in northern gaza after they forcibly evacuated patients. thick fog continues to cause delays and cancellations at some of the uk's busiest international airports. and — these jeans were not made for chess — in fact it led to the resignation of the world's top grandmaster. hello, i'm anjana gadgil. 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. in the latest development,

president putin has called for an �*objective and transparent�* probe into the crash. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is in moscow to unpack the kremlin�*s statement. here is a phrase you don't hear very often from vladimir putin, i am sorry, but, and it is a key point to make, i think i'm i am sorry, but, and it is a key point to make, i think, in a carefully worded statement the only thing the kremlin actually admitted was that this tragic incident, as the kremlin called it, happened in russian airspace. there was no public admission that it was a russian missile that had damaged flight 8243 and caused it to crash in kazakhstan on christmas day. the suspicion since wednesday was that it was a russian missile that did this. when president putin telephoned the azerbaijani president he did admit that russian air

defence systems had been in operation at the time the azerbaijan airlines flight tried to land at grozny airport. he said the air defences were trying to repel a ukrainian drone attack. no explanation in the kremlin readout of that conversation as to why that plane was allowed anywhere near grozny airport if there was a ukrainian drone attack in the way the airspace hadn't been closed. to sum up what vladimir putin didn't say today was, yes, we did this, it was a russian missile that downed the plane, but this is the closest russia has come so far to admitting responsibility for the disaster. for more on this, i spoke earlier with andrew nicholson, the ceo of osprey flight solutions, a risk intelligence and management company. i asked him whether putin's statements clarify anything about the accident. it clarifies some details. it confirms that the incident happened in russian airspace but other than that it doesn't change our assessment. all of the indicators were there already that the scenario that appears to have played out was a russian

aircraft activity. it misidentified the aircraft and shot it down. i don't think putin's statement changes that but the fact that it then did occur in russian airspace, and he has confirmed that, and the aircraft then diverted across the caspian sea is a good bit of information in detail but we need to understand why they diverted all the way across the caspian sea. i think it adds that colour to the scenario. can radar and anti—aircraft systems see between a passenger aircraft and a drone? it depends on the type of anti—aircraft system or air defence system. there are checks and balances. the more modern ones are more capable. but there is always the human factor.

we saw that in tragedies like mh1710 years ago. human error, military operators, people in high stress environments where they are under attack at the time, they have their fingers on the trigger, they are looking up in the sky for things to shoot down, these are the classic scenarios to shoot down a civilian aircraft. if a civilian aircraft is in the same airspace then that is when these things happen. this is a huge human tragedy because 38 people have lost their lives and their families will all want answers. how do you think this will affect civil aviation in that region? i would hope... i would like to say this is the manifestation of a risk that has been there for a while. we've been reporting on the risk in the airspace for a while. this is just that manifestation and many operators that are operating in that area and they have taken account of this risk and they will continue to operate safely because they will put

that into their assessment of how they conduct their operations. for any operator who hadn't taken it into account, hopefully this is a wake—up call and i hope that we will see some operatives changing their operative model, either changing their flight routes or moving the time of their flight. the vast majority of conflict activity happens in the hours of darkness in the early morning. if you can take that into account and move your operating time or your flight times outside of that period then you can mitigate that risk to a large extent. i would hope to see that long—term. i'm not confident we will see those changes continue to happen long—term. as we have learnt from flights like mh17, we don't necessarily hold onto those lessons for long enough to stop this happening again. how confident are you that a thorough investigation will be able to take place? that's a challenging question. there are a lot of stakeholders here involved in the investigation. both azerbaijan airlines and

their civil aviation authority, as well as their air—traffic investigation board will be involved. the kazakhs will be involved of course and the russians as well as it happened russian airspace. that does drive hope that there will be a bit more transparency and objectivity but there is a lot of organisations at play here. a lot of different agendas. a lot of different relationships which pose challenges to getting the best outcome out of this investigation. thanks very much. 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 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 fifteen—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. the director of the hospital was also detained. some of the medical staff who have been released have now reached the indonesian hospital. israel has confirmed it has ended its raid on kamal adwan hospital, which it said was being used by hamas as a command centre. israel has not provided any evidence to support this. patients and medical staff have described what they witnessed during the evacuation. translation: at around 4am, the army came to the hospitall 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: they were shooting through the windows. _ there were artillery shells by the gates. we came out at 7:30am and didn't know what to do or where to go. the army asked us to leave kamal adwan and head to faarah. the way there, there is no road, just deep sand. my father kept having to pull me out of it. it is difficult to walk with an injury. translation: the patients that were evacuated - now have been 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 for 24 hours, and they were left i on the roundabout and we, as paramedics, got to - the closest point despite i the dangers, and evacuated a large number of patients.

the head of the world health organisation 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. alon pinkas, israeli diplomat and writer says he's not sure israel should be striking at yemen alone. it remains to be seen if israel is making a smart move here, because the houthi issue is does notjust concern israel, it's much more international. they control the entrance through the bab el—mandeb strait into the red sea, leading to the suez canal.

yesterday, british and us air airstrikes in yemen against the houthis. so while mr netanyahu likes to boast and brag, and he's right in the sense that israel will respond, i think that it needs to be a part of a broader international effort rather than an israeli houthi tit for tat. yes. and i know you have been very critical of the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, in the past. alon, what do you consider the potential consequences of israel acting on its own against the houthis, as opposed to seeking a broader coalition with the global community. i'm not sure they're going to be, you know, measurable or concrete consequences, but militarily, it's not very sustainable. yemen, well, let's take the capital of sana'a is 2000km, i300 roughly miles away from israel, in order to fly there and strike military targets or infrastructure. israeli planes need to be

refuelled in the air. this is a very lengthy trip back and forth. um, and it exposes, um, the israeli operation. the israeli planes... and so you could do it once, you could do it twice. you could do it three times. you can even use the navy as a supplement. the israeli navy, that is. but that that won't cut it because yemen is a big country. um, it is almost two and a half times the size of britain. um, it has 38 million people. um, and, you know, just bombing sporadically here and there may not have consequences, but at the same time, it may not yield anything useful or productive. this needs to be an international effort.

and when i say international, i don'tjust mean the us. take china, for example. uh, 60% of china's exports to western europe go through the suez canal. so it's a vested chinese interest, as it is a vested saudi interest because of the oil that the houthis be dealt with in a broader international way. it could be diplomatic. it could be military. i'm not making that decision right now. but going at it alone from israel's point of view, israel's point of view, that is may not have dire consequences, but equally so will not produce any good results. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is to undergo prostate removal surgery. his office said the 75—year—old had suffered a urinary tract infection as a result of what it described as �*benign prostate enlargement�*. the operation will take place on sunday. the official statement said the weekly cabinet meeting would nonetheless take place as planned.

air passengers are facing delays and cancellations after fog enveloped the uk, severely disrupting international flights. with visibility as low as 100 metres, many flights out of gatwick, one of europe�*s busiest airports, were either cancelled or delayed for several hours. and weather forecasters say the fog which blanketed much of england and wales will persist. our news correspondent barry caffrey has the latest from gatwick airport. a difficult day for passengers here at gatwick today, as you mentioned there have been delays of at least two hours, in some cases three orfour hours or more. there have been cancellations by various airlines, including easyjet, british airways, and vueling. but it is notjust here at gatwick, heathrow airport has experienced significant delays and cancellations today and manchester airport, birmingham, stansted, london luton, and london city, all experiencing delays today. the bad news is it is set to

continue over the coming hours. we have heard from nats which is the uk�*s main air traffic control provider which says that temporary air traffic restrictions are in place while there is this low visibility. they said they�*re doing this when it comes to safety, and it is in constant communication with both the airports and the airlines in order to try and minimise the disruption. the advice for any passengers intending either travelling tonight or indeed tomorrow is to check with your airline before making the journey to the airport. the met office is advising passengers to allow longer for theirjourney given the weather, but it does say that the fog is expected to start a clear by later tonight. now it�*s time for a look at today�*s sport

with jane dougall. 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 it has been handled horrifically in our sport and two world number ones getting done for doping is disgusting for our sport. it is a horrible look. tennis integrity right now,

everyone knows it, but nobody wants to speak about it, it is actually awful. and it is not ok. onto football and there are a couple of big games affecting the top of serie a on saturday. inter are up to second after a 3—0 win away to cagliari. leaders atalanta are in action right now at lazio knowing a win could take them three points clear at the top. but it�*s not going to plan for them so far as they are a goal down in the italian capital. 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 might not be easy to fix it, it will take time, i will not give up. i just try to be as calm as possible to try to read what is the situation. what we are doing from one game to the next to make it better.

it has been difficult to try to get results, the players will do it. liverpool could be nine points clear at the top with victory at west ham tomorrow. the merseysiders are still the only side with an unbeaten away record in the premier league. if you work in a big club like liverpool, there is always pressure. i think last season, halfway through the season, weren�*t they also number one? i think they were last season. it�*s not so strange for a club like us to be on top of the league, but we know how many good teams there are in this league, they are able to win almost every game as well. to cricket now and australia remain in charge of the fourth test in melboune, 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. marcojensen took 6 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 3. and finally, world chess number one magnus carlsen has quit a major tournament in new york after a row over his jeans. the grandmaster was defending his titles at the fide world rapid

and blitz chess championships when officials objected to his choice of trousers. despite offering to change them for the next day, carlsen was fined and told he needed to change immediately. instead he decided to pull out of the tournaments altogether. the norwegian also hit the headlines last year after he settled a long—running legal dispute after accusing a rival of cheating in a tournament. and that�*s all the sport for now. tech entrepreneur elon musk, has once again voiced his support for germany�*s alternative for germany party, publishing a guest opinion piece in the online edition of welt am sonntag. his contribution has prompted the paper�*s commentary editor to resign in protest. in the article, mr mush expanded on a recent post on his social media platform, x, where he wrote, "only the afd can save germany."

the piece argued that the afd represents the hope germany needs as it "teeters on the brink of economic and cultural collapse." the party is currently polling second and could disrupt a center—right or center—left majority, but germany�*s mainstream parties have pledged to reject any national alliance with the group. 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 dr singh�*s coffin was placed on a flower—decked carriage pulled by a ceremonial army truck. the ceremony included a 21—gun salute and was attended by india prime minister narendra modi, members of dr singh�*s congress party as well as other politicians and foreign dignitaries. thousands of protesters in georgia have formed a human

chain in the capital, tbilisi, to mark a month of daily pro—europe demonstrations. similar rallies have been held in other towns and cities across the country. mass protests have gripped georgia since the increasingly authoritarian government said it would delay eu accession talks until 2028. opposition anger has been compounded since parliament chose a government loyalist as president. he is due to take office on sunday. the incumbent, salome zourabichvili, is refusing to step down, describing his election as illegitimate. a ukrainian official has told the bbc they hope a new year prisoner exchange with russia will happen " any day,�* although arrangements could fall through at the last minute. there have been just 10 exchanges this year, the lowest number since the full—scale invasion in 2022. ukraine doesn�*t publish numbers of prisoners of war

being held by russia, but the total is thought to be over 8,000. will vernon reports. a christmas concert for ukrainians exhausted by war. dancer liliya keeps her pain hidden. her boyfriend bohdan was captured by russian forces two and a half years ago. she hasn�*t heard from him since. translation: the christmas holidays are a painful time. . if you want to celebrate, then you should. but without forgetting that we need to support our soldiers. bohdan is very kind. he really loves cats, just like i do. liliya still sends messages to bohdan�*s phone... messages for him in the future. ..knowing he can�*t see them. translation: i miss him a lot. he needs to be saved and have his freedom back.

freedom for ukrainians held by russia, that�*s what liliya and thousands of others are demanding. they hold regular street demonstrations. this one calling on the world not to forget the prisoners at christmas. many of the relatives here have no idea where their loved ones are or what condition they�*re in. russia provides prisoners with almost no access to communication with relatives, which only intensifies the suffering of families here in ukraine. for this family, the wait is finally over. andriy and lena served in the ukrainian military and were both captured by the russians in 2022. lena, who was pregnant, was set free after two weeks, but andriy was freed only recently after two and a half years in captivity. translation: they beat us mercilessly with sticks - and their fists and feet. the food was horrifying — rotten fish heads and sour cabbage.

i thought about my wife constantly. i remembered her smell and was desperately hoping to receive a letter from her. here, andriy meets his son, leon, for the very first time. translation: i constantly wrote him letters, saying l he would finally have the child he had wanted for so long. later, i learned that he hadn�*t received a single one. we want to spend these holidays together and feel the warmth of being a family. the russian authorities told us allegations of mistreatment of prisoners were false and captured ukrainian militants were treated humanely, according to the geneva convention. will vernon, bbc news, lviv. a lottery ticket holder in the us has woken up more than $1 billion richer after matching all 6 winning numbers in the mega millions draw. the winning ticket was bought at this convenience store in cottonwood in california.

the prize is estimated to be around $1.3 billion but that�*s only the 5th biggest prize in the game�*s history. the largest win was a little over $2 billion also bought by someone in california back in november 2022. we didn�*t get a white christmas in the uk but if you�*re looking for some winter wonderland scenes, then take a look at the tai—hang mountains of china. people have been flocking there to see the huge icicles which form at this time of year. the area has a lot of water and is prone to sudden drops in temperature — creating these spectacular displays. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there, some higher parts of england and wales have again been sticking out above this misty low cloud today. it�*s quite gloomy and murky and a little damp in other parts of england and wales. the fog, though, probably not quite as extensive as it has been. and through the rest of the weekend, the breeze

picks up a little, that mist and patchy fog will be lifting, promising some brighter skies more widely tomorrow, although there will be some rain still in scotland. the mist and fog is closer to this area of low pressure which is affecting other parts of europe as well, that weather front weakening as it moves south, and another band of rain heading into northern scotland by the end of the day. but temperatures in scotland and northern ireland in double figures. where it�*s grey and gloomy through the midlands, south—east england, it�*s going to be a chilly 5 or 6 degrees here, again. and still some extensive low cloud, some patches of mist and fog into the night, tending to lift from the north, as the breeze picks up, and we see some rain arriving across more of northern scotland, particularly towards the highlands. where we do see a few breaks in the cloud further south, temperatures could get close to freezing once again. we may still have some mist and patchy fog to start with in southern parts of england and wales on sunday. that should tend to lift, skies brightening, there may even be a bit of sunshine across more areas. further north, though, with those stronger winds in scotland we are going

to find some further rain across the northern half of the country. but temperatures should be higher in england and wales with the promise of a little sunshine, temperatures reaching 9 or 10 degrees. we are going to find that rain, though, continuing in scotland and every now and again an area of low pressure develops on that, intensifying the rain. and it�*s bumping into colder air in the far north of the country, so we could well find some snow in parts of scotland. it�*s rain for the most part, but some of that rain will be affecting northern england and northern ireland on monday. further south, the breeze continues to pick up a little, and bring in a few holes in the cloud but lifting temperatures into 10 or 11 degrees. some disruptive weather at the end of the year. monday into tuesday, from the central belt northwards, mainly some heavy rain, but there could be some snow for a while. as that melts it brings the risk of flooding and some travel disruption as well. but things could get even worse for new year�*s day because the next area of low

pressure is going to be deeper, it�*ll bring stronger winds, more widely, some heavy rain and some heavier snow in scotland.

this is bbc news, the headlines: russia�*s president vladimir putin has apologised to the president of azerbaijan for the downing of a passenger plane in kazakhstan. he called it a tragic incident

in russian airspace but did not admit that russian air defences shot it down. the health ministry in gaza says israeli forces detained and interrogated around 100 medical staff from a hospital in the north of the territory after they forcibly evacuated the patients. the world health organization says it�*s the last major hospital in northern gaza now out of service. thick fog continues to cause delays and cancellations at some of the uk�*s busiest international airports. forecasters say the fog is likely to linger. and — these jeans were not made for chess — in fact it led to the resignation of the world�*s top grandmaster, magnus carlsen, who was defending his titles at two championships in new york. more than 1,000 critically endangered snails — some of which were bred in captivity here in the uk — have been released onto a remote portuguese island. the desertas island land snails were believed to be extinct

until an expedition team discovered a tiny native