vladimir putin apologises for a plane crash that killed 38 people but stops short of saying gaza's health ministry says medical and elon musk broadens his political influence beyond the us, endorsing germany's far—right staff are among hundreds of people afd party in the run up to in the north of the territory. february elections. and elon musk broadens his political influence beyond the us, february elections. hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to the programme. we begin in moscow, where russia's president vladimir putin apologised to the leader of azerbaijan over what he called the "tragic incident" involving a passenger plane which crashed, killing 38 people on wednesday. hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to he acknowledged that russia's air defences were "active" the programme. at the time but stopped short of saying his country was responsible. there's speculation apologised to the leader that the azerbaijan airlines plane came under fire from russian air of azerbaijan over what he called defence systems as it tried the "tragic incident" involving a passenger plane which crashed, to land in the southern killing 38 people on wednesday. russian city of grozny. he acknowledged that russia's it later diverted to aktau airport air defences were "active" in kazakhstan, where it crashed. 00:00:54,033 --> 2147483051:37:11,731 our russia editor steve rosenberg 2147483051:37:11,731 --> 4294966103:13:29,429 has more on the apology from moscow. at the time but stopped short of saying his country was responsible. there's speculation that the azerbaijan airlines plane came under fire from russian air defence systems as it tried

to land in the southern russian city of grozny.

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 turned round, 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, anotherfuneral of another victim of this disaster. mahammadali yeganov was just 13. in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. for more on this, i spoke earlier with nina khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the new school. nina, how rare is an apology from president putin?— nina, how rare is an apology from president putin? very rare. in fact, there was five _ president putin? very rare. in fact, there was five days _ president putin? very rare. in fact, there was five days when _ president putin? very rare. in fact, i there was five days when the tragedy happened, five days speculation that he is going to apologise, he is not going to apologise, and events were that he's not going to apologise because never does. on the other hand,is because never does. on the other hand, is relationship of azerbaijan is very important, and they need each other, and the president of

azerbaijan is a tough man, probably as tough as putin, and so putin had to at least pretend that there was some sort of heresy in the relationship between russia and azerbaijan so it is very rare occasion and shows that there is some rationale left, rational thinking left, niekro and. help us understand _ thinking left, niekro and. help us understand them _ thinking left, niekro and. help us understand them actually, - thinking left, niekro and. help us understand them actually, that i understand them actually, that relationship between the two countries. the chroma action said saturday putin had called the president on the phone. do you think that this could end up affecting the relationship between destinations? absolutely. it is interesting because the carmen was essentially silent for all these days, with others beckoning what happened with the plane, who is responsible for it's shooting down, whether it was shot down orjust an accident. originally, they were saying there were birds responsible, and... you

mentioned — were birds responsible, and... you mentioned there, a rare apology from president putin. he of course stopped short of saying that russia was responsible in any way. can we learn from anything, can we read between lines of this statement and what was said and what was not said? we still don't know whether russia responsible. i mean, it everybody on the anti—russian side jumped to that conclusion. it is possible that russia was responsible because it was shielding against the ukrainian drugs that were attacking rossi at the time. and it is very, very possible that the russian defence system hit the plane, but we still don't know that, so that's why i actually find it slightly jumping the gun wincing putin stops short of admitting. he can't admit it yet because it has not happened. it does not mean that he willful biting eventually every thing will be blamed on the ukrainian drones, as is, but aliyev is interested in a somewhat transparent investigation

because he has his own international reputation on the line, so we'll see how they are going to dance around this, but we did hear even more about the apology in addition to the apology, which is rare and very important, because putin never takes, he is always right, any responsibility for anything ever, but the two foreign ministers of the russian foreign minister and azerbaijani foreign minister, in fact spoke and made a statement together that this incident of this accident, has been resolved in terms of relationship and he countries will continue to work together. so it will be interesting to see what the actual investigation of the tragedy will reveal and the many countries involved in it. so it will be interesting to see how russians will be dancing around their responsibility, if it indeed comes from the russians, it happened because of the russians just briefly, if you don't mind, but we do know there will be russian

investigation, there are investigators there on the scene, us officials looking through the intelligence.— officials looking through the intelliaence. ., ., intelligence. how confident are you that in the end _ intelligence. how confident are you that in the end we'll— intelligence. how confident are you that in the end we'll get _ intelligence. how confident are you that in the end we'll get some - intelligence. how confident are you that in the end we'll get some sort| that in the end we'll get some sort of satisfactory answer about what took place? i of satisfactory answer about what took place?— of satisfactory answer about what took lace? ., �* . , ., , took place? i don't really have very o timistic took place? i don't really have very optimistic scenario _ took place? i don't really have very optimistic scenario in _ took place? i don't really have very optimistic scenario in this, - took place? i don't really have very optimistic scenario in this, because as i said, putin really denies responsibility always, and if there is a conclusion that the russian antimissile system is at fault, it will eventually them as i said, and i believe that would be the case, be blamed on the ukrainian drones and chechnya, the capital of chechnya, where the plane was flying into will be excused because they already announced when the plane was approaching, they announced this system which is called the carpet. the carpet is window plans are leaving or entering that airspace, so ultimately, i think russia will find a way to absolving itself ——

when there are no planes leaving or entering. a ukrainian official tells the bbc they hope a new year prisoner exchange with russia will happen "any day", although arrangements could yet fall through. there have beenjust ten exchanges this year, the lowest number since the start of russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine in 2022. ukraine doesn't publish numbers of prisoners of war being held by russia, but the total is thought to be more than 8,000. from kyiv, 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 he would finally - have the child he had wanted for so long. later, i learned that he hadn't received a single one. translation: 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. the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza has been put out of service after it was forcibly evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the israel defense forces for weeks and now stands empty. the world health organization said it is deeply concerned for the safety of patients who were forced to leave. the head of the hospital's nursing department told the bbc that the israeli military gave them only a is—minute warning to clear patients and staff before troops entered the hospital and removed anyone that remained. palestinian health officials say about 100 medical staff were taken in for interrogation. the director of the hospital was also detained. israel said the raid on the hospital is now over and claims it was being used by hamas fighters as a command centre, without providing evidence. our correspondent emir nader is in jerusalem and sent this report. sirens blare 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 i at a time to the school's bathroom, l 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 israel 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 hossam abu safiya, 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 besieged northern gaza, the closure of kamal adwan heralds an even darker chapter, where an injury can now become a death sentence. emir nader, bbc news, jerusalem. the head of the world health organization has told the bbc

it was public knowledge he was in yemen on thursday when israel launched air raids against houthi targets. this footage from the international airport in the capital sanaa shows the moment where it came under israeli fire. dr tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, who's now injordan, said the airport is a civilian facility and should not have been targeted. at least six people were killed in the raids. israel says it was targeting military infrastructure, but dr tedros says he only survived through good fortune. it was very chaotic. you know, people were in disarray and running everywhere. and no shelter. we were completely exposed. it's a matter of luck. otherwise, if the missile deviated just slightly, it could have been on our head. and so my colleague said, after all that, "we escaped death narrowly."

and it's a civilian airport. i think that there are rules to engagement, as you know, 2024 has been one of the most devastating recent years for children caught in armed conflict. a new report published by unicef reveals that more children than ever are living in war zones or are being forcibly displaced. at least 473 million children — more than one in six worldwide — now live in areas affected by conflict. many are missing out on education, facing extreme hunger, and enduring lifelong trauma. the percentage of the world's children living in conflict zones has doubled — from around 10% in the 1990s to nearly i9% today. by the end of 2023, more than 47 million children had been displaced due to conflict and violence, in countries including haiti, lebanon, myanmar, the palestinian territories and sudan. we can speak now tojoe english, a emergency communications specialist for unicef. it's great to have you on. we are

the numbers there, 2024just incredibly difficult here are children in conflict. what does that mean on the ground? what have units —— unicef been seeing? -- unicef been seeing? good to see ou sto -- unicef been seeing? good to see you stop these _ -- unicef been seeing? good to see you stop these numbers _ -- unicef been seeing? good to see you stop these numbers can - -- unicef been seeing? good to see you stop these numbers can be - you stop these numbers can be overwhelming and they can almost even distract from the actual reality of the situation. what we are talking about here is we are talking about millions and millions of children, millions of parents who cannot do that one thing they want to do, which is keep their kids safe, put them to bed at night, read them a story knowing they're gonna wake up safely in the morning, make sure that they have access to education to the medicine and life—saving vaccines, and we have found when we are doing this analysis is it's notjust the crises we see on the news every day. this is happening all around the world, in places like myanmar, democratic republic of the congo, which also often do not notice because of the sheer scale of suffering elsewhere. we are saying enough needs to be enough. in 2024, it has been such a

bad year, we cannot, i cannot stand here in a year's time and say it has got worse again. we have to see a change in the world. we got worse again. we have to see a change in the world.— got worse again. we have to see a change in the world. we heard there the percentage _ change in the world. we heard there the percentage of _ change in the world. we heard there the percentage of the _ change in the world. we heard there the percentage of the world's - the percentage of the world's children living in conflict zones doubling from 10% to now i9% today. what does that mean for aid organisations like unicef? are there enough resources? are there enough aid workers to help all the children that are in need? the aid workers to help all the children that are in need?— that are in need? the needs are absolutely huge. _ that are in need? the needs are absolutely huge. in _ that are in need? the needs are absolutely huge. in this - that are in need? the needs are absolutely huge. in this year, i l absolutely huge. in this year, i think 80% of humanitarian work is focused on crises that are created by conflict. so that really shows and we may think of earthquakes or tsunamis or typhoons, 80% is due to conflict, but that also means the world has a choice. there are more wars going on, conflict going on now than at any other time since world war ii, so we have to see the international committee to come together and find was to bring about peace, because as you say, the resources to continue pumping this

kind of money that is needed and humanitarian workers, it's been a record year in terms of humanitarian being killed as well, we have to see a change. we are not asking for any new laws or any new conventions, we're just asking that the laws that exist are upheld.— exist are upheld. reading your re ort, exist are upheld. reading your report. the _ exist are upheld. reading your report, the situation _ exist are upheld. reading your report, the situation is - exist are upheld. reading your. report, the situation is particular difficult for women and for girls. why is that, and how are they being affected differently? it is. why is that, and how are they being affected differently?— affected differently? it is. women, . irls, affected differently? it is. women, girls. children _ affected differently? it is. women, girls, children with _ affected differently? it is. women, girls, children with disabilities, - girls, children with disabilities, people who may have additional vulnerabilities, and any kind, in times of warand vulnerabilities, and any kind, in times of war and times of conflict, thatis times of war and times of conflict, that is only exacerbated, and it is a grim irony that it is children, it is women, it is young girls were paying the price for these contacts, yet a small number of grown men around the world a response before it. they are making the decisions thatis it. they are making the decisions that is leading to this huge level of suffering, and so what we're

doing is we are really calling on the public to raise their voice, but also the leaders with power to do something about this, and all of those who have any kind of influence over them those who h