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 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. i am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement. on our recent visit to the south pacific to attend the commonwealth summit, i was reminded constantly of the strength which institutions, as well as individuals, can draw from one another, and of how diversity of culture, ethnicity and faith provides strength, not weakness. across the commonwealth, we are held together by a willingness to listen to each other, to learn from

one another, and to find just how much we have in common. because through listening, we learn to respect our differences, to defeat prejudice and to open up new possibilities. 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. again, listening is a recurrent theme of the nativity story. mary, the mother ofjesus, listened to the angel,

who revealed to her a different future full of hope for all people. the message of the angels to the shepherds, that there should be peace on earth, in fact echoes through all faiths and philosophies. it rings true to this day for people of goodwill across the world. and so, it is with this in mind that i wish you, and all those you love, a mostjoyful and peaceful christmas. # once in royal david's city # stood a lowly cattle shed # where a mother laid her baby # in a manger

for his bed # mary for his bed # mary was that mother mild # jesus christ her little child # he came down to earth from heaven # who is lord and god of all # and his shelter was a stable # and his cradle was a stall # with the poor, and mean, and lowly # lived on earth our

saviour holy # and our eyes at last shall see him # through his own redeeming love # for that child so dear and gentle # is our lord in heaven above # and he leads his children on # to the place where he is gone # not in that poor lowly stable # with the oxen standing by

# we shall see him, but in heaven # sat at god's right hand on high # where like stars, his children crowned # all in white shall waitaround.# hello there. christmas day for most of us was a quiet one weather—wise. a lot of cloud around. limited brightness and on the mild side for the time of year. but it hasn't been dry everywhere. around this big area of high pressure which has brought the dry weather, we've had this weather front bringing outbreaks of rain, mainly to northern scotland.

and cold air never too far away here, but you can see on the airmass chart the extent of this milder air across the country. now, as we head through this evening and tonight, it stays blustery across the far north of scotland, with showers here and remaining chilly, this weather front bringing further rain, thicker clouds in parts of scotland and northern ireland. but the rest of the country will stay largely dry with light winds, a lot of cloud around, a few clear spells, which could give rise to a bit of low cloud, mist and fog. temperatures no lower than 5 to 10 degrees. so into boxing day, we hold on to this weather front, bringing further outbreaks of rain to the north of the uk. most of the rain — western scotland, perhaps just to the north of northern ireland. blustery, with a few showers, maybe some brightness for the northern isles. but the vast majority of england and wales will be largely dry. light winds. again, a lot of grey weather around, much like today with limited brightness, could see the odd spot of drizzle across western hills. temperatures remaining in double figures for most, on the mild side. again, something chillier for northern scotland. so as you move through boxing day night, it stays dry for the majority of the country. again, a lot of cloud around

blanketing the temperatures. a little bit of rain across scotland and northern ireland. chilly in the far north of scotland, but temperatures 5 to 9 degrees further south. there's little change as we head into friday. this area of high pressure still dominating the scene, so mostly dry with light winds. again, this weather front across scotland could bring thicker cloud with outbreaks of rain, mainly to argyll and the highlands. perhaps a little bit of rain across northern parts of northern ireland, but for the vast majority friday looks dry, rather grey, gloomy once again with limited brightness. those temperatures maybe coming down a degree or so. we're looking at 9 to ii or 12 degrees. so as we head into the weekend, we start to see the temperatures coming down somewhat, especially across the north of the country. as we head into next week, there's a chance colder air might move south right across the country and turn colder, with an increasing chance of wintry showers on the hills in the north and the west. and you can see that hint of colder air beginning to move down from the north as we head into next week. and generally it starts to turn more unsettled too. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the king in his christmas speech calls for peace in world conflicts, unity after the summer riots, and reflects on his cancer treatment. pope francis has used his traditional christmas message to call for peace in ukraine and gaza,

calling the humanitarian situation there extremely grave. now on bbc news, the interview: kylie minogue. # lights, camera, action