and for the first time, ukraine celebrates christmas on the 25th of december. we hearfrom a ukrainian singer about combining old traditions with a new date. hello, and welcome. i am samantha simmonds. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has said he is "grateful" to his air force for a missile attack that badly damaged a russian warship in the black sea. the novochokassk was hit during an attack on the port of feodosiya in russian—occupied crimea. local officials say at least one person was killed. ukraine said the ship was destroyed. president zelensky wrote on telegram, "the occupiers will not "have a single peaceful place in ukraine." james waterhouse reports from central ukraine. for ukraine, this was a high—value target.

the russian novocherkassk landing ship struck by a guided missile. the force of the blast suggests it was full. moscow claims the ship was only damaged. kyiv says it was destroyed. it's going to need more than a lick of paint regardless. crimea has been firmly held by russia since 2014, but sights like this have become more common with ukraine striking deeper into the peninsula. the novocherkassk would've almost certainly been loaded with either soldiers, hardware or both. it being taken out will hamper russia's ability to supply troops further north, as well as further weaken its naval dominance in the black sea. translation: a huge job has been done. - a big assault carrier was destroyed, and it did become part of a fleet to which the moskva missile cruiser belongs. kyiv has successfully targeted russian vessels before, including the moskva,

once the flagship of moscow's black sea fleet. what attacks like these have yet to do is apply enough pressure on moscow for it to surrender ukrainian territory it has taken, but for ukraine, for president zelensky, it is a welcome announcement against a backdrop of waning western support. in feodosiya, fragments of the ship were scattered for hundreds of metres. ukraine has only been able to liberate a few kilometres of its territory. the impact of strikes like this isn't always realised immediately, but they have slightly weakened russia's control here. the problem for ukraine is time is not its friend. james waterhouse there. peter dickinson is the editor of the ukrainealert blog at the atlantic council's eurasia center. he explained why many might consider this attack a particularly significant one.

it's a very significant attack. it's one of a series of similar strikes that reflect ukraine's growing ability to hit russia's black sea fleet. this began in 2022 when the war was in its very early stages, but it's escalated significantly over the past six months or so, with a number of serious hits that either destroyed or seriously damaged russian warships and have forced russia to withdraw the vast majority of its battleships and submarines even from the home port of the black sea fleet in sevastopol to russian ports and primarily to the east of the black sea. and in fact, russia has even reportedly begun work on developing a new port in occupied georgian territory in the east of the black sea, which reflects how severe the blow has been to the russian sea power in the black sea. so this is clearly part of a much bigger pattern and is showing ukraine's ability to force russia back from ukrainian coasts

and to break the blockade of ukraine's own black sea ports. yeah, the uk defence minister says 20% of the russian black sea fleet has been destroyed in the past few months. so tell us a bit more about what we understand to be russia's military capabilities there. well, the russia fleet has been used to first and foremost blockade ukraine's ports. that blockade has now been effectively broken by ukraine's operations in the past six months. the russian black sea fleet has also played a big role in missile attacks on ukrainian civilian infrastructure across the country. last winter in particular, when russian warships were used to launch cruise missile attacks. that has been very notably less of an occurrence this winter largely because these ships have been forced back. and of course they play a major role logistically in helping to support the russian invasion and bring supplies across to occupied crimea and to southern ukraine.

so again this is undermining the ability of russia to maintain its invasion force, especially in the south of ukraine. and then of course there's the morale factor. it's a huge morale boost for ukraine to be seen to be striking the sorts of warships and causing this kind of damage, and from a russian perspective, russia is now losing the battle of the black sea to a country that doesn't have a navy. and if you can imagine, that's pretty demoralising. israel's military chief has warned there will be no swift finish to the war in gaza. army chief herzi halevi told a news conference the war will last "many more months". he added that they will reach hamas leaders. the group — which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government — is still holding more than 120 hostages. the hamas—run health ministry says 240 people have been killed in 2a hours. there are again fears that the conflict could spread across the region. the us says it has carried out

what it calls "necessary and proportionate" air strikes against pro—iranian militias based in iraq. the us says they were in response to attacks on american bases in the region. the government in iraq condemned the strikes as an "unacceptable attack on iraqi sovereignty". 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil is injerusalem. standing in what used to be her home. "0urthings, mum, they're gone." israel's bombing of rafah in southern gaza has continued, leaving those who fled there at a loss of where to go. translation: israel claims | that there are safe residential areas, or secure zones, but this attack shows that that's a lie. israel's military operation has intensified in khan younis, also in the south. little amal was sleeping with her family. the bomb hit them and killed her uncle. "we were sleeping," she says, "then i heard a big bang. "rocks landed on us."

amal�*s baby sister is three days old. baby mariam is bearing the brunt of a conflict she was born into. as the military operation deepens into gaza, tensions have risen on israel's northern border with lebanon. israel's defense minister, yoav gallant, has visited troops in the north after he said they'd received cross—border fire from hezbollah, with the idf targeting some of the group's infrastructure. translation: hezbollah looks at what's happening in gaza - and understands very well what we did in gaza can also be done in beirut. hezbollah operatives were also targeted by the us in iraq. the pentagon said us forces carried out air strikes against what it called iran—sponsored militias in response to an attack on the erbil air base. israel's war in gaza is not close to being over, says the prime minister, and in its wake, otherfronts grow more tense in already volatile

areas in the region. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has called for a full ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor. he's given his first interview since the beginning of the war in gaza to an egyptian tv channel. let's take a listen to that interview. translation: what's happening in the palestinian territories - is far beyond than a disaster and far more than a genocide. the palestinians have never seen anything like this. even during the nakba catastrophe in 1948, what's happening today is far worse. a huge crime is being committed against the palestinians over the past 79 days, notjust in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem. unfortunately, whenever

the international community, the un security council and general assembly try to stop the war, the us disrupts these attempts by using its veto and refusing to bring fighting to a halt. it's notjust marytrs and people wounded in gaza, everything has been wiped out — houses, mosques, institutions, schools, everything. you can't recognise gaza any more. for more on this story, i spoke to our middle east correspondent sally nabil. she is in washington. he actually blamed the us for a lot of what's happening because he clearly said that if the us wants to bring the assault — the israeli assault on gaza — to a halt, it can. it's the only country that can pressure israel. he also referred to the veto the us has used lately to disrupt a un resolution calling for a ceasefire. and as you've heard,

he said that what happened is far beyond a genocide or a disaster, it's far worse, and that gaza at the moment is unrecognisable. he also spoke about the ability of the palestinian authorities to run gaza after the war. but that's a very controversial issue given the huge lack of trust, or at least the huge differences, between hamas and the palestinian authorities. will the people in gaza accept the palestinian authority to take control? that's highly unlikely. so that's a big issue at the moment. he also talked about israeli efforts to push the palestinians into the egyptian sinai peninsula, and that has been one of the main concerns of the egyptian officials. and they said if that is to happen, that would undermine the palestinian cause and they are not going to allow it. and for that, mr abbas has thanked them. and, sally, did he say anything about the more than 120 hostages being held by hamas and what pressure may

be exerted on them? he didn't speak specifically about that. but he was asked...that he is being criticised by the israelis for supporting terrorism like hamas. and he said that he cannot but condemn the targeting of civilians in gaza, and he cannotjustify that, and he says that the argument of israel's right to defend itself is even illogical to him. and he said that the international community has been trying to bring the hostilities to a halt, but it is the us that have been impeding these efforts to bear fruit at the very end. sally nabil there. russian opposition figure alexei navalny has confirmed he's been transferred to an arctic prison. he posted on x that he

is in good spirits. considered vladimir putin's most vocal opponent, navalny has been imprisoned since 2021. the russian dissident has told supporters not to worry about him, insisting he's relieved to have reached the siberian penal colony. but his chief of staff, leonid volkov, told the bbc concern for mr navalny remained high. we are worried. we don't forget for a second that he is in the custody of the very people who tried to kill him 3.5 years ago and that he is putin's very personal political prisoner. and this journey, this forced journey, is yet another proof. so, of course, we are worried. and the only protection, if any, that still exists for alexei navalny is the spotlight of publicity. putin has to be reminded that the world cares about navalny and that he can'tjust hide him or kill him or whatever. this is very important for us. let's get some of the day's other news now. residents have fled their homes

in parts of central nigeria after armed groups killed at least 113 people in a series of attacks on communities, in a region beset by religious and ethnic tensions. an official in plateau state said attacks had taken place in at least 20 communities. dozens more people were left injured. the country's president described the attack as heinous and has promised to respond immediately. china's leader xi jinping has been leading praise for chairman mao zedong at a gathering to mark the anniversary of the birth of the former leader 130 years ago. the event was attended by all of china's top leaders. to mark the occasion, special stamps were issued and several tv dramas were broadcast. the lowcost us airline spirit has apologised after mistakingly putting a young boy travelling alone for the first time on the wrong flight. six—year—old casper ended up a four—hour drive from his intended destination of fort myers in florida, where he was due to meet his grandmother. the airline has since offered to reimburse his grandmother for the cost of driving

across the state to collect him. here in the uk, the post—christmas sales have been in full swing today, but research suggests shoppers will have spent less than they did last year. major retailers such as m&s remained closed. so, with pre—christmas events such as black friday — and the availability of early discounts online — are the boxing day sales the major event they once were? our business correspondent theo leggett has been finding out. christmas may be over, but now it's time for the sales. everything is reduced up to 50%. here in kingston—upon—thames, the mood today was cheerful as curious shoppers sought out the best bargains. and across the country, it was a similar story. it's the first time in a long time that we've come out on boxing day shopping. we normally do this online. we were holding out for boxing day sales cos we always come - without about the kids and it's time for us. i i just like the atmosphere because it brings a lot

of people out, the busyness of being in the city. that's why i like the experience of that. we're going to buy a few things in the sales. the shops are so busy, we can hardly get in, to be honest with you. i thought it was going to be more | sales, more staff, but it's less. i so i'm kind of a bit disappointed. it's just tradition, isn't it? yeah. ever since i was a kid, my dad would bring me out and go around the shops. boxing day itself used to be a huge sales event, but discount extravaganzas such as black friday have robbed it of some of its impact. marks & spencer, next and john lewis all chose to remain closed today, yet boxing day is just the start. there's still plenty of time for people to think about going shopping before new year. retailers need shoppers to come out in force this week. it's a vital time of year for them, but the big question is with the cost of living still high and bills to pay, do consumers still have enough money to spend? early indications suggest that while shoppers did splash out more in the run—up to christmas than they did last year, trading was far from spectacular.

there'll definitely a temptation - for people to buy at post—christmas, but unfortunately we've just got a lot less money to spend. - the cost of living crisis had a big i impact on how much we spent over the christmas period and could well do for the sales as well. _ research from vouchercodes suggests we'll spend more than £14 billion in the shops and online between christmas and the new year, but that's still well down on 2022. for retailers, the next few days will be crucial. boxing day itself may not be what it once was, but the sales as a whole still really matter. what happens this week could lead retailers into a difficult winter or set them on track for a prosperous new year. the amazon rainforest is experiencing its worst drought since records began. one of its main rivers is recording the lowest levels in 121 years. the drought is the result of the effects of el nino, coupled with a warmer atlantic ocean and a heatwave in south american. but scientists worry that this drought means the amazon is moving faster towards its tipping point,

where plant and animal life can no longer recover. stephanie hegarty reports. 0liveira is taking us to his village, and this is the only way to get there. it's a five—hour journey, at least normally. his community of a0 families is in the middle of the amazon. it's dry, and it's hot. brazil is in the midst of a heatwave. i think that's the end of the line. we've been travelling for nearly five hours now, and 0liveira says we're not even halfway. so it looks like we're going to have to turn back.

hundreds of thousands of people have been cut off by this drought, but scientists worry that an ecological disaster is unfolding, too. and there are signs. in two major lakes, dolphins are turning up dead. and here, in quarai within the rainforest, the air is thick with smoke. man—made fires burning out of control in a dry forest. so, we have rain. yes, finally. but perhaps not for long. not enough? well, climatologists are saying this drought will continue. flavia costa researches the health of plants and trees in the forest.

some colleagues that are flying drones, they say they can see also canopies that are completely defoliated. the fear is that the amazon is racing towards a theoretical tipping point. in the vast forests, water evaporates from the trees to form rain clouds, so it feeds itself the water it needs to sustain life. and if swathes of it die, that mechanism could be broken. the forest would keep dying, and faster, in a catastrophic feedback loop. in the last big drought here in 2015, some estimates say 2.5 billion plants and trees died. and we mostly expect the same now, which is sad. some regions will probably become savannahs, but there are pockets of forest that probably will remain. the amazon stores around 150 billion metric tonnes of carbon. we rely on it to help keep the planet cool,

but the question is how long it can continue to do that. stephanie hegarty, bbc news, in the amazon rainforest. more from ukraine now, and for the first time, the country celebrated christmas along with most of europe on the 25th of december, rather than the 7th of january. the move from thejulien to the gregorian — or western — calendar was made by president zelensky. many ukrainians embraced the change with enthusiasm, viewing it as a positive step that emphasised their cultural separation from russia, and called it a "historicaljustice". despite the war, in many cities and villages people went to church, and also crowded the streets, dressed in traditional shirts called vyshyvankas, singing christmas carols. i spoke to a well—known ukrainian singer, alyona alyona, and asked her, how was it celebrating christmas for the first time on a new date? it's a birthing of new tradition, you know?

because if we talk about our calendar in 1913, our christmas was the 25th of december, so we lost it, we forget it. and now we have super big possibility to go back to the roots, you know? and all people around are happy. some people buy gifts for children because we have our own, but children have to have funny time, peaceful time with family, presents and family, you try to spend this time together. it's very important. you are a rap artist, you have released a new rap song to celebrate the change of date for christmas. but i know you wanted to show, there is a bit of a traditional christmas song you were going to sing for us in ukrainian and you'll translate it for us, so please go ahead.

yeah, in this rap song, we use words from some native song, so... she sings in ukrainian that was lovely, thank you. yeah, thank you. the song is like the new star give you a new year. so we come to celebrate with you, and we wish you that your seeds that you put in the ground give a good harvest in this year. it is the second christmas that the country has been celebrating while at war. how has that felt? we have a lot of traditions, but now at this time, it's really hard to go for all of these traditions. like, in my table, i didn't have 12

plates with meal as is traditional. i have only three because my mood is not super happy, and i'm not ready to celebrate at all like it was before. 0k. but we're celebrating because it's hope. alyo na alyona talking to me earlier. a mass wedding ceremony, involving 50 couples, has been held in afghanistan. these kinds of ceremonies have become increasingly common in afghanistan, as couples try to avoid the high costs of a traditional wedding. the ceremony took place in kabul and involved recitations from the koran. but there was no dancing or music, which remain banned by the country's taliban rulers. the event was organised by a charity, which also provided the newlyweds with a wedding cake each and household appliances to start their married life. and finally, let's take a look at some festive revellers who braved the north sea this morning to take part in the annual boxing day

dip at seaburn, sunderland. around 250 hardy souls donned fancy dress for the plunge, or paddle, in some cases, where they found the water temperature was a bracing 4 degrees or so. very brave indeed! do stay with us here on bbc news. hello. for most of us, boxing day turned into a pretty decent day. we had some spells of sunshine. certainly, it was a fine day to get out and about. the same does not apply to the day ahead. wednesday's weather dominated by storm gerrit, bringing a combination of rain, snow and gales with a very real risk of disruption. this is our storm system, this vast shield of cloud on the earlier satellite picture just enveloping the uk. outbreaks of very heavy rain driving

northwards and eastwards, some really strong winds. notice all the isobars on this chart. and with the wet weather running into cold air, briefly a bit of snow mixing in over higher ground in northern england, southern scotland, but in the highlands, we could well see 15 centimetres of snow or more accumulating over the highest ground — blizzard conditions when we combine that snow with the very, very strong winds. in fact, it is going to be a windy day for just about all of us. some very heavy rain affecting parts of england and wales — 90 millimetres possible for hills of wales, north—west england. lots of hefty downpours, too, in northern ireland. a windy day for all of us, gales in places. we could see gusts of 70 to possibly 80 miles per hour developing in the north—east of scotland. temperatures north to south, 5 to 13 degrees. and then through wednesday night, well, actually, if anything, the winds will strengthen further around parts of wales, south—west england. also extremely windy weather across the northern isles. we'll see snow and blizzard conditions for some in shetland. lots of showers elsewhere, blowing through on those very strong winds.

as a result of the strength of the wind, it's not going to be a particularly cold night. and then into thursday, it stays blustery, the winds only slowly easing. i think we'll continue to see gales in places, particularly around some western coasts. lots of showers, some of which could be heavy, possibly thundery. wintry showers over high ground in the northern half of scotland especially. and those temperatures, 6 degrees there in aberdeen, perhaps 13 as the high in london. and then as we head towards the end of the week, we will see further weather systems working from west to east, further outbreaks of rain. this one at the start of the weekend could be particularly potent. and with cold air being pulled down from the north, expect something wintry to mix in from time to time, so it's a really unsettled outlook as we head through the rest of 2023.

after a day of eating and drinking... it seems much of the country likes nothing more on christmas evening than curling up on the couch and watching the telly — particularly the bbc. in millions of homes, christmas lunches and gift sharing paused for about 10 minutes to watch the king's speech. it was the most watched programme with nearly 7 and a half million people across all networks. the next two most popular shows were the strictly come dancing christmas special and doctor who — both on the bbc. the ratings include people watching on tv and some catch—up services. earlier i spoke to to entertainment journalist caroline frost. i asked her if the most watched shows were what she expected. so what do you make of the top tv programmes that we watched yesterday, to be expected? pretty much. exhibit a — i think i called a few of them in the radio times double issue. yes, i think let's just talk about some of those highlights. so, of course, the king can be happy. a bit down on last year, which was, of course, his debut, but nevertheless, across the channels has emerged

victorious on christmas day itself. strictly, no surprises. it's the entertainmentjuggernaut that continues to drive through other talent shows. i think eastenders can be very happy. we should mention that other soaps aren't in the top ten. that's quite unusual. but what is also unusual is that in previous years we've had them all giving big festive specials, much hyped storylines, all reaching their crescendos on christmas day and boxing day. but interestingly, this year only really eastenders did that. i mean, they goodness me, put the welly in. they started that story back in february with the flash forward for the six women in the queen vic and we didn't know who was going to die and how at their hands. but that story finally came to a huge finale last night and that did stay in the top ten. i think eastenders producers and the bbc can be very relieved and proud of that. corrie and emmerdale not in the top ten, but neither did they really bother to really hit it hard on christmas day. i think they knew they had that

rival over on the bbc. so we are having big storylines from those two but really reaching their big bangs later in the week with both of their respective stories. so yes, very good news for eastenders. but as you say, a good news day for the bbc all round. nine out of the top ten programmes. not bad going at all. well, we don't want to show off, do we, but we are secretly very proud. interesting that you still got that radio times. i mean, i do remember as a kid loving to get my hands on that and sitting there poring through it. i have to admit i haven't done it for a long time. but clearly the likes of you and i'm sure many others still do look ahead to what we can expect over the christmas period. how important is it, though, now that we've all got streaming services, what actually terrestrial channels are running on the christmas period — on christmas day, on boxing day? well, i mean, you know, we're being told that we live through the golden age of tv and for sure we are. and we're all the beneficiaries of the streaming technology,

the convenience, the bingeing, the sneaking off and downloading things so we can watch them on train journeys. but we have sort of lost that lovely collective pastime. i mean, it's the national pastime, but it's become a very individual pursuit. and i think that this is pretty much the only time of year, perhaps 0lympics, coronations, weddings aside, when we do all gather and that little flickering box in the corner still has its power. now time for hardtalk... let's be clear, the only path forward towards justice and an independent state for palestinians is not through hamas violence. i wake up with one thought — have i done enough yesterday for ukrainian soldier taking part in the counter—offensive to be able to save his life? we have to believe i in ukraine's victory. otherwise, i mean, this- is what russia is hoping for, you see cracks in our unity.

the democrats and some in the media are scared to death that