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. russia's president putin has apologised to the leader of azerbaijan over what he called the "tragic incident" involving a passenger plane — which crashed killing 38 people on wednesday. he acknowledged that the russia's air defences were "active" at the time does not say that russia was responsible. there's speculation that the azerbaijan airlines plane came underfire from russian air defence

systems as it tried to land in grozny before being diverted to aktau airport in kazakhstan, where it crashed. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports from moscow. it was an azerbaijan airlines flight. it had crashed in kazakhstan. but was russia responsible? a brief glimpse today of vladimir putin meeting his powerful security council, and then a kremlin announcement. president putin had telephoned azerbaijan's president to apologise for the fact that what he called the tragic incident had happened in russian airspace. according to putin, flight 8243 had made several attempts to land at grozny airport in russia's north caucasus region. he claimed that grozny and other places nearby had been under attack from ukrainian drones, and admitted russian air defence systems had been in operation. azerbaijan said that president aliyev had told president putin that the plane had been subjected to external,

physical and technical interference in russian airspace. so, words you very rarely hear from vladimir putin, "i apologise", but no public admission that it was a russian missile that caused this disaster. and also, no explanation why this plane was allowed anywhere near grozny airport during a ukrainian drone attack. aviation experts suggest the aircraft may have been hit by shrapnel from russian air defence missiles. officials in russia had initially claimed the plane had hit a flock of birds. remarkably, 29 people survived this. translation: the plane j turned around and at that moment, there was a blast outside the aircraft. my arm was hurt in that blast. a deep wound, as if someone had hit me in the arm with an axe.

meanwhile, another funeral of another victim of this disaster. mahammadali yeganov was just 13. in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the world health organisation says the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza is now empty after israel raided the site and forcibly evicted patients and medical staff. some of those who were being treated at the kamal adwan hospital have said they were stripped and left in the cold when it was evacuated. israel said it had now ended its operation at what it called "a hamas command centre". our correspondent emir nader reports from jerusalem. throughout gaza, patients forced out of the kamal adwan hospital by the israeli military are arriving to seek treatment.

some brought in with assistance, others arriving by foot, bringing with them stories of how they were interrogated. translation: they took us one or two at a time - to the school's bathroom, ordering us to remove our pants and lift up our shirts. when we refused, they beat us. this happened three times and each time, we were beaten for refusing. eventually we were forced to comply because they aimed their guns at us and threatened to shoot. for weeks, kamal adwan staff issued desperate pleas for the israeli military to stop targeting the facility, situated in an area of northern gaza the united nations says isreal has placed under a near total siege. then on friday morning, the military gave staff and patients 15 minutes to leave. some were marched, nearly naked, to be interrogated. this evening, the israeli military said 240 terrorists had been arrested from what they've called a hamas stronghold. weapons they say were found at the hospital. dr hassan abu safia, a well—known director of the hospital, israel is calling a suspected

terrorist, though without offering evidence. reports we can't verify say he has been beaten. fatima and her daughter were also being treated at the hospital, and forced out and told to walk south. translation: this is my injury. they hit our house with three rockets. after we went out of the house, they destroyed it and its four floors collapsed on top of each other. for those who remain in the sieged northern gaza, the closure of kamal adwan heralds an even darker chapter were an injury will now become a death sentence. emir nader, bbc news, jerusalem. 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, an 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, 1300 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 seventy—five—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. it 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. 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.

our correspondent, arunoday mukharji, was at the funeral and says people of all political affiliations attended. this is where he was cremated with full state honours a short while back, people are slowly starting to disperse. it was a massive affair as you can see by the heavy police presence because there were leaders from all of the political parties. including the prime minister to several politicians of opposition parties as well. that is testament to who the former prime minister was, serving as the leader of the country from 2004 to 2014. but prior to that, known primarily for being the finance minister 1991 and crafting the economic policy opening it up to foreign investment. many say that was the time when the economic growth story began and that's what he is known for. a scholar first then a politician. that is why you see the kind of condolence messages that

have been pouring in right from various political parties, including the prime minister who said india today is mourning one of the countries most distinguished leaders. they pour in, we have seen dignitaries, we have seen politicians, we've also seen ordinary citizens and various congress party supporters who have come to pay their respects to manmohan singh. 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. 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 population, and set about growing their numbers. our science correspondent victoria gill has more. this is a story with some very

tiny main characters. these are desertas island land snails. they were rescued from the brink of extinction and brought here to chester zoo, where they've been living and breeding inside this converted shipping container. these were snails that were at risk of extinction or thought to be actually extinct in the wild, so we were lucky enough to have them brought to us. and this is where we've managed to breed up from very low numbers to what we have here today, which is almost like 1,400 snails ready for release. there are two snail species that the team are bringing back to their wild island home off the coast of portugal. discula snails and the even smaller geomitra. they're prepared for their journey with a little scientific makeover. we have uv markers and literallyjust a metallic pen. why do they need to be marked? basically, so there are some individuals left in the wild, and we just want to be able to distinguish the ones that we've bred and released so that we can track them

and track their progress. this is a discula snail. the desertas islands, close to madeira in portugal, are their destination and their natural home. the largest of the islands where the last snails were found has had its habitat decimated, eaten away by goats, rats and mice that were brought here by people. so the team has transported the snails to the protected neighbouring island of bugio. it's meant a long and precarious journey. after waiting for the ideal cooler evening conditions... you're quite active! ..it�*s finally time to set the snails free. we're going to release them really close under the rocks, which will be the perfect place for the new life. where they have protections, humidity and a lot of food. this is a small but significant part of a mission to restore the natural habitats and wildlife on these mountainous atlantic islands.

if it goes well, more snails will be brought here next year, each bringing a small splash of colour back to their habitat. victoria gill, bbc news. a threat to poison english water supplies during the period known as the troubles in northern ireland is among the revelations in the latest release of irish state papers. each year, documents relating to the near 30—year conflict are declassified, as our ireland correspondent sara girvin reports. every year the irish state papers are released, and every year they give us a glimpse of previously secret government files dating back decades. this release details a threat received in 1999 to poison england's water supplies on behalf of what was called the republican revenge group. it threatened to introduce weedkiller into drinking water through fire hydrants unless the british government announced its intention to withdraw from what was described as occupied ireland. the plans may appearfar fetched, but the threat was taken seriously.

it was thought most people who drank contaminated water would suffer nothing worse than a stomach upset, but media representatives were asked by the government not to report the story for fear of causing panic over what could have been a hoax. the papers state that a man was arrested over the threats but never charged. other documents from 2001 show that the us administration, led by george w bush, was considering designating the real ira as a foreign terrorist organisation. briefing notes to irish politicians warned that the plans might give the dissident republican paramilitary group an unintentional boost by encouraging recruitment. the real ira was responsible for the 1998 omagh bomb, which killed 29 people. it was the single greatest loss of life in 30 years of violence in northern ireland, known as the troubles. ultimately, the us did add the real ira to its list. this release of documents

also details a football related gaffe from former prime minister tony blair. he's reported to have asked a nationalist politician if his party would be supporting england in the 2002 world cup, after ireland were knocked out. sara girvan, bbc news. the world chess number one, magnus carlsen, has quit an event in new york after wearing the wrong trousers. carlsen was fined for wearing jeans — which are not allowed during games — and then refused to get changed immediately. patrick gearey has the story. even by magnus carlsen�*s standards, this was an unorthodox move. the world's best chess player summoned to see the ref. a man widely admired for his mind was now condemned for his genes. —— condemned for his jeans. organisers told him he was breaking the dress code. he wouldn't change and, instead, quit the tournament. honestly, my patience with them was not very big to begin with, and it's. . . it's ok.

like, they can enforce their rules — that's fine by me — and my response is that, fine, then i'm out. like... bleep! you. there are, of course always two sides in chess, and fide, who organise the world rapid and blitz chess championships, say the rules are fair and were drawn up in consultation with players. carlsen, they add, was given time to find a new outfit. in round number eight, we gave him the chance to change out of the jeans, into something else. he didn't take that chance and he wore jeans again. it's only a pair ofjeans. it may be. i don't make the rules, ijust apply them. if not quite the bad boy of chess, carlsen has attracted attention for more than his trousers. last year he settled a legal dispute after accusing an opponent of cheating. but his genius is undisputed. the norwegian was a teenage grandmaster and is a five time world champion who can outmanoeuvre anyone. indeed, this might be the only time magnus carlsen is told he's not smart enough. patrick geary, bbc news.

a lottery ticket holder in the us has woken up more than one billion dollars richer after matching all six 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 fifth 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. britain's longest serving postman has finally called time on his career. robert hudson, known as rocky to his friends, began working for the royal mail at age 16, delivering telegrams. he moved to nights when his wife died, so he could look after his family. this morning, at the end of his final shift after 60 years, he looked back on some of the interesting characters he met. you get chased by a dog sometimes but, you know, that happens to all of them. you carry a couple of

biscuits in your pocket to keep them quiet. you get used to it, you try to make friends with them rather than enemies. yeah, i've thoroughly enjoyed it. i've had a good career there, i've met loads and loads of people. i've met the king twice. hopefully he can get some sleep and enjoy his retirement. more stories on the bbc news website. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there, some higher parts of england and wales have again pa rt part two of the weekend means we should see the fog issue lifting because the stagnant air associated with the high pressure is pulling away to the

near continent. we are picking up near continent. we are picking up a fresh westerly breeze on sunday and there will be more sunny spells but it'll stay unsettled across scotland with this weather front bringing persistent rain. more isobars on the chart on sunday. the breeze will be strong, especially for the northern part of the country. here it stays cloudy and wet pretty much all day. large parts of england and wales will see the sunshine breaking through as we head into the afternoon. a great start, bright afternoon, temperatures in single digits across the south—east, milder further north, around 12 celsius for central southern scotland. it stays wet across the northern half of scotland. this cold air could turn into snow over the hills across northern scotland. a real winter remix there. elsewhere further south it'll be drier with clear spells. throughout monday and into new year's eve with further rain and hill snow across scotland, we are likely to see travel issues. it could be bringing localised flooding to places. stay tuned to the

forecast to keep up—to—date with all of the weather forecast. head online to check out all of the latest weather warnings. this is monday. low—pressure to the north of the uk, active weatherfronts over scotland bringing heavy rain, further hill snow. we could see showers pushing into northern and western england and wales. much of england and wales will see the sunshine and stay largely dry throughout the day on monday. it'll feel cold in northern scotland. into tuesday, new year's eve, another area of low pressure moves through to bring a blustery, windy day for all. outbreaks of rain particularly in the north and west. some hills snow across the north of scotland. travel disruption likely as the rain moves across england and wales later on in the day on new year's eve. stay tuned to the forecast if you have travel plans. another mile day to come away from northern scotland. another low system hurtles across the country on new year's day. as it pulls away it allows the floodgates to open to a northerly arctic

air flow. to open to a northerly arctic airflow. after a to open to a northerly arctic air flow. after a disruptive day of weather on new year's day, the first week of january 2025 is looking colder, sunnier, with wintry showers.

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. and 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. now on bbc news — where the polar bears wait. on the edge of the canadian arctic, a community lives alongside the largest land predator on earth.