hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories: president trump pays a surprise christmas visit to american troops in iraq. his first presidential trip to a combat zone. a strong rebound on wall street — the dow index has broken a record and gained more than 1,000 points in a single trading session for the first time ever. russia's president vladimir putin witnesses the final test of a hyper—sonic missile which he says can penetrate any missile defence system. and sister wendy beckett, whose passion for art made her a television star, has died at the age of 88. hello. president trump and the first lady have made a surprise visit to iraq to thank us troops posted there for their service.

the secret trip comes in the midst of a government shutdown, and less than a week after mr trump announced his controversial plans to withdraw us troops from syria, as well as half of those stationed in afghanistan. earlier i spoke to our correspondent chris buckler in washington. president trump is always going to be someone that causes problems on the world stage and sometimes relationships are not the easiest. at times are lot of concerns with what he's doing in the middle east. if you look at turkey, president recep tayyip erdogan, had a conversation with president trump that he was pulling out of syria and removing us troops from there and he had another conversation where he

said that to keep might be one of the countries to take the lead whenever the us pulls out. it gives you this real sense that while president trump is looking towards iraq and looking towards other countries as being somewhere where he can have some influence, that decision to pull out of syria is something that will cause a lot of worries and certainly, although he visited troops today to raise morale, there will be others worried about the decision. president trump travelled with the first lady to iraq, to spread some christmas cheer and to thank troops for their service and sacrifice. we came to al asad to share our eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep america safe, strong and free. but, standing with us soldiers on foreign soil, it was inevitable he would be asked about what many claim is his increasingly isolationist foreign policy. last week, in a sudden and surprise decision, he announced that american forces would be leaving syria, causing concern in washington and several corners of the world. but mr trump said he believed a lot

of people were going to come around to his way of thinking. he went on to insist that it's time for us to start using our head. one person who remains unconvinced as the outgoing defence secretary, one person who remains unconvinced is the outgoing defence secretary, jim mattis, who resigned over the president's plans. mr trump says he is in no hurry to find a permanent successor to general mattis, a sign that he intends to push forward with what he believes is right. it is reported that the pentagon has been asked to draw up plans to severely reduce the number of american troops in afghanistan. many in the military feel there is still much work left to be done there and in syria. and there has been widespread criticism of mr trump's suggestion that the so—called islamic state group have been defeated. this was the first trip by this commander—in—chief to see his soldiers in a combat zone. but mr trump has given every signal that he wants to be less involved in the middle east, a president

who seemingly believes in "america first", and getting involved in other countries only as a last resort. even with those questions about foreign policy, mr trump may feel that trip is a brief break from the battles at home. there were questions about the stock market, the partial element shut down leaving thousands of workers either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will get paid. mr trump will only except any deal that gives them $5 billion for a portable with mexico and democrats say that will not happen. all these issues will not happen. all these issues will not end for president trump any time soon. let's get some of the day's other news: judges in france have dropped a long—running investigation into the shooting down of a plane carrying the former rwandan president juvenal habyarimana. his death in 1994 was

a trigger of the genocide. a french inquiry began four years later at the request of relatives of the french crew members who died. us supreme court judge ruth bader ginsburg has left hospital following cancer surgery. the 85 year—old had two cancerous growths removed from her left lung in new york on friday. ms ginsberg is the most seniorjustice on the supreme court's liberal wing. in ukraine, 30 days of martial law has come to an end, amid continuing tensions with russia in the kerch strait. the measure was in force in 10 regions along the black sea and the borders with russia, belarus and moldova. martial law was declared after the capture of three ukrainian naval vessels and 2a sailors by russian forces in november. russia says that reported israeli air strikes on syria overnight directly threatened two civilian aircraft. the defence ministry in moscow says one of the endangered flights had been landing in damascus, and the other in beirut. syria said earlier its air defences

had intercepted missiles, fired by israeli aircraft close to the capital, damascus. an arms depot had been damaged and three soldiers wounded. stock markets in the usa have made a remarkable rebound after days of losses, including their worst ever christmas eve. the dow index posted its biggest ever daily point gain, surging by more than 1,000 points in a single trading session. 0ur reporter kim gittleson is here to add some analysis. roaring back to life, all the main indices. a fun fact. in the snp 500 there are more than 500 companies at all of them except on closed up today, a mining company having the dubious honour to lose market value today. but the key thing is positive

news in terms of the christmas shopping data with americans spending once more, once of the best performances in yes and companies with big as gains were tech companies, like amazon.com is up that does not mean that this will not go downwards after this positive gain. 0verall, trading volumes have been pretty thin with a lot of people sitting out with the holiday season. people sitting out with the holiday season. some half days as well. when you look at the performance of the us market, approaching the end of the year, we have had this positive session today but what has the performance been over the year? on wall street trader said that if you are on wall street this year, it was the best of times and the worst of

times. the nasdaq, the dowjones will probably close lower for the year. it will not get another trump bump into 2019. investors looking at the fact that the us government remains partially shut down, j powell and donald trump feuding, and the global growth going forward. tax cuts really helped corporate profitability this year but that will not happen in 2019. a lot of investors wondering where things go from here. while it is exciting to pay attention to one big date like this one, it is not necessarily positive for the whole year. things like wages, jobs still proving to be very strong in the us. chances are we likely to see more interest rate

rises and that tends to make investors steer away from stocks? as interest rates rise, there is an incentive to put money back into a council. americans may be incentivised to spend less. the federal reserve is doing this because we want to get back to normal outside to this anger of president trump. but we do not know how long this lasts. we do not think it would go into a recession next year but we expect a slowdown in growth because of interest rates rises in the us. i am sure we will speak about that and much more over the coming year. thank you very much. president putin says russia has acquired a new type of strategic weapon, after observing the final tests of a nuclear—ca pable hypersonic missile. mr putin said the weapon could penetrate any existing or next—generation missile defence system. moscow says the avangard missile launched in the ural mountains hit a target 6,000 kilometres

away in kamchatka. russia last week blamed the united states for the breakdown of international arms control. mr putin said the new avangard system was invincible. translation: the new avant garde system is in invincible to the days and future missile systems. this is a big success missile systems. this is a big success and a big victory. within the next year, the system will be deployed into service or stop a regiment will be created which will start its combat duty. the united states coast guard said on wednesday it was searching for a british crew member who went overboard from a royal caribbean cruise ship, harmony of the seas, on christmas day. 20—year—old arron hough went overboard some 267 miles off puerto rico. the coast guard said it continued its search for hough with an airplane and cutter ship. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: scientists in the uk create a 3d model of cancer, in the hope it will help them understand the spread of the disease. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said that it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, 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 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 shkodra, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: us president donald trump and first lady melania trump have made an unannounced christmas visit to us troops in iraq. the dow has broken a record and gained more than 1,000 points in a single trading session for the first time ever. it has been just weeks since the camp fire ripped through california, becoming the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history. at least 86 people were killed, many of them trapped in the town of paradise. now as the community looks

to recover and rebuild the big question is how this can be prevented from happening again. james cook reports. we hope potential for a we hope potentialfor a major incidents. request 15 additional engines. from the first radio called for dawn, the danger was clear. go down into the community and evacuate it. the fire was burning in a kenyan east of paradise —— canyon. within hours, the entire town, home to 27,000 people would be ablaze. this is what goes up and down. in paradise, they are still counting the cost. this is all that remains of this mourmans workshop, the home she shared with her husband has gone

as well. did you manage to get any precious things? clothes on our back. i grabbed my embroidery files, all my print files, my records, everything is gone. it is notjust the personal loss of your home but it is rebuilding the business as well, a big financial burden? but we will do it. we will do it. this is not just a tragedy for will do it. we will do it. this is notjust a tragedy for paradise, it isa notjust a tragedy for paradise, it is a disaster for california. notjust a tragedy for paradise, it is a disasterfor california. in notjust a tragedy for paradise, it is a disaster for california. in the past 20 years, this state has seen 16 of its 20 largest wildfires on record. ten of the 20 deadliest and 15 of the most if in terms of property destroyed. —— distructive. president trump blames california the managing its forest —— for not managing. environmental laws and a

century of suppressing wildfires have left a dangerous landscape which must be themed. have left a dangerous landscape which must be themedlj have left a dangerous landscape which must be themed. i think the president has a point. in some insta nces, president has a point. in some instances, we did not accomplish what we were supposed to, reducing the density and at the rate that the fire can spread from crown to crown, because that is when it gets dangerous. you can see the saplings growing after the fire. but these environmentalist disagrees. logging, he says is not the answer. what logging does is create combustible debris on the forest floor and spreads very combustible material. it basically reduces the canopy and instead of a cooling floor, you get hot conditions which makes fire

spread. as long as we keep spending money on logging, we are not using resources to protect forests. this means a lot to everybody. california's fire chief is adamant wildfires are getting bigger and more dangerous and there will be more dangerous and there will be more thank you cards for one obvious reason. it is climate change. literally, firefighters are on the front line of climate change in california and other parts of the west we are seeing it, these changes in temperatures, in whether patterns, having a direct impact on fire conditions. for generations, california has been known as the golden state. the sum it remains heaven on earth but for how much longer? british scientists have created a 3d digital model of a cancer. the tumour sample, taken from a patient, can be studied using

virtual reality. researchers in cambrisge hope it will provide new insights into how cancers spread. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. this is 21st—century pathology. 0n the conveyor belt is a wafer thin slice taken from a human tumour. multiple slices, each just one cell thick, are analysed to reveal all the characteristics of the cancer. then, the sample is reassembled digitally so it can be studied, using virtual reality. we are on the bleeding edge of nearly every technology. greg hannon, director of cancer research uk's cambridge institute, showed me round his virtual lab, where we are transformed into avatars. this giant multicoloured cloud of bubbles is the virtual tumour. the tissue sample it came from was the size of a pinhead. the purpose of this project is to understand how each of these

cell types influences each other. what messages do they send to each other and how does that influence their behaviour? this shows how the incredible diversity of cancer cell types interact in order to evade the body's defences. now that knowledge may ultimately help in the search for new treatments. at this point, we decided to go and explore the tumour in more detail. i think here, you can really start to appreciate its structure. i'm noticing something interesting here. if we can just move around. it looks to me like there are sets of tumour cells that are floating above the ductile structures, almost as if they are streaming out. it's when those cells leave the duct and become invasive disease that they become really dangerous. so, here, are you capturing potentially the moment when this cancer begins to spread? yeah. and i think that's what is really

remarkable here, because i think unless we were looking at the tumour in this detail, in this resolution, in this many cells and in three dimensions, we would never be able to find such an event. researchers at the crick institute in london say that the virtual tumour will help explain how cancers interact with healthy cells and eventually spread. it's a huge step forward. it's so much more dynamic and real than what we've been able to do in the past by looking at very static analyses of what is happening in, essentially, two dimensions. this virtual pathology lab can be accessed by researchers anywhere in the world, helping scientists share knowledge in the fight against cancer. fergus walsh, bbc news, cambridge. earlier i spoke to professor greg hannon, director of cancer research uk's cambridge institute. i asked him how significant this could be in helping cancer patients. it is really a first step. this is

one model. a small piece of one patient‘s cancer. the goal of this grand challenge project is to create thousands of such models because looking in retrospect that one model from one patient is actually not that informative that we see some fairly remarkable things. what we really need to do is by looking at current patterns, things that are common to hundreds of thousands of different patients and then so we can use those to help us redefine diagnoses and to predict how treatments, particularly some of the treatments, particularly some of the treatments that are focused on harvesting body's own defences, can be improved. in order for this to have a widespread and effort, it would require this kind of modelling to be done many multiple times many

different types of cancer cell, is that what you are saying? well, i think we will start to understand some principles after ten or a dozen different samples are looked at. i think we've is really starts to have clinical benefit, it will probably require us to going into the hundreds of thousands of samples. and because this can be accessed all around the world, do you think this 3-d around the world, do you think this 3—d model is going to do anything to help people, say, in developing countries, access better cancer treatment or is it too early to say? think that obviously if you are looking at situations in developing countries, we won't be creating personalised model —— that models for patients, at least not in the current circumstances. i think the principles that we learn could be quite broadly applicable. i think there will be a benefit as there is to all quite a sophisticated

technological approaches as one moves forward but i think it will be the general principle that all load but not the specifics from the models of individual patients, that can be applied. the principles that we learn from the personalised genetics have a knock—on effect. sister wendy beckett, the nun whose passion for art made her an unexpected television star, has died at the age of 88. her broadcasting career began in the early 1990s and she went to appear in several bbc series. david sillito looks back at her life. scripture tells us that the angel gabriel was sent by god to a virgin in the town of nazareth. sister wendy beckett, a nun talking about paintings. who would have guessed that this would have been such a hit? god became man and it happened like this.

there was never a rehearsal or a written script, she simply stood and spoke and millions in britain, america, and around the world sat and listened. and here we have the great mythological scene, but i really can't afford to spend time looking at them because i want to get to this huge claude. asa as a child she was almost too clever. she joined the announcement was 16. i never expected to be able to talk to anybody but i took that for granted, that was how people were. they would neverfind for granted, that was how people were. they would never find anybody they could talk to. at 0xford she received a congratulatory first. her tutorj r r tolkien led a round of applause. she went on to write books and then she was asked if she would present a programme on her passion, art. the pressure of work and coping with

epilepsy led her to seek almost total solitude. then, during a rare excursion to a gallery, she was overheard talking about art. it was that it led to her tv career. she found the idea of fame and celebrity mortifying. herjoy was silence and solitude. even at mass she sat alone in the belfry. well, that is where i am going to live for eternity, i hope, tucked away in the belfry of the graveyard, thanking god for allowing me a life... ..of such unimaginable happiness. lucky me. sister wendy beckett who's died at the age of 88. a us explorer has become the first man to cross antarctica

alone and unassisted. 33—year—old colin 0'brady finished a race across the ice in 53 days, beating british army captain louis rudd. the trek is 1,500 kilometre across the earth's coldest continent in extreme conditions. the journey killed a british ex—army officer two years ago. a reminder of our top story. president trump has made a surprise christmas visit to us troops in iraq — his first trip to see soldiers under his command in a combat zone. it comes days after his defence secretary, jim mattis, resigned in a dispute over the president's decision to pull us forces out of syria. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ ben m bland. it may not have been a white

christmas but it wasn't a particularly bright christmas either or many of us. this is how it looked on boxing day in the south—west of wales. a lot of crowd around and through the day ahead again it will be often cloudy. it should remain largely dry. we have high pressure still firmly in charged to the south. frontal systems dancing across the far north of the uk so a bit of patchy rain still clearing eastwards a cross bit of patchy rain still clearing eastwards across scotland but for many more, it a dry start and a relatively mild start although notice, something a little bit cooler showing up across the south of england and south wales. could be at touch of frost and that is because the skies have been clearing and after any early fog has cleared, across the southern counties of england and the south of wales, that

is where we have a decent chance of seeing some sunshine through the day. also, the north and east of scotland, past of north—east england, maybe north wales and merseyside, these areas could see some sunshine. elsewhere, generally some sunshine. elsewhere, generally some clout, it may be some drizzle, most will be dry with highs of 8—12. —— mcleod. through tonight, there could still be large areas of cloud and fog floating around but could have bigger cloud to the north and west. into northern ireland and western scotland by the end of the night. if the cloud does breakfor any length of time where you are, you might get a touch of frost but most of us worked. for friday, outbreaks of rain trundling it was across scotland. much of the rain quite light and patchy. northern ireland and northern england, it may be down into the midlands, something brighter, some sunshine with more cloud down towards the south. and then we get on to the weekend. high pressure still in charge, our familiarfriends, sitting pressure still in charge, our familiar friends, sitting to the south. this frontal system is likely to spin up into an area of low pressure which will pass across the northern half of scotland. 0utbreaks

of heavy rain here and potentially some patchy rain also sliding into northern ireland and northern england as a day wears on. further south again, a lot of cloud but a lot of dry weather. i'll stay on saturday. 10— 12 degrees. for sunday, there still could be some patchy rain around but more of this largely dry but are largely cloudy weather. some sunny breaks and the temperature is still doing well for this time of day for —— time of year. 11 and maybe 13. for new year's eve and of course new year's day, it is looking largely dry, pretty cloudy, but for most of us it will be mild. this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has made a christmas visit to us troops in iraq, his first trip to see soldiers under his command in a combat zone. it comes days after his defence secretary, jim mattis, resigned in a dispute over the president's decision to pull us forces out of syria. stock markets in the us have

made a remarkable rebound after days of losses, including their worst ever christmas eve. the dow index posted its biggest ever daily point gain, surging by more than one thousand points in a single trading session. president putin says russia has acquired a new type of strategic weapon, after observing the final tests of a nuclear—capable hypersonic missile. he said it was a new year's gift to the nation. mr putin said the weapon could penetrate any existing or next—generation missile defence system. now it's time to take a look at some of hardtalk‘s stand—out interviews from 2018 — from presidents and world leaders,