1a people are dead as protests erupt in syria, where clashes continue between fighters from different rebel factions. and king charles uses his christmas speech to call for peace in world conflicts and reflects on his cancer treatment. hello, i'm naomi choi smith. happy holidays. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky says a christmas day attack on his country's energy system was "inhumane." moscow launched more than 170 rockets and drones in the early hours, hitting power plants and electricity infrastructure. at least one person was killed. in a statement, us president joe biden called the attack "outrageous" and said he'd ordered the pentagon to continue "surging" its deliveries of weapons to

kyiv. five people have also died in russia after strikes from ukraine. our reporter will vernon is in kyiv. he gave me the very latest. how significant are of these russian attacks? this was a pretty serious attack. ukrainian repair crews have been battling throughout the day to restore power and heating to hundreds of thousands of residents across the country. they were cut off after russia launched this huge barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles and attack drones on ukrainian cities, on a bitterly cold christmas morning. now, the target of those strikes, as you say, was energy infrastructure, and president zelensky

earlier released a statement vowing to repair the grid and thanking those who protect ukraine's skies, and he also said russian evil would not break ukraine and would not spoil christmas. this attack was not unusual, right? ukrainian cities come under fire from russian bombs and missiles every single day. and russia for months now has been systematically crushing ukraine's energy infrastructure. around 80% of it has been destroyed. but this was a particularly large scale attack, and on christmas morning after all, because russia does not celebrate that holiday today, but ukraine does, right? the ukrainians switched to the western calendar last year and now celebrate christmas on the 25th of december. yeah, and, will, president biden there vowing to continue surging us weaponry to ukraine. will that be enough at this stage to push back russian advances in the east of the country or turn the tide at all? no. it won't be enough. most people here in ukraine... i think ukrainian politicians in public will welcome it, but actually most people think that that's a case of too little, too late. as i say, these attacks have been going on for months now. president zelensky says that ukraine needs an additional 10—12 entire patriot air

defence systems just to keep ukraine's skies and energy infrastructure safe from russian attacks. western countries have pledged far less than that, and people here pretty disillusioned with the west in general, but particularly withjoe biden, actually. they see the president as someone who doesn't give enough support for ukraine, who only gives perhaps enough arms and money to keep the ukrainians fighting and dying, frankly, without giving enough for victory. the mood here is pretty gloomy, right? the war�*s not going well for ukraine, russia is advancing in many places. across the front line in the last few days, they have seized a number of key villages in the east of the country. they are closing in on the key strategic town of pokrovsk. so, the mood here is not good. and with donald trump due to enter the white house in just a few weeks, next year is proving to be a pretty difficult and challenging year

for ukraine, potentially. ukraine is home to nearly 50,000 jews — and kyiv is home to europe's largest menorah, which was lit to mark the first day of hannukah. volodymyr zelensky, who is the country's first everjewish president, welcomed a delegation of rabbis to the presidential palace on wednesday, who presented him with a menorah of his own. this is ukraine's third holiday season since vladimir putin's full—scale invasion, and arguably its bleakest. this year saw russia capture or retake nearly 2,500 square kilometres of territory — that's 900 square miles — in eastern ukraine and in russia's western kursk region. and the destruction of the country's energy infrastructure means many have been spending winter in the dark. the celebrated war photographer tom lewendon has been travelling ukraine from west to east this december, documenting this deeply uncertain holiday season. he's reached kharkiv, on the war�*s eastern front, one of the many places hit by russia's christmas day assault. he spoke with me from there a bit earlier.

tom, you've covered wars from the middle east to ukraine, and the theme that really comes through your photos is that human resilience and joy amid all the pain. how do you go about capturing that behind the lens in these conflict zones? there is obviously conflict, there is war, there is destruction, there is death, but i want to try and see the other side of that, because there is another side. there is community, there is love, and so i do try and push myself, get myself into that community and talk to the actual public and the general population and hear their personal, human stories. that is kind of what i try to do, and once they gain my trust and they welcome me, i can really show the world exactly how they are living. you've encountered many people from all walks of life in these conflict zones. which of their stories have

been some of the most powerful for you in terms of photographs that you have captured? which is one of the strongest photos in your mind and why? so, very good question. i think i would go back to my time in gaza this year, where i spent seven nights in al—aqsa hospital. within that hospital, it's its own community. there's people who are displaced, who are living in hospital, but also what people don't realise is the local medical staff there are all volunteering. they work without pay and they do get some food, but most of them are living in tents and have to support theirfamily, but they always come into work and they come and volunteer.

i met a nurse, and he actually lost 17 members of his family, and one of my photos is of him holding a blood bag, giving life to someone else. these are the stories i wish to convey to the world, these powerful human stories. and some of the most powerful photos of yours that stood out to me are these images of children playing in ukraine, surrounded by war. what has this conflict been like for children in your experience there in these front line towns? the children i met there, they were... we were in, essentially, a bomb shelter and they'd set up a boxing ring, they were having judo, and then they would change that to a classroom and then there would be ballet lessons. but the kids there are still playing. it's the same in gaza.

i was walking in a displacement camp, and these young boys were playing football like i did as a child. and they heard my accent and they came over and told me all these english football players and they asked me tojoin, and that's one the most memorable experiences of my life, is playing football with these children in a displacement camp in gaza. and these children are still... they're so resilient. how is the mood there in eastern ukraine on those front lines, among troops, among people, as they head into the next year of what looks like a grinding war? of course, tired. they are tired, but they are very resolute. i feel like every ukrainian i meet, they are always so busy, they are always working. be it, if they are civilians and they're working their

civilian job, they would also have a secondaryjob volunteering, setting up or helping donate, raise funds for vehicles to be delivered to the front lines or aid to people who are cut off. they are worried, of course. there is that angst. i think also the political side of things going into next year, obviously there is a new president coming to power. when i went to kupiansk, which i went to kuby and cs, had the honour to go with the mayor of kuby and cs, and that is around about a mile kuby and cs, and that is around abouta mile and kuby and cs, and that is around about a mile and a half to the russian positions. and when we saw there, we saw dj jones following us and you could hear shelling, like, really close. —— you saw drones following us. and i went to one of the hospitals, one of the remaining operating hospitals in kupiansk, and i spoke to the medical staff there, and i said, "what are you doing for christmas?"

and they looked at me like i was crazy, because they said, "we are going to be here, we are going to be doing what we have been doing every day, we are going to be working and trying to save lives." yeah, that's what i get from pretty much everyone i speak to here. a sombre mood there in east ukraine as the country celebrates christmas and hanukkah under that spectre of war. tom lewendon, thank you so much forjoining us. thank you. it was a pleasure, thank you. the interior ministry for syria's new regime says 14 members of its forces have been killed in clashes with alawite protestors, members of the same religious group as the ousted former leader bashar al—assad. the deadly violence erupted in tartus after security forces tried to arrest a former officer thought to be connected to the notorious saydnaya prison. protests also sprung up across syria after a video showed an attack on an alawite shrine in aleppo. syria's new administration says the footage is old, dating back to when aleppo fell to the islamist rebels earlier this month.

the interior ministry said "unknown groups" were behind the attack and that they republished the video to stir up division among syrian people. the bbc�*s lina sinjab is in damascus and sent this report. 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 providejustice for everyone while these kind of incidents will happen and possibly may happen again. as syria's new regime takes form, questions remains about its future treatment of minorities. i've been speaking about that with syrian peace activist abir haj ibrahim. i understand that your first return to syria after about ten years of living abroad was just a couple of days ago. what was that like, going back to your home country after many years of strife? . ~ home country after many years of strife? ., ~ , ., ., of strife? thank you for posting _ of strife? thank you for posting me- _ of strife? thank you for posting me. actually, l of strife? thank you for| posting me. actually, it of strife? thank you for - posting me. actually, it was a very emotional times, and it was very hard on me to see my

country after 11 years of hard conflict. and i saw them ask us for the first time in ii for the first time in 11 years, so you feel that the city is exhausted —— i saw damascus. at the same time, it's very happy. and what you see at the prospects for a peaceful transition there in syria? 0f transition there in syria? of course, the rebel roots are beginning to coalesce and a sort of leadership is emerging. you've been involved in peace building efforts in the community before. how do you see this process working now that assad is gone and new leadership is taking over? actually, i did not see it working. as much as, there is a call for paper preparation for national dialogue, but still, there is a critical issue and critical fight that we need to pave the way for it to start, such as traditionaljustice, and the grievances... the

community, the dialogue, the social reconciliation, how it is going to start, all these, it isjust a is going to start, all these, it is just a huge chaos now and things need to be tied with people's needs on the ground andindeed people's needs on the ground and indeed to have a decision in these processes. find and indeed to have a decision in these processes.— in these processes. and what are ou in these processes. and what are you seeing _ in these processes. and what are you seeing as _ in these processes. and what are you seeing as the - are you seeing as the newspeople have on the ground? what are people telling there in syria? —— the needs people have? in syria? -- the needs people have? , ., ., , ., have? there is a vague vision for the future _ have? there is a vague vision for the future ended - have? there is a vague vision for the future ended there . have? there is a vague vision for the future ended there is | have? there is a vague vision | for the future ended there is a mistrust among the community itself. so it is like a mistrust among the community, between each other. each city needs to speak with the other city which was isolated and they need also a space where they need also a space where they could agree on what the future of the country would be for them. i future of the country would be for them. . future of the country would be for them-— for them. i did want to ask ou, for them. i did want to ask you. abir. _ for them. i did want to ask you. abir. as— for them. i did want to ask you, abir, as well- for them. i did want to ask . you, abir, as well about some of these concerns binary

_by —— by minority groups in syria, like the elements collect the christians. we have seen these attacks in the last couple of days and we've seen protests emerging from that. how concerned are aryans about protections for minorities there on the ground? first, each syrian _ there on the ground? first, each syrian citizen - there on the ground? first, each syrian citizen has - there on the ground? first, each syrian citizen has the l each syrian citizen has the right to do protest and go to the street and raise their voices. this is a complete right for them. second, yes, there is a huge fear among the minorities in these days, and especially when it comes for their identity and for their culture and even for their religion, and that means that we to engage them in the process itself. they will have a major part in the designing phase and in the operational phase and in the operational phase for the future of syria. going in the streets today, it was for me like a good and a bad thing stub good that they have the right now and they

know how to deliver their voices. the challenge is these protests go in a sectarian, more than a demonstration aspect for the rights, and i am so worried that it could get into violence in a way or another, and we need lots of wisdom, lots of people who work inside the local communities on mediation, and there are actually, and they have succeeded in doing that in some of the areas in the region. so it's quite a challenging issue, but in all cases, that communication with them, giving them the space and giving them them the space and giving them the right to participate in paving the way for the new syria is one of the key issues where they will have a trust among them at a trust with the

authorities itself. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the royal family attended their traditional christmas service in sandringham. well—wishers queued for hours to catch a glimpse of them, with many telling the bbc they wanted to show support for the king and princess of wales after their cancer diagnoses. prince andrew did not attend the service following reports of his links with an alleged chinese spy. a belfast parkrun broke its course participation record on christmas day, as almost 800 festive runners crossed the finish line. crossed the finish line. hundreds descended hundreds descended on the stormont estate in east on the stormont estate in east belfast, with plenty of santa belfast, with plenty of santa hats and elf ears, hats and elf ears, for an event that has become for an event that has become a seasonal favourite a seasonal favourite in the local running calendar. in the local running calendar. and tonight — after a five—year and tonight — after a five—year wait — fans of the bbc�*s wait — fans of the bbc�*s gavin and stacey finally got gavin and stacey finally got the chance to see whether the chance to see whether smithy accepted nessa's smithy accepted nessa's proposal, in the finale proposal, in the finale to the show. to the show. the 90—minute special was co—written the 90—minute special was co—written byjames corden and ruthjones. byjames corden and ruthjones.

you're live with bbc news. israel and hamas are blaming each other for the failure to reach a deal to end the war in gaza and secure the release of hostages. hamas said israel was seeking new conditions, while israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu accused the group of going back on previous agreements. on wednesday, israeli defence minister israel katz paid a visit to the philadelphi corridor on the gaza—egypt border.

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 a very different tone to what we have heard a few days ago. 0nly 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. 0ne 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. 38 people were killed in the azerbaijan airlines

plane crash near the city of aktau, kazakhstan. officials say the aircraft had been trying to make an emergency landing when flames erupted at the front. almost half the 67 passengers and crew survived. the plane was en route to the city of grozny in russia's chechnya region before being diverted due to fog. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy has the very latest. this was the plane in its final moments. descending at high speed, its landing gear down. the pilot appears to be struggling to control the jet. it banks just before impact. much of the aircraft was crushed into a burning trail of wreckage. emergency workers converged on the scene, some crawling inside the plane looking for survivors. incredibly, dozens of passengers made it out. this man, just one of those staggering from the carnage. they were saved by this tail section, the only part of the aircraft left intact. the local hospital was filled with those wounded, but alive. this man says, "when

the plane crashed, my wife was sitting next to me. i haven't seen my wife since the crash." this is the family of one of the flight attendants on board — their fears calmed by a video call he made from his hospital bed... ..saying, "don't worry. tell mum not to worry. thank god we are safe." the plane had been diverted by bad weather en route to grozny, in southern russia. the president of azerbaijan says experts will now look at all possible causes. translation: the reasons for the crash are not - yet known to us. there are various theories, but i believe it is premature to discuss them. a criminal case has been launched by the prosecutor general�*s office. president putin is sending in this plane, with specialist teams, to help.

some of the passengers on the crashed aircraft were russian. it was made by the brazilian firm embraer, which has a robust safety record. it will now help with the investigation of a crash that both took but also spared many lives. duncan kennedy, bbc news. for the first time in eight years, christmas and hanukkah fall on the same day, with celebrations taking place aroud the world. in london, king charles has used his christmas message to pay tribute to the doctors and nurses involved in the cancer treatment both he and the princess of wales have received this year. he described the medical teams as "selfless" and praised their support through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness.

in washington, the national menorah was lit to commemorate the start of the eight—day jewish holiday by us homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas, a cuban—american jew whose mother fled the holocaust, lit the menorah for the festival of light. this is only the fifth time since 1900 that the holiday has fallen on christmas day. and celebrations were even held up in space for american astronauts butch wilmore and sunita williams. injune, they set off from earth for what was meant to be an eight—day mission, but six months later, they're still in space due to a broken capsule. they say they spent the holiday in typical fashion — listening to christmas music and watching christmas films. but on top of that, butch — who is also a pastor — planned to deliver a christmas sermon. that's all your news for this half—hour. dojoin us again that's all your news for this half—hour. do join us again at the top of the hour for all your latest headlines. thank you for watching. i'm naomi choy smith in washington. hello. it was an exceedingly mild christmas day.

not a record breaker, but the met office reports that it was the mildest since 2016 overall, looking across the uk, and the highest temperature was recorded in aberdeen — 14.2 celsius — with similar values elsewhere across the country. how about boxing day? well, not quite as mild, but the temperatures will remain above the average for the rest of the year, and also a little bit of rain in the forecast. the satellite picture hasn't really changed much since yesterday. we still have this conveyor belt of cloud to the west of us, and ahead of this conveyor belt of cloud, a tongue, a stream of mild air all the way from the azores, spreading across the uk, western europe and into the baltic and also much of scandinavia. so we start the day with temperatures hovering between 5—10 celsius, so a little fresher compared to the last couple of nights. so here's the forecast, then, for boxing day. a weather front sneaks into northern ireland and scotland, so expect a little bit of rain here on and off, perhaps

in glasgow into edinburgh. some sunny spells are possible in the north—east of england, around the pennines, yorkshire, maybe one or two reaching lancashire as well, but across the bulk of wales and england, it will be cloudy. and those temperatures between around 9—12 celsius, so certainly on the mild side. now here's friday's weather forecast — high pressure still very much in charge of the weather and weather fronts once again brushing the north—west of the uk. so, again, some rain possible in northern ireland, scotland, but elsewhere, it's going to be pretty much the same. so rather cloudy, odd sunny spell here and there, generally to the lee of high ground, so to the east. and those temperatures will be around 9—12 celsius. now, let's have a look at the weekend. here's saturday. signs of change. now we're starting to see the weather coming in from the west. so this low pressure moves into ireland. it brings some outbreaks of rain, once again to scotland too. no rainfall for england and wales, but there will be some bigger,

sunnier breaks, i think, in that layer of cloud. temperatures won't change much, still hovering around 10 celsius. and then this outlook takes us into new year's. the weather is expected to turn more unsettled beyond new year's eve, and potentially quite stormy, maybe even colder weather reaching us. that's it. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. to fully commit to a cause is to put the political above the personal. it has lifelong ramifications, not just for the activist, but for those closest to them. and no—one knows this better than my guest today, the writer gillian slovo, whose parents, joe slovo and ruth first, were hugely important figures in south africa's liberation struggle against apartheid. from teenage, gillian�*s home has been in the uk and her recent writing digs deep into british culture. but how much distance is there from her extraordinary south african backstory?