this is bbc world news. our top stories: the pope in his christmas blessing has called for negotiations to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. russian investigators are examining why a bus ploughed into a subway entrance in moscow, killing at least four people. venezuela's president under pressure as canada expels his ambassador and says maduro is robbing people of their democratic rights. and we visit a shooting range in india to meet the sure shot grandmother who has become a local celebrity at the age of 80. hello and welcome to bbc world news. 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 to jerusalem. 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 suheil 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. happy christmas! at canterbury cathedral, archbishop justin welby said that 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. laughter. 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. martin bashir, bbc news, injerusalem. russian investigators are examining what caused a bus to careen into a pedestrian subway in moscow, killing at least four people. the victims include a woman in her thirties and a teenager. the driver told officials he had been trying to apply the brakes but they didn't work. faith 0rr reports. it isa it is a task nobody would envy. these emergency workers are picking up these emergency workers are picking up the pieces after a bus crashed

into an underpass. it killed several people and was only stopped by the roof of the tunnel. this was the terrifying moment the vehicle barrelled down the steps, hitting pedestrians. 0fficials barrelled down the steps, hitting pedestrians. officials say they are working to try to establish what caused the crash. translation: the bus was driving away from the square and due to unknown reasons, drove into a pedestrian underpass. an investigation is under way. as a four people died and nine were hospitalised, two people refuse to go to hospital. the driver is in shock and investigators are working with him to try to figure out what happened. the driver has been detained by police but there is no suggestion this was terrorism. and expection of the entire moscow bus fleet has now been ordered. however it happened, it is a tragedy that will leave the scar on the city into the year to come. 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. bbc russia's olga ivshina told us a little earlier about the development. we cannot call it a surprise but this is a very important twist. yesterday he submitted signatures and documents and just a few hours later he was rejected because as the head of the committee said, he has outstanding criminal convictions. mr navalny and a few human rights organisations around the world say the charges were politically motivated but russian authorities insist well, the russian court has decided that is what has happened. so he cannot run. first of all he

said he would appeal the decision and secondly, if the band continues he calls to boycott the election. this is... is adds a small intrigue to the elections because almost all political analyst believe that mr vladimir putin will win but the question is the percentage and the turnout. russia's deputy prime minister vitaly mutko, has announced he's stepping down temporarily from his role as the country's most senior football official. mr mutko is relinquishing hisjob as president of the russian football union for six months. he says he wants to concentrate on contesting a lifetime ban from the olympic games over state—sponsored doping. however, he will still remain as chief organiser of next year's football world cup in russia. translation: today, using the opportunity i had, i address the executive order in regard to the temporary impossibility of

performing my duties while court proceedings are under way. this is to allow the russian football federation to work normally. i ask for my full powers to be temporarily suspended for six months. i have not resigned and my mandate will be active until 2020. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... peru's president has granted a medical pardon to jailed former president alberto fujimori, leading to mixed reactions from peruvians. his son kenji posted a video on twitter showing the former president's reaction to the news. fujimori was serving a 25—year sentence for human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads. 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. 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 where there are virtually no fire safety standards. 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 handled the opposition movement in protest this year. in april, president maduro announced he would convene a constituent assembly. it

was controversial because this new body would take over powers and replace congress. in venezuela, that was controlled by the opposition. that sparked four months of protests and around 120 people were killed. canada has been vocal and critical. they went against the venezuelan government and what happened is that over the weekend venezuela expelled the canadian ambassador and canada said they could not stand by and they will continue to support the defence of human rights in venezuela. it is a tit-for-tat measure but the brazilian ambassador was also expelled? yes. foray different reason. they have been critical of president maduro as well and the brazilian ambassador said that brazil had broken the rule of law with the impeachment of its left—wing leader. what it shows here

is that venezuela has decided to strike against the countries that are critical of president maduro. he is running for re—election next year and they will get closer to their allies, russia, cuba, left—wing allies, russia, cuba, left—wing allies in latin america. the creation of the constituent assembly reduce the powers of the opposition and next year ‘s election should be easierfor maduro? and next year ‘s election should be easier for maduro? the opposition is quite weak. many of its leaders have been imprisoned, they have been sentenced or have left the country. the constituent assembly divided the opposition completely. they did not know how to act, to boycott or to strike back. the president called for elections early in april and he is almost certain to win if he does so, and get a is almost certain to win if he does so, and geta numbersix is almost certain to win if he does so, and get a number six u—turn. with regard to the expulsion of

those countries, can you see this escalating? the conditions they imposed for brazil are impossible. that would be the root turn of their former president. for canada they said canada is taking orders from donald trump. there is nothing really that can be done. for venezuela, what is crucial our relations with the united states to where they explore most of their royal, and with russia. in the state of uttar pradesh in india, each year around 2,000 women are killed over dowry demands. but an eighty—year—old grandmother has been waging a unique fight for gender equality. parkashi tomar is india's oldest shooting champion. here's her story. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the art of reclaiming waste and making it into desirable new products. we visit the austrian workshop that's pioneering "up—cycling." we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach,

and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. the 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 us 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 breaks slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nosedown 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 shkroda where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: the pope has been giving his christmas blessing. he called for peace forjerusalem and mutual trust on the korean peninsula. russian investigators are examining why a bus ploughed into a subway entrance in moscow, killing at least four people. 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 500 millimetres of rain. 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 and

its strength in having moved through the southern philippines just before reaching southern vietnam's, it was downgraded in terms of winds speed toa downgraded in terms of winds speed to a tropical storm. winter is not the only feature to be worried about. —— wind. the rain, the brain in the southern philippines caused terrible problems and landslides, but also the amount of water above tide levels that will come into low—lying areas and that is a serious threat in the southern vietnam although technically it has weakened we are still expecting several hours of heavy rain and there could be the potential damaging winds and the worst affected areas, reaching into hundreds of millimetres as you mentioned. and then continues heading west? again, it is a

weakening system. it is broken apart in terms of its cloud structure from what you would normally think as a well—defined typhoon that the energy from these moves our west into the gulf of thailand and towards thailand and there will be areas come the middle of the week that will be affected by heavy rain. again, that brings the potential for some flooding. by that stage perhaps above 100 — 100 and 50 millimetres so above 100 — 100 and 50 millimetres so not producing as much rain as in vietnam and certainly not as much rain and the terrible problems we saw in the philippines. 500 millimetres of rain in a relatively short time. in the philippines that is what caused the mudslides? not everybody will see that much rain. it ties in to the topography, the hills, the geography, so he can have areas are seeing a hills, the geography, so he can have areas are seeing a lot of rain with minimal impact but you can see a lot

of rain in the worst possible areas and a lot of that rain will fall down very quickly and produce landslides and flooding so that degree of thing is unpredictable in terms of impact but we clearly saw that in southern philippines stock we are at risk of seeing some problems not on the scale of southern vietnam but that is why some evacuations are taking place. it needs to be watched closely. fresh air strikes and clashes in yemen have killed people as pro—government forces pushed an offensive against houthi rebels. government troops and coalition forces have been advancing along the red sea coast recently. a huge rockslide has taken place near innsbruck in austria. rocks, soil and even trees fell on the main service road, which is now blocked. people used the road to visit a church for christmas mass just 10 minutes before the rocks came down.

luckily nobody was injured. up to 150 people are still cut off from the outside world and will be until at least wednesday. translation: as things are now, after the last flight of the helicopter, there is still the danger of another rock fall. during the morning, the situation is a dramatised again. we thought we could lift most of the roadblock but during the day, it turned out that there are still risks of rocks braking. apple are facing the prospect of a lawsuit in israel over the deliberate slowing of some older models of iphones. according to israeli media the claimants are arguing that apple breached its duty to customers by failing to disclose that installing updates to the iphone's operating system could slow their devices. the tech giant admitted to the practice last week but said they only did it to try and preserve the life of the devices. you've heard of re—cycling but these

days the new buzzword is up—cycling, transforming rubbish into objects of desire. a non—profit 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 becomes 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. and 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. 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. 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, like, they've got this space on christmas day. it's quite interesting to see somewhere like this on christmas day and see it put to some good use. jesse now squats, too, but spent many years living in a tent, moving around the uk. you know, it's a nice, relaxing environment, it takes us out of the usual chaos 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. caroline davies, bbc news. christmas is of course being marked in many different

ways around the world. funnily enough, many 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. mary christmas from us. this is bbc world news. —— mary christmas.

not quite in sync with the big day but for boxing day the weather will feel more christmassy. cold air pushing back in across the uk. 13 degrees across the uk. ice on untreated surfaces as boxing day begins across parts of northern england and into scotland, where there will be some sleet and snow around southern uplands, northern pennines, even to the relatively low levels in places so do not be surprised if you wake up to a wintry scene. some wintry showers return to northern scotland, on throught the day on a chilly wind. one or two showers for northern ireland. mixture of rain, sleet and snow for some in northern england, to begin with. and a few showers running into north—west england. some of these could be wintry, especially but maybe not exclusively on hills. in the south, though, i think you'll be struck by some

sunshine for a change, after several grey, murky but mild days. sunshine but it will feel colder. if you are planning a boxing day walk, to wed early as heavy rain with strengthening wind coming back in. it will be pretty wet here. the rain beginning to extend a further east across southern england as well. to the north, take advantage of the drier and sunny at weather. in northern england, dotted with rain. sunny afternoon for southern scotla nd rain. sunny afternoon for southern scotland compared with the morning but quite a few sleet and snow showers peppering northern scotland at this stage. they will turn icy again going through the night. in the wednesday, we need to watch this weather system for snow development into the midlands. uncertainty about

the details. the back edge of this going east into wednesday. if you are travelling, do pay close attention to update on this forecast. wintry showers on wednesday the northern scotland. as this system pulls a way, sunny but chilly weather and quite a bit of frost in two thursday. the gap between weather systems will offer some sunny between weather systems will offer some sunny spells. quite a nice day on thursday. sunshine but quite cold. friday onto the weekend will cloud, the weather system from the atla ntic cloud, the weather system from the atlantic turning things milder, wetter and windier once again. this is bbc world news, the headlines. an investigation is under way into why a bus ploughed into a pedestrian underpass in the russian capital moscow. four people have died. the driver says the brakes failed to work. the russian deputy prime minister who is also in charge of the 2018 world cup, vitaly mutko, says he's stepping down temporarily as president of the football union.

he says it's to concentrate on contesting a lifetime ban from the olympics. pope francis has called for a negotiated solution to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. in his christmas address at the vatican, he said he hoped for dialogue towards the peaceful coexistence of two states. a diplomatic row between venezuela and canada has intensified. canada has announced it's expelling venezuela's ambassador to ottawa, and accused president maduro of robbing people of their democratic rights. now on bbc news, sir bruce forsyth, sir roger moore, glenn campbell and john noakes — just a few of those who left us this