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 uses his traditional christmas message to call for peace in ukraine and gaza, and describes the humanitarian situations there "extremely grave". officials in kazakhstan say 38 passengers died in the crash landing of an azerbaijan airlines flight. protests have erupted in several cities across syria after a video showed an attack on a shrine belonging to the formerly powerful alawite minority.

king charles has given his annual christmas day speech, where he paid tribute to the doctors and nurses for the care they've provided to him and the princess of wales during their cancer treatment this year. he called for unity after the summer riots in the uk and made a plea for peace in the middle east, central europe and africa. this year's christmas broadcast was delivered in the fitzrovia chapel in london, the first time a venue outside a royal residence had been used for over a decade. our senior royal correspondent daniela relph reports. the king and queen led the royalfamily from church on the sandringham estate. a moment to reflect on the challenges of the past 12 months. the prince and princess of wales were with them, alongside their three children. for the crowds, who stood for many hours waiting for a glimpse of the royals, there was a chance to chat and hand over gifts. thank you very much. thank you so much, yeah. it's very kind of you to come all this way.

god save the king plays. in his christmas message, delivered from a former hospital chapel in central london rather than a royal residence, the king spoke of the suffering we all experience at some stage of our life, and touched on his own experience of cancer treatment. from a personal point of view, i offer special, heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed. recalling his visit to australia and samoa, he talked of diversity as a strength, not a weakness, and emphasised the power of community, especially after the summer riots in the uk. i felt a deep sense of pride here in the united kingdom when, in response to anger

and lawlessness in several towns this summer, communities came together, not to repeat these behaviours, but to repair. to repair notjust buildings but relationships. and most importantly, to repair trust by listening, and, through understanding, deciding how to act for the good of all. the king's christmas message from this small, intimate chapel is more personal and more direct this year, reflecting the challenging 12 months he has been through. the king's cancer treatment will continue into 2025. but palace sources say this christmas he is feeling positive about the year ahead. daniela relph, bbc news. and we'll bring you the full king's speech coming up here on bbc news in about ten minutes.

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 orbi — 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 over two years ago, and he also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the israel—gaza war and the release of the remaining israeli hostages held by hamas. 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.

in the middle east, hamas and israel have blamed each other for delays in the latest attempt at a ceasefire deal. hamas accused the israeli government on wednesday of imposing "new conditions" that it said were delaying the agreement while israel s prime minister said that the group is going back on understandings that have already been reached. despite rounds of indirect talks, israel and hamas have agreed just once on a truce. it lasted for one week at the end of last year. shaimaa khalil has more now from jerusalem. the ceasefire agreement between hamas and israel looked like it was gaining momentum a few days ago. it is a very different picture now. both sides are exchanging accusations. hamas says that israel has set new conditions when it comes to the ceasefire, when it comes to the prisoner exchange, when it comes to the return of those displaced in gaza. these are very difficult and thorny but also technical issues that negotiators would have been working on for months and months.

but hamas now says that because of that, the deal is delayed. we have also heard from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who accused hamas of lying, of hampering negotiations, of reneging on issues that they've agreed upon. this is very different to what we have heard a few days ago. only yesterday we heard from the prime minister's office saying that their negotiators have come back from qatar after significant negotiations. the hamas side has told the bbc a few days ago that the talks were 90% complete bar a few issues. one sticking point is the israeli presence in the philadelphi corridor. this is a crucial strip of land between the gaza boundary area and egypt. the israeli presence there is a thorny issue. today the israeli defence minister, israel katz, said that the security in gaza is going to be up to the israeli forces, there will be no hamas administration or presence. the pope had prayed

for the people of israel and palestine, for the people of gaza to get the aid that they need and for the end of the war there, for the families, for the hostages to come back to their families, and those prayers feel so poignant at a time when those families, when the people of gaza, feel that this deal that they need so much is not happening as soon as they hope. shaimaa khalil reporting from jerusalem. angry demonstrations have spread across several cities in syria after a video showed an attack on an alawite shrine in aleppo. the new administration of ahmed al—sharaa said the footage dated back to the time when the second city fell to his islamist rebels earlier this month, blaming the attack on unknown groups. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab, who's in damascus, sent this update on the protests. this is the first time we see unrest in alawite cities and towns since the toppling of the assad regime. first in the city of tartus, in the town of

tartus, there were clashes between hts and former operatives of the assad regime, according to hts. we learned that, also, they've been ambushed by former regime operatives as they were trying to raid one apartment to arrest former regime operatives. but then there were protests in many cities and towns, especially in homs, in response to a video released of vandalising an alawite shrine in the city of aleppo. that incident happened nearly ten days ago, but it was released again and although there have been reconciliation with the leaders of the alawite religious leaders, however it was released today provoking tension and protest in many cities and towns, even here in damascus, in the mezzeh 86 district, which is predominantly alawite supporters of assad's power. there were reports of some shooting in homs.

we can't confirm who are the ones who opened fire at protesters. we've seen videos of hts fighters trying to calm down the situation and just now there was a statement coming out from hts confirming that those who opened fire are also regime operatives. there are many questions about the situation here. many people are calling for calm, for avoiding revenge, forjustice and prosecution for those who have blood on their hands. but the alawite communities are fearful. especially because many of them took part in torturing and killing during the days of the uprising, and many syrians here blame them for the bloodshed. it will be a big challenge for this new leadership to maintain stability and provide justice for everyone while these kind of incidents will happen and possibly may happen again. lina sinjab in damascus.

officials in kazakhstan say 38 people have been killed after a crash landing of an azerbaijan airlines flight. the plane went down outside the city of aktau as it was was flying from the capital, baku, to grozny in chechnya. 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. were engulfed in fire. the force of the impact split the force of the impact split the aircraft in two. the aircraft in two. the rear, despite coming walked away from what must have the rear, despite coming to rest upside down, to rest upside down, is mostly intact. is mostly intact.

some passengers remarkably 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 of them 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.

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 missile attacks across ukraine on christmas day as inhumane. 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. 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 thanked 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. will vernon reporting from kyiv. 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 office 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. desi bouterse, a military strongman who twice ruled the south american nation of suriname, has died aged 79. bouterse led a 1980 coup in the former dutch colony. after being overthrown he returned to power, by election, three decades later — despite charges of drug smuggling and murder. supporters applauded him for his charisma and populist social programs. opponents accused him

of being a ruthless dictator who was guilty of drug trafficking and extra—judicial killings. we can take you back to pictures from hawaii. we have been showing you pictures of the erupting volcano, it started to erupt on monday. all throughout the day, it is looking fairly quiet at the moment, but we can show you some pictures that were taken up some pictures that were taken up untilaround some pictures that were taken up until around one hour ago, where we see a very different picture. this is one of the world's most active volcanoes on hawaii's big island. there have been plumes of volcanic gas and volcanic particles reaching elevations of around 8000 feet above sea level with the wind transporting it to the south—west. luckily there is no danger to human beings. you are watching bbc news.

now back to our top story — let's listen to the king's christmas speech in full again. drums roll. god save the king plays.

earlier this year, as we commemorated the 80th anniversary of d—day, the queen and i had the enormous privilege of meeting, once again, the remarkable veterans of that very special generation, who gave of themselves so courageously on behalf of us all. listening to these once young servicemen and women touched us deeply, as they spoke of their comrades drawn from across the commonwealth, who never returned and who now rest peacefully where they made the ultimate sacrifice. their example of service and selflessness continues to inspire across the generations.

during previous commemorations, we were able to console ourselves with the thought that these tragic events seldom happen in the modern era. but on this christmas day, we cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflict, in the middle east, in central europe, in africa and elsewhere, pose a daily threat to so many people's lives and livelihoods. we also think of the humanitarian organisations working tirelessly to bring vital relief. after all, the gospels speak so vividly of conflict, and teach the values with which we can overcome it. the example thatjesus gave us is timeless and universal. it is to enter the world of those who suffer,

to make a difference to their lives, and so bring hope where there is despair. as the famous christmas carol, once in royal david's city, reminds us, our saviour holy came down to earth from heaven, lived among the poor and mean and lowly, and transformed the lives of those he met through god's redeeming love. that is the heart of the nativity story. and we can hear its beat in the belief of all the great faiths, in the love and mercy of god, in times ofjoy and suffering, calling us to bring light where there is darkness. all of us go through some form of suffering at some stage in our life, be it mental or physical. the degree to which we help one another, and draw

support from each other, be we people of faith or of none, is a measure of our civilisation as nations. this is what continually impresses me, as my family and i meet with and listen to those who dedicate their lives to helping others. i am speaking to you today from the chapel of the former middlesex hospital in london, now itself a vibrant community space, and thinking especially of the many thousands of professionals and volunteers here in the united kingdom, and across the commonwealth, who, with their skills and out of the goodness of their heart, care for others, often at some cost to themselves. from a personal point of view,

i offer special heartfelt