that is of course that russia's president vladimir putin is at the moment giving his first year end news conference since the full scale invasion of ukraine. it is being carried live on all russian tv networks. it comes as they are meeting in brussels to discuss further funding for ukraine and you can see them discussing questions on the war where he affirmed his decision to invade the country.

it will come to an end sooner or later. plenty more that we've been hearing from putin. yet again of putin questioned ukraine's very identity by that ukrainians and russians were one people. he questioned ukraine's territorial integrity, claiming that huge swathes of south—eastern ukraine actually belonged to russia. he painted a very rosy picture of how things were going for his forces

and said that the situation was improving for them and for ukraine he described the situation as a tragedy. he also hinted at difficulties experienced in terms of logistics supplying his troops in ukraine and he said not everything was being delivered on time and he also hinted that russia was successful in circumventing western sanctions saying that some of the war supplies were being purchased from abroad privately. he is sounding as defiant as ever, saying russia's goals in ukraine remained unchanged, those are the same goals that he announced before the start of the invasion last year with

demilitarisation and de—nazification and saying that ukraine will not join nato. we see pictures alongside your other news conference as it continues. there is a bit more about the orchestra behind it, the choreography, it is a huge room, looks like a huge domestic television event and of course people are watching around the world but who are the journalists who are in the room there? is it a free fall and can anyone turn up and ask a question they want? it is and can anyone turn up and ask a question they want?— question they want? it is a very ti . htl question they want? it is a very tightly orchestrated _ question they want? it is a very tightly orchestrated event. - question they want? it is a very tightly orchestrated event. i - question they want? it is a very i tightly orchestrated event. i really do not believe that there is any room for accidental questions or anything not scripted. the journalists present in that room, most of them or almost all of them are russian but there are some

foreign reporters as well and difficult questions can be asked and have been asked in the past so it is possible that this year as well we will be some really tough questioning of vladimir putin. he is the kind of leader who is not totally opposed to being grilled so this is something we might see this year as well and this event can go on for another 4.5 hours so there is plenty of time for that. uk. on for another 4.5 hours so there is plenty of time for that.— plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let ou plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let you get — plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let you get back — plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let you get back to _ plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let you get back to watching - plenty of time for that. 0k, we will let you get back to watching that l let you get back to watching that news conference and you'll come back to four more of update shortly. if you want to watch it yourself, news conferences continuing as you are saying for a couple of hours so you can stay with the story by going to the bbc iplayer where we are streaming the entire event. you can go to iplayer and go to the news category via your tv. or you can go

to the iplayer app and there is plenty more on that so if you want to stay on that story, that is how you can do so. while you are talking about events in moscow, there was also a summit going on in brussels. here are the live pictures as the european council meeting is due to get under way, mark ritter there in the frame. —— mark rutter there in the frame. this is important because funding for ukraine will be high on the agenda and eu leaders will be discussing what sort of support should go to ukraine but it comes amid divisions between hungary and the rest of the block over financial and military aid to ukraine and indeed over the opening of formal talks about ukraine's possible

membership of the bloc. and we were told that the preconditions of this have not been met, saying the eu short—term budget had already been allocated and any extra funding would have to come from outside the block's joint office. would have to come from outside the block'sjoint office. but would have to come from outside the block's joint office. but we have heard from ireland's pm leo veradkar said supporting ukraine was crucial. as you can see those discussions continue so it is a busy morning here and we will be watching events in brussels as well as events in moscow so do stay with us. meanwhile, here in uk... prime minister rishi sunak says he is very pleased that parliament has "very strongly" supported his government's rwanda asylum bill and is open to toughening it up. he reiterated how the bill has reduced the number of small boat arrivals by a third. but he criticised the labour party

for blocking the bill. i'v e i've been very consistently clear, as have all ministers, if there are ways that the legislation can be improved, to be made even more effective with a respectable legal argument and maintaining the participation of the rwandans in the scheme we would be open to that. most legal experts, formerjudges have all said the legislation is incredibly strong, it is effective, it will work and the key now is to get it on the statute book and the question really is for everyone trying to block that from happening and first and foremost the labour party. we are very clear we want to stop the boats, tackle this problem, they are down by a thought and we have more to do in the conservative party is united in wanting to stop the boats and the labour party, to a person, voted against this legislation is really question for them is why they want to not stop them is why they want to not stop the boats. , ., ., the boats. returned your other breakin: the boats. returned your other breaking news _ the boats. returned your other breaking news that _ the boats. returned your other breaking news that a... - the boats. returned your other breaking news that a... that i the boats. returned your other breaking news that a... that is | the boats. returned your other - breaking news that a... that is that the father, stepmother and uncle of

a british pakistani girl who died at her home in august have pleaded not guilty to her murder. the body of zara was found and the family had left for some are the body of sara sharif. they were charged with allowing the death of a child. i'm joined now by our correspondent who has been following this ended at the old bailey. what else can you tell? this was a plea hearing at the old bailey this morning, the first time that the family have been able to answer a plea to the charges they face. all three face two charges, one is the murder of sara sharif on or about the 8th of august this year and the second is a more completely to charge called causing or allowing

the death of a child. essentially it amounts to an accusation that while they were living in the same house as sara sharif, they were aware that she was at risk, they did not prevent him from being caused to her, hence the phrase causing or allowing the death of a child. beinash batool appeared via video link while urfan sharif and faisal malik were side by side in grey jumpers. they each answered not guilty to both charges so the father of sara sharif, stepmother and uncle have all denied murdering her aunt of all denied causing or allowing her death. the trial was still set for september next year, that is the current date but it seems as though

it is possible that would shift and this case will come back here to the old bailey at the end of january this case will come back here to the old bailey at the end ofjanuary for a old bailey at the end of january for a further case old bailey at the end ofjanuary for a further case management period. thank you for bringing us up to date on the developments on that case. mps from the committee on standards have recommended that a conservative member — scott benton, of blackpool south should be suspended from the commons for 35 days after being caught in a lobbying scandal. he was suspended from the conservative party after he was accused of offering to lobby ministers on behalf of the gambling industry. if the house of commons agrees with the recommendation, it will trigger a recall petition, which could lead to a by—election in his constituency. our political correspondent harry farley told me what more we know about the case. the main headline is that it recommends a 35 day suspension and what that means crucially for the next steps is that rishi sunak could

be facing another by—election in a key seat in blackpool south. we remember scott benton one night with a majority ofjust over 3000 and the reports, as you say, are that scott benton had a serious breach of the parliamentary rules and it recommends a 35 day suspension. what happens next is mps will have to prove that, just a recommendation but if they do approve that, he could be recalled as an mp and that would trigger a by—election which obviously is not what the prime minister rishi sunak once in the build—up to a general election at some point next year. —— not what rishi sunak wants. some point next year. -- not what rishi sunak wants.— some point next year. -- not what rishi sunak wants. they will decide whether to uphold _ rishi sunak wants. they will decide whether to uphold the _ rishi sunak wants. they will decide - whether to uphold the recommendation patel is a bit more about scott benton and the area he represents. is it a marginal seat or a key seat

in terms of the so—called red wall as they describe it? this in terms of the so-called red wall as they describe it?— as they describe it? this is a key seat in blackpool _ as they describe it? this is a key seat in blackpool south - as they describe it? this is a key seat in blackpool south and - as they describe it? this is a key seat in blackpool south and it i as they describe it? this is a key seat in blackpool south and it is| seat in blackpool south and it is part of what is known as the red wall. they have traditionally voted labour and in 2019 switched to the conservatives. at some point they will pledge to get it done. he was then filmed as you mentioned by undercover reporters from the times newspaper appearing to offer to lobby for the gambling industry to take a paid role and he said he broke no rules referring himself to the commons standards committee but they have decided that it was a serious breach of the rules and he gave the impression in the committee's reports, words that he was corrupt and they said it was a

serious breach and they recommended this quite high suspension of 35 days as an mp. this quite high suspension of 35 days as an mr— days as an mp. lets go back to moscow where _ days as an mp. lets go back to moscow where russia - days as an mp. lets go back to moscow where russia pot i days as an mp. lets go back to i moscow where russia pot president putin is delivering what is usually his annual news conference which did not happen last year or so this is the first time he has taken questions in this format since the invasion of ukraine. and some of the things we have heard him say on relations with the west, are the unbridled desire to creep towards our border taking ukraine into nato and all of this led to this tragedy was the events in donbas and it all led to the tragedy we are now experiencing and he said they forced us into these actions, what the us conceived and organised europe stands and silently watches or plays and sings along with them they are or how can we build relations with

them, so that some comments that mr putin made about the west, perhaps they are unsurprising, i'm joined of course by my colleague who has been watching that news conference and every second of it. what do you make of those comments ijust read out then? they are unsurprising, of course. ., , , , then? they are unsurprising, of course. ,, ., then? they are unsurprising, of course. ., , , , ., ., course. not surprising at all. in fact, very _ course. not surprising at all. in fact, very little _ course. not surprising at all. in fact, very little about _ course. not surprising at all. in fact, very little about the i course. not surprising at all. in fact, very little about the q i course. not surprising at all. in| fact, very little about the q and course. not surprising at all. in l fact, very little about the q and a this year has been surprising. vladimir putin was my worldview is based on this idea that russia is involved in a centuries—old battle against the west and much of his policies rest on that idea. he has been speaking for about an hour and a half in the first hour was very heavily focused on ukraine. now that focus is shifting to other issues.

in the past couple of minutes he has been speaking about argentina for example and its economic woes and he has been talking about how important it is for countries such as russia to be less dependent on the american dollar but overall his focus on ukraine reveals a bigger issue, it is to vladimir putin and interestingly watching russian state tv relay of the q and a, the questions that are being shown on huge screens at the back of the hall, apparently they come in from people phoning in and some of them are much more hard—hitting and difficult to answer than the

questions vladimir putin has actually answered. one of them is, and i'm seeing reports of this person in the russian social media, why is your reality different from ours? so it shows how vladimir putin is keen to talk about issues that are important to him and in a way that highlights him as a competent leader but not all russians are prepared to accept that kind of speaking. prepared to accept that kind of s-ueakin. ., ,., prepared to accept that kind of sheakin _ ., , ., , speaking. that is an interesting oint i speaking. that is an interesting point i want _ speaking. that is an interesting point i want to _ speaking. that is an interesting point i want to be _ speaking. that is an interesting point i want to be clear - speaking. that is an interesting point i want to be clear about i speaking. that is an interesting i point i want to be clear about this, people can phone in? or is that separate? there is a phone in on russian tv also getting questions? they can phone in, e—mail questions. there is a website to send them in. to vladimir putin himself to be part of the news conference? to to vladimir putin himself to be part of the news conference?— to vladimir putin himself to be part of the news conference? to his team and of course — of the news conference? to his team and of course this _ of the news conference? to his team and of course this is _ of the news conference? to his team and of course this is a _ of the news conference? to his team and of course this is a very _ and of course this is a very carefully staged, managed event and

of course there is very little room for unscripted questions but it's interesting that it is still possible to see them on screens at the back of the hall even though he may not actually answer them. that is fascinating. _ may not actually answer them. that is fascinating. let's _ may not actually answer them. that is fascinating. let's speak about things he has asked about or may not have been asked about, has he been asked about a wagner at all? he have been asked about, has he been asked about a wagner at all?- asked about a wagner at all? he has been asked about _ asked about a wagner at all? he has been asked about private _ asked about a wagner at all? he has been asked about private military i been asked about private military companies and he has said people from what he called his circle have been fighting as part of a private military company and some have died, apparently people he knew have died fighting for those pmcs as they are known and he was keen to stress that benefits enjoyed by soldiers from

russia's regular army and private military companies will be the same so again this shows that this is an issue that worries the public in russia but at the same time it is important to remember that according to russian law, those activities are illegal and yet private military companies exist and that is something whichjust companies exist and that is something which just shows what state law and order in russia is currently in. state law and order in russia is currently im— state law and order in russia is currently in— state law and order in russia is currentl in. ., , ., ., currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy _ currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy one. _ currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy one. you _ currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy one. you can - currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy one. you can go i currently in. that continues on and it's a lengthy one. you can go to l it's a lengthy one. you can go to the iplayer app to watch that event on your mobile or tablet. moving on

to another big story for us and that is of course the developments in the israel— gaza war and israel cosmic bombing of the gaza strip has continued unabated and in the lead up continued unabated and in the lead up to to visit on thursday by the us national security adviserjake sullivan. these images show you scene in the town of rafah this morning. they say the air strikes have killed at least 19 people and us officials say mrs allen is expected to call for greater position in strikes on hamas. the un general assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of a ceasefire. we can take your life to southern gaza and this is the scene outside medical hospital in khan younis, nasser medical hospital, you can see crowds there and that is khan younis, the centre of some of the israeli strikes on to talk more

about the medical situation in gaza earlier, i spoke to melanie ward, who is the ceo of medical aid for palestinians.— who is the ceo of medical aid for palestinians. ~ . �* ., ., palestinians. what i'm hearing from staff on the — palestinians. what i'm hearing from staff on the ground _ palestinians. what i'm hearing from staff on the ground is _ palestinians. what i'm hearing from staff on the ground is that _ palestinians. what i'm hearing from staff on the ground is that every i staff on the ground is that every day which passes makes it more and more difficult to sustain human life in gaza. that is because of the systematic denial of food, water, medicine, and fuel to the civilian population in gaza, including to the hospitals and it is because of israel's indiscriminate bombing so killing any civilians. around 10,000 children will be killed by the bombardments in the air and the horrific truth is that the distribution has largely stopped including in the south of gaza with some limited exceptions which means we cannot get in the number of trucks that are needed, myself, medical aid for palestinians, we have seven tracks that have been waiting for days now to getting and have not been able to, and even when they do get in it are so dangerous because of the ongoing bombing with staff unable to get them to people

in need and this morning we are particularly concerned about the patients in a hospital in the north of gaza which, two days ago, was surrounded by israeli troops where there are 65 patients including 12 children and even this morning we are hearing that hospital staff there are unable even to prepare a milk formula for the babies there, some of whom, to of the mothers were shot dead by israelis a couple of days ago so the situation could not be more grim, we were running out of words to use to describe what is happening to civilians in gaza. situations on opposite bottles, i was talking to a representative from unicef yesterday spoke about how he has visited hospitals that do not even have clean water. buy your estimations, how many hospitals in gaza are able to function even partially now?— gaza are able to function even partially now? gaza are able to function even artiall now? ., ., partially now? fewer than one third of hospitals — partially now? fewer than one third

of hospitals are _ partially now? fewer than one third of hospitals are functioning - partially now? fewer than one third of hospitals are functioning now- partially now? fewer than one third of hospitals are functioning now so | of hospitals are functioning now so thatis of hospitals are functioning now so that is fewer than 12, even primary health care centres have been taken out of action and it is completely impossible to save lives with ambulances not functioning, the civil defence which usually takes people out of the rubble is unable to do a job and we cannot get supplies into the hospital that are needed so really there are very tiny numbers in the south of gaza that are still providing emergency room services and as i said, more and more of the hospitals across gaza have been systematically dismantled ljy have been systematically dismantled by the military action that is taking place. hospitals are supposed to be a haven under international law, they are supposed to be protected and what we are seeing in this horrific conflict as they have become battlefields themselves and for the patients who were there, it is absolutely terrifying and completely unacceptable and we are unable to sustain human life in this situation and as i said we have trucks of medical supplies waiting to get into gazza and when they do

get in we cannot even get them to all the hospitals that need them because israelis will not let aid supplies across the front line and there was a convoy couple of days ago that ran to the north and try to take medical supplies to some of the hospitals and that came under fire and there are desperate people, children, women, people in intensive care who need to be kept alive and we cannot do that. and from a hospital we are hearing this morning that some patients have started to die because medical staff are rounded up and detained by the israeli military. let's bring you some breaking news that has come into us from denmark and the copenhagen police and the danish security and intelligence service have said they have made several arrests on... in relation to a terror attack they say was being prepared. they have made several arrests in a coordinated action across the country. the danish prime

minister said this is extremely serious. fora number of minister said this is extremely serious. for a number of years now we've seen people living in denmark or not wish us well who are against our freedom and who are against danish society. we do not have any more details on who the suspected attackers are. all we know is a police briefing has been called at 12 gmt at the copenhagen police headquarters. we also do not know how many arrests were made. the police and intelligence services have not disclosed that butjust to recap their that there has been, according to danish police, several arrests in an anti—terror operation in what is about one hour and five minutes from now we are expecting to hear from the police and kevin minutes from now we are expecting to hearfrom the police and kevin hagan who will bring us more details on that. before we leave you at this hour, let's take you back to moscow where russia's president putin continues his news conference, he

has been speaking now for close to two hours, not sure how long it is going to go on for but these are lengthy affairs, this is president putin's annual news conference. and it is the first one that he has held since russia's invasion of ukraine, it did not happen last year. so far, most of the questions unsurprisingly have focused on russia's invasion of ukraine. journalists are invited to ask questions and you can see them in the background there, putting their hands up, ready to ask a question and i understand my colleague steve rosenberg, bbc�*s russia editor, is in that hall and hopefully at some point we will see him asking his question. i will be back after a short break but now it is time for the weather with carol. after a cloudy start with patchy,

light rain in england and wales, it will brighten up, bar one or two showers. but the cloud and drizzle will be slow to clear from the southeast. it's courtesy of these two weather fronts continuing the journey southwards and eastwards. isobars telling there own story, that we got windy conditions across the north and west. the wind coming in from a westerly direction, blowing and shower through western scotland and northern ireland. we could see are not isolated showers in wales and the southwest through the afternoon with the cloud slowest to clear in east anglia and kent. these are the temperatures, 7 celsius to about 9 celsius in the east but into double figures in the west. as we head through the evening and overnight, there will be patchy mist and fog forming across some parts of england and it's going to be cold enough for a touch of frost in the southeast and also the northeast of england tonight but generally it will be a cold night. high pressure is still in charge of our weather but around the top of that tomorrow we have the weather front coming in and it's still going to be windy across the northwest and the north of scotland.

here's our weather front coming in, inducing rain in the north, a bit more cloud and western areas with spots of drizzle, pushed further east under the clear skies, there will be some sunny spells but it will still be cooler, 7 celsius 8 celsius in eastern england, 12 in belfast. at the weekend, we return to some yellow and amber on the charts, indicating the temperature is going to rise a touch. on saturday, we've still got this ridge of high pressure clinging on. it's going to be a windy day, especially with exposure in the north and west and we've got the weather front drifting in, bringing in heavy rain. south of that, there will be some showers but saturday is going to be quite a cloudy day anyway. the best breaks will be to the east of the hills, the pennines and also the east of the hills in wales but temperature is widely tend celsius to 13 celsius. sunday, a little uncertainty into how far south as rains go to travel but it looks like it could get as far south as south wales. for southern parts of england and the midlands, is looking drier

and brighter with some sunshine and still mild.

live from london, this is bbc news. president putin vows to "strengthen" russia's sovereignty in his first major news conference since the invasion of ukraine. as mr putin speaks, eu leaders arrive in brussels to discuss further funding for kyiv. israel continues its bombardment of gaza. the father, stepmother and uncle of sara sharif pleaded not guilty to her murder. hello and welcome. i'm rajini vaidyanathan.

vladimir putin is holding a news conference. he has vowed to strengthen russia's sovereignty in his first major news conference since the invasion of ukraine. he said peace would only be possible after what he called kyiv�*s demilitarisation. that press conference which is being carried live on all main russian tv channels comes as eu leaders are meeting in brussels to discuss further funding for ukraine. you can see there someone from the public is asking a question of president putin. she is in her home as you can see. we will be going to that live in a second. when president putin was asked about normalising relations with europe, he said he was open to the idea, but that, and i quote, it's not up to us, we did not ruin relations. they did that, they have always tried to

push us back. president putin went on to say...