well, yeah, azerbaijan — the two leaders? well, yeah, azerbaijan is _ the two leaders?wo leaders? well, yeah, azerbaijan is one of- the two leaders? well, yeah, azerbaijan is one of the - azerbaijan is one of the strongest countries in the former soviet union, some commented. and it has never trusted russia 100%. although it always maintained good relations which may be with some ups and downs and has been an ally as the leaders would like to put this. the government have always received balance foreign policy in azerbaijan, it maintains friendly ties with russia while strengthening ties with turkey, the eu and the us because of various reasons. with turkey it has strong cultural ties, the language is similar, its geographical location makes it important to the west as well, it is close to iran in russia. azerbaijan has maintained a neutral stance on russia's war in ukraine. it does not condemn directly but has been given a lot of humanitarian aid and support to ukraine. the conflict has also reshaped dynamics. azerbaijan now plays a greater role as the gas supplier to

some people in azerbaijan — deteriorates. some people in azerbaijan believe _ deteriorates.ople in azerbaijan believe that - deteriorates. some people in azerbaijan believe that the i azerbaijan believe that the plane's gps system was affected byjamming, how common is that? gpsjamming or byjamming, how common is that? gps jamming or spoofing is relatively common in areas where conflict is ongoing. the effect in the flight deck can be for the navigation systems to become confused as to where the aircraft is and it is possible for the pilots to override that and dismissed the gps input on their navigation system and to revert to less high—tech solutions, but what can occur is that the data that the aircraft is transmitting can become erroneous and that in the air defence environment becomes a problem, because someone on the ground who is looking at a radar return, a primary radar return which could be a threat, and asking themselves is this a civil aircraft, if that civil aircraft, if that civil aircraft is spoofing its location, and appears to be somewhere else, then the reas

do we know wh so azerbaijan today. do we know why so many _ azerbaijan today. know why so many passengers - azerbaijan today. do we knowl why so many passengers flying to chechnya? what are the reasons behind that? azerbaijan's land borders have remained close since the covid pandemic and the president has cited national security reasons for this. we have seen and recovered social media where people say the land borders, if they had been open it would have been easier to travel by train. but some blame economic conditions in the country that force people to fly to chechnya and elsewhere in russia. there are more than 2 million azerbaijan people living in russia and lots of people have left the country to look for jobs in russia, including chechnya. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. president zelensky has condemned russia's large—scale missile attacks across ukraine on christmas day as inhmane. he said russia had launched over 70 missiles and 100 drones at ukraine's energy system in what he called a "conscious choice" to launch the attacks at

that's what azerbaijan wants from him.cause azerbaijan believes it is russia. aliyev said said that russia must acknowledge its guilt. and he also demanded that those responsible must be punished, brought tojustice and compensation must be paid to the azerbaijani state. as we hearfrom president aliyev, these are azerbaijan's conditions. now we see in the news that putin initiated another phone call today and had a conversation with president aliyev again about the plane crash. this is the second call since yesterday. we don't know the details yet as they have not been made public. so what do you think all of this means in political terms for relations between the two countries and the two leaders? well, yeah, azerbaijan is one of the strongest countries in the former soviet union. some commented...commentators say, and it has never trusted russia 100%, although it always maintained good relations, which may be some with some ups and downs, and has been an ally, as the leaders would like to put this, the government always h

azerbaijan has been a key partner, even though azerbaijan is also now a key partner of turkey.learly i think the issuing of this statement, the telephone conversation today between the two presidents is a sign that the kremlin does believe it is an important relationship to maintain. clearly there has been a lot of anger in baku after this disaster, and so that leads us to what the kremlin has said today and this apology, as i say, not for shooting down the plane, but for this incident taking place in russian airspace. but as we have been saying, this is the closest we have come to hearing an apology from russia for what happened on christmas day. meanwhile, funerals have begun taking place for the 38 people who died in the azerbaijan airlines crash. relatives say 13—year—old muhammedali yeganov was flying to grozny to visit his mother when the plane went down on wednesday. the promising young footballer was laid to rest in his home district in baku. the world health organization and palestinian health officials say the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza has been

azerbaijan airlines said its plane had suffered external physical and technical interference.t gave no details. the kremlin has again refused to comment on speculation that the plane was mistakenly brought down by a russian air defence system. russia's civil aviation agency said ukrainian drones were active in the area at the time. one of the survivors, subkhonkul rakhimov, has been speaking to russian—language state media. translation: they say there were two bangs, l but i only heard one. it was quite substantial. i honestly didn't hear the second one. at first, only some of the oxygen masks fell out, and then they all did. maybe that happened after the second bang. i didn't hear the second bang. after the bang, after the masks fell out, i saw the fuselage was slightly damaged. then i got scared. i thought the plane would fall apart, it would decompress and just fall apart straight away. i was already getting ready for the plane just to fall apart. i was conscious when i felt the impact. i was thrown up, hit down, thrown up again. i was strapped in. iwas down, thrown up agai

in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.or 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

in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.or 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? very rare. in fact, there was five—day, when the tragedy happened, five—days speculation that he is going to apologise, he is not going to apologise, and the bets were that he's not going to apologise because he never does. on the other hand, his relationship of azerbaijan is very important, and they need each other, and president aliyev 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 parity in the relationship between russia and azerbaijan. so it is a very rare occasion and shows that there is some rationale left, rational thinking left, in the kremlin. help us understand, actually, that relationship between the two countries. the kremlin actually said saturday that putin had called azerbaijan's president on the phone. do you think that this could end u

of the azerbaijan airlines plane, which crashed on christmas day and killed 38. thick fog is causing travel disruption around the uk, with flights cancelled and drivers warned to be careful on the roads. over 1300 critically endangered tiny snails have been released in the remote portuguese island of desertas, in the atlantic ocean. hello. the world health organization and palestinian health officials say the last majorfunctioning hospital in northern gaza has been put out of service after it was evacuated by the israeli military. the kamal adwan hospital has been under siege by the idf for weeks. staff say airstrikes there on friday killed 50 people. the head of the hospital's nursing department told the bbc the army gave them only a 15—minute warning to evacuate patients and staff before the israeli army entered the hospital and removed anyone that remained. palestinian health officials say around 100 medical staff were ta ken into an interrogating site and questioned last night and the director of the hospital was detained. some of those relesaed have now reac

azerbaijan airlines said the jet traveling from the azerbaijan capital to russia was diverted and attemptingmake an emergency landing. azerbaijan's president said he was told worsening weather conditions forced the plane off its planned route. russian civil aviation authority says it appears a bird strike led to an emergency on board. families and friends are awaiting an official report. and azerbaijan airline says it will suspend flights on that route until the investigation into the crash is completed. the country's president also declared today a day of morning. michael. >> leah mishkin, thanks so much. >>> people in hawaii are investigating the discovery of a body in the wheel well of a united airlines plane. the body was found in one of the main landing gears when the plane arrived on maui after taking off from chicago tuesday. united says the wheel well is only accessible from the outside. it is unclear when or how the person was able to get into the landing gear of the boeing 787. >>> the post-christmas travel rush begins today. people at airports and on the roads could face some nast

in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza is now 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 it 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 injerusalem and sent this report. sirens blare throughout gaza, patients forced out of the kamal adwan hospital b

in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.orld health organisation says the last major functioning hospital in northern gaza is now empty after israel raided the site and forcibly evicted patients and medical staff. some of those who were being treated at the kamal adwan hospital have said they were stripped and left in the cold when it was evacuated. israel said it had now ended its operation at what it called "a hamas command centre". our correspondent emir nader reports from jerusalem. 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 at a time - to the school's bathroom, 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 thr

meanwhile, azerbaijan airlines have suspended all flights in the region.cause was not technical or mechanical. the aircraft has a good safety record. russia's government says no conclusion should be drawn until the kazakh—led investigation is complete. amongst those wanting answers will be those survivors who remarkably walked away. this man says his wife had been sitting next to him, but he hasn't seen her since the crash. this is the family of one of the flight attendants. in a video call, he reassures them, saying, "don't worry, tell mum not to worry. thank god we're safe. " at baku's airport, large crowds queued up to pay their respects and lay flowers in memory of the dead, as families across the region struggle to understand what caused their loved ones to perish. jonathan josephs, bbc news. joining me live is konul khalilova, news editor for bbc azerbaijan. bring this up—to—date. there are a lot of investigations taking place, where do things stand right now. there is an increasing blaming and pressuring of the azerbaijani government media towards r

the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan airlines. the airline says there were 72 people on board. video online appears to show the plane hitting the ground at a fast rate of speed, before erupting into a fireball. right now, kazakhstan authorities say six people survived the plane crash. again, if you're just joining us, we are following breaking news out of central asia this morning where a large passenger plane has crashed in the kazakhstan city of aktau. the country is just south of russia. officials say the plane was in route from baku, azerbaijan, to grozny in russia's chechnya region, but was rerouted due to fog. the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan's airlines. the airline says there were 72 people on board. video online appears to show the plane hitting the ground at a fast rate of speed, before erupting into a fireball. right now, kazakhstan authorities say six people survived the plane crash. and we will bring you the latest information as we get it throughout the morning. for now, i'm chanley painter. now back to regu

the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan's airlines. again, if you are just joining us, we are following this breaking news out of central asia this morning where a large passenger plane has crashed in the kazakhstan city of aktau. the country is just south of russia. officials say the plane was en route from baku, azerbaijan, to grozny in russia's chechnya region, but was rerouted due to fog. the video appears to show the plane hitting the ground at a fast rate of speed, before erupting into a fireball. the ministry there says there were 67 people on board. of those, 25 are believed to still be alive and 42 are likely dead. the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan airlines, and we'll continue bringing you the latest information as we get it here. for now, i'm chanley air. i'm clandly painter and back to our normal programming already in progress. >> come on out. let's give a round of applause. [ cheering and applause ] jimmy, put the snowballs down you argue first. >> i don't throw them. >> take to the podium. you are arguing in favo

airspace involving the azerbaijan airlines plane that crashed in kazakhstan on christmas day, killingpeople. there's no direct admission the plane was struck by a russian missile. a statement on the kremlin website says russian air defence was repelling a drone attack while the plane was attempting to land. in the latest development, president putin has called for an �*objective and transparent�* probe into the crash. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is in moscow to unpack the kremlin�*s statement. here is a phrase you don't hear very often from vladimir putin, i am sorry, but, and it is a key point to make, i think i'm i am sorry, but, and it is a key point to make, i think, in a carefully worded statement the only thing the kremlin actually admitted was that this tragic incident, as the kremlin called it, happened in russian airspace. there was no public admission that it was a russian missile that had damaged flight 8243 and caused it to crash in kazakhstan on christmas day. the suspicion since wednesday was that it was a russian missile that did this. when president putin telep

in azerbaijan today, the first funerals for some of the 38 people who were killed.ed will take time to find out and will likely be disputed. jon donnison, bbc news. tim atkinson is a former air accident investigator. he told me what he makes of things so far. to the outside of the plane. the owner, azerbaijan airlines, said only that it had suffered external physical and technical interference. the kremlin has again refused to comment on speculation that it was mistakenly brought down by a russian air defence system. translation: i'd like to point out that the situation on that l day during those hours in the area around grozny airport was very difficult. ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the city of grozny and others nearby. in azerbaijan today, the first funerals for some of the 38 people who were killed. likely be disputed. he told me what he makes of things so far. these days, there is so much imagery in social media effectively lose their normal means of controlling the aircraft. and that is an extraordi

so that's complicated with azerbaijan. of course, it was azerbaijan national airline aircraft that flew in and and experienced this accident. their pilots were probably azerbaijani. i don't know that detail, but for some reason the pilots didn't land. actually in the russian republic. they didn't try to land in grozny, in chechnya. they chose to try and actually crash landed in kazakhstan. so that's an interesting wrinkle. and the azerbaijanis and the russians have been trying to get a little bit closer together. and that's part of a whole 'nother complicated scenario there, wolf. there's been a war that's been fought for decades now between armenia and azerbaijan, two countries there in the caucasus. russia used to be on the side with armenia. they've been increasingly flexing their muscles and gaining, trying to gain their independence. that will also be an interesting dynamic when we have our new president, president trump, because he has been pro-armenian. so it's it's incredibly complicated right now, very complicated

azerbaijan airline said it is cancelling seven of its route into russia.oryashko who the company has decided to cancel some flights to russia in regards to this air crash. so first of all, flights have been cancelled to russia for the moment and another kazakhstan air company decided to scrap its flights to russia until further notice. azerbaijan airlines hasn't cancelled all flights, said it will keep flying to moscow and some of the cities but they will not be flying to the cities in the russian south where this plane crash has been directed to. where this plane crash has been directed te— directed to. meanwhile the investigation _ directed to. meanwhile the investigation into - directed to. meanwhile the investigation into what - investigation into what happened continues? investigation into what ha ened continues? happened continues? indeed, the kremlin still— happened continues? indeed, the kremlin still does _ happened continues? indeed, the kremlin still does not _ happened continues? indeed, the kremlin still does not comment i kremlin still does n

right now you can see the latest on the azerbaijan plane crash.ing bbc news. hello there, some higher parts of england and wales have again been sticking out above this misty low cloud today. it's quite gloomy and murky and a little damp in other parts of england and wales. the fog, though, probably not quite as extensive as it has been. and through the rest of the weekend, the breeze picks up a little, that mist and patchy fog will be lifting, promising some brighter skies more widely tomorrow, although there will be some rain still in scotland. the mist and fog is closer to this area of low pressure which is affecting other parts of europe as well, that weather front weakening as it moves south, and another band of rain heading into northern scotland by the end of the day. but temperatures in scotland and northern ireland in double figures. where it's grey and gloomy through the midlands, south—east england, it's going to be a chilly five or six degrees here, again. and still some extensive low cloud, some patches of mist and fog into the night,

in azerbaijan, a day of mourning was declared for the dead. some relatives of the survivors remain on edge, waiting for news on loved ones recovery. >> i don't know what to say, honestly. i spoke with my son today. thank god his condition is good. if everything goes well today and tomorrow, he will come to baku. let's see what happens next. >> for many families of the at least 38 people killed in the crash, answers can't come soon enough. aviation experts have indicated that it's unlikely a bird strike could have caused this crash, and that the russian defense system theory is possible. officials recovered the black box at the crash site, which they hope will provide more information. for now, several world leaders have expressed their condolences and voiced their support for a thorough investigation into the matter. kate. >> one clearly needed. bianna, thank you so much. now, i want to bring in oren liebermann. oren, what are u.s. officials telling you about this plane crash? >> kate? bianna referenced there what we've heard from u.s. officia

that's what azerbaijan wants from him.d that russia must acknowledge its guilt. and he also demanded that those responsible must be punished, brought tojustice and compensation must be paid to the azerbaijani state. as we hearfrom president aliyev, these are azerbaijan's conditions. now, we see in the news that putin initiated another phone call today and had a conversation with president aliyev again about the plane crash. this is the second call since yesterday. we don't know the details yet, as they have not been made public. palestinian authorities say seven people have been killed in an israeli strike on the upperfloor of al—wafaa hospital in the centre of gaza city. several others are injured, with officials saying some of those are in a critical condition. israel says the hospital was being used by hamas as a command centre, but has not provided any evidence to support this. earlier this morning, another hospital in gaza city — al ahli arab hospital, also known as the baptist — was also hit. it has the only ct scann

in azerbaijan, they continue to mourn. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.icial tells the bbc it's hoped any day, although arrangements could fall through. there have only been 10 exchanges this year, the lowest number since the start of russia's full—scale invasion in 2022. ukraine doesn't publish numbers of prisoners of war being held by russia, but the total is believed 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 2.5 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. boghdan is very kind. he really loves cats, just like i do. liliya still sends messages to boghdan�*s phone... messages for him in the future. ..knowing he can't see them. i miss him a lot. he needs to be saved and have his freedom back. freedom for ukrainians held by russia, that's what li

in azerbaijan today the first funerals for some of the 38 people killed.y died will take time to find out. and will likely be disputed. skwra>> a former air accident investigator gave me his assessment of what happened. >> these days, there is so much imagery and social media in the news occasionally it is possible to draw clear conclusions early on. on the photographs we have seen and video footage which are many in the public domann clearly showed damage to the aircraft which is consistent with an explosion of some kind almost certainly external but very close to the aircraft. and those images with the other evidence indicate strongly that some kind of air defense missile has exploded close to the aircraft. that has not only caused the disruption of the aircraft skin which is easily apparent, but more importantly other suggests that it disrupted the aircraft flying control systems which are hydraulic and if they lose the high call like fluid the pilots effectively lose the normal means of controlling the aircraft and that is an extraordinarily difficult

correspondent: in azerbaijan today, the first funerals for some of the 38 people who were killed.died will take time to find out and will likely be disputed. john donnison, bbc news. correspondent: a former air accident investigator told me what he thinks of things so far. >> these days there is so much imagery in social media in the news that occasionally it is possible to draw quite clear conclusions early on. the photographs we have seen in the video footage, which are many in the public domain now, clearly show damage to the aircraft which is consistent with an explosion of some kind, almost external to but very close to the aircraft. those images, along with the other evidence, indicate very strongly that what has happened is some kind of air defense missile has exploded close to the aircraft. that has not only caused the disruption to the aircraft's skin, which is apparent in the photographs and video, but more importantly, others suggest that the flying control systems, which were hydraulic, and if they lose their hydraulic fluid, then the pilots on the flight deck -- and t

azerbaijan airlines had already suspended flights to several russian cities.t says it has to take flight safety risks into account. neither russia nor kazakhstan has confirmed the cause of the crash, but the head of russia's aviation authority says the plane had been unable to land at its planned destination in grozny because of a ukrainian drone attack which was taking place at the time. he added that thick fog had prevented two earlier attempts to land in grozny. ukraine has said russia must be held responsible. and pro—government media in azerbaijan has quoted unnamed officials saying they believed a russian air defence missile caused the plane to crash. one of the survivors, subkhonkul rakhimov, has been speaking to russian—language state media. here's his description of what happened to the airliner. translation: they say there were two bangs, l but i only heard one. it was quite substantial. i honestly didn't hear the second one. at first, only some of the oxygen masks fell out, not all the masks fell out, and then they all did. maybe that happened after

pro—government media in azerbaijan has quoted un—named officials, saying they believed a russian airissile caused the plane to crash. one of the survivors, subkhonkul rakhimov, has been speaking to russian—language state media. here's his description of what happened to the airliner. translation: they say there were two bangs, l but i only heard one. it was quite substantial. i honestly didn't hear the second one. at first, only some of the oxygen masks fell out, and then they all did. maybe that happened after the second bang. i didn't hear the second bang. after the bang, after the masks fell out, i saw the fuselage was slightly damaged. then i got scared. i thought the plane would fall apart, it would decompress and just fall apart straight away. i was already getting ready for the plane just to fall apart. that was one of the survivors. my colleague at the bbc azerbaijani service, konul khalilova, has been following developments on this story. she gave us this update. we understood from what azerbaijan's minister of digital development and transport, rashad nabiyev, said that the

may be seeing when it comes to this azerbaijan airlines flight. now, it's worth looking at the environment there. ukraine had just carried out a drone strike in southern russia, and according to defense experts, russia's air defenses were active in that region at around the time of this azerbaijan airlines flight. in fact, the u.s. official with whom i spoke said that because of the poor training for russia's air defense units and for its military, it may be that that led to the confusion in which russian air defense units may have fired on a commercial airliner. >> now to the baltic sea, where finnish authorities have seized a tanker carrying russian oil suspected of causing undersea internet and power cable outages. the vessel is believed to belong to russia's shadow fleet, looking to avoid oil sanctions. countries around the baltic sea are on high alert for sabotage after a string of disruptions with power, communications and gas in gaza, medical officials say. israeli forces have surrounded a hospital in northern gaza and ordered staff and pat

states when the plane came down and he had to turn back to azerbaijan.so look, as you say, putin is clearly in damage control mode. he did apologize in a way, in a phone call that he initiated on saturday. he said that he was sorry for this tragic incident happening in russian airspace. according to a kremlin readout of that call. so an apology, but no admission of guilt there. and the apology seems to be to have been accepted by azerbaijan's president. but he has three demands, right? one, that russia apologize, one that it admits its guilt, which it hasn't done yet, though of course, the investigation is ongoing. and thirdly, that it punish those responsible and pay compensation. now, we did hear via azerbaijan's state media that russia's investigative committee has promised to track down those responsible and punish them. no mention of compensation yet. so this is still ongoing. it's not clear what azerbaijan's actions may be yet, as it is called for these three things, and russia has not met all of them yet. but we do see russia clearly trying to pla

the plane was travelling from azerbaijan to russia. president zelensky condemns russia's mass missile and drone attack against ukraine on christmas day as inhumane. and our bbc russia editor steve rosenberg joins forces with channel 4's ciaranjenkins to perform a special christmas collaboration. hello. we start in the uk, where the royal family have attended the traditional christmas service at church in sandringham. king charles was accompanied by the prince and princess of wales and their children and other senior royals. prince andrew did not attend, after it was confirmed earlier this week that he would not bejoining the family at sandringham. our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, has been in sandringham this morning, and we spoke to her a short time ago. hgppy happy christmas. everyone has gone home to have lunch but there were about 1000 people who came out to say happy christmas and give them cards, meeting kids and dogs and diane! it is easier to say who you didn't meet because you met a lot of royals, the new?- a lot of roya

good says the french president even went as far as attacking azerbaijan at the you. in general assembly, you responded by mentioning french overseas territories, which are suffering from real neo colonialism within. joseph burrell jumped into the fray with criticisms of, as are by john and your is europe supposed to be above reproach, deal of how come of it. but what's going on? but yeah, they're not used to being lectured about justice. maybe they're used to lecturing. everyone else is there sure they're used to others, sucking up to them, but begging them for something. i'm a seeking their advice and not doing anything without their approval. it is each those formerly colonial and sometimes currently neo colonial countries, are used to this way of living and thinking over them. so it's a deeply ingrained to have it works. basically, we've never had any issues with france, that's one issue you. what's more, our cooperation with brands before macro and it was probably even stronger than with any other european country on. when my father was elected president, in 1993

meanwhile azerbaijan airlines have suspended.ts 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

azerbaijan airlines has cancelled all flights to russia.n moscow, saint petersburg, yekaterinburg and some other cities. but they won't be flying to the cities in the russian south and especially in grozny, where this plane which crashed has been directed to. and meanwhile, the investigation into what happened continues? uh, indeed. kremlin still does not comment on the investigation and on any versions which appear now on the both on the social media and in the news. according to some sources, the kremlin spokesperson dmitry peskov told that they have seen the statements coming from baku, azerbaijan capital, saying that russia should admit the they accidentally shot down the plane. but he insisted that the investigation is still ongoing. it's still under way and until, it's concluded the kremlin would not comment on the situation. and on the russian tv, the version that the plane could have been shot down is not discussed at all. it's just basically ignored. uh, the only two, uh, two versions of what has happened with the azerbaijani plane

and coming up next, azerbaijan's president is now accusing russia of shooting down that airliner thatkilled 38 people on christmas day. and he says that they're trying to cover up the truth. we'll be right back. >> andy, take a seat. >> anderson, look at this. you're wet. disheveled. there's debris hitting you. we need to be ready for new year's eve. maybe you are ready. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts aton cnn. >> when you're the leader of a disaster happen? happen. fired up randy. >> yeah. >> by being prepared for anything. >> whatever comes your way, there's a pro for that servpro. like it never even happened. we got this. >> wait. >> no. passed up on meds now. >> no way. >> noom. >> the psychology based weight loss company. >> yes. >> noom combines medication with healthy habits so you can lose the weight and keep it off. >> and they guarantee it. >> that's really smart. >> that's noom smart. >> it starts at just $149, and it ships to your door in seven days. >> it's better than the perfect drink. >> who's ready to get pickled? noom. >> the smar

the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan's airlines.in, if you're just now joining us, we are following breaking news out of central asia this morning where a large passenger plane has crashed in the kazakhstan city of aktau. the country is just south of russia. officials say the plane was en route from baku, azerbaijan, to grozny in russia's chechnya region, but reportedly diverted to kazakhstan due to a bird strike. video appears to show the plane hitting the ground at a fast rate of speed, before erupting into a fireball. the ministry says there were 67 people on board. of those, 28 are believed to still be alive. the plane reportedly belongs to azerbaijan's airlines. we'll bring you the latest information as we get it. for i'm chanley painter, back to regular programming already in progress. he was horrifying. chills. scary to this day when that face first comes on. like rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, it has run every year since 1964, making it the longest running christmas special. the actual inherent message in rudolph the red-no

vladimir putin has apologised to azerbaijan's president over the passenger plane crash in kazakhstan. over russian airspace, but didn't take responsibility. the health ministry in gaza says israeli forces detained and interrogated around 100 medical staff from a hospital in northern gaza after they forcibly evacuated patients. thick fog continues to cause delays and cancellations at some of the uk's busiest international airports. and — these jeans were not made for chess — in fact it led to the resignation of the world's top grandmaster. president putin has apologised to azerbaijan's president for what he called a "tragic incident" in russian airspace involving the azerbaijan airlines plane that crashed in kazakhstan on christmas day, killing 38 people. there's no direct admission the plane was struck by a russian missile. a statement on the kremlin website says russian air defence was repelling a drone attack while the plane was attempting to land. in the latest development, president putin has called for an �*objective and transparent�* probe