a break with tradition, as the king's christmas message this year is filmed in a hospital chapel. at the end of a year when he has been treated for cancer, it's understood king charles wanted a location connected to those working in health care. the man accused of killing the us healthcare insurance boss brian thompson appears in court and pleads not guilty to state—level murder and terrorism charges. details emerge of a legal complaint made by hollywood actress blake lively against her co—star justin baldoni, after he's accused of a smear campaign against her. israel's exploding pagers and walkie—talkie attacks on hezbollah — the lid is lifted on an operation that was ten years in the making. and the power of the earth on full view — one of the most active volcanoes erupts in hawaii.

good evening. for the first time in almost 20 years, the monarch�*s christmas day message is not being broadcast from a royal residence. instead, the king has chosen a former hospital chapel, the fitzrovia chapel in london, which was used by staff and patients of the middlesex hospital before it closed in 2005. it is now used for community events. our senior royal correspondent, daniela relph, has more. an image taken from this year's christmas day broadcast after a turbulent year for the king with a cancer diagnosis and treatment. to reflect that, he wanted his christmas message to come from a location connected to health care and used by the community. he chose here — fitzrovia chapel in central london. the chapel is tucked away amongst the modern blocks of flats and offices near oxford circus — a small, intimate space

that will this year host a piece of royal history. the king is said to have been bowled over by the chapel�*s beauty. it was once a place of solace and reflection for patients, staff and families using the middlesex hospital before the hospital was demolished in 2008. i assume that this space, being one of kind of calm reflection, but also thinking about health, about care and about the medical profession, would make it a pretty apt choice. we did feel very privileged. the chapel is not consecrated and is open to people of all faiths. it's now used for community events and there are royal connections too. sister dorothy louise thomas was awarded the gold medal. i in 193a, the king's great—grandfather, george v, was at middlesex hospital to honour nurse sister dorothy thomas for her bravery in a hospital fire. she is now remembered on the chapel

walls as an heroic colleague. 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 usually make my christmas broadcast to the commonwealth from windsor or buckingham palace. this was queen elizabeth in 1989 at the royal albert hall for a christmas broadcast that focused on young people. in 2003, she took the message to a barracks in windsor during the iraq war, where she thanked servicemen and women and their families. but virtually every other christmas broadcast has come from a royal residence. to choose this peaceful space in central london is a significant break with convention from a king who this year wants his christmas broadcast to reflect some of the experiences and challenges he has faced. daniela ralph, bbc news, fitzrovia chapel.

and daniela is here with me now. soa so a break from tradition. i assume that gives an idea of what his christmas broadcast might hold. i think the location gives a clear indication of what the king is going to include in its broadcast. he has chosen to deliver the message from this former hospital chapel, and i think that's obviously a reference to his own health problems this year, so we can expect him to refer to those and i expect also perhaps to those and i expect also perhaps to the medical staff who helped look after him the job the chapel is a community space, so again that points to references about bringing people together and about the power of community. 12 months ago, when the king last delivered his christmas message, it was a very different time, the time before his own cancer diagnosis, and that of the princess of wales. despite the

difficulties, oil sources say, as we head to the end of the year, the king is feeling positive. yes, his treatment continues. that song going into 2025 but we are told he's feeling really positive and he has found the experience of the past year, the people he's met, the places he's been, the impact of going public with his condition, incredibly powerful and at times uplifting. the man accused of killing the us healthcare insurance chief executive brian thompson has pleaded not—guilty to state—level murder and terrorism charges. 26—year—old luigi mangione appeared in court in new york to face 11 state criminal counts. he also faces federal stalking and murder charges that could lead to a death penalty sentence. mr mangione�*s lawyer told the judge that she was very concerned about her client's right

to a fair trial. he's being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials. like every other defendant, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence but, unfortunately, the way this has been handled so far, his rights are being violated. 50—year—old brian thompson was shot in the back and leg as he arrived early in the morning at his company conference, at the hilton hotel in midtown, new york earlier this month. it's alleged that luigi mangione spent months planning an attack driven by his contempt for the health insurance industry and wealthy corporate executives. a small group of protestors gathered outside the court — some showing their support for the accused and their anger at us health—care companies. in the us, a report into the conduct of the former republican congressman matt gaetz, who had been donald trump's initial pick for attorney general, has found "substantial evidence" that he paid tens of thousands

of dollars for sex with women, including a 17—year—old girl. a report by the house ethics committee has accused the florida congressman of breaking several state laws, including illicit drug use, statutary rape and prostitution. mr gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and resigned from congress in november. the chancellor says the challenge to fix the uk's economy is "huge", after revised figures showed there was no economic growth between july and september. the office for national statistics originally estimated a small growth of 0.1% over the three months. but rachel reeves insists the government's economic plans will deliver long—term, sustainable growth. the conservatives say the economy has "tanked" under labour. here's theo leggett. a bleak midwinterfor a government that's made the economy its top priority. the latest figures show zero growth between july and september. businesses say they're losing

confidence and prices are rising. this is how the economy's been performing over the past three years. as you can see, there was a fairly steady decline throughout 2022 and into 2023 and, at the end of the last year, it went into recession, then a rally in the first half of 2024, but no growth, we now know, between july and september. and then there's inflation — a steep rise, peaking at more than 11% in late 2022, but then falling steadily. but now it seems to be ticking up once again. the government insists the future is bright. 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. businesses say changes to national insurance and the minimum wage introduced in the budget are pushing up their costs. the confederation of

british industry says many are tightening their belts. what firms expect over the next quarter is to have falling output, to reduce employment, and also we're going to have pressure on prices increasing as well. the british retail consortium says consumers are also losing confidence. these shoppers in manchester today were certainly feeling the pinch. i think i'm asking people l what they want and buying what they want, and i think the things that they want . are affordable because everyone's understanding that it is _ a very tight year. it's quite expensive this year, more than any... well, everything's gone up, hasn't it? things are definitely getting more expensive, but there's not really much you can do about it, is there? the conservatives said today warning lights were flashing on the uk economy, and that the government should urgently revisit what they called a disastrous budget to push for growth rather than decline. the government's gamble is that short—term pain will lead to long—term gain but, in the meantime, many businesses

expect to be feeling chilly economic winds well into the new year. theo leggett, bbc news. and our political correspondent, hannah miller, joins me. growth is what this government built their election campaign on. can they turn it around? they certainly hepe _ can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. _ can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. last - can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. last week, i can they turn it around? iie: certainly hope so. last week, the prime minister was repeating the election pledge to have the highest growth in the g7 by 2029. these figures today put the uk well lower than the g7 average, and it's not just a matter of numbers in a league table. the government is reliant on growth to improve public services, to have more money to spend on schools and hospitals. while most people don't necessarily think at home thinking, what are the growth figures showing, they have a sense of whether they feel better off, as we were hearing. ministers have

warned this will take time. they have several years, but ever since the budget, employers have been complaining about the rise in national insurance contributions. it is arguably too soon to lay these figures today at the door of the government, but they know they have a task to do to turn it around, and indicate a seem at the moment to be looking at the wrong direction, which will be assumed. three hollywood stars have publicly backed the american actress blake lively after she filed a legal complaint against her co—star in the film it ends with us. her complaint against justin baldoni, who was also the film's director, alleges sexual harassment as well as a campaign to "destroy" her reputation. his legal team say the allegations are "categorically false". nada tawfik has more. tension between blake lively and justin baldoni overshadowed the promotion of the film it ends with us over the summer. 0n the red carpet, their creative

differences were apparent. this is not a story about domestic violence. it's a woman's story about her life. there's this intersection between wanting to make the flowery movie, because oftentimes studios think that's what's best, and then the artistic choice. but it's now clear the drama on set went much deeper. lively has accused baldoni, both the director and a star of the film, of inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment. the hollywood film star and entrepreneur, who first rose to fame on the tv show gossip girl and her actor husband ryan reynolds, who owns wrexham fc, held a meeting injanuary with baldoni and other producers to discuss her concerns. a legal complaint details the alleged demands she made at the time, including no more showing of nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife, no more descriptions of their own genitalia, no more mention by mr baldoni of him speaking to blake lively�*s dead father. afterwards, she alleges he hired a pr crisis firm to launch a smear

campaign against her. who else is engaged in sort of paid—for—hire online manipulation on behalf of, you know, powerful clients, to manipulate public opinion and do damage to people's reputations? justin baldoni's legal team said the allegations were categorically false, intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt. they said it was a desperate attempt by lively to try to fix her negative reputation. the reaction in a post—metoo era hollywood has been swift. the talent agency that represented both stars dropped baldoni almost immediately and others in the industry have come out in her defence. her co—stars on the film the sisterhood of the travelling pants, released this statement in support. america ferrera, amber tamblyn and alexis bledel said, "most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence "survivors�* stories to silence a woman who asked for safety.

"the hypocrisy is astounding." once again, behaviour in hollywood is back in the spotlight and what lengths some will go to protect their image. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. president biden has announced he's commuting the sentences of 37 of the a0 federal prisoners currently on death row in the united states, to life in prison without parole. mr biden said he was being guided by his conscience. tom batemanjoins us from washington. why is he doing this? this is a significant _ why is he doing this? this is a significant act _ why is he doing this? this is a significant act of _ why is he doing this? this is a significant act of clemency. i why is he doing this? this is a | significant act of clemency. he said, as you mentioned, guided by his conscience, but also by determination, he said, to end the death penalty as a federal level. that said, this is 37 of the a0 men currently on death row for federal offences. the other three will remain with those death sentences

hanging over them, and they include the 2017 boston marathon bomber and also the gunmen convicted of killing 11 jewish workers at a synagogue in 2018. mr biden is doing this because he wants to tie the hands of the trump administration as it comes in, being able to enact the death penalty at a federal level. mr trump campaigned during the election, saying frequently he would expand the use of the death penalty to include drug traffickers and also migrants who kill americans. tonight, he has responded, calling this move is a slap in the face for the victims and their families. so a clear political row already over this. it's worth saying that the numbers convicted in federal courts, to the death sentence, are relatively small and, despite the

decrease in the use of execution in the united states, there remain on death row at state level more than 2000 prisoners across the us. new facts have come to light surrounding israel's deadly pager and walkie—talkie attack on the iranian—backed lebanese armed group hezbollah. in september, more than 2,000 devices exploded across lebanon and syria. dozens of people were killed and thousands injured. now, in an interview with our us broadcast partner, cbs, two former israeli intelligence agents, who worked for mossad, have explained how it happened, revealing the operation was ten years in the making. jon donnison reports. it was one of the most audacious... and deadly spy operations ever undertaken. thousands of pagers and walkie—talkies owned by hezbollah operatives exploding across lebanon, causing panic, killing dozens

and injuring thousands. a walkie—talkie was a weapon just like a bullet or a missile or a martyr. now, former agents from isreal�*s mossad intelligence agency, speaking anonymously, have told the bbc�*s american partner cbs how it was done. we have an incredible array of possibilities of creating foreign companies that have no way of being traced back to isreal. shell companies over shell companies who affect the supply chain to our favour. we create a pretend world. we are a global production company. we write the screenplay with the directors, with the producers, with the main actors, and the world is our stage. the agents explained how over the past decade, mossad had sold hezbollah thousands of pagers and walkie—talkies booby—trapped with tiny amounts of explosives. they were only detonated years

later, last september. if you push the button, the only one that will get injured is the terrorist himself. even if his wife or his daughter will be just next to him, he is the only one that is going to be harmed. the agents said they tested the devices on dummies to measure the force of the blasts. but in fact, dozens of people were killed in the attack, including civilians and children. thousands more were maimed and injured. the united nations human rights chief called it a war crime. what is certain is such an attack is unlikely to happen again. the agent said mossad was now working on the next thing and hezbollah would have to guess what that might be. jon donnison, bbc news. france's prime minister says the number of people killed by a cyclone in the territory of mayotte was likely to be in the dozens, rather than thousands, as first thought. a minute's silence was marked

across france today in honour of those who died in the french territory in the indian ocean between madagascar and the coast of mozambique. the prime minister, francois bayrou, described an estimated death toll in the thousands as "alarmist". cyclone chido swept across the indian ocean islands nine days ago. reports that the british—born wife of deposed syrian president bashar al—assad is seeking a divorce, are untrue, according to the kremlin. some turkish media had suggested that asma al—assad wanted to end her marriage and leave russia, where she and her husband were granted asylum, after a rebel coalition overthrew the former president's regime and took control of the syrian capital. such reports "do not correspond to reality", according to a kremlin spokesperson. several european countries have paused asylum applications from syrians following the overthrow of the assad regime earlier this month. more than a million syrians who fled

the country during his brutal rule and civil war now live in the european union. our special correspondent fergal keane has gone back to some of those he met fleeing syria more than a decade ago, to find out what their hopes are for the future of their homeland. and a warning — his report contains some distressing testimony. i never imagined that i will witness something like that in my life. and i'm so happy. very happy. they hit you and they said, "confess. confess. " we first met 12 years ago. he'd just escaped syria. gay, pro—democracy, raped by assad's police. they raping me, one by one. i start to say, "please don't do this. please don't do that."

then he'd asked to remain nameless, faceless, a voice. but no longer. today, living in holland, rene shevan celebrates assad's fall by showing his face. you've decided to appear on camera today. why is that? because the fear is gone. because i'm... i'm not scared of them anymore. because assad is a refugee in moscow. watching the release of prisoners triggered traumatic memories. i witnessed this, and i saw people are free. i was so happy for them,

but i saw myself there. i saw when they raped me. when they tortured me. i saw everything. it's a flashback. several hours away, i met another refugee i'd known in the days of the war. 0ne who'd never lost hope. i was certain nothing lasts forever. darkness is followed by dawn. it's nearly ten years since nujeen fled the kurdish region of syria, and ifirst met her among hundreds of thousands of refugees heading into europe. 15 years old with big dreams. i'd love to be an astronaut, to go out and see and find an alien.

nujeen is safe in germany, but berlin has paused syrian asylum claims. assad's fall is welcome, but not the end of the struggle, she says. i knew that we would not... i would never come back to syria that has assad as the president and that we would never have the chance to be better. and now with that, with that chapter over, i think the real challenge begins. what is the big challenge? we can and will be a better nation. we are a nation of love, acceptance and peace. not one of chaos, fear and destruction. there are many good hearts in syria and beyond hoping she's right. fergal keane, bbc news, cologne. he set off from cape town in south africa lastjuly.

now, after crossing two continents and more than 8,000 miles later, a ugandan runner who lives in london has made it back home after an extraordinary run. deo kato ran across 9 countries in africa — excluding war torn sudan which he flew over — before continuing through 11 more countries in europe, and finally reaching west london yesterday. leigh milner went to find out why. cheering. reunited with his motherjust in time for christmas. this was the moment deo kato finally crossed the finishing line in his home city of london yesterday, after running the equivalent of more than 300 marathons in just under a year and a half. incredibly relieved to actually have finished. it was overwhelming to see my mum there and she wanted to do a kilometre to get to the finish line with me. so doing that with her

was beyond my expectations. day 66 running from cape town to london. deo wanted to raise awareness about racism by highlighting the history of human migration from africa, in his words, to show that we all come from the same place. his journey took him through africa and across europe and, along the way, he endured racist abuse and several weeks in a south sudan jail. but he says the support he received along the way got him through it. some of the most proudest moments was actually me running with kids. i had the most incredible kidsjoin me in kenya, and i had to stop them when we reached the school, and said, guys, you have to go to school. so what's next for you? sleep? sleep is definitely on the schedule! leigh milner, bbc news. it's 35 years since they first

appeared on our screens, but the beautifully animated duo of wallace and grommit are back this christmas. they return in a new adventure called �*vengeance most fowl�*. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba has been meeting the film's creators. i'm live outside the west wallaby street house of the evil inventor mr wallace. evil? once again, wallace's inventions... there's clearly been a mistake. ..have got them both into trouble in their first major adventure for more than a decade. whenever we've done talks around the world, the last question is always, "when is the next wallace and gromit film? " and the last time we did that, i came home just burning with this idea that's been around for years, actually, about, what if wallace created an automated gnome? hi. i'm your nifty odd—jobbing robot. call me norbot. now this new story has the return of an old villain who the pair last

encountered back in 1993's the wrong trousers. whenever we're out and about talking about wallace and gromit, and maybe talking about the future of wallace and gromit, the single most asked question is, "when will feathers be back?" it seemed a perfect opportunity to bring feathers back for this story. sadly, one person who isn't back is, of course, the original voice of wallace, peter sallis. it has been quite emotional since we lost peter, but we have been blessed with a youngish actor who we've known for many years, in fact, peter knew him, actually, who can do a fantastic wallace impersonation, ben whitehead. he says he's honoured to take on the role. as animation takes time, aardman have given me time to work on the voice. you kind of have to do the sort of the "mm," and the, you know, "hee—hee," and definitely the elongation of the vowels, like the, you know, "cheeeese." put him through his little paces. you'll have to wait

until christmas day to see if the duo defeat feathers mcgraw. and if they do, the aardman team say they're sure that wallace and gromit will be back for more adventures in the future, but it just might take a while. gromit! lizo mzimba, bbc news, bristol. researchers in siberia are conducting tests on a juvenile mammoth whose remains were discovered after more than 50,000 years. they say yana — who has been named after the river basin where she was discovered — is the world's best—preserved mammoth carcass. it's thought the creature, which resembles a small elephant, was probably a little over a year old when it died. it was recovered from the world's largest permafrost crater in the remote yakutia region of siberia. one of the world's most active volcanoes has erupted again. kilauea, on hawaii's big island, has started spewing fresh lava.

local officials say there is no immediate danger to people because the volcanic activity is so far limited to a confined area of hawaii volcanoes national park. the area of the eruption has been closed to the public since 2007 because of hazardous conditions. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. amazing scenes. sadly no snow scenes over the next few days for our festive period. we are done with any chance of anything wintry. temperatures for many four, 5 degrees this afternoon. some of these spots into tomorrow afternoon, eight to 10 degrees, milder. that milder air is spilling in with all this cloud firing in off the atlantic, bringing outbreaks of rain. spot of drizzle but crucially, the wind is coming from the

mid—atlantic, all the way from the south—west and boosting temperatures. at the end of the night, milderthan temperatures. at the end of the night, milder than at the moment. most places double figures on tuesday morning. if you do have any christmas travel plans tomorrow, it is not looking to bad weather wise. some rain and drizzle first thing, some of that will continue on the hills in west. damp days in scotland where we could see gales in 0rkney, shetland but north—east england, some breaks in the cloud allowing some breaks in the cloud allowing some sunshine through and these areas are likely to hit ia, may be 15 degrees, potentially one of the christmas eve is on record. little on christmas day, south—westerly winds with us. around these weather fronts, close to the western isles, rain will never be too far away on christmas day. elsewhere, a good day to get out for a walk. plenty of cloud, a few more breaks with

sunshine now and