live from london. this is bbc news an ethics report into matt gaetz — who was briefly donald trump's nominee for attorney general — says there's "substantial evidence" he paid for sex with a minor and used illicit drugs. a breakfrom tradition — this year the king's christmas message will be delivered from a former hospital chapel — rather than buckingham palace. the uk economy flatlines — revised figures show no growth at all in the last quarter. and one of india s most respected filmmakers, shaam benegal, has died at the age of 90 hello, i'm lauren taylor. a long—awaited report — into the conduct of the former republican congressman matt gaetz — has found "substantial evidence" that he paid women for sex or drugs on numerous occasions — including paying a 17—year—old girl for sex.

according to a final draft of the report by the house ethics committee, the politician — who was donald trump's initial pick for attorney general — is said to have been involved in prostitution, statutory rape and illicit drug use. the age of consent in florida — where the majority of the incidents are alleged to have taken place, is 18. mr gaetz denies any improper conduct — and had mounted a legal challenge to try to block the report's publication. let's speak to our north america correspondent, tom bateman, who is in washington for us now. quite serious allegations in this. , , ., , quite serious allegations in this. , , ., this. extremely serious and this. extremely serious and this amounts _ this. extremely serious and this amounts to _ this. extremely serious and this amounts to a _ this. extremely serious and this amounts to a really - this amounts to a really searing set of findings by the house ethics committee, concluding that there is substantial evidence that mr gaetz paid women for sex including a 17—year—old girl and repeatedly used and

purchased illegal drugs including using his office and capitol hill to buy marijuana online, among otherfindings. online, among other findings. but online, among otherfindings. but as you say, highly damaging for the former congressman and given the fact that he had only last month been picked by donald trump to be the attorney general, to be the most senior law officer in the united states, he then withdrew from that nomination to do the groundswell of controversy over this and incendiary and capitol hill and divisive even among his own republican colleagues and mr gaetz has denied any wrongdoing in the lead up to this and after today's publication of the report, he has been very active on the social media site x, sing giving funds to women that he was stating that they did not ask for is not in his words,

prostitution. —— saying. and the ethics committee and others of what he calls a smear campaign sing this is all being done by his enemies to damage and politically. find done by his enemies to damage and politically.— and politically. and he is no loner and politically. and he is no longer the _ and politically. and he is no longer the nominee - and politically. and he is no longer the nominee for - and politically. and he is no - longer the nominee for attorney general but this is because the blowback for mr donald trump et al.? blowback for mr donald trump et al. ? «a al. ? he withdrew in the weeks after as it _ al. ? he withdrew in the weeks after as it was _ al. ? he withdrew in the weeks after as it was very _ al. ? he withdrew in the weeks after as it was very clear - al. ? he withdrew in the weeks after as it was very clear he i after as it was very clear he was not going to get the support you would need from even republican colleagues to make it through the nomination process to become attorney general and the seat in the cabinet of the united states. in terms of damage to the donald trump, is a couple things to say here. donald trump news that knew well about these events, and the house ethics committee had been ongoing but mr trump made this decision and out of all the pics that donald trump made

among republicans, many of them, his own party were aghast at this decision and it became clear it was going to be untenable. some of the political damage is already been done and is now baked in and i think you have to remember that mr trump is not a conventional politician and it will not damaging to the extent that it might a more conventional politician. that said, mrtrump is conventional politician. that said, mr trump is having some trouble at the moment, particularly among his republican colleagues. there has been a vote which nearly closed down, shut down the american government over the holiday period and largely instigated by mr trump as he pulled support for the budgetary arrangements that are going through and he saw a significant number of his own republican colleagues defy him in the course of all that over the last few days it's becoming clear that the degree to which you might want to ram things through the republican party is not proved quite as easy as he might�*ve hoped and this may add

to the sense that there will be questions of his judgment and decision—making and that said, he still feels that he goes to the presidency with a very significant mandate and still very significant control over both the party and the levers of power in washington. presidentjoe biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of a0 federal death row inmates, changing their punishment to life imprisonment without parole. only three federal inmates will remain on death row — the boston marathon bomber, and the men who killed worshippers at a church, and a synagogue. let's speak to cassandra stubbs — director of the american civil liberties union capital punishment project — which works towards the repeal of death penalty in the us, why do you think president biden has left the display to make this move?— biden has left the display to make this move? this is the traditional— make this move? this is the traditional permutation - make this move? this is the l traditional permutation scene that ended the term and this is

when, for example, president trump and president obama issued these for the timing, it issued these for the timing, it is not a surprise here it all and what is historic is the number of commutations that president biden has granted. why do you think that is? during his reelection campaign, president—elect trump indicated that he would want to expand the use of capital punishment, do you think this was in part coming along?— do you think this was in part coming along? yes, absolutely. if doinu coming along? yes, absolutely. if doing both — coming along? yes, absolutely. if doing both with _ coming along? yes, absolutely. if doing both with president - if doing both with president biden�*s historic presidency and that he ran on a campaign towards ending the death penalty and in a major sense, this honours that promise and it is also unquestionably a protective measure against that very serious threat that donald trump posed and we saw an unprecedented number of executions under president trump and with these

commutations, president biden assures that the american nation that they will not have that happen again.— nation that they will not have that happen again. correct me if i'm wrong. _ that happen again. correct me if i'm wrong, the _ that happen again. correct me if i'm wrong, the way - that happen again. correct me if i'm wrong, the way the - if i'm wrong, the way the president has done this, it cannot be reversed by the incoming president, such understanding of this? yes, these are — understanding of this? yes, these are final. _ understanding of this? yes, these are final. they're - these are final. they're totally within the presidents authority and power and they are not reversible. tell authority and power and they are not reversible.— are not reversible. tell us about the _ are not reversible. tell us about the three _ are not reversible. tell us about the three on - are not reversible. tell us about the three on death | are not reversible. tell us i about the three on death row who were excluded from this move and do you think that was the right decision was yellow no, i think every person on federal death row should have their sentence commuted and the question about the federal death penalty is, do we have a system that is fair and we have a system that works and that is what we saw really overwhelmingly outreach in terms of hundreds of thousands of petitions signed in letters

from all kinds of groups across the political aisle and across faith and motivations all come to the same conclusion that the death penalty is a failure of the federal government should not continue this practice of carrying out executions. so, it is not about individual cases, it is about does our work and we have seen over the decades the last five decades in the united states that the death penalty is a total failure. the suspect accused of killing unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson has pleaded not guilty to new york state murder and terrorism charges. 26 year old luigi mangione appeared in court on monday to be arraigned on 11 state criminal counts, including murder and a crime of terrorism. he also faces a federal criminal complaint charging him with stalking and murder charges that could lead to a death penalty sentence.

prosecutors allege that mangione shot thompson in central manhattan before going on the run. this year's king's christmas message has been recorded outside of a royal residence for the first time in almost two decades. the speech was filmed in a former hospital chapel earlier this month. the king, queen camilla and the princess of wales have all battled health issues this year. our royal correspondent, daniela relph has more. tucked away amongst the modern blocks of flats and offices in central london, a small peaceful space that will this year host a piece of royal history. the king is said to have been bowled over by the beauty of this chapel. once a place of solace and reflection, for patients, staff and family using the middlesex hospital before the hospital closed in 2005.

after a year where the king was diagnosed with cancer and is still undergoing treatment he wanted his christmas broadcast to come from a location connected to health care and somewhere used by the local community. with the particular year the family have had, the chapel and its connection to the hospital and the wider health care profession is what made it the choice for them. but it is also, its life now is as a charity in the local community so it's open to community groups, we have local choirs, we have festivals that happen in the local community, events happening here. and so it's very much rooted in the community. the chapel is not consecrated and open to people of all faiths. the king wanted to do something different this year, to make his message more personal and delivered from a space used by the community. but taking a christmas broadcast out of a royal residence is highly unusual. i am sure that most

of you will be celebrating christmas at home. in 2003, queen elizabeth took her christmas message to a barracks in windsor and she thanked servicemen and women and their families but virtually every other christmas broadcast has come from a royal residence. to choose this intimate chapel is a significant break from convention from a king who this year wants his christmas broadcast to reflect some of the experiences and challenges he has faced. new figures on the state of the uk economy — show it failed to grow at all in the third quarter of this year. the revised official figures for gross domestic product coverjuly to september — the months after the general election and the run—up to the labour government's first budget. business groups in the uk have predicted a difficult economic start to 2025, as our correspondent, theo leggett reports. a bleak midwinterfor

a government which has made the economy its top priority. the latest figures show zero growth between july and september. that's worse than initial estimates had suggested. and it follows last week's figures showing inflation at its highest level in eight months. this labour government is going into 2025 with absolute resolve to work with investors, wealth creators and workers across the country to stimulate economic growth and improve living standards for workers across the country. this is our number one mission as a government and we start from a disappointing set of economic statistics as we head into 2024, but that's why we are going to fight every day to make sure we improve the lives of working people across this country. for mick, who runs a pub in wimbledon, business has been pretty good in the run—up to christmas. he says that's necessary, because the new year can be tough. injanuary, people tend to tighten the purse strings a bit. and, yeah, it's important for cafes, pubs, bars

and restaurant across the country to have a good christmas. this is where we are going to get to pay our bills forjanuary, february and march, because unfortunately, the heating and lighting bill and the coal for the fire and all the things you have to do regardless of trade, those bills are still there injanuary, february and march, so we have to have a good christmas. one of the biggest problems that businesses across the country are facing is rising costs. that's partly because of changes brought in in the budget. for example, the rise in employers' national insurance contributions and the higher national living wage. that gives companies a choice — do they pass those extra costs on to customers in the form of higher prices, or do they absorb them and take a hit on their profits? either way, that is sapping confidence over what the next few months will bring. once many will choose

to do is raise prices and reduce hiring, according to the confederation of british industry. what firms expect over the next quarter is to have falling output, to reduce employment and we are going to have pressure on prices increasing as well. so that makes for a difficult business environment going forward. the british retail consortium says consumers are also losing confidence. shoppers in manchester seemed to be feeling the pinch. i think i am asking people i think i am asking people what they want and buying what they want and buying them what they want. them what they want. and the things they want and the things they want are affordable because everyone are affordable because everyone understands that it is understands that it is a tight year. a tight year. it is expensive this year. it is expensive this year. everything has gone up. everything has gone up. things are definitely more - things are definitely more - expensive, but there's not much expensive, but there's not much you can do about it. you can do about it. the government's gamble the government's gamble is that short—term pain will lead to long—term gain, is that short—term pain will lead to long—term gain, but in the meantime, but in the meantime, many businesses are expecting to brace themselves many businesses are expecting to brace themselves against chilly economic against chilly economic winds into the new year. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news. winds into the new year.

officials in mozambique say the number of people killed after the cyclone chido hit the country last week has risen to 120. the cyclone hit mozambique on 15 december with winds of 260 kilometres per hour and dumped 250 millmetres of rainfall in the first 2a hours. it struck after also causing widespread devastation in the french island of mayotte in the indian ocean. we can now speak to unicef�*s nick wasunna, who is in pemba, a coastal city in cabo delgabo where the cyclone first made landfall. in the area, we have seen three districts that were hit south of the capital where i am where

trouble call cyclone came and created absolute destruction. i've seen trees down, houses destroyed and as seen 90% of one of the districts that were just flattened. these houses were made of bamboo, corrugated iron sheets that are just tossed up in the air. it was a devastating site and the organisations are responding to the needs of these desperate communities.— the needs of these desperate communities. and how difficult is it for you _ communities. and how difficult is it for you to _ communities. and how difficult is it for you to get _ communities. and how difficult is it for you to get aid - communities. and how difficult is it for you to get aid into - is it for you to get aid into these areas as well as in mozambique with insurgencies and so on?— and so on? yes, correct. our bi est and so on? yes, correct. our biggest challenge _ and so on? yes, correct. our biggest challenge because i and so on? yes, correct. 0ur| biggest challenge because it's in the south which is less cases of the armed group is clearing the roads and getting the debris out of the way in the debris out of the way in the communities and being able to do that and really playing a leading role in opening up the

access. we still do not have solid communications and power still based on generators and many challenges at least from monday last week and we were hit by the cyclone on sunday but by monday there were teams in the field doing assessments in the field doing assessments in are ready by tuesday, life—saving assistance was given to the very needy families.— given to the very needy families. ., ., ,~' families. you mention the skill ofthe families. you mention the skill of the problems _ families. you mention the skill of the problems was _ families. you mention the skill of the problems was the - of the problems was the priority in terms of aid, what are you focusing on as the first priority? in are you focusing on as the first priority?— first priority? in the initial states, first priority? in the initial stages, what _ first priority? in the initial stages, what people - first priority? in the initial| stages, what people really first priority? in the initial- stages, what people really need a shelter material, they need food and they need access to clean water and making sure that people can rebuild their homes and that we don't have the spread of cholera disease in this area and that we get the systems back up and running and we are working very closely with the authorities to get out systems and up and running and many people were taking shelter in the area, many schools that the roofs blown off in many

schools are affected in classrooms and were trying to get the schools back ready for the new school year by the end of january and there's a lot of work to be done in a very short time. �* ., .., , . work to be done in a very short time. �* ., , . , time. and of course unicef is primarily _ time. and of course unicef is primarily a — time. and of course unicef is primarily a charity _ time. and of course unicef is primarily a charity for - primarily a charity for children, what about access to food and so on?— children, what about access to food and so on? their 105,000 children who _ food and so on? their 105,000 children who we _ food and so on? their 105,000 children who we are _ food and so on? their 105,000 children who we are engaging i children who we are engaging with at the moment of affected. children impacted by climate change like this has become a real concern for us and the impact on children is devastating we are creating will be called child devastating w