this is bbc world news today. i'm kasia madera. our top stories. the un security council unanimously backs tough new sanctions against north korea, restricting its ability to import oil. today for the tenth time this council stands united against a north korean regime that rejects the pursuit of peace. two former fifa bosses are found guilty by a court in new york of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. the spanish prime minister says he is ready to talk to whoever is in charge of the regional government in catalonia. and coming up... from eu burgundy to british blue — the uk passport is set to change colour after brexit. hello and welcome to world news today. the united nations

security council has passed tough new sanctions on north korea that will cut oil supplies vital for pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs. with china's backing, the council unanimously adopted this us draft resolution that forces the repatriation of north korean workers abroad, cutting off another revenue stream of kim jong—un‘s regime. here's what the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley had to say a short time ago. today, for the tenth time, this council stands united against the north korean regime that rejects the pursuit of peace. the kim regime continues to defy the resolutions of this council, the norms of civilised behaviour and the patience of the international community. their arrogance and hostility to anything productive has set their country on a destructive path. the bbc‘s un reporter nada tawfikjoined me earlier.

rex tillerson said he wanted to see this, president trump even called president xi to say he wanted oil supplies cut off and we've seen the security council bring tougher sanctions, getting to this point. to give a sense of how much this will hurt pyongyang, in 2016 according to the us, they got 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum. now they will get 500,000 barrels, nearly 90% cut to what is a lifeline for kim jong—un‘s struggling economy and a lifeline, a vital part of his nuclear missile programme. diplomats hope that if this doesn't, as past sanctions haven't, convince kim jong—un to abandon his nuclear programme, it will hurt his credibility to conduct tests. unanimous decision at

the security council with the us ambassador nikki haley saying they will further put pressure on pyongyang if he continues to defy resolutions. let's dissect the measures. it's notjust oil, what else is involved? yeah, absolutely, this actually tells countries, especially china and russia, who are hosting 100,000 north korean guest workers, tells these countries that they have 2a months to pull them out. the un has described these workers as toiling in slave like conditions. and the north korean regime heavily taxes them, so they take most of their earnings. that is trying to cut off that source of revenue. also trying to close loopholes, allowing countries to seize ships which they think are carrying illicit cargo from north korea. and it toughens some of the major exports from north korea that passed resolutions set out.

a further ban on textiles and coal for example, two important parts of north korea's economy. a mix of guilty and not guilty verdicts have been handed down to three former fifa officials accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. the trial in new york city was part of a united states investigation into corruption at the football governing body. a short time ago, i spoke with our sports correspondent, richard conway, about the verdicts. the jury have deliberated for the sixth day—to—day. it came back into court a short time after 1pm local time to tell the judge that they had partial verdicts on the defendants. what they came back with after some lengthy legal argument is thatjuan angel napout, the former head of the south american football confederation, he's guilty on three out of five

corruption charges that he faced. jose maria marin, the former head of brazilian football and another big figure within world football, has been found guilty on six out of the seven counts he faced, relating to charges such as wire fraud, marketeering, conspiracy and money—laundering. the one count against manuel burga, the head of the peruvian fa, is still undecided and the jury will have to comeback and continue deliberations against manuel burga. us prosecutors have pursued this case for close to two and a half years following their action that launched in may, 2015. remember those dramatic dawn raids we saw in zurich against fifa

officials in a 5—star hotel, that's where this started, 42 people indicted. these two men have pleaded not guilty, taking it to court and now we have partial verdicts finding two guilty on a number of those counts. as you say we expect the final decision on tuesday for the final count. you have followed this for a long time, in terms of fifa and the future, can this verdict, can you put it into context for us? fifa was blindsided in may, 2015, when the raids happened. i was sat in the hotel early in the morning watching jose maria marin, the former head of brazilian football, being led away by swiss authorities on behalf of their american counterparts. he was extradited to new york and there was shock through the system that finally, what many had suspected had been going on in the game, had caught up with it. us authorities pursued charges against a number

of those people, 42 in total. 2a in total have played guilty, hoping to receive more lenient sentences in return for cooperating. over the last five weeks many have been in this court room in brooklyn to give evidence against the three men. that shows the lengths and depths this has gone to. fifa says this has nothing to do with them, it's about south american contracts, tv rights, it was only because these men were members of their organisation that we've been dragged into it. some say that the tone was set at the top and this has been allowed to flourish. prosecutors will be quietly satisfied that they've managed to get those convictions on a number of key charges against two men who will return to court next week to see if the jury can reach a decision on the final count, against manuel burga. that final count is expected on tuesday. the fourth election in as many years

in the spanish region of catalonia has demonstrated just how divided the region remains. the party that won the most votes doesn't support independence for catalonia — but put together the separatist parties are able to form a slim majority. the sacked pro—independence catalan leader, ca rles puigdemont, has called on the spanish prime minister to negotiate a political solution. james reynolds reports. catalonia's pro—independence voters enjoyed their victory. and now they want their power back. starting with the return from exile of their deposed leader, carles puigdemont. but he can'tjust fly back from belgium. he faces arrest in spain on the charge of rebellion. so, from brussels this afternoon, mr puigdemont had a message for spain: let's talk.

we want to be an independent state. this is the wish of the catalan people. the next step is to talk with president mariano rajoy. we need to find new ways, the political solution for our crisis between the spanish state and catalonia. that offer doesn't interest spain's leader. this afternoon, mariano rajoy made it clear, if carles puigdemont isn't here, he can't talk to him. translation: i will have to talk with the person who actually occupies the office of president of the catalan regional government. for this to happen, they need to take up their seat and be in a position to talk with me. the crisis began months ago when a pro—independence administration faced off against the government in madrid. there followed months of argument, protest, debate, emergency measures, and then the vote.

now, catalans find that they are right back to where they were when the crisis began. nobody has really changed sides. for now, the local government headquarters here awaits its permanent occupant. the man who won this election can't come to take up his old job. the law says that all sides now have until april to decide what to do next. james reynolds, bbc news, barcelona. life expectancy in the united states has dropped for a second consecutive year, experts say this is caused by a worsening opioid problem. patients have turned to heroin and other drugs after their prescriptions stop. with an increase by 28% since 2015.

more than 15,000 people died because ofa more than 15,000 people died because of a heroin overdose. we can turn to my colleague in washington. my goodness, these statistics have been described as shocking, the last time of the us life expectancy fell consecutively was in the 1920s. of the us life expectancy fell consecutively was in the 1920sm was actually in the 1960s, but it is five decades ago since we have had that w five decades ago since we have had thathip. five decades ago since we have had that w dip. it doesn't quite indicate a trend —— we have had that double year dip. but they are nervous about the figures when they will be collating the next year. it is worrying. it still one of the top ten killers in america, overdoses, things like cancer and heart disease are way ahead of anything in terms

of the number of people they kill but they are dropping. 0verdoses we re but they are dropping. 0verdoses were one of the three areas that we re were one of the three areas that were rising this year. suicide is on the rise, death from outside mr is a and also death from self injury —— death from alzheimer's disease. it is not to do with the opioids that people were worried about in the past, because those overdoses have decreased, but what is happening now, heroin is being contaminated with synthetic opioids especially one called fentanyl, especially in some of the states in the middle of the us, places like i'll hire and west virginia where i've been to look at this problem. this stuff is horrendously potent, a few grains can kill you, some people said is 100 times stronger than heroine and the number of people succumbing to overdoses from that are rocketing.

where are addicts able to get hold of fe nta nyl 7 where are addicts able to get hold of fentanyl? it is on the street for them they don't often know they are taking it, because it is mixed in and it comes in some cases from china. there is a grim, the state 81 which runs in baltimore to west virginia, they say that is the heroin highway, and much of that stuff co m es heroin highway, and much of that stuff comes through there into some really quite poor communities, post—industrial communities, where unemployment is higher than elsewhere, where there is not much prospect and that can be a route that people end up taking. some people go through that route after suffering injuries and moving on from prescription drugs and others start taking it recreationally, very dangerous situation. we have seen mortality rates in the 2018—2044 age

group going through the ceiling really —— in the 18—44 age group. gary, thanks forjoining us. much more on that story on our website but we have much more to come including the first visit by a british foreign minister to moscow for five years. so british foreign minister to moscow forfive years. so how british foreign minister to moscow for five years. so how did british foreign minister to moscow forfive years. so how did it british foreign minister to moscow for five years. so how did it go? this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines: the un security council has unanimously backed tough new sanctions against north korea, restricting its ability to import oil. two former fifa bosses have been found guilty by a court in new york of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. the first visit by a british foreign minister to moscow for five years has ended in public disagreement. borisjohnson accused russia

of meddling in the uk election and brexit referendum. his russian counterpart, foreign minister sergei lavrov, responded by accusing the uk of fabricating allegations against it. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james robbins reports from moscow. handshakes can be deceptive. true, this foreign secretary has broken a five—year british boycott of visits to moscow. but when russia's sergei lavrov says he wants a return to business as usual, boris johnson says that's impossible. as you rightly say, sergei, things are not easy between us at the moment. the talks aired the grievances on both sides and examined space for a limited cooperation, by supporting the iran nuclear deal together, and opposing the nuclear threat from north korea. but deep disagreements remain. at theirjoint news conference, that was stark. for all the attempts at banter, there was a seriousness

when sergei lavrov tried to brush off british allegations of russian meddling in foreign elections. translation: my neighbour, boris johnson, recently stated he had no evidence that russia meddled in the referendum on the withdrawal of britain from the european union. not successfully. not successfully, i think is the word. not successfully is the word that i think you need to introduce. translation: you see? he is scared if he doesn't disagree with me, his reputation will be ruined in the media at home. sergei, it's your reputation i'm worried about. but this was dark, serious humour. when borisjohnson was asked if he trusted russia's foreign minister, he tried to make light of that. you know, it's a measure of my trust that as soon as i got into this excellent foreign ministry, i immediately handed my coat, my hat, my gloves and indeed everything that was in my pockets,

secret or otherwise, to sergei lavrov. translation: i can say there was nothing in the pockets of boris‘ coat. so how did relations go from bad to worse? russia's use of radioactive poison to murder alexander litvinenko in the middle of london started the slide. three years ago, russia's annexation of crimea and interference in ukraine, provoked tough eu sanctions strongly backed by britain. then last month, theresa may accused russia of cyber espionage and meddling in elections. britain says it has cyber weaponry to retaliate if attacks get worse. so, striding across red square, the foreign secretary was no mere tourist. he was nodding to russia's historic greatness, while pressing for a radical change of direction. coming here to red square, boris

johnson insists he loves russia. he points to his name, the fact he has russian ancestry. what he doesn't love is the present russian government. so, paying his tribute at the tomb of russia's unknown soldier had a particular symbolism. britain and russia fought together against hitler as allies. restoring that closeness now seems a long way off. and now we can catch up with all of the sport. it is a draw at the moment between arsenal and liverpool. it has been a wonderful game, festive friday night fixture, fifth place against fourth place in the premier league, it has been a great game for the neutrals, 3—3 is the latest score, arsenal were losing 2—0 on to a devastating five—minute second—half spell where they scored three goals to make it 3-2 but they scored three goals to make it 3—2 but firmino has got liverpool backin 3—2 but firmino has got liverpool back in the game. 76 minutes on the clock. we could have more goals at

the emirates. real madrid against barcelona is or was a huge game but while barcelona are six points clear at the top their rivals real madrid are long way behind them —— is always. this weekend of‘s el clasico is as much about the political situation in spain as it is about the football. they are the superstars who define their era, the players on each side of football's rate is going, with lionel messi and ronaldo fans tend to divide but now there are greater divisions in spain. this is the first el clasico since the band independence referendum in october and it comes days since catalonia went to the polls again and amongst the voters was gerard pique a barcelona, a prized asset for his region and his country. translation: to be able to vote historically has not always

been possible in this country and 110w been possible in this country and now it is, we have to defend it. this isn't a rival use to bring sides together but football sometimes can heal some of the wounds. this comes after the election that took place yesterday, both sides, after this, everyone feels more release and i think eve ryo ne feels more release and i think everyone wants to focus on sport. this will be common ground, a place for everybody, and of course barcelona will want to win this game because this is a big step for la liga. barcelona i enjoying football dominance at the moment, leading real madrid by 11 points and most telling —— although sport won't fix everything, there will be plenty for both of them to enjoy. now cricket. rohit sharma has equalled the record

for the fastest international 2020 century and with it helping his side wrap up the series against sri lanka. he made his century off 35 balls matching the south african david miller who made a century against bangladesh in october. sri la nka against bangladesh in october. sri lanka could not chase down the huge total of 261. india won the match and they are leading the three match series 2—0. that is all the sport. britain will get a new passport in 2019 when it leaves the european union. the government has announced that it's going back to the old—style dark blue and gold hardback passport carried by british citizens before the introduction of the pan—european burgundy design in 1988. 0ur correspondent explains why this decision is making headlines. if we have a look at the sun newspaper, their headline, the return of the great british

passport, and on the front you can see a love iconic blue passport. they have had a 17 month campaign to get the government to go back to the old style passport. some people may struggle with recognising the colour of that passport on the front, many people say their passport was dark blue and some have said there's was black in colour, but that the 17 month campaign to go back to that old style blue passport. as with anything brexit, many divided opinions, people who backed remain, many weren't born when the passport was phased out, and some have said it is not the colour that matters but actually where people will be allowed to go, and there are some comments here, about this restoring identity for the one person says we

have always been a great nation and we don't need to change the colour of the passport to show that. another person says this is another example of us trying to go back to the previous century for top but for brexiteers this was a central demand when they wanted to get out of the eu and one man who is very happy about this, former ukip leader nigel farage, he said, he was very happy. i'm pleased that this burgundy coloured passport is going to be replaced by traditional navy blue. it is the first bit of good news brexiteers have had for a while, the la st two brexiteers have had for a while, the last two months have been frustrating with delays and transition period foreign courts having too much say, and i think today, noble — — having too much say, and i think today, noble —— knowing we are going today, noble —— knowing we are going to get a british passport back, it is happy brexmas. the british

government never had to change the colour of the passport full stop the sun was forced upon the nation but in fact it wasn't, britain did not have to change the colour. croatia, they kept their blue colour after joining the union. they kept the blue passport after they joined joining the union. they kept the blue passport after theyjoined the eu in 2013, so they didn't have to change the colour to burgundy. they went along with others who did it. if you have any opinions on any of our stories you can get in touch with me and some of the team through social media. thanks for watching. for anyone travelling in the next few days the weather should not be

too bad, it is fairly quiet in the run—up to christmas, the mild and cloudy weather, with winds picking up cloudy weather, with winds picking upa bit, cloudy weather, with winds picking up a bit, and more rain arriving across the north. the rain coming into northern areas on the weather front which is yet to arrive in scotla nd front which is yet to arrive in scotland and northern ireland, with high pressure dominating across most areas, and around the top we are touring in atlantic with dragons and a lot of cloud, —— drawing in. a lot of dry weather overnight. 0therwise a very mild night, temperatures not falling very much at all. 8—9 fairly typically. into saturday, a lot of cloud, some sunshine here and there, especially northern parts of the uk with stronger with dragons helping to break up —— with stronger cloud helping to break—up.

even eve n a cross even across northern ireland, southern and eastern scotland, there might be some sunshine ahead of this rain which is moving down from the north. the rain turning heavy across the highlands of scotland where it stays wet for awhile, but the wetter weather moves south all the way down to cumbria and for awhile into northern ireland but knowing which way it is going, that rain then moves north again. england and wales generally dry, plenty of cloud and another mild start for the christmas eve, where cloudy skies will dominate, and a bit of drizzle over the hills. we have the rain moving back down into northern ireland and across scotland and the south west of scotland, with heavy rain, turning chile but maybe brighter in the far north. more rain on christmas day, some strong winds, it will be mild, rain pushing east, and

things turning a bit cooler across scotla nd things turning a bit cooler across scotland and northern ireland, maybe some of the wintry weather over the tops of the hills but it is not really cold air behind the weather front, but the more changeable and u nsettled front, but the more changeable and unsettled pattern with some rain at times. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the un security council has unanimously adopted eu as drafted resolution to impose new sanctions on north korea following its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test. these will restrict all supplies to pyeongchang. two south american former football officials have been convicted by a jury in new york for taking millions in bribes. they face long prison sentences. the spanish prime minister mariano rajoy says he will talk to whoever takes control of the catalan regional government as long as they stay within the law. catalonia's as did

leader ca rles within the law. catalonia's as did leader carles puigdemont wants talks to ta ke leader carles puigdemont wants talks to take place outside spain. —— is as did leader. and in the first