as conflicts rage across the globe... explosion. ..and press freedom comes under sustained attack... don't worry. just drive, drive, drive. drive, drive! we have to leave straight away. ..we celebrate the crucial work and unwavering commitment of freelance journalists and film—makers worldwide. often the only eyes on the ground... complete chaos. women and children are taking this place as a refuge. - ..in challenging and dangerous places. they've got guns pointed to us. step outside, please. 0k. who are the people who bring us these stories? how do they do it? and what drives them to the firing line? asjournalists, we know the importance of being where news breaks, of capturing the situation on the ground, of living the story.

but it would be impossible to tell the biggest and most consequential global stories of our time without the work of freelance journalists and film—makers, who often operate in incredibly difficult circumstances and under great personal strain. each year, their work is honoured by the rory peck awards, named after a british freelancer who was killed in moscow covering the october coup in 1993. his work lives on through the rory peck trust, which has supported freelance journalists and their families around the world for nearly 30 years. over the next half hour, we'll hear from the 2024 finalists and winners, whose work reflects the turbulent and volatile times we live in and explores the human cost which so often lies at the heart of these stories from across the world. first up, the rory peck award for news, for work that focuses on the immediacy of the story.

gunshot. in early 2024, haiti's capital, port—au—prince, saw a widespread outbreak of violence. the assassination of presidentjovenel moise three years earlier created a power vacuum in which armed gangs have prospered. localjournalist luckensonjean filmed throughout the crisis, as hundreds of thousands of haitians were forced to flee their homes amid the brutality and political instability.

in june, a kenyan—led multinational security force was dispatched to help the haitian police rein in the gangs. yet the country remains in a state of emergency. the judges said that this was powerful reporting by a journalist who knows his beat intimately and lets the images tell his story.

in april 2023, sudan was thrown into disarray when its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the rapid support forces, began a vicious struggle for power. even conservative estimates suggest that tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict, with millions more displaced and at risk of starvation. film—maker sara creta travelled to the sudan—chad border in may 2024, where she saw people fleeing to survive. women, children, elderly, travelling almost with nothing, sometimes on barefoot, trying to reach safety. and 1 million people are now living in chad, in camps in the middle of the desert. this community endures so much, and yet they are so strong and resilient. creta secured unprecedented

access to the rsf—controlled city of aljunaynah, in western darfur. questions about the ethnic cleansing the group is alleged to have committed were met with denial by the rsf chaperones. they wanted to show their sense of control. that they were the peacekeeper, that they were the protectors. however, their claims were in contrast with what i was, you know, aware of and what people were just telling me. especially, you know, locals. they have described a completely different reality. the judges said that the film conveyed the real tragedy unfolding in darfur. at great personal risk, creta had brought an under—reported story to a global audience at a critical time.

on the 7th of october 2023, the palestinian militant group hamas launched a deadly attack on israel, killing around 1200 men, women and children and taking more than 250 hostages. this triggered a huge israeli military offensive in gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the hamas—run health ministry. throughout the conflict, palestinian journalists belal al—sabbagh and youssef hassouna captured everything — from hamas rocket fire and militants returning from the october 7th attacks to israeli air strikes on gaza and the resulting devastation and loss.

on the 27th of october, israel launched its full—scale invasion. hassouna and his family sought refuge at his office, where he documented the destruction unfolding around them.

the judges described al—sabbagh and hassouna's coverage as visual reporting of the highest order, that took the viewer to the heart of gaza's agony. next, the news features award recognises coverage that takes a more in—depth look at a story, beyond the immediacy of the news. over more than a year, katie arnold's film documented the lives of a palestinian family in masafer yatta in the occupied west bank, and their attempts to resist the expansion of israeli settlements in the area. he's grazing his sheep. he's a settler, and he's grazing his sheep in my land. settlements are considered illegal under international law, although israel disputes this.

arnold started work on the film in late 2022, as a new government, led by benjamin netanyahu, came to power. for, you know, 30 years, the israeli state has been trying to annexe that part of the west bank, by saying that they needed it as a live—firing zone for the israeli army. there had been many displacements. there has also been settlement—building. and so i thought that this could be a place that would be particularly vulnerable should far—right figures within the israeli government want to sort of try and annexe more parts of the west bank. with tensions between palestinians and israeli settlers already high, the events of october 7th marked an escalation in the decades—long conflict. within days of the hamas attacks, the situation changed very rapidly. settlers came onto the family's land, armed with guns. they shot at a relative at point—blank range, and they forcibly took two acres of the family's farmland. so settlers had essentially

become emboldened by the war and were violently trying to enforce their vision for israel in the west bank. towards the end of filming, arnold met huda, an elderly widow who went to extraordinary lengths to avoid what she claims were regular night—time attacks by settlers. huda and her family every night were walking with their sheep into the desert and spending the night inside a cave for safety. it was just heartbreaking to see someone as powerless as huda being targeted in this way. the judges said that the film demonstrated great foresight and commitment by arnold and represented a serious investment in the deadly disputes that have proliferated

in the west bank. since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, myanmar has been locked in a brutal civil war. while regime forces are equipped with aircraft, helicopters and heavy weaponry, the pro—democracy rebels are a loose coalition of former protesters supported by relatively poorly armed ethnic militias. for her second entry into this year's awards, katie arnold travelled to karenni state with correspondent secunder kermani to meet the young rebels who, against the odds, have forced the military into retreat. ultimately, this is a david and goliath fight. you know, the rebels are ill—equipped, and they're

fighting against a really well—established military regime who get their weapons from russia and china. but yet these fighters are still so determined that they will restore democracy to the country. the team were given exclusive access to a secret drone unit that has played a pivotal role in the rebels�* advance. the journey taken by one young drone pilot really resonated with arnold. ko khant lived in yangon, myanmar's biggest city, before he joined the rebels. and that is a city that i used to live in as well. so when we were filming with him, we were discussing sort of bars that we both went to, streets that we lived in, and whilst we didn't meet each other in yangon, our lives must have crossed so many times. and yet a few years later, you know, the situation in myanmar has thrust him into a war zone, whereas my life has gone down a very different path. so i found that sort of parallel universe almost, like, very poignant. despite the drone unit's many successes, the regime forces

remain a constant threat. while filming one operation, arnold and the team were forced to beat a hasty retreat. just drive, drive, drive. drive, drive! they're expecting heavy incoming artillery fire, i and we have to leave straight away — these are the conditions that people are living in, day in, day out in myanmar, and it is important to document that. and i think if that is your motivation as a journalist and something that you feel very strongly about, then ultimately these risks are something that you are able to cope with. the judges said that the film offered a unique insight into the myanmar conflict thanks to fantastic access and years of investment in the story by arnold.

explosion. sunday, the 29th of october, day 22 of the war in gaza, and the palestinian civil defence, which is responsible for emergency services and rescue, is under enormous pressure as israel steps up its response to the october 7th attacks. ibrahim al otla's winning film tells the story of one brutal day in the life of captain moumen and his team of first responders. explosion.

for al otla, staying safe amid the chaos wasn't a luxury that he or the emergency workers could afford. explosions. confronted with the dilemma of assisting in rescue missions or carrying on with his journalistic duty to report what was happening, al otla opted to do both.

the judges said that al otla had created an extraordinary film that was mesmerising from the opening scene. capturing humanity and helplessness in equal turn, it had kept thejudges rapt. and, finally, the sony impact award recognises the work of those in long—form current affairs, examining a single story that has an impact on the viewer, policy or public awareness.

huh? gunshot. three months on from the october the 7th attacks, with the world focused on events in gaza, the israeli military had drastically increased its operations in the occupied west bank. it really does seem like the whole city is on lockdown. with allegations surfacing about its conduct in the region, sara obeidat, isobel yeung and josh baker went there to examine israel's claim that its army is the most moral in the world. during the course of filming, we noticed that there had been a dramatic uptick in the numbers of children being killed by the israeli military and the number of operations taking place. bbc! english! and so we wanted to understand what are the parameters and rules that the israeli military are meant to be using when they go out and conduct these operations? how are they staged? what is the rules around the use of lethal force? and, crucially, are those rules being followed? the israeli military

repeatedly declined to be interviewed for the film, but a number of former servicemen did agree to talk. the team presented them with evidence uncovered during the course of their investigation. obviously, at face value, - and i'm going to stress at face value, it doesn't look good. i would like to believe . that there was some kind of trigger for that. we wanted to speak to people who had served in the israeli military, which is difficult when it comes to trying to find people who would be willing to critique or be very candid about what they saw were the flaws, and were the issues within the military. some people requested to remain anonymous in order for them to be able to share their story and shed light on this issue. at the time of filming, the west bank had become an extremely dangerous place to operate. they've got guns pointed to us. step outside, please. ok.

but the experienced team were acutely aware of balancing the risks with their duty to report the story. i cover a lot of conflicts in my career. i think that what's going through your mind when you're faced with that violence, you know, when you're held at gunpoint, you're just trying to stay focused. you're trying to ensure that you being there is worth the risk. and that, for me, means coming out with the story, making sure that people's voices are heard, making sure that the world understands what's happening in this region. thejudges commended the film—makers for their rigorous and in—depth investigative journalism and for bringing a critical new understanding to an extensively covered conflict. with exclusive, intimate

access, this film by melanie quigley, vladimir sevrinovsky, oksana serbinova, anastasia tenisheva and evan williams reveals the story of russian women trying to find theirsons, husbands and brothers who've gone missing fighting in ukraine. filmed by a team of russian film—makers at the romb independent media group, the producers carefully navigated access, security and legal issues at a time of ever—tightening official control. nobody else would make a story about these people. even if they are loyal to the regime, it's not very convenient to the regime, because it wants to paint a very bright and nice picture. but, of course, people are dying, and the whole of russia is full of tragedies such as the tragedy of these women.

as the women's searches were hampered by a repressive state bureaucracy, some of them turned to an unlikely source in the search for their loved ones. a lot of our heroes, they called ukrainian soldiers and they asked about their sons and husbands, and the ukrainian soldiers answered them. maybe they thought that maybe if something bad would happen to me, my mother would do the same. and i think there's a kind of weird brotherhood between these victims of the war on both sides, because these women are also victims. while russian public support for the war remains ostensibly high, sevrinovsky sees a clear distinction between the views of ukrainian and russian service families.

in ukraine, the picture for them is quite clear, because they are defending their country. and for russia, it's very hard for any mother to admit that her son gave his life in an unjust war. so they're heavily tortured by this situation. the judges noted the extreme risks taken by the team to tell this story and said that the ultimate success of the film lay in their ability to build trusting relationships with the mothers and wives who went on camera. winner of the sony impact award, this film, by director of photography jaber badwan and producer—director vanessa bowles, follows the lives of ordinary palestinians as war

rages around them. filmed over months by a team of palestinian journalists, it's a testament to their extraordinary efforts to report the events unfolding in gaza as they endure professional and personal hardship and loss. in london, director vanessa bowles was in constant contact with the teams on the ground, supporting and guiding them through extremely traumatic circumstances. nothing can prepare

you to witness this amount of suffering, the scale of killing. what helped me push through — and let me tell you, it wasn't easy — is the slight hope that these kinds of films might produce some kind of compassion and that the film—makers and the contributors on the ground in gaza would somehow feel like they were being seen, howeverslightly. for badwan, an encounter with a young palestinian girl whose father was killed and who was herself badly injured in an israeli air strike left him deeply affected.

as an award that recognises the immense risks and challenges that freelance journalists face, the judges felt the film was both vital and humanising in its portrayal of the war. they said the film—makers�* unflinching commitment to capture their own lived reality in such depth was awe—inspiring. that's it from this year's edition of the firing line, where we heard from the freelance journalists who brought us stories from the caribbean and europe to southeast asia and sub—saharan africa, and, of course, the middle east, and whose work was honoured at the 2024 rory peck awards. until next year, goodbye.

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 1 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.

live from london, this is bbc news. azerbaijan airlines says "external interference" brought down one of its planes that crashed in kazakhstan.

mexico's government tests a "panic button" app, allowing migrants to send an alert if the us government tries to deport them. new analysis shows fossil fuels are supercharging heat waves. the climate crisis added six more weeks of extreme heat in 2024. the prime minister of nepal says there are too many tigers in his country and wants to give some away. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. the white house says it's seen "early indications" that suggest a plane which crashed in kazakhstan this week was possibly brought down by russian air defence systems. the kremlin has so far refused to comment on reports the plane was hit by russian weaponry. azerbaijan airlines says that the preliminary results

of the investigation into the incident found