live from washington, this is bbc news. rights groups appeal to syria's new rulers to "urgently" preserve evidence of atrocities committed underformer president assad. israel's prime minister says progress has been made on a ceasefire in gaza — officials say a deal is the closest it's ever been after months of deadlock. an ethics report into matt gaetz, who was briefly ina break in a break from tradition, the king will not be recording his christmas message from a royal residence. hello, i'm helena humphrey. glad you could join me. we start with the situation in syria — rights groups are appealing to the country's new leaders to preserve evidence of atrocities commited underformer president bashar al—assad's regime. investigators from amnesty international, human rights watch, and the association of detainees and missing persons in sednaya prison, visited detention facilities

and mass graves after rebels took over the capital. in a joint statement, the groups said, "in all of the detention facilities visited, researchers observed that official documents were often left unprotected, with significant portions looted or destroyed." they say that such evidence is essential for prosecuting those who violated international laws and for the tens of thousands of people who were forcibly disappeared under assad's rule. meanwhile, the kremlin is refuting reports for more on the situation, i've been speaking to the former us ambassador at large for war crime issues in the office of global criminal justice, stephen rapp.

you have just returned from syria, working with a number of groups who were looking into and for evidence of mass graves, torture, other atrocities. just to begin with, give us an impression of what you saw on the ground? certainly with these rights groups whom i met with as well, reported on is accurate — there were families in these facilities looking desperately for any information on their loved ones, often tearing through logbooks, trying to find the names, etc. there were some instances of sabotage — unit 235, so—called palestine branch, the evidence room was entirely burned up. the government put security around each of these centres, they began to do the right things in terms of preventing documents from walking off. that said, this government was document—mad, very bureaucratic with various organisations participating in what i call "the machinery of death". and even in the early conflict, when there were certain documents abandoned when areas fell to the opposition,

one group that i'm a chair of bnrought out 1.3 million documents, all sorts of minutes in damascus, we found in aleppo. there are now tens of millions of documents, and it's extremely important that they be preserved, analysed, and digitised, because that's when we will know what happened to the individuals. we need to find the mass graves and returned there remains to the families, but a key part of what whatever kind ofjustice process will be put into effect is truth for the survivors. you used the phrase thare "machinery of death", and of course, you had a long career prosecuting international war crimes. what you are seeing and hearing about there in syria with the phrase "machinery of death", have you seen anything like it before? i haven't, i've seen other horrors — i've prosecuted

leaders in the rwanda genocide in east africa, 800,000 people died in 100 days, in church yards, viciously with machetes and traditional weapons, men, women, and children. this however was something quite different, a state which organised itself to really terrorise the civilian population, and to allow this self—interested minority, this small clique to retain power for sa years. and even the hint of any kind of dissent, even a joke about the leading family, could land one's family members in these dungeons. there was intense brutality where people were starved and burned, and electrocuted, and eyes gouged, all sorts of horrendous things — we saw that in the caesar photos, the brave photographer who was tasked with photographing bodies that came out in '12—13, bringing out thousands of photos representing 11,000

individuals tortured to death at that time. we now have more than 150,000 missing and 29,000 coming out of the jails, so we sadly have to conclude that 120,000 or more are no longer with us, and are in these mass graves, which i also had an opportunity to visit. and you talked about that importance of collecting that evidence for people who will be accused — where do you think those judicial processes should take place? do you think they can start soon? well, it'll take some time for syria to build a process. i met with leading government officials, and certainly i share the views of others that these trials have to meet international standards. most of the serious offenders have gone to third countries, and those countries won't extradite people to syria unless it's a fair trial. and for that reason, i think it's important that syria work with the international community to develop really strong trials, and this is clearly what the victims want.

they witnessed a system in which everything was raked, in which the government put people to death on the basis of false, coerced, and tortured confessions. they want a trial that reveals the truth, and that's what they are entitled to. so, i look for these trials to happen in syria — but first, we have the business of collecting these documents, working to digitise and analyse them, get samples of dna from the survivors and begin to work through the mass graves, then put together the really strong cases — cases that i believe are stronger than we frankly had at nuremberg — these are the documents we have here. and indeed, this machinery of death is most comparable frankly — though it doesn't have the sectarian or ethnic aspect to it — but we haven't really seen anything like this systematic use of state power to terrorise the population and eliminate any kind of threat

or dissent since the nazis. ambassador, briefly if you don't mind, with bashar al—assad, reports of him being in russia, and you mentioned that question of extradition there, do you think he will face justice? we've had other situations like charles taylor of liberia, like the president of the republic of srpska who people thought would never come to justice, and they were brought to justice. we are not talking about vladimir putin here himself, it'll be hard for the russians to give him up, but giving up someone who's been a very bad client to the russians who lost this country where they had major bases, i'm sure they'll soon lose those bases, is something i can imagine russia doing. but first and foremost, we put together the cases, track all the fugitive, we find the really responsible individuals, the lower level people — there can be truth in processes by which they make peace

with their victims, and already the government's amnestying lower—level soldiers who were essentially drafted into it. but those that made this happen and ran the machinery of death, they need to be held to account the same way we held to account the nazis, the leaders of cambodia, the genociders of rwanda, or the butchers of the former yugoslavia. benjamin netanyahu says that some progress in negotiations to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal in gaza has been made, but added that reaching a final agreement, is taking longer than expected. meanwhile, 0xfam says israel has systematically been using starvation as a weapon of war in gaza and accuses world leaders of not doing enough to address the humanitarian crisis. in a statement, the aid organisation described the situation as "apocalyptic" and said...

israel has denied 0xfam's claims, saying that it is doing everything it can to get humanitarian aid into the region. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil has more. element again, it paints a really grim picture that is the shortage of aid to gaza, especially in northern gaza. so areas likejob allea, these areas likejob allea, these areas have been besieged with ongoing fighting and relentless shelling because, yet again, the israeli army is going after hamas survivors that hamas fighters who say they have regrouped in there. what 0xfam is telling us is that in two—and—a—half months, of the 334 trucks of food and water that have been given permission to enter gaza, and the deliberate

what they what they describe as the deliberate and systematic obstruction by the israeli army meant that only 12 were able to distribute food and water. now they also give this detail — of those three trucks were at a school, and after the food and water was distributed, the school was cleared from where people were sheltering. and then it was shelled. this blame game has been going on for months and months since the beginning of the war between the israeli forces who say, "we're doing all we can, we're not obstructing aid," that is israel is obligated — that is israel — to not only make aid available, but to facilitate the distribution, the safe distribution of aid. and they say that israel hasn't done that. the man accused of killing the us health care insurance chief executive brian thompson has pleaded not guilty to state—level murder and terrorism charges. 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. police in new york investigating the death of a woman who was set on fire while on the subway say they believe it was a random attack. detectives have described the incident as one of the "most depraved crimes" a person could commit. a 33—year—old man from guatamala, sebastian zepeta, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and arson. cbs news correspondent, naomi ruchim, explains what happened. this all happened around 7.30am yesterday, as the train approached the last stop in brooklyn. that's when the suspect walked up to the woman, lit her on fire using what appeared to be a lighter, and then, stayed on scene, watching her burn from the train platform. the victim's clothes became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,

and police say there appeared to be no interaction between the victim and her attacker before she was lit on fire. nearby officers saw and smelled the smoke, they immediately ran over to investigate, used a fire extinguisher to put out those flames — but sadly, the woman died on that train. former us congressman matt gaetz is facing allegations of statutory rape and illicit drug use during his time in office. the bipartisan house ethics committee released its report monday after a weeks—long delay. it found what it calls "substantial evidence" that mr gaetz "regularly" paid women for sex from 2017 to 2020. it alleges he engaged in sexual activity with a 17—year—old girl during the same period, violating florida's statutory rape law. and the report says gaetz used illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, during his time as a congressman. matt gaetz vehemently denies allegations of sexual misconduct, though he has admitted to using drugs. he's not been charged with any crime.

previously donald trump's nominee for us attorney general, mr gaetz withdrew, amid doubts the senate would confirm him. gaetz is taking on a new role as a political tv talk show host in the new year — but at a conservative conference on sunday, he hinted at a bid for the us senate. it seems i may not have had enough _ it seems i may not have had enouqh support _ it seems i may not have had enough support in— it seems i may not have had enough support in the - it seems i may not have hadi enough support in the united states— enough support in the united states senate _ enough support in the united states senate — _ enough support in the united states senate — maybe - enough support in the united states senate — maybe i'll. enough support in the united. states senate — maybe i'lljust run for— states senate — maybe i'lljust run for marco _ states senate — maybe i'lljust run for marco rubio's - states senate — maybe i'lljust run for marco rubio's vacant . run for marco rubio's vacant seat — run for marco rubio's vacant seat in — run for marco rubio's vacant seat in the _ run for marco rubio's vacant seat in the united _ run for marco rubio's vacant seat in the united state - run for marco rubio's vacant. seat in the united state senate and joined _ seat in the united state senate and joined some _ seat in the united state senate and joined some of— seat in the united state senate and joined some of those - seat in the united state senate and joined some of those folksj seat in the united state senatel and joined some of those folks! allegations the actor justin baldoni waged a smear campaign against blake lively, his co—star in the film it ends with us have shed light on the lengths some celebrities will apparently go to in order to protect their reputations, and even damage those of others. justin baldoni says the claims are false and salacious. nada tawfik reports. 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...

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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the chancellor, rachel reeves, says she faces a "huge challenge" in "fixing the economy", after revised figures showed it flatlined in the first three months of the labour government. it's the latest in a disappointing series of statistics for ministers, with inflation rising at its fastest rate for eight months. the conservatives said the "warnings lights" were flashing for the economy. morrisons has apologised to customers who were unable to get discounts on their christmas food shop — because of a problem with its loyalty card. there were also issues with online orders, with some customers finding their deliveries had been cancelled. in response, morrisons has applied the loyalty discounts to all customers.

the chocolate maker cadbury has lost its royal warrant, for the first time in 170 years. the company, which is owned by the american multi—national, mondelez, is one of 100 firms that's had the right to display the royal arms taken away. you're live with bbc news. the prime minister of greenland has insisted the arctic island is not for sale, after donald trump said he wanted to take control of the territory. greenland — which is the site of a strategically important us airbase — has been a part of denmark for 600 years. it comes as preisdent—elect trump has also threatened to take over the panama canal if it doesn't reduce its fees. the canal connects the atlantic and pacific oceans — meaning ships can avoid going thousands of extra kilometres around the tip of south america. the us operated the canal during the 20th century after helping panama win independence from colombia. president—elect trump says

the fees american government and business pays to use the waterway are ridiculous, and is promising to end what he describes as a "rip off". here's our central america correspondent, will grant. as with many of these diplomatic spats between latin america and donald trump, this one started with a social media post in which mr trump said that the fees which us ships must pay to pass through the panama canal were exorbitant, he called it ridiculous and a ripoff, which he expected to end. he even suggested that the canal could pass back to us control. as you might expect, the president of panama responded robustly, saying that the canal was completely part

of panamanian sovereignty, every square metre of it, as he put it, and that was a non—negotiable situation. a little bit of history — the canal has been under panamanian control, complete panamanian control, complete panamanian control since 31 december, 1999. it's coming up on its 25th anniversary as it passed back from us control to panamanian control under accords reached in 1977 between the then president of panama and presidentjimmy carter. so it is of course a panamanian entity run by the panamanian government. 0ne element that donald trump was right about that the fees have gone up in recent years — that is largely down to climate change, as reservoirs which support the level of water in the canal have run dry — that means it's have run dry — that means its capacity has gone down to just two dozen or so ships a day instead of three —— three

dozen. that has pushed prices up. but one wonders exactly why he's making these suggestions with a country, lest we forget, thatis with a country, lest we forget, that is an important ally in latin america for the united states — in part, i suspect, it's about setting out his stall towards latin america before he takes power in january, basically saying, "these are the areas were not happy with, we expect to see them changed" — that even includes important allies like panama. let's turn to some other important news around the world. president biden has decided to save 37 federal prisoners from execution, commuting their death sentences. they'll now spend the rest of their lives in prison, without parole. in a statement, mr biden said he condemned their acts, but he was being guided by his conscience. three executions are still due to go ahead including that the french 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 japanese car—makers honda and nissan have announced plans to merge. the integration — which would create the world's third—biggest car producer — would aim to take on chinese and american rivals in the electric vehicle market. last month, nissan announced it was cutting global production by a fifth. but the head of honda has denied suggestions that his company was trying to rescue its struggling rival. former president bill clinton was admitted to georgetown university medical centre on monday afternoon, for testing and observation after developing a fever. his deputy chief of staff says he remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he is receiving. 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. daniel relph reports. 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. j in 193a, the king's great—grandfather, george v, was at middlesex hospital to honour nurse sister dorothy thomas for her bravery in a hospitalfire. 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. the best preserved mammoth carcass. a the best preserved mammoth earcass- a— the best preserved mammoth earease a— the best preserved mammoth carcass. . . _ ., ., carcass. a female baby mammoth is more than _ carcass. a female baby mammoth is more than 50,000 _ carcass. a female baby mammoth is more than 50,000 years - carcass. a female baby mammoth is more than 50,000 years old, i is more than 50,000 years old, it was found in the region of russia's southeastern permafrost, which acts like a giant freezer preserving the remains. 0nly giant freezer preserving the remains. only six other mammoth

carcasses have been found in the world —5 in russia, one in canada. we end with live pictures in hawaii — where one of the most active volcanoes in the world has erupted again. lava began erupting at around 2am local time on monday, with fountains stretching more than 200 feet. the us geological survey said there were no immediate threats that's located on the big island and has been erupting since 1983. the us geological survey said there were no immediate threats to infrastructure, and eruptions stabilised by around 6.30am. but as you can see, a lot of it is still there on the big island — that's the kilauea volcano there. you're watching bbc news, more for you at the top of the hour, join me then if you can. goodbye for now.

hello. the good news is, for those of you still to do some pre—christmas travel, the weather is looking fairly benign for christmas eve for the vast majority. a fair bit of cloud around, admittedly — we saw that roll in on monday — and much, much milder than it has been. temperatures on monday afternoon, 11—5 celsius for quite a few, a good 8—10 celsius warmer for tuesday afternoon on christmas eve. that milder air�*s been pushing in already, and will continue to do so into the morning, around this area of high pressure to the south of us and behind weather fronts. so, by the time we start christmas eve, temperatures for the vast majority are actually in double figures first thing in the morning. lots of cloud around, a rather grey start to the day, however and, certainly in the west, some outbreaks of rain or drizzle. a few spots further east, too, but some of the wettest conditions throughout christmas eve will be to the north and west of scotland, where it'll also be quite windy at times — winds touching gale force for some. we'll see some rain or drizzle in northern ireland, and around some of these western fringes of england

and wales on the hills, it may be a little bit of damp at times. but, to the east of high ground, east wales, the midlands, parts of eastern england, eastern scotland, we should see some sunshine break through — and it's here we could see temperatures of 14—15. now, to take us through the night and into the big day, we continue with a fairly cloudy story, fairly breezy to the north and west, with some outbreaks of rain getting heavier and more persistentjust to the north of the northern and western isles. but christmas day starts on a warmish note — 8—11 celsius for the vast majority — and, with us stuck between these weather fronts and a run of south—westerly winds, not much will change through the day. compared with christmas eve, though, i'm optimistic of a few more cloud breaks. more of you will stay dry — so if you need to get a christmas day walk in, it is looking fairly decent. best of the sunshine, probably northeast of scotland, but quite windy here. windiest, though, to the north and west, the western isles, northern isles — again, ahe chance of some rain at times, but probably a little bit drier than christmas eve. and temperatures just down a notch, but still well above where we should be,

at around 11—13 celsius. for the big journey home, though, after christmas, if you're doing it on boxing day or friday, there could be some fog to contend with ascross parts of england and wales. most places will be dry. greater chance of some rain at times further north, but nothing disruptive by the looks of it. and, by the time we hit the weekend, we're back to something a bit cooler, but also a little bit brighter. take care.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour. which is straight after this programme. welcome to this special year—ending edition of hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. big elections, catastrophic conflict, 2024 has been a year full of upheaval and alarm. does that give you the right to lecture us on climate change? i am going to lecture you on climate change! inflation is eating people's pay cheque alive. we've had 10 million illegal immigrants come into the country, raping and murdering people. people do not believe the policies are working. we are not seeking to punish anybody. j we are seeking to bring back. the hostages and to make sure that hamas will not be able to kill us _

the situation is much worse now, much worse,