and islamichhad operatives who've been captured in gaza. and rebecca welch makes history — becoming the first woman premier league referee — as she takes charge at this afternoon's match between fulham and burnley. hello. we start in the czech republic. a minute's silence has been held for the 1a people shot dead by a student at a university in prague. thursday's attack also left dozens injured. the czech prime minister has described the "pain and sorrow" of an entire societyjust before christmas. the gunman killed himself when surrounded by police. from prague, sarah rainsford sent this report. bells ring

a nation paused today to remember the victims of an attack people here can't make sense of, that has brought pain and suffering. church bells rang out across the czech republic to mark the moment. to honour those killed when a student attacked his own university, shooting in the corridors and classrooms. so far, we know three of the dead, including lenka hlavkova, a teacher who was 49. here at the arts faculty that was attacked, some have personal connections to the victims. a friend of these women survived by locking herself into a classroom to hide. translation: she cowered under the table. _ i saw her yesterday and felt sorry for her. she was still shaking. shouting images from a body camera show the police hunt for the gunman inside charles university. at this point the 24—year—old was prowling the corridors above. we're told most of his victims

were female, but we have no idea of his motive. in the end, he turned his gun on himself. many people were seriously injured, carried out of the building by police. so i asked the interior minister, did he think mistakes had been made? when i see, really, the timeline of this crime, i really don't see any empty places where the police could work better than they did. this attack has not only brought horror here to prague, it is a national tragedy. there are still many questions to answer about how exactly it was possible and how to prevent anything like it in the future. the mass shooting is the worst this country has ever known, and it targeted young students and teachers who should have been returning home to their families now for christmas. sarah rainsford, bbc news, prague.

next to the middle east. israel says it's questioning hundreds of suspected hamas and islamichhad operatives after transferring them from gaza to israel. the military said some of the men had been hiding among the civilian population. it comes as the israel defense forces released footage that it says shows the troops operating around the issa area in the southern part of gaza city. we haven't been able to independently verify this footage. the destruction is clear across much of gaza. the hamas run health ministry say at least 201 palestinians have been killed in gaza over the past twenty four hours. 20,200 people. mark regev, the senior adviser to the israeli prime minister told

(sot) civilians are not the tar-ets of our civilians are not the targets of our operation. there is a rigorous process of target selection that i think compares well with what you do in britain and western allies. meanwhile in bethlehem on manger square, a christmas grotto in support of gaza has been installed outside the church of nativity. the display includes figures which are covered and standing amongst rubble and razor wire fences. earlier, iasked bushra khalidi, 0xfam's policy lead in the occupied palestinian territory and israel, about the situation in gaza. the humanitarian situation keeps unravelling, being worse by the hour.

we are now not only seeing a looming epidemic threatening gaza strip because of an overcrowded situation where there is no hospitals, there is a escalating hunger crisis in gaza after over two months of conflict and siege imposed by israel, thus restricting enough aid coming in and meeting the needs of 2.2 million people. the analysis from the ipc that came out on thursday, i believe, indicates a significant and increasing risk of famine in gaza, escalating with each day of the continued hostilities and restricted humanitarian access. the entire population of gaza, 2.2 million people, half of which are children, are experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. this level of acute food

insecurity is unprecedented in the history of the ipc, the highest share of households facing such severe conditions in any area or country ever classified by this initiative. let me ask you about the resolution that was passed by the un security council, how will that make a difference? what do you mean? there was no resolution passed. but that does now see humanitarian aid... but there is no ceasefire. what we have been saying as humanitarian organisations is that we cannot deliver if there is no ceasefire. how can i send our teams to the field when there is relentless bombardment? it is just impossible. it breaches our duty of care as humanitarians to send teams in such conditions. my question to you is, is it going to make any difference?

no, if there is no permanent ceasefire there won't be any difference. of course, independent monitoring of aid is important, it doesn't allow us to deliver safely, it doesn't allow us... 0ur teams are trying to survive the day. for me to ask them to go deliver aid in these circumstances, is just not feasible. without a permanent ceasefire, which is what the un and 800 organisations, have been calling for we will not see much improvement. one of the things i wanted to ask you about, one of the things that came out of the un yesterday and the security council's decision, was to create a un humanitarian coordinator in gaza. what more do you know about that? do you think appointing someone to such a position is going to make a difference as well?

absolutely i do not think that israel should be checking, should be the responsible authority to be monitoring aid in and out of gaza and should be implemented by the united nations. this is a great effort. but again, how is this coordinator supposed to be able to manoeuvre an entire response, responding to 2.2 million people, while there is relentless bombardment over a tiny, tiny, tiny, you know, space. gaza is extremely small. we hope this is not a distraction to our main ask, and the main ask from the united nations, which is a permanent ceasefire. in the wake of the conflict in the middle east there have been reports of a rise in anti—semitism and islamophobic incidents across the uk.

between october 7 and december 13 community security trust — a organisation campaigning against anti—semitism in the uk said incidents had increased by over 500%. tell mama, an organisation that supports victims of anti—muslim hatred, rise in hate incidents over the same period. let's speak to zarah sultana, labour mp for coventry south. we have seen home office data, religious hate crimes are targeting the muslim community. there is a survey that reported that anti—muslim hate crimes have doubled in the last decade. this is horrific. we need to stamp out both islamophobia and anti—semitism. as

an mp of muslim background i have experienced a wave of hatred directed towards me, especially speaking up for the rights of the palestinian people, i have had people accusing me of supporting hamas even though i have repeatedly condemned hamas. i have been told to go home even though i was born and raised in this country. it has horrific for so many people. sorry to hear about those personal incidents that have impacted you. your colleague amongst the most vocal when it comes to what needs to be done, what you think needs to be done? �* , ., ., , ., done? any form of racism, we have seen peeple — done? any form of racism, we have seen peeple in _ done? any form of racism, we have seen people in positions _ done? any form of racism, we have seen people in positions of- done? any form of racism, we have seen people in positions of power. seen people in positions of power using damaging and dangerous language. former prime minister borisjohnson referred to women who

wear the burqa as letter boxes. we have got sabella braverman —— suella braverman referring to solidarity marches as hate matches. i asked for the media to be really careful. generally anti—muslim commentary on broadcast media is rarely challenged. create a society where everyone, whether muslim, jewish,

any faith, to live together. the breakdown between in—person abuse and online abuse, which also appears to be on the rise. social media companies have a duty.

all if you have a muslim name there is bias in the workforce, that to be addressed. we cannot address these issues... policies like prevent policy has discriminatory impact on those from a muslim background. parties have a role to play, conservative party

dogma and in an hour's time we will be talking dogma g the manchester united manager says his team have to stay calm and stick together after another defeat. they lost 2—0 at west ham and it's nowjust one win in five premier league matches in december. back to back wins for david moyes' side means that the hammers

move above united in the table into sixth. jarod bowen scored the opener, his 13th of the season, inside the final 20 minutes, and mohammed kudus ensured his side took all three points with a great strike shortly afterwards. united stay eighth for now with aston villa to come on tuesday. we didn't take our chances. we should have gone in the lead. but we did it in one moment. i think the team played over a long period a good game but that game is over. 96 minutes today and you'll have to keep the focus. we had a tough week. one is a half 12 kick_ we had a tough week. one is a half 12 kick off — we had a tough week. one is a half 12 kick off. we had tojuggle that around~ — 12 kick off. we had tojuggle that around. we are disappointed but i had to— around. we are disappointed but i had to save — around. we are disappointed but i had to save players for the game today— had to save players for the game today and — had to save players for the game today and see if we could get three points— today and see if we could get three points and — today and see if we could get three points and we have done that for. first _ points and we have done that for. first keep— points and we have done that for. first keep going as a big thing. that_ first keep going as a big thing. that is— first keep going as a big thing. that is what i do and i want to keep building _ that is what i do and i want to keep building the team and making them

betten _ four other prmier league matches are into the second half. forrester beginning life with their new manager. they are down to ten men against — new manager. they are down to ten men against bournemouth. tottenham are beatin: men against bournemouth. tottenham are beating everton. _ men against bournemouth. tottenham are beating everton. dominic- are beating everton. dominic calvert—lewin has had a goal disallowed on var for everton. song and richarlison for the spurs goals. leaders arsenal are at liverpool.

this will decide who is top of the table for christmas. the gunners haven't won at anfield since 2012, when manager mikel arteta was playing for arsenal. they were 2—0 up last season, before liverpool fought back to get a 2—2 draw. it's arguably the result that led to arsenal falling off in the title race, but arteta believes things can turn out differently this time: yeah, we have done it, in old trafford, we have done it in stamford bridge and many other places that we haven't, that is the next challenge, go there and win, and, you want to be at the top, you are going to have to go to those places and be dominant and win the games and that is what we will try to do. massive game. great. great to have them, great to meet them, we met obviously quite frequently, and, yeah. it's good. but we have to make sure we make it a proper home game a proper anfield experience, that is all i want.

it's a big night for britain's anthonyjoshua as he gets ready to face 0tto wallin in a must—win heavyweight contest. joshua cut a lean and muscularfigure, weighing in at 17 stone 13 pounds. a win over sweden's wallin at the kingdom arena in riyadh could set up a long—awaited fight with deontay wilder who'll be fighting joseph parker on the same card on a blockbuster night of boxing. i'm not here to party and get caught up in the glamour, i want to perform well, put that pressure on myself, of course i am tense because i want to perform and win, i have that urge to win and i want to hurt my opponent as well. pure focus on saturday, that is where every cell of my body is fully focussed to doing what i know i can do. you can go to the bbc sport website for the build—up to the fight there in riyadh. you can keep across all those premier league scores, about half an hour to go in some of those

kick—offs. in russia, a former tv journalist has been barred from challenging president vladimir putin in the country s upcoming presidential elections. 0ur reporter is in the newsroom with more. it was a short lived presidential bid. it was a short lived presidential bid. she threw her hat in the ring just three days ago, one of 29 contenders for president so far. the candidates are expected to gather thousands of signatures from supporters before they qualify to have their name on the ballot. the russian electoral commission banned duntsova from running saying she had mistakes in her application. when asked about concerns for her own security, and fears for her safety and running for president, duntsova did admit she did have some fears and concerns, saying, any sane person taking this

step would be afraid. but fear does not win. she also said that she believed russians were looking for an alternative to president putin at the ballot box. translation: many people write to me, you gave us hope, if you get registered we will vote for you. they do not see any alternative. also consider boycotting the elections. duntsova's disqualification leaves no notable opposition candidate to challenge president putin in the elections in march. president putin is seeking a sixth term in office. he has been in power either as president or prime minister

since 1999 force of the upcoming elections will mark the first presidential ballot since russia launched its war in ukraine nearly two years ago. let's get some of the day's other news now. an attack by rebels in burundi has killed 20 people. the red—tabara rebel group claimed responsibility and said 10 members of the security forces were among the dead. the attack occurred on friday evening in the town of vugizo, near the border with the democratic republic of congo where the rebels have a base. the chinese government says it could revise proposed changes to the online gaming industry, after financial markets reacted badly to plans to curb the sector. on friday, beijing said it was considering limiting incentives used by gaming companies to encourage people to continue playing. that led to tens of billions of dollars being wiped off the stock value of several chinese online companies. the removal of a south london street sign featuring the work of the world famous elusive artist banksy is being investigated by police.

the piece of street art — a red stop sign with three military drones on — was unveiled in peckham on friday. but within an hour it was removed by a man with bolt cutters as people took photos and videos. 0ne gallery owner has said the artwork could be worth up to half a million pounds. british traditions, such as panto, hogmanay and cheese rolling could be in line for united nations protected status. the government is beginning a consultation on which activities should go on an official list of the uk s cultural highlights —— when it signs up to a un convention. david sillito reports. pantomime is a uniquely british and enormously popular tradition. 0h, hi. didn't see you there. but should it go on a list of british cultural activities worthy of preservation? the british government will next year sign up to unesco's

convention for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage which means the un body will provide guidance, oversight and recommendations on how to preserve designated cultural traditions. the government now wants to know what people think should actually go on the list. cheese rolling for instance is uniquely british but its popularity would suggest it is probably not in need of preservation. whereas many local crafts are in steep decline. the question is which ones would merit being added to the list? france, greece and spain all have dry stone walling on their list. should it be on ours? belgium has added beer making. argentina and uruguay have tango. should we include a dance? maybe morris dancing or the highland fling. are they cultural treasures? the government would like to know.

david sillito, bbc news. in the next hour i will be speaking live to a pantomime dame. finally this half hour, to a story that is one of the most read today on the bbc news website and app. and it's quite a remarkable story. a mother from alabama in the united states with rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days. kelsey hatcher delivered one daughter on tuesday and a second on wednesday after a total of 20 hours in labour. experts say it's a "one in a million" pregnancy. a double uterus affects 0.3% of women. kelsey and husband caleb called them "miracle babies", thanking the medics at the university of alabama hospital. the girls are described as fraternal twins — with rare separate birthdays. speeding motorists in florida have had a holiday surprise

after being pulled over for driving too fast. this is 0fficer grinch and any motorist breaking the speed limit by a few miles an hour was offered a challenge — either accept a speeding ticket or take a bite of onion. the initiative was inspired by the onion—loving fictional character created by dr seuss. those stopped are also offered lessons on safer driving. we end this half hour on that note. i will be back after a short break. do stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. we've got typical festive fare to come over the next few days. i'll show you that in a moment. today was another mild one, temperatures widely in double figures. it was even a bit of sunshine coming through the cloud as well.

different story in scotland where we've had a wintry scene across northern parts of the mainland. the snow that was falling here has since turned to rain. and it's quite misty and murky, very wet at the moment. but the rain will ease off in scotland and northern ireland. the main rain band pushing down towards southern parts of england and across the northern isles. it'll be followed by some clearer spells for northern parts of the uk and a few showers. and it's going to be a mild start to sunday morning, christmas eve, but it's going to be a windy day for all of us on christmas eve, particularly so over and to the east of the pennines can be quite of the pennines could be quite difficult for driving high sided vehicles up and down the a1. very windy conditions also — widely in scotland with the strongest gusts 70 miles an hour in northern parts of the mainland and across 0rkney. and those really strong winds will drive in lots of blustery showers across scotland. sunshine and showers will follow to northern ireland, northern england and eventually north wales and the north midlands as our main band of clouds sinks southwards, bringing rain for a while in wales and then more towards the south west of england in the afternoon

temperatures could actually reach 15 degrees across eastern parts of england, but those numbers do drop a little bit during the afternoon. cooler air is coming in behind that weather front there. that's bringing the rain and the cloud across southern areas. it's going to sit around overnight and we'll still be there and will still be there into christmas morning. but we've got another weather system to the north and the two will combine to bring a lot of cloud rain developing quite widely, some snow over the hills across northern scotland where the air is that bit colder, but otherwise, another mild day. temperatures could reach 1a degrees in the southeast with the blustery winds. now, those two weather systems will sweep away overnight. things will calm down as we head into a boxing day. the winds will be lighter. it's still a bit blustery across the north and west of scotland with a few wintry showers here just for a while. otherwise, a lot of dry weather, plenty of sunshine around. there is some rain in the channel — that'll push back towards the far south west of england. temperatures will be a little bit lower. so let's summarise

the next few days. we've got the strong winds and mild weather for christmas eve could bring some travel disruption, then rain develops for christmas day. if you're out on boxing day, it looks sunny.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the czech republic holds a minute 5 silence for the fourteen people who died in thursday 5 mass shooting at a university in prague. church bells also rang out across the country as a mark of respect, as they did in the rest of the european union and nato nations.

israel says it's interrogating hundreds of suspected hamas and islamichhad operatives who've been captured in gaza. the military said the men — some of whom had been hiding among the civilian population — have been transferred to israel for questioning. meanwhile israel's bombardment of gaza continues. for the first time in centuries ukraine will celebrate christmas not on the 7th january but on the 25th december. earlier this year president zelensky signed into law a parliamentary bill that aimed to "abandon the russian heritage of imposing christmas celebrations". more now on that story of a mother from alabama in the united states with a rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days. joining me now from birmingham alabama is dr shweta patel who's assistant professor

in the obstetrics and gynecology department at uab and was one of the doctors who helped