—— sofia bettiza. the meeting hasjust started —— sofia bettiza.opean leaders reiterated the urgency to show a united front when it comes to ukraine. we heard from pedro sanchez, the prime minister of spain for example, who said that it's very important that leaders today agree on the next aid package for ukraine. we heard from the finish minister, who said he is ready to negotiate and he has brought... the aid package that is being discussed at the moment would deliver 50 billion euros to ukraine. this is money that ukraine is desperate to receive, we have from the ukrainian first lady said that if the west were to stop sending financial aid to ukraine, it would mean that ukrainians would be essentially left to die, but the issue here is that there is one country, hungary, that is very much against sending additional aid to ukraine. the prime minister of hungary, viktor 0rban, is not alone in feeling like this, there are several european countries that are definitely feeling the ukraine fatigue, but it is viktor 0rban that are seen today is the ma

sofia bettiza reporting there.r i spoke to carmen solana, who specialises in volcanology and risk communications at the university of portsmouth in the uk, to ask how concerned should we be about possible gas pollution hitting the capital. obviously, i mean, uk we don't have anything to fear. there is no, at the moment, eruption, and even this pollution shouldn't produce any problems. in terms of reykjavik, the capital of iceland, the change of wind direction means some of the gases that are coming out of the fisher are going to be moving towards the capital and i believe the icelandic material —— meteorological office as recommended people stay so they are not exposed to high concentrations. it depends on if the wind is strong, it will move closer to the ground, if it is maybe not that strong, maybe it will go more upwards. there are very many factors that would change the concentration and therefore the impact that could have on the population. impact that could have on the pepulation-— impact that could have on

sofia bettiza, bbc news, near grindavik in iceland. our top story this afternoon.falls sharply, but many food prices remain high. and coming up... thousands of community spaces will be open this christmas — so people can socialise and stay warm. coming up on bbc news. a record victory for england with phil salt to thank, his century inspiring them to a record t20 total against the west indies in their victory in trinidad, setting up a series decider. the number of complaints about rat infestations in rented homes has risen ten—fold in the last four years, according to the housing ombudsman for england. he also says too many landlords are blaming their tenants' lifestyles for the problem, rather than actually trying to solve it. fiona trott has been speaking to some of those affected. a resident rat, caught on camera in a kitchen cupboard. jo—jo set it up. i'll put it on there because i think they could be getting through that bit there. she says she's been living with rats in her rochdale home for the past two years. i've messaged my housing officer again and again

sofia bettiza reporting there. said that washington will not be able to approve a new package of military aid for ukraine before the year's end. negotiators say they still work towards finalising an agreement in the time remaining this year. one big contention point is around republican senators one big contention point is around republican senators keen on an agreement on the border before they approve a new aid package for ukraine and israel. now to russia, where president putin met the country's top military leaders, telling them that "we will not give up what is ours." our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports on president putin's defiant tone on ukraine and how he's positioning himself to remain in the topjob. a minute's silence for soldiers killed. then, a rallying cry from russia's commander—in—chief. on the war in ukraine, vladimir putin claimed his troops have the advantage now despite western support for kyiv. translation: all attempts to inflict a military defeat on us, a strategic defeat, as the west

our correspondent sofia bettiza reports.aded ukraine, foreign sanctions hit russian coal, gas, vodka, caviar, but these stones have continued to be exported all over the world. the european union has held off from a ban largely because belgium was keen to protect this city, antwerp, the diamond capital of the world. this is where diamonds are polished, in factories like this one, and more than 80% of all rough diamonds that are mined across the globe are traded here in the city of antwerp. this is the gateway to the world for russian diamonds. but all that is changing. that's because the eu and the g7 are about to unveil sanctions banning the import of diamonds mined in russia, which affects people like thierry. before the war, half of all his stones came from russia. some of the companies were very much reliant on their business with russia. it was a very big business, and it had to stop. the turnover of some of the companies who were big traders in russian diamonds, they went out of business. but critics say that russian s

sofia bettiza is in iceland with the latest.tice. as our opening on the volcanic to which magma erupts or gases are emitted. because of this, authorities are warning people not to come to this area and stay away for their own safety. the main concern at the moment is fumes from the volcano are making their way towards the capital. which is about 30 minutes from here. luckily there have been no reports of injuries although some houses have been damaged. in terms of what happens next, this could go on for weeks or even months and what that means is about 4000 people who live in a village near the volcano are probably going to spend christmas away from home. we have been speaking to some of the people evacuated and some of them have told us they are worried their town is going to disappearfrom worried their town is going to disappear from the worried their town is going to disappearfrom the map. but most people here are quite optimistic about the whole situation. they say they are perfectly aware they live in a town where there is

from just outside the exclusion zone, our correspondent sofia bettiza sent this report.ng rivers of lava continued to flow. the eruption may now have peaked, but mother nature isn't done wreaking havocjust yet. in daylight, this was the scene, and the fear now that fumes from the volcano are quickly making their way towards the capital, just 25 miles away. this is as close as we could get to the volcano before the authorities stopped us. 0vernight, more live i has continued to flow. this is something that is very difficult to predict, which is why the authorities are warning people to stay away from this area for their safety. to stay away from this area for their safety-— to stay away from this area for their safety. tourists inside the exclusion zone _ their safety. tourists inside the exclusion zone are _ their safety. tourists inside the exclusion zone are now- their safety. tourists inside the exclusion zone are now closed, j exclusion zone are now closed, including the famous blue lagoon spy' including the famous blue lagoon spy, but the volcano itself has become a

bettiza has the latest.which you should be able to see right there behind me in the distance. and that's because the authorities here are urging people not to come to this area for their safety and also to allow scientists to assess the situation on the ground. but i can tell you we can smell the smoke, we can see ashes floating in the air. from time to time we can hear, we can feel the vibration underneath our feet, and we can definitely hear the sound of the volcano rumbling in the background. and just to give you an idea of the situation, as we were driving here from the capital reykjavik, which is about 40 minutes away, we could immediately see the orange jets of lava in the distance. that gives you an idea ofjust how powerful this volcanic eruption is. now, in the past few hours we have seen people here taking selfies, taking videos, but that is mostly tourists and we spoke to people from the us, from the uk, and from india who were here on holiday but wanted to come here and see this in real life becau

live now to our correspondent sofia bettiza, who's in reykjavik.exactly in the lay of the land there. , , . exactly in the lay of the land there. , . there. this is as close as we could aet there. this is as close as we could net to there. this is as close as we could get to the — there. this is as close as we could get to the volcano, _ there. this is as close as we could get to the volcano, which you - there. this is as close as we could i get to the volcano, which you should be able to see right there behind me. so we landed about two hours ago and started driving in this direction, but after about 20 minutes, we were stopped by the authorities who told us that we couldn't drive any further. in fact, the authorities are urging everybody to stay away from this area for their safety. to stay away from this area for theirsafety. it to stay away from this area for their safety. it also to allow scientists and responders time to assess the situation. just to give you an idea, louis, as we were driving from the capital, about 30 km from the volcano, w

our correspondent sofia bettiza is in iceland and sent this update.'s notice. events are opening on a volcano through which magma erupts, or gases are admitted. because of this, authorities are warning people not to come to this area and to stay away for their own safety. now the main concern at the moment is that fuse from the volcano are making their way towards the capital, reykjavik, which is about 30 minutes away from here. now luckily there have been no reports of injuries, although some houses have been damaged. now in terms of what happens next, this could go on for weeks or even months — and what that means is that about 4000 people who live in a village near the volcano will probably spend christmas away from home. now we've been speaking to some of the people that have been evacuated, and some of them have told us that they are worried that their town will disappear from the map. worried that their town will disappearfrom the map. but most people here are quite optimistic about the whole situation — they say that they are perfectly aware th

studio: sofia bettiza reporting.g there is the tokyo tower surrounded by some of the 800,000 blue and white led lights that have been strung up on trees to make them look like they are frost covered and it really does work, to pay homage to an area known for its craftsmanship. the event features a six metre tall centre, at the first floor plans are created in collaboration with local illustrators and craftsmen. holiday season injapan is actually very lengthy. christmas and new year festivities stretch right across december and january. they can't get enough of it. stay with us on bbc news. windy weather on the way for the next 36 hours with outbreaks of rain affecting northern and western areas. this area of cloud we are keeping a close eye on because this is a deep area of low pressure or will be a developing area of low pressure moving close towards iceland and it has been named by the danish metrological institute as storm pia. it will strengthen and it will give us breezy conditions. today, some rain affecting we

live now the bbc�*s europe reporter sofia bettiza who's in brussels.goad happening in this meeting? good morninu. happening in this meeting? good morning- we _ happening in this meeting? good morning. we are _ happening in this meeting? (emt. morning. we are expecting a bit of diplomatic drama here in brussels today. just to give you some context, the men sharing this meeting have said it is a pivotal and european summit and have urged all 27 european leaders to make bold decisions in ukraine. now one of those decisions as you just mentioned, is proving the next aid package to kyiv which will be worth 50 billion euros. kyiv is desperate to get this money we heard from the ukrainian first lady a couple of days ago and she said that if western countries were to stop sending financial aid to ukraine, that would leave ukrainians in mortal danger but there is one big obstacle and that is that the hungarian prime minister viktor orban is very much against sending additional money to kyiv. he is not alone, there is desperately a sense of ukraine fatigue again

our europe reporter sofia bettiza is following the story from brussels.ations. eu leaders have reached a breakthrough decision. and what that means essentially is that formal talks can now begin so that ukraine can one day become a member of the european union. we understand that that decision was unopposed, and that comes as quite a big surprise, because for days we've been hearing about the fact that the hungarian prime minister, viktor orban, is very much against ukrainejoining the eu. he kept saying that if the eu were to join the bloc, that would have devastating consequences, and so we were expecting him to veto this whole thing. now, interestingly, we are hearing reports that when this decision was taken a few minutes ago, open, wasn't even in the room was taken a few minutes ago, orban wasn't even in the room and had left the room, so it's a bit unclear how that decision was taken. orban has a few minutes ago said on facebook that eu membership of ukraine is a bad decision, so it's still not very clear what is happening. but that decision has now

our correspondent sofia bettiza is in iceland — and sent this update.orning so it is quite hard to see the volcano in the distance. but overnight, more lava has been flowing and the authorities here are asking people not to come to this area for their safety but also to allow scientists and responders to assess the situation on the ground. but i can tell you we can still smell the smoke and we can see ash floating in the air, and every so often we can feel the vibration underneath our feet. the authorities here say that this eruption does not pose a threat to life. and so far there have been no reports of any injuries. the biggest risk for people who live near the volcano is volcanic fumes. they are not dangerous but they can be very uncomfortable for elderly people or for people with breathing problems. now, we spoke to a local police officerjust a few minutes ago and she told us that the priority now is to try and save the town of grindavik. it was evacuated a few weeks ago as a precaution. but there are risks now that the lava could damage the town.

live now our reporter sofia bettiza who's in brussels.bit of diplomatic drama in brussels behind—the—scenes. to put that in context, it has been called the pivotal european summit. 27 eu leaders have been urged to make bold decisions on ukraine fourth in the last minutes, an eu diplomat has confirmed that presidents are lenskh confirmed that presidents are lenskii —— presidents of... he has won eu leaders that if they fail to make a positive decision today, that president putin will find a way to use it against them. he ended his speech by saying that, i ask you one thing today, to not betray the people and the faith they have put in europe. we betray the people and the faith they have put in europe.— betray the people and the faith they have put in europe. we apologise for the auali have put in europe. we apologise for the quality of — have put in europe. we apologise for the quality of the _ have put in europe. we apologise for the quality of the sound _ have put in europe. we apologise for the quality of the sound there, - the quality

we can speak now to our reporter sofia bettiza, who is in vogar in south—west iceland. is safer and, where you are this morning. is it generally getting a bit better now? morning. it is getting better. in fact, wejust spoke morning. it is getting better. in fact, we just spoke to local authorities who have told us that the eruption, the power of the eruption, is now down to a quarter. where we are this morning is the closest we can get to the volcano before the authorities stopped it. it is very cloudy. you probably can't see the volcano behind me, but it is there. 0vernight more lava has continued to flow. we can still smell the smoke. we can see some ashes in the air. from time to time we can feel the vibration underneath our feet. we can feel the vibration underneath ourfeet. we we can feel the vibration underneath our feet. we can definitely hear the sound of the volcano rumbling in the background. the authorities have told us that this eruption does not represent a threat to life and that the authorities do not expect any flight delays or cancellations. they are ve