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President Biden says he has instructed the US military to provide extra assets to help firefighters battle a series of devastating wildfires currently raging in and around Los Angeles. Newshour hears from Malibu resident Marika Erdely.Also in the programme: Greenland's strategic significance and new artefacts shed light on Egypt's Queen Hatshepsut(Picture: People embrace as they evacuate following powerful winds fuelling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area, at the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, U.S. January 8, 2025. Credit: Reuters)

Firefighters are working through the night in Los Angeles to contain wildfires that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Also in the programme, European governments continue to react to President-elect Trump's latest threats about Greenland; and, could HMPV spark the next pandemic? (Photo: A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu)

The social media giant Meta is ending third-party fact checking of Facebook and its other platforms, relying instead on a community notes system. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said recent elections felt like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritising free speech, arguing that fact checkers were too politically biased. We hear two views of the change. Also in the programme: Donald Trump refuses to rule out economic - or military - intervention to gain control of the Panama Canal - and Greenland - what do the locals think about that? And we hear from a mountaineer on Mount Everest about what it was like when the earthquake hit. (IMAGE: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., September 25, 2024 / CREDIT: Reuters/Manuel Orbegozo)

Jean-Marie Le Pen, a Holocaust denier and an unrepentant extremist on race, gender and immigration who founded the French far-right National Front party in 1972, has died aged 96. Also on the programme, a powerful earthquake close to Mount Everest has killed more than a hundred people in Tibet and affected the city of Shigatse, and can alcohol-free wine still be considered wine?(Photo: Jean-Marie Le Pen dead at 96, Paris, France - 22 Apr 2014 YOAN VALAT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation Monday, saying he will leave office as soon as his party chooses a new leader as slumping polls and internal division took their toll. We hear from Catherine McKenna, a former minister in Trudeau's government.Also in the programme: Austria asks far-right leader to commence coalition talks; and the Capitol Hill cop on duty on January 6th 2021.(Picture: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters, announcing he intends to step down as Liberal Party leader. Credit: Reuters)

The former French president Nicholas Sarkozy has gone on trial today in Paris. He is accused of illegally taking funding from the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Prosecutors allege the men struck a deal to fund Mr Sarkozy's ultimately successful campaign for the presidency in 2007. In return, they say he promised to help Colonel Gaddafi shed his pariah status on the world stage. The former French president denies the accusations.Also in the programme: Hamas has released a list of 34 hostages that it says it is willing to release in the first stage of a potential ceasefire agreement with Israel. We speak to the daughter of one of those on the list; and the efforts to save the endangered Iberian Lynx in Portugal and Spain. (Picture: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives on the first day of his trial. Credit: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Thousands of rival demonstrators have been protesting in South Korea's capital Seoul where the impeached president President Yoon Suk Yeol is refusing to hand himself in to investigators.Also on the programme: Venezuela's opposition leader, Edmundo Gonzalez, is touring South America ahead of the inauguration of Nicolas Maduro who he insists lost last year's presidential election; and we ask - after 15 months of war - is there anywhere in Gaza where Palestinians can still get medical treatment? And we'll hear the sound of a prison choir from Mississippi.Photo: People take part in a protest against the impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near his official residence in Seoul, South Korea, January 5, 2025. (Credit: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

A bell tolls 39 times outside the childhood home of the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, as commemorations for his life and service to his country begin. We hear from his grandson and Democrat activist, Angelo Fuster who was working in the state capitol of Georgia when Jimmy Carter entered politics in the 1960s.Also on the programme: A supporter of the new government in Syria defends its decision to remove the teaching of evolution from the school classroom; and how the new teenage darts champion of the world is helping the game attract talent even younger.(Photo: A military body bearer team carries the casket of former President Jimmy Carter Credit: Brynn Anderson/Pool via REUTERS)

German officials have told the BBC that a decision by the new Islamist authorities in Syria to erase evolution from the school curriculum is troubling - a concern that is echoed by many Syrians. We hear from Germany's Special Coordinator for Syria and from Syrian writer Rima Flihan. Also on the programme: The US Surgeon General has called for risk warnings on alcoholic beverages, similar to the labels on cigarettes, following new research that links the drinks to seven types of cancer; and why a New York judge is insisting on sentencing US president-elect Donald Trump days before his inauguration.(Photo: Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meets with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Syria's newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in Damascus, Syria January 3, 2025. Credit: Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via REUTERS)

Foreign ministers from France and Germany have met in Damascus with Syria's de facto leader to discuss the future of the country. Also on the programme, the Republican Congressman Mike Johnson has narrowly won re-election to the most powerful seat in the US House of Representatives; and do whales mourn the dead? (Photo: Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani meets with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Damascus, Syria January 3, 2025. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via REUTERS)

Anti-corruption investigators wanted to arrest the former president for his failed attempt to impose martial law. Mr Yoon, who has been impeached, is still in the presidential compound. Supporters of the impeached president were out in force too. Some were seen waving the American flag, and carrying placards saying "stop the steal."Also on the programme, we hear about the plight of health workers from Gaza who are being detained by Israeli authorities, often without charge. And we go to Australia where debate is raging over crocodiles; just how many are too many and how should a cull work? (Picture: Supporters of President Yoon clash with police in Seoul. Credit: Reuters)

The FBI now says the man who carried out Wednesday's deadly attack in New Orleans was acting alone, and members of the public are not in any danger. It confirmed that Shamsud-Din Jabbar - a US-born military veteran - had declared his support for Islamic State militants, and the attack was a premeditated act of terrorism. We hear from a New Orleans City Councilman on how the city is coping with the aftermath of the attack. Also in the programme: how El Salvador has cut its homicide rate to make it one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere; and with just weeks before Donald Trump is inaugurated as the new president of the United States, how might the relationship between him and the world’s media be characterised? (Photo: Military personnel stand near the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

The US authorities are investigating whether Wednesday's deadly truck attack in New Orleans is linked to an explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on the same day. The FBI believes the man who rammed his car into a crowd in New Orleans killing fifteen people was not acting alone.Also in the programme: Netherlands to open archive on people accused of wartime Nazi collaboration; and 250 years since the birth of the novelist Jane Austen.(Photo: The attack took place in an extremely busy area full of bars and restaurants. Credit: EPA)

The suspect in the New Orleans vehicle attack has been identified as a 42-year-old US citizen from Texas. An Islamic State flag was found in the vehicle and two improvised bombs have been made safe.Also on the programme: Russian gas supplies to much of Europe through Ukraine have stopped, after Kyiv refused to renew a transit agreement with Moscow; and scientists have developed a new way of studying DNA in human remains that they say will change our understanding of history. (Photo: New Orleans Police Chief Ann Kirkpatrick speaks next to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry at a news conference. Credit: Reuters)

At least 10 people have died after a man intentionally drove into a large crowd in New Orleans and then began firing a weapon, according to police; they said the attacker was "hell-bent on carnage".Also in the programme: Russian gas has stopped flowing into the European Union through Ukraine after President Zelensky refused to renew transit agreements; and.the children from Gaza finally reunited with their families.(Photo shows police cars attending the scene on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. on 1 January 2025. Credit: ABC Affiliate WGNO via Reuters)

The UN human rights office is warning that repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza raise serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity. We'll hear from the UN as well as a spokesman for the Israeli government.Also in the programme: After South Korea's deadliest plane crash, an aviation safety expert calls on regulators to be more pro-active; Pitt and Jolie agree a divorce settlement, seemingly bringing to an end one of the longest and most contentious splits in Hollywood history. And we'll be dedicating the second half of this programme to a selection of the newsiest moments of 2024.(Photo: Sila's father, Mahmoud Fasih, carries her tiny body to be buried. Credit: BBC)

Winter's bitter cold is taking a terrible toll in Gaza. In the past week alone, six babies have perished from hypothermia and with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in tents, and temperatures expected to drop even further, the UN Children’s agency is warning more children’s lives are at risk. Unicef, like all aid agencies, says they continue to face obstacles on bringing life-saving aid into Gaza. Israel blames Hamas, accusing it of stealing the aid.Also in the programme: Scientists claim to have detected which volcano erupted in 1831, causing catastrophic weather which led to widespread crop failures and devastating famines; and our look back at the reporting highlights of 2024.(Photo: People pray next to the bodies of two Palestinian babies who died of hypothermia at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on 29 December 2024. Credit: Reuters/Ramadan Abed)

Tributes are being paid to the former US president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter, who has died at the age of 100.He helped broker a peace accord between Egypt and Israel, but his time in office also saw a struggling US economy and a disastrous attempt to free American hostages seized in Iran.Also on the programme: the president of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency across the Caribbean nation; and a study finds that a single cigarette can take 20 minutes off a smoker’s life expectancy.(Photo: Former US President Jimmy Carter gives the media an update on his recent cancer diagnosis at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 20 August 2015. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The former US President Jimmy Carter - who came to politics after a successful career as a peanut farmer – is credited with bringing peace between Egypt and Israel for which he received a Nobel prize. We hear from those who worked with him and those who prepared catfish suppers for the late president. Also in the programme: Agony and anger in South Korea over the country’s worst plane crash.(Photo: Former President Carter holding peanuts in a field. Credit: Jimmy Carter Library/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Palestinian officials say seven people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the centre of Gaza City. The Hamas authorities say other people were seriously injured in the attack on al-Wafaa hospital -- one of the last remaining medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Israel said the strike was aimed at Hamas fighters and the building hit was no longer a hospital. We speak to the head of a group of Israeli doctors campaigning to stop Israel’s attacks in Gaza. Also in the programme: Georgia’s outgoing president vows to defend democracy; and the latest controversy over the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral.(Picture: Damage is seen after an Israeli strike on al-Wafaa hospital, according to the Palestinian civil defence. Credit: Reuters)

A plane carrying 181 people has crashed on landing at an airport in Muan County, South Korea. Officials say they believe nearly everyone on board has died. Two survivors have been found, both flight staff who were rescued from the wreckage and taken to hospital.Also in the programme: Protests as Georgia's swears in a new president; and a look back at Vladimir Putin's 25-year-stint as Russian leader.(Picture: Scene of a plane crash at Muan International Airport, South Korea. Credit: EPA)

A former advisor to the party of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Newshour. It follows the strike on a Yemeni airport on Thursday which was carried out by Israel. The head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom, earlier told the BBC that Israel should have known he was in Sanaa International Airport when the missile struck and says the site should not have been hit. Also on the programme: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologises over a passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan but does not officially acknowledge Russia’s responsibility; and chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen quits a tournament after being told he can’t wear jeans to play.(Photo: An airport staff member stands beside shattered windows at Sanaa airport, a day after Israeli airstrikes targeted the airport, 27 December 2024. Credit: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The head of the World Health Organisation has told the BBC that it was public knowledge he was in Yemen on Thursday when Israel launched airstrikes on Houthi targets. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the main target, the International Airport in Sanaa was a civilian facility and should not have been hit. Also in the programme: Taliban forces from Afghanistan are reported to have clashed with Pakistan's army on their border as tensions between the two countries grow; the phenomenon of mass violent attacks in China; and a new BBC documentary about Maria Callas, one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century and why her amazing talent didn't last longer.(Photo: Dr Tedros. Credit: Getty Images)

Houthis vow to continue attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians after Israeli air strikes on Yemen. We ask the US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, where this escalation could lead. Also in the programme: NASA says it has successfully flown a space probe closer to the sun than ever before - one of its scientists tells us what happens next; and this year’s Booker Prize winning novelist Samantha Harvey and the retired astronaut Cady Coleman discuss life on the International Space Station. (Photo: Houthi supporters protest against the USA and Israel in Sana'a, Yemen. Credit: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Amid fears of escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Houthis in Yemen, a Houthi spokesman has told Newshour why he believe airstrikes will continue.Israel has warned the Houthis in Yemen that its action against them has only just begun. This came after a series of Israeli strikes on Yemen killed at least six people.Also in the programme: As South Korea gets its third president in less than a fortnight, we'll find out why and assess the damage to the country's economy; and NASA makes history by flying closer to the sun than anyone else.(Photo shows smoke rising from Sana'a airport following Israeli airstrikes on Sana'a, Yemen on 26 December 2024. Credit: Yahya Arhab/EPA)

Finnish police have boarded a ship which they believe was operating as part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet. The Lithuanian defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, tells Newshour she wants to see additional US sanctions on Russia. Also on the programme: the new authorities in Syria have carried out an offensive against militias loyal to the deposed president Bashar al-Assad; and the Bald Eagle has been officially named as America's national bird - we speak to a man who campaigned for the recognition. (Photo: European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels. Credit: REUTERS/Yves Herman)

Memorial events have been held across the Indian Ocean to mark 20 years since the tsunami that killed more than 220,000. Also on the programme, China has approved controversial plans to build what will be the world's largest hydropower dam on the Tibetan plateau; and the promise of non-alcoholic wine.(Photo: People light candles during a memorial for the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami at a tsunami wave-shaped monument erected for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, in Phang Nga province, Thailand, December 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer)

The new HTS administration said the footage is from earlier this month. Large rallies have been seen in the cities of Tartus and Latakia, strongholds of the deposed president Assad's Alawite minority. Also on the programme: We hear from locals in Bethlehem, in the Occupied West Bank, who are doubling their efforts to find hope during the Christmas holidays amidst an economic downturn and tensions with Israel; and the Newshour presenters compete in the Christmas quiz.(Photo: A Syrian opposition flag is seen beside a defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a wall in Damascus on 14 December 2024. Credit: ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says Russia made a "conscious choice" by launching a major attack on his country's energy infrastructure on Christmas Day.Ukraine's air force said it had detected 184 missiles and drones, but many were shot down or missed their targets. We speak to an MP in the city of Kharkiv, which was hit by the strikes. Moscow confirmed the attack and said its goal had been achieved.Also in the programme: we'll hear about a deadly gang attack on a hospital in Haiti; what an Israeli former hostage negotiator makes of the stalled talks between Israel and Hamas; and the Newshour Christmas quiz.(Photo shows people taking shelter at a metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine during an air raid alert on 25 December 2024. Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Syria's de facto leader has reached an agreement to dissolve and consolidate rebel groups under the defence ministry. Also on the programme, is Israel nearing a hostage deal with Hamas? And, a Nasa spacecraft has made history with the closest-ever approach to the Sun.(Photo: A child looks on next to a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, during a protest against the burning of the Christmas tree in Hama, in Damascus, Syria December 24, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

A consortium of UN and other agencies says that famine is spreading across the war-ravaged country. The group, known as the IPC - the "Integrated Food Security Phase Classification" - say that five areas in the west and south of Sudan are already in famine. We hear about the details of the report and from one of the agencies working in the city of Nyala in the South. Also on the programme; we hear from Mozambique's capital Maputo where protests are continuing over disputed presidential election results; and a NASA spacecraft attempts the closest ever approach to the Sun.(Photo: People queuing for food aid in South Sudan; Credit : Photo by GUY PETERSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany's far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has held a rally near the site of the attack on the Christmas market on Friday evening - we'll speak to one of the party's members of parliament. Also on the programme: President Biden has commuted the death sentences on all but three of the federal prisoners on death row; and we'll look at the history and politics of the Panama Canal as Donald Trump threatens to re-assert control over it.(Photo: Memorial event and funeral march of AfD party after attack in Magdeburg, Germany - 23 Dec 2024. FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Iran says it's had no direct contact with the new Islamist leaders of Syria, its one-time close ally. The US, in contrast, sent its top regional diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf, to meet the de-facto leader in Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharaa; we hear how the meeting went. Also in the programme: Nissan and Honda announce merger plans which would create the world's third-largest car-maker; and we hear from the Mexican women celebrated and damned for helping migrants trying to reach the United States.(IMAGE: A delegation of US diplomats, including US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf (C, in green), leaves a hotel in Damascus, Syria 20 December 2024 / CREDIT: Hasan Belal/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Syria's new ruler says he wants all weapons and armed factions to come under state control - and that includes the Syrian Kurds. Also on the programme: Israel's latest targets in Gaza include an abandoned school housing homeless families and a barely functioning hospital; we hear from a woman who had an online exchange with the Saudi man accused of murder after five people were killed in a car attack at a Christmas market in Germany.And the Ugandan athlete who's just run from Cape Town to London. Photo: Syria's rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, Credit: Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office Handout EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstoc

The German ambassador to the UK talks to Newshour about the "anger, sorrow, grief" that his country is experiencing following the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg that killed at least five people and seriously injured dozens - so what warnings did the authorities receive?Also today: health and civil defence officials in Gaza say a wave of Israeli attacks across the Strip has killed at least twenty-eight people; and the Ugandan-born athlete Deo Kato has arrived in London, having run from Cape Town.(Photo: People mourn in front of Magdeburg Cathedral following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. Credit: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock )

As relatives and officials gather for a memorial service for the victims of the deadly attack on a Christmas market in eastern Germany, we ask what’s known about the Saudi man who has been arrested and what might have motivated him. Also on the programme: why the US is sanctioning Pakistan's long range missiles; and the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in Guatemala that has just been raided by the authorities for mistreating women and children.(Photo: Memorial service after attack at Magdeburg's Christmas market, Germany Credit: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The suspect is a doctor from Saudi Arabia, living in Germany since 2006. We hear from a local member of the state parliament and a counter-extremism expert in Berlin. Also on the programme: Both houses of the US Congress have voted in favour of a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown; and the wonders of swimming mice, dwarf squirrels, and blob-headed fish. (Picture: Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party visits the site of the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, Germany. Credit: Reuters/Christian Mang)

US Congress races to avoid government shutdown after bipartisan spending agreement was derailed following interventions by President-elect Donald Trump and his efficiency czar, Elon Musk.Also in the programme: A high level US delegation holds talks with Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Shara’a; At least two dead and 68 injured after a car drove into a crowd at German Christmas market; and 27 new species discovered in Peru, including an amphibious mouse.(Photo: Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the House, talking to journalists. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

What is happening now in Syria “is paving the way” for the Islamic State group to re-emerge. That’s according to a leading Kurdish commander who played a key role in defeating the group in Syria in 2019. General Mazloum Abdi told the BBC that IS activity has “increased significantly” and the danger of a resurgence has doubled. Our senior international correspondent Orla Guerin was given rare access to the largest IS jail - in the city of Al Hasakah.Also in the programme: A BBC investigation has found that the embattled military rulers of Myanmar control less than a quarter of the country; Malaysia has authorised a new attempt to find the wreckage of MH-370 - the flight that disappeared ten years ago; and the group of singers, with an average age of 92, which has broken the Guinness World Record for the world's oldest choir.(Photo: The BBC was granted rare access to the largest prison for IS detainees - Al Sina - which holds some 5,000 men. Credit: BBC/Matthew Goddard)

The French prime minister Francois Bayrou has praised the courage of Gisèle Pelicot, following a mass rape trial in which her ex-husband and fifty other defendants were found guilty. Dominique Pelicot was jailed for twenty years for organising the repeated drugging and rape of his former wife by dozens of strangers over a decade. Also in the programme, President Macron of France in Mayotte vows to rebuild the cyclone hit territory; and we hear from Angelina Jollie who plays the diva, Maria Callas.(Photo: Gisele Pelicot with her grandson, after the end of the trial in Avignon. Credit: Shutterstock)

Gisèle Pelicot thanks supporters after 'difficult ordeal' of rape trial as ex-husband jailed for 20 years. All fifty of other defendants were also convicted, with sentences of between 3and 15 years in jail.Also on the programme, the new de facto leader of Syria has told the BBC that the country is too exhausted by war to be a threat to other nations; and, the creator of the Chat GPT artificial intelligence service has set up a WhatsApp account so that its users can get answers to questions using the messaging app.(Photo: Verdict against 51 defendants of mass rape trial in Avignon, France - 02 Dec 2024. GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Since Syria's President Assad fell from power, the full horror of his regime has begun to be revealed. Mass graves have been discovered around the country. And a vast amount of documentation confirming many of the crimes is emerging. We hear from Canadian lawyer Bill Wiley who has been gathering evidence of atrocities by the Assad regime for years. He believes many of the perpetrators could now be brought to justice.Also on the programme: how a novella by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky has become a TikTok sensation; the Russians say they've detained the man who carried out the assassination of a senior general in Moscow; and the polar bears bearing down on a town in northern Canada.Photo by BILAL AL HAMMOUD/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (15014794bq)

After visiting sites close to Syria's capital Damascus, Stephen Rapp, who led prosecutors for the tribunals investigating war crimes in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, said "we really haven't seen anything quite like this since the Nazis." The Syrian Emergency Taskforce, a humanitarian and activist organisation, estimates half a million bodies could be buried in mass graves.Also in the programme: Ukraine assassinates a Russian general in Moscow; and we speak to the anti-whaling activist just released from detention in Greenland.(Photo: Stephen Rapp, head of Commission for International Justice and Accountability, talks with media as people inspect the site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, 17 December 2024. Credit: Reuters/Ammar Awad)

Ukraine says it was behind the killing of a senior Russian general, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who died in scooter blast in Moscow..The head of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Unit was at the entrance to a residential block when a device hidden in an electric scooter went off. On Monday, Lt Gen Kirillov was charged in Kyiv for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine; he had already been sanctioned by the UK. We'll find out more about the killing and its likely impact.Also in the programme: A French member of parliament tells us the island of Mayotte has, after Saturday's cyclone, been "deleted from the map"; and we'll get a sense of Syria's revolution from two big cities outside the capital.Ukraine says it was behind the killing of a senior Russian general, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who died in scooter blast in Moscow..The head of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Unit was at the entrance to a residential block when a device hidden in an electric scooter went off.On Monday, Lt Gen Kirillov was charged in Kyiv for the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine; he had already been sanctioned by the UK. We'll find out more about the killing and its impact.Also in the programme: A French member of parliament tells us the island of Mayotte has, after Saturday's cyclone, been "deleted from the map"; and we'll get a sense of Syria's revolution from two big cities outside the capital.(Photo shows Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov attending a press conference in Moscow, Russia in a still image from video released on 5 November 2024. Credit: Russian Defence Ministry handout via REUTERS)

Cyclone Chido brought wind speeds of more than 220km per hour, flattening areas where the poorest people lived in sheet-metal roof shacks. The French President Emmanuel Macron said he will be travelling to the French Overseas Territory in the Indian Ocean in "the coming days", as he pledged to support fellow citizens, civil servants and emergency services involved in rescue efforts. We hear from Senator Salama Ramia from Mayotte who sits in the French Senate in Paris.Also on the programme: why members of the Alawite community of ousted Syrian President Assad are fearful of the future despite assurances from the country's new rulers; and we pay tribute to Indian tabla musician Zakir Hussain who has died aged 73.(Photo: Aftermath of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte Credit: Reuters/Chafion Madi)

The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, faces a confidence vote in parliament after his coalition collapsed. But his party thinks it can defy the odds and win another election soon.Also on the programme: French ministers arrive in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, two days after it was hit by a cyclone that is thought to have killed hundreds; and archaeologists say they have evidence that some Bronze Age Britons were cannibals who ate their enemies.(Photo: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivers a speech at the meeting of the German Bundestag on the vote of confidence in the Chancellor. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a "new front" had opened up on Israel's border with Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime. We hear from a former Israeli Prime Minister, who says the move is an unnecessary provocation.Also on the programme: We get a sense of the devastation in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, where its feared hundreds of people have been killed by Cyclone Chido; and explore why America's ABC News agreed to settle its defamation case with Donald Trump.(Picture: Israeli military vehicles ride through Syria close to the ceasefire line between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria Credit: REUTERS/Jamal Awad)

The US's top diplomat is in Jordan for talks with representatives from several Arab countries, Turkey, and Europe to discuss the future of Syria following the ousting of the former president, Bashar al-Assad. Also on the programme, the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to fight for his political future, after parliament voted to impeach him over his failed attempt to impose martial law; and, the director of "Goodbye Lenin", Wolfgang Becker has died.(Photo: Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba on December 14, 2024. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/Pool via REUTERS)

Lawmakers in South Korea have voted to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from power, following his failed attempt to impose martial law. Crowds of protesters are celebrating outside parliament though a vocal minority is angry that some members of the governing right-wing party backed the measure. Mr Yoon is now suspended from office and South Korea's Constitutional Court has one-hundred- and-eighty days to rule on his political future.Also in the programme: We ask what happens now to Russia's military bases in Syria following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad; and we look at the Krampus Run - the end-of-year tradition where crowds gather to watch hundreds of people dressed in demon-like costumes run through towns scaring children.(Picture: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at his official residence in the capital Seoul. Credit: The Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS)

We hear from a recent returnee celebrating in Damascus today.France24 senior reporter Catherine Norris-Trent explains who the new French Prime Minister is and how long he'll last.Also: can't stand fidgeting? It's called misokinesia.(Photo by ANTÓNIO PEDRO SANTOS/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)