Boxing Day, 2004.

When the earthquake struck at 06:30 (01:00 GMT), I was on a ferry, headed towards Havelock – an island in the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.

Known for its silver sand and clear blue waters, the Radhanagar beach there had recently been crowned “Asia’s Best Beach” by Time magazine.

My best friend from college and her family had lived in Port Blair, the capital of the archipelago, for a decade and a half, but this was my first visit to the islands, where I had arrived on Christmas Eve.

We had planned to spend three days in Havelock and in the morning we packed snacks and sandwiches, gathered excited children and headed out to catch the ferry from Phoenix Bay jetty in Port Blair.

Not wanting to miss out on anything, I was standing on the front deck, looking around, when disaster struck.

Just as we pulled out from the harbour, the boat lurched and suddenly the jetty next to where we had boarded crumpled and fell into the sea. It was followed by the watchtower and an electricity pole.

It was an extraordinary sight. Dozens of people standing alongside me watched open-mouthed.

Thankfully, the jetty was deserted at the time so there were no casualties. A boat was due to leave from there in half an hour but the travellers were yet to arrive.

A member of the boat’s crew told me it was an earthquake. At the time I didn’t know, but the 9.1 magnitude quake was the third most powerful ever recorded in the world – and remains the biggest and most destructive in Asia.

Occurring off the coast of northwest Sumatra under the Indian Ocean, it unleashed a devastating tsunami that killed an estimated 228,000 people across more than a dozen countries and caused massive damage in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands, located just about 100km north of the epicentre, suffered extensive damage when a wall of water, as high as 15 metres (49 ft) in places, hit land just about 15 minutes later.

The official death toll was put at 1,310 – but with more than 5,600 people missing and presumed dead, it’s believed that more than 7,000 islanders perished.

While on the boat, however, we were oblivious to the scale of destruction around us. Our mobile phones didn’t work on the water and we only got snippets of information from the crew. We heard about damage in Sri Lanka, Bali, Thailand and Maldives – and the southern Indian coastal town of Nagapattinam.

But there was no information about Andaman and Nicobar – a collection of hundreds of islands scattered around in the Bay of Bengal, located about 1,500km (915 miles) east of India’s mainland.

Only 38 of them were inhabited. They were home to 400,000 people, including six hunter-gatherer groups who had lived isolated from the outside world for thousands of years.

The only way to get to the islands was by ferries but, as we later learnt, an estimated 94% of the jetties in the region were damaged.

That was also the reason why, on 26 December 2004, we never made it to Havelock. The jetty there was damaged and under water, we were told.

So the boat turned around and started on its return journey. For a while, there was speculation that we might not get clearance to dock at Port Blair for safety reasons and might have to spend the night at anchor.

This made the passengers – most of them tourists looking forward to sun and sand – anxious.

After several hours of bobbing along in rough seas, we returned to Port Blair. Because Phoenix Bay had been closed following the morning’s damage, we were taken to Chatham, another harbour in Port Blair. The jetty where we were dropped had huge, gaping holes in places.

The signs of devastation were all around us as we headed home – buildings had turned into rubble, small upturned boats sat in the middle of the streets and roads had great gashes in them. Thousands of people had been turned homeless when the tidal wave flooded their homes in low-lying areas.

I met a traumatised nine-year-old girl whose house was filled with water and she told me she had nearly drowned. A woman told me she had lost her entire life’s possessions in the blink of an eye.

Over the next three weeks, I reported extensively on the disaster and its effects on the population.

It was the first time a tsunami had wreaked such havoc in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the scale of the tragedy was overwhelming.

Salt water contaminated many sources of fresh water and destroyed large tracts of arable land. Getting vital supplies into the islands was tough with jetties unserviceable.

The authorities mounted a huge relief and rescue effort. The army, navy and air force were deployed, but it took days before they could get to all the islands.

Every day, navy and coast guard ships brought boatloads of people made homeless by the tsunami from other islands to Port Blair where schools and government buildings were turned into temporary shelters.

They brought stories of devastation in their homelands. Many told me they had escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

One woman from Car Nicobar told me that when the earthquake struck, the ground started to spew foamy water at the same time as the waves came in from the sea.

She and hundreds of others from her village had waited for rescuers without food or water for 48 hours. She said it was a “miracle” that she and her 20-day-old baby had survived.

Port Blair was almost daily jolted by aftershocks, some of them strong enough to start rumours of fresh tsunamis, making scared people run to get to higher ground.

A few days later, the Indian military flew journalists to Car Nicobar, a flat fertile island known for its enchanting beaches and also home to a large Indian air force colony.

The killer tsunami had completely flattened the base. The water rose by 12 metres here and as most people slept, the ground was pulled away from under their feet. A hundred people died here. More than half were air force officers and their families.

We visited Malacca and Kaakan villages on the island which also bore the brunt of nature’s fury, forcing residents to take shelter in tents along the road. Among them were families torn apart by the tidal wave.

A grief-stricken young couple told me they had managed to save their five-month-old baby, but their other children, aged seven and 12, were washed away.

Surrounded by coconut palms on all sides, every house had turned into rubble. Among the personal belongings strewn about were clothes, textbooks, a child’s shoe and a music keyboard.

The only thing that stood – surprisingly intact – was a bust of the father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at a traffic roundabout.

A senior army officer told us his team had recovered seven bodies that day and we watched their mass cremation from a distance.

At the air force base, we watched as rescuers pulled a woman’s body from the debris.

An official said that for every body found in Car Nicobar, several had been swept away by the waves without leaving a trace.

After all these years, I still sometimes think about the day I hopped on the ferry to go to Havelock.

I wonder what would have happened if the tremors had come a few minutes earlier.

And what would have happened if the wall of water had hit the shore while I waited on the jetty to board our ferry?

On Boxing Day, 2004, I had a close call. Thousands who perished were not so lucky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia made a “conscious choice” by launching a major overnight 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.

It said there were casualties from the strikes but gave no figures.

Moscow confirmed the attack and claimed that its goal had been achieved.

The attack led to power cuts across the country, including in the capital Kyiv, where some residents sheltered in metro stations.

Russia’s defence confirmed its forces had carried out a “massive strike” on “critical” energy facilities in Ukraine.

It added that the strike had been a success and all targets were hit.

This was the 13th major attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year, the country’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said.

Responding to the latest Russian strikes, US President Joe Biden said: “The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardise the safety of its grid.”

Biden – who will be succeeded by Donald Trump on 20 January – also asked the US defence department to continue delivering weapons to Ukraine.

In September, President Zelensky said 80% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed by Russian bombs.

Responding to Wednesday’s attacks, Zelensky said the timing had been a “conscious choice”.

He called them “inhumane” and said work was being done to restore power as soon as possible.

“Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not distort Christmas”, he added.

This is the second time Ukraine has celebrated Christmas Day on 25 December. It traditionally followed the Julian calendar, like Russia, where Christmas falls on 7 January.

Still, a sizeable number of Orthodox believers in the country will be celebrating Christmas as before.

In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second largest – the attack left half a million people without water, electricity or heating in bitterly cold temperatures, the regional head said.

Ukrainians across the country woke up to the sound of air raid alarms, and were told to shelter as the attacks unfolded in the morning.

Kyiv residents sheltered in metro stations, with one local telling Reuters news agency that she felt angry and frightened.

“Of course, I want to be at home and celebrate, but we had to shelter because it’s scary to stay at home,” Sofiia Lytvynenko said.

Another Kyiv resident, Oleksandra, said that despite the attack, “Christmas is not cancelled”.

She told Reuters that she planned to enjoy traditional Ukrainian food and drink with family and friends after it is safe to leave the shelter.

Ukraine’s state-owned power company, Ukrenergo, warned Ukrainians that power cuts could last until at least the end of the day.

It has imposed usage restrictions while it tries to restore service.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the strikes as “Christmas terror”.

He said a Russian missile went through Moldovan and Romanian airspace “reminding that Russia threatens not only Ukraine”.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu condemned the strike and confirmed that a missile was detected in the country’s airspace.

Romania said it did not detect a missile in its airspace.

Elsewhere, four people were killed and five others injured by Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Kursk region, according to the region’s acting governor.

More than 1,500 prisoners have escaped from a prison in Mozambique, taking advantage of ongoing political unrest triggered by disputed election results, police say.

Thirty-three people were killed and 15 injured in clashes with guards, police chief Bernardino Rafael told a press conference.

About 150 more fugitives have since been recaptured, he added.

Protests erupted on Monday in response to Mozambique’s highest court confirming that the ruling Frelimo party, in power since 1975, had won October’s presidential elections.

Mr Rafael said groups of anti-government protesters had approached the prison in the capital Maputo on Wednesday. Prisoners used the unrest to knock down a wall and escape, he said.

Mozambique has been rocked by unrest since disputed elections in October. Official results showed the ruling Frelimo’s candidate for president, Daniel Chapo, winning.

Fresh protests erupted on Monday, when the constitutional court ruled that Chapo had won the election, while revising his margin of victory downwards.

Initial results in October said Daniel Chapo gained a 71% share of the vote to his main rival Venâncio Mondlane’s 20%. The court has now ruled that he won 65% to Mondlane’s’s 24%.

A BBC reporter found Maputo was like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with almost all businesses shut and people staying at home to avoid being caught up in the worst unrest in the city since Frelimo first rose to power in 1975.

Frelimo’s offices, police stations, banks and factories have been looted, vandalised and set ablaze around the country. Since Monday, at least 21 people have been killed in the unrest, the interior minister said late on Tuesday.

Mondlane, who has since fled Mozambique, had been calling on his supporters to demonstrate against what he said was a rigged vote.

In a weekend social media message, he said there could be a “new popular uprising” if the result was not overturned.

About 150 people have been killed in three months of protests since the elections.

The bald eagle is now officially the national bird of the US, after President Joe Biden signed a law on Christmas Eve bestowing the honour upon the white-headed and yellow-beaked bird of prey.

The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years, appearing on the Great Seal of the US – used on US documents – since 1782.

But it had not been officially designated to be the national bird until Congress passed the bill last week, sending it to Biden’s desk to be signed.

“For nearly 250 years, we called the bald eagle the national bird when it wasn’t,” said Jack Davis, co-chair of the National Bird Initiative for the National Eagle Center, in a statement. “But now the title is official, and no bird is more deserving.”

Not everyone has always agreed about the national status of the bald eagle.

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin objected to the creature being chosen to represent the country, calling it a “bird of bad moral character”.

But not all of Congress shared Franklin’s sentiments.

Bald eagles, like other eagles worldwide, had been seen by many as symbols of strength, courage, freedom and immortality for generations, according to the US Department of Veteran Affairs. And, unlike other eagles, the bald eagle was indigenous only to North America.

The legislation designating the bald eagle as the national bird was spearheaded by Minnesota lawmakers. The state is home to what Senator Amy Klobuchar described as one of the nation’s largest bald eagle populations.

The bald eagle is also protected under the National Emblem Act of 1940, which makes it illegal to sell or hunt the creature.

The birds were once on the brink of extinction, but the population has greatly increased since 2009.

The bald eagle bill was one of 50 pieces of legislation that Biden signed into law on Christmas Eve, including a federal anti-hazing law to tackle violence and deaths on university campuses.

Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say 14 interior ministry personnel have been killed and 10 injured in an “ambush” by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in the west of the country.

They say the fighting took place near the Mediterranean port of Tartous on Tuesday.

Reports say the security forces were ambushed as they tried to arrest a former officer in connection to his role at the notorious Saydnaya prison, close to the capital Damascus.

Just over two weeks ago, Assad’s presidency fell to rebel forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said three militants were also killed in the clashes.

The SOHR added that the security forces later brought in reinforcements.

In a separate development, the Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the central city of Homs, state media reported.

Reports say this followed unrest after a video purportedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine.

Syria’s interior ministry said it was an old video, dating back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November, and the violence was carried out by unknown groups.

The SOHR said one demonstrator was killed and five wounded in Homs.

Demonstrations were also reported in areas including the cities of Tartous and Latakia, and Assad’s hometown of Qardaha.

Alawites are the minority sect from which the Assad family originates, and to which many of the former regime’s political and military elite belonged.

The HTS-led lightning offensive that started from Syria’s north-east and spread all over the country ended the Assad family’s more than 50-year-rule.

Assad and his family were forced to flee to Russia.

HTS has since promised to protect the rights and freedoms of many religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.

HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU, the UK and others.

On Tuesday, protests broke out in the country over the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting fresh calls for the new authorities to protect minorities.

Dozens of people have survived a crash involving a plane carrying 67 people in Kazakhstan, local officials say.

Kazakh authorities said 38 people were killed in the crash.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it attempted to make an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau.

The plane was en route to Grozny in Russia but it was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC.

Footage shows the aircraft heading towards the ground at high speed with its landing gear down, before bursting into flames as it lands.

The airline said the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.

It took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed around 06:28, data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed.

Unconfirmed reports from Russian media said the aircraft might have collided with a flock of birds before crashing.

Azerbaijan Airlines said flights between Baku and the Russian cities of Grozny and Makhachkala would be cancelled while an investigation into the incident was completed.

Officials said the plane’s black box flight recorder had been recovered.

Those on board were mostly Azerbaijani nationals, but there were also some passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

A woman who was travelling to spend the holidays with her children in Chechnya, of which Grozny is the capital, died in the crash. One mother, travelling with medical tests for her sick child, is still missing.

A young woman shared her heartache with the BBC’s Azerbaijani service as she desperately tried to find out what happened to her father, who was on the flight.

She explained that her father had been travelling with his son, who survived the crash. The son managed to contact his sister, but there was still no news of their father.

Unverified video footage showed survivors crawling out of the wreckage, some with visible injuries.

Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident. Embraer told the BBC it was “ready to assist all relevant authorities”.

The BBC has contacted Azerbaijan Airlines for comment.

Embraer, a Brazilian manufacturer, is a smaller rival to Boeing and Airbus, and has a strong safety record.

You can get in touch with BBC News via this link.

MT Vasudevan Nair, a legendary writer from the southern Indian state of Kerala, has died at the age of 91.

Nair died in a hospital in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, where he was admitted a few days ago with breathing difficulties.

Apart from being a celebrated writer, MT, as Nair was popularly known, was also an acclaimed film director and screenwriter.

Tributes have begun pouring in for the writer, who was considered the doyen of Malayalam-language literature.

Born in 1933 in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Nair was a voracious reader – though reading was not encouraged in his family – and began writing from a young age, with his work being published in magazines.

“Unlike other boys of my age I was not very interested in playing. There was only one game I could play alone – writing,” he once told Outlook magazine.

Nair studied chemistry in college and went on to teach maths to school students. Later, he joined the prestigious Mathrubhumi weekly magazine and soon made a name for himself as a writer and editor, with several novels and collections of short stories, newspaper columns, memoirs and travelogues to his credit.

As an editor, Nair is credited with discovering and publishing many young writers who later became famous.

Nair’s novel Naalukettu (Four blocks), about the decline of a joint family, won one of Kerala’s highest literary honours in 1959. Decades later, he adapted the book into a television film for the government-run Doordarshan channel, winning a state award.

His novel Randamoozham (The Second Turn), a retelling of the Hindu epic Mahabharata from the point of view of the character Bhima, is considered a classic of Indian literature.

He has won several awards throughout his career, including India’s highest literary honour, the Jnanpith.

Besides his literary work, Nair had a prolific career as a screenwriter and director in Malayalam cinema, winning several national and state awards.

Among his best-known screenplays is Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (A northern ballad of valour), set in 16th-Century Kerala, in which he retold a popular folktale and upended notions of villainy and honour. The film, with its powerful dialogues and performances, is considered a classic in Malayalam cinema.

A recent anthology series, Manorathangal, which adapted his short stories, featured stalwarts from the southern Indian film industry such as Kamal Haasan, Mammootty, Mohanlal and Fahadh Faasil.

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who acted in the series, called Nair “Kerala’s pride”.

“You can change the dialogues of any other films, but not MT’s, since those dialogues are essential to understand the essence of what is being conveyed,” he said.

In interviews, Nair would often speak about the books he was reading from around the world.

In a tribute to the writer on his 90th birthday last year, MV Shreyams Kumar, the managing director of Mathrubhumi, wrote that Nair was always reading and rereading books.

“I’ve often thought about what future generations, myself included, should learn from MT. I believe it is concentration. Whenever I see him, he is surrounded by books, fully immersed, almost as if in meditation. The latest releases are always on his table, alongside classics by writers like Marquez,” he wrote.

On a cold day in November, hundreds of people flocked to an arena in Coventry, which has previously hosted gigs by Oasis, Rihanna, and Harry Styles, for an event of a very different kind.

The 500 people who turned out – some from as far afield as Mongolia and Canada – were taking part in an activity less known for drawing in crowds: the Rubik’s UK Championship in “speedcubing,” or racing to solve puzzle cubes at terrific speed.

Rows of tables were laid out in the arena and 15 events took place over three days. Some involved solving the puzzle one-handed, others while blindfolded. Teenager James Alonso won the tournament’s biggest event – solving the classic 3×3 cube at speed with an average of 6.3 seconds.

Speedcubing has been popular since the 1980s and the world record for a single solve in that event is currently held by Max Park from the US, with a time of just 3.13 seconds. It is a far cry from the initial speed of Ernő Rubik, an architecture professor, who invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974 and took around a month to solve it.

Flash forward to today and an estimated 412,000 people have taken part in speedcubing competitions worldwide. The popularity has increased too, with reported global sales of Rubik’s Cube products recorded as $86.6m (£67m) in 2023, up 13.5% on 2022. (The brand was acquired by a Canadian multinational toy company Spin Master in 2021.)

That’s not counting the sales of other types of puzzle cubes by different brands. Some are wooden, others electronic with built-in bluetooth, then there are those with all manner of colourful designs.

But now, scientists have lauded speedcubing, in particular, as not only a popular hobby but one that could have wellbeing benefits too.

“Speedcubing offers a unique combination of cognitive challenge, [alongside] social connection, and personal achievement that contributes to happiness”, says Polina Beloborodova, research associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Centre for Healthy Minds.

And this is said to run far deeper than a simple momentary rush.

“Speedcubing satisfies the basic psychological need for competence, the feeling of effectiveness and mastery,” explains Dr Beloborodova. It involves a number of factors including, problem-solving, memory, spatial reasoning and motor coordination.

But solving the cube may also elicit happiness because it taps into other emotions, according to Dr Julia Christensen, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany. “Awe, beauty, being moved, all these are aesthetic emotions, and experiencing them gives us an extreme sense of happiness,” she says.

“For example, when a pattern is the right pattern, when a move is particularly amazing on the cube, these aesthetic emotions can give transformative experiences.”

Some speedcubers have described the state of mind that the activity can bring as a sense of “flow”.

“This state is achieved when the activity’s difficulty matches your skill level, distractions are minimal, the goals are clear, and feedback is immediate — all of which are characteristics of speedcubing,” says Dr Beloborodova.

Flow can feel “almost meditative”, according to Ian Scheffler, author of Cracking the Cube, who has experienced this first-hand. “You enter this state where you are kind of thinking and not thinking at the same time – you are reacting to what the cube is giving you, but in almost an instinctual way.

“It’s a kind of mindfulness that’s deeply rewarding… a peaceful, calm state where you’re completely in tune with every twist of the puzzle.”

There is good reason to seek a flow state regularly, according to Dr Christensen. “Science shows that people who regularly experience flow have a better mental health, possibly better physical health, and are more in tune.

“When we repeat movements they become logged or encoded from explicit, effort-full memory systems, and pass into implicit, less effort-full, and procedural memory systems,” she continues.

Nicholas Archer, a 17-year-old speedcuber from West Yorkshire, who won the one-handed competition in this year’s UK Championship with an average time of 8.69 seconds, says that he has experienced this. “When I’m solving the cube, I’m certainly not having to think too much about what I’m doing. It’s all automatic.”

“Speedcubing or solving a cube on your own may increase your happiness,” says Dr Adil Khan, a reader in neuroscience at King’s College London (KCL) – but when combined with the social aspect, any benefits may be greater.

“Since speedcubing is a social phenomenon, perhaps the social aspect combines with the puzzle solving to deliver a deeply satisfying experience.”

Jan Hammer started speedcubing at the age of 44, after being introduced to it by his 13-year-old daughter. He has since solved the cube around 10,000 times but does not think he would have maintained this level of enthusiasm had he been speedcubing alone.

“The fact that I can do this with my daughter and that we cheer for each other is wonderful. Additionally, being part of the cube community has become a huge motivation.”

Competitions tend to have more children and teenagers – it is not uncommon for competitors to be as young as six. The activity is also significantly more popular with males. The World Cube Association reports that 221,117 men have competed at their events, compared with 24,311 women.

Regardless of demographic, “for those who view speedcubing as a significant part of their life – such as participants in tournaments – it can offer eudemonic happiness, fostering a sense of purpose and meaning through dedication, accomplishment, and community of like-minded people,” argues Dr Beloborodova.

Psychologists differentiate between two aspects of happiness: “hedonic wellbeing,” related to emotional experiences, and “eudemonic wellbeing,” which concerns meaning and purpose in life.

“Both are essential for overall happiness and speedcubing can contribute to both types of wellbeing,” she says. All of this “contributes to better mental health”.

The effects of speedcubing on the brain and cognitive function are, however, less clear.

While solving a cube, the brain is trying out different moves, asking “what might happen if I move the cube in this way?” explains Dr Toby Wise, senior research fellow in neuroimaging at King’s College London.

“Your brain stores a memory trace for different configurations of the cube, and it can run through different configurations to predict which will have the best outcome.”

However it doesn’t necessarily create long-term benefits, like improvements to memory function. This is because, as Dr Khan explains, the brain is not like a muscle that needs to be flexed to make it grow.

For many years it has been suggested by some that solving puzzles, whether Sudoku or crosswords, can have a hand in slowing cognitive decline or dementia. However this is not necessarily the case.

A study undertaken by Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the University of Aberdeen, and published in the BMJ in 2018, found that people who regularly do intellectual activities throughout life have higher mental abilities, providing a “higher cognitive point” from which to decline, but that they do not decline any slower.

“Solving puzzles does not improve your brain power in much other than the puzzle itself,” argues Dr Khan. “And almost certainly does not prevent age-related decline in brain power.”

One further benefit of speedcubing, according to regular players, is its sense of escapism from frenzied modern life.

“Having a clear goal, something that you can actually realise, is something that we don’t necessarily have in everyday life, and that appeases our brain,” says Dr Christensen.

This perhaps explains why the cube is so popular in an age with myriad computer games and technological activities to choose from. As Mr Hammer puts it: “When I pick up the cube, I become more alert and focused.”

He uses it in the workplace too. “It can help me enter the next meeting with a more structured perspective,” he says.

Mr Scheffler agrees: “The process of taking the cube from this chaotic, disordered state, which is always different because there’s so many permutations of the puzzle, to the same ordered state is fundamentally something that humans want to be doing.

“There’s a fundamental human need to make order out of disorder, because the universe is a very chaotic place, and most things are not ordered.”

The birth of Jesus Christ – a seminal biblical event – has been the subject of many paintings by Western artists, who have often applied the ideas of beauty and creativity prevalent there while depicting the event on canvas.

These works are among the most widely available representations of Christian art, shaping how the world views this biblical event and subliminally divesting those outside the West from influencing it.

But over the centuries, artists in India have sought to express their vision of this event by painting Jesus’s birth and other Christian themes in their own style.

Some have done so consciously, others unconsciously, but the end result is a body of work that breathes new life and meaning into the event of Christ’s birth, and Christianity itself.

Here are some paintings from Indian art history that present Jesus’s birth from a uniquely local perspective.

Mughal emperor Muhammad Jalaluddin Akbar is credited with introducing northern India to Christianity by inviting Jesuit missionaries to visit his court.

The missionaries brought with them holy scriptures and European artworks on Christian themes which influenced court painters. Akbar and his successors also commissioned many murals with Christian themes and some court painters began infusing these paintings with elements of Islamic art.

Neha Vermani, a historian of South Asia, talks about a painting made by Mughal court artists which featured emperor Jahangir in the nativity scene, which traditionally feature Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

“Mughal rulers saw themselves as being ‘just’ rulers, capable of maintaining harmony and balance in their kingdoms; they were ‘universal rulers’. Allowing different religions to co-exist was integral to how they saw themselves and wanted themselves to be remembered,” Ms Vermani says.

The 18th Century painting below features typical stylistic elements of Mughal art, including highly stylised figures, vibrant colours, naturalism and ornamentation.

Born in 1887 in what is now India’s West Bengal state, Jamini Roy is celebrated for creating a unique visual language by bringing together elements of Bengali folk art and Kalighat paintings – a distinctive art form that originated in the vicinity of a renowned temple in Kolkata city.

Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director of art firm DAG says that art critic WG Archer once observed that Christ represented a Santhal figure (the Santhals are an Indian tribal group) for Jamini Roy.

“The simplicity of Christ’s life and his sacrifice appealed to Roy, making his paintings on Christian themes at least as important as those on Hindu mythology, all of them rendered in the folk style of modernism that he made distinctively his own,” he says.

Born in 1902 in the western state of Goa, Angelo de Fonseca is credited with creating unique Christian iconography that married Eastern and Western influences with his Goan sensibilities.

In his paintings, Mary isn’t depicted as a fair maiden in a blue gown, but looks very much like an Indian woman with brown skin, dressed in a sari and wearing a mangalsutra (a piece of traditional Indian jewellery worn by married Hindu women).

Biblical scenes unfold in local settings and feature motifs and elements that speak to an Indian audience.

Through his art, he tried to counter the narrative of the West being the cradle of beauty and artistic creativity.

“Fonseca wanted to situate Christianity – which has largely been viewed as a western religious tradition – within the Indian subcontinent. It was from this angst that his watercolours painted Christianity anew,” Rinald D’Souza, director of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Goa, told the BBC.

An investigation by the Israeli military has found that the actions of their forces on the ground likely influenced the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August by Hamas.

It said the “ground activities in the area, although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence on the terrorists’ decision to murder the six hostages”.

The probe also found that the soldiers were unaware of the hostages’ presence when they began their operation in the Rafah area. The hostages’ bodies were later recovered.

The killings sparked anger in Israel, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets demanding the government reach a ceasefire deal.

In late August, the Israeli troops found the bodies in an underground shaft in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah. The military said they were killed just before the soldiers reached them.

The probe said that Israel’s chief of the general staff “concluded that this was a painful and tragic event, with the extremely difficult outcome of the brutal murder of six hostages by Hamas”.

In a statement, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the investigation proved once again that the return of all those captured by Hamas during its deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel would only be possible through a deal.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increased pressure, with critics saying he has not done enough to secure the release of the hostages.

Israel responded to the Hamas attack by launching air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed during the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says. Almost 2m people – 90% of the population – have been displaced, according to the UN.

The UN and aid agencies have described the humanitarian situation in the enclave as “apocalyptic” and warned on several occasions that Gazans are on “the brink of famine” – accusing Israel of deliberately obstructing aid deliveries – something Israel denies.

According to Israel, 251 Israelis and foreigners were seized in last year’s Hamas attack.

Ninety-six of them are believed to still be held, with the remainder released, rescued or their remains recovered. Sixty-two are believed by Israel to still be alive. Four other hostages have been held since 2014 and 2015.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages are continuing.

Mr Netanyahu recently said that there had been “some progress” but that he could not say when the talks would be concluded. So far no breakthrough has been achieved – despite Palestinian officials telling the BBC they were very close to reaching a deal.

Twenty big cats – including a Bengal tiger and four cougars – have died of bird flu over the past several weeks at an animal sanctuary in the state of Washington.

“This tragedy has deeply affected our team, and we are all grieving the loss of these incredible animals,” the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington wrote in a post on Facebook.

The devastating viral infection, carried by wild birds, spreads primarily through respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and can also be contracted by mammals that ingest birds or other products.

The sanctuary is under quarantine and is closed to the public to prevent the spread of the virus, the statement said.

The animals died between late November and mid-December, the sanctuary’s director, Mark Mathews, told the New York Times.

“We’ve never had anything like it; they usually die basically of old age,” he said. “Not something like this, it’s a pretty wicked virus.”

The news comes as bird flu continues to spread among cattle and poultry in the US, while also severely infecting at least one human.

The sanctuary said it had lost five African serval cats, four bobcats, two Canada lynx and a Bengal tiger, among others. Only 17 cats now remain at the Center.

“Cats are particularly vulnerable to this virus, which can cause subtle initial symptoms but progress rapidly, often resulting in death within 24 hours due to pneumonia-like conditions,” the sanctuary said in its Facebook statement on Friday.

Bird flu has long infected poultry flocks in the US. But the virus began to infect cattle in the US for the first time in March.

And since April 2024, there have been a total of 61 human cases of bird flu reported in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC says that the risk to the general public remains low, and there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission.

Most have reported mild symptoms, though one person was taken to the hospital with a severe case of bird flu in Louisiana this month.

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared an emergency over the outbreak among the state’s dairy cows to help the government have the “resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak”.

President-elect Donald Trump ran on a platform of isolating the US from foreign conflicts like the Ukraine war, increasing tariffs on foreign trade partners, and rebuilding domestic manufacturing.

But in recent days he has suggested a more outwardly aggressive approach for his foreign policy.

At first, he joked about Canada being an additional US state. Since, he has threatened to take back control of the Panama Canal. He also reiterated a desire from his first term to own the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, which is not for sale.

The US is unlikely to take control of any of these regions. But these statements could indicate that Trump’s “America First” vision includes flexing the superpower’s muscle beyond its borders for US trade and national security interests.

On Sunday, Trump told a conservative conference in Arizona that Panama was charging US ships “ridiculous, highly unfair” fees to use its namesake canal.

After taking charge of building the canal in the early 20th century, the US turned full control over to Panama in the 1970s via a treaty. But this week, Trump said that if the “rip off” did not stop, he would demand the canal be returned to the US – though he did not specify how.

Trump added he did not want the Panama Canal “falling into the wrong hands” and specifically cited China, which has significant interests in the waterway.

“There’s a real US national security interest… in controlling its neutrality,” Will Freeman, a fellow on Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said of Trump’s remarks.

“Trump’s statement is mostly about that.”

China is the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the US, according to data. It has major economic investments in the country as well.

In 2017, Panama cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognised it as part of China, a major win for Beijing.

The Panama Canal is not only essential for US trade in the Pacific, Mr Freeman said – in the event of any military conflict with China, it would be needed to move US ships and other assets.

He also noted Trump’s frequent comments about trade partners’ unfair treatment of the US, as well as the president-elect’s pledge to sharply increase tariffs on foreign goods, particularly those from China.

Trump’s complaints about shipping fees seemed to reflect his views on trade, Mr Freeman said.

While the statements might be “coercive”, said Mr Freeman, it remained to be seen “whether canal authorities lower fees on US cargo in response to the threat”.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has released a statement saying that the canal and the surrounding area belonged to his country – and would remain so.

Over the weekend, Trump said in a social media post that the US “feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for reasons of national security and global freedom.

The US maintains Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. The territory is rich with natural resources, including rare earth minerals, and occupies a strategic location for trade as global powers seek to expand their reach in the Arctic Circle.

Russia, in particular, sees the region as a strategic opportunity.

Trump floated the idea of purchasing Greenland in 2019, during his first term as president, and it never came to fruition.

Greenland’s prime minister, Múte B Egede, responded to Trump’s latest comments this week: “We are not for sale and we will not be for sale.”

Still, Trump continued emphasising his public statements online.

On Truth Social, Trump’s account showed an image of an American flag being planted in the middle of the Panama Canal.

His second-eldest son, Eric Trump, posted an image on X that showed the US adding Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada to an Amazon online shopping cart.

For Trump, promises to use America’s might to its advantage helped propel his two successful presidential campaigns.

It was a tactic he used during his first presidency, threatening tariffs and the deployment of “armed soldiers” to steer Mexico into beefing up enforcement along its US border.

Heading into his second term, Trump could plan to use a similar playbook once he takes office on 20 January.

While it remains to be seen what will happen, Denmark has expressed a willingness to work with his administration.

It also announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory.

How well do you remember the stories and people in the news this year?

Test your memory of 2024 in our four-part Christmas quiz – 52 questions for 52 weeks of the year.

Part one covers January to March. Part two is on Friday 27 December.

Fancy some more? Have a go at something from the archives.

In the vineyards of Bordeaux, the unspeakable has become the drinkable. Wine without alcohol has arrived.

The heresy of yesterday is now – thanks to science and economic crisis – the opportunity of today.

Wine estates which would have torched their grapes rather than submit to such ignominy, are now openly contemplating the booze-free bottle.

And developers are moving ahead fast, creating wines that are deliberately designed to get the best from the de-alcoholisation process.

“When we started a few years ago, what we were making was frankly rubbish,” says Bordeaux oenologist Frédéric Brochet, who has helped create the Moderato range of no-alcohol wines.

“But we have made great progress. And today we are getting nearer and nearer to our goal. I think it is going to be a revolution in the wine world.”

Bordeaux has just seen the launch of its first ever – wine shop – dedicated solely to no-alcohol wines, reflecting a shift in perceptions which has taken many in the industry by surprise.

“We only opened four weeks ago, and already we are getting wine-growers from the area coming in and asking about the non-alcohol market,” says Alexandre Kettaneh, who owns Les Belles Grappes with his wife Anne.

“They don’t know anything about how to do it, but they can see it is coming and want to be part of it.”

Several things have happened to make the moment opportune.

First of all, the French wine world is in deep difficulty. Domestic consumption continues to fall and the Chinese market is not what it was. US President-elect Donald Trump is threatening new levies. Prized ancient vineyards across France are being grubbed up.

Second, consumption habits are shifting, especially among the young. Supermarkets now give more space to beer than they do to wine. Most 20-somethings have never had the habit of wine – and they are also far more health-conscious than their elders.

The non-alcohol lifestyle is spreading. Currently 10% of the French beer market is alcohol-free. In Spain it is 25%.

And third – the technology has improved by leaps and bounds.

In the past – and still today for cheaper brands – the method has simply been to boil away the alcohol and then add compensatory flavours. The result – especially for reds – is at best mediocre. Such drinks cannot even call themselves wine, but “beverages based on de-alcoholised wine”.

Now though, there are new methods of low-temperature vacuum distillation, and of “capturing” aromas for putting back into the de-alcoholised wine. The result is wines that can legally call themselves wines, and are beginning to hold their own among discerning consumers.

“With reds, you need to be prepared for an experience which will not be the same as a traditional wine with alcohol. We cannot pretend we can replicate, yet, the full mouth-feel,” says Fabien Marchand-Cassagne of Moderato.

“But what you will get is a genuine wine moment. Bouquet, tannins, fruits, balance – it is all there to be enjoyed.”

At the Clos De Bouard estate near Saint-Emilion, fully a third of sales are now of the chateau’s two – soon to be three – non-alcoholic brands. Owner Coralie de Bouard first glimpsed the possibilities when she was asked in 2019 to develop a non-alcoholic wine for the Qatari owners of PSG football club.

“My family wouldn’t talk to me for a year, such was my ‘treason’. And even today I get hate mail from wine-growers saying I am ruining the market,” she says.

“But now my father congratulates me and says I am the locomotive in the wine train. And if we are surviving today in these difficult times, it is because we have shifted towards the no-alcohol market.”

“For the purists it’s been very difficult to accept,” says Bernard Rabouy, a wine-grower for the Bordeaux Families cooperative.

“But we have to evolve. The fact is that the customers aren’t where they used to be. So we have to go and get them or they will go somewhere else.”

Promoters of alcohol-free wine make much of the notion that it allows non-drinkers – who used to feel excluded – to join in the wine-banter. And it is true that the rituals of opening, sniffing, describing and comparing are now open to all.

“What we want to do is try to bring back the France of our youth – when everyone sat around the dinner table and drank wine, and it was a real moment of sharing,” says Anne Kattaneh.

“And these days the only way we are going to be able to do that is if non-alcoholic wines are part of the culture.”

“The idea that the wine world was always as it is now, is rubbish,” says oenologist Brochet.

“Things evolve. Once upon a time the barrel was an innovation. The cork was an innovation; grape varietals were an innovation. And now this is a new one – which could help save the industry and the wonderful landscape and culture that goes with it.

“As [poet] Paul Valery said – what is tradition, but an innovation that succeeded?”

A university student rowing from Europe to South America has finished the first half of her stamina-sapping adventure – despite facing major challenges.

Zara Lachlan, 21, from Cambridge, is spending Christmas at sea as she aims to become the youngest person, and first woman, to row solo across the Atlantic.

The Loughborough University physics student recently encountered a shark and had to use a flare when her tiny boat was almost hit by a tanker.

Ms Lachlan, who hopes to become a technical officer in the Army next year, is making good time and has been rowing more than 16 hours a day as she heads towards her destination – the coast of French Guiana.

Ms Lachlan has already covered more than 2,050 miles (3300km) of her record-breaking 4000-mile (6400-km) solo and unsupported row across the Atlantic.

So far, the journey has been hampered by injuries, a broken oar, vicious weather that caused her boat to roll, damage to some of her communications equipment, encounters with orcas and sharks – and a near collision.

She said: “I had a small cut that just bled a lot.

“I’m fine, but when I was washing it off in the sea a couple of minutes later a shark appeared, which was pretty cool.

“It hung around for quite a while – about an hour. It was not a great white shark as it was brown, so you could call it a ‘great brown shark’!”

Within the same 24 hours, she had another scary encounter while it was still dark.

She said: “I had a very large ship not turning on its radio and heading straight towards me.

“I could see on the AIS [automatic identification system] where they were going to go and it was directly towards me, so I got on the radio and I used a white flare, but they still didn’t reply.

“They missed me by 0.1 of a mile (160m), which is nothing.

“It’s ridiculous. I’m really angry at them because I can’t do anything about that. So I’m very grateful that I’m OK.”

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There is a festive chill at Sandringham on Christmas Day morning – especially when you find yourself standing outside St Mary Magdalene Church at 5am, as I often have in my years as a royal correspondent.

Last year I watched as King Charles and Queen Camilla led the royal party to church on Christmas Day, followed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, holding the hands of their children as they spoke to the crowds.

The Princess kept a firm grip on playful Prince Louis as they left church, and they were given Christmas cards and presents by well wishers, along with dozens of flowers.

I could never have predicted that this was the last time we would see her in person for more than six months. I was expecting to head to Italy with the couple on a royal tour, but she wouldn’t join the Royal Family on another official engagement until Trooping the Colour in June.

On 16 January, the Princess of Wales was admitted to hospital for major abdominal surgery. At the end of March, she went public with her cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy.

For her husband, it was the start of a year that he would go on to call “the hardest of his life”.

It throws up memories of Queen Elizabeth’s own “sombre year” of 1992 when there were multiple marriage breakdowns within the family and a major fire. At the time she described it with the now infamous phrase, “annus horribilis”.

In 2024, Prince William faced not only his wife’s ill health, but the King’s cancer diagnosis too, and always there in the background was the apparently unresolved conflict with his brother Prince Harry.

But it was also a year in which certain aspects of Prince William’s approach were cemented – family came first, the school run was prioritised. For the Prince of Wales, this time of turbulence appears to have reinforced what matters to him most.

Along the way, however, it has also become evident what kind of senior royal William wants to be. We’ve seen more of his apprenticeship as a global statesman, especially during the 80th anniversary of D-Day on a stage alongside world leaders – but the William way has also left some questioning certain choices he has made.

On 27 February, the Prince of Wales was due to give a reading at the thanksgiving service for the late King Constantine of Greece at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. The illustrious guest list included European royalty.

Around an hour before the service was due to begin, however, Kensington Palace announced that the Prince would be unable to attend due to a “personal matter”. There were reassuring words from the Prince’s team that there was “nothing to panic about” but it was highly unusual.

Around this time, the Princess was given the news that cancerous cells had been discovered in post-operative tests.

Over the next three weeks, the couple told the children what was happening and had time to deal with their questions privately before going public.

“I think what was remarkable was just how hard it was for the Prince of Wales at the start of the year,” says a friend of the Prince. “His wife had gone in for major surgery and it became worse than expected. Then there was, ‘How do I tell my three children that Mummy is ill?'”

All of this was happening against the backdrop of the King’s own cancer treatment, which he made public on 5 February.

“At a time when he was trying to protect his wife and children, he had that terrible thought that that if his father dies then everything changes,” says the friend.

Several people who know the Prince personally or have worked with him this year told me that the spotlight on what was wrong with his wife took its toll on both William and Catherine.

“He was having to operate against the backdrop of the entire world questioning what was happening to his wife,” one friend told me.

With his father largely out of action for several weeks and the Princess away from public duty, the royal diary was looking stretched. Prince William was adamant that public duty would have to wait until the situation at home was more settled.

It offered a hint of Prince William’s way of doing things. Yes, he understood that his was a life where duty and service are expected. But for him, a man who had experienced immense loss at a young age, his wife and children were most important of all.

There were two other important factors at home that helped the Prince of Wales support his wife and children – his in-laws, the Middletons; and living in Windsor.

When the Princess made her public announcement about her diagnosis, the message was posted on royal social media accounts, and one of the first people to publicly respond was her brother James.

Alongside a childhood holiday photo of himself and his sister, he wrote: “Over the years, we have climbed many mountains together. As a family, we will climb this one with you too.”

Together with his sister Pippa and parents Carole and Michael, the family became key to keeping life as normal as possible for the royal children. People living locally reported seeing Carole Middleton, who lives 30 miles away in Bucklebury, Berkshire, regularly driving in and out of Windsor Castle.

And when the Princess’s surgery prevented her from driving, it was her mother who often drove her daughter to school to collect the three children.

The decision to move from Kensington Palace to Windsor Castle in 2022 also proved timely.

“Windsor has been a sanctuary. It has provided the protection and privacy the family needed this year,” said a friend.

The family live in Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom house within the Castle grounds that is secluded enough to give the family freedom that Kensington Palace, which is located in central London, could not.

Snatched photos show the Prince of Wales using an electric scooter to get around the grounds. When on royal duty, he would occasionally reveal a snippet about life at home, such as his continued devotion to Aston Villa FC, or a favoured film or TV series – earlier this year he enjoyed action film The Fall Guy and more recently he and the Princess watched spy thriller series Black Doves on Netflix.

He has also taken his children to football matches at local clubs and both he and the Princess have continued to be part of school life at Lambrook, the private school in Berkshire that their children attend. During her treatment, the Princess was still able to be on the sidelines during sports days.

All of this appears to have pushed other personal issues right down the Prince’s agenda.

The rancour between William and Harry is said to remain. Harry has visited the UK over the past 12 months but is not believed to have met his brother. They are thought to have not spoken to one another in around two years.

There have been new controversies around Prince Andrew in recent months too, including revelations about his links to Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who was barred from the UK after concerns about national security risks. Prince Andrew has said that he had ceased contact with Mr Yang.

But the prince did not attend the Royal Family’s traditional pre-Christmas lunch.

Such matters will have been dealt with by the King but, as heir to the throne, William’s voice in family matters is increasingly significant.

Robert Hardman, journalist and author of Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, says the relationship between Charles and his eldest son “has reached a new level of understanding”.

“We still have a tendency to look at William as the kid, the apprentice, the understudy,” he says. “But he’s now been a front rank royal for 10 years. He’s been around the block more than many current heads of State.”

Unusually, much of what the Prince has said about his year has come directly from him rather than via formal statements or briefings.

During his visit to South Africa in November for the Earthshot Prize, the Prince’s environmental project, he spoke about his passion for the cause but also about the struggles of 2024.

“From a family point of view, it’s been brutal,” he told the group of us who had travelled to Cape Town. For someone who has been guarded in the past, his language was surprisingly frank.

His demeanour was open and positive too, clearly energised by Earthshot and being back in Africa, but he a gave a glimpse into how conflicted he was when he viewed his role as Prince of Wales.

“It’s a tricky one,” he said. “Do I like more responsibility? No. Do I like the freedom that I can build something like Earthshot, then yes.”

What struck me the most after spending almost a week in Cape Town was how he framed his outlook on the modern monarchy, saying he wanted to do the job with a “smaller R in Royal”.

“I’m trying to do it differently,” he admitted, “and I’m trying to do it for my generation.”

What he meant was not doing things in the same way as his father and grandmother.

Charles and William “are different characters”, observes Robert Hardman. “The King is more intellectually curious, and spiritually and theologically engaged. These areas aren’t of deep interest to William.

“The tone of their communication is different. The King remains fairly traditional. William has his own way of doing things.”

Some have questioned the William way. One critic, Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy group Republic, argues against the Prince’s decision to focus his efforts on the issue of homelessness.

“[It is] crass and hypocritical of William to get involved in it, given the excessive wealth we gift him,” he argues.

However, Mr Hardman disputes the notion that William’s involvement in projects like this are inappropriate. “I think William is currently a more conventional Prince of Wales than his father was at this age. Prince Charles was a more radical heir to the throne.

“The creation of the Prince’s Trust sounded alarm bells at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. William isn’t ringing alarm bells.”

Prince William has far fewer patronages than his father. The King currently has 669 – many maintained from his 70 years as heir to the throne. Prince William’s slimline, more focused approach leaves him with around 30.

It is a deliberate strategy: fewer projects but higher impact in the hope of bringing about social change. Those who have worked closely with him this year praise this approach.

“His contribution is unbelievable,” said Hannah Jones, the CEO of the Earthshot Prize. “He has set the vision.”

But that bold action comes with more risk.

Last month, I travelled to Newport in South Wales with the Prince to meet those working on his homelessness project in the city. It was 10 months since his wife’s cancer diagnosis, her chemotherapy was complete and William seemed to me to be less burdened by life.

He was in listening mode, and spoke to dozens of people. In some of the conversations, it struck me how many ventured into the political.

The Prince told the project team to think differently, to be disruptors and challenge the way things had always been done.

“We drive in a very non-political lane,” a royal source told me. “We use our platform to convene and shine the spotlight on a societal issue and that remains unchanged. We are feeling bullish about what we can achieve even in really hard circumstances.”

In the years ahead William will no doubt face further challenges around his role. In this current age of social media, for example, deference and respect for monarchy isn’t the mood in the room.

But it is clear from his public work that he doesn’t view his future as one filled with plaque unveilings and handshaking.

“I have to be seen to be believed,” is a quote attributed to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. For her grandson, the approach is more: “I have to be seen to be making a difference.”

Through 2024, he has ticked off meetings with many world leaders from the Emperor of Japan to the President of South Africa rounded off by the US president-elect, cementing his role on the global stage, promoting the UK with a touch of soft diplomacy.

Next November, the COP climate summit is being held in Brazil and the Prince is “looking forward to playing a role there”. An Earthshot Prize in Brazil may be a possibility too.

Ultimately, the development of Prince William as family man-meets-global statesman is ongoing – and he’s looking increasingly comfortable juggling both roles.

Money, success, power, beauty – it often seems as if celebrities have everything they could possibly want.

So it’s just as well they also get tangled up in their fair share of mishaps, blunders and own goals every year.

Here’s a light-hearted look at some of 2024’s biggest flops and fails.

It was supposed to be a triumphant return, but critics and fans complained Katy Perry’s latest album 143 sounded dated and showed little artistic growth.

The music video for Woman’s World, which saw Perry join a group of dancers wearing tiny outfits on a construction site, was criticised for being regressive, although Perry later said it was supposed to be satirical.

Matters were only made worse when the singer attracted the attention of the Spanish government for shooting the video for follow-up single Lifetimes in ecologically-sensitive sand dunes in the Balearic Islands.

But many fans defended the album, which wasn’t as bad as some reviews made out, and Perry’s accompanying tour has been a huge success.

Making a sequel to 2019’s Joker, which grossed more than $1bn (£790m), was something Hollywood found simply irresistible.

Unfortunately, the resulting film, Joker: Folie à Deux, was something audiences found entirely resistible.

Making the film a musical was a bold swing, but the tonal handbrake turn alienated the fans and critics who adored the Oscar-winning original.

Folie à Deux managed to scrape over the $200m (£158m) mark, but that was barely enough to cover its production budget, let alone marketing costs.

It wasn’t the only movie flop of the year – audiences were also unenthusiastic about Madame Web, The Fall Guy, Kraven the Hunter, Megalopolis, Borderlands, Argylle, Unstoppable and Furiosa: A Mad Max Story.

Ticketmaster attracted a storm of controversy after making use of so-called “dynamic pricing” for UK dates on the Oasis reunion tour, which raised the cost of a ticket by £200 due to the predictable demand.

Charging fans £350 per ticket was a dubious PR move for a band famous for their working class roots, and the Gallagher brothers wisely distanced themselves from the strategy.

But Ticketmaster argued prices are set by artists and promoters. Dynamic pricing was later ditched for the band’s US tour dates.

Meanwhile, 50,000 fans who’d paid inflated prices on secondary platforms in order to secure tickets faced having them cancelled. A total omnishambles for everyone involved.

When BBC weather presenter Kawser Quamer was asked in February about her plans for the weekend, she cheerfully explained she was attending her niece’s surprise birthday party.

Host Annabel Tiffin said that all sounded very lovely, but presumably the party was no longer a surprise, having just been announced on live TV. “Oh goodness me,” replied an alarmed Quamer, “I’ve spoiled the surprise!”

The glorious mishap made its way across the Atlantic, going viral and featuring on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

But Quamer handled it beautifully, and even managed to convince her niece she was talking about a different relative, keeping the surprise element intact.

Chaos is a term which could be applied to a lot of entries in this list, but one of the biggest casualties of the year was Kaos itself.

Just a month after the first series of Jeff Goldblum’s Greek mythology drama was released, Netflix announced it would not return for a second.

Streamers can tell quickly if something is a hit or not by measuring viewing figures and completion rates. Their data even gives them the prospective ratings of the following months based on the first.

But although fans campaigned for its return, ultimately Kaos was Kancelled.

Manchester’s hottest new live venue finally opened this year, but only after several attempts. There was a string of cancellations due to various technical problems, including a ventilation unit falling from the ceiling.

Shows by Peter Kay, Olivia Rodrigo, Take That and others were cancelled or moved, before the venue finally opened with a successful concert from rock band Elbow.

The problems did at least bring one delightful moment: A Radio 4 newsreader announcing the delay of a gig by US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.

Flops don’t come much bigger than a debate performance which was so poor, it brought down an entire presidential campaign.

Joe Biden seemed distant and frail when he took part in a televised live debate in June, struggling to finish some of his sentences and keep pace with Donald Trump.

Biden tried to stay in the race, but the pressure on him became too high as figures including Democrat fundraiser George Clooney publicly called for him to stand down, leading to Kamala Harris replacing him as the candidate.

A barnstorming performance from Celine Dion sadly wasn’t enough to rescue this soggy croissant of an opening ceremony, which was badly hampered by rain.

Organisers took the event outside of the traditional stadium setting and had performers spread out across Paris instead, which was both a security nightmare and challenging for spectators.

The spread meant things felt somewhat disjointed and it was hard for the ceremony to build any momentum.

Meanwhile, some viewers were upset by a scene involving drag queens which many interpreted as a reference to the Last Supper, but artistic director Thomas Jolly said was a reference to pagan gods.

Hot on the heels of the disastrous Willy Wonka experience was an unofficial Bridgerton ball, where fans of the Netflix series were invited to dress up and “step into the enchanting world of the Regency era”.

Unfortunately, they were greeted with disappointing food and drab decor, with one violinist and a pole dancer for entertainment. Creators blamed “organisational challenges” and said they “sincerely apologised”.

We anticipate the event being eviscerated in Lady Whistledown’s next newsletter.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was, frankly, a disaster from start to finish.

A row about Israel’s participation prompted security concerns, put all the entrants in an awkward position and even led to the head of Eurovision being booed during the grand final.

Dutch singer Joost Klein was disqualified at the last minute due a backstage incident where a woman’s video camera was knocked to the ground.

Winner Nemo even accidentally broke the Eurovision trophy after placing it on stage, leaving the Swiss entrant with bandages after sustaining deep cuts to the thumb.

Host city Malmo said they would refuse to stage the event again if Sweden won, saying they wouldn’t have the “strength and stamina”.

And to top it all off, the UK languished in 18th place.

Laura Kuenssberg withdrew from an interview with Boris Johnson in October after mistakenly sending her briefing notes to the former prime minister himself, resulting in what she called a few “red faces”.

ITV took over and Johnson later told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Matt Chorley his originally scheduled interview had “blown up on the launch pad”.

Elsewhere, thousands of viewers complained to Ofcom in August when Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was interviewed on Good Morning Britain by her own husband, Ed Balls, about the violent unrest in parts of the UK.

ITV’s chief executive later noted it was a fluid news morning and the team had short notice that Cooper was coming on. She said the interview was impartial and fair but it wouldn’t happen again.

Another daytime presenter, Lorraine Kelly, became the subject of a viral X account which monitored her show attendance throughout the year (hovering just below 60%, if you’re interested).

Over on Strictly Come Dancing, which had already had a fairly appalling year before this series even started, fans were puzzled by some unusual on-screen encounters between singer Wynne Evans and his partner Katya Jones.

Viewers spotted Jones apparently refusing to high-five Evans, and later moving his hand away from her waist.

The show’s welfare team checked in on them after concerns were raised, but the pair apologised for what they said was actually just a “very silly inside joke” between them.

When Oppenheimer was named best film at February’s Baftas, the prize was collected by actor Cillian Murphy, director Christopher Nolan, producer Emma Thomas… and a random man standing silently in the background.

The intruder was actually YouTuber Lizwani, who managed to infiltrate the event and make it all the way to the stage during the night’s biggest moment.

But the fact he was standing quietly and respectfully meant few viewers even noticed anything was wrong. Bafta have since tightened security.

A month later, there was more awkwardness when Oppenheimer was named best picture at the Oscars, in an announcement fumbled by Al Pacino.

Pacino dispensed with the traditional “And the Oscar goes to…”

Instead, he stumbled through proceedings before announcing somewhat abruptly: “My eyes see Oppenheimer.”

There was a delayed reaction from the audience and orchestra, who weren’t entirely sure if Pacino was finished or if they had heard the winner correctly.

But Scarface redeemed himself later in the year by revealing his delightful Shrek phone cover, courtesy of his young daughter. All was forgiven.

When one fan affectionately edited a promotional poster for Wicked to resemble the musical’s original Broadway illustration, actress Cynthia Erivo said it erased her contribution to the film, because her eyes were hidden under her witch’s hat.

A barrage of memes followed as fans lightly poked fun at her reaction, with many social media users jokingly trying to avoid any further erasure by attaching pictures of Erivo to posts which had nothing to do with her.

The original fan clarified that the altered film promo was intended to be “an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster”.

But Erivo handled the backlash like a pro, making light of the situation and telling ET: “For me it was just like a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba. I probably should have called my friends.”

When Rishi Sunak called a general election in May, the then-prime minister made the announcement outdoors despite it bucketing with rain.

Being in the open air also allowed an anti-Tory activist to disrupt the announcement by blasting music from a nearby speaker.

But Sunak gamely stuck it out, later commenting that he was “not a fair-weather politician” and confirming he’d be taking an umbrella on the campaign trail.

Live tours and concerts were disrupted this year for all kinds of reasons.

Jennifer Lopez cancelled her lives shows after reports of poor ticket sales, although she said it was so she could spend time with family and friends.

Tenacious D’s tour fell apart after one member made some ill-advised comments about Donald Trump.

And Madonna’s fans became increasingly frustrated with her lateness.

Elsewhere, Adele repeatedly swore at an audience member in Las Vegas who she thought had shouted “Pride sucks”. It transpired the fan had actually shouted “work sucks” after the singer discussed her working week. Oops.

So fair play to Kate Nash for not only keeping her show on the road, but funding her tour by selling pictures of her bottom online, helpfully bringing publicity to the issues of high tour costs and poor streaming royalties in the process.

A biodiversity hotspot in a remote part of South Africa has become the hub of an illegal trade in protected plant species, with organised crime groups capitalising on overseas demand.

“They’ve not just stolen our land or our plants, they’ve stolen our heritage as well,” a livestock farmer angrily tells the BBC, as she expresses dismay at the social and ecological crisis that the poaching has caused.

Most of the plants in question are a variety known as succulents, named for their ability to hold water and survive in arid climates.

Many of the world’s succulent species are only found in the Succulent Karoo desert, which spans South Africa and Namibia.

Succulent species range in size, shape and colour – some look like small multi-coloured buttons and some look like cacti, sprouting colourful flowers at certain times of the year.

While these varieties can be cultivated in nurseries, global demand is also fuelling the poaching of these plants from the wild which are then smuggled and sold online to buyers in the US, Europe and East Asia.

In Kamieskroon, a small town in the centre of South Africa’s Namaqualand region, the rolling hills have become a haven for poachers.

Some of the species are highly localised, and so can be wiped out by just a small amount of poaching.

“In South Africa, we know already of seven species that has been wiped out completely and there are certainly more species that will go extinct very soon,” says Pieter van Wyk, a nursery curator at the /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

It is hard to obtain figures for how many plants are being poached, but the non-governmental organisation Traffic reports that 1.6 million illegally harvested succulents were seized by South Africa’s law enforcement agencies between 2019 and 2024. This only represents the contraband that was detected, so the true figure is likely to be far higher.

The South African government is well aware of the problem, and unveiled a strategy in 2022 to combat poaching. It includes running community programmes about the need to protect the environment.

According to Mr Van Wyk and other conservationists, plant poaching has been booming since the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

With international traders unable to travel to South Africa during that time, they turned to local people to collect succulents for them and post them out of the country.

Mr Van Wyk says this coincided with an increase in global demand.

“People had more time to try to find something to keep busy with, and plants were one of the only things that in your house, could connect you to the outside world.”

This has been seized upon by organised crime syndicates who hire teams of plant poachers and then market the wild plants on social media and e-commerce platforms.

“The syndicates saw this as an opportunity of making something viral… telling a wide as possible public: ‘We have this super-strange looking thing that comes from the African continent’,'” Mr Van Wyk says.

“Then the public just loses their heads and they say: ‘I want to buy one’, and [the syndicates] arrange for the species to be poached,” he adds.

The uptick in organised crime activity in the region is having knock-on effects on local communities.

“This is a low-income area, people are not rich here, and people will exploit opportunities for income,” explains Malinda Gardiner from Conservation South Africa.

Expressing a similar view, the livestock farmer whom the BBC spoke to says there is always an influx of money in her community when poaching takes place.

“When we see young men going up in the mountain areas, we know they’re poachers,” adds the farmer, who asks not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

“They use screwdrivers to uproot the succulents and they carry backpacks and sacks to keep the stolen plants.”

A few days after that, there is an outbreak of binge drinking and illegal activity.

“When they get the money, there’s more drugs, more alcohol, children are neglected because mummy is drunk, daddy is drunk, there’s no food,” adds Ms Gardiner.

She worries that the tensions will have longer-term effects.

“Small communities here really need each other… but this brings distrust. It brings a split in the communities as well,” she says.

Mr Van Wyk’s assessment is starker: “People are being abused and enslaved by syndicates and buyers.”

Attempts are being made to raise awareness among buyers about the importance of understanding where a plant might have come from.

China has become a major source of demand for wild succulents in the last few years, but an internet campaign there to educate people about the illegal succulent trade has seen some results.

The Clean Internet for Conophytum campaign was launched in March 2023 by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.

According to the foundation’s deputy secretary-general Linda Wong, they have seen an 80% reduction in online adverts for conophytum – a type of succulent – with an unknown source, and buyers are starting to ask questions about where plants being sold online have come from.

“The key is awareness. Once people know, they want to take action. They want to take responsibility to consume those plants and enjoy their beauty in a very responsible way,” she tells the BBC.

Conservationists advise customers all over the world to ask about the origin of a plant, and under no circumstances should they buy those advertised as wild.

Traffic and the UK’s Kew Gardens recently announced that they were teaming up with eBay to develop new ways of preventing the sale of wild succulents on its platform.

In South Africa, Mr Van Wyk says more should be done to promote the cultivation of succulents that can be grown and harvested legally, to reduce the demand for poaching.

“We as a country need to say that: ‘We have this resource, and there are other countries that are majorly benefiting from this, why aren’t we?'” he tells the BBC.

Mr Van Wyk now runs a nursery at the /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park which looks after plants that have been confiscated by law enforcement, and he says they have received more than 200,000 so far.

“It’s obviously stressful seeing things disappearing. But if you study these plants, it brings so much joy and pleasure and you just forget about all the nonsense that’s happening in the world,” Mr Van Wyk says.

• Rare plants hidden in toys – and other trafficking tactics
• Inside South Africa’s ‘ruthless’ gang-controlled gold mines
• Young workers drive South Africa’s video games industry
• Why South Africans are flocking to a Chinese hospital ship

A court in Turkey has sentenced the owner and architect of a hotel which collapsed in an earthquake in 2023, killing 72 people, to jail.

The owner of the Isias Grand, Ahmet Bozkurt, and architect Erdem Yilmaz, were each given 18 years and five months, the official Anadolu news agency reported. Bozkurt’s son, Mehmet Fatih, was sentenced to 17 years and four months, it said.

The hotel, in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman, was hosting a school volleyball team from Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus and a group of tourist guides when the quake hit last February.

The three men were convicted of “causing the death or injury of more than one person through conscious negligence”, Anadolou said.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Unal Ustel said the sentences were too lenient and that authorities would appeal, AFP new agency reported.

“Hotel owners did not get the punishment we had expected,” Ustel said. “But despite that, everyone from those responsible in the hotel’s construction to the architect was sentenced. That made us partially happy.”

More than 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria in the quake on 6 February 2023.

Some 160,000 buildings collapsed or were badly damaged, leaving 1.5 million people homeless.

The Turkish government said a few weeks later that hundreds of people were under investigation and nearly 200 people had been arrested, including construction contractors and property owners.

A group of 39 people, including boys and girls, teachers and parents from Famagusta Turkish Education College, had travelled to Adiyaman for a volleyball tournament when the earthquake struck.

Four parents were the only survivors among them. They managed to dig themselves out of the rubble, while 35 others including all the children were killed.

The volleyball group had picked the seven-storey Isias Grand, along with as many as 40 tourist guides who were there for training.

It was one of Adiyaman’s best-known hotels but it collapsed in moments.

The Isias had been operating since 2001 but, according to scientific analysis, gravel and sand from the local river had been mixed with other construction materials to form the columns supporting the building.

The sheer scale of building collapses in the earthquake prompted widespread criticism of the Turkish government for encouraging a construction boom while failing to enforce building regulations, which had been tightened after earlier disasters.

Pope Francis has called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In his traditional Christmas Day address, the Pope said “boldness [was] needed to open the door” to dialogue “in order to achieve a just and lasting peace” between the two sides.

His appeal followed a major Russian attack the same day on Ukraine’s energy facilities, which Ukraine said involved at least 184 missiles and drones.

Earlier this year, Ukraine strongly rejected a call by the pontiff for Kyiv to negotiate an end to the war and have “the courage to raise the white flag”.

His Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) message also touched on other conflicts.

Speaking to thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square, the 88-year-old Pope declared: “May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine,” and beyond.

“I invite every individual, and all people of all nations… to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,” he said.

Reiterating the Christmas Day message he delivered last year, Pope Francis also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the freeing of hostages held by Hamas.

“I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” he said.

He asked that “the doors of dialogue and peace be flung open”.

The war in Gaza began after the territory’s Hamas rulers attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. Gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took another 251 back to Gaza as hostages. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

Earlier this week, the Pope twice described Israel’s attacks as “cruelty”, earning a sharp rebuke from Israel which called the remarks “particularly disappointing”.

Pope Francis also said his thoughts were with the Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria, where rebels recently overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after 24 years in power. Syria’s Christian population has dwindled since the start of the war in 2011, and reports suggest it now stands at a fraction of its pre-war total of approximately 1.5 million.

Syria’s minorities have expressed fear about their future in the country since Islamist rebels took over – though the leading rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has said all faiths will be protected.

At least three people died when armed men in Haiti opened fire at journalists, police and medical staff during a briefing to announce the reopening of the country’s biggest public hospital.

Two journalists and a police officer were reportedly shot dead, while others were wounded in Tuesday’s attack in the general hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The site had been recaptured by Haiti’s government in July, after being occupied and destroyed by gangs.

The Viv Ansanm gang alliance, which controls much of the city, has owned up to the attack.

Pictures posted online appear to show several people injured or dead inside the building.

Journalists were waiting for the arrival of Health Minister Lorthe Blema when the shooting began.

Journalists Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean were killed during the attack, Robest Dimanche, spokesman for the Online Media Collective, told AFP news agency.

Other journalists were wounded, he added.

An officer was also killed, police spokesman Lionel Lazarre told AFP.

“It felt like a terrible movie,” Dieugo André, a photojournalist who witnessed the violence, was quoted as saying by The Haitian Times.

“I have the blood of several injured journalists on my clothes.”

In an online video claiming the attack, the Viv Ansanm gang alliance said it had not authorised the reopening of the hospital, which they occupied and destroyed in March.

The head of Haiti’s presidential transitional council, Leslie Voltaire, said: “We express our sympathy to all the victims’ families, in particularly to the Haiti National Police and all the journalists’ associations.

“We guarantee them that this act will not remain without consequences.”

People in Haiti continue to suffer with unbearable levels of gang violence, despite the installation of a new transition government in April and the deployment of an international force led by Kenyan police officers six months ago.

Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since the assassination in 2021 of the then-president, Jovenel Moïse.

An estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince is still under gang control.

The UN says that as many as 5,000 people have been killed in violence in Haiti this year alone, and the country is now on the verge of collapse.

A suspect accused of killing a woman by setting her on fire on a subway train has been charged with murder in a New York court.

Sebastian Zapeta allegedly set the unidentified woman’s clothes on fire, and then fanned the flames by waving a shirt around her, which caused the flames to fully engulf her, according to the criminal complaint.

The 33-year-old faces charges of first and second degree murder, as well as arson for the attack on Monday. He will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Friday.

Wearing a white jumpsuit over a black hooded sweatshirt, Mr Zapeta did not speak when he was formally charged in court on Tuesday.

The suspect’s attorney did not speak to reporters after the arraignment.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described Sunday’s incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being”.

She said the woman was on a stationary F train in Brooklyn when she was approached by a man who used a lighter to ignite her clothing – which became “fully engulfed in a matter of seconds”.

Although officers extinguished the flames, the victim died at the scene.

Officials say they have police body camera footage and surveillance footage from inside the subway as well as witness statements.

Officers said the woman, who they have not named, was in a subway carriage at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station at about 07:30 local time (12:30 GMT) when the man approached her.

The victim was “motionless” when she was set on fire, but detectives were still establishing whether or not she was asleep. “We’re not 100% sure,” said the NYPD’s Joseph Gulotta.

There was no interaction between the pair before the attack, Mr Gulotta said, adding that police did not believe they knew each other.

Describing how police were alerted to the incident, Ms Tisch said: “Officers were on patrol on an upper level of that station, smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate”.

“What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames.”

An immigration official said that Mr Zapeta entered the US illegally in 2018 and was detained and deported. The official said he subsequently unlawfully re-entered the US.

The man got off the train as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the fire, but he did not flee immediately.

“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car,” Ms Tisch said.

She explained that police were therefore able to obtain “very clear, detailed” pictures of him from the responding officers’ body worn cameras. The images were circulated by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

Later, three high school-aged New Yorkers called 911 to report they had recognised the suspect on another subway train, Ms Tisch told reporters.

The man was located after officers boarded the train and walked through the carriages.

He was arrested at Herald Square station – which is located near the Empire State Building in Manhattan. He was found with a lighter in his pocket, Ms Tisch said.

“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Ms Tisch added. “They saw something, they said something and they did something.”

A Nasa spacecraft is attempting to make history with the closest-ever approach to the Sun.

The Parker Solar Probe is plunging into our star’s outer atmosphere, enduring brutal temperatures and extreme radiation.

It is out of communication for several days during this burning hot fly-by and scientists will be waiting for a signal, expected at 05:00 GMT on 28 December, to see if it has survived.

The hope is the probe could help us to better understand how the Sun works.

Dr Nicola Fox, head of science at Nasa, told BBC News: “For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don’t experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually go visit it.

“And so we can’t really experience the atmosphere of our star unless we fly through it.”

Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018, heading to the centre of our solar system.

It has already swept past the Sun 21 times, getting ever nearer, but the Christmas Eve visit is record-breaking.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million km) from our star’s surface.

This might not sound that close, but Nasa’s Nicola Fox puts it into perspective: “We are 93 million miles away from the Sun, so if I put the Sun and the Earth one metre apart, Parker Solar Probe is four centimetres from the Sun – so that’s close.”

The probe will have to endure temperatures of 1,400C and radiation that could frazzle the onboard electronics.

It is protected by a 11.5cm (4.5 inches) thick carbon-composite shield but the spacecraft’s tactic is to get in and out fast.

In fact, it will be moving faster than any human-made object, hurtling at 430,000mph – the equivalent of flying from London to New York in less than 30 seconds.

Parker’s speed comes from the immense gravitational pull it feels as it falls towards the Sun.

So why go to all this effort to “touch” the Sun?

Scientists hope that as the spacecraft passes through our star’s outer atmosphere – its corona – it will solve a long standing mystery.

“The corona is really, really hot, and we have no idea why,” explains Dr Jenifer Millard, an astronomer at Fifth Star Labs in Wales.

“The surface of the Sun is about 6,000C or so, but the corona, this tenuous outer atmosphere that you can see during solar eclipses, reaches millions of degrees – and that is further away from the Sun. So how is that atmosphere getting hotter?”

The mission should also help scientists to better understand solar wind – the constant stream of charged particles bursting out from the corona.

When these particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field the sky lights up with dazzling auroras.

But this so-called space weather can cause problems too, knocking out power grids, electronics and communication systems.

“Understanding the Sun, its activity, space weather, the solar wind, is so important to our everyday lives on Earth,” says Dr Millard.

Nasa scientists face an anxious wait over Christmas while the spacecraft is out of touch with Earth.

Nicola Fox says that as soon as a signal is beamed back home, the team will text her a green heart to let her know the probe is OK.

She admits she is nervous about the audacious attempt, but she has faith in the probe.

“I will worry about the spacecraft. But we really have designed it to withstand all of these brutal, brutal conditions. It’s a tough, tough little spacecraft.”

If it survives this challenge, the probe will continue its mission around the Sun into the future.

Liam Payne’s girlfriend has shared a message about experiencing sadness and grief during the Christmas holidays following the singer’s death earlier this year.

Payne died in October after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.

Kate Cassidy – who had been in a relationship with the One Direction star since 2022 – said: “As the holidays are here, I realise it is a time for happiness and joy, but it is also a time of sadness and grief for so many.”

In an Instagram stories post, she said she was sending love to those “carrying grief this holiday” and called on people to be gentle with those experiencing grief over Christmas.

“The holidays can feel different for everyone,” she says, and wishes everyone “a love-filled and healthy holiday season this year.”.

In October, Cassidy revealed on social media that Payne wrote a note to her shortly before his death predicting they would get married within a year.

In her tribute to him after he died, she called Payne “my best friend, the love of my life” and said that she had “lost the best part of myself”.

Payne’s sudden death led to an outpouring of grief from his family, friends and fans around the world.

The Wolverhampton-born singer shot to fame when he auditioned for the X Factor in 2010 at the age of 16 and became part of One Direction.

While the boy band went on to achieve phenomenal success across the globe, Payne himself acknowledged that it came at a cost and admitted that he used alcohol to cope with the band’s increasing fame.

His death prompted a debate about the duty of care in the music industry, particularly for young people.

In November, Argentinian authorities confirmed that three people were charged in connection with the singer’s death.

Toxicology tests revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his body.

A post-mortem examination determined his cause of death as “multiple trauma” and “internal and external haemorrhage”, as a result of the fall from the hotel balcony.

According to the prosecutor’s office, medical reports also suggested Payne may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.

Payne’s funeral was held in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last month and was attended by friends, family, and his One Direction bandmates.

A court in Turkey has sentenced the owner and architect of a hotel which collapsed in an earthquake in 2023, killing 72 people, to jail.

The owner of the Isias Grand, Ahmet Bozkurt, and architect Erdem Yilmaz, were each given 18 years and five months, the official Anadolu news agency reported. Bozkurt’s son, Mehmet Fatih, was sentenced to 17 years and four months, it said.

The hotel, in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman, was hosting a school volleyball team from Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus and a group of tourist guides when the quake hit last February.

The three men were convicted of “causing the death or injury of more than one person through conscious negligence”, Anadolou said.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Unal Ustel said the sentences were too lenient and that authorities would appeal, AFP new agency reported.

“Hotel owners did not get the punishment we had expected,” Ustel said. “But despite that, everyone from those responsible in the hotel’s construction to the architect was sentenced. That made us partially happy.”

More than 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria in the quake on 6 February 2023.

Some 160,000 buildings collapsed or were badly damaged, leaving 1.5 million people homeless.

The Turkish government said a few weeks later that hundreds of people were under investigation and nearly 200 people had been arrested, including construction contractors and property owners.

A group of 39 people, including boys and girls, teachers and parents from Famagusta Turkish Education College, had travelled to Adiyaman for a volleyball tournament when the earthquake struck.

Four parents were the only survivors among them. They managed to dig themselves out of the rubble, while 35 others including all the children were killed.

The volleyball group had picked the seven-storey Isias Grand, along with as many as 40 tourist guides who were there for training.

It was one of Adiyaman’s best-known hotels but it collapsed in moments.

The Isias had been operating since 2001 but, according to scientific analysis, gravel and sand from the local river had been mixed with other construction materials to form the columns supporting the building.

The sheer scale of building collapses in the earthquake prompted widespread criticism of the Turkish government for encouraging a construction boom while failing to enforce building regulations, which had been tightened after earlier disasters.

On a cold day in November, hundreds of people flocked to an arena in Coventry, which has previously hosted gigs by Oasis, Rihanna, and Harry Styles, for an event of a very different kind.

The 500 people who turned out – some from as far afield as Mongolia and Canada – were taking part in an activity less known for drawing in crowds: the Rubik’s UK Championship in “speedcubing,” or racing to solve puzzle cubes at terrific speed.

Rows of tables were laid out in the arena and 15 events took place over three days. Some involved solving the puzzle one-handed, others while blindfolded. Teenager James Alonso won the tournament’s biggest event – solving the classic 3×3 cube at speed with an average of 6.3 seconds.

Speedcubing has been popular since the 1980s and the world record for a single solve in that event is currently held by Max Park from the US, with a time of just 3.13 seconds. It is a far cry from the initial speed of Ernő Rubik, an architecture professor, who invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974 and took around a month to solve it.

Flash forward to today and an estimated 412,000 people have taken part in speedcubing competitions worldwide. The popularity has increased too, with reported global sales of Rubik’s Cube products recorded as $86.6m (£67m) in 2023, up 13.5% on 2022. (The brand was acquired by a Canadian multinational toy company Spin Master in 2021.)

That’s not counting the sales of other types of puzzle cubes by different brands. Some are wooden, others electronic with built-in bluetooth, then there are those with all manner of colourful designs.

But now, scientists have lauded speedcubing, in particular, as not only a popular hobby but one that could have wellbeing benefits too.

“Speedcubing offers a unique combination of cognitive challenge, [alongside] social connection, and personal achievement that contributes to happiness”, says Polina Beloborodova, research associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Centre for Healthy Minds.

And this is said to run far deeper than a simple momentary rush.

“Speedcubing satisfies the basic psychological need for competence, the feeling of effectiveness and mastery,” explains Dr Beloborodova. It involves a number of factors including, problem-solving, memory, spatial reasoning and motor coordination.

But solving the cube may also elicit happiness because it taps into other emotions, according to Dr Julia Christensen, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany. “Awe, beauty, being moved, all these are aesthetic emotions, and experiencing them gives us an extreme sense of happiness,” she says.

“For example, when a pattern is the right pattern, when a move is particularly amazing on the cube, these aesthetic emotions can give transformative experiences.”

Some speedcubers have described the state of mind that the activity can bring as a sense of “flow”.

“This state is achieved when the activity’s difficulty matches your skill level, distractions are minimal, the goals are clear, and feedback is immediate — all of which are characteristics of speedcubing,” says Dr Beloborodova.

Flow can feel “almost meditative”, according to Ian Scheffler, author of Cracking the Cube, who has experienced this first-hand. “You enter this state where you are kind of thinking and not thinking at the same time – you are reacting to what the cube is giving you, but in almost an instinctual way.

“It’s a kind of mindfulness that’s deeply rewarding… a peaceful, calm state where you’re completely in tune with every twist of the puzzle.”

There is good reason to seek a flow state regularly, according to Dr Christensen. “Science shows that people who regularly experience flow have a better mental health, possibly better physical health, and are more in tune.

“When we repeat movements they become logged or encoded from explicit, effort-full memory systems, and pass into implicit, less effort-full, and procedural memory systems,” she continues.

Nicholas Archer, a 17-year-old speedcuber from West Yorkshire, who won the one-handed competition in this year’s UK Championship with an average time of 8.69 seconds, says that he has experienced this. “When I’m solving the cube, I’m certainly not having to think too much about what I’m doing. It’s all automatic.”

“Speedcubing or solving a cube on your own may increase your happiness,” says Dr Adil Khan, a reader in neuroscience at King’s College London (KCL) – but when combined with the social aspect, any benefits may be greater.

“Since speedcubing is a social phenomenon, perhaps the social aspect combines with the puzzle solving to deliver a deeply satisfying experience.”

Jan Hammer started speedcubing at the age of 44, after being introduced to it by his 13-year-old daughter. He has since solved the cube around 10,000 times but does not think he would have maintained this level of enthusiasm had he been speedcubing alone.

“The fact that I can do this with my daughter and that we cheer for each other is wonderful. Additionally, being part of the cube community has become a huge motivation.”

Competitions tend to have more children and teenagers – it is not uncommon for competitors to be as young as six. The activity is also significantly more popular with males. The World Cube Association reports that 221,117 men have competed at their events, compared with 24,311 women.

Regardless of demographic, “for those who view speedcubing as a significant part of their life – such as participants in tournaments – it can offer eudemonic happiness, fostering a sense of purpose and meaning through dedication, accomplishment, and community of like-minded people,” argues Dr Beloborodova.

Psychologists differentiate between two aspects of happiness: “hedonic wellbeing,” related to emotional experiences, and “eudemonic wellbeing,” which concerns meaning and purpose in life.

“Both are essential for overall happiness and speedcubing can contribute to both types of wellbeing,” she says. All of this “contributes to better mental health”.

The effects of speedcubing on the brain and cognitive function are, however, less clear.

While solving a cube, the brain is trying out different moves, asking “what might happen if I move the cube in this way?” explains Dr Toby Wise, senior research fellow in neuroimaging at King’s College London.

“Your brain stores a memory trace for different configurations of the cube, and it can run through different configurations to predict which will have the best outcome.”

However it doesn’t necessarily create long-term benefits, like improvements to memory function. This is because, as Dr Khan explains, the brain is not like a muscle that needs to be flexed to make it grow.

For many years it has been suggested by some that solving puzzles, whether Sudoku or crosswords, can have a hand in slowing cognitive decline or dementia. However this is not necessarily the case.

A study undertaken by Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the University of Aberdeen, and published in the BMJ in 2018, found that people who regularly do intellectual activities throughout life have higher mental abilities, providing a “higher cognitive point” from which to decline, but that they do not decline any slower.

“Solving puzzles does not improve your brain power in much other than the puzzle itself,” argues Dr Khan. “And almost certainly does not prevent age-related decline in brain power.”

One further benefit of speedcubing, according to regular players, is its sense of escapism from frenzied modern life.

“Having a clear goal, something that you can actually realise, is something that we don’t necessarily have in everyday life, and that appeases our brain,” says Dr Christensen.

This perhaps explains why the cube is so popular in an age with myriad computer games and technological activities to choose from. As Mr Hammer puts it: “When I pick up the cube, I become more alert and focused.”

He uses it in the workplace too. “It can help me enter the next meeting with a more structured perspective,” he says.

Mr Scheffler agrees: “The process of taking the cube from this chaotic, disordered state, which is always different because there’s so many permutations of the puzzle, to the same ordered state is fundamentally something that humans want to be doing.

“There’s a fundamental human need to make order out of disorder, because the universe is a very chaotic place, and most things are not ordered.”

Dozens of people have survived a crash involving a plane carrying 67 people in Kazakhstan, local officials say.

Kazakh authorities said 38 people were killed in the crash.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it attempted to make an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau.

The plane was en route to Grozny in Russia but it was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC.

Footage shows the aircraft heading towards the ground at high speed with its landing gear down, before bursting into flames as it lands.

The airline said the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.

It took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed around 06:28, data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed.

Unconfirmed reports from Russian media said the aircraft might have collided with a flock of birds before crashing.

Azerbaijan Airlines said flights between Baku and the Russian cities of Grozny and Makhachkala would be cancelled while an investigation into the incident was completed.

Officials said the plane’s black box flight recorder had been recovered.

Those on board were mostly Azerbaijani nationals, but there were also some passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

A woman who was travelling to spend the holidays with her children in Chechnya, of which Grozny is the capital, died in the crash. One mother, travelling with medical tests for her sick child, is still missing.

A young woman shared her heartache with the BBC’s Azerbaijani service as she desperately tried to find out what happened to her father, who was on the flight.

She explained that her father had been travelling with his son, who survived the crash. The son managed to contact his sister, but there was still no news of their father.

Unverified video footage showed survivors crawling out of the wreckage, some with visible injuries.

Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident. Embraer told the BBC it was “ready to assist all relevant authorities”.

The BBC has contacted Azerbaijan Airlines for comment.

Embraer, a Brazilian manufacturer, is a smaller rival to Boeing and Airbus, and has a strong safety record.

You can get in touch with BBC News via this link.

Boxing Day, 2004.

When the earthquake struck at 06:30 (01:00 GMT), I was on a ferry, headed towards Havelock – an island in the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.

Known for its silver sand and clear blue waters, the Radhanagar beach there had recently been crowned “Asia’s Best Beach” by Time magazine.

My best friend from college and her family had lived in Port Blair, the capital of the archipelago, for a decade and a half, but this was my first visit to the islands, where I had arrived on Christmas Eve.

We had planned to spend three days in Havelock and in the morning we packed snacks and sandwiches, gathered excited children and headed out to catch the ferry from Phoenix Bay jetty in Port Blair.

Not wanting to miss out on anything, I was standing on the front deck, looking around, when disaster struck.

Just as we pulled out from the harbour, the boat lurched and suddenly the jetty next to where we had boarded crumpled and fell into the sea. It was followed by the watchtower and an electricity pole.

It was an extraordinary sight. Dozens of people standing alongside me watched open-mouthed.

Thankfully, the jetty was deserted at the time so there were no casualties. A boat was due to leave from there in half an hour but the travellers were yet to arrive.

A member of the boat’s crew told me it was an earthquake. At the time I didn’t know, but the 9.1 magnitude quake was the third most powerful ever recorded in the world – and remains the biggest and most destructive in Asia.

Occurring off the coast of northwest Sumatra under the Indian Ocean, it unleashed a devastating tsunami that killed an estimated 228,000 people across more than a dozen countries and caused massive damage in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands, located just about 100km north of the epicentre, suffered extensive damage when a wall of water, as high as 15 metres (49 ft) in places, hit land just about 15 minutes later.

The official death toll was put at 1,310 – but with more than 5,600 people missing and presumed dead, it’s believed that more than 7,000 islanders perished.

While on the boat, however, we were oblivious to the scale of destruction around us. Our mobile phones didn’t work on the water and we only got snippets of information from the crew. We heard about damage in Sri Lanka, Bali, Thailand and Maldives – and the southern Indian coastal town of Nagapattinam.

But there was no information about Andaman and Nicobar – a collection of hundreds of islands scattered around in the Bay of Bengal, located about 1,500km (915 miles) east of India’s mainland.

Only 38 of them were inhabited. They were home to 400,000 people, including six hunter-gatherer groups who had lived isolated from the outside world for thousands of years.

The only way to get to the islands was by ferries but, as we later learnt, an estimated 94% of the jetties in the region were damaged.

That was also the reason why, on 26 December 2004, we never made it to Havelock. The jetty there was damaged and under water, we were told.

So the boat turned around and started on its return journey. For a while, there was speculation that we might not get clearance to dock at Port Blair for safety reasons and might have to spend the night at anchor.

This made the passengers – most of them tourists looking forward to sun and sand – anxious.

After several hours of bobbing along in rough seas, we returned to Port Blair. Because Phoenix Bay had been closed following the morning’s damage, we were taken to Chatham, another harbour in Port Blair. The jetty where we were dropped had huge, gaping holes in places.

The signs of devastation were all around us as we headed home – buildings had turned into rubble, small upturned boats sat in the middle of the streets and roads had great gashes in them. Thousands of people had been turned homeless when the tidal wave flooded their homes in low-lying areas.

I met a traumatised nine-year-old girl whose house was filled with water and she told me she had nearly drowned. A woman told me she had lost her entire life’s possessions in the blink of an eye.

Over the next three weeks, I reported extensively on the disaster and its effects on the population.

It was the first time a tsunami had wreaked such havoc in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the scale of the tragedy was overwhelming.

Salt water contaminated many sources of fresh water and destroyed large tracts of arable land. Getting vital supplies into the islands was tough with jetties unserviceable.

The authorities mounted a huge relief and rescue effort. The army, navy and air force were deployed, but it took days before they could get to all the islands.

Every day, navy and coast guard ships brought boatloads of people made homeless by the tsunami from other islands to Port Blair where schools and government buildings were turned into temporary shelters.

They brought stories of devastation in their homelands. Many told me they had escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

One woman from Car Nicobar told me that when the earthquake struck, the ground started to spew foamy water at the same time as the waves came in from the sea.

She and hundreds of others from her village had waited for rescuers without food or water for 48 hours. She said it was a “miracle” that she and her 20-day-old baby had survived.

Port Blair was almost daily jolted by aftershocks, some of them strong enough to start rumours of fresh tsunamis, making scared people run to get to higher ground.

A few days later, the Indian military flew journalists to Car Nicobar, a flat fertile island known for its enchanting beaches and also home to a large Indian air force colony.

The killer tsunami had completely flattened the base. The water rose by 12 metres here and as most people slept, the ground was pulled away from under their feet. A hundred people died here. More than half were air force officers and their families.

We visited Malacca and Kaakan villages on the island which also bore the brunt of nature’s fury, forcing residents to take shelter in tents along the road. Among them were families torn apart by the tidal wave.

A grief-stricken young couple told me they had managed to save their five-month-old baby, but their other children, aged seven and 12, were washed away.

Surrounded by coconut palms on all sides, every house had turned into rubble. Among the personal belongings strewn about were clothes, textbooks, a child’s shoe and a music keyboard.

The only thing that stood – surprisingly intact – was a bust of the father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at a traffic roundabout.

A senior army officer told us his team had recovered seven bodies that day and we watched their mass cremation from a distance.

At the air force base, we watched as rescuers pulled a woman’s body from the debris.

An official said that for every body found in Car Nicobar, several had been swept away by the waves without leaving a trace.

After all these years, I still sometimes think about the day I hopped on the ferry to go to Havelock.

I wonder what would have happened if the tremors had come a few minutes earlier.

And what would have happened if the wall of water had hit the shore while I waited on the jetty to board our ferry?

On Boxing Day, 2004, I had a close call. Thousands who perished were not so lucky.

Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say 14 interior ministry personnel have been killed and 10 injured in an “ambush” by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in the west of the country.

They say the fighting took place near the Mediterranean port of Tartous on Tuesday.

Reports say the security forces were ambushed as they tried to arrest a former officer in connection to his role at the notorious Saydnaya prison, close to the capital Damascus.

Just over two weeks ago, Assad’s presidency fell to rebel forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said three militants were also killed in the clashes.

The SOHR added that the security forces later brought in reinforcements.

In a separate development, the Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the central city of Homs, state media reported.

Reports say this followed unrest after a video purportedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine.

Syria’s interior ministry said it was an old video, dating back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November, and the violence was carried out by unknown groups.

The SOHR said one demonstrator was killed and five wounded in Homs.

Demonstrations were also reported in areas including the cities of Tartous and Latakia, and Assad’s hometown of Qardaha.

Alawites are the minority sect from which the Assad family originates, and to which many of the former regime’s political and military elite belonged.

The HTS-led lightning offensive that started from Syria’s north-east and spread all over the country ended the Assad family’s more than 50-year-rule.

Assad and his family were forced to flee to Russia.

HTS has since promised to protect the rights and freedoms of many religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.

HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU, the UK and others.

On Tuesday, protests broke out in the country over the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting fresh calls for the new authorities to protect minorities.

Money, success, power, beauty – it often seems as if celebrities have everything they could possibly want.

So it’s just as well they also get tangled up in their fair share of mishaps, blunders and own goals every year.

Here’s a light-hearted look at some of 2024’s biggest flops and fails.

It was supposed to be a triumphant return, but critics and fans complained Katy Perry’s latest album 143 sounded dated and showed little artistic growth.

The music video for Woman’s World, which saw Perry join a group of dancers wearing tiny outfits on a construction site, was criticised for being regressive, although Perry later said it was supposed to be satirical.

Matters were only made worse when the singer attracted the attention of the Spanish government for shooting the video for follow-up single Lifetimes in ecologically-sensitive sand dunes in the Balearic Islands.

But many fans defended the album, which wasn’t as bad as some reviews made out, and Perry’s accompanying tour has been a huge success.

Making a sequel to 2019’s Joker, which grossed more than $1bn (£790m), was something Hollywood found simply irresistible.

Unfortunately, the resulting film, Joker: Folie à Deux, was something audiences found entirely resistible.

Making the film a musical was a bold swing, but the tonal handbrake turn alienated the fans and critics who adored the Oscar-winning original.

Folie à Deux managed to scrape over the $200m (£158m) mark, but that was barely enough to cover its production budget, let alone marketing costs.

It wasn’t the only movie flop of the year – audiences were also unenthusiastic about Madame Web, The Fall Guy, Kraven the Hunter, Megalopolis, Borderlands, Argylle, Unstoppable and Furiosa: A Mad Max Story.

Ticketmaster attracted a storm of controversy after making use of so-called “dynamic pricing” for UK dates on the Oasis reunion tour, which raised the cost of a ticket by £200 due to the predictable demand.

Charging fans £350 per ticket was a dubious PR move for a band famous for their working class roots, and the Gallagher brothers wisely distanced themselves from the strategy.

But Ticketmaster argued prices are set by artists and promoters. Dynamic pricing was later ditched for the band’s US tour dates.

Meanwhile, 50,000 fans who’d paid inflated prices on secondary platforms in order to secure tickets faced having them cancelled. A total omnishambles for everyone involved.

When BBC weather presenter Kawser Quamer was asked in February about her plans for the weekend, she cheerfully explained she was attending her niece’s surprise birthday party.

Host Annabel Tiffin said that all sounded very lovely, but presumably the party was no longer a surprise, having just been announced on live TV. “Oh goodness me,” replied an alarmed Quamer, “I’ve spoiled the surprise!”

The glorious mishap made its way across the Atlantic, going viral and featuring on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

But Quamer handled it beautifully, and even managed to convince her niece she was talking about a different relative, keeping the surprise element intact.

Chaos is a term which could be applied to a lot of entries in this list, but one of the biggest casualties of the year was Kaos itself.

Just a month after the first series of Jeff Goldblum’s Greek mythology drama was released, Netflix announced it would not return for a second.

Streamers can tell quickly if something is a hit or not by measuring viewing figures and completion rates. Their data even gives them the prospective ratings of the following months based on the first.

But although fans campaigned for its return, ultimately Kaos was Kancelled.

Manchester’s hottest new live venue finally opened this year, but only after several attempts. There was a string of cancellations due to various technical problems, including a ventilation unit falling from the ceiling.

Shows by Peter Kay, Olivia Rodrigo, Take That and others were cancelled or moved, before the venue finally opened with a successful concert from rock band Elbow.

The problems did at least bring one delightful moment: A Radio 4 newsreader announcing the delay of a gig by US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.

Flops don’t come much bigger than a debate performance which was so poor, it brought down an entire presidential campaign.

Joe Biden seemed distant and frail when he took part in a televised live debate in June, struggling to finish some of his sentences and keep pace with Donald Trump.

Biden tried to stay in the race, but the pressure on him became too high as figures including Democrat fundraiser George Clooney publicly called for him to stand down, leading to Kamala Harris replacing him as the candidate.

A barnstorming performance from Celine Dion sadly wasn’t enough to rescue this soggy croissant of an opening ceremony, which was badly hampered by rain.

Organisers took the event outside of the traditional stadium setting and had performers spread out across Paris instead, which was both a security nightmare and challenging for spectators.

The spread meant things felt somewhat disjointed and it was hard for the ceremony to build any momentum.

Meanwhile, some viewers were upset by a scene involving drag queens which many interpreted as a reference to the Last Supper, but artistic director Thomas Jolly said was a reference to pagan gods.

Hot on the heels of the disastrous Willy Wonka experience was an unofficial Bridgerton ball, where fans of the Netflix series were invited to dress up and “step into the enchanting world of the Regency era”.

Unfortunately, they were greeted with disappointing food and drab decor, with one violinist and a pole dancer for entertainment. Creators blamed “organisational challenges” and said they “sincerely apologised”.

We anticipate the event being eviscerated in Lady Whistledown’s next newsletter.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was, frankly, a disaster from start to finish.

A row about Israel’s participation prompted security concerns, put all the entrants in an awkward position and even led to the head of Eurovision being booed during the grand final.

Dutch singer Joost Klein was disqualified at the last minute due a backstage incident where a woman’s video camera was knocked to the ground.

Winner Nemo even accidentally broke the Eurovision trophy after placing it on stage, leaving the Swiss entrant with bandages after sustaining deep cuts to the thumb.

Host city Malmo said they would refuse to stage the event again if Sweden won, saying they wouldn’t have the “strength and stamina”.

And to top it all off, the UK languished in 18th place.

Laura Kuenssberg withdrew from an interview with Boris Johnson in October after mistakenly sending her briefing notes to the former prime minister himself, resulting in what she called a few “red faces”.

ITV took over and Johnson later told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Matt Chorley his originally scheduled interview had “blown up on the launch pad”.

Elsewhere, thousands of viewers complained to Ofcom in August when Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was interviewed on Good Morning Britain by her own husband, Ed Balls, about the violent unrest in parts of the UK.

ITV’s chief executive later noted it was a fluid news morning and the team had short notice that Cooper was coming on. She said the interview was impartial and fair but it wouldn’t happen again.

Another daytime presenter, Lorraine Kelly, became the subject of a viral X account which monitored her show attendance throughout the year (hovering just below 60%, if you’re interested).

Over on Strictly Come Dancing, which had already had a fairly appalling year before this series even started, fans were puzzled by some unusual on-screen encounters between singer Wynne Evans and his partner Katya Jones.

Viewers spotted Jones apparently refusing to high-five Evans, and later moving his hand away from her waist.

The show’s welfare team checked in on them after concerns were raised, but the pair apologised for what they said was actually just a “very silly inside joke” between them.

When Oppenheimer was named best film at February’s Baftas, the prize was collected by actor Cillian Murphy, director Christopher Nolan, producer Emma Thomas… and a random man standing silently in the background.

The intruder was actually YouTuber Lizwani, who managed to infiltrate the event and make it all the way to the stage during the night’s biggest moment.

But the fact he was standing quietly and respectfully meant few viewers even noticed anything was wrong. Bafta have since tightened security.

A month later, there was more awkwardness when Oppenheimer was named best picture at the Oscars, in an announcement fumbled by Al Pacino.

Pacino dispensed with the traditional “And the Oscar goes to…”

Instead, he stumbled through proceedings before announcing somewhat abruptly: “My eyes see Oppenheimer.”

There was a delayed reaction from the audience and orchestra, who weren’t entirely sure if Pacino was finished or if they had heard the winner correctly.

But Scarface redeemed himself later in the year by revealing his delightful Shrek phone cover, courtesy of his young daughter. All was forgiven.

When one fan affectionately edited a promotional poster for Wicked to resemble the musical’s original Broadway illustration, actress Cynthia Erivo said it erased her contribution to the film, because her eyes were hidden under her witch’s hat.

A barrage of memes followed as fans lightly poked fun at her reaction, with many social media users jokingly trying to avoid any further erasure by attaching pictures of Erivo to posts which had nothing to do with her.

The original fan clarified that the altered film promo was intended to be “an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster”.

But Erivo handled the backlash like a pro, making light of the situation and telling ET: “For me it was just like a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba. I probably should have called my friends.”

When Rishi Sunak called a general election in May, the then-prime minister made the announcement outdoors despite it bucketing with rain.

Being in the open air also allowed an anti-Tory activist to disrupt the announcement by blasting music from a nearby speaker.

But Sunak gamely stuck it out, later commenting that he was “not a fair-weather politician” and confirming he’d be taking an umbrella on the campaign trail.

Live tours and concerts were disrupted this year for all kinds of reasons.

Jennifer Lopez cancelled her lives shows after reports of poor ticket sales, although she said it was so she could spend time with family and friends.

Tenacious D’s tour fell apart after one member made some ill-advised comments about Donald Trump.

And Madonna’s fans became increasingly frustrated with her lateness.

Elsewhere, Adele repeatedly swore at an audience member in Las Vegas who she thought had shouted “Pride sucks”. It transpired the fan had actually shouted “work sucks” after the singer discussed her working week. Oops.

So fair play to Kate Nash for not only keeping her show on the road, but funding her tour by selling pictures of her bottom online, helpfully bringing publicity to the issues of high tour costs and poor streaming royalties in the process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia made a “conscious choice” by launching a major overnight 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.

It said there were casualties from the strikes but gave no figures.

Moscow confirmed the attack and claimed that its goal had been achieved.

The attack led to power cuts across the country, including in the capital Kyiv, where some residents sheltered in metro stations.

Russia’s defence confirmed its forces had carried out a “massive strike” on “critical” energy facilities in Ukraine.

It added that the strike had been a success and all targets were hit.

This was the 13th major attack on Ukraine’s energy sector this year, the country’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said.

Responding to the latest Russian strikes, US President Joe Biden said: “The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardise the safety of its grid.”

Biden – who will be succeeded by Donald Trump on 20 January – also asked the US defence department to continue delivering weapons to Ukraine.

In September, President Zelensky said 80% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed by Russian bombs.

Responding to Wednesday’s attacks, Zelensky said the timing had been a “conscious choice”.

He called them “inhumane” and said work was being done to restore power as soon as possible.

“Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not distort Christmas”, he added.

This is the second time Ukraine has celebrated Christmas Day on 25 December. It traditionally followed the Julian calendar, like Russia, where Christmas falls on 7 January.

Still, a sizeable number of Orthodox believers in the country will be celebrating Christmas as before.

In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second largest – the attack left half a million people without water, electricity or heating in bitterly cold temperatures, the regional head said.

Ukrainians across the country woke up to the sound of air raid alarms, and were told to shelter as the attacks unfolded in the morning.

Kyiv residents sheltered in metro stations, with one local telling Reuters news agency that she felt angry and frightened.

“Of course, I want to be at home and celebrate, but we had to shelter because it’s scary to stay at home,” Sofiia Lytvynenko said.

Another Kyiv resident, Oleksandra, said that despite the attack, “Christmas is not cancelled”.

She told Reuters that she planned to enjoy traditional Ukrainian food and drink with family and friends after it is safe to leave the shelter.

Ukraine’s state-owned power company, Ukrenergo, warned Ukrainians that power cuts could last until at least the end of the day.

It has imposed usage restrictions while it tries to restore service.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the strikes as “Christmas terror”.

He said a Russian missile went through Moldovan and Romanian airspace “reminding that Russia threatens not only Ukraine”.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu condemned the strike and confirmed that a missile was detected in the country’s airspace.

Romania said it did not detect a missile in its airspace.

Elsewhere, four people were killed and five others injured by Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Kursk region, according to the region’s acting governor.

Chocolate maker Cadbury has been dropped from the list of royal warrants for the first time in 170 years.

The Birmingham-based chocolatier was awarded its first royal warrant as chocolate and cocoa manufacturers by Queen Victoria in 1854, but it has lost its royal endorsement under King Charles.

Cadbury’s US owners, Mondelez International, said it was disappointed to have been stripped of its warrant.

The King has granted royal warrants to 386 companies that previously held warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, including John Lewis, Heinz and Nestle.

Companies holding the Royal Warrant of Appointment, granted for up to five years, are recognised for providing goods or services to the monarchy.

Among the King’s new list of warrant holders are many firms selling food and drink, such as Moet and Chandon, Weetabix and chocolate makers Bendicks and Prestat Ltd.

Warrant holders are allowed to use the coat of arms of the royal they are associated with on packaging, as part of advertising or on stationery.

Earlier this year, the King was urged by campaign group B4Ukraine to withdraw warrants from companies “still operating in Russia” after the invasion of Ukraine, naming Mondelez and consumer goods firm Unilever, which has also been stripped of the endorsement.

“Whilst we are disappointed to be one of hundreds of other businesses and brands in the UK to not have a new warrant awarded, we are proud to have previously held one, and we fully respect the decision.” a Mondelez spokesperson said.

Unilever added it was “very proud” of the long history its brands had supplying the royal household, most recently receiving a warrant from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Prof David Bailey, from Birmingham Business School, said the decision to strip the chocolate manufacturer of its warrant would affect its costs, as the brand would have to remove it from all packaging.

A royal warrant was a “kind of seal of approval,” which was thought to bring significant benefits to the UK economy, he added.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM, Prof Bailey said British companies also benefited from being awarded the royal endorsement.

“What is a royal warrant for, if it isn’t to help British jobs and British production?” he asked.

The British chocolate giant celebrated its 200th anniversary earlier this year, after founder John Cadbury opened a grocer’s shop selling cocoa and drinking chocolate in Birmingham on 4 March 1824.

The brand expanded when his sons took over the business, eventually building the Bournville factory which became the biggest cocoa manufacturer in the world.

US food company Kraft took over the brand in a controversial takeover in 2010, with Cadbury going on to become part of its Mondelez division in 2012.

President-elect Donald Trump ran on a platform of isolating the US from foreign conflicts like the Ukraine war, increasing tariffs on foreign trade partners, and rebuilding domestic manufacturing.

But in recent days he has suggested a more outwardly aggressive approach for his foreign policy.

At first, he joked about Canada being an additional US state. Since, he has threatened to take back control of the Panama Canal. He also reiterated a desire from his first term to own the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, which is not for sale.

The US is unlikely to take control of any of these regions. But these statements could indicate that Trump’s “America First” vision includes flexing the superpower’s muscle beyond its borders for US trade and national security interests.

On Sunday, Trump told a conservative conference in Arizona that Panama was charging US ships “ridiculous, highly unfair” fees to use its namesake canal.

After taking charge of building the canal in the early 20th century, the US turned full control over to Panama in the 1970s via a treaty. But this week, Trump said that if the “rip off” did not stop, he would demand the canal be returned to the US – though he did not specify how.

Trump added he did not want the Panama Canal “falling into the wrong hands” and specifically cited China, which has significant interests in the waterway.

“There’s a real US national security interest… in controlling its neutrality,” Will Freeman, a fellow on Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said of Trump’s remarks.

“Trump’s statement is mostly about that.”

China is the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the US, according to data. It has major economic investments in the country as well.

In 2017, Panama cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognised it as part of China, a major win for Beijing.

The Panama Canal is not only essential for US trade in the Pacific, Mr Freeman said – in the event of any military conflict with China, it would be needed to move US ships and other assets.

He also noted Trump’s frequent comments about trade partners’ unfair treatment of the US, as well as the president-elect’s pledge to sharply increase tariffs on foreign goods, particularly those from China.

Trump’s complaints about shipping fees seemed to reflect his views on trade, Mr Freeman said.

While the statements might be “coercive”, said Mr Freeman, it remained to be seen “whether canal authorities lower fees on US cargo in response to the threat”.

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has released a statement saying that the canal and the surrounding area belonged to his country – and would remain so.

Over the weekend, Trump said in a social media post that the US “feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for reasons of national security and global freedom.

The US maintains Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. The territory is rich with natural resources, including rare earth minerals, and occupies a strategic location for trade as global powers seek to expand their reach in the Arctic Circle.

Russia, in particular, sees the region as a strategic opportunity.

Trump floated the idea of purchasing Greenland in 2019, during his first term as president, and it never came to fruition.

Greenland’s prime minister, Múte B Egede, responded to Trump’s latest comments this week: “We are not for sale and we will not be for sale.”

Still, Trump continued emphasising his public statements online.

On Truth Social, Trump’s account showed an image of an American flag being planted in the middle of the Panama Canal.

His second-eldest son, Eric Trump, posted an image on X that showed the US adding Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada to an Amazon online shopping cart.

For Trump, promises to use America’s might to its advantage helped propel his two successful presidential campaigns.

It was a tactic he used during his first presidency, threatening tariffs and the deployment of “armed soldiers” to steer Mexico into beefing up enforcement along its US border.

Heading into his second term, Trump could plan to use a similar playbook once he takes office on 20 January.

While it remains to be seen what will happen, Denmark has expressed a willingness to work with his administration.

It also announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory.

A biodiversity hotspot in a remote part of South Africa has become the hub of an illegal trade in protected plant species, with organised crime groups capitalising on overseas demand.

“They’ve not just stolen our land or our plants, they’ve stolen our heritage as well,” a livestock farmer angrily tells the BBC, as she expresses dismay at the social and ecological crisis that the poaching has caused.

Most of the plants in question are a variety known as succulents, named for their ability to hold water and survive in arid climates.

Many of the world’s succulent species are only found in the Succulent Karoo desert, which spans South Africa and Namibia.

Succulent species range in size, shape and colour – some look like small multi-coloured buttons and some look like cacti, sprouting colourful flowers at certain times of the year.

While these varieties can be cultivated in nurseries, global demand is also fuelling the poaching of these plants from the wild which are then smuggled and sold online to buyers in the US, Europe and East Asia.

In Kamieskroon, a small town in the centre of South Africa’s Namaqualand region, the rolling hills have become a haven for poachers.

Some of the species are highly localised, and so can be wiped out by just a small amount of poaching.

“In South Africa, we know already of seven species that has been wiped out completely and there are certainly more species that will go extinct very soon,” says Pieter van Wyk, a nursery curator at the /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

It is hard to obtain figures for how many plants are being poached, but the non-governmental organisation Traffic reports that 1.6 million illegally harvested succulents were seized by South Africa’s law enforcement agencies between 2019 and 2024. This only represents the contraband that was detected, so the true figure is likely to be far higher.

The South African government is well aware of the problem, and unveiled a strategy in 2022 to combat poaching. It includes running community programmes about the need to protect the environment.

According to Mr Van Wyk and other conservationists, plant poaching has been booming since the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

With international traders unable to travel to South Africa during that time, they turned to local people to collect succulents for them and post them out of the country.

Mr Van Wyk says this coincided with an increase in global demand.

“People had more time to try to find something to keep busy with, and plants were one of the only things that in your house, could connect you to the outside world.”

This has been seized upon by organised crime syndicates who hire teams of plant poachers and then market the wild plants on social media and e-commerce platforms.

“The syndicates saw this as an opportunity of making something viral… telling a wide as possible public: ‘We have this super-strange looking thing that comes from the African continent’,'” Mr Van Wyk says.

“Then the public just loses their heads and they say: ‘I want to buy one’, and [the syndicates] arrange for the species to be poached,” he adds.

The uptick in organised crime activity in the region is having knock-on effects on local communities.

“This is a low-income area, people are not rich here, and people will exploit opportunities for income,” explains Malinda Gardiner from Conservation South Africa.

Expressing a similar view, the livestock farmer whom the BBC spoke to says there is always an influx of money in her community when poaching takes place.

“When we see young men going up in the mountain areas, we know they’re poachers,” adds the farmer, who asks not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

“They use screwdrivers to uproot the succulents and they carry backpacks and sacks to keep the stolen plants.”

A few days after that, there is an outbreak of binge drinking and illegal activity.

“When they get the money, there’s more drugs, more alcohol, children are neglected because mummy is drunk, daddy is drunk, there’s no food,” adds Ms Gardiner.

She worries that the tensions will have longer-term effects.

“Small communities here really need each other… but this brings distrust. It brings a split in the communities as well,” she says.

Mr Van Wyk’s assessment is starker: “People are being abused and enslaved by syndicates and buyers.”

Attempts are being made to raise awareness among buyers about the importance of understanding where a plant might have come from.

China has become a major source of demand for wild succulents in the last few years, but an internet campaign there to educate people about the illegal succulent trade has seen some results.

The Clean Internet for Conophytum campaign was launched in March 2023 by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.

According to the foundation’s deputy secretary-general Linda Wong, they have seen an 80% reduction in online adverts for conophytum – a type of succulent – with an unknown source, and buyers are starting to ask questions about where plants being sold online have come from.

“The key is awareness. Once people know, they want to take action. They want to take responsibility to consume those plants and enjoy their beauty in a very responsible way,” she tells the BBC.

Conservationists advise customers all over the world to ask about the origin of a plant, and under no circumstances should they buy those advertised as wild.

Traffic and the UK’s Kew Gardens recently announced that they were teaming up with eBay to develop new ways of preventing the sale of wild succulents on its platform.

In South Africa, Mr Van Wyk says more should be done to promote the cultivation of succulents that can be grown and harvested legally, to reduce the demand for poaching.

“We as a country need to say that: ‘We have this resource, and there are other countries that are majorly benefiting from this, why aren’t we?'” he tells the BBC.

Mr Van Wyk now runs a nursery at the /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park which looks after plants that have been confiscated by law enforcement, and he says they have received more than 200,000 so far.

“It’s obviously stressful seeing things disappearing. But if you study these plants, it brings so much joy and pleasure and you just forget about all the nonsense that’s happening in the world,” Mr Van Wyk says.

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A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died at a house in a Staffordshire village on Christmas Day.

Staffordshire Police say officers were called to a report of a man in his 30s in cardiac arrest on Elm Road, Norton Canes, at around 03:25 GMT on Wednesday.

Despite medical efforts he died shortly afterwards and a post-mortem examination is scheduled to take place on Boxing Day morning, police add.

The 33-year-old woman, from Cannock, remains in custody and is being questioned by police.

Police say the man’s next of kin have been informed.

The force added that a crime scene was expected to remain at the address for a number of days.

Local residents would, they said, see an “increased presence of neighbourhood officers in the area as they provide reassurance and help to gather evidence”.