Newshour

Memorial events have been held across the Indian Ocean to mark 20 years since the tsunami that killed more than 220,000. Also on the programme, China has approved controversial plans to build what will be the world's largest hydropower dam on the Tibetan plateau; and the promise of non-alcoholic wine.

(Photo: People light candles during a memorial for the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami at a tsunami wave-shaped monument erected for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, in Phang Nga province, Thailand, December 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer)

The new HTS administration said the footage is from earlier this month. Large rallies have been seen in the cities of Tartus and Latakia, strongholds of the deposed president Assad's Alawite minority.

Also on the programme: We hear from locals in Bethlehem, in the Occupied West Bank, who are doubling their efforts to find hope during the Christmas holidays amidst an economic downturn and tensions with Israel; and the Newshour presenters compete in the Christmas quiz.

(Photo: A Syrian opposition flag is seen beside a defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a wall in Damascus on 14 December 2024. Credit: ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says Russia made a "conscious choice" by launching a major attack on his country's energy infrastructure on Christmas Day.

Ukraine's air force said it had detected 184 missiles and drones, but many were shot down or missed their targets. We speak to an MP in the city of Kharkiv, which was hit by the strikes. Moscow confirmed the attack and said its goal had been achieved.

Also in the programme: we'll hear about a deadly gang attack on a hospital in Haiti; what an Israeli former hostage negotiator makes of the stalled talks between Israel and Hamas; and the Newshour Christmas quiz.

(Photo shows people taking shelter at a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine during an air raid alert on 25 December 2024. Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Syria's de facto leader has reached an agreement to dissolve and consolidate rebel groups under the defence ministry. Also on the programme, is Israel nearing a hostage deal with Hamas? And, a Nasa spacecraft has made history with the closest-ever approach to the Sun.

(Photo: A child looks on next to a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, during a protest against the burning of the Christmas tree in Hama, in Damascus, Syria December 24, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

A consortium of UN and other agencies says that famine is spreading across the war-ravaged country. The group, known as the IPC - the "Integrated Food Security Phase Classification" - say that five areas in the west and south of Sudan are already in famine. We hear about the details of the report and from one of the agencies working in the city of Nyala in the South.

Also on the programme; we hear from Mozambique's capital Maputo where protests are continuing over disputed presidential election results; and a NASA spacecraft attempts the closest ever approach to the Sun.

(Photo: People queuing for food aid in South Sudan; Credit : Photo by GUY PETERSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany's far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has held a rally near the site of the attack on the Christmas market on Friday evening - we'll speak to one of the party's members of parliament.

Also on the programme: President Biden has commuted the death sentences on all but three of the federal prisoners on death row; and we'll look at the history and politics of the Panama Canal as Donald Trump threatens to re-assert control over it.

(Photo: Memorial event and funeral march of AfD party after attack in Magdeburg, Germany - 23 Dec 2024. FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Iran says it's had no direct contact with the new Islamist leaders of Syria, its one-time close ally. The US, in contrast, sent its top regional diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, to meet the de-facto leader in Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharaa; we hear how the meeting went.

Also in the programme: Nissan and Honda announce merger plans which would create the world's third-largest car-maker; and we hear from the Mexican women celebrated and damned for helping migrants trying to reach the United States.

(IMAGE: A delegation of US diplomats, including US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf (C, in green), leaves a hotel in Damascus, Syria 20 December 2024 / CREDIT: Hasan Belal/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Syria's new ruler says he wants all weapons and armed factions to come under state control - and that includes the Syrian Kurds.

And the Ugandan athlete who's just run from Cape Town to London.

The German ambassador to the UK talks to Newshour about the "anger, sorrow, grief" that his country is experiencing following the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg that killed at least five people and seriously injured dozens - so what warnings did the authorities receive?

Also today: health and civil defence officials in Gaza say a wave of Israeli attacks across the Strip has killed at least twenty-eight people; and the Ugandan-born athlete Deo Kato has arrived in London, having run from Cape Town.

(Photo: People mourn in front of Magdeburg Cathedral following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. Credit: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock )

As relatives and officials gather for a memorial service for the victims of the deadly attack on a Christmas market in eastern Germany, we ask what’s known about the Saudi man who has been arrested and what might have motivated him.

Also on the programme: why the US is sanctioning Pakistan's long range missiles; and the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in Guatemala that has just been raided by the authorities for mistreating women and children.

(Photo: Memorial service after attack at Magdeburg's Christmas market, Germany Credit: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)