ceremonies are taking place to mark the 20th anniversary of the indian ocean earthquake and tsunami. this the scene live in sri lanka. we'll have the latest from damascus as the new syrian authorities launch an offensive against fighters loyal to ousted leader, bashar al—assad, following clashes on wednesday. and, what's occurin�*? gavin and stacey win the christmas day tv ratings battle — with over 12 million people tuning in to see whether smithy accepted nessa's proposal. hello. a number of military bloggers and aviation experts have accused russia of shooting down an azerbaijani airlines plane which crashed on wednesday, killing 38 people.

no proof has been offered, but the experts have suggested the plane was mistaken for a ukrainian drone and attacked by russia's air defences. some witnesses have reported hearing an explosion. the kremlin has said it's wrong to speculate on the cause before the outcome of an investigation. our reporterjonathanjosephs has been following the story. the first thing to say is that we need to be cautious here. we don't have independent experts who have been at the scene and have been able to verify what has actually happened. we have had people that do know about these things examining the video footage that has been emerging from the scene. it is quite detailed in some parts. in particular, attention is being drawn by military experts, people i've spoken to, to the pockmarks to, to the pockmarks on the fuse

alleged that survived the impact, as you will see, the plane seems to have split into two on impact and the rear part of the plane surviving almost intact. what we can see quite clearly if there are lots of marks in there which could be consistent with shrapnel detonating and piercing the fuseallege. but we don't know that for sure, not yet. and that will be something that investigators look at as they try to piece together what has happened here. they will also be looking at the flight data recorders which have been recovered from the scene, to try to ascertain what data they get from that. we know that the plane descended at a fairly sharp rate at times and the altitude and speed were varying in a way that they shouldn't have been if it was fully in control of the pilot. those will be considered as more what the eyewitnesses have to say. remarkably, we have dozens of survivors from this plane crash, which is not always the case, and they will have a key role in helping investigators understand what has happened here.

and all of this is governed by un protocols from the international civil aviation organisation which determines how countries work together to investigate accidents like this, which is what we are calling it at the moment because we don't know for sure what caused the plane to come down. and russia, kazakhstan and azerbaijan, the three countries involved here are all signatories to the icao. as you mentioned, survivors emerging from that wreckage. when you see what the pilots were going through, the way that the plane was increasing in speed and altitude and then suddenly decreasing, for minutes on end before the eventual impact. it really did look very clear that they had lost control of some of the ways that they would normally control the plane. and then coming in, as we are looking here. trying to get the pitch of the aircraft correct before landing, which became an impact so tragically. what sort of condition are those survivors in?

obviously, those pilots did land in a way that some people at least were able to escape this alive. remarkably there is footage from the scene showing some survivors walking out of the aircraft on their own feet, others haven't been quite as lucky as that, although still survived some have been evacuated to russia, those are russian citizens that the russian government has sent an aircraft. they have taken them to moscow where they will receive further medical treatment. they are in a variety of conditions. it must have been an absolutely harrowing experience. we have heard from some of them, one man described how his wife had been sitting next to him before the plane crashed and he is talking from his hospital bed saying, "i haven't seen her since". a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for the families of those involved. we have seen footage of another family getting a video call from their loved one who also was in a hospital bed. he was actually a flight

attendant on this aircraft run by azerbaijan airlines and he is telling them not to worry and describing how he has had stitches in his arm in his arm but saying, "thank god we're ok." excuse me. i am she there will be more of these remarkable stories emerging in the days ahead. as i say, those stories will be key to the investigation going forward. i should just add that the russian government is saying we need to wait and see what happens from the investigation and that will give us a more definitive idea of what caused this plane to come down. memorial events are being held across the indian ocean to mark 20 years since the tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people. a vigil was held in banda aceh on the island of sumatra, close to the epicentre of the huge underwater earthquake that triggered the tsunami. people gathered at prayer sites in memory of the tens

of thousands of victims buried in mass graves. this is the scene live in thailand where prayers are also held for the victims of the disaster in southern phang nga province. they have been planting saplings there. and are also gatherinng sri lanka to remember those who died when the tsunami struck the island nation. the 26th of december, that fateful day when that 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck triggering that enormous tsunami. the sun going down there across that part of the world. our south—east asia correspondent jonathan head, who witnessed the devastation in 2004, sent this report. siren.

the chilling wail of the warning sirens this morning in banda aceh, in northern indonesia, marking the moment when the city was almost completely wiped out by the biggest tsunami of modern times. a frightening reminder for survivors is also a reassurance that today they are better prepared. in thailand, they hung photographs of those who died on the tiled memorial, which reaches the height of the wave which smashed into the beaches on that boxing day morning. most of the 151 british victims died here. translation: i feel dismay. it's been 20 years. i came here every day. time flies, but it passes slowly in our minds. screaming. few understood what was happening back then, as they watched the lethal torrent of water roar in. there had been no warnings.

thailand, like sri lanka, was a long way from the massive earthquake which sent the wave racing across the indian ocean. over here in this building, well, at the moment... for those of us reporting the tsunami, it was like nothing we had experienced before. arriving on phi phi island in thailand, i watched them pull body after body — most of them tourists still in their colourful beachwear — from under the rubble. 1,300 had died on this small island in a matter of minutes. the destruction i witnessed in indonesia was on an almost unimaginable scale. scenes of death and grief which remain burnt into my memory. yet the survivors rebuilt and recovered, sometimes from communities of which only fragments remained, leaving, here and there, monuments to that dreadful day. and carrying the hard lessons learned on what to do, should they hear the sirens, part of a now greatly improved warning system, go off. jonathan head,

bbc news, bangkok. the new authorities in syria say they're carrying out an offensive against militias loyal to the deposed president, bashar al—assad in the western province of tartous. syrian state media say the operation has already "neutralised" — as they put it — a number of people involved in fierce clashes on wednesday. 1a fighters from the group that now controls most of syria, hts, were killed. it's being seen as the first big test for the country's islamist leader, ahmad al—sharaa, who has threatened to crack down on anyone attempting to undermine syria's security. the violence in tartous began after the security forces tried to arrest a former officer who worked for the assad regime. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab is following events in damascus. this is the first time the leadership of hay�*at tahrir al—sham clashes with operatives of bashar al—assad's regime since the toppling of assad's forces. it's a big challenge for them.

1a members have been killed. that's why the leadership have sent reinforcements to many cities and towns where alawites are based, and many pro—regime operatives are there. they are trying to arrest those who had blood on their hands, contributed and participated in the killing of syrians over the past decade. but many of the alawites communities who took to the streets yesterday, including religious leaders, are calling for general amnesty for all the alawite community something that will never happen because many have blood on their hands. other syrians are calling forjustice, are calling for legal procedures and prosecution for those who are responsible for the disappearance and the torture of tens of thousands of syrians. it is critical time, and the new government has only been there a bit over two weeks, and they will need time to establish stability and provide the legal procedure for the right prosecution.

dr leon goldsmith, senior lecturer in middle eastern and comparative politics at the university of otago in new zealand explained why he is worried about this violence. definitely of great concern. i think, first of all, there is a very high level of anxiety throughout the north—west of and part of the country, the north—west, this is always an area that people thought could be very conflicted with the falling of the assad regime. however, i think it's very important that the process of disentangling some of the worst regime's perpetrators from the wider alawite sect, which, apparently is what they were trying to do is to arrest one of the officers from sednaya prison and there was this ambush. so a very challenging time and very concerning, not necessarily symptomatic of a wider sectarian breakdown of stability at this point. because people are so aware

of the sectarian tensions that there might be and that have been suppressed in syria over the decades, the fears are real that this change of leadership could really provoke all those to flare up again. just talking about the alawite sect itself, perhaps in the past there was the thinking that alawites were loyal to bashar al—assad, he is an alawite, that is not necessarily the case, is it? a lot of alawites were becoming disenfranchised with bashar al—assad even before the start of the revolution in 2011. but the way things unfolded during the civil war meant that alawites felt the only stable way was to stay with the regime. it is telling, in the days immediately after the fall

of the regime, the mausoleum which was the core of the assad family power in kandahar, their village, was burnt to the ground and there were no protests by the alawite around the coast of the country. there was a desecration of one of the religious sites around aleppo, whether or not that video is new or old... there was an outpouring because this was an attack on their core identity, not so much loyal to the assad but their identity as alawites which they feel is potentially under threat with the new regime. opposition politicians in south korea have filed a motion to impeach the acting president — han duck soo, as the country's political crisis continues. this comes less than two weeks since he took over from the former president yoon suk yeol who was impeached for trying to impose martial law. if mr han is impeached in the upcoming parliamentary vote, the next in line to become head of state is the finance minister. our reporter rachel lee from bbc korean is in seoul. she gave us more insight

into how surprising this situation is. well, honestly, it is surprising but it is also not entirely unexpected. this whole situation has been building up for weeks and it's for weeks and han duck—soo�*s refusal to apoint three judges picked up by the opposition was a big red flag especially since the constitutional court is handling the president's impeachment case and added to this his decision to veto opposition led bills like the investigation into news shortly of martial law declaration. you can see why the democratic party and other opposition groups felt like they had no choice but to act. they have accused han of siding with yoon and blocking the democratic process instead of acting as a neutral leader while the president is suspended. while the timing is dramatic, given the political climate, this mood feels like another

chapter in an already heated battle. what sense do you have of the reaction there has been to this move? it has been explosive to say the least. the opposition parties are doubling down and calling han duck—soo a puppet of president yoon saying that he has failed as a caretaker leader. on the other side, han duck—soo�*s camp are firing back accusing the opposition of overreach and saying they are interfering with his constitutional duties. there has also been backlash from those who feel this is political theatre which is adding to the country's instability. and then you have the public too who are already frustrated and divided and many are still protesting and calling for accountability. others feel this constant in this fighting is hurting the country's ability to function and is fuelling the sense of chaos and uncertainty in south korea right now. given what you say, rachel, what does this say about the state of south korean politics at the moment? it says a lot.

not all of it is good. south korean politics has always been pretty intense but what we are seeing now feels like it is reaching its boiling point and the impeachment of the sitting president and now the acting president highlights how deeply divided political system is on both sides are locked is and both sides are locked in this ongoing struggle and neither seems willing to back down. so the opposition sees itself as defending democracy while the ruling side argues that they are being unfairly targeted. it is playing out as a high—stakes game but the downside is that the country is stuck in limbo. big issues are being delayed and people are growing tired of the constant drama. rachel lee from bbc korean speaking to us from seoul. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news.

five journalists have been killed by an israeli strike in central gaza, according to the the local health authorities. the strike hit a clearly marked broadcast van outside al—awda hospital in the nuseirat refugee camp. it's understood one of the men had been expecting the birth of his child. the israeli military called those killed, members of what it said was a "terrorist cell". israel does not allow foreign journalists free access to gaza. our correspondent, emir nader is injersualem. he told us more about the strike. al-quds today, tv channel that is the local tv channel in the gaza strip announced this morning that five journalists have been killed in an israeli air strike on their tv broadcast van whilst it parked outside a hospital in the nuseirat area of central gaza. we understand that among the five journalists was a young man who was understood to be waiting for his wife to give birth to their child inside the hospital, when he and his colleagues were struck by the air strike. we saw a video taken in the hours before of him in his press jacket telling the camera that in a few hours he would be a father. we had a statement in the early hours of the morning

from the israeli military who said they were targeting what they said was an islamic jihad terrorist cell. islamichhad are one of the other militant groups in gaza and took part in the october 7th attacks which led to the start of the current war. quds today, a local tv channel is known to be affiliated with islamichhad, the journalists were known to the journalist community in gaza as regularly out and reporting on events there. living and working from that van they were in when it was hit. we have had a statement from the committee to

protectjournalists this morning who said they were devastated by the report and said thatjournalists are civilians and must be protected. this comes as we have seen numerous reports over the past years of the war where journalists have been regularly killed. the committee last week said that over 140 journalists had been killed in gaza over the course of the war and we have seen repeated incidents where the israeli military has identified journalists as having what they say terrorist affiliations and have been struck and subsequently hit. let s get some of the day's other news now.

japan airlines says a cyberattack has briefly disrupted some of its flights. the attack affected the airline's baggage check—in system. more than a dozen flights were delayed at several airports before engineers identified and isolated the target of the attack. officials in mozambique say 1,500 inmates escaped from prisons after a riot in maputo which left more than 30 people dead. they said 150 had been recaptured. there's been civil unrest since the disputed election in october. russia has blamed terrorism for one of its cargo ships sinking off the coast of spain. the ursa major began taking on water on monday, while on a journey from st petersburg to vladivostock. it's owned by russia's defence ministry, and is the subject of us imposed sanctions. the authorities in south—eastern australia have told people in dozens of rural communities to leave their homes "immediately" to escape a bushfire. about 600 firefighters — according to the victoria state emergency services — are trying to control the blaze

in the grampians national park. the fire has been burning for a week, and has consumed about 500 square kilometres of forested land. now, what did people here in the uk watch on christmas day? for many, the answer seems to be gavin and stacey. the show had a whopping audience of 12.32 million — making it the biggest non—sports overnight of 202a. millions tuned in for the final ever episode of the beloved british sitcom. the number doesn't include those are yet to watch the episode on catch up. wallace & gromit had the second highest overnight viewing figures — 9.38 million tuned in to watch the duo's tv return. let's speak to tv critic scott bryan.

about critic scott bryan. all this. hello to you. seasons about all this. hello to you. seasons greetings to you. i was not watching it because i had to go to bed too early so i'm saving it for later. 12.32 million dead. what did gavin and stacey do right? we and stacey do right? no spoilers- _ and stacey do right? no spoilers. may _ and stacey do right? no spoilers. may i - and stacey do right? i157 spoilers. may i say, this was a very much anticipated episode of gavin and stacey. of course there is been so much talk about how it was going to pass the cliffhanger from their previous special back in 2019 but i think it managed to do it brilliantly and really stick the landing and have something for absolutely everybody and managed to have a final episode which was wrapping up all of the loose ends and providing something that was really special. i think the reason why these ratings was so big last night, i mean, 12.32 million for gavin and stacey, the most watched event so far this year outside of sport and also, the

most watched christmas day episode since 2008. i think it was simply because there has been so much love for a sitcom there has been viewed by so many different generations but has had repeated viewing over the course of the last ten years. i think it is worthwhile pointing out that this is not the full figure. 12.32 million is the figure from those people who are watching just on the conventional tv live last night. it will be... there will be more figures in about a week's time those people who have been watching on catch up and then i will be a final figure in one month's time. if you compare this to the 2019 gavin and stacey special, that got 11.6 million watching on the same day. so it is already beaten that figure. so if the rate is continuing a lot where people are expecting it to be, you can safely say there will be upwards of 16 or 17 million by the time the full amount comes in. by the time the full amount comes in-— by the time the full amount comes im— comes in. that is incredible fi . ures comes in. that is incredible figures for _ comes in. that is incredible figures for this _ comes in. that is incredible

figures for this day - comes in. that is incredible figures for this day and - comes in. that is incredible | figures for this day and age. we have less than a minute left but i just wonder what this says, 12.32 million watching it live on bbc, what does this say about on demand, we still love about on demand, we still love a piece of national television. i think service broadcast you have the cutting edge of a stream is because they are able to have that where everyone has to have that where everyone has to watch it live and everyone gets to talk about it. what is worth pointing out that from today, it is some of the biggest streaming on catch up days, people are tuning in for a game but christmas day and christmas eve itself, we still love that routine and those moments. but overall a big day for the bbc, the top ten watched shows on that day, all of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good _ of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good to — of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good to hear— of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good to hear it. _ of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good to hear it. that - of them are from the bbc. wow. well, good to hear it. that is - well, good to hear it. that is scott brian our tv criticjust

looking at what the kings speech got on bbc and itv, 5.98 million, not including other channels but that came third as most watched on christmas day. we will be back with more news at the top of the hour and for the moment, i am here in london. do stay with us on bbc news. hello again. it's been an exceptionally mild christmas period thus far. yesterday, christmas day, it reached 14.2 celsius in aberdeen. the average december temperature here would be around about seven celsius. but how long is this going to last? well, you can see the days of the week here. the yellows and ambers representing the milder conditions. and it stays with us right the way through to the weekend, except for across northern scotland, where we see something that bit colder coming our way with some wintry showers here by the end of the weekend. beyond that, low pressure pulls away.

you can see an array of isobars, it will be windy at times. and then as we head up towards the new year, look at the array of isobars and wet weather, potentially some snow as well, so it's something worth keeping an eye on if you are travelling around new year. today, though, remaining mild and still cloudy, cloudy and murky. there's some drizzle, there's some hill fog, there's some damp conditions. we've also got rain moving across central scotland and northern ireland. best chance of any brightness today will be across parts of eastern england and also northeast wales. temperatures eight to about 12 degrees. now, heading on through the evening and overnight, our band of rain across central scotland and northern ireland pushes steadily northwards, leaving us again with a lot of cloud, damp conditions, where we see holes break in that cloud, so under clear skies we could also see some fog patches form. but for the time of year it's not going to be cold. our overnight lows — five to nine degrees. into tomorrow, then, our weather front pushes northwards. but it is a waving front so it is going to come back southwards again. so friday — a lot of cloud around. a weather front in the northwest producing

some patchy rain. best breaks tomorrow for brightness, north—east scotland, parts of eastern england and also once again north—east wales. temperatures eight to 12 degrees. now beyond that, as we head on into the weekend, our weather front does continue to sink southwards across scotland and northern ireland. we've got another part of it coming in from the west. a lot of cloud around. but through central parts of england and wales we should see some more in the way of brightness with highs up to about 11. it continues mild as we head towards the new year, but don't forget to keep in touch with the forecast because it's looking unsettled then.

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