the bbc�*s akbar hossein reports from dhaka.room at around three o'clock in the morning, when most of the passengers were sleeping. it spread quickly as the ferry travelled along the sugandha river in the early hours of friday. the fire went on for hours before it was doused. as many as 500 people were reportedly on board. some of the victims drowned afterjumping into the water. translation: my father, | myself, my six-month-old nephew and my sister were travelling together. when the fire broke out, i gave the baby to a man, he was trying to save the baby, but now we can't find them. please, let us know if you learn their whereabouts. i was on the first floor of the ferry. suddenly, the rear side caught fire. the engine had problems earlier. the ferry's windows had curtains, and these curtains trapped the smoke, which killed most of the people. ferry accidents are not uncommon in bangladesh, with mishaps blamed on poor maintenance, lax safety standards and overcrowding. the accident was the latest in a string of similar incident

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka.viet republic of georgia — where far right groups have started to emerge as a powerful force. earlier this year, a gay rights march was attacked — leaving several people badly injured — but no—one has faced prosecution. and symbols left by those groups still stand outside government buildings. 0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie sent this report from the capital, tbilisi. 0njuly the 5th, georgia's far right groups attacked the offices of pride, they were here to stop the lgbt activists from holding their march. it was described as one of the darkest days for georgian democracy. that was the most scary day, and i knew that if they would catch me, they would kill me, definitely. what happened on the 5th ofjuly was against humanity, against our citizens interests, against democratic values. activists managed to escape while the angry mob turned on journalists. 53 were attacked, including a cameraman, who later died. the authorities blamed an alleged drug addiction. this is the leader of the

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka. another successful test of the country's hypersonic missile weapon system, known as zircon. president vladimir putin announced the news at a government meeting on friday. it's said to be the first time that a salvo of several missiles was launched simultaneously. he described it as a big event in strengthening russia's security and improving its defence capability. to the vatican where the pope has been holding the traditional catholic christmas eve mass. the head of the catholic church urged vatican cardinals, bishops and bureaucrats to embrace humility this christmas season, saying their pride, self—interest and the "glitter of our armor" was perverting their spiritual lives and corrupting the church's mission. here's a taste of events at taking place there. they sing images from the vatican there. the queen is expected to give a very personal christmas message tomorrow — her first since the death of her husband, prince philip. she'll speak beside a framed photograph of the couple t

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka.nother successful test of the country's hyper—sonic missile weapon system, known as zircon. president vladimir putin announced the news at a government meeting on friday. it's said to be the first time that a salvo of several missiles was launched simultaneously. he described it as a considerable step in strengthening russia's security and improving its defence capability. let's turn now to the former soviet republic of georgia — where far—right groups have started to emerge as a powerful force. earlier this year, a gay rights march was attacked — leaving several people badly injured — but no—one has faced prosecution. and symbols left by those groups still stand outside government buildings. 0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie sent this report from the capital, tbilisi. 0njuly the 5th, georgia's far right groups attacked the offices of pride, they were here to stop the lgbt activists from holding their march. it was described as one of the darkest days for georgian democracy. that was t

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka. geun—hye, is to be granted a presidential pardon. ms park — the country's first female president — was impeached and removed from office in 2017 after widespread public protests over her deals with big korean businesses. she was subsequentlyjailed for 22 years on corruption charges. christmas eve celebrations are under way in the west bank city of bethlehem, but the hoteliers who were hoping for an influx of tourists will be disappointed by the re—introduction of anti—covid measures. israel's borders have been closed to international travellers because of the pandemic and only a small number of people attended the procession, to the birthplace ofjesus. tom bateman sent this report. in manger square, they wait for the biggest night of the year — a christmas procession that will follow the route believed to have been taken by mary and joseph. it's a march of faith. but this season's greetings are mainly between the locals. the scout bands are a fixture of christmas in manger square and

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka.er successful test of the country's hyper—sonic missile weapon system, known as zircon. president vladimir putin announced the news at a government meeting on friday. it's said to be the first time that a salvo of several missiles was launched simultaneously. he described it as a considerable step in strengthening russia's security and improving its defence capability. the queen is expected to give a very personal christmas message tomorrow — her first since the death of her husband, prince philip. she'll speak beside a framed photograph of the couple taken during their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 — and she'll wear the same sapphire brooch that she wore on her honeymoon. there are some flashing images in this report from our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. rehearsing at windsor for their part in the queen's christmas broadcast, the central band of the royal british legion will play the national anthem which begins the broadcast. this year's christmas message — a still fr

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka.ia have reported another successful test of the country's hypersonic missile weapon system, known as zircon. president vladimir putin announced the news at a government meeting on friday. it's said to be the first time that a salvo of several missiles was launched simultaneously. he described it as a big event in the life of the country and a considerable step in strengthening russia's security and improving its defence capability. here's president putin hailing the multiple launch test of the hypersonic missile. translation: tonight before morning, a simultaneous — translation: tonight before morning, a simultaneous launch _ translation: tonight before morning, a simultaneous launch of— translation: tonight before morning, a simultaneous launch of the _ a simultaneous launch of the hypersonic zircon system took place. this is our newest missile which works against both naval targets and ground targets. the tests were conducted successfully, immaculately. the most powerful telescope ev

akbar hossein, bbc news, dhaka. tomorrow — her first since the death of her husband, prince philip. she will speak beside a framed photograph of the couple taken during their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 — and will wear the same sapphire brooch that she wore on her honeymoon. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. for the queen, forced for a second year by covid to spend christmas at windsor rather than hosting herfamily at sandringham, this will be a moment to reflect on a year marked by sadness. her christmas broadcast, a still from which has been issued by buckingham palace, is expected to be a very personal one. prominently on the desk beside her, a photograph of her and prince philip taken in 2007 when they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. philip's death last april, two months short of his 100th birthday and after 73 years of marriage, was the emotional low point of the year for the monarch. apart from a reference to him in her address to the cop 26 conference, the queen has not

let's get more details from the bbc�*s akbar hossein, who joins us from dhaka.ment. inaudible. inaudible. i think we are struggling to hear you. it looks like the picture has frozen. we will try to contact him in atjust a moment. the former south korean president, park geun—hye, is to be granted a presidential pardon. ms park, the country's first female president, was impeached and removed from office in 2017 after widespread public protests over her deals with big korean businesses. she was subsequentlyjailed for 22 years on corruption charges. 0ur south koera correspondent, laura bicker, has more from seoul. this decision has come as a big surprise — park geun—hye's name was not supposed to be on the pardon list, there wasn't even a hint of her name being on this year's new year pardon list, and here we are. president moonjae—in has announced that she will be pardoned. she was serving 22 years, she has served four years of that sentence. but in recent months she's been in ill health, she's been in the hospital a number of times with shoulder pain, even getting

akbar hossein from the bbc bengali service in dhaka gave us this update.erry was starting from dhaka and was going to the coastal district of barguna, which is 250 kilometres south of dhaka. and when the ferry was in the middle of the river, it caught fire. and i have spoken to local police officers and rescuers, they have informed me. so far, they have rescued 37 dead bodies. and many people there and children have been taken to local hospitals. and when the accident, the fire broke out, it instantly spread all over the ferry. it is a three—storey ferry. and many peoplejumped into the river to save their lives. and local officials say that many people, when theyjumped in the river, they cannot swim and they drowned in the river and they recovered the dead body. and many people were trapped inside the ferry. so they died. so a very tragic incident and the rescue operation is still going. bangladesh is a country of 170 million people, and more than 30% of the total population, their main transportation is ferry. they travel to the coastal district by ferry.

akbar hossein, from the bbc bengali service in dhaka, gave us this update.t is highly likely to increase in the hours to come, because many people have severe burn injuries and are now being treated in the local hospitals. but the problem is that hospitals are overwhelmed by patients, and the kind of patience they are getting in the hospitals in the rural areas, they are not equipped enough to treat them. that's why many victims' relatives are alleging that many patients are not getting proper treatment. it is a very challenging thing for the doctors to cope with. on the other hand, the rescuers are still searching for dead bodies. when the fire broke out on the vessel, many peoplejumped into the river to save their lives, some of them drowned. the rescuers still believe there might be some people, that the number of deaths could rise in hours to come. so what happened on board this ferry, what was the cause of the fire? this is not clear yet. but one passenger who was rescued from the ferry was telling localjournalists that there were some issues in the eng