this is bbc world news today. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories... nearly 1,000 homes are destroyed as australia's bushfires burn out of control. communities rally round those fighting the flames over christmas. i haven't gone christmas shopping or anything for my daughter. she's about to turn one on 11 january. and just — thank you, thank you very much. dramatic scenes in hong kong as police clash with protesters during christmas eve demonstrations. prince philip — the husband of queen elizabeth — has left hospital in london and joined the royal family at their country retreat # silent night... and pilgrims from around the world

join locals in bethlehem for christmas eve celebrations. hello, and welcome to world news today. it's christmas morning in australia, but hundreds of families are spending the day in emergency shelters, unable to celebrate in their homes, as the country battles one of its worst bushfire disasters in years. figures released by firefighters in new south wales reveal nearly 1,000 houses have been destroyed. conditions have eased, but another extreme heatwave is due later this week. prime minister scott morrison was criticised for going on holiday during the bushfires. he's since returned and apologised for being away. he says volunteer firefighters who work in the federal public sector will be given an extra four weeks paid leave. phil mercer reports from new south wales. koalas and other australian animals

are the unseen victims of the fires. much of their habitat has been destroyed and the survivors need all the help they can get. the true extent of australia's bushfire crisis is gradually emerging as the charred remains of devastated towns are inspected. since the start ofjuly, the authorities here in new south wales say almost a thousand homes have been destroyed by the bushfires. this property was devoured by flames that tore up through a gully at the back. communities like this terrorised by fires that, in many places, are simply burning out of control. we just want to make sure that you guys have got stuff for your community. the damage would be far worse without the efforts of volunteer firefighters. here in buxton, locals have been showing their appreciation to those who have been working around the clock to keep the town safe.

it isjust overwhelming support, like, obviously all the presents and stuff for the kids. i haven't even gone christmas shopping or anything for my daughter. she will turn one on january the 11th. just — thank you, thank you very much. to boost the emergency efforts, the australian prime minister, scott morrison, says that volunteer firefighters who have jobs in the public service will be given four weeks' paid leave. some have been battling the fires for months and, with no end in sight to the crisis, a long, dangerous summer lies ahead. phil mercer, bbc news, new south wales. let's speak now to danuta kozaki, a news reporter at abc in sydney who's been covering the fires. welcome, thanks for being with us. what is the latest situation on the ground there? likely conditions have

eased, we are seeing cooler weather gci’oss eased, we are seeing cooler weather across the country, and firefighters in new south wales have taken advantage of that, and they are strengthening containment lines today. so we've got some 2500 firefighters in new south wales alone working on christmas day, giving up their christmas to work and protect communities in and around sydney and around the south coast. what kind of support are the many of the hundreds of families affected getting? there's been lots of support through various government departments. we've heard about the federal government giving leave to volunteers. we are also seeing many of the different government departments giving grants, and we are seeing lots of volunteer organisations helping to give communities something basically to live in. we are seeing lots and lots of people going to family and friends, we got nearly 1000 homes being destroyed in new south wales alone. so a lot of those people have gone to family and friends. the last

evacuation since the last formal evacuation since the last formal evacuation centre closed last night, that was so people could go and have that was so people could go and have that christmas. and that means that basically most families now have some sort of temporary situation for themselves. what are conditions looking like over the next few hours and days? well, we've had a bit of a mixed blessing. we've had a little bit of rain, and in some coastal areas only around 15 mm. u nfortu nately areas only around 15 mm. unfortunately that rain has actually pandered conditions in london. so the main fires in the hawks very region and the blue mountains has only been a drivel, that means that they can't do their back burning —— drizzle. there waiting for the moisture that is there to dry off so that they can contain the operations. and so the next few days are all about protecting properties. we see another heat wave coming over

the weekend and towards new year's eve. politically the pressure that the prime minister was coming under as he was on holiday, has that eased 110w as he was on holiday, has that eased now that he's returned and faced the media? i would say the fact that he's made several announcements, he's made several announcements, he's towards peripheral areas, he's been very visible since he got back from his holiday in hawaii. it was a political misstep from him because that was one thing that everyone thought, where is he? people were ringing his office and at first, his staff were saying that he was not in hawaii. so it was a political misstep that he has since recovered, and now he's been touring with the premier and other parts of the country. thanks very much for the update. three members of the same family, reported to be british, have drowned in a swimming pool at a spanish resort in the costa del sol. a statement from the resort operator, club la costa world said the guests were found in a swimming pool in an unresponsive state.

it says an investigation has begun. there have been more violent clashes in hong kong between the police and anti—government protesters, who've been holding christmas eve rallies in shopping malls and other areas popular with tourists. the city is reeling from its seventh straight month of protests, originally sparked by a now—scrapped extradition bill. the bbc‘sjon donnison reports. not much evidence of festive cheer in hong kong this year. security forces firing tear gas — once again, squared up to anti—government protesters, doing their best to protect themselves with umbrellas. caught up in the chaos, tourists and families out and about to take in the christmas lights. demonstrators also occupied a number of shopping malls in kowloon. but it soon turned ugly, as baton—wielding plainclothes

undercover police moved in. several protesters were arrested and dragged away. others were injured, as officers struggled to restore calm. and all of this on christmas eve. translation: even though today is meant to be a joyful holiday, some of us are in jail. some have been arrested, and they can enjoy today. —— can't. i think we should remind others that our fight has not ended yet, and we should continue our fight. translation: this year, christmas eve seems to be the time to fight. notjust christmas eve, but also new year's eve. and we will use more festivals in the future to voice our demands until the government response. the government has been forced to make some concessions. but these pro—democracy protests have now been going on for seven months. and as the year comes to a close, there is no end in sight.

jon donnison, bbc news. let's bring you some live pictures now from vatican city, where preparations are under way for the tradional christmas eve mass, which will be held by pope francis. let's listen in. translation: this is the gift that we find it christmas. we discovered to our amazement that the lord is absolutely perfect purity, absolute tender love. his glory does not overwhelm us. his presence does not terrify us. he is born and other poverty in order to win our hearts dashed in utter poverty. pope francis in vatican city there, we'll bring you more of that later on. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. tens of thousands of people hoping to spend christmas with theirfamilies in france are facing severe delays as transport strikes enter their 20th day. industrial action against president emmanuel macron‘s pension

reforms is taking a toll on national train services. mr macron called for a truce over christmas but it was rejected by unions. new figures from japan show that fewer babies were born there this year than at any time since records began. there were around 500,000 more deaths than births injapan this year, despite government efforts to lift the birth rate. it's trying to improve work—life balance, but japan's gruelling work culture still puts many people off starting a family. the queen's husband prince philip has returned to join the royal family in time for christmas, after leaving hospital in london. the duke of edinburgh, who's 98, spent four nights in the king edward vii hospital on the advice of his doctor. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell has more. afterfour nights in the king edward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked, slowly but without assistance, to the waiting vehicle. there has been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital.

in the past, he has been treated there for bladder and chest infections. whatever the nature of this latest episode, the duke, who is 98 now, has clearly satisfied his doctors that he is well enough to return home. a helicopter took him from buckingham palace to the queen's sandringham estate where the royal family is gathering for christmas. in her christmas broadcast tomorrow, the queen will talk about a past year which has felt "quite bumpy". she doesn't clarify what it is that has been bumpy, which will inevitably invite speculation. these are her words. talking about reconciliation, she says... the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain's head of state, urging the country to try to move on from the divisions of the brexit debate. but the reference to a bumpy year

may also be taken to refer to events within her own family, after a year which began with the duke of edinburgh's road accident, just outside the sandringham estate, which continued with the duke and duchess of sussex complaining about the problems, as they see them, of being in the public eye and which culminated, most recently, with the controversies surrounding prince andrew, which forced him to step back from public duties. for the queen, who arrived in norfolk at the end of last week, there is at least the reassurance of knowing that her husband will be with her over christmas. absent, though, are the sussexes. they are in canada. this is their online christmas card — a picture of them with their seven—month—old son, archie. but the other principal members of the family will all be there. this was george, a few days ago, stirring a christmas pudding with his father, grandfather and great grandmother. the royal family's christmas is ready.

stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the creative way one british gulf war veteran copes with what for some can be a difficult time of year. the world of music's been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from a 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 general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principal objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. a 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 can see what happens when a plane eight stories 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 town, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news today. i'm samantha simmonds. the latest headlines. nearly 1,000 homes have been destroyed, as australia's bushfires continue to burn out of control. pro—democracy protesters in hong kong have clashed with police in shopping malls and popular tourist areas. the founder and former ceo of ride—hailing app uber, travis kalanick, has announced he will resign from its board of directors by the end of the year. kalanick was one of the key founders of the ride hailing app in 2009,

and is widely respected for turning uber into the largest ride—services company in the world. in 2017, he was actually pushed out as the ceo of uber. and that was because there were people on the board that didn't believe he really fostered a sort of more grown—up kind of atmosphere. and remember, this was a company that was trying to prepare for its impending listing on the public stock exchanges. so there was pressure on him to actually leave the company as its head, but he did remain on the board. so what do you make of the timing of this? well, it certainly is interesting. but if you look at when uber started trading back in red, dashed back in may. mr kalanick was there, but he wasn't on the diocese or part of the big fray — as part of the real company. it was made very clear that he is not part

of the inner circle. and since then, he's been slowly trying to sell his shares to move away from the company that he built, and that he is credited with because he also wants to start his own venture, as well. and what do you think what impact it will have on the company, given he's not the ceo, he's just on the board? will it have any fallout, his leaving? well, look, we're talking about this, and because travis kalanick is pretty much a household name when it comes to uber. so from a company point of view, it really gives them an opportunity to start the decade fresh. they only will have sort of the new guard that are taking uber into the next decade. and they have a pretty uphill battle, facing quite a lot of criticism from regulators around the world. and they're also still facing some internal criticism in terms of how their employees are being treated.

so they certainly have a lot of work ahead of them, and this really allows them to start fresh in the new year. samir hussein in new york there. the russian government has announced that the country has successfully tested runet, a country—wide alternative to the global internet. details of what the test involved were vague but, according to the ministry of communications, ordinary users did not notice any changes. some experts are concerned about the trend for some countries including china and iran to dismantle the internet. russia also has announced plans to create its own wikipedia. the technology journalist chris stokel—walker has been telling me about how this internet alternative works. by taking the core parts of the internet, these sort of valves, if you can think of it, at the russian border, and actually taking control of them through internet service providers who provide you with internet connections at home and also companies involved in the infrastructure of it. so how easy would it be for them to stop other internet providers operating in the country?

well, it is kind of difficult. but in a country like russia, for instance, where you have relatively strict regime and a relatively central control over things like telecommunications, it is far easier there than elsewhere. and as you pointed out, we have precedent in places like iran, china, and north korea. and what is your assessment of what you think the country's trying to do with this? well, it's interesting, samantha, because the reason that russia want to do this is to try to get control back over its internet. so it is very concerned about the fact that i can, an organisation which controls entire internet infrastructure, is based in the united states. this is an attempt at an online landgrab, essentially, to try and wrest back control so that they can take over any sort of discussion, any use of social media, anything like that — as we've seen in protests in iran last month, where they shut down the internet, in hong kong

and china elsewhere. this is really the new battle ground for all sorts of communication. in practice, how easy will it be for them to implement this? well, it's relatively simple for russia, because all they have to do essentially is switch on and off the big sort of taps that will control the internet coming into the country. they have much more ability to do that. the internet is essentially controlled by undersea fiber—optic cables, so every single country has an internet connection which feeds into a global network. so once russia has control of that, as it does because of its state domination, it can then do that quite easily. it's not the only thing they're trying to restrict, is it? because they're also looking at trying to make smartphones made in russia with russian technology and software the only ones that are available. indeed, and this is one of the really interesting things about this, samantha, is actually the reason why russia is so concerned about resting back

control of various bits of technology — whether the internet or social media, or the apps that we use on smartphones — is because they have a fear of internet interference. of being able to delve into apps and social networks, and kind of play about with them. now that fear is actually mostly driven by the actions that we believe russia is doing elsewhere, through whether it be election interference allegedly, or in actually hacking key infrastructure in the hardware that controls power networks, electricity systems, and water. crackers, party poppers and fireworks — for many, sounds of celebration at christmas. but for some, they trigger difficult memories. mike kirby is an army veteran from hull in england's north, who suffers from gulf war syndrome. but he's discovered a creative way of coping with the lasting impact of war. lizzy steel has been to meet him.

i saw vehicles absolutely destroyed. obviously there were still bodies, body parts that we had to bury. i get these images constantly. i can see images now. the nightmares. some days i don't sleep for three days. epilepsy, high blood pressure, and ptsd, conditions army veteran mike kirkby lives with after service in the gulf war. i had 17 vaccines in just over two weeks. and that shattered my immune system. along with medication, mike has discovered a hobby to help him cope. crafting. i've always loved sewing, needlework. it takes me away from all the flashbacks, the nightmares, of what i have experienced out in the gulf. every year he carefully crafts and donates 150 baubles to a veterans charity which helped him through some tough times. they helped me through a suicidal scenario. it's a little bit i can give back, for all the help

they have done for me. this is where he brings them. the national gulf veterans and families association in hull. yes, thank you. we make sure people know that these have been made by a veteran. because we think that is really key for people to understand, that is his therapy. but he is helping us to raise those funds. this time of year is particularly difficult for them because a lot of them were already out and getting prepared to go to the gulf. so there are the triggers, the memories, and there is a lot of support needed for them. with this year's batch delivered, mike is ready to take a break. but not for long. he is already thinking about designs for 2020. i get home, have christmas off, and then i'll start again for next year! lovely! have a nice christmas. thank you. lizzie steele, bbc look north, hull. pilgrims from around the world have been gathering in the city of bethlehem,

revered by christians as the birthplace ofjesus to celebrate christmas in the holy land. thousands converged on the town in the israeli—occupied west bank, with christmas eve festivities taking place in and around the church of the nativity. from bethlehem, our correspondent barbara plett—usher sent this report. this is bethlehem's time of year, when it invites the world to celebrate the story of a humble birth that changed history. it's a tradition for palestinian scouts to set the pace of festivities. this time, perhaps, with an extra spring in their steps. bethlehem is enjoying its busiest tourist season in two decades, a bright spot despite dark times for the palestinian economy. and for bethlehem's christians, there is a special gift from the vatican — a splinter of wood believed to be from jesus' manger. it's small but a big boost for a community decimated by waves of emigration. yet in the holy land, the christmas cheer is always wrapped in political realities.

the procession of christian leaders from jerusalem crossed into bethlehem through an israeli army checkpoint, and a concrete barrier that separates the two cities. if we look to our human realities, politics, social, economics, we have not so much hope. 0n the other side, i see everywhere i go in the communities commitment, volunteers, desire, especially in the youth, to do something for their society, for theirfamilies. the patriarch will be leading the midnight mass here in manger square at the church wherejesus is said to have been born — the highlight for locals and pilgrims alike. it's a merry christmas here. lots of sparkling lights and happy people tonight. but in this town, in this region, the situation is fragile. perhaps the only permanent thing is faith. # silent night...

barbara plett—usher there. well, as you can imagine, santa claus is well on his way delivering presents around the world. the canadian and american defence agency norad as usual has been providing updates on sa nta's progress. there he goes, last seen in chad, 110w there he goes, last seen in chad, now making his way towards libya, arriving in just over now making his way towards libya, arriving injust over a minute. gifts delivered, and a staggering 3.2 billion so far. still a very long night for those ringed years. let's bring you some live pictures now from vatican city where preparations are under way for the tradional christmas eve mass, which will be held by pope francis. let's listen in. singing we will keep an eye on those

pictures in the vatican. and we will see how christmas mass develops. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of my team on twitter — i'm at samantha tvnews. thanks for watching. hello, a white christmas it won't be this year but perhaps a better gift is the break from rain and that's exactly what's coming for christmas day with a ridge of high pressure settling things down. good deal of sunshine out there but i'm afraid the break doesn't last long. here comes low pressure as it turns wetter, windier again and just in time for boxing day. let's take a look at things though going into christmas day. this is how the rest of the night is shaping up. the showers for many of us will be fading, still a few in north—west england, northern and western scotland. but many skies clearing, wind is easy, and temperatures dipping away. so, a cold night close to freezing or at least a ground frost in some spots dipping just below freezing, maybe one or two icy patches where you've seen some recent showers. but remember that ridge of high pressure? that's the settled weather for christmas day.

a chilly start yes with a touch of frost but plenty of dry, sunny weather on the way. and good news of course if you're travelling though, a caveat, if you're travelling after dark at the end of the day, we will get to that in a moment. now, it won't all be a bit of patchy cloud in north—west england, western scotland and a few showers brushing northern scotland but even these fading and high cloud beginning to push in toward south—west england, wales, and northern ireland ahead of that next weather system. it will feel a bit colder particularly across the southern half of the uk. and again, travelling pretty much 0k until we get after dark and that's where we could well see some fog developing particularly through north and central and eastern parts of england that could be dense in places. now a lot of that will lift going into the morning as the breeze freshens, certainly in the west it turns wetter as the atlantic weather system wetter as the atlantic weather syste m m oves wetter as the atlantic weather system moves in, the span of rain. temperatures heading up here as the night goes on, still quite chilly further north and east you are with a touch of frost in scotland. on the

boxing day, and it's a very different look to the weather. more clout around this area of rain moving north and east, some hills know, the mountains in scotland, a bit of a break with some wetter weather again coming back towards wales in southwest england later in the day. still chilly the further north east you are, but temperatures turning milderfrom the north east you are, but temperatures turning milder from the southwest, and mild are still going into next weekend. a lot of dry weather around with occasional rain toward scotland and northern ireland. see how your christmas forecast is shaping up. from everyone here, have a very merry christmas.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. nearly 1,000 homes have been destroyed as australia's bushfires continue to burn out of control. another extreme heatwave is due to set in later this week. pro—democracy protesters in hong kong have clashed with police in shopping malls and popular tourist areas. some activists threw umbrellas and other objects at police, who responded by beating protesters with batons and firing tear gas. the duke of edinburgh, the husband of queen elizabeth, has left hospital after spending four nights under observation. he'll spend christmas with the royal family at the queen's sandringham estate in eastern england. pilgrims from around the world havejoined locals in the historic town of bethlehem for christmas eve celebrations. the festivities centre on the church of nativity where a midnight mass