protests break out in syria calling for protection of minorities, after the burning of a christmas tree near hama. 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. president—elect trump vows to pursue death penalty for violent criminals after president biden commutes 37 federal death sentences. american airlines has resumed us flights, after grounding all its aircrafts briefly due to a vendor technology issue. and pope francis holds a special christmas eve ceremony opening the holy door at the vatican to mark the start of a jubilee year. hello. 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. lina sinjab reports from damascus. chanting. "we will sacrifice our souls for our cross," these men chant as they demonstrate through the streets of damascus. they are christians. many fear life in the new syria. despite promises made by the country's latest leaders, these protesters and other minorities are not so sure. and this was the catalyst of the christmas eve protests — masked gunmen setting fire to a christmas tree in the main square of suqaylabiyah, a christian majority town in central syria, the incident captured

and shared on social media. a spokesperson from the country's new leaders said foreign fighters were responsible and had been arrested. this transitional phase comes with uncertainties for many people, including minorities, and such incidents will increase the worries and fears among them. there are people who have vested interests in spreading those fears, and it will take time for the new government to maintain stability and for people here in syria to adjust to the new reality. hayat tahrir al—sham is the group that brought down bashar al—assad. they began as a jihadist organisation, wanting to establish a state governed by islamic law. since taking over, its leaders have vowed to protect the rights of the country's diverse religious and ethnic groups. 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. across the country, people have been celebrating the collapse of the 50—year assad regime, but it could be some time before everyone in syria is convinced. lina sinjab, bbc news, damascus. 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 urgently need food aid. earlier i spoke to sheldon yett, unicef representative to sudan, and began by asking

for his response to the review. this is not the news any of us want to hear on the eve of christmas. this is a disaster for sudan, it's a disasterfor the world. it tells us that the situation is getting worse and worse. we are now almost two years into this conflict now and it's critical that we are able to get assistance to all children, and all people in sudan who need it. and just tell us and just tell us what your teams are seeing and telling you. we are having difficulty getting assistance to those most in need. this is a country at war and it's a country that is in desperate need of food, and to those affected populations, clean water, health care, education, we need a package of services but most importantly we need to be able to target those most in need. we need access. we need

consistent delivery of food and nutritional supplies and health supplies to those populations in need. and that has proven difficult. ~ . ., ., ., difficult. we have heard a lot about the — difficult. we have heard a lot about the crisis _ difficult. we have heard a lot about the crisis sued - difficult. we have heard a lot about the crisis sued on - difficult. we have heard a lot about the crisis sued on his l about the crisis sued on his face and, does this review tell you and others something new? it tells us that we all have to increase our efforts and we need an end to this war. we need an end to this war. we need to make sure that we have consistent, sustained and predictable deliveries to these populations in need. again, we've seen pledges to make this happen but we haven't seen the consistent mechanics to make this happen. and that's what we needin this happen. and that's what we need in place. this happen. and that's what we need in place-— this happen. and that's what we need in place. and we see these hue need in place. and we see these huge numbers — need in place. and we see these huge numbers of— need in place. and we see these huge numbers of people - need in place. and we see these huge numbers of people come l huge numbers of people come over 2a million people now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, but on an individual basis, just explain for us what that actually means. what does that mean in practice for a child? this means that we have some

600,000 people, we have thousands of children at the risk of starvation, we have half of the country facing acute food insecurity. it means that children aren't getting enough to eat. it means that these children are at risk of other disease, their immune systems are also at risk, and it is a catastrophe no matter how you slice it. it means that all of us need to work together to make sure we get access there and to make sure that the government and the warring parties stop the war. allow us to get food where it needs to go. to get food where it needs to co. ~ . ., ., ., to get food where it needs to go. which international parties should or could _ go. which international parties should or could be _ go. which international parties should or could be doing - go. which international partiesl should or could be doing more? i think everybody needs to do more. look, sudan very rarely makes the front pages of the nation's newspapers, there are a lot of competing crises here. but we need the support of regional countries, we need the support of most importantly the government of sudan, the parties worrying in his can treat to see an end to this.

unless we concentrate on this crisis this is going to rip along for years and years and years. joe biden may have promised a smooth transition to donald trump's second term in the white house, but that hasn't stopped the president—elect from voicing some harsh criticisms of the current commander in chief about his decision to commute the death sentences of 37 federal prisoners to life in prison. donald trump took to his own social media platform, truth social, to criticise the sparing of what he described as 37 of the worst killers in the us. he added... it's no secret that the two men have completely opposed views of the death penalty. there have been no federal executions during mr biden's time as president — and there will now be just three people remaining on federal death row. during his first term in office, mr trump brought back federal executions — which hadn't been carried out for almost two decades. i3 murderers were executed by lethal injection.

our correspondent in washingotn, rowan bridge, has the latest. there are three people who will remain on death row. they are all cases of mass killings, basically in the united states. and they still could face the death penalty. but donald trump doesn't have the power to undo the commutations that joe biden has given. so those people will be removed from death row and will face life in prison without parole. other people who come on to death row subsequently, clearly then, could face the death penalty under a trump administration. it is christmas eve today, but has there been any reaction to what donald trump has said on this? i mean, there have been reaction to the decision byjoe biden in the first place to do this. it clearly split. i mean, it splits american opinion and it split the opinion of some of the families involved in these cases. and i think the biden white house was well aware that this was going to be a controversial decision and in some ways, to kind of pre—empt that. they issued a bunch

of statements alongside joe biden's decision from campaign groups welcoming the move, but also from some of the friends and family of some of those who were murdered by some of these people on death row, saying that they also supported the decision to commute some of these sentences. however, that was not universally welcomed. the daughter of one of the people who was whose mother was murdered said that as a result of this decision, joe biden and his supporters had blood on their hands to use their words. so this is a very divisive issue. the latest gallup poll, for example, suggests that around 53% of americans support the death penalty in murder cases. so it is very divisive. and clearly, donald trump has kind of firmly stated his case that he plans to bring back the use of the use that he plans to bring back the use of the death penalty, and if he can, he is keen to expand it as well. he made that clear on the campaign trail. 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 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 airlines 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. in ukraine, russian forces are continuing to advance as the country faces

its third christmas at war. in the east of the country, in the donetsk region, they are now within a few miles of the city of pokrovsk, which is a key hub for ukraine's war effort. but it is also the birthplace of a well—known christmas carol. jonathan beale reports. 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. most of its population has already fled. 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. igor 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. 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 hashash 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: you know, 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 showed 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. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

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

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 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 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. 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 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 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 a team, 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. 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. opener 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. 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. 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'm super happy to go back to australia, it feels like home and i'm 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 that a beautiful trophy by the end of the week. there is more build—up to the brisbane international on the bbc sport website, but from me and the team, that is all your support from

-- all —— all the sport for now. a russian cargo ship, placed under us sanctions, has sunk in the mediterranean between spain and algeria after an explosion in the engine room, russia's foreign ministry has confirmed. the ursa major was on its way to vladivistock in russia's far east. it's the third russian ship to go down in ten days — part of its so—called shadow fleet — which comprises old vessels, often uninsured and with unclear ownership, to circumvent western sanctions. 14 crew members were rescued and taken to the spanish port of cartagena, but two others are still missing. paris' iconic eiffel tower was evacuated earlier today after a fire alarm was set off by a short circuit in the elevator system. no visitors were harmed and the tower has been opened during the day. 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. pope francis has launched a specialjubilee year for roman catholics in a christmas eve ceremony at the vatican. jubilees take place once every 25 years — and pope francis has marked the start by opening the normally bricked—up holy door of st peter's basilica. more than 30 million people are expected to make a pilgrimage to rome. i spoke to candida moss who is a professor of theology at the university of birmingham about what the jubilee means. so a jubilee year is really a year of grace and reconciliation. it's a period where people kind of renew their faith inside and out. and while it is for catholics and has been going on for 700 years, at the last greatjubilee in 2000, popejohn paul ii invited

all christians to join in this period of celebration. and the theme of this jubilee is hope. pope francis has talked about how there's a feeling of pessimism in the world, and he wants to strengthen people's faith and hope in the future as they look forward to the coming year. and why does it happen? where did this idea come from in the first place? the very firstjubilee in 1300, or 725 years ago. it actually followed on the heels of a period of war and disease, not dissimilar from our experience of the pandemic, and it was seen as this kind of clean slate, this new beginning for christians who were feeling very pessimistic about their place in the world. and this is an opportunity for roman catholics to wipe the slate clean, to become almost like newly baptised infants again. so we're looking at some some pictures coming into us from the vatican at the moment.

i don't know if you're able to, to see them as you're speaking to us, but can you just explain for us what the ceremonial side is? so the ceremonial part is the opening of the doors. so you sort of break a brick, but that turned out to be quite dangerous. and now the opening of the doors is sort of symbolising thatjesus is the path to salvation. and pilgrims over the coming year will pass through those doors as a means of gaining what's called a plenary indulgence. that's the sort of wiping of the slate clean. part of the preparations for thejubilee have involved restoring many of the key objects that are at saint peter's basilica, including bernini's canopy that sits atop the altar and on top of the relics of saint peter, the first pope. they have also put the pieta behind bullet—proof glass now. wow. and in terms of the year ahead

2025, what are the highlights? what will people see? so thejubilee does go on all year, and there are special days celebrating groups. as you would expect, people like priests and bishops, but also other groups likejudges, police officers, teachers and groups like teenagers and even very modern. and i promise i'm not making this up. groups like digital influencers and catholic online missionaries. i think one of the highlights will be the canonisation of carlo acutis, who was a 15—year—old british born boy who was a software developer in his spare time and who died of leukaemia. he will be canonised — that is made a saint — during thejubilee of teenagers in april 25th to 27th. a russia missile has struck the ukrainian city of krivyi rih, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others. the strike on president zelensky�*s hometown came as his christmas message was being broadcast. local authorities say

the ballistic missile hit a four—storey residential building. videos posted online showed rescuers pulling injured people from the rubble. standing before kyiv�*s saint sofia cathedral, mr zelensky said ukrainians wanted to see a christmas star shining in the skies, not russian missiles and drones. we will leave you this half—hour with the santa tracker, this is done by the us and canadian military, and apparently santa is above the drc having delivered over 300 billion gifts already. and norad, the group tracking him say he is in a meeting aviator. —— an amazing aviator. you can find him online, too, if you want to see where he is. this is bbc news.

good evening. christmas eve ushered in some calmer weather after the wet and windy weather that we had at the weekend. you can see the remnants still sitting by the side of the road in northern ireland. blue sky and sunshine here, though. however, it was a slightly different story in newquay and cornwall. a lot of low cloud, damp, misty, murky. it didn't deter some from taking an afternoon walk on the beach. and that cloudy, murky story will continue into christmas day for many of us. but it will also continue to stay mild for this time of year. and that's because we're under this influence of high pressure. the wind direction is south—westerly, feeding in that cloud from the ocean, and thick enough for some drizzle. this weather front here still continuing to produce some outbreaks of rain and still windy. so through this evening, we'll have some showery rain into the far north west of scotland with gusts of winds 40—50 miles an hour. we keep that blanket of cloud, though, preventing temperatures

from falling too far, so it will be a very mild start to christmas morning for early risers. temperatures sitting at around 7—10 celsius. again, the cloud thick enough for some drizzle, misty, murky first thing in the morning. hopefully that will lift, and we'll see, once again, some breaks in the cloud from time to time. more persistent rain into the western isles and northern isles and the far north west of scotland. here it stays windy. but on the whole it's a quiet story for christmas day, temperatures around 11—13 degrees. not as mild as today, but nevertheless, that is pretty good for this stage in december. now that mild air is going to stay with us all the time, the cold air starting to sneak in from the back door. but it will take its time in arriving. so as we go into boxing day, there'll be little in the way of change — spot the difference. we're trying to see breaks of the cloud and some blue sky from time to time, and our weak weather front sinks its way down across the borders into the north of england. temperatures, again, staying in double digits. moving out of thursday into friday and the start of the weekend, we will start to see a change because weather fronts will start to push that a little bit further

across the country. the wind direction swings around to a north westerly, and that is going to gradually start to introduce some cooler air as we head towards the new year. so you'll start to see that some showers could turn a little wintry in the far north and east of scotland.

this is bbc news, the headlines... protests break—out in syria calling for protection of minorities, after the burning of a christmas tree near hama. president—elect trump vows to pursue the death penalty for violent criminals after president biden commutes 37 federal death sentences. american airlines has resumed us flights, after grounding all its aircraft briefly due to a vendor technology issue. and pope francis holds a special christmas eve ceremony, opening the holy door at the vatican to mark the beginning of thejubilee year for catholics around the world. now on bbc news — a look back at the royal year. a year like no other.

first the king, then the princess of wales