# where like stars, his children crowned # all in white shall waitaround #. the inner voices acquire, use acquire ending the king's christmas message, a message of reflection, a wide—ranging christmas message from his majesty the king, given at the fitzroy via chapel, the first rhine that it is outside a royal residence in a number of decades. with me is royal correspondent daniela relph. she was watching this with me. it was really interesting to

hear how reflective he was and how open he was about his own illness. ,, how open he was about his own illness. ., ., ., , illness. you have to remember that the monarch's _ illness. you have to remember that the monarch's message i illness. you have to remember that the monarch's message at christmas really do capture a moment in time and how a particular king or queen feels in this moment in time and how they reflect on the 12 months they reflect on the 12 months they have had. in this case it was really hard to imagine that the king would not in some way reference his own health challenges that he had to cope with this year after a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatment. it was quite a light touch in terms of how he dealt with it. it wasn't very much about him telling us what had been going on with himself or any indication of quite what had been wrong, it was much more him thanking those who helped look after him. that is how he referred to his message, he talked about the selfless doctors and nurses who look after him and the rest of his family, most notably the princess of wales. he talked about the uncertainties and the anxieties of illness that he himself must have felt this

year, and talked about the strength and comfort that those who are looked after him had provided. he mentioned his own health challenges within the prison of thanking all those who looked after him, a eat, light—touch way of doing that, i suppose. the other thing to mention is the location. you said already it was fitzroy via chapel, but that in itself tells us something. it is almost 20 years since a neat, light—touch way of doing that, i suppose. the other thing to mention is the location. you said already it was fitzroy via chapel, but that in itself tells us something. it is almost 20 years since the christmas message has come from outside buckingham palace or sandringham or windsor castle. the fact he chose this former chapel in which to deliver the message tells us something. it was very stunning and it gave a beautiful feel to it. was very stunning and it gave a beautifulfeel to it. he also spoke about the importance and the power of community. he was reflecting on the tragedy over the summer in southport. the ower of the summer in southport. tue: power of community the summer in southport. tte: power of community is a common theme historically in christmas messages from the monarch, but there was something quite particular in terms of how he framed this year. in terms of

the commonwealth he talked about australia and samoa and his visit there and how it had reminded him that diversity is a strength, not a weakness, and thatis a strength, not a weakness, and that is how everybody should view it. it gives us something to learn and listen to one another. but specifically to the uk he spoke about the summer and what he called the anger and lawlessness that had hit some towns here in the uk, and how inspired he had been to see how some of those communities rebuild after it, notjust a practical rebuild, but the rebuilding of trust. again i think that reinforced to him the power of diversity and what can happen if communities work together. he was looking at what happens here in the uk, but also abroad. many of the royal duties are to travel, as you will know, travelling with the royal couple. will know, travelling with the royal ample-— royal couple. even with his illness he _ royal couple. even with his illness he has _ royal couple. even with his illness he has still- royal couple. even with his| illness he has still managed royal couple. even with his i illness he has still managed to packin illness he has still managed to pack in quite a lot of travelling. his message started in normandy on the 80th anniversary of d—day in the year. it was clear at the time, but even more so now listening

to the message just how moot the king and queen had been by meeting the veterans, the british veterans in particular, and hearing their stories about that stage of their lives and how inspired they had been to hear what those veterans had said to them. but the king also said to them. but the king also said it was a reminder again to him of the fact that there are an enormous number of devastating conflicts are still going on in the world. in the middle east, central europe and africa, and seeing the veterans and meeting them and being at those events just reminded him again ofjust how devastating those conflicts still are. thank you so much for your reflections. 0ursenior thank you so much for your reflections. 0ur senior royal correspondent. let's speak to the daily mail's robert hardman, author of the biography charles iii. you have written a biography, charles iii. when it comes to what we saw today, a very reflective christmas message from the king, he has been through so much, what have we

learnt about his majesty?- learnt about his ma'esty? i was struck, learnt about his ma'esty? i was struck. and h learnt about his majesty? i was struck, and daniela _ learnt about his majesty? i was struck, and daniela touched - learnt about his majesty? i was struck, and daniela touched on| struck, and daniela touched on this as well, actually how upbeat i thought the broadcast was when you think of all that he has been through and all the royalfamily he has been through and all the royal family has been through this year. it was positive. the general tone, and i thought it was underlined by the way that he began with the veterans on the beaches of normandy, effectively saying these chaps have been through a hell of a lot worse than i have and let's reflect on togetherness around the world. it was only about half through he got onto the subject of health and his own health, and even then, as daniela said, it was light touch, he didn't labour on it. a lot of people had expected in advance, given the year that he has had, that it would be sombre in tone and some people describe it as a crisis year, and that would be reflected. but instead i think we had a

forward—looking, you know, if you didn't know the king was getting treatment for a serious illness, you wouldn't have gleaned that impression from this broadcast.— gleaned that impression from this broadcast. when you say it was liuht this broadcast. when you say it was light and — this broadcast. when you say it was light and forward-looking, | was light and forward—looking, i wonder the experience is that the king hassan and catherine as well and queen camilla as well, suffering from pneumonia herself, what has that taught them? what has that experience given to them now that we are looking at a new year going forward and that more optimistic message that you talk about? $5 optimistic message that you talk about?— optimistic message that you talk about? �* , ,. ., talk about? as he said time and aaain talk about? as he said time and again throughout _ talk about? as he said time and again throughout the _ talk about? as he said time and | again throughout the broadcast, things improve, progress happens when people come together. he is very keen to salute those humanitarian workers around the world as well, as well as health workers here. throughout we had that sense that when people come

together, regardless of their religious beliefs or whatever, as long as there is a community spirit, then good things will happen from that. yes, they have had a tough year and it was so good to see queen camilla there and the princess royal as well. she had quite a serious injury in the middle of the year. they have had their personal challenges this year, but he was clearly very keen to put the focus, the emphasis if you like, on those who make things better, rather than those who, like him, have suffered this year.- those who, like him, have suffered this year. when you say make — suffered this year. when you say make things _ suffered this year. when you say make things better, - suffered this year. when you say make things better, for. suffered this year. when you i say make things better, for the first time in almost 20 years, we have got this new location, the fitzroy via chapel, and that was used by staff and patients of the middlesex hospital before it was closed

in 2005, a nod to our health services and the nhs as well, not least given how much the royal family have been through health—wise. royal family have been through health-wise.— health-wise. yes, it was a really interesting - health-wise. yes, it was a really interesting choice i health-wise. yes, it was a j really interesting choice of location. almost all of these things come from one of the royal residences. but i think he did want to change things around this year and the chapel nominally it was a christian foundation and has been a chapel for those of all faiths and none through some of the most testing times in the lives of those who have used it. i think it showed that he is prepared to break with tradition doing this. i wouldn't be surprised if in future broadcasts we don't see them come from other places that are outside the royal estate, shall we say. i think it very cleverly underlined the health message of this year without labouring the point. tt

without labouring the point. if anybody would like to watch that again, the qr code is there. robert hardiman, royal biographer, who has written a biography of the king, thank you so much for your reflections today. thank you. many more photos of the christmas service outside sandringham is on our website as well. let's bring you up—to—date with some of the day's at news today. an official investigation has been opened in kazakhstan into the crash landing of an azerbaijan airlines flight with 67 people on baord. the plane went down outside the city of aktau as it was was flying from the capital, baku, to grozny in chechnya. dozens of people are feared dead, but more than 30 survived. jonathan josephs reports. this dramatic amateur footage captures the moments just before the crash. the azerbaijan airlines plane seems to be descending

with some speed, and at a steep angle. experts suggest the pilots were struggling for control as they approached aktau. they had been diverted because of bad weather at the original destination of grozny, in southern russia. the kazakh authorities say 150 emergency personnel were sent to the scene. the front half, including the wings and fuel tanks, were engulfed in fire. the force of the impact split the aircraft in two. the rear, despite coming to rest upside down, is mostly intact. some passengers remarkably walked away from what must have been a horrifying experience. translation: at 11.30 information was received about a plane crash three kilometres from the airport. additional emergency resources were sent, and at 12.05 the fire had been extinguished. there were 67 people, including five crew, onboard. many have not survived what should have been been a routine flight of less than 90 minutes. most were were azeri citizens,

with others from russia, kazakhstan and kyrgyzstan. the plane was an 11—year—old embraer e190. the brazilian company has a strong safety record, and says it is preparing to send teams to help with the investigation. it has expressed its sympathies for all those involved, and their loved ones. now the focus will be on trying to recover the flight data recorders, which should give investigators more information as they try to work out what caused this plane to come down. they will also be keen to speak to the survivors, who are coming to terms with their miraculous escape. jonathan josephs, 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 north—east 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. ukrainians woke on this christmas morning to the sounds of sirens and explosions as russia launched a huge barrage of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones too, at ukrainian cities, and they were targeting the energy infrastructure. now, ukrainian energy providers say their repair crews were out fixing the damage, but that hourly power outages should be expected across the country, and 500,000 people in the kharkiv region in the east were left without power. now, a little bit earlier president zelensky released a statement. he vowed to restore the grid and he thanks those who protect ukraine's skies. he said russian evil

would not break ukraine, and would not spoil christmas. look, this attack, these kind of attacks happen every day. ukrainian cities are attacked by drones and missiles all the time, but this was a particularly large—scale attack, and of course it came on christmas morning. in the uk, a 39—year—old man has died after being shot by police in worcestershire. officers were called to an address in redditch after concerns were raised about the safety of a man with a knife. west mercia police said a negotiator spent "several hours" dealing with the incident. the force has referred itself to the independent 0ffice for police conduct. here, a 31—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after pedestrians were hit by a car in london's west end in the early hours of christmas day. four pedestrians were taken to hospital — one of them is still in a life—threatening condition.

police say they believe the suspect was "involved in an altercation at a nightclub prior to getting in his car and mounting the pavement". they say it is not terror—related. 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: in 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. pope francis delivering his christmas message. pope francis delivering his christmas message. now, how's this for a way to spend christmas morning? this was boscombe beach in bournemouth earlier today, where hundreds took a cold plunge into the english channel, raising money for macmillan nurses. and speaking of alternative places to celebrate, here's the crew aboard the international space station. two of the astronauts have been stranded there for more than six months, having only originally expected to stay for a week. we are monitoring the situation alive in hawaii. you are's most active volcano continues to erupt. no infrastructure at the moment is threatened. hello there, and a very

merry christmas to you. and indeed it's a mild christmas, pretty much across the board, all thanks to high pressure. it's the position of the high which has brought this mild air, bringing these south—westerly winds. you'll notice more isobars on the charts, these weather fronts affecting scotland, northern ireland. here it will remain quite windy, with outbreaks of rain. but you can see the orange and yellow colours pretty much right across the board indicate that mild theme. so we hold on to wet and fairly windy weather for the north west of scotland, into the northern isles for the rest of christmas day. elsewhere, it's one of lighter winds further south, variable cloud and some sunny spells. probably the best of it eastern england, eastern scotland, and temperatures in the low teens for most of us, so above where we should be for the time of year. now, through this evening and overnight, it stays breezy, with further outbreaks of rain across north west scotland, the rain edging a little bit further southwards into northern ireland, central—southern scotland, but the rest of the country remains largely dry. variable cloud, a bit of mist and fog here and there,

and a few clear spells, and temperatures holding up between five and ten degrees. for boxing day, little change, certainly for england and wales it stays dry, with light winds, but we have this weather front still bringing thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain across scotland and northern ireland. most of the rain will be affecting western scotland, a little bit getting towards the east but further south it's one of drier conditions, quite a lot of cloud around, once again with limited sunny spells, but pretty much wherever you are it's going to be mild. double figure values away from northern scotland, which will be poking into some colder air there. now, as we move beyond thursday into friday, this area of high pressure brings very similar conditions to most of the country. we still have this weather front bringing thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain across scotland, northern ireland a little bit more of a breeze here too. but elsewhere it's mostly dry. limited brightness, probably the best of it across eastern parts of scotland and england, and in temperatures probably a few degrees lower, nine to 12 celsius. and then as we push into the weekend and into the start

of next week, it does look like some colder air tries to get into the north of the uk. how far south it gets remains to be seen, but it does look like it'll generally stay milder towards the south this weekend and into next week, but there are hints of it turning colder across northern scotland, with an increasing chance of more unsettled weather as well. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the king in his christmas message calles for peace in world conflicts, unity after the summer riots, and reflects on his cancer treatment. i offer special heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family. pope francis has used his traditional christmas message to call for peace in ukraine and gaza , calling the humanitarian situation there "extremely grave". many are feared dead in a plane crash in kazakhstan. flames engulfed the front of the aircraft but 32 were pulled alive from the rear of the fuselage. president zelensky condemns russia's mass missile and drone attack against ukraine on christmas day as "inhumane". now on bbc news, mabu:

saving the secret forest in mozambique.