in the north of the territory after they forcibly evacuated the patients. thick fog is causing travel disruption around the uk, with flights cancelled and drivers warned to be careful on roads. and india pays respects to former prime minister manmohan singh — his last rites were held with full state honours. hello, i'm lucy hockings. president putin has apologised to azerbaijan's president for what he called a "tragic incident" in russian airspace involving the azerbaijan airlines plane that crashed in kazakhstan on christmas day, killing 38 people. there's no direct admission the plane was struck by a russian missile. a statement on the kremlin website says russian air defence was repelling a drone attack while the plane was attempting to land. our russia editor steve

rosenberg is in moscow in the latest development, president putin has called for an objective and transparent investigation into the crash. our russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow and told us more about the kremlin�*s statement. the wording is very important here in these situations. you have to look at the wording on the kremlin website in the readout of the conversation. so, yes, vladimir putin did apologise, but not for downing the plane, he apologised for what the kremlin calls a tragic incident which took place in russian airspace. he expressed condolences to the families of the dead. so, according to the kremlin readout, this plane, the azerbaijan airlines flight, had been trying to land so, according to the kremlin readout, this plane, the azerbaijan airlines flight, had been trying to land in grozny in the russian north caucases several times on christmas day. at that time, according

to the kremlin, russian air defences were repelling a ukrainian drone attack, so you could put two and two together, but that is not clear from the kremlin readout. so, basically, the kremlin is blaming ukraine for attacking grozny airport with drones. that is the way i read it from what the kremlin has put out in that statement, that description of the conversation between the two presidents. steve, president putin never apologises for anything, though, and a lot of people will look at this statement and think is it as close that we will get to an admission that russia was responsible, given they said air defences were operational at the time? but what about the timing of this? there was a lot of pressure coming out of azerbaijan with people pointing the finger of blame very much at moscow. you are absolutely right, lucy. ever since this disaster, there has been growing evidence that the plane may well have been hit by a russian air defensive missiles. azerbaijan airlines said i think it was yesterday

that the plane was subjected to external physical, and technical interference as well. you had america also yesterday saying they were early indications that the plane may have been shot, hit by a russian air defence system. so the evidence has been growing by the day and that leads us to the kremlin�*s decision to have this telephone conversation between the two presidents and put out this statement. we don't know the full details of what was said in that conversation between president aliyev and president putin. we can see what the kremlin readout said. and this is the closest russia has come so far to accepting responsibility for the disaster. russia and azerbaijan are allies, how important is that relationship to russia? yes, i think it is an important

relationship. russia wants to retain influence in the former soviet space. azerbaijan has been a key partner, even though azerbaijan is also now a key partner of turkey. but clearly i think the issuing of this statement, the telephone conversation today between the two presidents is a sign that the kremlin does believe it is an important relationship to maintain. clearly there has been a lot of anger in baku after this disaster, and so that leads us to what the kremlin has said today and this apology, as i say, not for shooting down the plane, but for this incident taking place in russian airspace. but as we have been saying, this is the closest we have come to hearing an apology from russia for what happened on christmas day. meanwhile, funerals have begun taking place for the 38 people who died in the azerbaijan airlines crash.

relatives say 13—year—old muhammedali yeganov was flying to grozny to visit his mother when the plane went down on wednesday. the promising young footballer was laid to rest in his home district in baku. the world health organization and palestinian health officials say the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza has been put out of service after it was evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the idf for weeks and is now empty. the world health organization said it was deeply concerned for the safety of patients who were forced to leave. the head of the hospital's nursing department told the bbc the army gave them only a is—minute warning to evacuate patients and staff before the israeli army entered the hospital and removed anyone that remained. palestinian health officials say around 100 medical staff were ta ken into an interrogating site and questioned last night and the director of the hospital was detained. some of the medical staff who have been released have now reached the indonesian hospital. israel says the kamal adwan hospital was being used by hamas as a command centre, but has not provided any

evidence to support this. patients and medical staff have described what they witnessed during the evacuation. take a listen. translation: at around 4am, the army came to the hospital. and asked all the medical staff and patients and people accompanying them to go into the court. then, they grouped everyone. the medical teams alone, the patients alone, then they got ambulances to get us and sent us through the main gate. translation: the patients that were evacuated now have been i held for interrogation for 24 hours, despite their injuries. the army didn't care that they were injured, and left them out in the cold that 24 hours, and they were left on the roundabout and we, as paramedics, got to the closest point, despite the dangers, and evacuated a large number of patients. a spokesperson for unicef injerusalem said the fate of the babies and children evacuated from kamal adwan hospital is still unknown. kamal adwan had the only

paediatric facility in northern gaza. we are trying to get some details, to be honest, about what happened to the babies. exactly as you said, kamal adwan hospital is the only hospital that had a paediatric unit. the information is coming in slower manner and in parts. i cannot confirm exactly what took place with the babies in kamal adwan hospital. all what we know is actually according to the who, that it is empty now — 15 critical cases and probably 50 health care givers and some staff were moved to a hospital nearby which already has a lack of medical supplies and enough staff so it is really challenging in that area and in kamal adwan right now. are there any hospitals in operational anywhere in gaza at the moment that can cope with some of the paediatric needs on the ground? according to the who,

there is not even one single hospital that is fully functional in the gaza strip, out of 36 hospitals. we are talking no less than probably 16 of them that are partially functional, not even one single that is fully functional. what does that mean for babies and children that need care? it means that they will continue, sadly, to pay the highest price of the conflict, just like any other children in the world. we are coming to the end of the year and it doesn't seem that this will come to an end. the health system in the gaza strip is on its knees, really, it is on its knees, and the highest price will continue to be paid by civilians and by children, mainly. one of the big concerns at the moment is just how cold it is, and we have heard reports of babies dying of hypothermia in gaza. are any supplies getting in to address just that one need, in terms of better

shelter, warmer clothing or blankets? we are trying to handle this particular challenge. not only to diseases and to bombardment and lack of adequate shelter, now the cold weather is also taking the lives of the newborns. we are trying to push into the gaza strip some blankets and some tarps to help, together with our partners, but the overall size of aid getting into the gaza strip is very far away from being enough, in terms of everything that is needed. what percentage of aid, would you say, is actually managing to get in at the moment? well, let me give you the following number. prior to the war, the gaza strip used to have 500 trucks full of different kinds of aid every single day. now, we are talking about tens. 50, 60, 70 per day. so that's the difference. so, 500 prior to the war, as in prior to the damage and increasing needs,

and now you are talking about tens tens of aid trucks getting in, if they ever make it actually to their final destination in the gaza strip. the head of the world health organization has told the bbc that it was public knowledge he was in yemen on thursday when israel launched air strikes at houthi targets. this footage reportedly captured the incident from inside the airport. dr tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, who's now injordan, said the main target, the international airport in sanaa, was a civilian facility and should not have been hit. at least six people were killed. israel says it was targeting military infrastructure. it was very chaotic, you know, people were in disarray and running everywhere. no shelter. we were completely exposed. it is matter of luck. otherwise, if the missile deviated just slightly, it could have been on our head. and so my colleague actually said after all that, we escaped narrowly. and it is a civilian airport.

i think there are rules to engagement, as you know, and that has to be respected. and that is why we have international law. so what we are saying is international law should be respected. here in the uk, weather forecasters say fog, which has led to dozens of flight cancellations, will persist but conditions could improve later. airline passengers, particularly in the south of england, face delays of up to several hours as thick fog continues. live from gatwick and our reporter barry caffrey joins me now. barry, good to see you, how are things at gatwick?— things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great. — things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great. it _ things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great, it has _ things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great, it has to _ things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great, it has to be - things at gatwick? yes, lucy, not great, it has to be said. l not great, it has to be said. it has been quite a difficult day for passengers here at gatwick airport, with a majority of short—haul flights at least suffering delays of at least two hours, some of the airlines are reporting hours —— delays of three or four hours or even more. and passengers

have been turning to social media, saying it is quite difficult inside the terminal with a lack of seating. but it is notjust here at gatwick airport. heathrow airport has also been significantly disrupted today with cancellations and with delays, too. luton, stansted, birmingham, london city, and manchester airports, too, all experiencing delays to short—haul flights of around two to three hours. easyjet, british airways are some of the allies that have had to cancel flights. many flights between london, glasgow, belfast, and edinburgh have been cancelled today. the uk's main air traffic control provider is nats, it says temporary air traffic restrictions remain in place while there is no —— low visibility. and it says restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety, and it says it is in touch with the airlines and airports to try and minimise

disruption. the advice for anyone trying to travel either tonight or tomorrow is to check with their airline before making a journey to the airport. the met office is also advising travellers to allow a little extra time on the roads and is warning drivers also to leave some extra braking distances in areas with poor visibility. the met office says the folk should lift across the uk later tonight. —— the fog. now it's time for a look at today's sport hello from the bbc sport centre. nick kyrgios says the high—profile doping cases involving grand slam winners jannik sinner and iga swiatek are "disgusting" for tennis. the australian is preparing to make his return to competitive action at the brisbane international and says "i just think that it's been handled horrifically in our sport," adding "it's a horrible look." italian men's world number one sinner still faces the threat of a possible suspension after he twice tested positive for an anabolic steroid in march. swiatek served a one—month suspension after testing positive for a banned heart

medication in august. ijust think that i just think that it has ijust think that it has been handled horrifically in our sport and two world number one is getting doped for doping is discussing for our sport. it is a horrible look. tennis integrity right now, nobody was to speak about it, it is actually awful. and it is not ok. i know that people don't like when i speak out about things and be honest about things, but as a kid that grows up things, but as a kid that grows up playing tell —ish, —— playing tenets, it is ridiculous in my opinion. i'm not going to shut about it anyway. not going to shut about it an a . �* ., not going to shut about it an a. , not going to shut about it an a. n,, anyway. both players denied the allegations- _

in cricket, australia remain in charge of the fourth test in melbourne, but india are still in contention, thanks to a superb first test century from nitish kumar reddy. playing only his fourth test match, the 21—year—old hit an unbeaten 105 to drag his side from 191—6 to 358—9 at the close of play. you can see what it meant to his dad here. bad light and rain arrived soon afterwards to end play, with india 116 runs behind going into day four. however, they have hope of at least a draw thanks to reddy�*s hundred. the series is currently tied at 1—1. meanwhile at centurian, south africa lost three wickets cheaply in their second innings reply against pakistan. marco jensen took six for 52 as the tourists were all out for 237 in their second innings. south africa need 121 runs to win the first test. they finished day three on 27 for three. there are no premier league fixtures this saturday but manchester city are first up on sunday, away at leicester. pep guardiola's side are on their worst run of away games for 13 years —

they've lost seven of their last eight on the road in all competitions. however, the manchester city boss is confident he can turn things around. it will be early or easier to fix it sometimes and other times it will take more time. i will not give up. i will try to be calm as possible, try to read the situation, what we can do in the next game to make it better. we will try to do a good game and get results. we will do it. in the nba, the eastern conference leaders the cleveland cavaliers have improved their league—best record to 27 wins in 31 with a 119—135 victory over the denver nuggets. elsewhere, jaylen brown scored a season—high 44 points, including six 3—pointers, as the boston celtics ended a run of two defeats with a 142—105 win over

the indiana pacers. jayson tatum adding 22 points and 13 rebounds for boston. world number one scottie scheffler suffered a freak accident while cooking dinner on christmas day and has undergone surgery to his hand. the two—time major winner will now miss the first two weeks of the new pga tour season, with his manager saying he will return to action at the american express championship onjanuary 16th in california. scheffler sustained a puncture wound to the palm of his right hand from a broken glass and needed surgery for small fragments that remained. more details on all of those stories, on the bbc website. the state funeral of the former indian prime minister, manmohan singh has taken place in delhi. india's first sikh premier died on thursday at the age of 92. mourners turned out across the capital to pay their respects as mamohan singh�*s coffin

was placed on a flower—decked carriage pulled by a ceremonial army truck. guns fire. the ceremony included a 21—gun salute and was attended by india prime minister narendra modi, members of mr singh�*s congress party as well as other politicians and foreign dignitaries. mihir sharma is an economist in kolkata. he shared his thoughts on manmohan singh�*s legacy. he ensured, essentially, that we open to the economy in 1991, as finance minister. he, as prime minister in the period between 2004 and 2014, ensured that we revised our international orientation to become more westward leaning by pushing through a very controversial at the time nuclear deal with the us, and that sort of normalised india's nuclear programme, and repaired

you relations with the us. in many ways, the india that we see now, which is quite outward looking, very integrated into the world economy and quite confident, is the one he began to build a 1991 as finance minister and continued as prime minister. ~ . minister and continued as prime minister. ~ ,, ,, , , minister. what about his belief in political _ minister. what about his belief in political consensus, - in political consensus, something he talked about a lot? do you feel those kinds of sentiments have changed in the india we have today? i sentiments have changed in the india we have today?— india we have today? i think that in 2014, _ india we have today? i think that in 2014, one _ india we have today? i think that in 2014, one of- india we have today? i think that in 2014, one of the - that in 2014, one of the reasons why there was a political reaction to his ten years in power were that people had grown tired of this 25 year search for consensus that we had had to endure in india during a period of large and extensive coalitions and government in new delhi. but the fact is that the kind of discussions that were needed to build consensus at a federal level are vitally important to keep countries like india united and in the same direction. overthe united and in the same direction. over the past few years, we have occasionally

seen the dangers of not building sufficient consensus before major reforms are launched. for example, prime minister modi had to take back some of his reforms, including of agriculture, because there was a failure to get consensus in advance. sir keir starmer has written to the uk's major regulators asking them to submit proposals for reforms that could boost economic growth.the prime minister wants each watchdog to come up with ideas by mid—january. these could include removing regulations and other potential barriers to growth. labour is under pressure after downgraded figures revealed the uk economy flatlined between july and september. in the georgian capital tbilisi, thousands of people have formed a human chain in support of the country s bid for eu membership, marking the second month of their daily pro—europe rallies. since november 28th, protesters across georgia have been holding mass rallies after the ruling georgian dream party announced it would delay seeking eu accession talks. the demonstration took place just one day before

the inauguration of mikheil kavelashvili, a loyalist of the ruling, pro—russian, georgian dream party as the country s new president. mr kavelashvili has been labelled illegitimate by current leader salome zourabichvili and the pro—western opposition. and here's proof that chess takes its dress code seriously — reigning world number one magnus carlsen has quit a major tournament — all over a pair ofjeans. the grandmaster was told that his denim attire was a no—go. the tournament's governing body said he couldn't continue playing unless he swapped them for something more formal. but carlsen made an unexpected move, he pulled out on the spot. he later put this picture of his offending outfit on social media — captioning it "ootd", that's an abbreviation for outfit of the day. the chess federation said has defended its decision to take a tough line on the jeans. in a statement, they said their regulations

including the dress code, are designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants. so, is this a case of fashion overfunction, orjust another pawn in the game of chess politics? to answer that, i'm joined by our europe regional editor, paul moss. tell us what happened, paul. i'm still struck by that statement from the organisers, saying that the dress code was to ensure fairness for all participants. i mean, are they suggesting that if you wear a pair ofjeans you have an unfair advantage? pair ofjeans you have an unfairadvantage? i'm not clear about this. the world of chess is rather staid, it seems, in the united states. i actually find carlsen $200 straightaway for turning up in these pair of jeans and they said he had to change and he did offer to change and he did offer to change into different clothes for the next day but they said he had to change immediately and he said it is a matter of principle and he said that they could get lost, actually, i have to say he used words i'm

not going to repeat on television but with his usual frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? _ frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he _ frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he has _ frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he has a - frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he has a bit - frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he has a bit of i frankness and gusto. should we be surprised? he has a bit of a l be surprised? he has a bit of a reputation- _ be surprised? he has a bit of a reputation. indeed. _ be surprised? he has a bit of a reputation. indeed. magnus. reputation. indeed. magnus carlsen is someone who very self—consciously has tried to change the image of the chess grandmaster, the stereotyped image of geeky people, perhaps a little introverted, he is someone who enjoys life. he is to have quite a reputation for consumption of alcohol, he went by the nickname of drop —— dr drunken steyn. he is confident but not arrogant, he is someone who knows there is more to life than kings and queens and bishops. i should say there is a serious side to this, a lot of people are big fans of carlsen because they say that by changing the image of the chess grandmaster, he has encouraged people into the game who might otherwise have been put off. you may remember a few years ago there was a television drama series, queens gambit, that encourage a lot of

women and girls to play chess who might have thought it was a male thing. magnus carlsen was very much part of the st movement, to change the image of chess. a lot of people think he succeeded. i of chess. a lot of people think he succeeded.— he succeeded. i think he has and queens _ he succeeded. i think he has and queens gambit - he succeeded. i think he has and queens gambit went - he succeeded. i think he has and queens gambit went a l he succeeded. i think he has i and queens gambit went a long way to doing that as well. what about the controversies around magnus carlsen?— magnus carlsen? there is another — magnus carlsen? there is another one _ magnus carlsen? there is another one which - magnus carlsen? there is another one which is - magnus carlsen? there isj another one which is even magnus carlsen? there is - another one which is even more delicate, two years ago, magnus carlsen was playing a match against another player who was not regarded as being in the same league as magnus carlsen but he beat magnus carlsen, a big shock, at which point magnus carlsen made a rather extraordinary allegation, i'm going to choose my words carefully, what is adjusted was that his opponent had had certain very small objects inserted in a certain part of his body and inse