this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. the headlines: fifa's president hits back at western critics of qatar's human rights record, accusing them of hypocrisy. talks at the un's climate summit in egypt hang in the balance as countries are given an extra day to reach a deal. and rishi sunak meets ukrainian president zelensky in kyiv for the first as prime minister — and pledges to continue the uk's support.

on the eve of the world cup kick—off in qatar, the focus has been more on politics than sport. earlier fifa president gianni infantino accused western countries of hypocrisy for criticising the human rights record of the host country, and made a passionate defence of qatar and the tournament. our sports editor dan roan reports despite everything, qatar is determined to put on a show — a celebration to mark the opening of the fan park in doha tonight on the eve of the world cup. but fifa has come under fire for bringing the event here amid human rights concerns, and today the game's most powerful figure turned on his critics in an extraordinary speech. today i feel gay. today i feel disabled. today i feel a migrant worker. because i know what it means

to be discriminated. but that was just the start. infantino then appeared to liken his own experience as a redheaded child of immigrants in switzerland to the plight of gay people in the middle east. as a foreigner in a foreign country, as a child at school, i was bullied because i had red hair. qatar has been under mounting scrutiny, especially in europe over its treatment of migrant workers and the lgbt community, and infantino then turned on the critics. i think for what we europeans have been doing in the last 3000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons. it's just hypocrisy. isn't it hypocritical on the one had to say that fifa stands for equality and non—discrimination, while at the same time supporting an event in a country which has

discriminatory laws? the only weapon that we have is this, is the ball, and we have to try with this to engage. infantino praised qatar for recent labour reforms and said europe was in no position to criticise on migrant rights, but his comments have been condemned. ifound itjaw—dropping to listen to. it really felt like it was a way to try and dismiss very legitimate human rights criticisms, to try and treat them as culture war issues rather than universal values that fifa has committed to uphold. as for fifa's late u—turn with beer banned at world cup stadia, infantino was no less defiant. i think, personally, if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive. gianni infantino intended just then to hit back against this tournament's critics amid a barrage of negative headlines in the build—up.

but after that remarkable hour and a half—long press conference on the eve of this tournament, once again the focus is away from the football. 0rganisers hope tonight's festivities will kick—start the excitement, but right now this world cup seems more divisive than ever. that was our sports editor dan roan reporting from doha. let's speak to football fan and the author of the making of the fifa world cup, jack davies. what did you think of gianni infantino cosmic speech this morning?— infantino cosmic speech this morninu? . ., ., morning? thanks for having me. it was 'ust morning? thanks for having me. it wasiust quite _ morning? thanks for having me. it wasjust quite astonishing, - morning? thanks for having me. it wasjust quite astonishing, really. | was just quite astonishing, really. to see some of the stuff he was coming outwith, he was obviously trying to sweep aside the many legitimate concerns people have about this tournament, whether you are a woman, migrant worker, lgbtq+ supporter, orjust general supporters. this is not a world cup that should be realistically going

ahead anyway as andy plays it has and infantino really has portrayed himself as being a sort —— an as opposed to set latter and the corruption allegations, but it sounds all very similar and i do not think we should be overly surprised —— sepp blatter. it sounded like it could be scripted by the qataris himself, no one is saying that, but he did this before said with russia that football will change the perception about rush as well four years ago. perception about rush as well four ears auo. , . ., perception about rush as well four earsauo. , . ., , years ago. yes, and we have seen what has happened _ years ago. yes, and we have seen what has happened with _ years ago. yes, and we have seen what has happened with that. -- l what has happened with that. -- about what has happened with that. » about russia as well. that was a world cup that was going ahead any country it really shouldn't have been and that this is exactly the same. 0bviously, been and that this is exactly the same. obviously, there is no ongoing war with qatar, but it is the human rights issues people are hugely concerned about and rightly so.

sorry, jack, just wonder because we are running out of time, is there an argument to say what the french football federation has done, the french football captain saying that when people come to france, to watch football they are, expect people to abide by their laws, the cultural barriers and everything else, and thatis barriers and everything else, and that is what he said he would be doing in qatar —— the cultural values and anything else. yes, it is different, does not a democracy, you expect local laws —— respect local laws, so is that where there is a hot perhaps? == laws, so is that where there is a hot perhaps?— laws, so is that where there is a hot --erhas? . , , hot perhaps? -- a hypocrisy. people should be in — hot perhaps? -- a hypocrisy. people should be in a _ hot perhaps? -- a hypocrisy. people should be in a position _ hot perhaps? -- a hypocrisy. people should be in a position to _ hot perhaps? -- a hypocrisy. people should be in a position to feel - should be in a position to feel safe, in an environment where they are happy, confident and say. to say you'rejust going to are happy, confident and say. to say you're just going to respect the laws of a place, even though this

place, let's be honest, has a really sort of floated any kind of respect for its migrant workers and lgbtq+ people, etc, to say they are just going to abide by that and not make a statement against it, like the majority of the other european nations are by wearing the rainbow armbands, i do not think that is the right stance to take. i think you have a platform there, you can express your opposition to these sort of atrocities and i think really, realistically most european nations are making the right decision by wearing this armband is to show their opposition to it. jack davis, to show their opposition to it. jack davis. thank _ to show their opposition to it. jack davis, thank you very much indeed. sorry, we lost comes with your temporarily there, but cut most of it. ., ~ , ., , . it. thank you very much indeed. thank you- _ talks at the un climate conference, which aim to avoid the worst consequences of global warming, are still deadlocked — a day after the summit should have ended. delegates at cop27 in egypt are struggling to agree on how to compensate poorer countries badly affected by climate change.

i'm joined now by dr hazim el—nasser who is the former minister of water and agriculturejordan, chairman of the middle east water forum we have over run by 2a hours, how worried are you about the way things are turning out in egypt? in general, i think the outcomes are below expectations because the world is still discussing and debating principles related to impact of climate change. for example, countries are still resisting limiting global warming and the reduction of gas emissions, mobilisation of needed finance and funds. as well as a delay in national plans for mitigation measures. all of that is still being debated by cop27 and i think all of

theseissues debated by cop27 and i think all of these issues will be pushed again to cop 28 even if the reach an agreement tonight in egypt related to loss and damage fund, but this in principle will be on paper, not by intention and focus related to this issue. , , ., , ., , issue. yes, they rather seem to be slit issue. yes, they rather seem to be s - lit on issue. yes, they rather seem to be split on the — issue. yes, they rather seem to be split on the loss _ issue. yes, they rather seem to be split on the loss and _ issue. yes, they rather seem to be split on the loss and damage - issue. yes, they rather seem to be split on the loss and damage fund, but we are rehearsing, going back over some of the debates from previous summits, aren't we? for example, forfossilfuels, whether example, for fossil fuels, whether they example, forfossilfuels, whether they should be phased out or phased down. how disappointed argue that are still having that sort debate here in sharm el sheikh? yes. are still having that sort debate here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there has been in — here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there has been in a _ here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there has been in a sharm _ here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there has been in a sharm el— here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there has been in a sharm el sheikh, - here in sharm el sheikh? yes, there| has been in a sharm el sheikh, focus on energy related to increasing renewable energy contribution and energy mix worldwide, but also in

reliability and security because of what we witnessed during the russian— ukrainian but the summit is not really focusing on the main issues and getting countries to agree on the main issues that heavily impact climate change. as i said, gas emissions, reduction of global warming, said, gas emissions, reduction of globalwarming, pledging said, gas emissions, reduction of global warming, pledging a finance, the green fund which was agreed in paris a few years ago is not fully operational and countries pledging is not really as expected. now talking about a new fund and a new series of discussions and i think what has happened in the global arena in terms of covid—i9 impact and the rush ivan ukrainian war has shifted the global focus on climate change to other issues —— russia—

ukraine work. change to other issues -- russia- ukraine work.— change to other issues -- russia- ukraine work. thank you, dr hazim el-nasser for _ ukraine work. thank you, dr hazim el-nasser forjoining _ ukraine work. thank you, dr hazim el-nasser forjoining us _ ukraine work. thank you, dr hazim el-nasser forjoining us on - ukraine work. thank you, dr hazim el-nasser forjoining us on bbc- el—nasserforjoining us on bbc global news. el-nasser for “oining us on bbc global news.— el-nasser for “oining us on bbc llobal news. ., ,, , ., ., ., global news. thank you for having me. rishi sunak has made his first visit to ukraine since becoming prime minister. he held talks with president zelenksy and pledged £50 million in defence aid. 0ur political correspondent ione wells reports. a warm reception on a snowy day in kyiv. very good to see you. chatter i've got my coat for later. in footage released by the ukrainian government and number 10, rishi sunak can be seen laying flowers at a memorial for victims of the war. he met with emergency responders and announced a new package of air defence to help protect ukrainian civilians and infrastructure from russian air strikes. ukraine has faced months of intense russian aerial attacks. forces there say there have been 148 missile strikes on critical services, leaving 10 million people without power.

the prime minister's main message was to confirm the uk's support for the country would continue. as prime minister of the united kingdom, i'm proud of how we stood with you from the very beginning. and i am here today to say that the united kingdom will continue to stand with you. we will stand with you until ukraine has won the peace and security it needs and deserves. and then we will stand with you as you rebuild your great country. thank you so much, rishi. president zelensky thanked the prime ministerfor supporting his country and the dialogue they had. his visit comes after a difficult week for him and the chancellor, who announced a range of tax rises and public spending squeezes. the uk's foreign aid and defence budgets won't go up as planned yet until the economic situation improves. ministers blamed the war in ukraine for the dire economic situation in the uk. 0pposition parties argue political

decisions played a role too. there is a clear desire to avoid public fatigue with the conflict and demonstrate the positives of supporting ukraine, an easier message to sell, perhaps, than the economic headlines they face back home. ione wells, bbc news. that is where we say goodbye to our viewers on bbc world news. the boss of a housing association has been sacked — four days after a coroner found that a toddler died from exposure to mould in one of its properties. two—year—old awaab ishak, who lived in rochdale, died in december 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by the mould. gareth swarbrick apologised on thursday, but had rejected calls to step down. 0ur correspondent sharon barbour reports. today, many from the rochdale community came together to remember two—year—old awaab ishak and to put pressure on rochdale boroughwide housing.

since the coroner's damning verdict that the mould in awaab's family home had contributed to his death, there have been calls for gareth swarbrick to go. but he refused, saying he had the full backing of the board at rochdale boroughwide housing. but no longer. today the board took the decision to remove him from his post with immediate effect. in a statement, rochdale boroughwide housing said... for a family in grief, this offered some sense ofjustice. the fact that rbh's chief

executive had to be sacked as opposed to resign, for the family speaks volumes. however, they find it wholly unacceptable that the board expressed confidence in him in the first place. the family still feel that much more needs to be done. a government source told the bbc that it welcomed gareth swarbrick�*s removalfrom office, but said rochdale boroughwide housing still had very serious questions to answer. sharon barbour, bbc news. a search has resumed for a woman who is thought to have been swept away into a river as torrential rain battered parts of scotland yesterday. the wet weather is continuing to cause disruption to travel — with roads and rail services affected. robert townsend reports. this was the scene in fife after heavy rainfall brought severe flooding to parts of the road network. elsewhere, in dunfermline, commuters

faced impassable conditions. whilst floodwaters also rose across parts of edinburgh. the past 2a hours have seen heavy rain and winds batter much of the east coast. residents, with the help of fire crews, tried their best to defend their homes against flooding, until the rising water levels proved too much. when the water started seeping through the floorboards, through the tiles in the bathroom, initiallyjust come all the way through, and itjust spread into the bottom level of the house. what can you do? put down towels? well, that's not going to help. it's happened before, and i mean, it's really upsetting because it's uprooting my family again. for some, the conditions brought devastation to property. i'm back at square one. all these floors are going to have to come up now. that partition's going to have to come out, the plasterboards. for others, it was an anxious wait to see if they'd be spared the very worst of the weather. i've got a nine—month—old son and so, you know, - when you've got a baby in the house, it's much worse worrying _ about where are you going to go, i

and all the things you need to take for him and stuff. rail travel has also been severely disrupted, with cancellations and speed restrictions across much of the network. sailings to and from shetland have faced cancellations, with supplies on supermarket shelves now running low. drivers have been urged to avoid unnecessaryjourneys where possible, with some river levels still not thought to have reached their peak. what we are asking people to do is plan ahead, make sure themselves and the vehicle are prepared for the journey, take notice of the police scotland travel advice warning. with disruption expected to continue into the weekend, residents are being urged to follow official advice. robert townsend, bbc news. let's return to our main story — the opening of the world cup in doha on sunday. here in the uk there have been two separate protests outside qatar's embassy in london. they come after the country's world cup ambassador khalid salman attracted international condemnation

for saying homosexuality was "damage in the mind". the uk foreign secretary, james cleverly, also faced criticism for saying lgbtq football fans should mind their behaviour when visiting the tournament. barry caffery reports. what do we want? gay rights! when do we want them? now! the voices of football fans boycotting the world cup this year, all concerned about conditions for lgbtq+ people in qatar. never again, fifa. carl from the gaygoonners, arsenal's official supporters group, helped organise today's protest. we're here because we're not welcome to go to qatar, and with the world cup starting tomorrow, we just wanted to make our voices heard. the comments that have been coming out of qatar in the last couple of weeks have just highlighted our concerns that we've had for a number of years now that this tournament should not be held in a country like qatar. these football fans told me why

they can't watch the world cup this year. because i feel that this is the only way that i can make a protest, so being here and getting my voice heard here, and in all conscience, i can't watch it. we're going to the women's super league game today, i so arsenal are still playing in that. - and i'm also going to try and go to some non—league football, . so i'm going to put. my money elsewhere. david hancock is a football fan and sports travel agent who's been to every world cup since italia �*90. but this year he won't be traveling. from a football point of view, of course, it's going to be different. i mean, i don't feel like there's going to be any atmospheres there. there's a lack of fans, there's a lack of passion. and just send our love and solidarity. peter tatchell helped organise today's protest. he says it's important to highlight the human rights issues in qatar, where homosexuality can be punishable by death. these protests have succeeded in shifting the narrative away

from purely football to the human rights issues which are so important for many qatari people. they can't protest — they end up in prison and being tortured, so we have a duty to protest on their behalf. qatar must legislate... england have their first match on monday against iran, but these protesters at least won't be watching. barry caffery, bbc news, london. a passenger plane at an airport in peru has collided with an emergency vehicle, killing two fire—fighters. video footage shows the fire truck crashing into a wing of the airbus a320 jet, as it was about to take off. the passengers and crew managed to escape the aircraft, which was engulfed in flames. russell trott reports. lima's busy airport and video footage of the moment of impact. a passengerjet about to take off in flames after colliding with a fire truck.

the airbus a320, operated by the domestic carrier latam with more than 100 passengers and crew on board, continued along the runway with its undercarriage apparently immobilised and its right side dragging on the ground, sending up a trail of fire and smoke. the passengers and crew managed to escape the aircraft, still in shock and trying to come to terms with what had happened. the plane about to take off collided with a vehicle manned by firemen from the company. after this, there's been a full response to the crisis and we have been able to mobilise 100 ambulances in metropolitan lima. two firefighters, members of the aeronautical fire brigade were killed in the collision. 20 passengers were also injured. it's not clear why the fire truck had entered the runway area. an investigation is under way.

the peruvian authorities say they're looking at what they described as possible crimes of culpable homicide and culpable injuries. airport operations have been suspended until further notice. russell trott, bbc news. back in the uk, train services between london, the west and the south—west of england have been disrupted today because of a strike by signallers in the thames valley. the row is separate to the ongoing national rail dispute — and a further walkout is planned for monday. rugby league star kevin sinfield has completed his gruelling endurance challenge of running seven ultramarathons in seven days — raising money for those affected by motor neurone disease. he was inspired by his friend rob burrow, who suffers from mnd. this was the moment he entered old trafford at half time of the rugby league world cup final. a very special moment here at old trafford. heather small hasjust been singing

search for the hero inside yourself. and as she finishes, that man there, kevin sinfield, who had so many special nights here at old trafford as a player, is now walking to the centre circle, having run an ultramarathon every day for the last week, so 40 miles a day, to raise money for motor neurone disease in the name of his great, great friend and leeds rhinos legend rob burrow, who is suffering from motor neurone disease. kevin sinfield, congratulations, you made it. yeah, thank you, sally. that team is incredible. i think you all know why. rob burrow, donny weir, stephen derby, ed slater,

the full mnd community, the full rugby league community have got behind the mnd community, i can't thank you enough. kevin, you have done seven ultramarathons in seven days. you said you were just going for a run for a mate. what kept you going? that exact thought. it's all about friendship and the love for rob. cheering i know that everybody feels the same way that i do about rob burrow. he's an absolute champion and the way the burrow family have been so courageous and brave, we just wanted to be a great friend, and if we can all try and be a bit

of a better friend from time to time, i think we'll have a better place to live in. the inspirational kevin sinfield. humans could stay on the moon for lengthy periods during this decade, a nasa official has told the bbc. 0rion is nasa's new exploration spacecraft and was onboard the artemis rocket which was launched on wednesday. howard hu who leads the orion project told the bbc that the launch was an "historic day for human space flight" and if the current artemis flight is successful then the next would be with a crew. now on bbc news the weather with matt. hello. it may have been a dry day across eastern parts of the country, particularly eastern scotland,

where that persistent rain really has been mounting up. but we're still feeling the effects of that rainfall. you can see here river levels at cupar and fife earlier and it's here and across some parts of england, there's still flood warnings in place given recent rain. and further rain tonight is never a good thing, although it won't be quite as heavy or persistent as we've seen of late. all comes courtesy of this band of cloud, which been pushing in from the west throughout today. it's starting to nudge the cloud that we've had in place in eastern scotland, eastern england, out the way. but as you can see, outbreaks of rain as we go through the night in many areas could even be cold enough. a little bit of sleet and snow on the tops of the grampians. as things turn clearer in the west later, temperatures will take a dip, but really temperatures will be up and down tonight depending on the clearer skies. but as we start sunday, around six or seven degrees will be fairly typicalfor most. but there's that persistent rain still in eastern scotland to begin with, but it will shift. it mayjust linger in the far north—east of aberdeenshire, caithness and 0rkney through the day. brighter in shetland, but strong winds continue here. elsewhere, eastern scotland, eastern england, after the early morning rain, dry and bright for much of the day, some showers late into the evening,

but a mixture of sunshine and showers in the west. it could linger for one or two of you given the light winds could become heavy with hail and thunder as well. and afternoon temperatures on sunday around 8 to 11 degrees, down a little bit even on what we saw on saturday for some then through sunday night into monday with some clearer skies around for the time, it's going to be a cold start to northern eastern areas and then this system pushes its way in. now there's potential to the far south we could see some very strong winds. it will sweep rain again across much of england, wales, northern ireland. how far north into scotland it gets could be crucial because on the northern edge, some pretty chilly air here across many it could mean that we see some sleet and snow on the tops of the hills mixed in with that rain. and the colder air still there in scandinavia feeding in across the far north of scotland as you go through to tuesday. so any weather system that works its way into it could be wintry 0rkney, shetland, maybe parts of caithness, some wintry showers throughout the day even to lower level. some of those on the heavy side. away from that quiet today, by and large, on tuesday, there will be some showers dotted around, particularly towards the south and the west. but some longer dry spells for some

of you, 7 to 10 celsius keeps those on the cool side for the rest of the week. temperatures will lift up a little bit, but the further bands of rain sweeping its way through some brighter moments and breezy at times as well.

this is bbc world news, the headlines:

fifa's president hits back at western critics of qatar's human rights record, accusing them of hypocrisy. talks at the un's climate summit in egypt hang in the balance as countries are given an extra day to reach a deal. and rishi sunak meets ukrainian president zelensky in kyiv for the first as prime minister — and pledges to continue the uk's support. you are watching bbc news. now on bbc news, it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. 0ur headlines this evening... the fifa president hits back — gianni infantino calls

the west hypocrites for taking aim at qatar,