this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: boeing fires its chief executive after catastrophic failures of its 737 max and the loss of nearly 350 lives. saudi arabia sentences five people to death for the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi last year. critics say the trial‘s a travesty of justice. at no point was the chain of command and the mastermind behind the killing ever worried by the investigation or the trial. president trump's impeachment trial: democrats demand documents, republicans worry about witnesses, and the house speaker has yet to send the articles to the senate. and christmas for pakistan's christian community: alongside the festivities, constant fear of the

country's blasphemy laws. hello and welcome to bbc news. the chief executive of boeing has been sacked less than a week after the planemaker said it would temporarily halt production of its troubled 737 max airliner. the company has struggled to recover after 346 people died in two crashes involving its planes. our business correspondent, theo leggett, has the story. two devastating accidents and 346 people died. the first plane crashed into the sea off indonesia late last year. then, in march, an identical aircraft went down in these fields in ethiopia minutes after take—off. since then, boeing's newest and fastest—selling aircraft, the 737 max, has been grounded worldwide.

blame‘s been placed on a piece of flight control software, known as mcas, that activated at the wrong time and forced both planes into a catastrophic dive. boeing's failures and mr muilenberg's leadership have been angrily condemned in the us congress. those pilots never had a chance. these loved ones never had a chance. they were in flying coffins. senator, if i could try to respond to your question. first of all, the premise... er, that we would lie or conceal is just not consistent with our values. zipporah kuria lost herfather in the ethiopian crash. she says mr muilenburg's departure means little to her. i don't think his resignation is going to change anything for me. maybe for other families, but it's not going to bring my dad home for christmas and it's not going to bring lots of loved ones around the table for dinner this year or any other year to come.

so, for us, it doesn't make that much of a difference, but we hope other families don't have to go through what we are going through. the final humiliation for dennis muilenburg came last week when boeing suspended production of the 737 max because regulators still won't let the plane back in the air. it's not clear when it'll fly again. but when it does, one of the biggest challenges facing the new chief executive will be to persuade passengers that it really has been made as safe as it possibly can be. theo leggett, bbc news. our business correspondent, samira hussain, has more from new york. there is no question that in the ten months since the 737 jets have been grounded, this storied american company has suffered financial and reputational damage. it has lost the confidence of aviation regulators, both here in the united states and right around the world. it no longer makes its most profitable plane

and won't do so for the foreseeable future. airlines have no clarity on when these jets will be operational again. it's already lost $9 billion in the wake of this crisis and that number continues to grow. and us lawmakers have accused boeing of putting profits over the safety of its passengers. now, boeing remains confident in the future of its 737 max fleets but there is one question that it cannot answer, and it's whether or not passengers will ever feel safe in those planes again. let's get some of the day's other news. algeria has announced three days of mourning following the death of the head of the army. ahmed gaid salah, who was 79, suffered a heart attack. he'd been the country's de facto leader since the long—time president, abdelaziz bouteflika, was forced from office by a wave of mass protests earlier this year. the ivory coast has issued an arrest warrant for guillaume soro,

a former rebel leader and a likely strong candidate in next year's presidential election. the warrant is reportedly linked to a charge of trying to destabilise the country. whilst his supporters waited for his return to the ivory coast after six months abroad, mr soro's private plane was diverted to ghana. italian coast guard helicopters have been airlifting the crew of a stranded ship to safety off the coast of sardinia. the ship ran aground in bad weather off the mediterranean island on saturday. all of the 12 crew members have been accounted for, but the cargo ship remains stuck in place. five people have been sentenced to death and three others have been jailed by a court in saudi arabia over the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi last year. he was a prominent critic of the saudi government. he was killed when he went to the saudi consulate in istanbul. a un investigator who carried out an inquiry into his murder has criticised the trial saying that the hit men had been convicted, but the "masterminds" behind his death have walked free. our security correspondent

frank gardner reports. the last public sighting of jamal khashoggi, seen here walking into the saudi consulate in istanbul in october last year. he never came out alive. turkish cctv footage shows a hit team of 15 saudi government agents arriving in istanbul to intercept khashoggi. inside the consulate, they overpowered him, injected him and suffocated him. his body has never been found. 11 men were eventually put on trial. today, the preliminary sentences were announced. translation: the criminal court in riyadh has delivered the following preliminary sentences for ii of the accused, sentencing five of them to death in retribution. they are the ones directly implicated in the death of the victim, may god rest his soul. at the time of the crime, saudi arabia initially denied responsibility,

but turkey, which had bugged the consulate, leaked details of what really happened. in november 2018, the cia said the killing was probably ordered by the saudi crown prince. and injune this year, a un report said there was credible evidence of saudi state involvement. saudi arabia's powerful crown prince, mohammed bin salman, had become increasingly irritated by khashoggi's public criticism of his policies. he denies any responsibility in the murder. agnes callamard, who's investigated the murder on behalf of the un, believes those who masterminded it have walked free. the only people that have ultimately been sentenced in the trials are those that i call the hit men. they are at the lowest level of the chain of command. anyone above have either not been charged at all, or if they were charged,

they were let free. jamal khashoggi was described by one royal aide as a threat to national security. critics are now calling the investigation into his murder a whitewash. for saudi arabia, this whole story has cast a dark shadow over its international reputation. in riyadh, the authorities will be hoping this verdict draws a line under it. but others will keep on pressing for answers. frank on pressing for answers. gardenerfor us frank on pressing for answers. gardener for us there. frank on pressing for answers. gardenerfor us there. chi schumer frank gardener for us there. chuck schumer has demanded that donald trump osman impeachment trial include witnesses. this in the light ofan e—mail include witnesses. this in the light of an e—mail recently suggesting the white house sought to freeze aid to the ukraine. 90 minutes after mr trump spoke to the president in controversial phone call last july. ata controversial phone call last july. at a news conference, he urged president trump to co—operate with the trial. so we say to president trump,

if you are so confident that you did nothing wrong, why won't you let your men testify? if you did nothing wrong, mr president, why do you seem so eager to avoid the truth, to hide the truth? as for the republicans, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, spoke to the press, and he did not rule out hearing from other witnesses at the impeachment trial when it happens. all i'm asking of schumer is that we treat trump the same way we treated clinton. we had a procedure that was approved 100 to nothing, to go through the opening arguments and have a written question. and then based upon that, deciding what witnesses to call. we can now speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. there is potentially some movement. how significant is it really?”

think it is quite significant. up until today, we have been thinking the republicans flatly did not want to see any witnesses at the senate trial, and now has we havejust heard, there is a glimmer of hope for the democrats, perhaps after having heard the opening statements of the senate trial. that is how they seem to want to proceed. there isa they seem to want to proceed. there is a possibility the democrats could partially get their way, get some of the witnesses they want to hear from, and they use are key people, key aides to the president who might have access to vital information about the sequence of events when president trump was talking to ukraine, at the time of that key telephone call with the president of the ukraine, the aid was being withheld and the president wanted an investigation into joe biden, withheld and the president wanted an investigation intojoe biden, his likely political rival. as we keep saying it hasn't really changed. it

is very, very unlikely that mr trump is very, very unlikely that mr trump is going to be removed from office. this is really about implementing voters in the presidential election next year. as far as the democrats are concerned, yes, it is. they may well be hoping that if there are not witnesses or documents, there will be some sort of blockbuster piece of evidence that might change the minds of some republicans, but that is incredibly unlikely. we are just on the edge of the 2020 election campaign, the senate trial will be taking place weeks before the caucuses and the primary elections are in the first stages as the democrats are getting down to the final few candidates, they choose to go against president trump in the next election. anything they can do to influence voters in this time is all important. peter, thank you very much for that. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come, tap to eat: the electronic device that means healthy school meals for thousands of schoolchildren in kenya. the world of music's 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 says 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 shkoder where there were anti—communist riots 10 days ago. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: boeing has sacked its chief executive as the company struggles to deal with the impact of two deadly plane crashes blamed on the firm's computer software. there's criticism of saudi arabia — after five people were sentenced to death for the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. the un says the masterminds have gone free. this is the first christmas asia bibi will celebrate as a free woman. she spent nearly ten years injail in pakistan, sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy

before being released earlier this year. human rights groups say blasphemy allegations are often used in pakistan as a way of settling personal feuds or targeting minority groups in the country. secunder kermani reports. for years, asia bibi's elderly father prayed for her release. this summer, as she was flown out of the country after nearly a decade on death row. he spoke to her on a relative's phone. translation: i was so happy. i saw her face and she held her hands up in front of me and said "father, forgive me." then i started crying and i said "go, my daughter, may god protect you." asia bibi was accused of having insulted the prophet muhammad during an argument while working in a field. a prominent muslim politician was murdered for speaking in her defence. hardliners took to the streets

when pakistan's highest court overruled her conviction last year. eventually, she was freed and fled abroad with her children and husband. the rest of her family are still in pakistan, they had to leave their village when asia bibi was first accused of blasphemy. translation: i do get angry, but what can we do without anger? we are labourers — poor people. the verdict in asia bibi's case was welcomed around the world, but pakistan's blasphemy laws remain in place. despite the release of asia bibi, activists say courts are still reluctant to acquit suspects in other blasphemy cases, afraid of the reaction from fundamentalist groups. meanwhile, new cases continue to be filed — at least a dozen people have been accused of blasphemy this year. this christian man faces the death

penalty if convicted of sending blasphemous text messages. we're concealing his identity for his own protection. his lawyer, guarded by police, also defended asia bibi. he saysjudges often feel intimidated. they do whatever the prosecution lawyers is asking. they go after him. they don't listen to the accused lawyer, and they wear the suit, putting their faces down, frightened. and to see that they're frightened, it's visible. the jailed man's family had been hoping he would be released on bail in time for christmas. that hasn't happened. translation: for me, having to cope with everything alone is so difficult. in the past few days, he got badly beaten up because there was some argument between the inmates over prayers. across pakistan, christian

neighbourhoods are preparing to celebrate. the community no longer faces the same level of threat from militant groups it did even five years ago, but a continued trickle of blasphemy allegations leaves many still feel marginalised. secunder kermani, bbc news, lahore. russia's president, vladimir putin, has welcomed the opening of a railway bridge linking mainland russia with the russian—annexed crimea peninsula. the opening of the railway was immediately condemned by the european union as "another violation" by russia of ukraine's sovereignty and territory. gareth barlow has more. three simple carriages carrying not only passengers but a serious political message. russia sees crimea from ukraine in 2014 and ever sense, moscow has worked to strengthen its claim to the region. in may, president putin opened in 19

kilometre rd link and now with this bridge there is a direct railway connection leaving saint petersburg with the former ukrainian territory. translation: today we have a very important occasion. it is important for crimea and sebastopol and the whole of russia because infrastructure projects such as this landmark ridge will have an impact on the whole economy. what a beauty ofa on the whole economy. what a beauty of a bridge, the russian leader exclaimed, have you not shared by the ukraine or the european union. an eu spokesman said the bridge was a continuation of russia's forced integration of illegally annexed crimea full of going on to say that the mega structure limits the passage of ships headed to ukrainian ports. relations between ukraine and russia made minor improvements in recent months but the opening of the $3.6 billion bridge makes fast tracking closer clinical connections evermore unlikely. —— political

connections. spiritual guide and pioneer of the us psychedelic movement ram dass has died at his home in hawaii. he was 88. born richard alpert, he worked with timothy leary in the 1960s on research into lsd at harvard before travelling to india and studying spiritualism. he was well known for his first book, be here now, which sold over two million copies. ram dass died peacefully at home. prince charles says his father, the duke of edinburgh, is being treated very well, on his fourth day in hospital in london. he was speaking to well wishers, as he visited flood hit communities in yorkshire. dan johnson reports now from the village of fishlake, hit hard by torrential rain, last month. set up your picnic seat. clear the streets. this was a first for fishlake, an unprecedented visit after an unparalleled flood. the mints were shared. the shoes were shiny. and the south yorkshire handshakes?

well, they're not afraid to get a grip. people here seem genuinely pleased to see the prince. thank you for coming, it means a lot. he took the chance to see some of the homes wrecked when the river don overflowed last month. it's been a real battle since it happened because the insurance companies have taken so long. justin's suffered more than most. i said, "where were you six weeks ago?" this is six weeks since this happened. only now have you actually picked this up. this is... so, yeah. i think prince charles, you know, he understood exactly what i was saying. you know, it's incredibly frustrating. three feet of water submerged the village for more than a week. thousands were affected across yorkshire and the midlands. this is where all the kitchen units were. people who now face a miserable christmas. we're not in a position that we're anywhere that we feel is home. and, to us, christmas should be at home. we've had to explain to everybody, you know, we appreciate

you sending christmas cards, but don't be expecting anything from us this year, i'm really sorry. we just don't feel in the mood or in that position to celebrate. the clear up is still going on here and there is an awful lot more to do. these fellows have been filling this van twice a day, every day, for the last seven weeks. so this is notjust about people being out of their homes for christmas, it's going to take a lot longer than that, way into next year before things are anything like normal again. the prince met local politicians who've called for a regional version of cobra, the government emergency response committee. climate change is undoubtedly a factor. so, we do need to look very carefully at what's happened here. and we need investment. we need to ensure that our flood defences are fit for purpose, because i don't want to be here in five years or ten years having this same conversation. when a royal‘s in town, questions of family are never far away. sir, how is your father? he's all right. once you get to that age,

things don't work as well. but today's real focus was on people here who are still facing a difficult future. danjohnson, bbc news, in fishlake. a painting by ls lowry, which had been unknown to the art world, is to be sold at auction next month. ‘the mill at pendlebury,‘ painted in 1943, has never been displayed in public before, and doesn't appear in any books on the artist. the painting features the uk's first all—electric powered cotton spinning mill, and goes on sale after the death of it's —— its owner this year. it could fetch up to 1 million pounds. thousands of kenyan schoolchildren are now getting a daily healthy lunch thanks to a new device called tap to eat. it's a smart wristband which parents can load up with money — making it easier to make sure their children are paying for — and eating — their school meals. it's part of a subsided school food programme which aims to tackle malnutrition and improve attendance in public schools in kenya's kiambu and nairobi counties. let's find out more:

education and the work we do makes me feel very good and makes me feel we are contributing to help solve something that has been persistent for many years. i am the founder of a group that provides affordable high quality meals to students in public primary schools. it is an innovation that allows parents to pay for meals. we saw many kids, the 15 shillings that they pay, they could not pay for a week or a month. it was that varied. it was difficult for us to keep track of who hadn't had paid, things like that. we needed something that was efficient

and we came up with tap to eat in which we link mobile muggy to these watches and once it is top up the tab and get their lunch. the total cost of the meal is 25 shall things. and that is for everything that goes into the meal. right now we lower that cost to 15 shillings and provide ten shillings extra for each meal we distribute through donors and corporate partners that we have here in kenya. translation: the challenges i used to face with my child losing my his lunch money. sometimes they don't need because they buy sweets. when you pay for this you are assured your child will lead daily. it has enabled us to scale faster. it is quick and takes a short amount of time. it has enabled us to have more consistency in terms of parents being able to

contribute for meals and to have a quick serving of lunch. and venice has been hit by another exceptional high tide but despite the flood water santa clause still wade through a flooded saint marks square. last month they suffered their worst flooding in 50 years. the tourist board says that tourist bookings are down by 45% since the floods in november. on that main story againjust to floods in november. on that main story again just to remind you, knowing has fired its chief executive after two crashes involving the 737 max. at least 340 people died in those desires is something accusations that boeing put profit before safety. families of victims say the departure is overdue. there is much more for you won all the news any time on the bbc website. you can reach me on the tea m website. you can reach me on the team on twitter. thank you very much for watching.

good morning! so, here it is, christmas eve. the weather's offering up mixed fare for the last—minute plans. there will be a few glimmers of sunshine but also showers for many of us. and for the south—west of england and wales, some of those showers could pack quite a punch and be heavy and thundery. we've basically got a weather front trailing across england and wales into northern ireland, too. to the north of that, some scattered showers for scotland. there's some more persistent rain across northern england through the first part of the day and then it kind of breaks up into those scattered but at some times heavier showers as the day progresses. some of the heavier ones also drifting further eastwards and quite a focus on the south—west, quite windy here, too. still double figures to the south of the uk, definitely a chillier few across scotland and northern ireland,

highs ofjust six or seven. and if you're heading out and about on christmas eve, things start to become quieter, the wind will fall light to the south, the showers will tend to clear. still a few across scotland and it will also start to turn somewhat chillier. we could see some heavier showers pushing into western scotland overnight with the colder air in place. winter across the highlands, a frost to start us off on christmas day across scotland. elsewhere, a patchy frost but lows in the towns and cities of three and four degrees. the reason it gets quieter is this ridge of high pressure that's going to stay with us for christmas day as well. so christmas day, actually, weather—wise one of our quietest days in terms of what we've seen in about a month or so. a lot of dry weather, perhaps some early morning mist and fog across north wales and the north—west of england but that will tend to clear. and then light winds and sunshine. temperatures, well, about average for the time of year, 6—9 degrees. through the evening and overnight, that ridge of high pressure starts to weaken and then as we look towards boxing day, things get on the move again.

another low coming in from the atlantic. so, a much stormier picture, if you like, for boxing day. windy pretty much across the board as this weather system bumps into some cold air. some transient snow for the pennines, perhaps a more significant accumulations for the highlands, some rainjust about everywhere, some sunshine perhaps following on for central and eastern areas, but further and getting into the west later on in the day. a little milder to the south, but still sixes and sevens in the north. and then for the remainder of the week, high pressure tries to settle things down to the south of the uk, for scotland and northern ireland we're going to see some weather fronts snaking in. so a little more mixed here. to the south, a quiet story, i think. we have temperatures in double figures for scotland and northern ireland, some showers at times. merry christmas.

this is bbc world news. the headlines: boeing has fired its chief executive, dennis muilenburg, following two fatal crashes involving the compa ny‘s 737 max aircraft. boeing has been struggling to deal with the impact of the crashes, blamed on its computer software. there's been criticism of the trial in saudi arabia of those accused of killing the journalist, jamal khashoggi. five people were sentenced to death, but a top aide to crown prince mohammed bin salman wasn't charged. the leader of the republicans in the us senate, mitch mcconnell, says he hasn't ruled out allowing witnesses to testify at president trump's impeachment trial. proceedings are expected to start next month. australia remains in the grip of hundreds of bushfires burning across several states. more than 9 million acres have been lost to the flames. despite this, the australian prime minister has doubled down on his defence of the coal industry. in less than 20 years, the number of

smaller pubs has halved.