live from london, this is bbc news. one of the worst starvation crises in modern times. a new report says famine in sudan has expanded to five areas and likely to spread further next year. american airlines has resumed service after grounding all its aircrafts briefly due to technical issue. singing as ukraine prepares to mark its third christmas since russia's invasion, we bring you a special report from the city of pokrovsk, the birthplace of a well—known carol. a record—smashing kiss of the sun, as nasa's solar probe makes history, with the closest ever approach to the star. and ahead of her carol service at westminster abbey, which airs tonight, princess kate encourages the world to turn to love, not fear. hello, i'm maryam moshiri. we start in sudan, where famine

is spreading, according to a global hunger monitor. the famine review committee of the integrated food phase classification, ipc, says warring parties continue to disrupt humanitarian aid needed to alleviate one of the worst starvation crises in modern times. it says famine conditions have been confirmed in two camps for internally—displaced people in el—fashir, also in parts of the darfur region and south kordofan state. the ipc says about 24.6 million people, about half of all sudanese, urgently need food aid. our correspondent richard kagoe is following developments from nairobi. i asked him just how bad the situation in sudan had become. the situation is dire because you're looking at half of sudan's population being classified as desperately in need of aid.

we are looking at camps for internally displaced persons and residential areas also around the mountains. also a cautionary statement they are being issued by the committee saying that also around 17 areas of famine and an additional five would be in the next five months, bringing the total to ten. so the situation is desperate. but there is the position of the sudanese who say that the report is not quite reflective of the situation on the ground because they didn't take into account malnutrition data and also crop productivity since the last rainy season. it is a very troubling situation because based on the last assessment at the al—salam camp, which is home to half a million people, there has been increasing tension between humaitarian aid organisations and the sudanese authorities.

ukrainians are marking their third christmas since the russian invasion, with putin's forces pushing deeper into the east of the country. the city of pokrovsk is russia's next target. its troops are now less than three kilometres from the city centre. it's a key military hub, but it's also part of ukraine's cultural identity too. it's the birthplace of a well—known christmas carol. our defence correspondent jonathan beale has this report. music: shchedryk. the discord of christmas in a shattered city. but this is where the composer of this well—known carol once lived. pokrovsk — the next russian target. explosion. most of its population's already fled. explosion. no sound or sign of christmas here. just shelling. those left behind only break cover to find essentials. many are cut off from gas, water and electricity.

ihor says you never know where or when the next hit will be. he likens it to living on a powder keg. oksana hopes ukraine can hold on, but she thinks it's unlikely. pokrovsk, she says, will probably fall. russian forces are still advancing towards the city of pokrovsk. they are nowjust a few miles from where i'm standing. and it's notjust the physical destruction of the city that you can see all around me. ukraine also accuses russia of trying to erase its cultural identity, too. music: carol of the bells. this familiar tune, known as the carol of the bells, or shchedryk, in ukraine, was composed by mykola leontovych. this is where he worked

as a music teacher in pokrovsk, a plaque now the only reminder. the hasych family fled pokrovsk this summer. they're now shocked at the scale of devastation. mum yulia says it makes her want to cry. but she isn't letting her daughters forget home or the signature song of their city. translation: when i played it at home, it seemed happy. - it reminded me of winter and christmas. now it's more of a sad song to me, because it reminds me of home, and i really want to go back. but for one ukrainian military band, it's also become a song to inspire resistance. they're even taking it

to the trenches, with weapons as improvised instruments. translation: we'll visit any brigade on the front line - and perform ukrainian songs on any weapon. it lifts the spirits, those beats and rhythms cheer up the guys and inspire them to fight. shchedryk shows that ukraine is a civilised nation now at war, fighting for its identity. for ukraine, there is a special significance to this tune this christmas. russia may be able to destroy its towns and cities, but it can't erase ukraine's separate identity or its past. jonathan beale, bbc news, pokrovsk. let's take you live now to kyiv, where christmas mass is being celebrated at the cathedral of st nicholas.

it's the second—oldest roman catholic church in the city, and was recently damaged following a nearby blast. you can see the candles and people standing at the church's interior. that happened during a widespread series of russian drone and missile strikes across ukraine. to give you a bit of context, catholics make up around ten percent of the population of ukraine — with most being members of the ukrainian greek catholic church. it is about seven minutes past five local time. a russian cargo ship has sunk in the mediterranean sea. this video, posted on social media, shows the ursa major listing off the coast of spain. the russian foreign

ministry says the vessel sank after an explosion in its engine room. two of the 16 crew members are missing. the 14 survivors rescued have now arrived at the spanish port of cartagena on board a spanish coastguard vessel. the russian ship is reported to have been transporting specialised cranes to the russian port of vladivostok. tracking data from marine traffic shows that it left st petersburg on 11 december and had recently passed through the staits of gibraltar. it's the third russian ship to go down in ten days. russia has been accused of using a so—called ghost fleet of ships, which are often poorly maintained and lack proper insurance, to circumvent sanctions. it's not known whether the ursa major was part of that fleet. we will have more on that story as we get it. american airlines was forced to briefly ground all its flights in the united states early

on christmas eve. it said the disruption was due to a technical issue. the federal aviation administration lifted the grounding order shortly afterwards. the computer outage led to some passengers being told to get back off their plane shortly before they were due to take off. one passenger posted this on social media. over intercom: thank - you so much for your patience. if you would so kindly grab your belongings... american airlines computers are down. we are deplaning. breaking news. i think this is a national computer failure. american airline computers are down. we are getting off of the plane. with me is david waddell, business reporter. could not have happened and a worse day, right? who could not have happened and a worse day, right?— could not have happened and a worse day, right? who wants to be stuck at _ worse day, right? who wants to be stuck at home _ worse day, right? who wants to be stuck at home just _ worse day, right? who wants to be stuck at home just before . be stuck at home just before christmas in the united states. millions of people will be trying to travel across the us were into the us from elsewhere. it is still early in the day here, it has just gone 10:00am in the east coast and 7am on the west coast of the

united states. these delays have been taking place for a few hours now. the flights are now running but there will be some delays caused earlier... nakhon delays, ray? yes some delays caused earlier... nakhon delays, ray?- some delays caused earlier... nakhon delays, ray? yes but we don't know _ nakhon delays, ray? yes but we don't know if— nakhon delays, ray? yes but we don't know if some _ nakhon delays, ray? yes but we don't know if some vital - nakhon delays, ray? yes but we don't know if some vital be - don't know if some vital be cancelled altogether —— don't know if some vital be cancelled altogether -- knock on delays. — cancelled altogether -- knock on delays. ray? _ cancelled altogether -- knock on delays, ray? is— cancelled altogether -- knock on delays, ray? is needed . cancelled altogether -- knock on delays, ray? is needed to | on delays, ray? is needed to state how important american airlines is in terms of being a us carrier? it airlines is in terms of being a us carrier?— us carrier? it is the biggest carrier in — us carrier? it is the biggest carrier in the _ us carrier? it is the biggest carrier in the world - us carrier? it is the biggest carrier in the world and - us carrier? it is the biggest carrier in the world and in l us carrier? it is the biggest l carrier in the world and in the us carrying 578,000 passengers and travels to 48 countries in more than 50 destinations. more than 6800 flights per day. i don't know there is more on a day like this but that would have a huge amount of ramifications. it have a huge amount of ramifications.- have a huge amount of ramifications. it is all over now but — ramifications. it is all over now but we _ ramifications. it is all over now but we know - ramifications. it is all over now but we know it - ramifications. it is all over- now but we know it happened? and y? , . , .

and y? they said it was a vendor technology - and y? they said it was a vendor technology issue. | and y? they said it was a | vendor technology issue. i don't know which vendor, briefly influencing flights this morning. we have resolved theissue this morning. we have resolved the issue but we sincerely apologise for those affected. we will diligently get passengers where they need to go as soon as possible.- go as soon as possible. thank ou go as soon as possible. thank you very _ go as soon as possible. thank you very much _ go as soon as possible. thank you very much for _ go as soon as possible. thank you very much for that. - the group hts, which is effectively in control of much of syria, says it has now absorbed all armed factions into the country's armed forces. social media posts suggest that syria's de facto leader ahmed al—sharaa has reached an agreement with former rebel faction chiefs, after meetings over the last few days. but it's not clear which groups were included, nor whether forces in areas which were not previously controlled by the government or groups linked to hts are covered by the agreement. meanwhile, protests have erupted in syria over the burning of a christmas

tree in a christian—majority town near hama. demonstrators took to the streets of the capital damascus, calling for the new ruling faction, hts, to punish those who are responsible. bbc arabic�*s heba bitar was at a protest in damascus. we are at a protest in an area which is majority christian. protesters gathered today after similar demonstrations broke out last night after a christmas tree was burned in hama. chanting protesters today are calling for unity of all syrians, regardless of their faith or ethnicity. they call for the importance of protecting christians, stressing that they are not a minority. translation: we are - gathered today to demand accountability for those who have committed violations. we are not against the laws or implementing them. we support what hts is doing, but we want there to be accountability. their chants also insist that their movement is peaceful. this comes only a few hours before christmas. celebrations are due to take place in several of damascus churches.

security personnel from hts, which is currently running matters in syria, rushed to the protest area. they told us that they were there to protect the demonstrators. translation: to be honest, we're not protected. - we're scared. they need to publicly catch those who are creating problems and if they're foreigners, they should leave. bells toll. hts said foreign fighters had been detained over burning the christmas tree in hama, but locals here are still worried. christians are continuing to celebrate christmas in syria. these are live pictures from a church in damascus. we'll keep you up—to—date with all developments as syria's new rulers outline their plans

for the country, and all those who live there, here on bbc news. it is just past 6:15pm there. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now it's time for a look at today's sport with chetan. hello from the bbc sport centre. manchester united manager, ruben amorim, says marcus rashford does want to play for the club, amid speculation the striker wants to leave old trafford. rashford's missed united's last three games after saying he was ready for a new challenge. after their 3—0 defeat to bournmouth, united are 13th in the premier league and go to wolves on boxing day. to wolves on boxing day. amorim says he wants rashford

and all his players to meet the challenge ahead. like any other player, the best that they can be. if you have big talent, big performance and big responsibility and big engagement. push forward everybody in this moment. some guys have a big responsibility here because they are here for a long time. so this is maybe one of the lowest moments in our club. so we have to face it and be strong in this moment. that is what i want for every player on the team. a low moment for manchester united and manchester city. manchester city also play on thursday. they're at home to everton in the early kick—off. their 2—1 loss at aston villa was their ninth defeat in 12 matches in all competitions. manager, pep guardiola, says their poor run of form isn'tjust down to one player, and has defended the form of their star striker, erling haaland. in the past we scored goals and everyone was so prolific in helping us it was the team. when you have problems me back, in the middle it is for

everyone. it is a team, not about one player. it would be easy if it were just one player. it would be easy but it is not about that. we will try to do all of the things better... australia play india in the boxing day test on thursday. the series currently tied 1—1 with two matches to go. after the third test was drawn. 0pener sam konstas is set to become australia's youngest male test batting debutant in over 70 years at the age of 19, and his coach is looking forward to seeing what he can do. we said from the get—go going into the summer we wouldn't shy away and age was no barrier, and what he has shown is an array of shots and to put pressure back onto opponents, and he gets his opportunity, so we are really excited for him. boxing day, the biggest stage. you may as well get that one out of the way early. meanwhile, the india captain rohit sharma says he wants to make both remaining test matches count, although he's only thinking about the next

one in melbourne for now. after three test matches if i had to look at it being... it is a had to look at it being... it isafair had to look at it being... it is a fair reflection of how both teams played. solid cricket being played by both teams in this two test matches will be so important for both teams. we want to break it down to just melbourne now and focus on what we can achieve here. keeping with the theme _ we can achieve here. keeping with the theme of _ we can achieve here. keeping with the theme of australia, | world number one aryna sabalenka is one of four top 10 players on the initial entry list for next year's brisbane international wta 500 event, which begins at the weekend. she was the runner—up in brisbane last time, and feels its ideal preparation the first major of the year, the australian open, which she's hoping to win for the third time in a row. i am super happy to be back in

australia because it feels like home and i am super excited to start playing here in brisbane. we are all here for one beautiful trophy so i will do my best to make sure i can hold the beautiful trophy by the end of the week. much more tennis build—up on the bbc website. and that's all the sport for now. scientists at nasa say they've made the closest—ever approach to the sun by a man—made vessel. the parker solar probe has to survive radiation and extreme temperatures as it descends into the star's outer atmosphere. it's hoped the data it could send back to earth might help solve some of the sun's mysteries. 0ur science editor, rebecca morelle, has the story. 0ur sun in all its fiery splendour. we've been studying it for centuries, but there's still so much we don't know about it. now the closest—ever encounter is set to finally shed light on our star. three, two, one, zero. nasa's parker solar probe blasted off in 2018, heading to the centre of our solar system.

it's been orbiting our star, getting ever nearer, but this latest flyby is taking us to a new frontier — to touch the sun. even though we've had missions that have gone very close to the sun, that wasn't close enough to get into this sort of magic region where all of this physics and all of this — all of these processes are happening, and the the only way to be able to understand those processes is to fly through them and take the data right where all the action is happening. this mission is breaking records. parker solar probe hurtles past the sun at 430,000 miles an hour. no human—made object has ever gone so fast. it's the equivalent of flying from london to new york in less than 30 seconds. at its closest, its 3.8 million miles, 6.2 million kilometres, from our star's surface. that's closer than any other spacecraft. it will have to endure scorching temperatures of 1,400 degrees celsius as it passes through the sun's outer atmosphere,

known as its corona, and this could solve a long—standing mystery. the corona is really, really hot, and we have no idea why. so, the surface of the sun is about 6,000 degrees or so. for the corona, this tenuous outer atmosphere that you can see during solar eclipses, that reaches millions of degrees, and that is further away from the sun. so how is that atmosphere getting hotter? the mission is also studying the solar wind, the constant stream of charged particles bursting out from the sun's corona. the probe's even recorded the sounds of the sun. three different types of solar wind. various tones. dispersive chirping waves. langmuir waves. and doctor who—like whistler mode waves. when these particles interact with the earth's magnetic field, the sky lights up with dazzling auroras. but this space weather can

cause problems, too, knocking out power grids, electronics and communication systems. the hope is the mission can help us to better understand this. but first, the spacecraft has to survive its burning—hot flyby. i will worry, but we really have designed that spacecraft to withstand all of these brutal, brutal conditions. it's a tough...tough little spacecraft. during this close approach, the spacecraft is out of communication for several days, so the nasa team face a nervous wait over christmas before they can finally discover the secrets of our star. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the princess of wales has urged people to slow down and reflect on issues which connect each other at christmas. in a personal message, recorded for her carol service the princess also encouraged the world

to turn to love, not fear. 0ur senior royal correspondent daniela relph has more. the princess of wales came to this year's carol service after a challenging year, like so many others whojoined her here. with her children and husband at her side, she described christmas as a moment to slow down and reflect on the deeper things that connect us all. she's recorded some of the voiceover being used in tonight's broadcast. join me this christmas eve for a special carol service to celebrate all those who've shown love, empathy, and kindness in their communities this year. this is a very personal project for the princess of wales, and supporting her, particularly with the music, has been lady gabriella windsor. earlier this year, lady gabriella's husband thomas kingston took his own life. the princess said she was incredibly grateful for lady gabriella's contribution. # this christmas # fireside is blazing bright...# for paloma faith, singing in westminster abbey for the first time has been something special. # and this christmas will be...#

it's something, first of all, that when i was born i never thought i'd be doing. i've spent my whole life watching this place on television in various situations, and now we're here and no—one can...that i know can believe it. people are just like, "what?! "we can't believe you're here!" and, actually, what's really striking about walking in isjust how much more magnificent it is in person. # do you know what i know?...# along with carols from the abbey choir, gregory porter will also perform, an experience he says was deeply meaningful. # do you know what i know?...# it was really wonderful to sing in the abbey, i because the acoustics are perfect, the - visuals are perfect. the construction was meant to be awe—inspiring, - and to feel the presence of god~ — and you feel that in this...in this extraordinary space. - and so, yeah, - i was very excited.

i love to be taken - back to my childhood around this time of year, without question. - but it's awe—inspiring, i love to feel like a child _ in a place like this. the tree roared in the wind! the theme of taking care of each other runs throughout the whole service. here, the actress sophie 0konedo reads a poem, the kindness of trees. when every child was asleep in bed, the tree sung a lullaby. the princess of wales will make another public appearance tomorrow, when she joins the rest of the royal family for the christmas day celebrations at sandringham. daniela relph, bbc news, westminster abbey. if you stay if you with us | here on bbc news. it -- it--a it —— a stay with us here and bbc news.

hello there. it's been a quiet start to christmas eve. for those of you up and off first thing this morning, you were probably greeted to scenes like this. a lot of low, grey cloud, thick enough for some drizzle, some misty conditions out there. this is going to be the story for the next couple of days, but one thing that's certainly changed is the feel of the weather. monday was a chilly day, but temperatures already a good five, six degrees up on yesterday's, and they will continue to climb for the next hour or so. so, it is an incredibly mild story, and that's because we've got high pressure building and the wind direction has changed, and it's squeezed that cold air over to the near continent. so for the remainder of the day, we've got a weak weather front producing some showery outbreaks of rain to the north—west of the great glen. the cloud out to the west thick enough for some drizzle at times, but hopefully, there'll be pockets of brightness, some glimpses of sunshine, and temperatures certainly mild for this late stage in december, ranging from 12 to 14 degrees. the winds will be the strongest in the far north and west, 40 to 50 mile—an—hour gusts of winds, where they'll continue to feed in some outbreaks of rain as we go

through the night. a blanket of cloud will prevent those temperatures from falling too far. so those early—risers on christmas morning, it will be an incredibly mild start. so christmas day, this is what's in store. a lot of cloud around, but a quiet theme set to continue. there will be some heavier bursts of rain into the western isles and the northern isles, and maybe just to the north—west of the great glen. here, it will stay windy. the cloud elsewhere will break up and lift, and we should see some glimpses of brightness from time to time. it will stay mild, not perhaps quite as warm as today, but 11 to 13 degrees as an afternoon high. it's almost a case of spot the difference as we go into boxing day. a weak weather front sinks its way down into northern england, but weakens all the time. again, quite a cloudy day. some brief glimpses of blue sky, and highs around 11 to 13 degrees. it's likely that we could start to see the first signs of a change, though, as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend. this weather front will sink south. the wind direction changes once again to a north—westerly, and that will slowly start to introduce colder air, certainly across scotland. and it means that as we head

into the new year, there's a potentialfor some of the showers to turn wintry.

this is bbc news. the headlines: one of the worst starvation crises in modern times — a new report says famine in sudan has expanded to five areas as ukraine prepares to mark its third christmas since russia's invasion, russian forces are closing in on the city of pokrovsk, a strategic military hub. and a record—smashing "kiss of the sun", as nasa's solar probe makes history, with the closest ever approach to the star. it's been a five—year wait, but the very last episode of the hit bbc comedy gavin and stacey will finally air tomorrow evening here in the uk. the cast filmed the final scenes in wales over the last few months, and our entertainment correspondent colin paterson was given special access. it really sort of can't carry on after this. it just can't. it's full of love and fun, and i hope it will be

a really nice christmas present for people.