this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: vladimir putin's barred political rival lashes out as the president's supporters prepare to kick—start his election campaign. the pope calls for negotiations to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. investigators in moscow are trying to find out why a bus ploughed into a subway entrance, killing at least four people. the queen pays tribute to victims of terrorism — as the royal family celebrates christmas with its soon—to—be newest member. hello: his main rival has been banned from running for presidency — and later on monday supporters of vladimir putin will meet in moscow to begin the formal process of nominating him as their candidate for president. in what some are calling

a sign of confidence, the russian leader won't even be attending the event. there's now little standing in the way of mr putin's re—election in march. virginia langeberg explains. he has spent almost 18 years in power and is a man familiar with the grand entrance. however on this occasion, vladimir putin is expected to not even turn up to his own nomination event. some have read that decision as a sign of confidence that the kremlin says the president has a prior engagement. today marks the official launch of vladimir putin's presidential campaign. runs as an independent and halves until the end of january to collect 300,000 signatures to register his bid. is little doubt he will be re—elected. there are no strong arrivals are now that alexei

navalny has been formally disqualified. the central electoral commission deemed him ineligible because of the corruption conviction which he says is politically motivated. translation: which he says is politically motivated. translatiosz which he says is politically motivated. translation: it is not about me, it is about the fact that about me, it is about the fact that a candidate is needed who will finally come to the election and speak openly about everything that happens in our country now, who will describe our reality honestly. absence of prospects, poverty. i did that and that is why you don't want to let me take part in the election. following the ban, alexei navalny called on his supporters to boycott the election. however polls show president vladimir putin is on course for a comfortable re—election, meaning he will remain in powerfor another six re—election, meaning he will remain in power for another six years, until 202a. pope francis has called for an end to the suffering of children and for peace in the middle east. christmas celebrations in bethlehem have been quieter than usual, after the violent unrest sparked by president trump's decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital.

‘s this from our religion editor martin bashir. 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 trying to work out what caused a bus to career into a pedestrian subway in moscow, killing at least four people. victims include a woman in her thirties and a teenager. the driver told officials he'd been trying to apply the brakes, but they didn't work. faith orr reports. it is a task nobody would envy. 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. 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. 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. an inspection of the entire moscow bus fleet has now been ordered. however it happened, it is a tragedy that will leave a scar on the city into the year to come. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... protests have erupted in peru, over the president's decision to grant a medical pardon to the jailed former president alberto fujimori. hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets for a second day, accusing president kuczynski of making a deal with the opposition, to avoid his own impeachment. fujimori was serving a 25—year sentence for human rights abuses,

corruption and sanctioning death squads. britain's royal navy has said there has been an increase in the number of russian ships travelling through the uk territorial waters over the holiday period. two vessels passed close to uk territorial water. authorities in the philippines have ordered a criminal investigation into a fire. the fire started after a storm hit davao and flooded parts of the city. at least 37 people died. the building's administrators have denied suggestions that emergency exits were inadequate. the deadly tropical storm that cut through the southern philippines on saturday — killing 240 people — is now hitting southern vietnam. up to a million people are being evacuated from low lying areas — authorities are warning of up to 200 millimetres of rain. the tropical storm has weakened and should dissipate within the next 48 hours. nick miller from the bbc

weather centre gave us more details. thankfully, in terms of wind strength, the typhoon has weakened to a tropical storm. you can see on that satellite picture, it moved into southern vietnam with the cloud breaking up a bit which is an indication of the weakening of the system. it is still a big rainmaker and into southern vietnam, the heavy rain. it moves into the gulf of thailand into southern thailand in the coming days and may bring rain to bangkok. the land area is in the path, still up to 200 millimetres of rain. the landslide threat still current. 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,

for the way they dealt with this year's terrorist attacks. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell has more. 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. and there, 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 curtsey, as the queen left by car. and 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. # god save the queen...# 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. mmm. to target that sort of thing. yeah. yeah, it's... 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, at buckingham palace. a diplomatic row between venezuela and canada has intensified. canada is banning the venezuelan ambassador from returning to offer what. they say it is retaliation tricks the

expulsion of its most senior diplomat from venezuela. canada and venezuela have been at odds for a few months. canada has been supporting the opposition which venezuela is protesting against, the lack of democracy and what they say are rights violations. what canada says, strong statement. "canadians will not stand by as the government robs these people of their democratic and human rights." also, two days ago, venezuela expelled the brazilian ambassador. venezuela is making a clear stand in giving a strong message to those who criticise the government of president nicolas maduro. we won't listen quietly, we will act. they are expelling activists in venezuela. this comes at months before the presidential elections

are expected to take place, in the first half of next year. how far do you think this will go diplomatically? in trade and economic terms with canada, they aren't really important for them. what really matters our relations with our allies. mainly russia, cuba, other countries in the region that support venezuela like bolivia. and the united states, selling oil to the united states. inflation is out of control. venezuela is saying they are taking orders from the trump administration. they are making a clear stance that they will not take abuse. at the same time, they have a weakened opposition with many leaders injail or having escaped

the country with prospect of president nicolas maduro, probably in april or may next year, running for another six—year term and securing and other term. much more to come on bbc news including best, the world's top wingsuit flyers in drawer chopping fight for the world title. 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: vladimir putin's election rival is barred from running as the president's supporters meet to officially launch his campaign. the pope has been giving his christmas blessing. he called for peace forjerusalem

and mutual trust on the korean peninsula. china has called for all countries to make constructive efforts to ease tensions after north korea said the latest un sanctions against it are an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade. north korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear deterrent. meanwhile south korea's defence ministry is launching a special team on north korea an attempt at responding more effectively to increased threats from it's neighbour. jacob shapiro is director of analysis for intelligence firm geopolitical futures. he joins me now from hot springs, virginia thank you for your time. that description of sanctions as an act of war, are they or will they have that effect? thank you for having me and merry christmas. if you look at every piece of rhetoric out of north

korea, every statement it is all about nuclear war. it is about making everyone extremely afraid of them and they have done a very good job of them. i do not think they are about to launch nuclear war on the world. the assumption is that the north korean leadership is not suicidal and does not want to start a war but it is also not going to give up its nuclear weapons. wolde will just give up its nuclear weapons. wolde willjust get give up its nuclear weapons. wolde will just get used give up its nuclear weapons. wolde willjust get used to a nuclear armed north korea? that is exactly the point. they are very rational and logical and the calculation of a have made is that no one is going to come and take their nuclear weapons away from them and even if they come and try, they will be able to enjoy so and try, they will be able to enjoy so ultimately the world will have to get used to a nuclear north korea. i am not sure a world within it is

different to a world with a non— nuclear north korea. if they were to use