american airlines has resumed us flights, after grounding all its aircrafts briefly due to a vendor technology issue. trump vows to pursue death penalty for violent criminals after biden commutes 37 federal death sentences. 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. the syrian armed group that toppled assad's regime absorbs different factions into the country's defence forces. air fryer—exclusive christmas feast — we speak to cookery writer beverley jarvis who'll ditch the traditional oven and cook her entire dinner using airfryers alone. hello, i'm maryam moshiri.

american airlines says flights are resuming after it was forced to briefly ground all services at the start of christmas eve — one of the busiest travel days of the year. it led to scenes like this in charlotte in north carolina — as passengers on american airlines had to wait for the situation to be resolved. the airline blames a "vendor technology issue" which affected the systems needed to release flights. it says that has now been "resolved". 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. neither the federal aviation authority nor american airlines have said

what triggered the problem. but american has posted this statement on x. it says it sincerely apologises to customers for the inconvenience, and has issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility. our business reporter david waddell gave us this update: who wants to be stuck away from home. or worried about whether they'll get home on christmas eve or maybe to get away from home. it depends on your preference, i guess. there have been delays of between one and two hours earlier in the day, earlier in the morning. it may have seemed to some passengers that they wouldn't get to where they were going to go at all. american airlines blames a vendor technology issue, but that was soon resolved. within about an hour of the ground stop that was called by the federal aviation administration and those flights are now under way again. they are delayed,

of course, and there may be knock on delays later in the day. but many passengers affected millions of passengers trying to get to where they want to go on any given day of the week. and for american airlines, they fly 578,000 passengers a day. so many of them may well be affected. absolutely and there are huge airline, aren't they? the biggest in america, in fact, the biggest in the world. biggest airline in the world. they operate 6,800 flights a day to 350 destinations in 48 countries. unclear whether christmas eve is even busier than a typical day. of course, it's a business day in the united states, but it's not a typical business day. but many people wanting to get from one place to another. the shares opened slightly down in the new york stock exchange, just over half of 1%. i mean, these things, these incidents do have a knock—on impact on the financial challenges that a company faces. when american airlines and other companies were affected by the crowdstrike software glitch over the summer, it cost american airlines half $1 billion.

it's unclear what this will cost, but the issue seems to have been resolved a lot more quickly. us president—elect donald trump has said he will direct the justice department to "vigorously pursue" the death penalty to protect americans from "violent rapists, murderers, and monsters" — it comes one day after presidentjoe biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of a0 federal death row inmates, changing their punishment to life imprisonment without parol. let's speak to our washington correspondent rowan bridge. tells correspondent rowan bridge. more about what prs trump tells more about what president trump has been saying. president trump has been posting to social media site saying he could not believe the decision that was made by president biden and that there would be devastating for the friends and family of those who were murdered. it was worth noting that this has been a controversial decision byjoe biden amongst the friends and family of those affected by this. when the white house issued the pardons they knew this would be controversial and they include in it statements of support from friends and family of those affected, but

not everybody affected by these 37 people who were on death row were so happy. 0ne 37 people who were on death row were so happy. one person who was mother was murdered who was given a commutation said joe biden his supporters had blood on their hands as a result of the decision. donald trump has been a long time supporter for the death penalty and lead to a number of death penalty cases going to head when he was president and as he said indicated he will restart that panel —— death penalty cases on the federal level there are some national cases and some states also have the death penalty but donald trump said on the federal level he will look to pursue death penalty cases vigorously when he is backin cases vigorously when he is back in office.— famine is spreading in sudan, 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. another five areas are expected to slip into famine by may next year. the ipc says about 24.6 million people, about half of all sudanese, urgently need food aid. 0ur correspondent richard kagoe is following developments from nairobi. 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 nuba 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 then, of course, there is the position of the sudanese authorities, 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 a camp, home to half a million people, there has been increasing tension between humaitarian aid organisations and the sudanese authorities. 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." 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. with me is said shehata from bbc arabic. what is the significance of the announcement of the deal? what you think a different military factions could be a potential problem for stability in syria? it potential problem for stability in s ria? . ., potential problem for stability in s ria? _, , potential problem for stability ins ria? , ., potential problem for stability insria? ,., , in syria? it could be a problem because most _ in syria? it could be a problem because most of— in syria? it could be a problem because most of the _ in syria? it could be a problem because most of the forces - in syria? it could be a problemi because most of the forces are coming from abroad and if winning through them through the burdening of the dash of burning of the christmas tree near hama, so there is a problem with foreigners because they have radical ills needless —— is the list —— radical idea largely and they may not get along with the leader who is

trying to appease foreign factions. trying to appease foreign factions-_ factions. has that been confirmed? _ factions. has that been confirmed? yes - factions. has that been confirmed? yes as - factions. has that been | confirmed? yes as soon factions. has that been - confirmed? yes as soon as been confirmed _ confirmed? yes as soon as been confirmed so — confirmed? yes as soon as been confirmed so there _ confirmed? yes as soon as been confirmed so there are - confirmed? yes as soon as been confirmed so there are many - confirmed so there are many people from abroad who came to join hts when they were in control before toppling assad they were there to help him so there is talks about giving them a special which may affect them a special which may affect the unity of syrians which may give them an advantage over other syrian components of being different factions, to be absorbed under the army, that is what he said, al—sharaa, but will it happen, there's a question because the democratic forces in the north east, they are calling for it to be dissolved but it's not easy for them to be dissolved because they are supported the cause

and they have for a little while almost have autonomy in their areas and there is the syrian national army supported by turkey and the southern front in the south and there are some other fractions inside each of these groups are even there is in agreement but will it happen? guy—mac also talks about unity and there is some incidence of violating the minority rights over the last few days reported and and in individual cases but syria is saying, no we must have an action. so this action could be action. so this action could be a problem for the stability of syria and it should be dissolved, but there will this happen it is a question, helping them topple assad and leave the country that is another challenge for them al—sharaa but special from the west pressure from syrian society pressure from the minorities for him to have several government not and islamist government.-

islamist government. many questions _ islamist government. many questions still _ islamist government. many questions still to _ islamist government. many questions still to be - islamist government. many . questions still to be answered, thank you very much. the christmas tree was mentioned there. 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. the islamist hts movement has promised to protect minorities since toppling president bashar al assad earlier this month. 0ur middle east correspondent lina sinjab is in damascus, reflecting on what the christmas celebrations look like in the capital. people have gathered from different parts of the city to pay their dues on christmas eve, despite the worries and the uncertainties after the incidents that happened in hama

incidents that happened in hama in suqaylabiyah and the setting fire of one of the christmas trees. there have been many assurances from the new leadership from hts, they have extended the hand as we walked into the old city we've seen lots of securities trying to protect the areas of so people can celebrate in peace and enjoy christmas eve in peace. but this is a. of the many open questions that don't have answers. this new government has islamist roots that spread sphere among minorities especially christians. it will take time for people to adjust to the new reality and civil society to be active in posing with they need from this new leadership and for this new leadership and for this new leadership to prove that they are up to their words and provide a government that is representative of the whole syrian society and not exclusive on only islamic ones.

let's bring you to damascus live now and the christian congregation in the capital. they have been taking communion and there has been a service taking place as they continue to celebrate christmas in a greek patriot church, basically a mark of hope for these people that authorities would stick to their promises to respect human rights of minorities and freedom of expression of religion particularly of the christian minorities in syria. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

now, it's time for a look at today's sport with chetan.

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 i3th in the premier league and go 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, big talent, big performance, big responsibility, big engagement, push forward everybody in this moment and some guys have 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 and that is what i want for every player on the team.

a low moment for manchester united also for 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 guardioa 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 score goals and what was so prolific in helping us was because of the team and when we had problems in the back and in the middle it is for everyone, it is 18, it's not about one player or else it would be easy if it were run player, but it's not about that so erling haaland is so important for us and has been in trying to build things better and use him better. india's cricketers are preparing for their fourth test

against australia which starts on thursday. the india captain rohit sharma says he wants to make both remaining test matches count with the series level at one match a piece. 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 i—i it is a fair election of how both teams have played, they have been solid cricket played by both teams and obviously now these two test matches are going to reserve —— resolve it for both teams if you're going to just for both teams if you're going tojust break it for both teams if you're going to just break it down to melbourne now and focus on what we can achieve here. the international cricket council have released the fixture list for the champions trophy. the eight—team tournament will be held in host country pakistan while india — who refused to travel there — will play their match at a neutral venue in dubai. defending champions pakistan, and india were drawn alongside new zealand and bangladesh in group a while england will face australia, south africa and afghanistan in group b. there have been plenty

of firsts in the history of the sydney to hobart yacht race which was first held in 1945. an all—filipino crew of 15 sailors will make it another when the annual ocean race begins on thursday with veteran ernesto echauz as captain of centennial seven crew which is made up of sailors from the philippines' national team and the philippines navy. there was an opportunity last september or the september when it was for sale so we immediately took the opportunity and were able to wire it and lo and behold, it is ready to sail. and that's all the sport for now. 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. paris' iconic eiffel tower was evacuated on tuesday morning after a fire alarm was set off by a short circuit in the elevator system. no visitors were harmed and the tower is due to re—open progressively later on tuesday. the company that manages the monument says an investigation

into the cause of the short circuit is ongoing, but it did cause disruptions for some christmas eve tourists. we had tickets for 11 o'clock so about almost two hours... more than two hours... two and a half hours. i saw on my phone there was a fire, reportedly in the lift shaft. obviously they evacuated 1,000 people and we are waiting to see whether they are going to open again or not. back to the uk now where a cookery writer has decided to ditch the traditional oven and cook her entire christmas dinner using airfryers. self—confessed "air fryer bore" beverley jarvis, from ashford in kent, will use five of the appliances to feed 11 of her loved ones a festive feast. so lovely to see you there with all of your air fryers and maybe if you take the straps off we can see them a bit more clearly, tell me a bit about

how an airfryer clearly, tell me a bit about how an air fryer cooks food because some people around the world may not have a clue what an air fryer is.— an air fryer is. and air fryer is basically _ an air fryer is. and air fryer is basically a _ an air fryer is. and air fryer is basically a mini - an air fryer is. and air fryer is basically a mini oven - an air fryer is. and air fryerj is basically a mini oven and you cook at fairly high temperatures and there is a big fan and the top of the air fryer that drives the heat around. you cook yourfood in a basket and you shake it now and again so you are virtually cooking with very little oil in a hot air, i don't know, hot air. i a hot air, i don't know, hot air. ., ., ., , air. i love and air fryer as much as _ air. i love and air fryer as much as the _ air. i love and air fryer as much as the next - air. i love and air fryer as| much as the next person, disclaimer i don't actually own one but i understand the concept, but to do your entire christmas dinner, the most stressful meal that you are going to cook that day, oh no, i think we've lost beverly, hope, she still there, you can hear me, to do your entire christmas dinner, ok, that is a big undertaking for your air fryers, do you think it will come off?— fryers, do you think it will come off? ~ , , �* ., come off? absolutely. i've done it lots of times. _

come off? absolutely. i've done it lots of times. the _ come off? absolutely. i've done it lots of times. the turkey - come off? absolutely. i've done it lots of times. the turkey i - it lots of times. the turkey i always use a turkey roll a role depressive turkey and i cooked two of those because we are expecting 11 people and i cook a roast potatoes, i will do them in a separate air fryer, but you can add them towards the end of cooking the turkey and get lovely crisp roast potatoes with just the heaped teaspoon of goose fat and a tablespoon of oil. tell teaspoon of goose fat and a tablespoon of oil.— teaspoon of goose fat and a tablespoon of oil. tell me more about why _ tablespoon of oil. tell me more about why you've _ tablespoon of oil. tell me more about why you've decided - tablespoon of oil. tell me more about why you've decided to - tablespoon of oil. tell me more about why you've decided to do | about why you've decided to do this. this is an interesting idea, what is it about air fryers that has made you own so many of them and where do you keep them because they are quite big, i don't fit one in my kitchen which is why i don't have one. i my kitchen which is why i don't have one-— have one. i am lucky to have a reasonable — have one. i am lucky to have a reasonable sized _ have one. i am lucky to have a reasonable sized kitchen - have one. i am lucky to have a reasonable sized kitchen and l have one. i am lucky to have a reasonable sized kitchen and i | reasonable sized kitchen and i keep two and the utility room and three in the kitchen and to be honest, i normally use to you on a daily basis, but i do a lot of writing. i write cookery books on the air fryers

that's why i have got so many. tell me a bit about is lovely festive snack you told us about, about creating some parmesan, tell us about that. that's delicious! each as great a block of parmesan into a bowl add some chopped chilis and perhaps a bit of chopped rosemary and you put dessert spoons off of that grated cheese directly onto the base of the air fryer, you take the basket out and theyjust of the air fryer, you take the basket out and they just take four minutes at 200 and i get about eight blobs of parmesan cheese and i call them my favourite parmesan crisps. what about other _ favourite parmesan crisps. what about other things _ favourite parmesan crisps. what about other things you - favourite parmesan crisps. what about other things you can't - about other things you can't use an air fryer for and if about other things you can't use an airfryerfor and if i may ask, beverly, can you turn your camera back on because we have lost visuals if you can do that well ask, tell me about the recipes that you can't use an air fryer for,

the recipes that you can't use an airfryerfor, is the recipes that you can't use an air fryer for, is there anything that you can't use an air fryer for, anything that you can't use an airfryerfor, there anything that you can't use an air fryer for, there we anything that you can't use an airfryerfor, there we go, is there anything you can't use an air fryer for there anything you can't use an airfryerfor in the there anything you can't use an air fryer for in the christmas meal? , ., , , ., air fryer for in the christmas meal? , ., , ., meal? yes, the gravy you would not do it in _ meal? yes, the gravy you would not do it in the _ meal? yes, the gravy you would not do it in the air _ meal? yes, the gravy you would not do it in the air fryer- not do it in the air fryer because that would just be ridiculous. in theory you could do it in a pyrex but you do the gravy on the hob and almost everything else with the sprouts in the chestnuts in the be bacon and sausage rolls and the pigs and blake in and the roast potatoes and even the gamin. roast potatoes and even the ramin. �* , ., roast potatoes and even the amin. �* l, roast potatoes and even the ramin. �* ., gamin. are you cooking it in a can of coke — gamin. are you cooking it in a can of coke or _ gamin. are you cooking it in a can of coke or not? _ gamin. are you cooking it in a can of coke or not? know, - gamin. are you cooking it in a can of coke or not? know, i i can of coke or not? know, i don't do — can of coke or not? know, i don't do it _ can of coke or not? know, i don't do it like _ can of coke or not? know, i don't do it like that, - can of coke or not? know, i don't do it like that, i - can of coke or not? know, i don't do it like that, i am i don't do it like that, i am cooking it in a parcel of foil with some onion and chopped carrots and i put a little bit of cider about 75 ml of cider and the gamin in the airfryer takes an hourand and the gamin in the airfryer takes an hour and a0 minutes, but if you cook it conventionally, you would simmer it in water for three

hours and then you would put it into the oven for another half an hour with the glaze on it so the air fryer is so much quicker. i the air fryer is so much quicker-— the air fryer is so much quicker. the air fryer is so much ruicker. ., , ., quicker. i am so hungry now listening _ quicker. i am so hungry now listening to _ quicker. i am so hungry now listening to all _ quicker. i am so hungry now listening to all of _ quicker. i am so hungry now listening to all of this - quicker. i am so hungry now listening to all of this i - quicker. i am so hungry now listening to all of this i and l listening to all of this i and i am looking forward to my christmas dinner tomorrow, not cooked by air fryer. christmas dinner tomorrow, not cooked by airfryer. good luck to you and your 11 guests, they will have a feast! for real... something really important. let's check where santa is right now. can anyone tell me where he is, the rating is too small for me. what does it say there? anyone know what that says? he's in his back to stan i am told. this is the norad tracker, excuse me, because extent, inc. tracking santa around the world, and track him around the world, and track him around the world, have you been naughty, have you been nice, i don't know but he does. that's it for me, bye—bye.

hello there. it's been a quiet start to christmas eve. for those of you up and off first thing this morning, you are 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 5—6 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 northwest 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—1a degrees. the winds will be the strongest in the far north and west, a0—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 northwest 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—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—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... american airlines has resumed us flights, after grounding all its aircrafts briefly due to a vendor technology issue. trump vows to pursue death penalty for violent criminals after biden commutes 37 federal death sentences. 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. and pope francis marks christmas eve with a special ceremony to launch a jubilee holy year for catholics around the world. now on bbc news — a look back at some of the biggest stories of the year.