has been forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. a nasa spacecraft has made history by surviving the closest—ever approach to the sun. germany's parliament is dissolved ahead of elections set for february. and the prime minister of nepal says there are too many tigers in his country and wants to give some away. hello and welcome — i'm luxmy gopal. azerbaijan airlines says that the preliminary results of the investigation into the plane crash in kazakhstan found there was "external physical and technical interference". but the report stopped short of accusing any group or country of being responsible. the plane had originally tried to land at grozny airport the plane had originally tried

to land at grozny airport in southern russia — the head of russia's aviation authority says the plane was unable to do so because of a ukrainian drone attack. pro—government media in azerbaijan has quoted un—named officials, saying they believed a russian air defence missile caused the plane to crash. one of the survivors, subkhonkul rakhimov, has been speaking to russian—language state media. here's his description of what happened to the airliner. translation: they say there were two bangs, l but i only heard one. it was quite substantial. i honestly didn't hear the second one. at first, only some of the oxygen masks fell out, and then they all did. maybe that happened after the second bang. i didn't hear the second bang. after the bang, after the masks fell out, i saw the fuselage was slightly damaged. then i got scared. i thought the plane would fall apart, it would decompress and just fall apart straight away. i was already getting ready

for the plane just to fall apart. that was one of the survivors. my colleague at the bbc azerbaijani service, konul khalilova, has been following developments on this story. she gave us this update. we understood from what azerbaijan's minister of digital development and transport, rashad nabiyev, said that they are sure it was hit by a military device, but for now, they haven't announced what it was. he said that there was visible damage, including holes in the wing, and the investigation is trying to find out what kind of weapon or rocket has been used. he said that the preliminary results show that it was an external interference. and i quote him — he says, "the preliminary outcome that azerbaijani side came with is that it was an external interference," he said. he also has been referring to people's accounts, to those who survived, and said that they heard three

times blasts happening outside the aircraft. and a flight attendant also told to local media in azerbaijan that as soon as the plane took off, it was hit by some kind of external strike. aviation experts and pro—governmental media in azerbaijan have been saying that since yesterday — that the plane was damaged by shrapnel from russian air defence missile explosion. konul khalilova from bbc azerbaijani service there. now, let's turn to the middle east. one of the last functioning hospitals in northern gaza has been forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the idf for weeks. staff say air strikes overnight that targeted the area killed 50 people. the head of the nursing department at the hospital told the bbc the army had given them a is—minute warning to evacuate patients and staff into the courtyard.

the israeli army subsequently entered the hospital and has been removing the patients that remained. israel has not commented on the evacuation. our colleagues at bbc arabic have been hearing from eyewitnesses on the ground from the hospital. translation: guys, we are talking to you from inside the hospital- as we are coming down to the courtyard. the army is inside the hospital. we hope everyone will be safe. if we are lucky, we will get back to you and talk to you again, god willing for the best. please forgive us if we have wronged anyone and pray for us. i'm the paramedic at kamal adwan hospital, walid al—badri. translation: the occupation army is now besieging - kamal adwan hospital and is asking dr hussam abu safiya to bring patients down to the hospital's courtyard. in 15 minutes from now, the army will enter the hospital. this is the message verbatim which dr hussam safiya hasjust received from the occupation army. translation: the internet will be i cut off now and we will turn off. our phones and chargers.

some eyewitnesses on the ground, speaking to our colleagues at bbc arabic. our correspondent injerusalem, shaimaa khalil, has been following this story. here's what we've learned so far. we've heard from medical staff, who say that, as you mentioned, they were given very, very short time to evacuate the hospital — both the patients and the medical staff — and that israeli soldiers went into the hospital and evacuated the rest. we're unsure where the patients and the medical staff had gone. we also heard reports from the medical staff inside the hospital that some of the some people were taken in the courtyard and told to strip, to take off their clothes, in very, very cold conditions. we haven't heard a comment from the israeli military about that. one concerning point is that we're unaware, or we're not sure, where the patients and the medical staff are being taken after the evacuation of the hospital. there has been a statement by an israeli military official

a couple of days earlier that there is an intention to take some of the patients and evacuate them to another hospital, the indonesian hospital. the problem with that is that the indonesian hospital itself has been evacuated and itself has been the site of shelling and bombardment, and so it is essentially hollowed out as a medicalfacility. medical staff tell us that you've got people in icu, patients in a coma, who need acute medical attention — they need oxygen, for example, they need medication. and the hospital, the indonesian hospital, is not equipped. this comes after hours, from what we've heard from dr hussam, who's the head of the kamal adwan hospital, he said that overnight, there had been shelling in the vicinity of the hospital and in the building opposite it, and that resulted in the death of dozens of people — around 50 or so — but also major destruction around the hospital. the israeli military said they're

unaware of that and that they're looking into it. but if i could just paint a picture for you and our viewers, these are areas, these are hospitals in northern gaza — injabalia, in beit lahia, in beit hanoun — these areas, according to the un, have been essentially besieged by the israeli army because there's been renewed fighting, renewed shelling and bombardment, where israel says that it is rooting out hamas fighters who have regrouped in the area. indeed, the idf today said that it was conducting a military operation around the hospital area targeting hamas fighters. so the medical staff are trying to get this hospital functioning under these conditions. so imagine what happens, then, when they are themselves subjected to bombardment, to evacuation, while they try to take care of these patients with minimal — minimal — medicalfacilities and medical equipment.

our correspondent injerusalem, shaimaa khalil, there. as israel continues the war in gaza and conflicts elsewhere, there's growing fatigue amongst the military�*s hundreds of thousands of reservist soldiers. israel's reservists have been repeatedly called to serve, placing strain on israeli families and businesses. our defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. heavy munitions fire israel's war on multiple fronts has notjust worn down its enemy, notjust taken the lives of thousands of civilians in gaza and lebanon — it's also extracted a price from its own people. so up until october 7th, we would do only a week or two a year. since october 7th i've been 250 days. noam, an idf reservist, is counting the cost in days. his studies to be a doctor have been put on hold. he's repeatedly been called up to serve on the front line

as a medic, and he's had enough. you cannot keep doing this war for much longer. we're out. you don't have the manpower to just keep it going for however long you want. you have to understand what is the objective, have an end date, have an end goal. because otherwise you're not going to have a reservist army. if you're called up again, will you go back? no, i will not go back. unless something dramatic happens. conscripts and reservists are the backbone of israel's military, boosting the idf�*s ranks in times of war. but there's growing resentment that one group has been exempt. call—up papers have now been issued to some of israel's ultra—orthodox jews, prompting their protests and dividing the government. they say their lives should be dedicated to religious study.

but a former chief reserve officer insists they must serve. but now, after a year of fighting, we need more soldiers in the army. there is no other choice but for them serving in the army. and if they don't want to do it, we have to deal with it. and my opinion is just take the rights from them. there's also the economic cost of relying on so many part—time soldiers to fight. like many small companies, shelley lotan�*s food tech start—up is struggling to survive. key members of a team of seven have been drafted for duty. it's critical. we had to let go for reserve duty two of them. and then we hired another student to fill in for one of the ladies that went to reserve duty,

and even him was drafted. is that sustainable? i don't think so. i don't think for much longer. hundreds of thousands of israelis answered the call to duty when their country was attacked last year. but even with the ceasefire in lebanon, many are still asking when this will end. jonathan beale, bbc news, jerusalem. let's get some of the day's other news now. nato is stepping up naval patrols in the baltic after russia was accused of deliberately cutting an undersea power cable. finnish police say a ship operating on behalf of russia dragged its anchor along the sea bed, severing a link between finland and estonia. an italianjournalist has been under arrest in iran for more than a week. italy's foreign ministry says cecilia sala was detained by tehran police on the 19th of december. she works for the podcast company chora media. a female comedian was among several people she interviewed while in iran. italy's defence minister has called the arrest "unacceptable".

a former conservative justice secretary who's now advising the labour government has called for more offenders to be sent to open prisons. david gauke, who's been asked to look at ways of dealing with over—crowding and re—offending in england and wales, said there should be more focus on rehabilitation. the prime minister, sir keir starmer, has paid tribute to his brother nick, who has died aged 60. sir keir described his younger brother as a "wonderful man". a spokesman said he died peacefully on boxing day, after a fight against cancer. the prime minister had been due to go on holiday with his family on friday, but it is understood he will now stay at home. germany's president has — as expected — dissolved parliament after the collapse of the governing coalition in november. frank—walter steinmeier�*s announcement clears the way for elections in february to decide who will lead europe's largest economy.

translation: i have in the past weeks spoken to leaders - of the opposition and the ruling coalition after the no confidence vote. i've explored options for another coalition but have not been able to establish a majority. therefore, i am convinced that for the good of our country, new elections are now the right way forward. let's speak to michaela kuefner, chief political editor at deutsche welle news. thank you forjoining us, michaela. polls show that the conservative alliance as well ahead, and if they prove to be correct, this would mean the sharpest swerve to the right in germany for decades. what's the feeling in anticipation of that they are? �* , ., , , ., are? there's a sense that the conservative _ are? there's a sense that the conservative party _ are? there's a sense that the conservative party formally i are? there's a sense that the - conservative party formally known as angela merkel�*s already could take over again but it will too need a coalition, so, yes, it would mean a

shift to the right, but it would not mean a shift to the extreme right, thatis mean a shift to the extreme right, that is a key point, and would be the party and chancellor and leader who would most likely, according to the examples, be needing a coalition partner to work with, so we could see the social democrat party of chancellor law —— chancellor olaf scholz in government again, but likely as a junior party. the question is whether it will be the social democrats or the greens, but there is a concern that the far right alternative for germany could have a strong showing as well after it did in regional elections here last year. in regional elections here last ear. . . in regional elections here last ear. ., ., a ., ., ., year. yeah, and michaela, for decades. _ year. yeah, and michaela, for decades, politics _ year. yeah, and michaela, for decades, politics in _ year. yeah, and michaela, for decades, politics in germanyl year. yeah, and michaela, for- decades, politics in germany have been characterised by coalition, cooperation, compromise. how does the current stability potentially affect that?— the current stability potentially affect that? ~ ., ,. , affect that? what you describe as instability is _ affect that? what you describe as instability is really _ affect that? what you describe as instability is really a _ instability is really a fragmentation of the political

landscape. and the rise of the far right alternative for germany is part of that. our system is different from the british or the american one. it is built to force the parties to have to reach a compromise, to make sure there is a maximum amount of stability in the political sphere, because it was built out of the rebels of the second world war and enough to resume the nazi regime there which came through a moment of political incivility in germany. that is why the mandate is pretty much, there's no chance it will end with one party, and compromise will need to be made. whether that means more stability, thatjust really stability, that just really backfired stability, thatjust really backfired with this three—way coalition failing of the past three and a half years, but with that in mind, should expect the conservative cd uc, if indeed it was to win these

elections, to choose very carefully who it goes into a coalition with, most likely the social democrats or the green party, with the classic coalition partner, the pro—business free democrats, struggling to actually make a fight for a threshold into parliament. find actually make a fight for a threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefl , threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefly. how— threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefly. how do fl threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefly, how do you i threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefly, how do you think i threshold into parliament. and 'ust briefly, how do you think the h briefly, how do you think the coalition if it is made could meet the challenges of the stream is an end economic challenges in germany? by end economic challenges in germany? by delivering a politics and having less internal arguments. the germans have just been through an entire year of infighting within the coalition government, so clarity will be needed, and we are also hearing from experts, there needs to be less regulation and serious investment in infrastructure here in germany must�*ve that's something all sides agree on. they have not agreed on how to deliver that in the past. that has to change. that

on how to deliver that in the past. that has to change.— on how to deliver that in the past. that has to change. that is always the biggest _ that has to change. that is always the biggest challenge, _ that has to change. that is always the biggest challenge, isn't - that has to change. that is always the biggest challenge, isn't it? . the biggest challenge, isn't it? michaela kuefnerfrom deutsche welle, thank you for your time. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

thanks for being with us here on bbc news. the political crisis in south korea has deepened after mps voted to impeach the acting president. there was chaos in parliament as lawmakers voted to impeach han duck—sue less than two weeks after he was appointed to the leadership. he'd succeeded the former president, yoon suk yeol, who was impeached after trying to impose martial law. han is accused of supporting the plan for martial law and then blocking the appointment ofjudges that parliament had chosen to oversee the case against the former president. this man — choi sang—mok, the finance minister — will now become south korea's

third president in two weeks. our correspondentjean mackenzie has more from seoul. there were these dramatic and angry scenes in parliament earlier, as mps voted to remove the prime ministerfrom office, who has been standing in as the president ever since president yoon suk yeol was impeached himself less than two weeks ago. now, it is the opposition party here in south korea that has done this. they have a huge majority in parliament, and as they voted to impeach mr han, it was members of mr yoon�*s party, the ruling party, that leapt to their feet and surrounded the speaker of the house. they were shouting at him. they are angry that he's even allowed this vote to go ahead. this is the level of animosity here now between the two parties. so how did we get here? well, over the past couple of days, this row has erupted between the prime minister and the opposition party. mr han has refused to appoint the judges that parliament had chosen to oversee mr yoon�*s impeachment trial. this is the court case that is going to decide whether mr yoon is ultimately barred from office, and the opposition party have decided that mr han,

by refusing to appoint these judges, has been protecting the president, and so he's no longer fit to run the country. what this means is that the country's finance minister is now in charge. he's the third in command. but people here are asking, "well, where is this going to end?" because if the finance minister comes in and he also refuses to appoint thesejudges, then the opposition party could impeach him too. and they could continue doing this, effectively leaving south korea without a government. and this is now the level of political deadlock in this country, with both partiesjust shouting at each other and blaming each other for the chaos. our correspondentjean mackenzie in seoul. a nasa space probe has made history, by flying closer to the sun than any other spacecraft. the parker solar probe was out

of communication with nasa for three days after coming within six million kilometres of the sun's surface, and facing temperatures of up to 1,000 celsius. the spacecraft will provide data about the properties of the sun, and will help forecast space—weather events that can affect life on earth, as pallab ghosh reports. it seems like science fiction — sending an un—crewed spacecraft to the sun. nasa's parker solar probe was designed to withstand its scorching heat. but could it? nasa has now confirmed that it has. the spacecraft sent back a beacon signal indicating that it survived the closest ever approach to the sun. we have never had a human—made object so close to the sun. also, we had to not melt, that's why the parker has this heat shield that holds the instruments at room temperature and keeps the heat of the sun away. and these are just amazing feats, and so it's so amazing that we were so close and really getting to measure in detail this material up close. lift off of the mighty

delta iv heavy rocket. there have been many missions to study the sun, but there's so much more we can learn, especially about the sun's shimmering atmosphere... ..which we can see from earth during a total solar eclipse. this new data from this very, incredibly close approach to the sun, just touching the surface of that corona, is going to hopefully give us a lot more information about exactly what's going on in our beautiful, beautiful sun that heats up and gives us light. close up, the sun's magnetic field twists and lifts its explosive surface. it's hoped that the solar probe will shed light on the processes that make this happen and how this solar turbulence affects us on earth. but they'll have to wait until the 1st of january before they see the initial data. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

the prime minister of nepal has declared there are too many tigers in his country and that the population of 350 is unsustainable. kp sharma oli says the tigers are a threat to humans — more than 30 people were killed by the big cats between 2019 and 2023. he suggested nepal should be giving them to other countries as gifts, to bring the population down. with me is our news correspondent navin singh khadka. navin, how serious an issue is it? it is a big issue, you see. it was always an issue, but the thing is, when i talked to people on the ground, say, the community forestry people, they say it is increasingly becoming more and more serious, because more and more tigers are there now, so the confrontation and all this kind of things. so, yes, the casualties is also going up, and that also the cattle being attacked

or losses of agriculture, people having to migrate elsewhere — the host of issues. political leaders are bringing it up now because they are bringing it up now because they are also under pressure. i can imaaine are also under pressure. i can imagine there _ are also under pressure. i can imagine there is _ are also under pressure. i can imagine there is political - are also under pressure. i can imagine there is political pressure on that. this would seem on the surface a conservation success story, but it shows there downsides, doesn't it? , , ., story, but it shows there downsides, doesn't it? , i. , ., doesn't it? yes, if you spoke to conservationists _ doesn't it? yes, if you spoke to conservationists for _ doesn't it? yes, if you spoke to conservationists for example, l doesn't it? yes, if you spoke to i conservationists for example, they would definitely say, and also by and large it is a successful story, but the thing is, again, it has all these things come along, and he question is, how do you manage them? and i talked to experts, they say there are measures, but it is not easy to implement, for example of even the idea of gifting tigers. who is going to take them? other senior officials have also talked about giving tigers to zoos for example, it is not happening yet. how exactly

would they do it. the tag or diplomacy actually is still to kick off, so it remains to be seen how they will do it, and then in the meantime, we are seeing problematic tigers, for example. around 20 tigers, for example. around 20 tigers are taken away from the habitat and kept in captivity, so they were is, how can they sustain those enclosures in captivity? it is costly, you see. all these things have come together when you talk about conservation.— about conservation. surprisingly a whole host _ about conservation. surprisingly a whole host of— about conservation. surprisingly a whole host of problems _ about conservation. surprisingly a whole host of problems from - about conservation. surprisingly a| whole host of problems from that. thank you so much. our news correspondent navin singh khadka with that story. plenty more to come, including our headlines coming up very shortly. the do stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the weather for christmas week has been pretty benign. high pressure has brought light winds, a lot of cloud, some mist and fog and also some drizzle.

subtle changes as we head into the weekend. we start to lose the influence of this area of high pressure and begin to pick up more of an atlantic influence, which should mean there should be more breeze and see a bit more sunshine. but we've still got this weather front straddling the north and west of scotland. that'll bring further rain through this evening and overnight. elsewhere, again, there's a lot of cloud around, some mist and fog, some drizzle too. but where skies are clear, then it will turn quite chilly — temperatures getting down to i or 2 degrees. for most, though, holding up to between 5—9 celsius. so into the first part of the weekend, for saturday, we're losing the influence of that area of high pressure, picking up more of a westerly breeze for scotland and northern ireland. so initially, it'll be grey with outbreaks of rain. that weather front sinks southwards and tends to fizzle out as it pushes into the higher pressure. but we should see more sunshine for scotland and northern ireland into the afternoon. a few blustery showers in the north—west. for most, though, again, it's another rather grey day, i think, with limited sunshine,

maybe some spots of drizzle and again feeling cool, particularly where you have the mist and the cloud. through saturday night, we should start to see the breeze picking up further. that should break up the clouds a bit more. so, greater chance of seeing clearer spells to start sunday morning, but it will be quite chilly under clearer skies, turning wetter and windier across scotland. that's because we've got a very active weather front on sunday lying across the north of the uk. you'll see more isobars on the chart, so it will be breezy, and that will help break up the clouds even further. so i think sunday, a better chance of seeing more sunshine, even across england and wales. but it will be blustery and very wet across scotland, particularly northern and western areas. temperature—wise, 9—11 degrees, so we're still above par for the time of year. and then as we move into monday, the run—up to new year's eve, it looks very unsettled — wet and windy weather in the north with some hill snow. and then around new year's day, we could be seeing this deeper area of low pressure. it could bring some stormy and wet weather to the uk. and then, as it continues to pull away into the first few days of january 2025, it opens the floodgates to some colder air from the north.

so there could be some disruption around the new year period, so stay tuned to the forecast. things are set to turn colder but brighter, with some wintry showers into early january.

this is bbc news. the headlines. azerbaijan airlines says "external interference" brought down

one of its planes that crashed in kazakhstan. one of the last functioning hospitals in northern gaza — has been forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. germany's parliament is dissolved ahead of elections set for february. a nasa spacecraft has made history by surviving the closest—ever approach to the sun. now on bbc news, it's sportsday. hello and welcome along to sportsday. coming up on the programme. can arsenal close the gap on leaders liverpool when they take on ipswich at the emirates stadium tonight? a moment to rememberfor damon heta as he hits a nine—darter, but was it enough to see him through to the next round?

we speak to ian bennett, one of the winners of