:00:16. > :00:19.Good evening. At the close of her Diamond Jubilee year, the Queen has
:00:19. > :00:23.used her Christmas message to say she is humbled by the public
:00:24. > :00:27.response to the celebrations. She's also paid tribute to those at the
:00:27. > :00:32.heart of London 2012 - the athletes and also the volunteers who helped
:00:32. > :00:38.make the Olympics and Paralympics such a success. Our Royal
:00:38. > :00:46.Correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. Morning service at
:00:46. > :00:49.Sandringham. The royal party, led by the Queen, who missed church on
:00:49. > :00:52.Sunday because of a cold, and the Duke of Edinburgh who missed
:00:52. > :00:56.festivities last year when he was in hospital, both looking fit and
:00:56. > :00:59.well today. Prince Harry is in Afghanistan and the Duke and
:00:59. > :01:07.Duchess of Cambridge were spending the day privately in Berkshire at
:01:07. > :01:10.the Middleton family home. In her Christmas message, the Queen spoke
:01:10. > :01:16.of a year of great celebration, saying the enthusiasm that greeted
:01:16. > :01:20.her Diamond Jubilee had been memorable. It was humbling that so
:01:20. > :01:30.many chose to mark the anniversary of the duty passed to me 60 years
:01:30. > :01:33.ago. She recalled the Thames river pageant, when she was struck by the
:01:33. > :01:43.friendship and fellowship of those taking part. On the barges and the
:01:43. > :01:45.bridges and the banks of the river, people undaunted by the rain. There
:01:45. > :01:55.was a tremendous sense of common determination to celebrate,
:01:55. > :01:56.
:01:56. > :02:06.triumphing over the elements. same determination had been evident
:02:06. > :02:06.
:02:06. > :02:09.again, the Queen said, when the Olympic flame had reached Britain.
:02:09. > :02:12.The flame itself drew hundreds of thousands of people on its journey
:02:12. > :02:17.around the British Isles. It was carried by every kind of deserving
:02:17. > :02:20.individual. The Queen paid tribute to the athletes who had inspired
:02:20. > :02:30.the nation with their achievements in the Olympics and the Paralympic
:02:30. > :02:30.
:02:30. > :02:33.Games, and a special tribute to the Those public-spirited people came
:02:33. > :02:40.forward in the great tradition of all those who devote themselves to
:02:40. > :02:44.keeping other people safe and As she reflects on this Christmas
:02:44. > :02:47.night, there is certainly a lot for the Queen to look back on with
:02:47. > :02:57.pleasure, and more to look forward to, with the birth of a special
:02:57. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:02.great grandchild in prospect in 2013.
:03:02. > :03:04.In his Christmas address, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church
:03:04. > :03:08.in England and Wales has attacked the Government's proposals on gay
:03:08. > :03:10.marriage. The Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols said
:03:10. > :03:20.the process has been undemocratic and shambolic. Our Religious
:03:20. > :03:23.
:03:23. > :03:25.Affairs Correspondent Robert Pigott reports. With carols, candles and
:03:25. > :03:28.Holy Communion, Roman Catholics at Westminster Cathedral proclaimed
:03:28. > :03:38.the joy of Christmas. The Archbishop of Westminster used the
:03:38. > :03:48.
:03:48. > :03:51.occasion to criticise the Government's plans for gay marriage.
:03:51. > :03:54.Ministers say no church will have to provide same-sex weddings, but
:03:54. > :03:57.Archbishop Nichols accused them of behaving in an Orwellian fashion to
:03:57. > :04:00.create a sham version of marriage. The process is shambolic. There was
:04:00. > :04:03.no announcement, no green paper, no statement in the Queen's Speech,
:04:03. > :04:13.and yet here we are on the verge of primary legislation. From a
:04:13. > :04:17.
:04:17. > :04:19.democratic point of view, it is a shambles. In his last sermon as
:04:19. > :04:22.Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams acknowledged that recent
:04:22. > :04:24.census results showed a decline in the proportion of people who
:04:24. > :04:29.identified themselves as Christians. He also conceded the Church had
:04:29. > :04:35.lost credibility by voting not to create women bishops. But he
:04:35. > :04:39.insisted people still heard about the church. Her after the vote last
:04:39. > :04:44.month, what struck me was how many people who would not have said yes
:04:44. > :04:52.to the census question turned out to have a sort of investment in the
:04:52. > :04:55.church, a desire to see the Church look incredible. Rowan Williams had
:04:55. > :05:04.a bearing and presence of a holy man, widely revered by Anglicans,
:05:04. > :05:07.often misunderstood by others. His extraordinary intellect was largely
:05:07. > :05:09.wasted by a church preoccupied by disputes about sexuality. The
:05:09. > :05:12.Church will now look to Justin Welby for hard-nosed leadership to
:05:12. > :05:15.overcome its own divisions and win the respect of an increasingly
:05:15. > :05:18.sceptical society. In his Christmas message, Justin Welby said it was
:05:18. > :05:25.easy to be despondent about the church, but he insisted its work
:05:25. > :05:28.for the poor and depressed revealed its true value.
:05:28. > :05:37.In Rome, Pope Benedict wished a crowd of thousands in St Peter's
:05:37. > :05:39.Square a Happy Christmas in 65 languages. He called for an end to
:05:39. > :05:44.the bloodshed in Syria and condemned the conflict for leaving
:05:44. > :05:47.the country wounded and deeply divided.
:05:47. > :05:51.Two children and a 32 year-old woman were killed today in an
:05:51. > :05:55.accident on the M6 motorway. It happened just before lunchtime when
:05:55. > :05:57.the vehicle they were travelling in left the road. Part of the route
:05:57. > :06:07.through Staffordshire was closed in both directions for several hours.
:06:07. > :06:10.
:06:10. > :06:15.Within a few minutes of the crash, two air ambulances landed on the M6.
:06:15. > :06:20.The car involved is surrounded by fire engines and ambulances, as
:06:20. > :06:25.emergency workers tried to help those inside. The crash happened on
:06:25. > :06:30.the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Staffordshire. The road was
:06:30. > :06:33.closed for nearly five hours, causing long tailbacks. Despite the
:06:33. > :06:38.best efforts of paramedics and a doctor at the roadside, the
:06:38. > :06:44.children - two boys - could not be saved. They were pronounced dead at
:06:44. > :06:47.the scene, as was a 32 year-old woman. The driver of the car and
:06:47. > :06:56.another female passenger were seriously injured. If Christmas Day,
:06:56. > :07:00.and the fact two children were involved here, it just adds an
:07:00. > :07:05.extra gravity to the sadness. Words can't describe how sad this is
:07:05. > :07:08.today. A accident investigators are now trying to piece together the
:07:08. > :07:12.circumstances of the crash, and the police are appealing for witnesses
:07:12. > :07:16.to come forward with information about the accident which claimed
:07:16. > :07:19.three lives on Christmas Day. Egypt's election commission has
:07:19. > :07:23.officially announced the result of the country's referendum on a new
:07:23. > :07:26.constitution with nearly two thirds of voters backing it. The
:07:26. > :07:31.constitution is backed by President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood,
:07:31. > :07:34.and will enable Egypt to elect a new parliament. But only a third of
:07:34. > :07:37.those eligible to vote cast a ballot, and opponents of the new
:07:37. > :07:42.constitution claim it is pro- Islamist and doesn't do enough to
:07:42. > :07:52.protect minorities. The American actor Jack Klugman has
:07:52. > :07:52.
:07:52. > :07:59.died in Los Angeles at the age of 90. Let me give you a lesson in
:07:59. > :08:01.anatomy. The Kneebone is connected to the shin bone... He was probably
:08:01. > :08:04.best known as Quincy - the no- nonsense crime-fighting pathologist,
:08:04. > :08:08.but he was also in the highly successful sitcom The Odd Couple.
:08:08. > :08:11.In the 1980s, he lost his voice due to throat cancer, but later trained
:08:11. > :08:14.himself to speak again. More now on Christmas celebrations
:08:14. > :08:17.- as you heard earlier, Prince Harry is not with the Royal Family
:08:17. > :08:20.this Christmas. Instead he is one of the thousands of soldiers in
:08:20. > :08:27.Afghanistan. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale
:08:27. > :08:36.reports now on their Christmas, far from family and loved ones. In
:08:36. > :08:39.Afghanistan, Santa makes his deliveries by military helicopter.
:08:39. > :08:46.Loaded with mail and presents for loved ones in remote bases across
:08:46. > :08:49.Helmand. As well as getting on with their everyday tasks, there has
:08:49. > :08:57.been time to make camps feel more like home, making decorations one
:08:57. > :09:01.way of getting into the Christmas spirit. Although it is not quite
:09:01. > :09:04.the same. I am quite a home bird, I like being at home with my mum and
:09:04. > :09:09.family. What are you going to miss most about Christmas here? Probably
:09:09. > :09:14.sat on my sofa eating! And opening the presents back home. Christmas!
:09:14. > :09:19.Who has been a good little boy, then? All right, boss, have you
:09:19. > :09:23.been good this Christmas? Those parcels have reached the frontline,
:09:23. > :09:29.thousands of miles away from home it is a boost to morale. As is the
:09:29. > :09:36.traditional Christmas dinner. In Lashkar Gah, it was accompanied by
:09:36. > :09:41.a choir. Out here, comrades have become immediate family. Merry
:09:41. > :09:44.Christmas. Outside, the reason why they are still here. To bring some
:09:44. > :09:53.semblance of stability to Afghanistan. And the threat has not
:09:53. > :10:00.gone away. 46 British troops have lost their lives this year. We're
:10:00. > :10:03.always very aware of the cost along the way, the friends we have lost.
:10:03. > :10:07.And behind the smiles, there's the remembrance and always a twinge of
:10:07. > :10:10.sadness that, for a lot of people, Christmas will not be good this
:10:10. > :10:13.year. It might be Christmas, but for many British troops in Helmand,
:10:13. > :10:17.it is like any other day with this patrol going off to help train
:10:17. > :10:20.Afghan police. It will soon be left to them. Within two years, all