alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just of christians, fled. this was a coming together, notjust of christians, muslims helped prepare the church for this service. and they were here as well as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and their western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed and much damage was done. now the healing must begin and the christmas service isa must begin and the christmas service is a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace there is no life. our message is that after everything that happened with our glorious victory against islamic state group and others, we must al

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just of christians, muslims helped prepare the church for this service. and they were here too as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and their western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed and much damage was done. now the healing must begin and the christmas service is a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace there is no life. our message is that after everything that happened with our glorious victory against islamic state group and others, we must all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: we are from the

alan johnston public bbc news. afshin molavi is an expert in middle eastern politics and is a senior fellow at the foreign policy institute atjohns hopkins university. thank you forjoining us. can i ask you first of all about the iranian government's move to restrict social media use — what effect is that likely to have when it comes to these protests? well, i think it will certainly have an effect. after all social media is like a telegram, about half of the population who use the apps accords telegram, it has become part of the daily life of iran, it is where you share photos and jokes but increasingly it is where people are mobilising political protests. but it is also worth noting that we should not overstate twitter, instagram or telegram. after roll iran had quite an extraordinary revolution in 1970s nine before social media apps existed, before the internet existed. so, ithink existed, before the internet existed. so, i think it will have an effect, but if the revolutionary conditions are there, then socia

alan johnston has more. on the protests go. water cannon, deployed in the heart of tehran late on this fourth day of unrest in the streets. as they marched down one of the capital's avenues, they made their feelings known. "death to the dictator," they chanted. on saturday night, gunshots rang out in a western city. a casualty is carried away. two people died. but officials insist the police didn't open fire. they blame the deaths on provocateurs in the crowd. translation: in these clashes, traces of groups and anti—regime media and western intelligence services are visible. in these clashes, no bullets were fired by the police, military or security forces towards the people. the goal was for the protests to end peacefully. the night also brought violence to other cities. a governor's office was set ablaze. and in mashhad, the security forces watched as some of their motorbikes burned. the protests initially focused on economic grievances, but they've become highly political, with demands for an end to the rule of the clerics

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just christians. fled. this was a coming together, notjust christians. was once helped to prepare the church for this special service. they were here at as well, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin. the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. our message is that after everything that happened and our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must now all call for peace. among those in the church

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget — the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted, and many fled. this was a coming together not just of christians. muslims helped prepare the church for this special service. and they were here, too, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed, and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin. and the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. 0ur message is that, after everything that happened with our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: we are

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just christians. muslims helped to prepare the church for this special service. they were here at as well, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin. the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. 0ur message is that after everything that happened and our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must now all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: we are from

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget — the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted, and many fled. this was a coming together not just of christians. muslims helped prepare the church for this special service, and they were here, too, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and their western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed, and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin, and the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. 0ur message is that after everything that happened, with our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: w

alan johnston, bbc news. now to bethlehem, where security is tight as pilgrims arrive in the city ahead of a midnight mass this evening to see in christmas. celebrations are taking place amid rising tensions in the region after the us decision to recognise jerusalem as israel's capital earlier this month. 0ur correspondent tom bateman told us about the day's events in bethlehem. today has very much been a day of ritual, a day of festive tradition. we watched as the procession of christians followed the route along star street into manger square here up star street into manger square here up to the church of the nativity, which is the 1500 —year—old basilica, built on the site it is believed christ was born. that happens every year, there is a ritual tradition to all of this. then we expect midnight mass will ta ke then we expect midnight mass will take place both with the most senior roman catholic clergymen of this area where he will talk to the gathered congregation, and also the palestinian authority p

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget — the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted, and many fled. this was a coming together not just of christians — muslims helped prepare the church for this special service and they were here, too, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and their western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed, and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin, and the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. 0ur message is that after everything that happened, with our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation:

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget — the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted, and many fled. this was a coming together not just of christians. muslims helped prepare the church for this special service, and they were here, too, as the worship unfolded. mosul was the scene of months of ferocious street fighting. iraqi forces and their western allies battled to drive out the militants. thousands of civilians were killed, and much damage was done. now, the healing must begin, and the christmas service was a small part of that vast process. translation: without peace, there is no life. our message is that after everything that happened, with our glorious victory against islamic state and others, we must all call for peace. among those in the church, the message was being heard. translation: w

alan johnston came to see me a few minutes ago. he sta rts to see me a few minutes ago. he starts by talking about the president being disqualified from further peace talks. mr werder gamma, king abdullah, the —— mr werder worm, king abdullah, all of them heaping criticism on —— mr tim one. bowloader bass, the palestinian leader, he seemed almost personally it affronted by what mr trump had done. he suggested he had simply given awayjerusalem, and more importantly mr abbas talked in a straightforward manner, he said the americans were biased and the alison in people were no longer prepared to accept an in people were no longer prepared to acceptan aircan in people were no longer prepared to accept an air can roll in the mediation process in the effort to achieve a palestinian israeli peace. but is quite something because for many years the americans have really been the primary mediator. absolutely, you and i have watched this tortured effort to achieve some sort of peace in israel for years and years. might have have the deepest reservations on occasions about t

let's talk to our correspondent alan johnston. it is very complicated with two people who have been president, two groupings and outside forces. what is it that we need to understand about yemen?m forces. what is it that we need to understand about yemen? it is a fragmented, fractured, complex conflict. the big picture is, on one side you have the saudi led coalition which supports the internationally recognised yemeni government. on the other side, you have got the houthi rebel movement which is in alliance with the forces of the former president mr saleh. it is those forces that are crumbling into violence in the streets. right now, the alliance between them and the saudi for seems to be coming apart. dramatic news today with the former president mr saleh reaching across the front lines to his enemies saying he might be able to talk if a list of far—reaching deals we re talk if a list of far—reaching deals were reached. this could be a turning point. this might be a moment when diplomatic, political, military balance of the

johnston or al jazeera ventura county home drawing california but snowing elsewhere in the states his view was just stuff go to the still the small stuff and run the really it's own funds to the dry air dry air brought on the snow so far south let's take a look at the charts and see exactly what's going on because in the west as we were here in california very dry air there and the weather is not helping with the fight against the wildfires at all and then we've also got the dry air pushing further south but because the it's very dry it can actually get colder than it would do if you had a lot of moisture with it and as it has it's got so cold that eventually when it started to rain it's actually given the snow rather than rain so that's why this ystem actually given us a fair amount of wintry weather rather than the rain you might expect quite as far south as we've seen it so in the southern parts of texas then we've had scenes like this looks more like that plan doesn't it but this is the seven parts of texas we will so seeing more elsewhere in louisiana and other parts of the deep

alan johnston reports. they gathered in mosul‘s cathedral, marking a christmas they will never forget, the first christmas after the war. under the rule of the islamic state militants, this would have been impossible. there could be no christian worship in public. the community was persecuted and many fled. this was a coming together, not just christians. muslims helped to prepare the church for this special service.