehem have been quieter than usual, after the violence which followed president trump's decision to move the us embassy tojerusalem.

meanwhile the archbishop of canterbury here in britain, has used his christmas day sermon, to reflect on what he described as "tyrannical leaders around the world." justin welby said 2017 had seen "populist leaders" deceiving their people. the bbc‘s religion editor martin bashir reports. bright sunshine lit up the basilica in st peter's square. but pope francis chose to focus his christmas day message on how conflict and oppression are casting a dark shadow over the world. he said that christmas makes us focus on the christ child, and thereby pay attention to the sufferings of children, particularly in the holy land. "we seejesus in the children of the middle east," he said, "who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between israelis and palestinians."

"on this festive day, let us ask the lord for peace forjerusalem." the anglican archbishop in jerusalem, the most reverend suhail dawani, said that christ himself wept over the city 2,000 years ago, and, with donald trump's decision to officially recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel, that grief continues. when he wept at that time, he wept for the absence of peace and love in the life of people who live here. i'm afraid that our lord jesus is really still weeping for this city. at canterbury cathedral, the archbishop said though christ was born without any political leverage, he provides more freedom to individuals than the world's most powerful leaders, but midway through preaching, his own powers of speech began to fail. unlike the budget, it's not gin!

in rome, canterbury and here in jerusalem, christian leaders have taken the opportunity of this day to challenge the wisdom of the world, that they say puts power before people and has failed to protect the most vulnerable members of society, our children. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has called for a boycott of next yea r‘s election after the country's central election commission rejected his bid to take part. the commission said that navalny‘s controversial conviction for embezzlement meant he couldn't run. i spoke to bbc russians 0lga ivshina a little earlier about the development. we cannot call it a surprise but

this is an important twist. all of this is an important twist. all of this documents he needed have been submitted. he was rejected because the head of the electoral committee said he has an outstanding criminal conviction. those charges were politically motivated, according to human rights organisations around the world. russian authorities insist, and a russian court has decided that is what has happened. in return he has said that he will appeal the decision and if the bank continues, then he has called for a boycott of the elections. this is... this adds intrigue to the elections. because almost all political a nalysts because almost all political analysts believe that vladimir putin will win, but the question is what will win, but the question is what will be the percentage and what will

the turnout be ? a diplomatic row between venezuela and canada has intensified. canada has announced it's banning venezuela's ambassador to ottawa from returning to the country and is expelling its charge d'affaires. the canadian foreign minister said the move was in retaliation for the expulsion of its most senior diplomat from caracas over the weekend. the bbc‘s americas editor leonardo roccha explained what the row is about. it is about the opposition in venezuela, and the way the president, nicolas maduro, has handled opposition movements and protests. in april, president nicolas maduro announced he would call ina nicolas maduro announced he would call in a sitting assembly, very controversial, because the new assembly would take over powers and replace the congress in venezuela that was controlled by the opposition. that sparked four months

of protest, about 120 people were killed. canada has been very vocal about this, very critical. they went against the venezuelan government, and what happened is, over the weekend, they finally, venezuela expels the canadian ambassador. they said they could not stand by, canada, and they will continue supporting the defence of human rights in venezuela. tit-for-tat, then, but the brazilian ambassador has also been expelled. for a slightly different case, the brazilian government has been very critical of president maduro, the brazilian ambassador, what they said is that brazil has broken the role of law, with the impeachment of its left—wing leader. what it shows is that venezuela has decided to strike against the countries that are critical of the president, president maduro, who next year is running for

re—election. and they will get closer to their allies, russia, cuba, left—wing allies, in latin america, and other parts of the world. recreation of a constituent assembly, that reduces the opposition powers, it will mean next year ‘s election should be easier for nicolas maduro. the opposition is very weak. many of its leaders have been put in prison. they have been sentenced. 0thers have been put in prison. they have been sentenced. others have left the country. the constituent assembly has been divided, completely, they did not know how to act, to boycott, to strike back. president nicolas maduro, if he called for elections in april, may, he is almost certain to win. he will get another six—year term. canada, brazil, these expulsions, is that the end of the matter or will it escalate? that is how they can do it, the conditions for brazil are basically impossible, it would be the return of the president, dilma rousseff. with

canada, they have said, taking orders from president trump, the empire. and there is nothing that they can do there. for venezuela what is crucial, relations with the united states. where they export most of their oil, and with russia. at least nine people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack close to afg hanistan's national intelligence agency in the capital, kabul. the bomber targeted people as they arrived for work. the so—called islamic state group said it carried out the attack. anbarasan ethirajan reports. the mangled remains of the car hit by the suicide bombing. most of the passengers of the car died in the impact of the explosion. the bomber was on foot, and detonated before the security guards could stop him. two guards were among the dead. several people were injured. translation: i heard a big boom, and then realised it was an explosion.

i was so scared. and then the security forces arrived. translation: the sound was so loud, then it was dusty, and people were fleeing from every corner. security forces came quite soon. and, fearing the possibility of a second explosion, they stopped people getting close to the area. the islamic state group said it carried out the attack. it comes a week after militants stormed a building near the same intelligence agency. in may, a truck bomb killed at least 150 people in the heavily protected diplomatic district. the repeated attacks raised questions over the ability of the security forces to prevent such incidents. as a bitter power struggle continues between the afghan presidency and local leaders, some are worried that the political crisis is distracting the government's efforts in tackling the growing islamist insurgency. let's take a look at some news in brief now.

authorities in the philippines have ordered a criminal investigation into a shopping mall fire in the southern city of davao. at least 37 people died. deadly blazes occur regularly in the philippines, particularly in slum areas. twenty people travelling to a christmas day mass in the philippines have been killed in a bus crash. the churchgoers' small bus collided with an oncoming coach near the town of agoo, north of the capital manila. twenty five other people were injured. a bus in the russian capital, moscow has ploughed into a pedestrian underpass, killing at least four people. the vehicle travelled at high speed down a staircase at the entrance of the underpass. the incident took place near the slavyansky bulvar metro station in the west of the city. the driver of the bus was detained by police. a man has rammed his car into the headquarters of germany's social democratic party in berlin. police say the 58—year—old was intending to kill himself. he had gas cartridges in the car and cans of petrol. the man was injured and taken to hospital. he also left a bag containing gas canisters in front of the headquarters

of chancellor angela merkel‘s party. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: one of london's busiest railway stations, makes the most of a suspended service on christmas day, providing lunch for the homeless. this is bbc world news today. i'm gavin grey. the latest headlines: the pope has been giving his christmas blessing. he called for "peace for jerusalem" and "mutual trust" on the korean peninsula. russia's election commission has voted to ban opposition candidate alexei navalny from running for president. he says he will appeal. the deadly tropical storm that cut through southern philippines on saturday, where it killed 240 people

in mudslides and flash floods, is beginning to hit southern vietnam. up to one million people are being evacuated from low lying areas, as anywhere from da nang southwards is expected to have up to 500mm of rain fall. a short time ago i was joined by nick miller from the bbc weather centre, who told me the storm is now weakening. at one stage it was a typhoon, it strengthened, having moved with the southern philippines, it became a typhoon, just before reaching southern vietnam, it was downgraded in terms of wind strength to a tropical storm. wind is in the only feature we need to be worried about when it comes to typhoons and tropical storms, it is very much the rain, all that rain in the southern philippines causing problems. and the storm surge, the amount of water above normal tide level that will come into low—lying areas, very serious threat. although technically

it has weakened, we are still expecting several hours of heavy rain and the storm surge, still potential for damaging wind across southern parts of vietnam. that rain, in the worst affected areas, reaching 200 of millimetres as we have mentioned. extraordinary, and continues to head west, where does that put the track? the energy from this, as a weakening system, we have been watching, it has broken apart, in terms of cloud structure, and well—defined typhoon. but the energy from this goes out west to the gulf of thailand, and on towards thailand. there will be areas, come the end of the week, that will be affected by heavy rain, and brings the potential for some flooding where some spots, by about 18, 100 150 millimetres of rain, not producing as much as we have seen in vietnam over the next few hours, but certainly as much rain as the terrible problems we saw in the philippines. 500 millimetres of

rain, relatively short time, particularly when we talk about the philippines, that is what caused the mudslides. and not everybody will see that much rain, let's be clear, it ties in with the topography, the hills, the geography of these places. you can have areas that see a lot of rain, minimal impact, a lot of rain also in the worst possible area, else i, something like that, a lot of that rain will follow down quite quickly, producing landslide and flooding. that degree of things is unpredictable in terms of the impact, we saw that in the southern philippines, at risk of seeing some problems that may not be on that scale, that is why these preparations and evacuations are taking place. certainly very much a system that needs to be is taken seriously. nigerian military officials say they have repelled an attack by suspected boko haram fighters. militants had attacked the village of molai, around five kilometres from the north eastern city of maiduguri. major general nicholas rogers, who heads nigeria's military operations against boko haram,

told reuters news agency the situation was now under control. yemeni officials say that fresh air strikes and clashes have killed over 60 fighters. it comes as saudi—backed pro—government forces push an offensive against houthi rebels. saudi—led coalition air raids overnight targeted hais, while bombardments from gunships struck the city of tahita. government troops and coalition forces have been advancing along the red sea coast recently. you've heard of re—cycling but these days the new buzzword is up—cycling, transforming rubbish into objects of desire. a nonprofit workshop in austria, supported by the city government, is working with the long—term unemployed to make furniture, ornaments and jewellery out of old household appliances. bethany bell reports from the dismantling and recycling centre in vienna. it's beautiful, but it is actually

all made from rubbish. the process starts here at this workshop. workers remove hazardous substances from old computers and appliances. the leftovers are sent either for recycling, or upstairs, to the trash design team. what we do is that we collect specific kinds of garbage — that means electric and electronic equipment. we make, design objects and jewellery, and we offer the old garbage an opportunity to get reused, or to get upcycled. they turn vinyl records into clocks, and dead keyboards into rings. the glass from washing machine doors become sandblasted bowls, complete with patterns. and it's notjust about transforming trash. lives are changed here, too. many of the people who work here are the long—term unemployed.

susann says she has been given a new chance. translation: it is cool. i find it really super. you make something new out of old stuff, but it hurts me when i have to cut up these old records. i recently had an old abba album and i thought "no!", and then it became a notebook. but that's the way it goes. some of vienna's famous christmas markets are also getting in on the act. trash design is on offer, alongside the gingerbread and mulled wine. the workshop has its own stalls, where products are on sale, often for pretty prices. these items have come a long way from the city's rubbish dumps to the magnificent surroundings of one of austria's old royal palaces, and when it comes to christmas presents this year, the designers are hoping that it will be upcycling all the way. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. queen elizabeth has been attending

the traditional christmas day service along with other members of the royal family including prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle. in her christmas day broadcast the queen paid tribute to the cities of manchester and london, following this year's terrorist attacks. it's a day for family, with its own established pattern. for the royal family, that means a visit to church, led by the queen. very much at home already, the royal family's soon—to—be newest member, meghan markle. alert to everything that was going on and waiting for her cue in terms of royal protocol. a neat curtsy as the queen left by car. then walking across to speak to members of the crowd who had been hoping to meet her, before lunch, and then the queen's christmas broadcast. the central message of this year's broadcast was one of solidarity with two british cities. this christmas, i think of london and manchester, whose powerful identities shone

through over the past 12 months in the face of appalling attacks. the queen said it had been a privilege to witness the extraordinary bravery of young people injured in the manchester attack. very wicked. to target that sort of thing. yes. she spoke too about what she called the "sheer awfulness" of the grenfell tower fire. our thoughts and prayers are with all those who died, and those who lost so much. and we are indebted to members of the emergency services, who risked their own lives this past year saving others. television has made it possible for many of you to see me

in your homes on christmas day. and there were personal touches. the queen recalled that it's 60 years since she delivered the first live christmas day tv broadcast. and that is how i imagine you now. six decades on, the presenter has evolved somewhat. and it's 70 years since she and the duke of edinburgh were married. he retired from solo duties this year. but... i know his support and unique sense of humour will remain as strong as ever as we enjoy spending time this christmas with our family, and look forward to welcoming new members into it next year. a christmas message which acknowledges the passage of time, but which reminds us that, more than six decades now after she came to the throne, the queen remains strongly committed to her role as head of state. nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. meanwhile, the us president donald trump and first lady melania trump have released a christmas message. here's some of what they had to say. this christmas season we celebrate

out this christmas season we celebrate our blessings as americans and we pray for peace all over the world. 0n pray for peace all over the world. on behalf of melania, myself, i do barren, and the entire trump family, god bless you, god bless america, and have a very merry christmas and and have a very merry christmas and a happy new year. —— baron. london's euston station has been turned into a shelter for the homeless, as rail workers and charity staff served around 200 rough sleepers a full christmas lunch today. caroline davies reports. festive preparation under the departures board, as network rail volunteers prepare for their homeless guests. they're part of our community, they're here every day and i think some places would maybe just shun them away, but for us, they are an important part of the community. they're here, we have to engage, we have to look after them and make sure that they're safe. local charities invited 200 guests

to enjoy some festive music and a four—course meal. a meal which was only possible thanks to the donations from 45 different businesses and groups. jed has been squatting since he was 18. it's unique. they've got this space on christmas day, quite interesting to see somewhere like this on christmas day, see it put to some good use. jesse now squats, too, but spent many years living in a tent moving around the uk. it's nice. it's a nice relaxing environment. it takes the usual chaos out of our lives, you know? as well as leaving well fed, guests were also given sleeping bags and thermal clothes to help them endure the winter cold. for these guests, for now, some christmas cheer on the concourse. france has also opened up a train station

to a shelter for the homeless. a traditional christmas dinner was served for those in need. it was organised by the french association the poor people's younger brothers and held in the capital's paris—est station. christmas is of course is being marked in many different ways around the world. funnily enough, many celebrations seem to involve water. take a look. it's a bit like english weather here at the moment, but we're just delighted to be here. lovely people, lovely atmosphere.

i'm afraid we've got silly hats on, but that's part of the deal. merry christmas! well, obviously, tea is incredibly british. merry christmas and a happy new year. cheering. to where the wet weather lingers overnight across parts of scotland and north—east england, some sleet and north—east england, some sleet and snow even to low—level, temperatures dropping away, watch out for icy patches into scotland as boxing day begins. temperatures close to freezing, maybe a field below. frost in some spots as well, an indication of the changing feel of the weather, much colder for all of the weather, much colder for all of us as boxing day begins. snow petering out as it pushes south, as the day goes on, frequent wintry showers following into northern

scotland. for many of us, sunnier, called today than it has been but there you go. another area of heavy rain pushing into south—east england —— south—west england and south wales. in the evening that will field the north, and the risk of more show, as field the north, and the risk of more snow, as i will show you in a moment. for many of us, this indicates how much fine whether there is during boxing day afternoon if you plan a walk. much sunnier for the afternoon in the central belt, southern scotland, frequent showers, and wind into northern scotland. taking a look at this area of wet weather feeding north. taking a look at this area of wet weatherfeeding north. parts of wales, the midlands could well see some sleet and snow developing as we go through the evening on boxing day. north of that, cold, frosty night, i see in places, still uncertainty about this area of rain, sleet and snow connected to this area of low pressure as it pulls away east going into wednesday morning. cold air, rearward flank of that system. cold start on

wednesday, temperatures, single figures almost across—the—board. mixture of rain, sleet and snow pulling away from eastern england. snow in the chilterns, but then plenty of sunny but cold weather following on behind, still some wintry showers in northern scotland. frosty start on thursday with sunshine, brain preceded by snow in places, and then turning mild again for the weekend. —— places, and then turning mild again forthe weekend. —— rain places, and then turning mild again for the weekend. —— rain preceded by snow. 0ur our main headlines... pope francis has called for a negotiated solution to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. in his christmas address he said he hoped for dialogue towards the peace talks coexistence of the two states. the russian authorities have rejected an attempt by the leading opposition politician alexei navalny to stand in the elections next year. a diplomatic row between venezuela and canada has intensified. canada is

expelling venezuela's ambassador to 0ttawa expelling venezuela's ambassador to ottawa and has accused the venezuelan resident of robbing people of their democratic rights. and the queen has used her christmas message to pay