fierce fighting is still raging but the un security council is set to vote on another call for a ceasefire. talks are under way between parties in northern ireland in an attempt to restore power—sharing. care home workers tell the bbc they feel exploited and trapped by the firm that brought them to work in the uk. and we meet the shop owners taking matters into their own hands to protect their business this christmas. and coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news: we've had the draw for the last 16 in the champions league, and holders manchester city will face fc copenhagen. good afternoon.

there's growing international pressure on israel to reduce civilian casualties in the war in gaza. tonight at the un, the security council is due to vote on a demand for israel and hamas to allow aid into the territory. and here, the prime minister rishi sunak has again called this morning for a sustainable ceasefire, saying too many civilian lives have been lost. on the ground in gaza, fierce fighting continues — with at least one child killed in a strike on the nasser hospital — according to the hamas—run health ministry. the bbc has been filming there, as our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports from jerusalem and a warning you may find some of the images in her report distressing. panic at the nasser hospital last night. wounded children brought in for treatment were newly injured by an israeli artillery strike, the hospital says.

one 13—year—old, who had already lost her parents, her sibling her leg, lost her life. recently, she had spoken tojournalists, appealing for treatment overseas. "my name is donia abu mohsen," she says. "my dream is to become a doctor and treat our children." this small hospital in khan younis is increasingly finding itself near the front line, as israel's military has pushed into southern gaza. now doctors here say it is a struggle to care for patients at all. this is the last residue, as a major hospital in the south. it's the last residue for patients. it's the last sanctuary for people, as shelter. earlier in the day, this was british emergency doctor chris hook at the nasser hospital. he is at the end of a gruelling month in gaza. dr chris, who is normally based

at bristol royal infirmary, but has worked on other war and disaster zones, told the bbc he'd never seen such a scale of injuries and death. there's not enough space, there's not enough supply. there's not enough staff to treat all these injuries, and more keep coming, and you can hear even now, shelling going on around. the hospital site remains packed with thousands of displaced people, and last night the number of casualties could have been far higher. it appears the shell which hit here didn't explode. the israeli military hasn't commented on whether the hospital was a target, but it said it was attacking terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the city. today, more israeli strikes on khan younis, seen as a stronghold of hamas. even as international calls for a ceasefire in gaza are mounting, the war here remains intense. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem.

yolande joins us from jerusalem. how much difference will growing calls for a ceasefire actually make? it is hard to say but really there is so much pressure right now, the us defence secretary in tel aviv for talks with israeli leaders. the us, israel's closest ally, is pressing for it to move from this high intensity operations in gaza to lower intensity fighting more targeted, going after hamas leaders. israel is present more time. the government spokesman said earlier to ask how mass is hiding behind civilian infrastructure —— to ask a mass —— said to us how mass is hiding behind civilian infrastructure. there is global pressure from other allies pushing

for a ceasefire and we are seeing that in negotiations taking place at the un security council. add in israel pressure for a ceasefire deal linked to a new hostage release deal, particularly after we saw last week these three israeli hostages killed by israeli forces mistakenly in gaza even as they held up white flags. that is causing shock and consternation here. many thanks. the prime minister has said he takes "extremely seriously" the allegations against the former conservative peer baroness mone. speaking on a visit to raf lossiemouth he pointed out that the government was taking legal action against ppe medpro, the company which is run by her husband. our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. baroness mone admitted lying to the

press, but her role in securing contracts for ppe for the company run by her husband during the pandemic. those contracts were worth £60 million of profit for the company. ppe medpro has been investigated by the national crime agency for two years. the department of health is taking legal action to recoup £122 million from the company for gowns supplied in the pandemic which did not meet specifications. baroness mone has maintained the contract was fulfilled, she has done nothing wrong. today the prime minister said it was a measure how seriously the government was taking this that it had launched legal action the company. what i would say is the government takes these things incredibly seriously which is why they are pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters. that is how seriously i take it, and the government takes it.

but it is also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation, and because of that, there is not much further that i can add. rishi sunak distanced himself there from the conservative peer michelle miller and interestingly labour are getting involved because michelle miller had said she contacted the cabinet and star michael gove in the pandemic to offer help in procuring ppe. what they want to see is a government minister in the house of commons today or tomorrow to answer questions about the extent of contact between michelle miller and government ministers and officials. they are trying to keep the focus not just on they are trying to keep the focus notjust on baroness mone but on the government's actions during the pandemic. iain watson, our political correspondent. in northern ireland, hopes there might be a deal to restore power sharing before christmas seem to have been dashed. it's understood the biggest unionist party, the democratic unionists, have ruled it out. northern ireland has been without a devolved government now for nearly two years,

with civil servants running government departments instead of ministers, and no new laws passed on health, on education, or the environment. so, how did we get here? well, since february last year, the dup has been refusing to engage in power—sharing with the nationalist party sinn fein. its mostly because of a row over post—brexit trade arrangements — which the dup claim undermine northern ireland's place in the united kingdom. the uk government is thought to be offering a financial deal worth £2.5 billion to get the assembly at stormont up and running again. but for now, there's been 22 months of political stalemate and gridlock. from hillsborough castle, where there are more talks between the parties today, here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. this is a time of year when people tend to think of christmas parties rather than political parties. but in northern ireland,

the festive season has often brought frantic negotiations. the 25th of december can be seen as an unofficial deadline. the westminster government had hoped that the devolved power—sharing assembly at stormont would be recalled this week to appoint ministers. there had been signs that a deal to bring back devolution was moving closer. but it's understood the democratic unionist party has now ruled out returning to stormont before christmas. the dup has said it's not being led by calendar dates. other parties say patience has run out. well, obviously it's the dup that we're all waiting for to make a decision. but in northern ireland politics, we're well used to those deadline points. and there have been instances in the past where at the very last minute, when it looked like the light was going out, the light came on. and i would urge my dup colleagues to actually put people first. what we've had instead is raising waiting lists and the health service, we've had public sector workers out on strike

because they haven't been paid properly and all because we don't have a government. so there really is no reason to wait any longer. the people are bored of all of this and they're quite angry that politicians who are being paid to go to work, aren't going to work. people working in the public sector in northern ireland say their pay has fallen behind england, scotland and wales. a series of strikes is continuing, the most recent by transport workers at the weekend. we have seen teachers out. we have seen nurses out and now we're seeing transport workers out. there's a serious crisis in the public finances in northern ireland. the trade union movement is on record as saying of course it would be better to have local institutions in place for all those things like local democracy, accountability. there are so many important issues going _ there are so many important issues going on_ there are so many important issues going on that we need to deal with. and i_ going on that we need to deal with. and i feel_ going on that we need to deal with. and i feel everything is being swept

by the _ and i feel everything is being swept by the wayside. whether stormont does return depends on whether the dup lifts its veto on power—sharing. the party's been pushing for the trade border with great britain to be eased. it says brexit arrangements have damaged northern ireland's place in the uk. the dup is being told not to budge by more hard—line unionists. the negotiations today will focus on financial support for a new devolved government. but the politicians who are here still don't know if they'll get to spend the money. chris is at hillsborough castle for us now. it looks like it is still stalemate over christmas, how do you see things playing out? the chances of a big breakthrough today have lessened. but there is no sign either of there being a major breakdown on the cards. politicians have been arriving at hillsborough

castle to begin talks initially with westminster government officials about the financial package. tomorrow ministers in london had hoped they would be in a position to bring forward legislation in parliament the last day before christmas alongside a deal to bring back the stormont assembly. westminster is now seeing negotiations at hillsborough will be all about the finances and they won't be giving a running commentary on the bigger picture. the dup are making the point they are setting their own agenda and won't accept an outcomejust their own agenda and won't accept an outcome just because the timing is what the government or anyone else would want. the three other parties eligible to take up ministerial positions in a devolved government are likely to be critical of the dup leader today, are likely to be critical of the dup leadertoday, including are likely to be critical of the dup leader today, including sinn fein and it is their vice president who is in line to be the irish nationalist to be prime minister if stone is revived. the question for

the uk government is how they can push this process on now a pre—christmas deal does not look like it will be secured, can they bring about a resolution in the new year. our ireland correspondent, thank you. the chief executive of sellafield nuclear site says there's no evidence its computer systems have been hacked by hostile groups linked to russia and china, claims first made in the guardian newspaper. and he's also rejected allegations of serious safety problems at the plant. our business correspondent, theo leggett, reports from sellafield on the cumbrian coast. sellafield is western europe's most hazardous nuclear site. high—level radioactive waste is stored here, as well as 140 tonnes of plutonium. security is intense. so, claims its it systems have been hacked are extremely serious. the chief executive insists they are entirely unfounded.

we have got absolutely no evidence to suggest that our systems have been hacked in the fashion you have mentioned there and was mentioned in the paper — by a state actor, at all. you say there has been no evidence of a hack in the way mentioned by the newspaper. is there any evidence of a hack full stop? no, we have got very robust multi—layer protection systems that would indicate if anything like that had happened. it has also been alleged that crumbling and decaying old facilities like this are simply unsafe and could present a risk to the public or even trigger a nuclear disaster. this vast open—air pond contains hundreds of tonnes of used nuclear fuel, and radioactive sludge that has accumulated over decades. the challenge now is to keep it safe because it is an old facility, while at the same time carrying out the long process of decommissioning it. the question is, is that process being done fast enough? sellafield insists it is. work to clean and empty the pond

is well under way using a fleet of robot submarines. this building, meanwhile, is a rubbish dump for decades' worth of nuclear scrap. but a leak unseen and inaccessible is letting radioactive fluids seep into the ground. retrieving the waste using this mechanical grab will take years. sellafield denies it is a problem that is being ignored. we are straining every sinew to accelerate safely what we have to do to stop the leak, and the best way to do that is to remove the waste safely so that we can get there as soon as we can. the office for nuclear regulation agreed there was no evidence sellafield's it networks have been compromised. but they told us: "sellafield ltd is currently not meeting the high standards that we require in cybersecurity." and on the broader issues, it said, "there are areas where improvements are required, but there is no suggestion that this is compromising public safety". 70 years of the nuclear industry have left sellafield with

a difficult and dangerous legacy. but the latest controversy illustrates another major problem — a severe lack of public trust. theo leggett, bbc news, sellafield. the time is 1:16. our top story this afternoon... fierce fighting is still raging in the gaza strip but the un security council is set to vote on another call for a ceasefire. and still to come, we'll be asking if covid rates are on the rise again. and coming up in the sport on in the next 15 minutes on bbc news... a chip off the old block. woods junior and senior take part in the father and son challenge in orlando. overseas staff in a care home near newcastle have told the bbc they feel exploited and trapped by the firm that brought

them to the uk to work. an undercover investigation by bbc panorama also saw low staffing levels, which health professionals say are putting vulnerable residents at risk. the company which runs the care home denies any suggestion of systematic bad practice. our social affairs editor, alison holt, reports. an undercover panorama reporter spent eight weeks working as a care assistant here at addison court residential and nursing homejust outside newcastle. more than 50 residents live here, paying an average of £1,100 a week. the reporter is soon told they're short of nurses. prestwick care, which runs the home, says one nurse on duty is adequate as they're backed up by a team of care staff. but this nurse is struggling.

she's from india and says she needs the visa, which is sponsored by prestwick care. and panorama has seen evidence of why some overseas staff might feel trapped. this contract from a nurse who used to work at the home shows he was told he'd have to pay more than £4,000 if he left, including home office and legal fees. the government says employers should pay this. prestwick care says it is reviewing repayment clauses in staff contracts. analysis of the accounts of the home's parent company suggests it's making high profits from its 15 care homes, but has a lower number of staff per bed than some of its competitors. aesthetically, addison court was beautiful, but the care wasn't. tracey�*s 79—year—old mother, joyce bird, used to live at the home.

there had been concerns about unexplained bruises. she had alzheimer's and died last may. althouthoyce was meant to have one—to—one care, a postmortem concluded she was alone when she died. the social worker would always say to me, "your mum should never have a single bruise on her." so my thoughts were that there were numerous times that she had been left unattended and that's why she was falling as much as she did. katie is an nhs nurse who used to train staff at the home weekly. over two years, she made 33 safeguarding alerts, including about unexplained bruises and injuries to residents. families think their loved one's going to 24—hour care because they get around the clock care and they're getting looked after. and that's not what i witnessed. prestwick care is run by bunty malhotra. at a meeting for his indian staff, he makes it clear loyalty is two—way.

all nurses have to be registered with the nursing and midwifery council. it's known as their pin. oh, my god. he's almost justifying that if you make mistakes, we're going to cover it up. prestwick care says any suggestion of systematic wrongdoing or bad practice would be unfair and inaccurate, and that the safety and wellbeing of staff and residents is paramount. alison holt, bbc news. you can see more on that

story on panorama: care workers under pressure on bbc one tonight at 7pm, or on the bbc iplayer now. the son of the hong kong pro—democracy activistjimmy lai says his father's trial is entirely for show. the veteran media tycoon has gone on trial, accused of undermining the territory's national security under new legislation imposed by china. his son says the uk government needs to keep up pressure on beijing. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. that's the lesson to be learned, from the price war in england, definitely... jimmy lai, media mogul, democracy campaigner and british citizen. accused by the hong kong authorities are breaking national security laws. today, he arrived in court amidst tight security, welcomed by a small group of supporters protesting his innocence — at least when the hundreds of police let them speak. isupportjimmy lai, i support apple daily, i support the truth.

it's very important for the whole world now. mr lai, here on the bottom left, is accused of colluding with foreign governments and publishing seditious material, which he denies. just the latest set of charges he's faced since emerging as one of the highest profile campaigners in the pro—democracy demonstrations that rocked the former british colony in 2019. he's already spent three years in jail for other charges, his case becoming an international cause, with the us, eu and uk all calling for his release. last week, lord cameron met his son, sebastien, the foreign office. in a statement, the foreign secretary said he was concerned at the politically motivated prosecution of mr lai for exercising his freedom of expression, and he called upon the hong kong authorities to end their prosecution and release the media boss immediately. that prompted china's foreign ministry spokesman to accuse the uk and the us of a serious violation

of the rule of law, and what he called blatant political manoeuvring. mr lai's family left court knowing the trial could last months, with him facing life in prison if convicted. but on trial too is hong kong's creaking reputation for media freedom and judicial independence, and secure investment. james landale, bbc news. with a week to go to christmas there are plenty of anecdotal reports that more of us are being struck down by covid. while it's hard to know exactly because of the lack of widespread testing, there are figures that also show a sharp rise in flu infections, and hospital admissions in england for flu in the past week. our health editor, hugh pym, is here. what is going on? well, i think --eole what is going on? well, i think peeple have — what is going on? well, i think peeple have got _ what is going on? well, i think people have got used - what is going on? well, i think people have got used what is going on? well, i think --eole have not used to the what is going on? well, i think people have got used what is going on? well, i think --eole have not used to the fact people have got used to the fact that the mantra is living with covid and it is going to come back every

yearin and it is going to come back every year in some shape or form. it's always out there. and the state has given people's freedom back to move as they see fit, and there is no further financial support for free testing and eligibility for vaccines has been tightened up. but that means that some people will get quite ill with covid. for some, it will remain a pretty minor inconvenience, but we have had these anecdotal reports of people having had covid and feeling it was just as bad as the last bout. i've had it myself recently, it does leave you feeling pretty fatigued and tired for several days. so what is going on here? well, first of all, eligibility for vaccines, as i suggested, is 65 and over. this time last year it was 50 and over. so there is a group there he would have had a boosterjab last year who would not have been eligible this time. so, immunity has certainly waned in that group. also, it may well have waned and a whole swathes

of the rest of the population, who had it last time, more than a year ago, or even before that. then the virus is always evolving. so, immune systems need time to catch up with that. now, with flu, we are certainly seeing an uptick in hospital admissions and there is some concern amongst health chiefs, there is a warning to get out and get yourflu jab. with there is a warning to get out and get your flu jab. with covid hospital admissions, the number of weekly admissions had gone up, as of december the 8th, but it is still only back where it was in october. of only back where it was in october. of course, hospital admissions lag behind infections being detected. but i think, just to put that in perspective, it is certainly not out of line in a big way with what we have seen in recent months. many thanks indeed. _ have seen in recent months. many thanks indeed. hugh _ have seen in recent months. many thanks indeed. hugh pym, - have seen in recent months. many thanks indeed. hugh pym, our- thanks indeed. hugh pym, our health editor. now a look at some other stories making the news today. conservative mp miriam cates has been placed under investigation by parliament's standards watchdog. she's facing claims of having caused "significant damage to the reputation of the house".

elected in 2019, ms cates has become a leading figure of the right—wing new conservatives group. the exact details of the investigations are kept confidential until the inquiry is concluded. a new type of non—hormonal menopause treatment has been approved in the uk, for hot flushes and night sweats. the daily pill, veoza, works on the brain's temperature—control centre to alleviate symptoms, which affect more than a million people in the uk. the drug has not yet been recommended for the nhs to prescribe. and thousands of xl bully owners have been told they will not need to put down their dogs when a ban on the breed comes into force in two weeks' time. from december 31st, the dogs will have to be muzzled in public and it will be illegal to breed, sell or abandon them. people with dangerously out of control dogs can be jailed for 1h years.

independent retailers say they fear a big spike in shoplifting over the festive and new year period. the british independent retailers association says any increase could send some shops under and it says many of its members feel abandoned by the police. the national police chiefs' council says it is committed to tackling offenders and supporting retailers in reducing shoplifting. jim connolly reports he's walking down towards my counter, where i've got my pokemon cards. he's got his young son with him. shop owner lisa says the man is using his child as a decoy. his arm will go backwards in a minute and grab another lot of cards while he's talking to his son. she says over £200 worth of cards were taken. yeah, it took me a long time to sleep better at night after this. lisa says she reported it, but no—one was arrested. she says theft like this is hard to handle. it can mean the difference

between me paying myself that week, and not paying myself that week. west yorkshire police told us they carried out facial recognition work, but neither this or a public appeal identified the suspect. lisa and more than 80 businesses in this leeds suburb have come together to create their own early warning system on whatsapp. if a potential thief has been in a shop, they'll put on immediately, "watch out for this person". just down the road, rachel worries she could face more shoplifting this festive period. i'm spending more on staff wages to have eyes absolutely everywhere. what's the point of me being really, really busy to then realise that's missing, that's missing, that's missing? she's not alone, british independent retailers association told us it too fears a rise in theft this christmas, and worries some businesses may go under. in london, annie wants to pass her 70—year—old family business down to her daughter katie, but fears shoplifting is making that difficult. even the slightest little thing will impact us.

and it means more staff and we can't afford to keep more staff. we do report it to the police, but, again, they're not going to do anything. it's not worth it for them. the national police chiefs' council told us local forces deploy resources where they can be most effective in catching offenders and keeping people safe. to tackle the problem, katie started uploading photos of suspected shoplifters to facebook. although there's no comments under the videos, you would not believe how many messages we get saying, "oh, this is the person's name, address." i'll send literally a letter, i'll post it, because a stamp's worth getting my £25 back of stock you stole. do you sometimes worry about a sort of a vigilante element to it, that you could be encouraging other people to act on your behalf? we won't post anyone unless we're adamant that we can see them physically pick it up, take it out the door, and there was no question that they're trying dodge cameras. they look at the cameras, nine times out of ten. everyone we've met says shoplifting has put a strain on their business. but what's striking is they've all taken strength from the communities

around them to fight back. jim connolly, bbc news. record rainfall driven by a tropical cyclone has caused widespread flooding in the north east of australia. hundreds of people were rescued as homes became inundated and roads cut off. cairns airport — a gateway to the great barrier reef — was closed yesterday, as video emerged online of planes submerged in floodwaters. in a far north queensland town, a saltwater crocodile was spotted in floodwaters. the 2.8 metre long croc, affectionately nicknamed jasper by locals, was in a storm drain in central ingham before being captured. that you are, a pet crocodile for you. ben rich is here with the weather. extraordinary down under?

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