24/12/2017 World News Today

This is BBC World News,

the headlines:

It is Christmas in the Iraqi city of

Mosul and Christians there are

celebrating. It is the first time

since 2014 they are free to observe

the tradition after Islamic State

was finally driven from the city

earlier this year. The Russian

opposition politician has says he

has gathered enough support to stand

against Vladimir Putin next year.

Turkey's government sack thousands

more public employees linked to last

you's failed coup and announces

plans to hire more to replace them.

And Pope Francis is conducting the

traditional midnight Mass at Saint

Peter's basilica.

Hello and welcome to. It was past

midnight in northern Iraq where

Mosul is celebrating its first

Christmas at the city was taken by

Islamic militants in 2014. IS

persecuted and drove out Christians,

whilst many who stayed were brutally

repressed. More than 10,000

civilians are thought to have been

killed in the battle to retake Mosul

according to a recent investigation

by the associated press.

They gathered in Mosul's Cathedral,

marking a Christmas they will never

forget, the first Christmas

after the war.

Under the rule of the Islamic State

militants this would

have been impossible.

There could be no Christian

worship in public.

The community was

persecuted and many fled.

This was a coming together,

not just of Christians,

Muslims helped prepare the church

for this service.

And they were here too

as the worship unfolded.

Mosul was the scene of months

of ferocious street fighting.

Iraqi forces and their Western

allies battled to drive

out the militants.

Thousands of civilians were killed

and much damage was done.

Now the healing must begin

and the Christmas service is a small

part of that vast process.

TRANSLATION: Without

peace there is no life.

Our message is that after everything

that happened with our glorious

victory against Islamic State group

and others, we must

all call for peace.

Among those in the church,

the message was being heard.

TRANSLATION: We are from the Muslim

community and today we share this

glorious celebration

with our Christian Brothers in

the province and the city of Mosul.

We share their joy today

and we hope our brothers outside

of Iraq from the Christian community

will return to Mosul because we are

all brothers and we are united.

Beneath the cross in the Cathedral

this Christmas eve there was some

of the best of the spirit of this

time of year and nowhere

needs it more than Mosul.

Alan Johnston, BBC News.

Now to Bethlehem, where security

is tight as pilgrims

arrive in the city ahead

of a midnight mass this evening

to see in Christmas.

Celebrations are taking place

amid rising tensions in the region

after the US decision to recognise

Jerusalem as Israel's

capital earlier this month.

Our correspondent Tom Bateman

told us about the day's

events in Bethlehem.

Today has very much been a day of

ritual, a day of festive tradition.

We watched as the procession of

Christians followed the route along

Star Street into Manger Square here

up to the Church of the Nativity,

which is the 1500 -year-old

basilica, built on the site it is

believed Christ was born. That

happens every year, there is a

ritual tradition to all of this.

Then we expect midnight Mass will

take place both with the most senior

Roman Catholic clergymen of this

area where he will talk to the

gathered congregation, and also the

Palestinian Authority president

Mahmoud Abbas, who always attend

this event each year. There is a

sort of bubble of festivity in

Manger Square, but outside of that

this takes place against a backdrop

of growing hostility. We have had

two and half weeks of daily clashes

between Palestinians and Israeli

troops ever says Donald Trump's

announcement on Jerusalem.

You

mentioned the announcement that

Jerusalem is now the capital of

Israel according to the US. I

understand that to us has gone down

since the announcement was made.

Sadly the tourist economy in

Bethlehem has taken a severe dent

ever since the announcement was

made. It was not just the fact the

US initially advised many of its

citizens not to attend the occupied

West Bank and not to go to the old

city of Jerusalem, but it was also

the fact that many pilgrims and

domestic tourists were worried about

coming to Bethlehem and were worried

about those clashes. I was talking

to a hotelier yesterday who said for

about ten days before Christmas eve

things were pretty bad. Some

hotels had zero occupancy, the place

had been emptied in many ways. I

spoke to the Mayor of Bethlehem a

bit earlier and he was keen to put a

gloss on it. He said there had been

bad weather, and otherwise people

were showing up. Hundreds of people

here came to enjoy the celebrations

during the day and they will

continue into the night. But there

is no doubt that this has dampened

the mood.

Let's show you these live

pictures coming out of that in city

and Saint Peter's basilica where

thousands of people are gathered

were Pope Francis is conducting the

traditional Christmas Eve Mass at

Saint Peter's.

There are also thousands outside the

basilica in Saint Peter's Square.

People travel from all around the

world to attend this event. They

attend to hear the Pope delivery the

traditional homily and beside over

the service. It is not quite

midnight in Vatican City, it is just

a little bit after ten. But that

midnight Mass is under way.

Thousands inside Saint Peter's

basilica and thousands outside as

well watching the Pope conducting

the midnight mass.

The Russian opposition says he has

got the number of seats he needs to

be registered in the election in

March. He told a meeting in Moscow

that the support he has got in 20

cities in Russia proves he is a

viable alternative to Vladimir

Putin. Sarah Rainsford has more. In

this huge tent on a river beach on

the outskirts of Moscow there are

hundreds of people who have been

queueing for some hours now to show

their support for the

anti-corruption activist who wants

to be president of Russia. He says

Russians have had enough of Vladimir

Putin and corruption and that Russia

needs to change and he argues he is

the man to do that. These people

agree, they have come to sign up to

nominate him as their official

candidate, the beginning of the

official process for registration.

But the problem is because of a

criminal conviction, which he says

is politically motivated, he will

not be allowed to register.

I think

he is the only real candidate for

president will stop I do not want to

live in a corrupted country and I

have hope only for this man Navalny.

Everyone is raising their red cards

to show that they support Navalny.

TRANSLATION: We are ready to win

these elections and we will win. I

say this without irony. This year we

have seen that Putin does not have

mass support anywhere. Even with all

his resources he has no support.

There is just melancholy and

emptiness.

Mr Navalny has to bring

the signatures of his supporters to

Russia's Central Electoral

Commission. If they reject his

candidacy, he says he will go on

fighting. He has talked about

boycotting the elections, protest, a

strike. He wants to prove he is a

viable alternative to Vladimir Putin

and what happens here over the next

few days will be the first real test

of that.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news:

Tunisia has banned all airlines from

the United Arab Emirates from

landing in the country. It comes two

days after the UAE and Tunisian

women flying through its territory.

The UN says this was due to security

information.

The first of the group of 80

Venezuelan activists have been

released from prison in what is

called a gesture of Christian

goodwill. The government says all

those general tab plotted to

overthrow the president. Freda

Ramos, a former provincial Mayor,

insists he has not committed any

crime.

Tens of thousands of people

are homeless after a tropical storm

in the Philippines that's left

more than 200 dead and

another 150 missing.

Rescue teams are struggling to reach

some of the affected areas.

Our World Affairs Correspondent

Richard Galpin reports.

At last, some aid now getting

to those most in need, after this

latest storm to hit

the Philippines begins to subside.

Troops helping deliver

supplies here in the

southern region of Mindanao, which

lay right in the path of the storm.

Reaching these impoverished

areas has not been easy.

They were hit by a landslide,

mudslides, caused by

an inordinate amount of rainfall

that caused the ground to move and

killed people innocently.

As well as surging currents from

swollen rivers that went over their

banks,

it swept people out

of their homes and killed

many others as well.

The speed with which

the rivers were turned into

lethal torrents over the weekend

caught people here by surprise.

Many drowning in their

own homes, others

buried under mudslides,

including children.

The call for people to evacuate

in good time before the

storm didn't have an effect.

The storm passed over some

of the poorest areas in the whole

Philippines.

At least 200 people

are known to have died.

Large numbers are still

missing, and tens of

thousands have been forced to move

away, in search of emergency

shelter.

In Rome today, Pope Francis offered

prayers for the people of

Mindanao in his weekly blessing

to the crowd on St Peter's Square.

TRANSLATION:

Merciful Lord, take

in the souls of the dead and comfort

those who are suffering

as a result of this calamity.

Let's pray for these people.

At least Tropical Storm Tembin

has now been moving

away from the Philippines.

It's currently over

the South China Sea,

where it's picking up strength again

and has been categorised as a

typhoon.

It's expected to hit

Vietnam later this week.

Meanwhile, the people

of the southern Philippines

continue the search for loved ones.

They will be hoping for much more

help to reach them in

the coming days.

With me is Sarah Keith-Lucas

from BBC Weather.

why is this storm is so powerful and

why has it done so much damage? It

rapidly intensified when it was to

the east of the Philippines. We had

a conducive atmospheric condition so

the wins in the atmosphere were not

varying very much, so the storm

really developed vertically and very

quickly. The other thing is the sea

is pretty worn across that region,

warmer than average. We are coming

out of El Nino conditions which

means we can to see bigger storms

across this part of the world

because the sea is warmer, adding

more fuel to these big typhoons.

Is

the southern Philippines prone to

these storms? Do we normally see

them in this area?

Normally they are

further north. Sometimes they reach

further south, so it does see

typhoons and tropical storms, but it

is usually a bit further north in

the Philippines, so this particular

typhoon, is track, it is slightly

odd that it is by South.

Where is it

going next?

It is heading out into

the South China Sea and it is

intensifying once again. It is

producing winds of 185 kilometres an

hour. It is heading toward southern

parts of Vietnam and is likely to

make landfall on the southern tip,

to the south of Ho Chi Minh City. It

could cause devastating flooding

across a wide part of southern

Vietnam. We are expecting about 300

millimetres of rain to fall across

southern Vietnam with coastal

flooding and even inland there could

be flooding issues, as well as the

damaging winds that will be sweeping

across Vietnam. It will then head

out into the Gulf of Thailand,

probably a bit weaker, but still

bringing damaging winds and rain,

before heading towards southern

parts of Thailand. Wye we will keep

an eye out on that storm.

Stay with us on BBC

World News, still to come...

We'll go to Japan to meet

the priests who see

in the new year with

a smile in what's known as

a laughing ceremony.

We saw this enormous tidal wave

approaching the beach and people

started to run and it was complete

chaos.

United States troops have

been trying to overthrow the

dictatorship of General Manuel

Noriega. But it has failed

indispensable objective. It captured

General Noriega and took him to the

United States to face drugs charges.

The Russian flag was hoisted over

what is now no longer the Soviet

Union, but the Commonwealth of

Independent States.

The day broke

slowly over Lockerbie, over the

cockpit of the plane nosed down in

the soft earth. You can see what

happens when a plane eight stories

high and a football pitch wide falls

from 30,000 feet.

Business has

returned to Albania after a

Communist ban lasting more than 20

years. Thousands went to midnight

mass when our anti-Communist riots

ten days ago.

ten days ago.

This is BBC World News Today.

The latest headlines:

It is Christmas in the Iraqi city of

Mosul and Christians are celebrating

for the first time since 2014 when

they have been free to observe the

tradition after Islamic State was

finally driven out of the city.

tradition after Islamic State

was finally driven out of the city.

Hundreds have come out

to support Russian opposition

politician Alexei Navalny,

who says he has enough backing

to challenge Vladimir Putin

in elections next year.

An international medical NGO

is waiting to hear the fate of seven

children in urgent need of cancer

treatment who are trapped

in the besieged area of eastern

Ghouta close to the Syrian capital

Damascus.

The Union of Medical Care

and Relief Organisations wants

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

to allow them to

evacuate the children.

They are among more than 130

children needing urgent

medical treatment there.

It's been under siege

now for four years.

A short while ago we spoke to Hamish

de Bretton-Gordon an advisor

for The Union of Medical Care

and Relief Organisations.

I started by asking him to tell me

about the process of negotiating

with the Syrian president.

We have done it before. This time

last year we approached the Syrian

government and also President Putin,

the Russian president, to allow a

ceasefire to allow us to get 500

children out of Aleppo. In that case

it worked. So we decided when we

heard about the seven children with

curable cancer to go down the same

route. Yesterday we approached

Bashar al-Assad's office and we

spoke to him via intermediaries who

told us that he knew exactly the

problem is at the moment and he knew

about these children and he would

consider whether he would allow a

ceasefire and we have been told to

call him back on Tuesday morning to

hopefully get that ceasefire in

place and then we can go in there

and get the children out and get

them the medical treatment they so

desperately need.

It is almost an

insight into how President Assad is

running this war, the fact that he

personally is going to have to

consider whether you can undergo

this evacuation. It yes, I think it

is a horrendous situation.

Discussions with the UN and the

World Health Organisation and they

have told me they had been trying to

get these children out for the last

four months. It seems that the only

way to do it is to apply directly to

the president who seems to have the

gift of life and death for these

people who is prepared to do it.

This has been an horrific conflict

and the city has been besieged for

four years. 400,000 people are

trapped there with very little food

and no medicine. It is a desperate

situation and also it is a long way

from perfect, it is worth doing. If

we can save these seven children may

be we may also be able to get out

the other 125 children who we

understand our desperately in need

of sophisticated medical support

which they cannot get there.

These

children that need treatment, do you

know how long they might have before

it may be too late?

I am not a

medical person so I would not go

into specifics here. We understand

some are more ill than others, but

they certainly have a few weeks. I

understand these types of cancer,

the earlier you start treatment, the

prognosis is very much one of

survival. I have been speaking to

the doctors there recently and they

have reaffirmed to me that if these

children get the right treatment,

they have a very good chance of

surviving and a very good chance of

a full life. Without that treatment

the prognosis is very much worse and

they will die.

That was an adviser

for the union of medical care and

relief organisations.

relief organisations.

More public sector employees

in Turkey have been sacked

for alleged links with the US-based

cleric Fethullah Gulen,

blamed for last year's

failed coup attempt.

2,700 employees have been sacked

through a public decree.

They include military personnel.

In total, around 150,000 civil

servants have now been sacked

since July last year.

After the sackings, the government

announced plans to hire more

than 100,000 public sector workers

in the coming year.

I asked our Europe regional editor

Mike Sanders if there was any due

process to find the sacked employees

guilty before their sacking.

Well, it is difficult to ascertain

exactly how they are selected. It

could well be that they are just

announced by colleagues for whatever

reason. It is very difficult for

someone to approve or disapprove the

government's allegation that they

have been involved in the attempted

coup back in July last year. The

main criteria is that they have some

kind of association with this cleric

who is based in the United States.

The government accuses him of being

behind the coup. But as his

organisation has no official

membership list, how can someone

prove that they are or not involved

with it?

They are hiring thousands

to replace the people they have

sacked because the public service

has effectively been decimated.

Absolutely, the schools especially.

There has been a shortage of

teachers in the class and among this

latest hiring round there will be

20,000 new teachers. It is very

difficult for the people who have

been sacked to get their jobs back.

Once they have been sacked they will

not get another job in the public

sector, so they are in dire straits

because their welfare benefits will

be stopped as well because of the

manner of the sacking. And there is

a stigma attached to being

associated to the true no matter how

unfounded that might be.

There is

another decree that has been

announced, effectively nudity for

civilians. Can you explain that?

In

November last year the government

announced an immunity for service

personnel who were involved in

stopping the plot, so if they had

been deemed to use excessive force

they would not get prosecuted for

that and they would not lose out

financially or in terms of their

promotion. This has now been

extended to civilians who were also

involved in stopping the coup

plotters. But there is a great worry

because there is a vague wording. It

says people involved in suppressing

the coup on July the 15th last year,

or the continuation thereof, or

other terror acts. Opposition

politicians have been quick to go on

Twitter to say it is so open ended

it could encourage Bridger Landis to

take action against people suspected

of, for whatever reason, of being

coup plotters even now.

Champagne and fireworks may be part

of your New Year's ritual,

but at one shrine in Japan,

they have an entirely

different way of saying 'out

with the old, in with the new'.

Rylee Carlson explains.

It's a New Year's

ritual in Osaka, Japan.

Filing into this shrine

looking for a fresh start.

Here they follow the chief priest.

And then, on his cue...

PRIEST:

Ha, ha, ha!

CROWD:

Ha, ha, ha!

This is a laughing ceremony

to forget the bad they have

experienced throughout the year.

TRANSLATION:

I laughed

all the bad things away.

I hope next year will be

filled with laughter.

The ritual is based

on a Japanese myth that

says laughter opens the Cave

of the Sun Goddess.

The priests keep them

going for about 20 minutes.

It spreads throughout the temple.

Laughter is contagious, as they say.

And here in Japan, so is the hope

of a happy New Year.

Rylee Carlson, BBC News.

That is one way of doing it. Before

we go let's show you the pictures of

the last two known dancing bears

from an animal charity. They were

rescued.

They suffered a lifetime of

cruelty after being sold to their

owner for the illegal centuries-old

practice of bad dancing. Police and

animal charities spent more than a

year tracking down the two sloth

bears and they were eventually

traced near the border with India.

They are now being cared for.