thank. you. this is news live from berlin syrian forces pound live province residents flee for their lives government troops backed by tanks are mounting a ground assault on the last pockets of resistance hundreds of thousands of people in rebel held areas have taken to the road with nowhere to go but makeshift camps where conditions are squalid. pope francis delivered his christmas message from the vatican the pontiff told thousands of worshippers packed in st peter's square to let the light of christmas pierced the darkness in human hearts he also made an

appeal for peace around the globe. germany's citizens should overcome their differences and show more mutual respect that's the christmas message from the german president. i'm already an ease of glad you could join us we start in syria according to a relief group more than 200000 people have fled a government assault on it live province most have been heading toward toward the turkish border syrian regime forces backed by tanks are continuing their ground advance against rebel held areas in southern and eastern and live about 250 people have been killed in the latest flare up of violence. syrian tanks fire on targets as the ground assault in egypt province advances. government forces captured do they have to fix that. media a opening

a major highway is being closed to 7 years for the army ultimately wants to recapture the province from the outside of the militias which control its. massive troops push forward civilians try to flee the line of fire tens of thousands are on the run. that are we are leaving because of the shelling out that we're worried about our children and that the situation. why else would we leave why would anyone leave his house. a regiment table. with the turkish border closed the only option for shelter is makeshift camps like these it's cold and damp the conditions a desperate. scam for because of the shelling. i mean i can hardly survive here in the sort of mud. people are suffering because of the work record.

the situation in the camps is likely to deteriorate tens of thousands of syrians are already stuck in places like these. and every day thousands more take to the roads to get out of the war zone. now and hong kong police and demonstrators have clashed again as protests continue through christmas. riot police used pepper spray and tear gas in a major shopping district activist block streets and smash up windows they've called for flash mob protests to continue into the new year anti-government demonstrations in hong kong are now in their 7th month. our correspondent phoebe kong is on location and she sent us this. protesters in hong kong station other wrong with demonstrators and on christmas day which also marked the 200th day after movements again they picked the popular shopping malls as the platform for rallies if they want to create a kind of economic pressure from the government i mean while the police are also

are well prepared to tackle the protest and many of the most were heavily guarded by riot police officers throughout the day we also witnessed rounds of tear gas fired outside america shopping centers and some of the demonstrators as well as bystanders inside a mosque where arrested and happen straight as a result of the precious many of the most were forced to close down earlier than you show and this is definitely one of the worst christmas for many real tellers in hong kong and tension hossam been so often during holiday but instead he took up as we are so and this is a huge contrast with the posing only a season a celebration. it was phoebe kong reporting from hong kong there now pope francis has given his christmas address from the vatican in his annual or be at or be latin for to the city and the world the pontiff spoke about migrants and also people who have endured what he called unspeakable forms of abuse that was

a reference to spiraling sexual allegations of abuse and churches around the globe he finished by blessing the catholic faithful who packed into st peter's square in rome. was 50000 people gathered in st peter's square in bright sunshine for the pope's christmas address it's the 7th of his papacy and again the condemnation of war and violence was the heart of his message with conflicts in europe asia africa and the americas francis issued a call for peace. he still. made rice during his lights went out to the many children suffering from war conflicts in the middle east and in various countries of the world. community and behave inspired governments and the international community to find solutions to allow the peoples of those regions to live together in peace and security. about

an end to their suffering in the release of it in. the list of war torn regions as long francis again called for better protection for people fleeing the violence and he criticized europe's policy of expelling or refusing entry to migrants toward the end of his address he gave the traditional blessing for the or be to the city of rome and the world only put in place. but. it. is the. same. and then a more mundane message to the faithful around the globe. well and julia a christmas lunch. i. know on december

26th 15 years ago a tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a 1000000 people the gigantic wave in gulf the coast of indonesia sri lanka india thailand and 9 other countries the wave that hit indonesia was 17.4 meters high and underwater earthquake that caused it was one of the strongest ever recorded sri lanka's eastern coast was especially hard hit more than 10000 people died in the southern a par region. looks out over the indian ocean nearly every day. and deter life 15 years ago when she lost almost her entire family to the massive tsunami. only a little bit good not bad all 9 of us lived near the beach so many tight when i think about the children i get very sad i only managed to save one little girl that i never saw the others again when i got back my house was destroyed. i.

can die and now shares her home with the one granddaughter she rescued and her small child. the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. on his help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of france indians and that they have got the thing that's trying to come out of these things and that depends on the adults at them. and control and complete then steuben with the problems the children's anxiety and stress it's much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatrist formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school

teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. with what the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. well here at the w. we don't normally tell viewers to stop watching but those of you who live in parts of the middle east and southeast asia may want to take a break from your screens to observe an amazing astronomical event a rare annual annular solar eclipse rather is taking place today starting on parts of the arabian peninsula then moving across the indian ocean before ending over the pacific the best view of the eclipse will be on the indian indonesian island of sumatra where a ring of fire will appear for about 3 minutes and 40 seconds. now other countries along that path will see a partial eclipse eclipse depending on conditions to tell us more about this

phenomenon is clear yet teenie from the indonesian national institute of aeronautics and space she's in sync in indonesia thanks for joining us there so you're helping people where you are viewed the eclipse what are what are you doing what am i seeing there behind you. ok i know you don't see at the end. but now i look and behind me. you behind me you may need to get there here see that. and you're helping them observe this eclipse. you're helping them observe the clips. and. yeah. yeah yeah. yeah any advice. in this. right. now so. i'm sort of

a setback at this arms and they are so. i started to. see that. it sounds like a celebration there could you tell us what the solar eclipse is going to look like . yeah the sun has to. get its. maximum time we can't see everything surrounding our. sun because the sun is hot for our. moon. because the money is in the biggest distance from. the looks. sun so when. the sun is not. the sun but. the moon light side the center of the sun. i don't think so rounding but ok so that's why they called the ring of fire thanks for joining us from there. yet

teenie from indonesia. take you now in the u.k. queen elizabeth the 2nd delivered her traditional christmas address with a focus on peace and reconciliation she reflected on this past summer 75th anniversary commemorations as an example of people's capacity to overcome deep seated divisions she also praised young environmental campaigners but after a year of turbulent british politics and challenging challenges facing the royal family the queen acknowledged that $21000.00 had been a difficult year. it's a christmas tradition for the royal family i know afternoon trip to the church near the queen's sandringham estate but this year the party was smaller than usual no prince philip he's just out of hospital prince harry and his wife megan are taking time out in canada rumors of

a family rift abound. and then there's prince andrew he's keeping a low profile after giving a t.v. interview to deny he was involved in a sex scandal involving the convicted pedophile jeffrey epstein he was at church but in the morning well away from the cameras it's been anything but clear sailing for the royals this year all for their country i mean the drama of gregg's it's. a brave face for the christmas message jesus christ would show the world how small steps taken in faith. can ever come a long held differences and deep seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding many of us already tried to follow in his footsteps the path of course is not always slow and rare times. among the photos clearly visible on her desk during that speech the 3 men next in line to the throne they also feature in this royal video making christmas pudding

for charity it's worth remembering that it is often the small steps not the giant leaps that bring about the most lasting change and say i wish you all a very happy christmas. and especially happy christmas if only because this difficult year will soon be over. now speaking of christmas people around the world have been celebrating in many ways some of them quite unusual in the u.s. state of florida some 600 surfing centers took to the waves in cocoa beach to show off their skills a charity event raised $40000.00 for some nonprofit organizations and a children's hospital. you're watching

news from berlin we'll have more news at the top of the hour coming up business explores a tentative truce in the trade wars as the u.s. says it plans to sign a deal with china don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website dot com thanks for joining us. my 1st by state all the sewing machine. i come from women are almost by this ocean for. something as simple as that in home to write a bicycle isn't. since i was a little girl i wanted. my home and it took me mr bundy.