martin bashir reports. praise the lord.ng a growing and diverse congregation for the last 17 years and cannot understand why ethnic minorities can fill the pews and pulpits of the church of england, but not senior leadership positions. what is it about being a bishop that we cannot do? what is different? the appointment of karowei dorgu yesterday, as bishop of woolwich, has been welcomed, but does little to improve statistics. 0f 41 diocese, there is only one black, asian or minority ethnic bishop, john sentamu, the archbishop of york. he's one ofjust five minority ethnic clergy to hold senior positions in the entire church of england. rose hudson—wilkin serves at the centre of the nation's democracy, as chaplin to the speaker of the house of commons. she's also one of the most prominent black members of the clergy. i do not believe that the church respects and embraces its minority ethnic membership. when you describe the church as not respecting people of colour, of being visible and invisible, are you not describing the

of the year leaves people — in a more unpredictable world. 0ur religious affairs correspondent martin bashirentering canterbury cathedral in time—honoured fashion, archbishop justin welby focused his christmas day sermon on the uncertainty and division that has marked both domestic and international politics over the last year. he described 2016 as a year of unpredictability and uncertainty, where fear and division were in danger of overwhelming us and went on to suggest that our anxiety is a clear sign that placing our trust in material prosperity has failed. in rome, where additional security was in place following the berlin attack, pope francis also criticised materialism, and appealed to christians to stand out as people of compassion and self—sacrifice. translation: it is times for weapons

martin bashir, abc news. martin bashir, bbc news.ictures coming from burke share. here are the duke and duchess of cambridge leaving saint mark's church. you can see prince george with his father. just behind him, there is the duchess of cambridge is with 18—month—old princess charlotte who looks very much the part, doesn't she? in the shawl, that is carole middleton and michael, kate's pa rents. middleton and michael, kate's parents. we've also seen her sister, pippa middleton. slightly and usual for prince william to spend the day away from sandringham, but like everybody else, sometimes you got to decide which family to spend christmas with and this year is the turn of kate's parents. many well—wishers there today as there are in sandringham. the queen hasn't been there today because she is suffering a heavy cold. the duke of edinburgh appears to have recovered and we've seen him going into the church. they are going into their car now and off no doubt of their christmas lunch. ifjames if james patterson is ifjames patterson is on

martin bashir reports. happy christmas!welby focused his christmas day sermon on the uncertainty and division that has marked both domestic and international politics over the last year. the end of 2016 finds us all in a different kind of world, one less predictable and certain, which feels more awash with fear and division. he went on to suggest that anxiety is a clear sign that placing our trust in material prosperity has failed. the uncertainty of our world, of our feelings, of our values are in the wrong place. in rome, where additional security was in place following the berlin attack, pope francis focused on the plight of children, pleading with all parties to end the conflict in syria. translation: it is time for weapons to be still forever and the international community to actively seek in negotiated solution so that civil coexistence can be restored in the country. pope francis concluded by appealing for christians to stand out as people of compassion and self—sacrifice. martin bashir, bbc news. our rome correspon

martin bashir, bbc news. of days, the attack on a market in berlin. in dusseldorf there is a news c0 nfe re nce berlin. in dusseldorf there is a news conference going on at the moment. we do not have an interpreter, i am afraid so we cannot listen indirectly but this is the interior minister for a cannot listen indirectly but this is the interior ministerfor a region whose talking to journalists about the continuing manhunt. he is talking that continuing search for who ever drove that lorry into the christmas market and the reuters news agency says he has been saying that security agencies have identified the suspect as being in contact with an islamist network. that is what the reuters agency is telling us at the moment. as you can see, that news conference is going on so see, that news conference is going on so it looks like we will get more detailfrom on so it looks like we will get more detail from that. yes, this is the north—rhine westphalia interior ministerjust finishing the news conference. he declin

martin bashir, bbc news. it was one of the highlights of the year.emory of sports fans. now, team gb‘s bosses are looking ahead, notjust to 2020, they're already working with the athletes of 202a. our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has been to meet some of them. it was a summer of unprecedented sporting success. commentator: yes, come on! golds were boldly won, where golds haven't been won before. commentator: oh, sensational! never before had a nation exceeded their medal tally at a summer olympics immediately after a home games. commentator: adam peaty takes olympic gold for great britain. tokyo has a lot to live up to. but future stars are already on the springboard, and not just for 2020. uk sport was unique when it launched its eight—year pathway programme. not only does it invest in athletes with what it calls ‘podium potential‘ for the next olympics, but also for the athletes coming up behind them, like diver kat torrance. with two golds at the recent world junior championships, she's an olympic hopeful, learning her trade alongside olym

martin bashir, bbc news. time for the headlines.he queen pays tribute to what you call the other heroes such as carers and volu nteers other heroes such as carers and volunteers in her christmas message but is forced to miss church this morning with a cold. president putin declares a day of mourning tomorrow in russia, after a military plane crashes on its way to syria, killing all 92 people on board. there is no longer any threat of a toon army in southern chile, after a powerful 7.6 magnitude quake hit off the coast. emergency services say there have been no fatalities. the israeli leader, binyamin netanyahu the israeli leader, binyamin neta nyahu has ordered the israeli leader, binyamin netanyahu has ordered his foreign ministry to summon and reprimand ambassadors from countries on the united nations security council, including britain. the move is a response to the un vote on friday that condemned israel's building of jewish settlements in the occupied west bank. our middle east analyst, alanjohnston west bank. our middle east a

martin bashir, bbc news. that's all from the bbc news team this evening.stay with that news that has emerged just in the last hour here tonight, the news that the singer george michael has died. he was 53. a statement came from his publicist just in the last hour saying that george michael had died peacefully at his home earlier today. thames valley police saying that the death is not being treated as suspicious. george michael, hard to overstate just what an extraordinarily successful career he had, beginning here with wham alongside andrew ridgeley in the 1980s and going on of course to have an immensely successful solo career. our arts correspondent david sillitoe is with me. as we look at these pictures, david, just a thought about that career. he has been around for so long with such enormous success. 35 yea rs long with such enormous success. 35 years since he got started aged 16. he was so young when i first remember seeing him as a teenager myself on top of the pops doing wham rap and then after that you have songs like careless whisper and they we

martin bashir reports.athedral in time—honoured fashion, archbishop justin welby focused his christmas day sermon on the uncertainty and division that has marked both domestic and international politics over the last year. he described 2016 as a year of unpredictability and uncertainty, the end of 2016 fighters in a less predictable world which feels more awash with fear and division. he went on to suggest that our anxiety is a clear sign that placing our trust in material prosperity has failed. the uncertainty of our world and our feelings tell us's our values all in the wrong place. —— or in the wrong place. security was in place following the berlin attack, pope francis also criticised materialism, and appealed to christians to stand out as people of compassion and self—sacrifice. translation: it is time for weapons to be still forever and the international community to actively seek a negotiated solution so that civil coexistence can be restored in the country. he concluded by appealing for christians t

martin bashir, bbc news. time for the headlines.s such as carers and volu nteers other heroes such as carers and volunteers in her christmas message but is forced to miss church this morning with a cold. president putin declares a day of mourning tomorrow in russia, after a military plane crashes on its way to

martin bashir, bbc news.eveloped in north wales to see how sheep respond to the weather. what they tell us could lead to a change in the landscape of our countryside. bbc weather‘s nick miller reports. everything is not quite what it appears in this field. the sheep seem to sense it. look closely, you might as well. it is a unique experiment at bangor university's research farm, designed to find out what sheep can tell us about the weather and how it affects them. you may have noticed this is not a real sheep. neither is this one. thankfully, pip jones is a real human. why have we got fake sheep? they might be fake but they tell us a lot about real sheep and about the environment they experience. we have two things, our sheep and a met station. the met station measures radiation and wind and temperature. those things together tell us how the sheep is feeling. on a windy day, that must be having an impact on how the sheep feel? but how can you tell? it is so much colder when the wind blows, and for animals lik

here's our religious affairs correspondent martin bashir.ditional start to christmas and a solemn midnight mass at westminster cathedral. cardinal vincent nichols began his sermon by quoting the poet wb yeats, referring to a turbulent year, with many fearing that things may fall apart, that the centre cannot hold. the last six months in particular has seen a widespread anxiety and uncertainty at many levels, at life in this country and in those major partnerships and neighbours that we have. so, with europe, with america, with the middle east, financially, economically. it's an unsettling time. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, who, like last year, will deliver his christmas message later this morning, will also address the division and uncertainty that's marked global politics. cardinal nichols said the answer to our insecurity was neither materialism nor the pursuit of selfish interest, but rather a renewed focus on the life of christ. cardinal nichols concluded his midnight sermon by emphasising the fact of christ's birth, which

here's our religious affairs correspondent martin bashir.onal start to christmas and a solemn midnight mass at westminster cathedral. cardinal vincent nichols began his sermon by quoting the poet wb yeats, referring to a turbulent year, with many fearing that things may fall apart, that the centre cannot hold. the last six months in particular has seen a widespread anxiety and uncertainty at many levels, at life in this country and in those major partnerships and neighbours that we have. so, with europe, with america, with the middle east, financially, economically. it's an unsettling time. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, who, like last year, will deliver his christmas message later this morning, will also address the division and uncertainty that's marked global politics. cardinal nichols said the answer to our insecurity was neither materialism nor the pursuit of selfish interest, but rather a renewed focus on the life of christ. cardinal nichols concluded his midnight sermon by emphasising the fact of christ's birth, which he

martin bashir reports.entering canterbury cathedral in time—honoured fashion, archbishop justin welby focused his christmas day sermon on the uncertainty and division that has marked both domestic and international politics over the last year. he described 2016 as a year of unpredictability and uncertainty, where fear and division were in danger of overwhelming us and went on to suggest that our anxiety is a clear sign that placing our trust in material prosperity has failed. in rome, where additional security was in place following the berlin attack, pope francis also criticised materialism, and appealed to christians to stand out as people of compassion and self—sacrifice. you would have seen archbishop justin welby in martin's report. he celebrated christmas at canterbury cathedral in kent. archbishop of canterbury said in his christmas sermon canterbury said in his christmas sermon that globalisation has left many people behind, and that inequality was on the rise in the world today. the end of 2016 fin