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news. israel carries out strikes on yemen, and the capital is among the targets. russia is accused of shooting down a plane over kazakhstan, killing 38 people. the kremlin said it is wrong to speculate. two sailors are killed in separate incidents in a yacht race. more than 450 people crossed the english channel and small boats on christmas day. the former indian prime minister dies at age 92. he governed the country for two terms. ♪ i am sarah campbell. our top story is israel has been carrying out airstrikes across yemen including on the international airport.

the head of the world health organization, tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, was at the airport, about to board a flight, when it came under israeli attack. he was not injured. the israeli military said it has been targeting the who these --houthis. fighters have targeted israel and ships in the red sea. our correspondent brought us up-to-date to date with the latest. >> we have seen dramatic footage from inside the airport, people running in a panic with their luggage. some people trying to leave the building through a gate. we also saw one from outside the building showing smoke rising. in the last hour we have been getting reports that commercial flights are still landing in yemen airport despite reports of

damage to the facility. we are getting reports with the image of an air bus aircraft landing there. we heard from the head of the who, the world health organization, tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, who said he was in the airport when the strike happened. he was about to board a plane with the airport struck and that resulted in one of the aircrew members being injured, not far from where his group was sitting. he said he was ok. we had confirmation from the israeli army that said they struck targets used by the iran backed group to smuggle weapons into the region. the airport was targeted but also other targets in the red sea port city. the israeli military targeted to power stations, some key ports

as well. >> meanwhile in central gaza, health officials say five journalists have been killed in an israeli strike in the gaza strip. the strike hit a broadcast van outside a hospital in a refugee camp. the israeli military said those killed were members of a terrorist cell. russia has said it will not speculate on claims russian air defenses hit a passenger plane before it crashed in kazakhstan, killing 38 people. an unnamed u.s. official suggested a russian antiaircraft system might have struck the azerbaijan. airlines plane a spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment before the investigation was complete. the azerbaijan airlines jet had been traveling to chechnya when it was diverted to kazakhstan, before coming down near aktau. >> onboard the stricken airplane

, the passenger filming this notice is damage under the wing. backside, despite oxygen masks and life vests being visible, those on board were calm. there were 62 passengers and five crew on board this azerbaijan airlines flight in southern russia. amateur footage shows the pilot struggling to control the plane while it tries to land. the force of impact split the plane in two, with the front half destroyed by fire. the key question is, why? i spoke to one military expert who said suggestions of a strike being responsible are unlikely. >> at the moment evidence is still coming out but the most likely hypothesis is that was struck by an air defense missile , most certainly russian, and the area where the plane was holding. ukrainian drones were active at the time.

it is in line with the pilot's communication with air traffic control. >> these holes in the surviving part of the fuselage will be examined by investigators. meanwhile azerbaijan airlines have suspended. all flights in the region they have not grounded their other six e-190's, suggesting it was not mechanical. the airline has. a good safety record russia's government said no conclusion should be drawn until the investigation is complete. among those wanting answers will be those survivors who remarkably walked away. this man said his wife had been sitting next to him but he has not seen her since the crash. this is the family of one of the flight attendants. in a video call he reassures them, saying tell mom not to worry, thank god we are safe.

at the airport, large crowds paid their respects and laid flowers in memory of the dead. families across the region struggle to understand what caused their loved ones to perish. >> earlier i spoke to a professor of international relations and political science at the university of toronto and an author. i asked him why some are speculating russia is behind the crash. >> somehow it does not add up as being a simple crash that occurred because some birds hit the airplane. this was a simple flight that was supposed to -- within the russian area. when it landed, crash landed, it was on the others of the sea, in

a very uncharacteristic diversion. it received damage that two experts do seem to be caused by shrapnel, not by engine failure, not by some kind of flock of birds. it is always interesting the russian spokesperson was very aggressive in defending russia in every possible way against any kind of accusation or hint of any russian malfeasance. they have been extremely cautious. he said let's wait for results. the circumstantial evidence at the moment is not favorable to russia. we have to wait. i think this has been an area where the russians have been very nervous. the ukrainians have lost a number of drone attacks.

russians have been shooting at the drones, often wildly and recklessly. . it is almost miraculous that so many on people -- so many people on board managed to survive. >> let's get some more on that story that we heard about in the last hour. two people taking part in australia's yacht race have died in separate incidents, according to police. both crew members in separate incidents after being hit by a large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of a sail. the race has continued with the first boats expected to arrive in tasmania later on friday or early saturday. several have already retired due to bad weather. let's speak to a sports reporter with abc in hobart. tragic news for the teams and

for the families. what more do we know about what happened? >> thank you. details are relatively scant at this stage. we just heard from the yacht club of australia. they were unable to provide too much more information rather than what you just provided. we know two sailors are dead as a result of similar incidents on different boats, both struck by that sail boon. two of the smaller boats in the fleet. the incident occurred overnight. cpr was attempted by the crews of both boats but was unsuccessful, forcing the retirement of both boats from the race. it is the worst tragedy in the boat race since 1998 when six were killed and 55 had to be

rescued as a result of a wild storm. both of those yachts are now retired. it is sure to send shockwaves through the entire race. it was indicative of a night of wild weather. the conditions going into the race were described as boat breaking. there were 25-knot winds down the coast of new south wales. we saw 18 retirements so far. record pace before being forced to withdraw before the race. we also saw another incident with a man overboard. lost a sale your during the race. they drifted 1.2 kilometers out to sea. an operation was about to be

treated before their own center was retrieved. thankfully they were all ok in the end. the first finishers are expected in the early hours of tomorrow morning, tasmanian time. a tragic start to the race. as i said, the worst since 1998. >> you have detailed the conditions, the fact there were some boats that retired that were worried about conditions. is there any question about whether the race should have gone ahead? >> the vice commodore made it clear that every yacht and crew participating in the sydney hobart passes a set of rigorous examinations before taking part. the crews have to go through several courses of training and sessions before taking part. they have to of completed category 1 races before taking

part. a lot of checks and balances came into play after the 1998 race were there were some recommended safety changes. the conditions were able to be handled by the entire fleet. the sea conditions were not particularly tumultuous. it was the wind that was up. it was nothing too out of the ordinary. it was a set of unfortunate circumstances. >> we have to leave it there. appreciate your time. thank you. the e.u. has threatened to impose further sanctions on russia after one of its cargo ships was blamed for severing an underwater cable. it carries electricity between a finnish plant and estonia. it stopped working. finnish police boarded the ship

they thought was operating as. russia's so-called shadow fleet. there was evidence the ankle had been -- the anchor had been used to cut the cord in two. >> with one of these incidents, it required an enormous amount of detective work to work it out. a crucial cable carrying electricity between finland and estonia stopped working around lunchtime on what was christmas day in finland and estonia. at exactly the point it stopped working, a ship passed overhead. not surprisingly the finnish police acted quickly and boarded the ship. it is near the cook islands. they are suggesting that is called a flag of convenience. it was really part of russia's shadow fleet, used to avoid sanctions. they are suggesting they are also used to sabotage cables and

that is what they are suggesting here. the anchor dragging along the bottom and snapped the cable into. >> is there any way that can happen accidentally? >> there are a lot of these cables around and, yes, they do break. however, this is the third time it has happened in a month. in november, two cables, from germany to finland -- they both broke. on that occasion it was a chinese ship that just happened to be passing over when the cable snapped. what they are suggesting is a program of sabotage. >> more than 450 people crossed the english channel in small boats on christmas day, according to home-office figures. new data shows 451 migrants arrived on 11 boats. >> the christmas day arrivals from france marked the first arrivals in more than a week. more than 450 migrants crossed

the english channel in small boats on christmas day. 11 boats made the journey to the u.k. on christmas morning and more are expected to follow in the coming days. the home office as 451 people arrived on christmas day. the last time there were crossings on christmas was back in 2022, when 90 people arrived. the prime minister said smashing the gangs facilitating small boat crossings was one of his top priorities and has set up a new border security command. more than 35,000 people have made the journey so far this year. that is 20% higher than in 2023. >> commemorations have been taking place in countries around the indian ocean to mark the 20th anniversary of the tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people. the vast wave caused by an

earthquake devastated indonesia, thailand and sri lanka and displaced nearly 2 million people. >> this was 20 years ago, just after the great waves had come ashore. i remember walking through the ruins, a haunting landscape. above all i remember her, she was 11 then. bruised and alone, orphaned by the tsunami. a few days later she discovered one relative had survived -- her big sister. we followed the girls as she returned to school. the sisters moved to a new home, hauntingly close to a mass grave. >> i am scared of ghosts, she told me. even if they are my relatives and neighbors. i do not want to sleep here. >> the years passed and then came the 10th anniversary of the tsunami.

>> it is so good to see you. look at you. she was now a 21-year-old student, full of life, bouncing back like indonesia itself. it is still wrestling with the loss of her parents. >> there is nobody to care for me. >> and now, 20 years have gone by. a stranded boat kept as a memorial. the physical wounds have healed in the country is preoccupied with new challenges. >> hi, guys. >> as for her, she has traded in her career in teaching to become a travel vlogger, offering

advice for tourists on low budgets. a life no longer defined by the tsunami. ♪ >> i have a passion so i can be useful for people. i feel happy and it feels part of me. >> look now at the beach where the tsunami hit, wiping out her family and village all those years ago. today, that is her on a jet ski, 20 years on. >> the former indian prime minister, manmohan singh, has died at the age of 92. mr. singh was in office from 2004 until 2014 and was the first prime minister in india from his faith. a regional editor took us through his legacy. >> mr. singh, when he took over

in 1991, india's foreign exchange was hovering around $1.5 billion. the following three weeks of imports, the country was going through an economic crisis. he realized what the challenge was at that time. we are talking about india having $600 billion in reserve and one of the top economies in the world. it is mainly due to the policies taken by manmohan singh in the early 1990's. he called it a liberalization process where he allowed foreign investments and privatization of the public sector undertakings and big companies. he bolstered growth and all of this economic growth really helped india to come out of the woods in the early 1990's. he came back in 2004 as the prime minister. he was a surprise choice.

later, gandhi did not take up the job so it came up to him. from 2004 to 2014, mr. manmohan singh was the prime minister. india noticed one of the fastest growth rates from 2004-2010. he also introduced some schemes with far-reaching consequences. introducing a unique identification number and an employment scheme that really played a key role during the covid crisis, when millions of workers went without jobs. manmohan singh will always be remembered for being the architect of modern india. a man who took india out of trouble when he was the finance minister. also during his prime minister ship when he was able to build consensus with political parties to take india forward. he is one of the few leaders in india who was not directly

attached to any corruption allegations. >> building ties internally but also credited with improving or increasing his standing on the world stage with diplomatic relations with big world powers of the time. >> india's rise as an economic power also coincided with how india boosted relations with united states. in the previous 1990's, india was very much in the soviet bloc, supporting russia's soviet union at the time. after liberalization you saw how american companies were investing. diplomatically, the two countries came together. they saw that they were natural allies. that led to a landmark nuclear agreement between the two countries in 2007 and 2008. they started engaging in defense

production and selling modern weaponry. even now it still relies on russian imports but the organization happened. with the rest of the world, japan, the european union, that is where mr. manmohan singh, when it came to the table there was a lot of respect. he boosted india's image around the year and that is what he will be remembered for. >> what do people here in the u.k. watch on christmas day? for many of answer seems to be gavin and stacy. the show headed over night audience of 2.3 million, making it the biggest nonsports overnight of 2024. the final ever episode. the number does not include those who have yet to watch the episode on catch up. the other highest rating, wallace and grommet, 9.38 million. caroline is a tv critic and

columnist. she explained why the hype was justified. >> the audience came and not only are those figures massive, they have superseded the audience figures for 2019, but also it looks set to dwarf the 18 million consolidated figure if the numbers continue to rise. well done, everybody. the critics have been kind. everyone seems to have gone home happy. >> i watched it, i thought it was great but i think it was supposed to be domestic tv that was going down. these figures are pretty extraordinary. bear in mind the competition from streamers, etc. >> the more remarkable thing is if you look at the top 10 list for yesterday's tv, all of those top 10 are all bbc titles. bravo performance, scheduling, marketing.

i think it does put into doubt that linear tv is dead. christmas is the time you will perhaps compromise, put down your iphone, ipad, your personal way of watching tv and binging the streaming programs and you will sneak into the living room and perhaps sit down next to someone and watch something together. >> just before we go there are signs that shoppers are shunning the high street this boxing data showing a number of people going into stores has dropped by 8% across the u.k. this compared to last year. several big chains did not open their doors today but people did flock to traditional stores before the holiday with numbers up on christmas eve by 18% year on year. that is it for the moment. do stay with us here on bbc news. ♪

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