hello, and welcome to bbc news. france's so—called gilets jaunes movement is blaming the festive season for a drop in protestors on the street. across the country roads were blocked, barricades and vehicles were set alight as some marches became violent. in paris demonstrators camped outside media outlets as they vowed to continue fighting for better living standards into the new year. georgina smyth has the story. the seventh saturday of yellow vest protest, and the streets of france are still burning. this scene, filled by onlookers on the streets of paris, the latest in a movement that ignited with fuel tax increases

and exploded into so much more. and all of ron child tax and salary concessions was offered by president macron earlier this month, but anger is still higher across france. —— an olive branch tax and salary concessions. canisters of teargas we re concessions. canisters of teargas were deployed as peaceful demonstrators turned violent. translation: we will continue until we win, until macron backs down and gives us what we deserve. more purchasing power! less taxes, a healthy life, without having to tighten and tighten their belts at the end of every single month!m the end of every single month!m the capital, yellow vests converged on the steps of media outlets, ensuring the movement stays firmly on the news agenda. translation: ensuring the movement stays firmly on the news agenda. translationzli don't think we are slowing down. i think there is a desire to discredit

the movement, a willingness to say the movement, a willingness to say the yellow vest are slowing down, but that is not the case. —— vests. organisers of the capital's new year's eve fireworks and light show say that operations will continue for the event, despite plans for more protest on the night. a message for the government that the movement will not fade for 2019. voters are preparing to go to the polls in the democratic republic of congo's presidential election. the current president, joseph kabila, who took over in 2001, is barred by the constitution from running for another term. the build—up to the vote has been marred by unrest and the head of the country's electoral commission has said key rival candidates have refused to sign a statement which spells out terms to avoid violence during the polling. caroline rigby‘s piece does contain some flash photography. tensions have been rising ahead of this long overdue elections. delayed for two years, their run—up has been marred by unrest. on the eve of sunday's vote, the three front—runners smedts to agree on

terms on how to avoid further violence. translation: we havejust signed this accord which says that we are committed to not having any violence. we call on the congolese to go and vote massively, without violence or protest, in favour of these elections, to elect the new president. we have just these elections, to elect the new president. we havejust signed but there are no more problems. optimism for presidentjoseph kabila's favoured successor was tempered both is from two key opposition figures. they both refuse to sign the statement after officials reject that there suggested changes to the text. for the first time, electronic voting machines will be in operation, despite concerns they could be used to read the vote. some worry these elections might not be free and fair, but after significant delays, many are eager to cast their ballots in what could mark the country's first democratic transition of power after decades of authoritarian rule, coups and civil war. yet more than a million people

will not get to take part in sunday. the electoral commission has postponed voting in three districts until march, blaming on security and the ongoing ebola outbreak for its decision. —— in security. despite this, authorities still plenty swearing joseph kabila's replacement next month. —— still planned to swear in. and the polls will shortly openin swear in. and the polls will shortly open in bangladesh, where security forces are on high alert. more than 6000 security personnel have been deployed. the prime minister is seeking a third successive term. her main rival is in prison for corruption. the campaign has been marred by opposition complaints of intimidation and violence. the comedy actress, dame june whitfield, has died at the age of 93. she was best known for her roles in the bbc comedies absolutely fabulous and terry and june as well as starring in a number of carry on films.

her career began in the 1940s and she was still working up until a couple of years ago. sarah campbell now looks back on her life in entertainment. kiss me, kiss me, bite me! bite me! i can't, dear, i'm a vegetarian! in a career spanning seven decades, june whitfield played alongside some of british comedy‘s greatest talents. what's it like, living in the jungle? well, it's... drums play. it's rather dull and boring, really. i realised very early on that i was never going to play the glamorous, you know, leading lady roles. and serious roles, i always thought, ooh, i'd better not do that. they might laugh at me. and laugh they did. as a comedy performer, she first found fame on the radio

in the 1950s, appearing in take it from here oppositejimmy edwards. but june whitfield's unfailing ability to conjure characters seemingly at the drop of a hat saw her become a foil for benny hill and frankie howerd. in the 1970s she teamed up with her regular comedy partner, terry scott, in terry and june. hello, darling. i'm having awful trouble deciding what to give you tonight. well, you can start on an explanation. i'm talking about food. what about eating out? what about the garage? 0h, i'd much prefera restaurant. it was gentle, undemanding comedy, hugely popular, and ran for eight years. but, to younger audiences, june whitfield will be best known as edina's mother in ab fab. inside of me, there is a thin person just screaming to get out. just the one, dear? and, even in old age, she continued to delight audiences on programmes like radio's news huddlines. a versatile and reliable performer to the end. and in a statement, shane allen, the controller of bbc comedy,

paid tribute to the actress, saying june whitfield was "the north star of british comedy. her spectacular career is unparalleled in its longevity. she was the go—to female comedy performer of her generation and was always in demand from the cream of british comedy. she led the way for female comedy and we owe her enormous respect. our thoughts go out to her family and friends at this sad time." earlier i spoke to the actress helen lederer and i asked her what her memories were of working withjune whitfield on the tv show absolutely fabulous. they were just really warm, happy memories, in a cast full of, you know, stars and budding stars, and

the popularity of the programme sort of grew from the first episode. and june was always the same, always consistent, always the person you wa nted consistent, always the person you wanted to sit next to, and she would a lwa ys wanted to sit next to, and she would always do the crossword. she would a lwa ys always do the crossword. she would always go around with ab fab scripts and get people to sign them to charity. a lovely person, but very, very focused. she made us laugh, when she would want her motivation, she would say, but why would i be walking across there why would i be going through my handbag? she was very good at seeing the humour, never appeared to take itself too seriously, but very, very professional. part of the genius of absolutely fabulous was, i suppose, that there was this woman who in her later yea rs that there was this woman who in her later years was perfectly coiffed, playing it quite straight, with some really quite naughty exchangers written byjennifer saunders. really quite naughty exchangers written by jennifer saunders. yes,

the thing about actors, i saw a quote that she had said, work is more fun than fun. june was one of those people who loved to work. you know, as i said, she would take itself seriously. she would enjoy, the twinkle in her eyes, we can all see that she would enjoy playing it straight. she was the perfect person to give a feed line, because of course she had grown up being the one woman in a trip of men because of course that is how it was over several decades. —— troupe. and to give a feed is as good as doing the punchline well. both are as important as the other, and she knew that. you rightly mentioned that she was working in a world of men. the thing she was rightly recognised as a comedic trailblazer? —— do you think she was. i think in those

concepts and terms, they didn't exist in the olden days. i think, you know, quality work has always been valued, but the role of the female comedy icon has been invented more recently, as it should be, as we evolve, and as parity mergers. i don't thinkjune herself would have seen herself as a trailblazer. she was somebody who clearly loves her work, loved it, and she was a very decent and warm human being at the same time. the tv producerjon plowman talked about her ability to place and land a comedy line. she really was quite a genius with her comic timing, wasn't she? well, there was a combination of somebody who was very trained, very articulate, excellent delivery, but also very knowing. in how, yes, how

to place a line. i think it wasjust instinct as well. she just enjoyed the work, and always got it right. i think one of her great gifts was to appear natural, which is quite a difficult ring to do, i mean, to appear natural as an art, when you are an actor. —— thing. the government has insisted that it's working "very effectively" with france, to tackle an increase in the number of migrants crossing the channel in small boats. more than 200 people have arrived since the start of november and there have been calls for more patrol boats off dover. today the immigration minister caroline noakes held talks with border force officials. richard lister reports. you're iranian? you have to be desperate to make this journey. these migrants were picked up crossing the channel

earlier this month. others arrived yesterday — part of a growing number using ill—equipped boats to flee war zones, persecution and poverty. in dover today, the immigration minister met border force officials to consider their response. the home secretary, sajid javid, cut short his christmas holiday to tackle what he is declared a major incident. the government says french cooperation is vital. what we want to make sure is that we continue to work with the french, so that people are prevented from leaving beaches in northern france, to make sure that we are providing joint operations, both in terms of intelligence and policing. the number of migrants heading for these shores is minuscule compared to the million or so who tried to cross the mediterranean three years ago. but the figure is rising — up from about a dozen or so who successfully crossed the channel last year to more than 220 who have made the crossing since the beginning of november alone.

so why the sudden surge? in the autumn, french police intensified efforts to clear migrant camps around dunkirk and calais, leaving large numbers of people looking for ways to leave france. secret filming by the bbc a few weeks ago revealed that people smugglers have now become increasingly organised in helping migrants cross the channel. translation: a boat, it will cost you £3,000—4,000. it is border force vessels like this one that have to intercept them. there is only one on active patrol here at the moment, and some say there should be more. there is no resilience within border force. we've got no spare capacity to increase and put resources into trying to stop this, trying to deal with these large numbers as they arrive. we are stripped to our bare bones. there is nothing more that border force has got to give. the government is weighing up whether deploying more patrol boats would deter migrants and save lives, or if it would give these desperate people more of an incentive to make the crossing. richard lister, bbc news, dover. this is bbc news, the headlines:

for the seventh weekend in a row, france's so—called ‘gilets jaunes' movement brings protesters onto the streets. organisers blame the festive season for a slight drop in numbers. on the eve of a critical presidential election, in the democratic republic of congo, the candidates fail to agree over how to avoid polling day violence. british police have acknowledged that some of the sightings of drones over london's gatwick airport may have been devices belonging to the force. an estimated 140,000 people had their travel plans ruined before christmas as experts tried to find the illegal drone operators. police say they have not yet found the drone that caused the runway closure. gatwick airport is offering a large reward for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible. our correspondent andy moore has

been following the story. last weekend, police said they found a damaged drone near the perimeter of gatwick airport and they thought this may well be the drone that had caused problems for about 140,000 people. well, today giles york said that in fact two drones have been found near the airport, but he was ruling both of them out of police enquiries. again last weekend, a senior officer from the force said there was a possibility there were no drones over gatwick. mr york said today that was not the case. he said, "i'm absolutely certain that there was a drone flying throughout the period that the airport was closed." now, he also said, for the first time i believe, that police drones were launched to survey the area, to look for suspects. he said they could have caused some confusion. 115 sightings of this rogue drone, at least 93 of them credible, say the police, but no video footage.

a man has died and 23 people have been taken to hospital after a minibus overturned in the scottish borders. the accident happened between carfraemill and gordon. our scotland correspondent, catriona renton, sent this report. this was the scene facing emergency crews responding to reports of a minibus that overturned. it happened just before 11:00am this morning. the minibus had been travelling from newtongrange to kelso, with 23 adult passengers on board, plus the driver. it's believed they were on an annual day out to the races. the minibus overturned on this stretch of road between the tiny villages of carfraemill and gordon. one man was pronounced dead at the scene. his next—of—kin have now been informed. the other passengers and the driver were taken to various hospitals for treatment. police initially declared the collision a major incident. as evening fell, the minibus was loaded onto a recovery truck.

officers have asked for anyone concerned about loved ones to get in touch. an horrific accident, just days after christmas — what should have been one of the happiest times of the year. catriona renton, bbc news, in the scottish borders. it's been revealed that more than 100 million pounds has been spent on extra capacity on ferries to ensure the delivery of critical goods in the event of a no—deal brexit. the ships have been chartered by the department for transport to ease congestion at dover and allow more lorries through other ports. here's our business correspondentjoe miller. it might not look like much now, but if the uk leaves the eu in march without an agreement, and dover turns into a parking lot, this port will play a vital role in getting emergency medicine to british shores. in the run—up to christmas, the department for transport quietly awarded three shipping groups lucrative contracts to provide up

to 500,000 tons a month of additional freight capacity. the french firm brittany ferries and danish company dfds got the bulk of the money, with deals worth around £47 million each, while a small british start—up got £14 million. five uk ports, including plymouth, poole and felixstowe, will benefit from additional traffic, as will portsmouth. in offering this safety net, we will be helping to provide the essential goods and services that people in the uk rely on. so yes, it's very good news for us, but it's also good news for the uk. this is the no—deal brexit contingency plan — predominantly french and danish vessels making dozens of additional trips across the channel each week, and taking thousands of lorries with them. but the shipping industry is already saying that extra capacity along the english coast won't help solve the problem of delays to critical goods because of new customs checks. anti—brexit campaigners say public

money is being wasted on an entirely preventable scenario. the whole purpose of brexit is supposed to be to bring back control to britain, and then we have an imaginary national emergency, and the government's got to turn to european companies to sort out their problems for them. the department for transport says it has other no—deal preparations in the offing, but insists that the government hopes the day it needs to use them never arrives. joe miller, bbc news, portsmouth. siberia may be the last place you'd expect to find cutting—edge cryptocurrency mining, but conditions in the remote russian region are ideal. and when our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford travelled to irkutsk she discovered some surprising characters involved in mining for bitcoins. meet marina sergeyavna — a babushka who mines for bitcoins

on her siberian porch. "here's the machines that make a noise, and make me money", she tells me. as those machines whir and mine for virtual currency, marina has been converting that to real cash to top up her pension. it is no wonder she takes care of the things. she has travelled all over europe on the money. translation: they said to me, "marina sergeyavna, why don't you buy some mining machines?" i said "ok", and i don't regret it. the machines paid for themselves in eight or nine months. and marina has been putting the hot airfrom her machines to good use. "you can dry the washing here, and make dried tomatoes, like in italy", she says. "the dried pumpkin is pretty tasty, too." and she is not the only miner in irkutsk. you might not immediately think of siberia as a high—tech hub, but the conditions here are ideal for mining bitcoins. there is cheap power

from a hydroelectric plantjust up the river here, and there is the harsh climate itself. it can drop to —40 here in the depths of winter — perfect for cooling all those mining machines. that is why, when yuri's karaoke bar was struggling, his family got into bitcoins in a big way. they are cryptocurrency pioneers here. that includes yuri's mother, valeria. irkutsk, it's a crypto capital of russia. for this business, you don't need to be a great specialist, because it's an easy system. you only put your computers in the electricity and the internet. valeria's miner is here at the family farm.

there are gaps in the racks now, where clients removed their machines when the bitcoin‘s value crashed, but valeria hasn't abandoned her dream. translation: i want some money i've earned myself, and i want a lot of money. when the bitcoin is worth a million, like my sons say, then i'll be able to leave my grandchildren a very large inheritance. it is a dream drawn big here, of a new gold rush, this one for virtual cash, and the babushkas of siberia are leading the charge. sarah rainsford, bbc news, irkutsk. a puppy has been saved from a frozen lake by a police diver in turkey. the rescuer feared the worse but said it was miracle that she survived. lets take a look. new year's eve is fast approaching and one of the biggest celebrations takes place in new york where they've been rehearsing. confetti blew across

the crowds in times square, but it was just a practice run for the big bash itself — and the confetti went everywhere. let's hope the strong winds subside before the real thing! now the weather with sarah keith—lucas. we have had some fairly quiet weather over the past few days. hello. we've had some fairly quiet weather over recent days, with high pressure mostly in charge. has been a little bit wet and windy across some northern parts of the uk, but this picture was taken on saturday afternoon by one of our weather watchers in sterling. and i think as we head through the next couple of days, the last few days of 2018, that mostly dry theme will continue. fairly cloudy, certainly mild.

there will be a bit of rain, mostly across the northern half of the uk, particularly for parts of scotland over the next few days. we've got a weather front which is just pushing its way west to east across parts of scotland and england at the moment, but it's high pressure that is largely dominating the weather. a fairly chilly start to sunday morning, especially across some southern and eastern parts where we have the clearer skies for longest overnight. so we start with a lot of cloud, some drizzly outbreaks of rain, particularly in the north and the east. now, most of that rain will clear. it'll linger longest for the northern isles. best of the sunshine, then, will be for eastern scotland and eastern england too. further west, thicker cloud is likely to bring a little bit of drizzle, perhaps some low cloud and mist over the hills in the west, too. but temperatures 10—12 degrees — still reasonably mild for this time of year. and then we keep with that reasonably mild and largely dry theme through the course of sunday evening, and overnight too. still a bit of light rain and patchy drizzle for some northern and western parts. clearer skies for a time towards the east. so i think monday morning, this is the dawn on new year's eve,

we should see largely frost—free conditions, but perhaps some fairly chilly weather first thing across some eastern areas with those clearer spells. now, looking through the day on new year's eve, monday, high pressure well and truly in the driving seat. we have got weather fronts to the far north—west and tighter isobars here. so breezier conditions, certainly, for northern and western scotland, with a bit of patchy rain too. but for much of the uk, new year's eve monday is looking pretty much the same as the last few days — largely dry, fair amount of cloud, and the best of any sunny spells will be for eastern counties of england and eastern scotland. temperatures around ten or 11 degrees for new year's eve on monday. if you've got plans to see in the new year overnight new year's eve night, most of us should stay dry. fairly cloudy conditions, but there could be a spot or two of rain, particularly across part of scotland, perhaps northern ireland too. so that's all courtesy of this fairly weak weather front which is just slowly slipping south as we head into new year's day but for most of us, high pressure still in charge of the weather. so a largely dry, still mild picture on new year's day, but then things are turning colder, a little more wintry, as we look ahead into the first week of 2019. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: for the seventh weekend in a row, france's so—called ‘gilets jaunes' movement for better living standards brought protesters onto the streets. across the country, roads were blocked, and barricades were set alight, as some marches became violent. organisers blame the festive season for a slight drop in numbers. on the eve of the presidential election in the democratic republic of congo, opposition candidates have refused to sign an agreement aimed at preventing violence. they say officials failed to make changes in the text that they'd requested. tensions have increased after the electoral commission postponeed polls in several regions. fellow entertainers have been paying tribute to dame june whitfield, who's died at the age of 93. the actress was best known for her roles in the british sitcoms terry and june and absolutely fabulous. her career spanned seven

decades and included radio, television, stage and film performances. now on bbc news, it's time for dateline london, where our panel give their views on the next 12 months around the globe. hello and welcome to the final dateline london of 2018, a chance to look ahead to the people, the countries and the events which, our panel predicts, will shape the year ahead. joining me today — abdel barry atwan, who writes on arab affairs janet daley whose column appears in the uk?s sunday telegraph newspaper, maria margaronis from the weekly news magazine the nation, and the american michael goldfarb, host of the podcast, the first rough draft of history.

i suppose this could be called that, michael.