pope francis has used his traditional christmas message to call for peace in ukraine and gaza, calling the humanitarian situation there extremely grave. translation: may there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and may aid be given to people who are experiencing hunger and war. many are feared dead after a passenger plane crashes in kazakhstan. officials say at least 32 survivors have been found and taken to hospital. the plane was travelling from azerbaijan to russia.

president zelensky condemns russia's mass missile and drone attack against ukraine on christmas day as inhumane. and our bbc russia editor steve rosenberg joins forces with channel 4's ciaranjenkins to perform a special christmas collaboration. hello. we start in the uk, where the royal family have attended the traditional christmas service at church in sandringham. king charles was accompanied by the prince and princess of wales and their children and other senior royals. prince andrew did not attend, after it was confirmed earlier this week that he would not bejoining the family at sandringham. our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, has been in sandringham this morning, and we spoke to her a short time ago. hgppy happy christmas. everyone has gone home to have lunch but there were about 1000 people who came out to say happy christmas and give them cards, meeting kids and dogs and

diane! it is easier to say who you didn't meet because you met a lot of royals, the new?- a lot of royals, the new? yes, lots of handshakes _ a lot of royals, the new? yes, lots of handshakes from - a lot of royals, the new? yes, lots of handshakes from the i lots of handshakes from the king. — lots of handshakes from the king, princess, catherine... and — king, princess, catherine... and they— king, princess, catherine... and they loved my boots. prince william — and they loved my boots. prince william pointed them out and said to — william pointed them out and said to his children to see them _ said to his children to see them i_ said to his children to see them. i am glad said to his children to see them. lam glad i said to his children to see them. i am glad i wear them today — them. i am glad i wear them toda . ., ., ., ., today. you said it meant a lot today. you said it meant a lot to ou today. you said it meant a lot to you as _ today. you said it meant a lot to you as a — today. you said it meant a lot to you as a cancer— today. you said it meant a lot to you as a cancer survivor. to you as a cancer survivor speaking to the king and catherine.— speaking to the king and catherine. , ., , ., , catherine. yes and being able to wish them _ catherine. yes and being able to wish them good _ catherine. yes and being able to wish them good health - catherine. yes and being able to wish them good health for| to wish them good health for the yeah _ to wish them good health for the year. i have written to catherine a few times regarding our cancers and got lovely replies _ our cancers and got lovely replies i_ our cancers and got lovely replies. i think we are very lucky— replies. i think we are very lucky we _ replies. i think we are very lucky we have got a brilliant royal— lucky we have got a brilliant royal family and itjust lucky we have got a brilliant royal family and it just shows that cancer and health conditions apply to everyone. is that — conditions apply to everyone. is that we need you want to in particular this year?—

particular this year? yes, that need it more _ particular this year? yes, that need it more so _ particular this year? yes, that need it more so definitely - need it more so definitely because cancer affects everyone and people don't realise. mine was ovarian cancer. people don't — was ovarian cancer. people don't realise how it affects the family so i wanted to see the family so i wanted to see the royal family and see them celebrate christmasjust the royal family and see them celebrate christmas just as the royal family and see them celebrate christmasjust as i am — celebrate christmas 'ust as i am. ~ . celebrate christmas 'ust as i am, ~ ., celebrate christmas 'ust as i am. ., ., am. what was the atmosphere down there — am. what was the atmosphere down there like? _ am. what was the atmosphere down there like? lots - am. what was the atmosphere down there like? lots of - am. what was the atmosphere down there like? lots of you i down there like? lots of you were there, people were cheering and clapping. lovely. everybody _ cheering and clapping. lovely. everybody was _ cheering and clapping. lovely. everybody was chatty - cheering and clapping. lovely. everybody was chatty before i cheering and clapping. lovely. i everybody was chatty before the family— everybody was chatty before the family came out, before the family— family came out, before the family waiting, the police was amazing — family waiting, the police was amazing and friendly and helpful. amazing and friendly and helful. �* ,, amazing and friendly and helful. �* ., helpful. and you are lucky because — helpful. and you are lucky because you _ helpful. and you are lucky because you have - helpful. and you are lucky because you have been i helpful. and you are lucky i because you have been down helpful. and you are lucky - because you have been down here doing your thing with the royals and your daughter is making you christmas dinner. that is definitely a plus! that is for— that is definitely a plus! that is for sure! no that is definitely a plus! that is for sure!— is for sure! no cooking, billion- _ is for sure! no cooking, billion. do _ is for sure! no cooking, billion. do you - is for sure! no cooking, billion. do you think - is for sure! no cooking, | billion. do you think you is for sure! no cooking, - billion. do you think you will be back in the future? i billion. do you think you will be back in the future? i hope so because — be back in the future? i hope so because i _ be back in the future? i hope

so because i came _ be back in the future? i hope so because i came here - be back in the future? i hope| so because i came here when be back in the future? i hope i so because i came here when i wasn't — so because i came here when i wasn't in — so because i came here when i wasn't in a _ so because i came here when i wasn't in a wheelchair and my stepfather shook the duke of edinburgh is hand in that kept him going for the rest of his days, — him going for the rest of his days, so— him going for the rest of his days, so it is special.- days, so it is special. thank ou so days, so it is special. thank you so much _ days, so it is special. thank you so much and _ days, so it is special. thank you so much and have - days, so it is special. thank you so much and have a - days, so it is special. thank. you so much and have a lovely christmas. you so much and have a lovely christmas-— christmas. you have a lovely christmas. — christmas. you have a lovely christmas, as _ christmas. you have a lovely christmas, as well! - christmas. you have a lovely christmas, as well! nearly i christmas. you have a lovely i christmas, as well! nearly done with work and _ christmas, as well! nearly done with work and we _ christmas, as well! nearly done with work and we are _ christmas, as well! nearly done with work and we are going - christmas, as well! nearly done with work and we are going to l with work and we are going to have a great christmas. it has been a lovely day here at sending him and many people, like diane, have come this year because they know they have had issues with their health and they wanted to show support. —— at sandringham. caroline aston, royal commentator and historian, shared some insights about the royal presence at the service, and what it means for the wider family dynamics. great to see the royal family back together with everyone looking well. but

there is the noticeable gap of prince andrew who i think made the right decision here to stay away. i mean, what a piranha fish first his attendance would have generated. lovely to see the children and i think the future of the monarchy... there will be people thinking what a shame that the sussex family is not represented but i think that... they are having christmas in sunny california. but it is a good showing overall and don't forget that prince andrew is at sandringham and his family as representing him even if he has not here. people are handing out flowers and gifts and genuinely celebrating the return to health of two much loved senior members of the family. especially good to see the

princess of wales who looks absolutely stunning.- absolutely stunning. how important _ absolutely stunning. how important has _ absolutely stunning. how important has been - absolutely stunning. how important has been for i absolutely stunning. how important has been for them to attend today given the health challenges that very important royals and queen camilla have faced in the last few months? fortitude is the name of the game. royalty carries on when they are not feeling terribly well. if anything, this under points the fact that king charles ii! is the oldest monarch we've ever crowned and who has waited the longest for the job. who has waited the longest for thejob. 0f who has waited the longest for thejob. of course, he looks his age. i personally thought at the moment of creation, we had that back shot of him before they put the screens round for his anointing and he looked his age. if you think he has had to cope with grilling cancer treatments where he had to show himself, went to samoa and australia with queen

camilla towards the end of this year and it cost them both. certainly queen camilla who has had a very nasty dose of pneumonia. so what they're doing and their will be very much linked to their health and well—being. but make no mistake about it, the royalfamily are out there and fully back in business. so good to see a glamourous —looking princess catherine. let me quote what her father—in—law calls her, catherine. let me quote what herfather—in—law calls her, my be levied daughter—in—in and he certainly means that. —— my beloved daughter—in—law. the archbishop of york, who will effectively take over as leader of the church of england next month, has called for change in his christmas sermon. he delivered his remarks as the church faces criticism overfailures in its handling of various abuse scandals. here's some of what he said earlier. to put the needs of others first, those

who are cold and hungry this christmas. those who are victims of abuse and exploitation, as well as those, who like the holy family, had to flee oppression and seek refuge in a foreign land. pope francis has delivered his traditional christmas day blessing. speaking from the central balcony of st peter's basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he delivered his traditional christmas day "urbi et 0rbi" — an address to the city and the world. in his speech, the pope called for talks between ukraine and russia to end the war that followed moscow's full—scale invasion two years ago, and he also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the israel—gaza war. translation: this is the middle east and contemplating -

the crib of bethlehem, i think of the christian communities in israel and palestine and particularly to the dear community of gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. may there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war. now, to a developing story from kazakhstan where many people are feared dead after a passenger plane with nearly 70 people on board crashed in the south west of the country. at least 32 survivors have been taken to hospital. this dramatic footage shows the plane falling towards the earth, followed by a large explosion as it hits the ground. this footage shows some of the survivors being led away from the wreckage. we've had more video coming

through in the past two hours. this was filmed by an eyewitness slightly closer to the crash. as you can see again, you can see the plane dropping from the sky before hitting the ground. the plane, operated by azerbaijan airlines, went down near the city of aktau. the flight was travelling from the azeri capital baku to grozny in russia, but was diverted due to bad weather. these pictures show the wreckage of the plane at the crash site — with the tail of the plane upended but partly intact. let's speak to konul khalilova, editorat the bbc�*s azeri service. hello. what more can you tell us about what happened? this hello. what more can you tell us about what happened? as you mentioned _ us about what happened? as you mentioned there _ us about what happened? as you mentioned there are _ us about what happened? as you mentioned there are some - mentioned there are some disturbing images where people scream and moan as they are heavily injured. the reasons of the crash are still not clear. there are videos of emergency services working in the area and social media. in one video there are holes visible on the surface of the brain which are

being investigated, too. —— the surface of the plane. the reasons are not known to officials and social media and are being investigated. sorry, carry on- _ are being investigated. sorry, carry on- the _ are being investigated. sorry, carry on. the passengers - are being investigated. sorry, carry on. the passengers are | carry on. the passengers are mainly azerbaijani _ carry on. the passengers are mainly azerbaijani citizens i carry on. the passengers are l mainly azerbaijani citizens and ten are from the same town and it has been declared a day of mourning. d0 it has been declared a day of mourning-— it has been declared a day of mournina. ~ ., ., ,., mourning. do we know that so many passengers _ mourning. do we know that so many passengers flying - mourning. do we know that so many passengers flying where | many passengers flying where they were flying, what are the reasons? �* ., �* , they were flying, what are the reasons? ~ ., �*, ., reasons? azerbai'an's land borders are _ reasons? azerbaijan's land borders are closed - reasons? azerbaijan's land borders are closed since i reasons? azerbaijan's land i borders are closed since covid restrictions. we have seen angry comments on social media where people say that the land borders being open would have made it easier to travel by train. some blame economic conditions in the country that

force people to flight to chechnya and russia. many millions of azerbaijanis are living in russia and many have left to look for jobs living in russia and many have left to look forjobs in russia. left to look for “obs in russiafi left to look for “obs in russia. . ~' , ., , left to look for “obs in russia. ., ,, , . russia. thank you very much. she is speaking _ russia. thank you very much. she is speaking to _ russia. thank you very much. she is speaking to us - russia. thank you very much. she is speaking to us from i she is speaking to us from london. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

president zelensky has condemned russia's large—scale missile attacks across ukraine on christmas day as inhmane. he said russia had launched over 70 missiles and 100 drones at ukraine's energy system in what he called a conscious choice to launch the attacks at christmas. ukraine's air force says it downed 59 of the missiles and more than half of the drones. the mayor of kharkiv, in the northeast of the country, said at least three people were injured and that civilian infrastructure had been damaged.

in recent months, russia has been intensifying its attacks on ukraine's energy system, and has accelerated its advance across the east of the country. from kyiv, our correspondent will vernon has the latest developments. a pretty upsetting start to christmas, obviously, for many ukrainians. a large—scale attack on ukraine's infrastructure energy infrastructure. this morning, over 70 ballistic and cruise missiles were fired at ukrainian cities. that's according to president zelensky, who called this attack inhumane. and in his statement, he said he thanked ukrainian soldiers who are on duty on the front line and those protecting the skies of ukraine. he said russian evil will not break ukraine and will not spoil christmas. now, there haven't been any reports yet of anyone injured, including in kharkiv, ukraine's second—largest city in the east, where there are a large number of explosions heard this morning.

and the ukrainian state energy provider said that it will be introducing hourly power outages in several regions across the country. russia has been systematically really destroying ukraine's energy infrastructure over the course of several months now in september. president zelensky said that 80% of it had been destroyed in russian attacks. it is bitterly cold in ukraine at the moment and of course, it's christmas day, right? russia does not celebrate christmas today, but ukraine does. they switched to the western—style calendar last year. so a really disturbing, upsetting christmas so far for ukrainians. and as the new year approaches, will, what is president zelensky expecting from 2025, particularly with a new president in the white house soon? yeah, that's right. of course, a lot of what happens in this country next year depends on donald trump. it's interesting speaking to ukrainians. there is a note of very cautious optimism that perhaps

something could change for the better under donald trump. ukrainians see him as someone who likes to win, likes to do a deal, and they think that perhaps once donald trump is ensconced behind that desk in the white house, as soon as he realises that vladimir putin is in no mood whatsoever to do a deal or to enter any meaningful negotiations over ukraine, perhaps donald trump might swing his support behind kyiv. but look, the mood here is gloomy overall, right across the front line. in many of the hotspots, ukraine is on the defensive. russian forces are advancing. in the last few days, they've seized a number of villages. they're closing in on the strategic city of pokrovsk. and the situation for ukrainian forces is incredibly difficult, indeed. it's interesting that city

of pokrovsk, president zelensky mentioned it in his christmas message last night, because there was a famous ukrainian composer from there that composed a christmas song that many of us know very well, carol of the bells. and president zelensky said that when people listen to that song this year, they should remember ukraine. will verne in kyiv. —— will vernon. usually, at christmas there would be no rooms available in bethlehem, which christians believe to be the birthplace ofjesus christ. but for the second year running, the streets are nearly empty as tourists are mostly staying away and public festivities have been cancelled because of the gaza war. here's our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. the little town of bethlehem. this is the nativity church, built on the spot where it's believed jesus was born, and christmas began. but this christmas, for local palestinian christians, festivities are muted.

public celebrations have been cancelled because of the gaza war. usually, the saint nicholas feast would bring a big parade. this is the second year, unfortunately, we don't have this. just to pray in the church, that's it. and it's... it's a little bit sad. here at the christmas church, prayers are said for people in gaza. the nativity scene shows a baby in the rubble. some palestinian christians, like yousef khouri, have families in gaza, and they've been living in the churches there. they are subjected, like the entire gaza strip, of starvation. um... of course, almost no sleep because of bombardment, because of all the drones hovering above their heads.

and the lack of medical attention and services. here in the occupied west bank, there's also fear and uncertainty amid heightened tensions with israel. and the economy is in dire straits. bethlehem is built on tourism, but now local guides stand idle, with very few visitors coming. normally, the streets around here would be bustling at christmas time and, just like in the nativity story, all the rooms would be taken in bethlehem. not this year. most hotels are closed. but this local community group is trying to make a difference... ..packing up food parcels for those in need. donors have sent money for handouts, too. here, there's no governmental assistance. christmas is the spirit of giving and love and joy, and we hope with this parcel we can give some hope and joy to the families in our area.

and as each volunteer makes their delivery, they spread some cheer in the city that sees itself as the capital of christmas. yolande knell, bbc news, bethlehem. for many christmas is a time of gathering together and celebrating that it could also be a time of helping those in need. we are reporting from london. welcome to the crisis hotel. this will help 600 people with a volunteer team working day and night. the first guests headed straight to bed for the chance of a peaceful night sleep somewhere clean and comfortable. and after a good night's sleep they come down to a hot cooked

breakfast. this year, it will be served by some celebrity volunteers.— be served by some celebrity volunteers. , , ., ., volunteers. the guests have had a niuht volunteers. the guests have had a ni . ht to volunteers. the guests have had a night to sleep _ volunteers. the guests have had a night to sleep and _ volunteers. the guests have had a night to sleep and now - volunteers. the guests have had a night to sleep and now they i a night to sleep and now they are coming down for breakfast and that is what we are going to be doing, giving them breakfast, making them tease, there is a lot of work being put into this and proud to be a part of it. put into this and proud to be a part of it— part of it. won lovely guy who robabl part of it. won lovely guy who probably recognised _ part of it. won lovely guy who probably recognised my - part of it. won lovely guy who probably recognised my voice | part of it. won lovely guy who i probably recognised my voice as two i _ probably recognised my voice as two i was — probably recognised my voice as two i was and he said he was going — two i was and he said he was going from on the streets to being — going from on the streets to being in— going from on the streets to being in a nice warm room. just seeing — being in a nice warm room. just seeing the _ being in a nice warm room. just seeing the optimism in his eyes that mackie is genuinely excited. ., , ., that mackie is genuinely excited. ., ., excited. people will also have access to _ excited. people will also have access to a — excited. people will also have access to a medical— excited. people will also have access to a medical team - excited. people will also have access to a medical team and | access to a medical team and computers to reconnect with long lost family and games, too. we met i had a nice, cosy

bed so to think that the number of homelessness is increasing is an— of homelessness is increasing is an issue _ of homelessness is increasing is an issue we need to talk about _ is an issue we need to talk about. , . , , is an issue we need to talk about. , ., , , ., about. christmas is an important _ about. christmas is an important time - about. christmas is an important time to - about. christmas is an| important time to help about. christmas is an - important time to help the homeless but it is a reminder that we need to help all year round. it that we need to help all year round. , ., , that we need to help all year round. , .,, ., ., round. it is open for two weeks- _ round. it is open for two weeks. hoping - round. it is open for two weeks. hoping to - round. it is open for two weeks. hoping to give i round. it is open for two i weeks. hoping to give the guests the best out to 2025 as possible. 0ur bbc russia editor steve rosenberg has played many stunning musical tributes for us over the years and today is no exception. this year, he's joined forces with channel 4's ciaranjenkins on cello to perform a special christmas collaboration. here's steve to tell us more. i'm not reporting today. i'm playing the piano, as you can see, a special musical christmas collaboration. me in moscow and, back in the uk, kieranjenkins from channel 4 news on the cello. here is our version of in the bleak midwinter. merry christmas.

music: in the bleak midwinter.

absolutely lovely. quite the antidote to snow and ice of the midwinter. 0n who i's big island springing into life shooting columns of lava, 80 metres above her why it is a frequent director active cinch —— a frequent raptor active since 1983.

it isa mild christmas across the board thanks to mild pressure. you will notice more 1546 00:26:15,758 --> 00: