christmas celebrations are muted in bethlehem for a second year as hope builds that a ceasefire deal might be close. protests break out in syria calling for the protection of minorities by islamist leaders, after the burning of a christmas tree near hama. and a nasa spacecraft makes history — flying closer to the sun than ever before. good to have you with us. welcome to newsday, i'm suranjana tewari. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says a negotiation

team has returned to tel aviv for �*internal consultations�* after a significant week of negotiations in qatar. officials say that both sides have shown a greater willingness to reach a deal but that key details must still be worked out. it comes as israel intensifies its attacks in gaza, with the territory's health ministry reporting that three hospitals in the north were targeted earlier on tuesday — forcing patients to evacuate. meanwhile, christmas celebrations are muted for a second year in bethlehem since the war between israel and hamas erupted last year. local authorities have scaled down festivities and ceremonies in the holy city — with church leaders providing spiritual guidance to those in grief. our correspondent, shaimaa khalil, is in bethlehem. midnight mass at the nativity church ushers in yet another sombre christmas here in bethlehem, the big celebrations have been cancelled and the ceremonies have been sombre and muted.

the huge christmas tree that normally lights up and glistens in the night here in manger square is nowhere to be seen. instead, children in the procession were carrying banners calling for the end of the war in gaza. the latin patriarch ofjerusalem, the cardinal, spoke today to the crowd, he spoke about the christmas mass that he held in gaza the day before. he describes the destruction, the poverty, the despair that he has seen, but he also spoke about the resilience of the gazan people, they have not given up, that this is the message he carries from gaza. "do not give up." in the gaza strip itself, the fighting continues. details are still emerging as we hearfrom health officials in the health ministry in gaza about three hospitals being bombed overnight. the director of the hospital was giving a video message and you could hear the explosions as he was saying the bombing lasted through the night.

it caused at least 20 injuries there. we heard from the israeli forces, who said that they were targeting hamas fighters in the indonesian hospital, that's why they ordered an evacuation, and that there were aware that there were strikes near two other hospitals or the vicinity of the other two hospitals. this as christians in gaza mark another christmas in the midst of devastation. for a second year, the war in gaza casts a huge shadow on this biblical city. i've been speaking to people here and one shop owner who has been struggling for two years now says, "no one is able to help us but god. we pray for peace and we hope for a ceasefire." syria's new administration has deployed heavy security around christian churches in damascus, as the capital marks its first christmas under new leadership. bells ring. armed

fighters and civil defense teams are surrounding the lady of damascus church, where worshippers are gathering for services. it comes after islamist fighters allegedly set fire to a christmas tree in a christian—majority town hts, the former rebel group now nominally in charge of syria, say they'll punish those responsible for the tree burning in hama provide, amid wider concerns over attacks on christian sites. lina sinjab reports from damascus. they chant. solidarity in anger. "we will sacrifice our soul for our cross", the crowd chants. christians have taken to the streets in different parts of syria, fearing for their safety. two masked gunmen set fire to this christmas tree in a predominantly christian town in central syria on monday. members of hayat tahrir al—sham are seen trying to put it out. they said they had

captured the perpetrators, who were foreign fighters. 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 are not protected. - we are scared. they need to publicly catch those who are creating problems, and if they are foreigners they should leave. 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 interest 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.

this video, shared on social media, shows a religious leaderfrom hts promising to light up the tree again together. as the crowd cheered his words, he carried the cross high in solidarity. something no conservative muslim would do. the de facto leader, ahmed al—sharaa, is pressing ahead to ensure stability. he had invited all rebel factions to dismantle and join the official army, and they have agreed. this is a significant step in providing safety in the country, and avoiding internal powerfights. the leadership of hayat tahrir al—sham faces many challenges, but for now, their guards seem to be trying to provide protection when needed. lina sinjab, bbc news, damascus. nasa's groundbreaking parker solar probe is set make history as it attempts its closest ever journey to the sun.

racing towards the star at speeds of over 430,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft is braving extreme radiation, and blistering temperatures of 1,400 c as it enters the sun's outer atmosphere. if it survives, the data it sends back to earth could unlock some of the sun's biggest mysteries. 0ur science editor, rebecca morelle, has more. 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. nasa's parker solar probe blasted off in 2018. 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 only way to be able to understand those processes is to fly through them, 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, it's 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 celsius as it passes through the sun's outeratmosphere, 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, but 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 probes even recorded the sounds of the sun — dispersive chirping waves, langmuir waves and doctor who—like whistler mode waves. during this close approach, during this close approach, the spacecraft is out the spacecraft is out of communication of communication for several days, for several days, so the nasa team so the nasa team face a nervous wait face a nervous wait over christmas before they can over christmas before they can finally discover the secrets finally discover the secrets of our star. of our star. rebecca morelle, bbc news. rebecca morelle, bbc news. programme i'm joined now by eric berger, i'm joined now by eric berger, senior space editor senior space editor at the science and tech at the science and tech website arz technica. website arz technica.

really good to heavy on the really good to heavy on the programme thank you forjoining us. it feels suspicious to be talking about a star for christmas day for me at least christmas day for me at least christmas eve for you, clearly the mission is very significant what is the most important thing about it for you? it is “ust thing about it for you? it is 'ust the thing about it for you? it is just the fact _ thing about it for you? it is just the fact we _ thing about it for you? it is just the fact we have - thing about it for you? it 3 just the fact we have never really gotten this insight into the star, this is what brings us life, brings us all the

looks of administration by the looks of things but he is also ceo of spacex how worried are people at nasa about elon musk having so much power over space policy? so much power over space oli ? , ., ., ., policy? there is not a lot -- there is _ policy? there is not a lot -- there is a — policy? there is not a lot -- there is a lot _ policy? there is not a lot -- there is a lot of _ policy? there is not a lot -- there is a lot of trepidation l there is a lot of trepidation he will be not be dictating space policy but he put someone nominated to be the nasa administrator. people at nasa ought to be concerned when you look at the results of the spacex it has produced over the last ten or 20 years compared to nasa. nasa has launched one rocket and spacex has launched 200. elon musk and the trump administration will see more efficiency in the space area. why has nasa only launched one rocket in the last few years? well, it's a complicated story, but basically moves to slow

cost plus contracts, and there is not really an for a number of years they had nasa you can be sure every year you will get you had to kill your.— you had to kill your. how does the public _ you had to kill your. how does the public feel _ you had to kill your. how does the public feel about - you had to kill your. how does the public feel about naas, i you had to kill your. how does the public feel about naas, is| the public feel about naas, is it still inspiring?— it still inspiring? there are a coule it still inspiring? there are a coume of — it still inspiring? there are a couple of things _ it still inspiring? there are a couple of things nasa - it still inspiring? there are a i couple of things nasa did well, and parker solar probe, they launched a probe to study dart energy and jupiter. these are things that space agencies do,

but the other thing the private sector does much better like spacex is much more efficient launching rockets than the government is. the trick is going to be finding a happy medium identifying what the government does well and nasa and identifying what commercial companies do well. there is probably some discomfort at nasa because there are some parts of the agency which have not operated really efficiency. very quickly we have 20 seconds left, lots of countries in this region where i am, india, japan and china have made great strides in terms of space missions. russia obviously it's space mission is in a state of disrepair, do you think us will be able to keep up the competition?— be able to keep up the competition? be able to keep up the com etition? ., �* , . competition? that's the great auestion competition? that's the great question of— competition? that's the great question of the _ competition? that's the great question of the next - competition? that's the great question of the next four - competition? that's the great | question of the next four years and we will see a contest with china in civil space and military space. eric berger. thank you.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. the government's launched a consultation on its plans to phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. in its election manifesto, labour had committed to reversing a decision by the previous government to extend the deadline to 2035. the transport secretary heidi alexander is now seeking views from the industry about how to deliver the ban. the scottish government says the ambulance service has declared the highest level of emergency due to pressures, including lengthy hospital handover times and an increase in respiratory viruses. the status means staff leave could be cancelled and all available staff might be called into work. christmas orders have been further delayed for some morrisons customers. it comes more than 24 hours after the supermarket had what it called "systems issues"

causing deliveries to be cancelled and discounts not applied. morrisons has apologised and says deliveries are back to normal but it has yet to reveal the cause of the problem. you're live with bbc news. denmark says it will increase its defence spending on greenland by at least $1.5 billion. the promise came just hours after america's president—elect, donald trump, repeated his desire for the us to purchase the territory. denmark's defence minister said that the timing of the funding announcement was just the "irony of fate". greenland's prime minister had responded by saying that his country is not for sale. i'm joined now by sherri goodman — a former pentagon official and a senior fellow with the wilson center polar institute. many thanks for your time on

the programme today. just very simply for our viewers can you explain why donald trump might want greenland?— want greenland? well, i think the simplest _ want greenland? well, i think the simplest explanation - want greenland? well, i think the simplest explanation is i the simplest explanation is that if you look at a map you see that greenland is part of the north american continent, so it is part of america's strategic interest. that said, greenland as part of denmark is also a very strong nato ally, even more so today with the announcement of the increased defence spending by denmark. and now with finland and sweden in nato we have seven arctic coastal nations, that form a very strong arctic defence against aggression either by russia, or increased interest by china or others in the region. so, this is

increasingly important that as the climate warms and changes in greenland and the arctic, faster than any place around the planet, and we see the great greenland ice melting at a rapid rate we need to both address those climate risks and we need to be mindful of the opportunities that are created for increased commercial activity as a result of that. and therefore protect those interests both for the people of greenland and denmark and nato, and america's strategic interest overall.— interest overall. john bolton trum -s interest overall. john bolton trumps national— interest overall. john bolton trumps national security - trumps national security adviser in his first term said there are legitimate debates over greenland �*s strategic importance to the us and nato, do you agree with them?- do you agree with them? well, we had throughout _ do you agree with them? well, we had throughout the - do you agree with them? well, we had throughout the cold - do you agree with them? well, | we had throughout the cold war the us had an important year basin north of greenland, at the end of the cold we let some of those facilities lapse. now

with increased aggression by russia we have inaudible. the debate about is whether we'll continue with china's continued interest in all things arctic and seeking minerals and energy throughout the war will we have a ball walk of defence and deterrence protecting our nato nations. so far we have that it has been even strengthened as i said with the addition of new nato members and also i would note, that canada this year, launched the first santa of excellence on climate and security which is also important, recognising nato members see that climate security issues are on the front lines of a changing region. front lines of a changing reuion. , , ., region. yes, if this were to ha en region. yes, if this were to happen and _ region. yes, if this were to happen and donald - region. yes, if this were to happen and donald trump| region. yes, if this were to - happen and donald trump was to get his way how would it work? presumably greenland would have to become independent of denmark, and i believe there is some support for that within greenland?—

greenland? well, had the privilege _ greenland? well, had the privilege of— greenland? well, had the privilege of visiting - greenland? well, had the - privilege of visiting greenland this summer and ice wire, met with many of the people in the country, had the great greenland ice sheet and how rapidly it is melting and yes greenland is seek increasing independent to secure their own economic destiny. as they should. and there has been a lively debate within denmark for a number of years as greenland has increasingly autonomy and increasing trade relations with other countries. and with two new airport set to openin and with two new airport set to open in future years one can see in the future where you could fly directly from the united states to greenland which you cannot do today which will spur increased travel and increased economic interest. that said, i think greenland is want to determine their own destiny as i understand it. so far, that has been to seek increasing independence while remaining, having the foreign

and defence and security policy provided by denmark which does provided by denmark which does provide a great deal of investment, for a country of 57,000 people only, you would be hard pressed to defend this vast region on its own. irate be hard pressed to defend this vast region on its own.- vast region on its own. we will have to leave _ vast region on its own. we will have to leave it _ vast region on its own. we will have to leave it there. - vast region on its own. we will have to leave it there. clearly | have to leave it there. clearly a lot at stake for greenland and the us and the rest of the world. sherri goodman. a former pentagon official and a senior fellow with the wilson center polar institute. wonderful to be here and thank you. a russian air strike has hit ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky�*s home town while his christmas message was being broadcast. rescuers are digging through the rubble, searching for survivors, as at least one person has been killed and dozens more injured in the attack — as ukraine marks its third christmas since the russian invasion. at kyiv�*s saint sofia cathedral, mr zelensky said ukrainians wanted to see a christmas star shining in the skies, not russian missiles and drones.

elsewhere, putin's forces are continuing to advance in eastern ukraine, and are now within just 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. the bbc�*s defence correspondent jonathan beale reports from a city under threat. music: carol of the bells sung in ukrainian. 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 has 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. explosion in background. 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 are 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. piano plays carol of the bells. 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 are 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.

one of the world's most active volcanoes is throwing columns of lava into the air. this is coming to us from kilauea on hawaii's big island. officials say there is no immediate danger to residents but warned that volcanic smog could reach inhabited areas downwind. this is the second time the volcano has erupted this year. the north american aerospace command says they have repositioned its radars and satellites to track santa claus as he continues his worldwide mission to deliver presents to children around the globe. while he has already delivered joy and presents here in singapore and across most of the world, he still has a few stops to go. right now santa is heading for puerto rico — so if you are watching, you better to get to bed quick. a very merry christmas to all those celebrating. more news at the top of the hour. do stay with bbc news.

hello. well, it's so mild, i don't think we're going to even see a flake of snow falling on the highest peaks of the highlands. it's just such a warm atmosphere over us right now, streaming in from the southern climes. christmas day will be rather cloudy for most of us. a few glimmers of sunshine here and there, and it looks as though it's going to stay mild for the remainder of the year. now, on the satellite picture, you can see this conveyor belt of cloud streaming in from the central north atlantic. ahead of it, a push of mild air coming all the way from the azores. and it's spreading notjust over the uk and many parts of western europe, but also well into scandinavia, where temperatures are above freezing. so it's a very mild end to what will be a record—breaking year globally as far as the temperature goes. now, let's have a look at the forecast for the morning, then. so we start off very mild. breezy conditions in scotland, if not very windy around some coastal areas. a little bit of rain there

flirting with north—western scotland. elsewhere, some sunny spells developing — for example, eastern scotland to the east of the pennines to the lee of any high ground — with this south—westerly breeze. and double figures right across the board. 12, 13 celsius is certainly on the cards, for example, in northern ireland. so a very mild christmas day and a mild boxing day on the way. the winds are going to ease, though, across scotland. you can see the pressure lines there, the isobars to the north. here, it's going to be a little bit lighter, that wind. but the weather front will make some progress and will bring some dribs and drabs of rain to scotland and perhaps northern ireland. again, sunny spells are possible to the lee of high ground. double figures mostly across the board, but northern scotland finds itselfjust the other side of that weather front in this slightly colder air. when i say "colder", it's actually closer to what we'd expect, at least on average, across this part of the world. so friday, once again, mild air spread across the uk and, indeed, many other parts of europe. so anotherfairly cloudy and mild picture. those temperatures perhaps not

quite so high, but still on the mild side. a reminder — the average for this time of the year is typically between around 6—8 celsius. and as we head towards the new year, it's going to stay mild, but the indication is it will turn very windy, perhaps even stormy and really quite wet. that's it from me. merry christmas.

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