can they use them as a bargaining chip to pry jordan away from the coalition? >> jordan will continue in its fight against terrorism. we known that we will win because this is the right thing to do and this is for the sake of our security and stability. >> at the pirates home in southern jordan, concern among friends and relatives. he comes from a well-known family. >> at the pilot's home in jordan, concern among family and friends. >> the whole tribe.

>> activists on the ground said the plane crashed in eastern part of the province. isis and jordanian officials said that it was hit by a missile. bitse militants retrieved of the plane, the americans with their allies will be asking was it flying too low? did its protective systems fail, or does is have new more dangerous weapons. have a ferocious record of butchering captives. the first lieutenant and his family will be praying that he is more valuable to them alive than dead. to to the rest of the news now. the annual christmas eve midnight mass is starting at the church of the nativity.

christians celebrate the birth of jesus christ believed to have taken place in the city more than 2000 years ago. midnight mass has just begun. >> while the bells have been the birthplace of jesus christ. happy christmas. the mass is underway at this moment, the palestinian president just entered the church a few moments before the mass started. that mass will go on for a number of hours. clearly this is one of if not most important day for bethlehem and for many christians around the world celebrating the birth of christ. this is where the spotlight shifts from jerusalem to bethlehem. it is also a time for

reflections for christians because they have had a tough year in the middle east. the thread has driven out hundreds of thousands of christians from their homes, from the churches. christians should remain proud of their faith, they should not be afraid or ashamed. >> president mahmoud abbas also sent out a christmas message. forhat's right, he called justice, not just for palestinian christians but for all palestinians. we have really seen it today, there have been far fewer tourists partly because of the war in gaza, and partly because of the violence in jerusalem. the intractable middle east , then we saw the

process. no real signs of progress or resolution. here are hoping to and this year with a message of peace. hasn't shifted, it has been a great disappointed. >> merry christmas to you. >> another black teenager has been shot dead by police in the american state of missouri. it happened in berkeley, a suburb of st. louis, to miles from ferguson. >> another black teenager shot dead by police in missouri. antonioeen named as martin who was killed at a

petrol station. she doesn'tays that believe that he was causing any trouble. going to get up and run. he was trying to get up and run, they started shooting him. >> almost immediately, protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting. soon there was violence and confrontation. the police say they were targeted with what they call explosive devices come and had been fireworks. into the night, they used pepper spray to disperse around 300 demonstrators. the police say the officer involved in the shooting is clearly acting in self-defense. they released this footage showing the lead up to the incident, saying he had been investigating reports of a

robbery when he was approached by a man he had been questioning. >> the individual had produced a pistol and was pointing at the officer across the hood. at that point, the officer produced his service weapon and fired but we think at this point is three shots. >> the shooting comes at a time of high tension, sparked by the killing earlier this year of the unarmed black teenager michael brown. there have been daily protests since it was announced that the officer then shot him or not face trial. in the case of eric garner, a man who was choked to death by police added momentum to a movement calling for changes in the way that police in the u.s. treat african-americans. this latest incident is two miles from where michael brown was killed is certainly to lead to more scrutiny of law enforcement agents.

likely to be much more confrontation before the issues are resolved. >> sony pictures has announced that it will distribute its film "the interview" online following a cyber attack in a fight over its release. the comedy plot about assassinating north korea's dictator is available for rental and her on several outlets including google. the senior editor of friday magazine joins us now from los angeles. they key for joining us. really wellked out for sony, hasn't it? >> i wouldn't go that far. it has given them a chance to day and a video on demand release of what was supposed to be a major movie. this is costing them a great

deal of money and lost box office. this we are cynical, could have been a marketing strategy? they originally said they would not release it and then to make this announcement a few days ?ater >> i understand that cynicism. you have to remember that this hacking incident involved the release of personal information for thousands of employees and a tremendous embarrassment to the upper leadership of sony pictures. it is hard to imagine that that is something they would do just to try to get a few extra million dollars out of the post office. if that were the case, you would never posted via streaming and internet. their take on tickets is so much greater and tickets cost so much more. they are really taking a bath on this. there was a threatened attack, what has happened to that? >> well, we don't what they mean

by that. you have to remember in the actual physical world, not a window has been broken. they have done nothing physical. we don't know what kind of retaliation they might undertake. it might be terribly embarrassing for sony, but i'm very skeptical that we are going to see anything like a bomb or any sort of physical act. i don't believe that these people have the resources necessary to do that. >> the interview went online a few hours ago and people have been sharing their thoughts, have a little look. there have been 35 reviews on rotten tomatoes. a middling score of 54% is the current consensus.

here is a happy viewer from arkansas. >> the film points out that it will soon be internationally released. canadians, sincere apologies, but "the interview" is not available for you. stay with us here on "bbc world news," still to come -- >> i remember everything. a decade after the devastating agency niemi, we hear from a sri lankan train guard who shares his incredible story of survival. devastatingafter a tsunami.

>> thousands of people were killed in the genocide including my family. the population is young and growing rapidly. >> today, one of europe's most sophisticated cities. >> the part of the lice that was to look good and to dress nice. >> stockholm is my city. now, ruins have been uncovered. rangoon is my city.

>> this is "bbc world news." jordan has confirmed that one of its pilots has been captured by so-called islamic state will attend. you're looking at live pictures from bethlehem. let's go back to our top story, storage or janie and plane that went down in syria. i spoke to a former iraqi government spokesperson and now a senior director at the national endowment for democracy. >> over the last six months, isis has been holding war fronts and 4-5 major cities. 4-5 have been facing countries that are having air raids.

it isnot contained and coming up with all of the surprising moves. this will add to its momentum in the region. it will expose jordan to more danger. >> what options does the jordanian government have? looks jordan, it was the right .ove to commit to fighting isis domestically, internally, there are a lot of sympathizers with would make jordan in a very weak fragile position. you bear in mind that up until now the threat of isis has not been well conceptualized and the air raids i'm not going to uproot them. they are very well rooted in the region. to maybe the first take the next right from isis. >> do they have more sophisticated weapons than

initially thought? >> what we know for sure over the last six months, they have been a magnet of all sorts of technical people coming to the region. we know for sure that they have cells all over the middle east and other places that are offering their support. are trading routes are active in the black market, acquiring sophisticated weapons. oil,have been trading in now, the good weapons. think countries have grossly underestimated their threat. >> with so many countries, do changenk that this will the momentum? >> this will put pressure on policymakers to say what you are doing is not enough and not effective. policy isstronger

needed here. pope francis is celebrating christmas eve with a late-night mass. this comes days after he heavily criticized the cardinals and bishops that run the headquarters. toe francis made a call refugees in iraqi kurdistan over a gesture of support. christians in northern iraq have been facing much persecution and thatletter, the pope wrote the music will be company by tears and sighs. some in the world's oldest christian communities are facing christmas as refugees. they have left their homes because of war and islamic extremism. many have gone to jordan.

>> spending time in church at christmas is normal. this year, they are not just coming to pray, they have also been forced to live in these church grounds of jordan. everyone here is from oso, islamic state militants took over their city this summer. they fled. >> i cannot describe how terrified i was. these extremists don't act like human beings, they chop people's heads off. we left behind our house, our business, our whole existence. we took our girls and ran. >> you can hear a lot of similar stories. that is because more than 5000 iraqi christians have moved here

in just the past few months. charities are doing what they can to help but there is a feeling of despair. most of these refugees don't see any way that they will be able to return home any time soon. the wedding day is bittersweet. it has brought loved ones together, however briefly. >> he will not go back to iraq. there is no future for us there. >> the couple want to leave this troubled region and start a new life and they are not alone. hundreds of thousands of christians have immigrated in recent years. the trend worries church leaders. >> it is very important for christianity, the ideas and

teachings of christianity to find and have followers of jesus christ in this part of the world. this is the birthplace of christianity. >> the church is packed for a service. the christmas message is about peace and hope. right now in the middle east, there is a shortage of both. >> a hundred years since british and german soldiers from the first world war put down their weapons. humanitykable act of in a war characterized by bertelli. of monday farm land, the shouted greetings ring

out once more as europe looks back to the day when the guns fearsilent and men defied and suspicion. >> they were seen exchanging gifts. they were smoking, talking, shaking hands. >> the author and cartoonist made his own record of events. it is very difficult to pinpoint where the truce took place. come it was about 50 yards from where i'm standing. this is where they shook hands with german soldiers on christmas day, 1914. the grandsons of two officers have become close friends. >> and has been very very difficult. to go back and to shoot.

>> we will not have the same. >> hopes of a short conflict were soon dashed. >> in pakistan, the prime minister says he has secured the agreement of major political a court to tryup terrorism suspects. this follows an attack by taliban militants last week in which more than 140 children and their teachers were killed. been 10 years since a tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of the across asia. , killing aept

thousand people. however, he managed to survive. >> i'm a trained guard. i came to work as usual. the train was overcrowded. it was a regular day and the train was running fine. then, it suddenly stopped. a wave came and went across the train. it was quite unusual. when i looked outside, everything had been dragged by the water. saw people, and i drowning, desperately trying to survive. after a while, a second wave came. i clamored to the roof. i saw the damage.

the entire low-lying area had become a part of the sea. untilr heard of tsunami then. i knew this was something big. so many were dead. after that, i returned to the train to check on my colleague. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, and mufg. >> they say the oldest trees bear the sweetest fruit. at mufg, we've believed in nurturing banking relationships for centuries, because strong financial partnerships are best cultivated for the years to

come, giving your company the resources and stability to thrive. mufg, we build relationships that build the world. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.

chris morgan: reaching up to the heavens and spanning thousands of miles are the most inhospitable mountains on earth -- the himalayas. but this frozen fortress sustains a remarkable array of life. mighty, mysterious, and seemingly mythical animals make this daunting landscape their home. the land provides for people, too, bestowing sacred gifts for the body and mind. towering above them all are the himalayas,