On christmas away from their loved ones. What do i miss most . A good christmas dinner i think will be the one. You know, mums cooking. And, coming up. Mark kermode looks back at 2017s big film releases, including the sequel to blade runner. Thats the year in film, in half an hour. Good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. The queen will pay tribute to the cities of manchester and london in her Christmas Day broadcast later today for the way in which they dealt with this years terrorist attacks. This morning, she attended the traditional Christmas Day service at sandringham in norfolk, along with other members of the royal family including prince harry and his fiancee, meghan markle. Our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. The Christmas Morning stroll to church. And already the newcomer seems very much at home. Meghan markle, arm in arm with prince harry, accepting the good wishes of the crowd with a wave. Normally, fiancees dont get an invitation to join the royal family at christmas. But with meghans family in the united states, the queen made an exception. And there she was, accepted into the family already. In her christmas broadcast, recorded at Buckingham Palace a few days ago, the queen will pay tribute to the cities of london and manchester for the way in which they dealt with this years terrorist attacks. The queen visited some of the victims of the bombing at manchester arena, in which 22 people died. In her broadcast, she will talk about the powerful identities of manchester and london, which, she says, shone through in the face of appalling attacks. After the Christmas Morning service at sandringham, the queen led the royal family back to the main house for christmas lunch. And there, once again, the familys soon to be newest member appeared to be handling it all with confidence. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. Our royal correspondent, daniela relph, has been at sandringham all day, and she sent us this update earlier. Hundreds of people came here to see the royal family arrived and leave their Christmas Service at the church. Many of the people here had come to get a first glimpse of meghan markle, prince harrys fiance. She will marry him next may. Many people in the crowd were actually americans, some based at the local raf base. Some people had been queueing since 5am this morning. There was a great deal of excitement for those who had managed to catch a glimpse of meghan markle. This is the third time ive been, and id neverseen this is the third time ive been, and id never seen so many people. We we re and id never seen so many people. We were right at the way back, we didnt think wed gotten. We got in about 11 30am, and we managed to see meghan and all of them. It was lovely. It was amazing to see the younger royals, like harry and william. We noticed these guys are really normal, normal people. Yes, its amazing. Ive been here for five years. Every christmas i want to come here and i cant be bothered. This time, it wasjust perfect. They all looked at us and waved hello. It was. Just sweet. Prince harrys fiance walked into church arm and arm with him, chatting to the duke and duchess of cambridge alongside her. She looked incredibly at ease and what is quite a lot of scrutiny, especially on a day like today. This is the first time we have actually seen her in public with the wider royal family, alongside the queen, the prince of wales, the duke of edinburgh. It was the first time we had seen her in that context, and it was a break withdrawal protocol, because normally partners and members of the royal family dont get the invitation here to sandringham until they are married. But this year an exception was made for meghan markle, largely because her immediate family is based in the united states. Prince harry asked the queen, and she was allowed to ta ke the queen, and she was allowed to take part in the full traditional royal festival to see on the sandringham estate. Daniela relph reporting from sandringham. Christmas celebrations in bethlehem have been quieter than usual after the violence which followed president trumps decision to move the us embassy tojerusalem. In rome, pope francis called for an end to the suffering of children, and for peace in the middle east. Our religion editor, martin bashir, has more. Bright sunshine lit up the basilica in st peters square. But pope francis chose to focus his Christmas Day message on how conflict and oppression are casting a dark shadow over the world. He said that christmas makes us focus on the christ child, and thereby Pay Attention to the sufferings of children, particularly in the holy land. We seejesus in the children of the middle east, he said, who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between israelis and palestinians. On this festive day, let us ask the lord for peace forjerusalem. The Anglican Archbishop in jerusalem, the most reverend suhail dawani, said that christ himself wept over the city 2000 years ago, and, with Donald Trumps decision to officially recognisejerusalem as the capital of israel, that grief continues. When he wept at that time, he wept for the absence of peace and love in the life of people who live here. Im afraid that our lord jesus is really still weeping for this city. At the nativity scene in bethlehem, a substantial drop in tourists is testimony to how conflict continues to blight this holy place. Martin bashir, bbc news, bethlehem. The archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has used his christmas sermon in Canterbury Cathedral to affirm the hope offered byjesus in a world of conflict, suffering and pain. He reminded the congregation that, after the miracles surrounding the birth ofjesus, the holy family fled as refugees, like the 60 million refugees in the world today. He called their plight the greatest toll of misery in the world today. The archbishop said jesus was with them, and christianity offered an invitation to live lives of freedom through gods love. There is no power in the universe stronger than gods love. And it is directed towards the liberation of human beings. And that liberation begins with the risky counterintuitive birth of god in the form of a baby, of 18 inch single mother in a poorfamily, in a war torn country, ruled by an infant slaughtering family murdering psychopath of a teenage single mother. The archbishop of canterbury. Almost 200,000 people are currently serving as part of the uk armed forces. For many on foreign deployments, it means christmas away from loved ones. Yesterday, bbc news visited one military base in iraq as troops prepare to spend today farfrom home. Dan johnson reports. Im not going to pretend that its not difficult to be in iraq over christmas. Of all the families apart this christmas, these are amongst the furthest away for the longest amount of time. This is my first christmas away from home in the army, and to be honest, im here with the lads, im here with my guys, here with my friends. So, yeah, its not with the family, but its quite good. As you can see, its a good atmosphere. So, yeah, its good fun. After 21 years service, you get used to being away from home. It gets harder when youve got a wife and child at home. Obviously you wont get to see your daughter open her presents on Christmas Day. Some improvisation helps give a feel of christmas in the desert. But, of course, not everything can be replicated. Theyve done quite well, doing it with old tyres. What do i miss most . A good christmas dinner i think will be the one. You know, mums cooking. Its a reminder that british troops are still serving in iraq, rebuilding the country, and others around the world. Work that doesnt stop for christmas. Dan johnson, bbc news. One of londons Busiest Railway stations has been been turned into a shelter for the homeless. Rail workers and Charity Staff have served a full christmas lunch to rough sleepers are euston station. Volunteers worked overnight after the last train left on christmas eve, transforming the station concourse with decorations and tables. 0ur news correspondent Caroline Davies has been at euston station for us. Welcome to euston station, where christmas celebrations are in full swing. This isnt your normal monday. If it was, the departures board that is looking pretty blank in the background would be quite depressing. This is the first indication that uses the nation has been fans formed in this way to help the homeless at christmas. All the homeless are getting a four course meal and goodie bags. It is being done with the help of Network Rails idea, and streets kitchen, who repaired the food, and the support of st mungos. Im joined by rebecca from st mungos. What did you think when network rail approached you with this idea . Im not sure what we thought. We know that people want to help at christmas, and we thought it was a large space, how will that work . We were really happy to work with them, to talk about how we might get some of the presence of the People Living in hostels here. And how we can make sure that everybody has a really amazing christmas. What has been the reaction from people you approached . People are quite excited, a lot of people here this afternoon said that normally they wouldnt be doing very much to christmas, they are living ina much to christmas, they are living in a hostel and theyve lost touch with family, or become homeless because of a relationship breakdown. It can be a lonely time for them. The idea of them coming and having this really amazing event all about them was something that people was a prized about, but really positive and excited about. Somebody told me oii and excited about. Somebody told me on the way in here this morning that. We take for granted how we have lots of people in our lives to say Merry Christmas to, but some people dont. And what do you hope will happen off the back of it . Do you hope that other stations bright open their doors in the future . think thats one for network rail to decide. We hope that everybody who has heard about this has felt moved to support, to get involved, and they will carry on thinking about how they can help Homeless People over the course of the rest of the year. Obviously its important that people have a great christmas, but thats not the end of the story. Well be working hard to make sure that people and homelessness. Thank you, rebecca. Christmas is only one day, and some people who are homeless will have that for much longer. Another message is to donate if you possibly can. I will leave people enjoying the Christmas Spirit and christmas music. Caroline davies reporting from euston station. Christmas is meant to be a time of giving for all. But one family from West Yorkshire has gone further than most with their seasonal goodwill. The clarkes from halifax collected clothes, sleeping bags and food, and drove to calais. Theyve been giving them to some of the thousands of refugees and migrants still in the area, despite the closure of the so called jungle camp. Heres their story, in their own words. Im katie clarke from halifax, West Yorkshire. Good morning we have had people leaving donations. Thanks very much, thats great, and they are clearly marked. So weve filled our van up with mats, sleeping bags, blankets, hats, socks, gloves. Bye, everyone. My names andy clarke. There are some people who say that they should stay where they are and try to manage it within their countries. I mean, my own personal view is that you dont move away from your family of origin, your friends of origin, your culture, your religion, from your home, everything, and put yourself into the most precarious positions, if there is not an extremely good, valid reason for doing that. Nice to meet you. A lot of the individuals that we speak to are professional people. Unfortunately, they have felt that their lives are in danger and thats why theyve had to move. Im nikki. I think they are probablyjust trying to keep themselves busy, arent they, playing football. We met some guys who really kindly took us to show where they had been living. So we followed them down this little path that started to get muddier and muddier. It looks like chaos, doesnt it . Its just really, really shocking, and its really sad that anybody has to live like that. We cant go back. In my country, there is a very dangerous guy. That is why we live here. Here is safe. I know it is not a good life, but we are safe. Seeing the Living Conditions and the desperation, yeah, things were shocking, but it was also really quite, quite nice to have that opportunity to talk to them. A bus has ploughed into an underpass near a moscow train station today killing at least four people and injuring a number of others. The bus swerved off one of the russian capitals busiest roads, close to the Slavyansky Bulvar metro station this morning. The driver has been arrested by police. Surrey police are trying to identify a man who was found unconscious in a ditch yesterday afternoon. Theyve released pictures of the mans clothing in an attempt to track down his family. The man, who is thought to be in his 20s, is in a serious condition in hospital. They say the man was wearing a red and white checked shirt and red canvas shoes. At least ten people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack close to afg hanistans National Intelligence agency in the capital, kabul. The bomber was apparently on foot, and targeted people as they arrived into work. The so called Islamic State group said it carried out the attack. Well, our correspondent in kabul is following developments for us and sent us this update a short time ago. The latest figures suggest that nine people including two security personnel were killed and four others wounded in a server side attack near our Afghanistan Spy Agency department, in a green zone. The police say that the bomber was on foot and was trying to reach into the checkpoint of the spy agency office. It is located near the International Forces headquarters in kabul inside the green zone. But before he reaches the target, he was recognised by the military and security forces, and he blew himself up. The headlines on bbc news. The queen will pay tribute to the cities of manchester and london in her Christmas Day broadcast later today for the way in which they dealt with this years terrorist attacks. Meghan markle has made her first public appearance with the royal family in sandringham for a Christmas Service. In his christmas blessing, pope francis calls for a negotiated solution to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. It might be deepest winter at home, but englands cricketers will step out into the summer sunshine in australia later today for the first session of the next ashes test. They have already lost the series but organisers expect a sell out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they try to rescue some pride. Patrick gearey reports. The ashes gone, and still they come. There is a reason englands fans are called the barmy army. When theyre not watching cricket, theyre playing it. And theyve called up mr root to their team. Not the england captain, but his brother, billy a professional himself, who has had to watchjoe lose the urn with everyone else. I think he will always enjoy the challenge of it. I think there will be times where he is frustrated. But i think it is the sort of thing he will enjoy taking on, a tough challenge like this. Challenge is an understatement. Comment and criticism comes with cricket in australia. In the past week, roots had to watch the ashes go, and had to listen to his captaincy be described as soft and childlike by former australian skipper ricky ponting. He doesnt spend any time in our dressing room. He doesnt spend much time around the squad, i dont think i go about things as a little boy, for sure. I have my own way of doing things. I think it is important that you dont try and be something that youre not. Now he takes his team into a test like no other. Boxing day in melbourne is a national occasion, notjust a sporting one. Australian values of history, tradition and competition mean there will be no going easy on england. This is the notorious bay 13 of the mcg. Home to the most raucous supporters in cricket. And they will be reminding which ever poor england fielder who has the misfortune of being posted near to them exactly what the score is in this series, and how bad it could yet get for them. Words cant hurt england but runs do. Steve smith provides them, and the aussie captain will play, despite injuring his hand in training. Ashes series can numb as well as inflict pain. Its been a good summer so far. Obviously, won back the urn, which was the objective at the start of the series, and weve now got an opportunity to keep winning. Thats been my message to the boys. Dont worry about 5 0 at this stage, youve got to win this one first. Even on Christmas Morning, even with the series decided, they come to watch practise in melbourne. More than 90,000 will be here on boxing day to pick over the ashes leftovers. Patrick gearey, bbc news in melbourne. Disappointed that your dreams of a White Christmas didnt come true . Well, a group of five british women have got more than their fair share of snow. Theyre on a historic journey of a lifetime, using ski power alone to cross the antartic unaided. Earlier, today my colleague Christian Fraser spoke to expedition leader, maj nicola taylor, who told us more about theirjourney. Oh, well, we have 2a hours of daylight currently in antarctica. There are six women from the british army. At the moment weve done eight hours of skiing today. It was 20 when we started, and its about 25 with wind chill. But weve been really blessed with beautiful sunshine, if not a little cold and draughty when were skiing. Were currently in the tents now, melting snow, having our christmas dinner, which for me is mashed potato and chicken which has been dehydrated and rehydrated with water. Oh, that sounds very appetising tell us whats gone right and whats gone wrong so far on the expedition. Oh, well, day two of the expedition, we were going up a glacier across to the south pole, then crossing the antarctic landmass. On day two there were 60 knot winds. So we had to stop skiing quite quickly and put the tents up, which required all six of us to put one tent up. Normally two of us can do it, but with the wind we had to Work Together to get the tent up. Also, one of our team mates, sandy, got a bit ill and we had to work as a team to help distribute the weight and get her through nine days of not feeling great. Whats gone well is the team have worked really well together and got to the south pole, and weve been really blessed with amazing weather at the south pole. Weve had good visibility, if not a bit cold, so we can navigate easily. We should make the point that women are underrepresented on expeditions like this. So youre making a point, but youre also hoping to provide some scientific data. Explain that to us. Yes, thats one of the really exciting part of the expedition that doesnt get spoken about. Were going to hopefully do the largest body of evidence collected of women and men across the antarctic. The previous expedition, last year, from the men collected some data. Were looking at how our body uses energy and if it gets metabolised in a different way after weve spent such a long time crossing antarctica. Were also looking at our hormones and see if there is a change in our fertility and things when we are out on the ice for so long. Just to see how that affects women in general. And to see if that can change things. Were also wearing a sports bra with a special device in to measure our heart rate and breathing rate, so well have a whole load of data to look at, to see what happens to women when they push themselves to these kind of extreme limits. Youve already mentioned how youre working as a team. How do you plan out your day . Its one of the harshest environments youre working in. How do you decide what you will do on the route for a particular day, and how do you rest enough . Yes, its really quite a simple life we have. Were on tokyo time now, so we can have the sun behind us, so we can navigate by shadow as well as the compass. We get up at 6 30am, and whoever is on cooking duty gets up and puts the stove on, and that takes effort because its so cold you have to wear gloves. We start skiing at 8am. Our tents go down, we pack our sledges up and we ski on a set bearing, set direction for the next few hundred kilometres, and then when we get to a certain latitude and longitude, we change our bearing to miss crevasses. Every day is the same. We ski for nine hours, and we finish skiing about 6pm, then it takes about 2. 5 hours for our evening routine. If were lucky, we can be in bed for 9 30pm so we can get nine hours of sleep before we start all over again the next day. Major natalie taylor. Joe mcfadden might have been crowned this years strictly come dancing champion, but today its the turn of former contestants to waltz their way onto the dancefloor for the strictly Christmas Special. Tim muffett caught up with the dancers and celebrities in rehearsals. Well, they have me doing a viennese waltz with brendan, which is lovely. Its just nice shes finally got a decent partner to dance with, instead of that anton fella. It didnt take long. About 45 seconds. Merry christmas, anton a bit of a royal theme this year, isnt it . You have been to Buckingham Palace, met the duchess of cornwall. You had a cheeky cha cha with her. I got a little cheeky cha cha, im not going to lie. I enjoyed it, i think she did too. She is a very close friend of craig, apparently. Is she . So he says. So he does have a friend everyone says strictly changes your life, have you been dancing ever since . This is my normal now, thats what changed. Music starts up. Cue dramatic music this is now my life. Were just watching it back now, to see if there is any tiny improvements that we could make. Compared to brian connolly, how does colin rate . They are two completely styles of dancers. So that would be really unfair of me to compare. I love you, brian, i love you, colin. Is this your own special routine youre working out here, what is this bit . This is a bit of a group dance, we are doing a jive. Well, its a jive for colin, to me itsjust running round. People say strictly changes your life, it makes people dance all the time. Did it have that effect . Absolutely. Before i used to just listen to music. Now its like, oh, you do a foxtrot to this, oh, you do a quickstep to this, oh, this is a jive. Does that make you dull at dinner parties . No, i kind of keep it in what was it like being back on this dance floor . Right now, it feels 0k. When i hear the, kimberley dancing thejive, im going to be like. What are the unusual requests you get for the Christmas Special . We have had practice reindeer ears theyre the same as normal reindeer ears. This is pashas shiny reindeer tummy. I am seeing a mustard yellow velour thing here, what is it . Gold sorry, sorry. Jeremy vines golden shoes. They are. They are huge. They are a12. It has a special coating on it. The jeremy vine coating. Wipe down, after your christmas dinner. Thats good. Ive got to do that in my dance. I have to descend from the ceiling on some sort of star, because when i did strictly, i was never allowed to fly. Massive shoes. They made gold shoes, and there may be nobody else who can wear size 12 gold shoes apart from Audley Harrison. Music starts up. The Audley Harrison music yes. Thats right, i forgot. You must never say the words Audley Harrison. I wish it could be christmas every day. You know the words youre on in a minute how different is the atmosphere on a Christmas Special, compared to the highly competitive live shows every saturday . Does it feel different . We get a christmas lunch, then theres a cheese and biscuit party. We never have cheese and biscuit parties. Cheese isnt good for the voice, though, is it . Dairy products . No. Are you competitive with each other . Not really. Dave arch over here, are they competitive with each other . Laughter. Cheering and applause. You can watch the strictly come dancing Christmas Special on bbc one at 6 30pm. Tomasz shafenaker has the weather. We were dreaming of a White Christmas, what happened . No we were, but its far too warm out there. Not all is lost. If you do wa nt there. Not all is lost. If you do want a bit of snow this christmas, you might get it if you live in the Southern Uplands of scotland and the highlands. Theres Colder Weather had in galway this evening and overnight. The winds are switching direction across the north west. Still from the south there will be rain and gales sweeping for a time, but by the end of the night we could see some show, but by the end of the night we could see some snow, 2 5 centimetres across the Southern Uplands and highlands. I dont think its going to be in glasgow and edinburgh or belfast either, but icy patches and really chilly first thing in the morning. Sunshine for many of us on boxing day in itself, but quickly from the morning into the afternoon the weather will go downhill across south western parts of england and wales. The weather front will tuck into the cold air and temperatures will be dropping rapidly tomorrow evening. Snow across parts of wales may be getting into the pennines as well. Wet in the south eventually tomorrow. Bye bye. You are watching bbc news, the latest headlines for you. You are watching bbc news, the latest headlines for you. The queen will pay tribute to how the people of manchester and london dealt with this years terror attacks. In her Christmas Day broadcast shell say the cities powerful identities had shone through in the face of appalling attacks. Meghan markle has made her first public appearance with the royal family, as she attended the traditional Christmas Day service at the church on the queens sandringham estate in norfolk. Pope francis has renewed his call for peace in the middle east. In his traditional christmas address he urged israel and the palestinians to continue to work towards a peaceful two state solution. Euston station in london is open as a shelter today and to serve a christmas dinner to hundreds of Homeless People in the capital. Volunteers from Homelessness Charities and network rail will serve the festive meal