The World Tonight

The traditional Hogmonay celebrations in Scotland's capital have been cancelled as wind, rain and snow are forecast to batter the UK in the coming days. Yellow weather warnings are in place between Monday and Thursday, while flood alerts and flood warnings - including a rare severe flood warning - are in place across Scotland.

Grief is turning to anger for families of those who died in South Korea's worst ever plane crash. They're demanding more communication from the authorities.

And we reflect on a quarter of a century of Vladimir Putin in charge of Russia, as New Year's Eve marks the anniversary of his takeover.

One of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals has been forcibly evacuated by Israeli military, according to medics.

Also on the programme: the US envoy for Yemen on the Israeli attack on Sana’a airport; fog alert in UK airports; celebrated composer Hans Zimmer on taking the stage; and one of the UK’s longest serving postmen retires.

(Photo: A bed is damaged inside Kamal Adwan hospital, during the ongoing Israeli military operation, in northern Gaza, December 18, 2024. Credit: REUTERS/Stringer)

Israel has launched airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen - vowing to destroy its infrastructure. We ask whether Israel has opened a new phase in the Middle East war.

Also tonight:

Twenty years on from the devastating Boxing Day tsunami, the remarkable account of a man who survived the worst rail disaster in history.

And 40 years after Joan Hickson's portrayal of Miss Marple hit the screens, we reflect on why many consider her the best to have played the role - drawing on the little grey cells of TV's Poirot, David Suchet.

There have been protests in Syria over the burning of a Christmas tree - amid fears that religious minorities might be vulnerable. We speak to a Syrian Christian.

Also on the programme:

The government has launched a consultation into the phasing-out of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Does the plan need a re-think?

A top food psychologist with a guide on how to make your Christmas dinner a multisensory success.

And a journalist freed in the summer's massive prisoner swap between Russia and the West on spending her first Christmas back with her family.

President Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly all the federal inmates on death row in the United States.

We'll hear from a woman who's been told that her mother's murderer will no longer be executed

and we'll also speak to a death row prisoner who's sentence was commuted today

We speak to the AfD in Germany after the Christmas market killings in Magdeburg

and the classic black and white Dr Who story that you can now see in glorious technicolour

Two people have been killed, including a child, after a car drove into crowds at a Christmas market in the Germany city of Magdeburg. Sixty-eight people were injured. The leader of Saxony says the suspect is believed to be a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor.

US Members of Congress are debating into the night to avert a government shutdown after a funding bill was voted down by Democrats and a number of Republicans.

And as the US says it killed the leader of ISIS in Syria in an airstrike, we look at the risk of the group re-emerging.

The Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson looks likely be the next UK ambassador to the United States. We ask how he'll fare negotiating with President Trump's White House.

Also tonight:

As Gisele Pelicot's ex-husband is jailed for 20 years after the rape trial that shocked the world, survivors of sexual assault tell us her courage and openness is helping other women.

And the group of singers, with an average age of 92, which has broken the Guiness World Record - for the world's oldest choir.

Campaigners feel stung by the government's decision not to pay compensation to the "Waspi" women affected by state pension age changes. One Labour MP tells us it's a mistake.

Also tonight:

The former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has resigned as a priest, over his handling of a child abuse investigation in the Church of England. We have the latest.

It was an apparent scoop in Syria - but after CNN admits a man it claimed was a freed rebel prisoner was in fact with the Assad regime - we talk about the perils of reporting in post-revolutionary fog.

And after Adele is ordered to pull this song over claims it plagiarised a Brazilian composer - we get the verdict of a forensic musicologist.

The Duke of York will not join the rest of the Royal Family for the traditional Christmas gathering in Sandringham, royal sources have told the BBC. It comes after an alleged Chinese spy, linked to the prince, was named as Yang Tengbo. We examined the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party, to which Yang is accused of being linked.

Germany's government has lost a vote of no confidence, meaning the country will go to elections early next year.

And we explore Ukrainian roots of a beloved Christmas carol, linked to a town currently under attack by Russian forces.

Fireworks have been exploding late into the night as tens of thousands of Syrians celebrate the downfall of Assad's brutal regime in Damascus. We ask Syrians how they see an uncertain future - and ask whether the UK's decision not to intervene over a decade ago helped keep Assad in power.

Also on the programme:

France's new prime minister - the fourth this year - says he has a mountain to climb. We ask a French MP whether he'll face the same fate a his short-lived predecessor.

And does fidgeting get you in a twitch? The medical condition that explains why some people feel visceral anger towards fidgeters - and whether it can be treated.