LONDON (AP) — London's Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square was lit up Thursday as part of a British tradition with roots in the Norwegian forest.
The tree symbolizes the friendship between London and Oslo in an annual ceremony that highlights the history of the countries' alliance.
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Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe, right and Lord Mayor of Westminster, Paul Dimoldenberg, cut down the annual Christmas tree for London, in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Jonas Faeste Laksekjoen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts, with a choir singing carols, for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Here's how the tradition began:
The bond between the two countries was forged during World War II. When Nazi Germany invaded Norway in 1940, King Haakon VII and his government-in-exile fled to London. Much of Norway's resistance work grew out of Britain.
The BBC, and its Norwegian counterpart NRK, broadcast the news in Norwegian from London. The reports were a vital lifeline for Norwegians, who listened in secret because of the Nazi radio ban.
As a token of its thanks, the Oslo city government established the Christmas tree gift in 1947, two years after the war ended.
The tree is always a Norwegian spruce, or Picea abies, grown naturally in the Oslo forest. A few are usually selected as possible contenders five to 10 years ahead of time, and receive extra care leading up to the final selection.
Nicknamed “Ever Oslo,” this year’s tree is some 20 meters (22 yards) tall and around 60 years old. It beat out two other trees, dubbed “Nordic Star” and “Fjord Fir,” for the honor. The felling ceremony occurred Nov. 21.
After the tree was ceremoniously cut Nov. 21, it was loaded into a special cradle and driven about 180 kilometers (112 miles) to a port, where it was rinsed to remove salt accumulated from the roads.
From there, it traveled roughly 26 hours aboard a ship — stored below deck to protect it from saltwater — to Immingham, about 239 kilometers (149 miles) north of Trafalgar Square in London. It continued on by truck to the British capital.
A replacement tree will be planted in the forest outside Oslo.
Billed on social media as “Britain’s national tree-sure,” the lighting ceremony signals the start of London’s countdown to Christmas and is traditionally held on the first Thursday in December.
Strings of lights hang vertically, following the Norwegian tradition.
The tree will remain in the square until Jan. 5, also known as the Twelfth Night of Christmas. It will then be taken down to be chipped and composted for mulch.
Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe, right and Lord Mayor of Westminster, Paul Dimoldenberg, cut down the annual Christmas tree for London, in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Jonas Faeste Laksekjoen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
The traditional lighting up ceremony starts, with a choir singing carols, for the annual Norwegian gifted Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, in London, England, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
One U.S. service member was rescued and at least one was missing after two U.S. military planes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the war began nearly five weeks ago.
It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.
Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.
The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Here is the latest:
U.S. and Israeli warplanes continued to pound Iran Saturday, hitting several targets including a petrochemical facility, Iranian media reported.
Iran's official English-language newspaper Tehran Times reported that an airstrike hit a facility belonging to Iran’s Agriculture Ministry in the western city of Mehran.
The newspaper said another air raid struck Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone in the southwestern Khuzestan province.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported several explosions heard late Saturday morning in the facility.
Mehr, another semiofficial news agency, reported that the strikes hit four companies within the zone.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the veiled threat in a social media post late Friday, asking about how busy oil tanker and container ship traffic is through the strait.
The 20-mile (32-kilometer) strait links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and is one of the busiest chokepoints in global trade, with more than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships passing through it.
Iran has already greatly disrupted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, sending fuel prices skyrocketing and jolting the world economy.
Disrupting transit through the Bab el-Madeb would force shipping firms to route their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, further hitting prices.
Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.
It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”
This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.
Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.
It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.
It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”
Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.
Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.
It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.
Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.
The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.
Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
