this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. russia accused of devastating ukrainian cities with attacks on schools, homes and hospitals. president zelensky calls them crimes against humanity. translation: ukraine proposes that the security council - adopts a resolution condemning all forms of energy terror. un human rights officials meet to discuss the crackdown on protesters in iran. 300 people may have died during the violence. scotland's primary and secondary schools are closed today as teaching staff hold a 24—hour strike.

and joyfuljapan — fans celebrate their team's world cup victory over one of the favourites, germany, in qatar. hello and welcome. ukraine's president zelensky has accused moscow of crimes against humanity, after fresh russian strikes battered the country's already failing electricity grid. addressing an emergency meeting of the un security council requested by kyiv, mr zelensky said russia had been methodically devastating cities with indiscriminate attacks — hitting residential buildings, schools, transport and hospitals. these are pictures of the aftermath of some of those attacks, which triggered nationwide alerts.

the ukrainian energy system has been left in tatters and millions have been subjected to long periods without electricity, after weeks of russian bombardment. translation: ukraine proposes that the security council - adopts a resolution condemning all forms of energy terror. let's see if anyone in the world, along with russia, can say that terror against civilians is supposedly good. the us has increased its support, saying it wants to give ukraine what it needs to defend itself. according to the white house, that means an additional $400 million security assistance package. that will include additional munitions for the surface—to—air missile system known as nasams. there will also be heavy machine guns. and there will also be more supplies designed to help deal with the winter cold — including heating fuel, generators, and shelter repair materials.

russia is making no apology for its current military tactic. here's moscow's ambassador to the united nations. translation: to weaken and destroy the military . potential of our opponents, we are conducting strikes with precision weapons against energy and other infrastructure which is being used for the purpose of military supplies of western weapons to ukrainian units. let's get an idea of what life is like with power cuts in ukraine. 0ur correspondentjess parker is in kyiv — she sent this update on wednesday evening. smoke clouds signalling destruction has come again to kyiv. this is hundreds of miles away from the front line, but here, this battle also costs lives. in a town just outside kyiv, people's homes and a nearby school felt the force of these strikes. just hours later, the fire's

out, but the daylight�*s gone. evacuations in the dark. translation: we heard rockets flying and then . we heard a loud explosion, a colleague saw a red light. in our educational centre, windows and doors blew out, the ceiling fell. in these freezing temperatures, homes have been left without roofs, apartments without windows, people without a place to live. translation: we are evacuating people from the building - that was damaged. those who need to sleep somewhere, we are taking them to a hotel where they can stay as long as they need. there will be food and heating there. that bus is just leaving, taking residents who can no longer stay in their homes — perhaps because of the damage, but also, there's no power here. the only reason we can see anything at the moment is because of the lights coming from the emergency vehicles, fire trucks and police cars. people here, there's a lot of activity, but they just pass you like shadows.

here and in many places, the light of a torch may be all they have as today's strikes forced power stations to shut down. critical infrastructure again appears to have been moscow's target. if this is an effort to break the will of ukrainians, they help each other on, but it's a painful struggle. "my windows and walls flew away," she says. "don't cry," says her grandson. "everything will be fixed, it will be better." this is driving through a capital city in the early evening, but look around. off the road, no lights. the country's energy system had already been attacked. now the race against winter to repair it just became even harder. jessica parker, bbc news, in kyiv. just to note, it's not only ukraine which is being affected

by russia's air strikes. nearly 90% of neighbouring moldova was also left without electricity. although the country wasn't directly hit, moldova's foreign minister said they have traditionally relied on ukraine and russia for energy and are unsure because of the ongoing conflict where their power will now come from. we'll be talking to our correspondent in kyiv in an hour's time — dojoin us for that. the united nations human rights council will hold an emergency session today to discuss the crackdown on protesters in iran. the session is backed by the european union and the united states, and will consider setting up an international fact finding mission. un officials estimate at least 300 people have been killed since protests began eight weeks ago. as you know if you are a

regular viewer, azadeh moshiri has been keeping a cross with a story from the get go. tell us about this un meeting. several member states _ about this un meeting. several member states requested - about this un meeting. several member states requested a - member states requested a meeting but while the un are saying we need this emergency session because the crackdown has reached a critical point of many in the iranian diaspora have been calling for this for months. if you ask them the protest in the crackdown reached a critical point months ago. the un said according to its tally more than 300 people have died in these projects including a0 children. human rights groups have been saying this for some time and we have been reporting it and the figures according to rights groups are higher but what they say it has made this especially urgent is the fact that security forces are taking much more severe actions. a un spokesperson detailed one of those examples.

of particular concern is the authorities' apparent refusal to release the bodies of those killed to their families, or making the release of their bodies conditional on the families not speaking to the media or agreeing to give a false narrative on the cause of death. this is a sort of thing bbc persia has been hearing from its sources for some time. one example was last week, the family of a man who was killed told the bbc his body was stolen from a mortuaryjust hours after he was shot dead. he was ia years old. this crackdown has become severe and people are in danger.— people are in danger. there is a new development _ people are in danger. there is a new development on - people are in danger. there is a new development on that i a new development on that issue, the arrest of a british iranian citizen.— iranian citizen. state media have said — iranian citizen. state media have said a _ iranian citizen. state media have said a british - iranian citizen. state media have said a british iranian l have said a british iranian citizen has been arrested in

isfahan for sharing information with foreign media. they mentioned bbc persia and iran international and what they want to achieve here is to continue with their censorship and that internet blackout has not worked as well as they wanted so they are taking harsher actions because they hope if they keep instilling that kind of fear, people will stop protesting but so far despite hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests and children in danger, people are still coming out on the streets and demanding a new iran. let's get some of the day's other news. china has ordered a covid lockdown in chengdu province, following several days of violent protests centred on a factory which produces iphones for apple. workers have complained they were not given the pay they were promised. apple says it has team members on the ground at the facility, which is run by foxconn, and says it is working to address employees' concerns. turkey's president,

recep tayyip erdogan, has said his country's military will begin a fresh ground operation against kurdish targets in syria. turkey blames kurdish militants for a bombing in istanbul earlier this month. kurdish groups have denied any involvement. rescue teams in indonesia have pulled a five—year—old boy from rubble, three days after a powerful earthquake hit the country. the boy appeared conscious and calm despite his ordeal. there were five people in the house when the earthquake struck, but the boy, his grandfather and his younger brother were the only survivors. here in the uk, almost every primary and secondary state—run school across scotland will be closed on thursday, as teaching staff hold a 2a—hour strike. the dispute, over pay, is the most widespread industrial action in scottish schools for nearly a0 years and will mean thousands of parents having to make alternative arrangements to look after their children. here's our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon.

school's out with tens of thousands of teachers in scotland walking out, hundreds of thousands of children affected and parents left making alternative plans for their kids. so it's going to be a bit of a stressful day for them. whilst some parents will be supporting the strike action, i'm sure deep down every parent will really be worrying about the change to schedule, trying to managed childcare, trying to manage kids at home, juggle work and it's just going to be a worrying day. the latest deal on the table would have seen lower paid teachers in scotland receive a rise of up to 6.85%. it's more than the previous 5% offer, but it's well below the 10% rise that unions want. a 10% increase isjust unaffordable for the scottish government. we have a fixed budget. it is already fully utilised for this year. so to do anything that would increase the resolution that we have on this would mean that money would have to come from elsewhere.

so i'm very disappointed that we're moving to strike action. it's disruption for our children and young people and their families that we simply don't want to see. unions are angry and say the offer made by scottish local authorities and the scottish government is insulting. a kick in the teeth. so it seemed like another exercise in time—wastingl another great charade, another great piece - of pantomime by the scottish government and cosla. - and what it means is- that we will be seeing strike action across scotland that will bring the vast majority of scotland's schools - to closure, because cosla and the scottish government have failed to take seriouslyl the very, veryjustified claims of teachers. - these pupils who have exams on the way say they plan to use their time out of class wisely. so prelims are coming up. so ijust plan on revising my prelims and that's practically it. i'm just going to work on my personal statement i need to send off to uni and study for a test i have coming up. i'll be studying for my prelims as well and i'll be _ prepping for my interviews

as well, for uni. _ this is further disruption after the interruptions in education caused by covid, but teachers say they are facing increasing financial hardship and have no choice but to strike, and more school closures are threatened in the months to come if this dispute is not resolved. lorna gordon, bbc news. meanwhile around 70,000 university lecturers and support staff will also walk out across the uk today. it's the first of three days of industrial action, in a row over pay, working conditions and pensions. around 150 universities are affected — they say they are putting plans in place to mitigate the impact on around 2.5 million students. the sector has over £a0 billion of reserves. last year, it created larger surpluses than ever before. the bottom line is vice chancellors want to invest in buildings and not staff. that isn't right for staff. it isn't right for students.

we're going on strike because we know the money is there. vice chancellors are just saying they don't want to pay it to staff. also going on strike over pay in the uk on thursday, workers at royal mail are also taking action in support of a pay claim. the two—day stoppage has been called by the communication workers union, and comes at one of the busiest online shopping times of the year. the royal mail says it has offered staff a 9% pay rise over 18 months, and would make no compulsory redundancies before march next year. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: preparing for the parade. the traditional giant balloons are inflated ahead of new york's thanksgiving celebrations. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster

for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number ten to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air - balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed i to mind very much. as one local comic put it, it's not hot air- we need, it's hard cash. cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: large areas of ukraine are left without power, after the country's military says russian missile strikes targeted energy infrastructure. un human rights officials meet to discuss the crackdown on protesters in iran. 300 people may have died during the violence. let's turn to the world cup now and the headlines today — another perhaps unexpected result and another protest against fifa's ban on the one love armbands, which some teams had wanted to wear to show their support for lgbtq rights. we'll come to that in a bit but first let's take a look at the results — and wednesday saw the opening fixtures in groups e and f. morocco and croatia played out a goal—less draw and canada missed a penalty before losing 1—0 to belgium. but it was in group e that we saw the most eye—catching score lines.

spain thrashed costa rica 7—0. and japan came from a goal down to beat germany 2—1. we always enjoy showing you the different reactions of the fans. so here are some celebrations in spain... plenty of moments for these fans in madrid to choose from. we mentioned seven goals, amazing. but there wasn't much to cheer for the costa rica supporters at the big screen in sanjose. there you go, it's very subdued as you can see and hear. let's look now at reaction from germany. disbelief on their faces, as you can see, but let's now look at tokyo. a very

different reaction there. they cannot quite believe the results, the fans literally having a party in the middle of the street. let's take a look at what happened on the pitch now — with sanny rudravajala. as four—time winners, germany know exactly what it takes to lift the world cup. just ask captain manuel neuer. he was also in goal when the then champions were dumped out in the group stage four years ago. a humiliation new boss hansi flick was hoping to avoid. and after david raum went down and ilkay gundogan dispatched from the spot, it looked like the horror of 2018 was well and truly behind them. but for the heroics of shuichi gonda, it would have been. after 12 years as an understudy, he was having his moment in the spotlight. but into the second half, and at the other end, the warning signs were starting to appear. neuer equal to hiroki ito, even if hiroki sakai let him off. just three minutes later, though, ritsu doan, whose side freiburg sit second in the bundesliga, wasn't so generous. a familiarface haunting

the germany side. and with seven to go, the turnaround was complete. takuma asano's emphatic finish helping the samurai blue put germany to the sword. flick�*s picks humbled butjapanese joy in doha. the fourth day of the world cup also saw another protest by players. it gave us perhaps the most striking image of the day — the german team posing for a photo before kick off, putting their hand to their mouths. that is something that is a cross today's newspapers in the uk, its in many of the front pages. to be in no doubts about what they meant the team tweeted this message saying "it wasn't about making a political statement — human rights are non—negotiable. that should be taken for granted, but it still isn't the case. that's why this message is so important to us. denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice.

we stand by our position." lets go to tokyo now where we can speak to dan 0rlowitz. he's a sports reporter at the japan times. what a moment for the japanese team. ~ , ,., , , what a moment for the japanese team. , , , ., team. absolutely, this was a historic result, _ team. absolutely, this was a historic result, possibly - team. absolutely, this was a historic result, possibly the i historic result, possibly the biggest win in the history of this men's national team, an unexpected win that there aren't enough superlatives i can lay upon these players, they accomplished a miracle in doha last night.— they accomplished a miracle in doha last night. absolutely and we have seen _ doha last night. absolutely and we have seen the _ doha last night. absolutely and we have seen the fans - doha last night. absolutely and we have seen the fans in - doha last night. absolutely and we have seen the fans in dohal we have seen the fans in doha partying in the streets. what was going on in tokyo? {iii was going on in tokyo? of course people were watching. there weren't as many public viewing events as their work for the russia world cup four years ago, that is because of covid and a late kick—off times. this match started at

10pm here in tokyo to the footage of fans celebrating in the street is that that should be a scrambled crossing and all the fans leave the bars and converge on this one giant crossing in one of the city's biggest nightlife districts and it's always a sight to see especially when japan win. what are peeple _ especially when japan win. what are peeple saying _ especially when japan win. what are people saying about - especially when japan win. what are people saying about the politics with regard to the world cup because the german team putting their hands over their mouths for their photo on their mouths for their photo on the pitch, making a very poignant point, how is that being interpreted injapan? it's being interpreted very cautiously. japanese media are reporting about these protests this japan squad as having no part of it. the gfa president said the other day that players would only be talking about football, not getting into politics and that is standard

forjapanese sports for japanese sports organisations who forjapanese sports organisations who try to stay as removed from politics and controversy as they can, regardless of what they support in terms of human rights and that sort of thing so from the japan perspective the focus has been on sport, on the game and players. been on sport, on the game and -la ers. ~ ., been on sport, on the game and .la ers, . ., ., , been on sport, on the game and -la ers.~ ., ., been on sport, on the game and -la ers. ., ., players. who does japan play next? it's _ players. who does japan play next? it's been _ players. who does japan play next? it's been a _ players. who does japan play next? it's been a very - players. who does japan play | next? it's been a very exciting start for them.— start for them. next will be costa rica _ start for them. next will be costa rica and _ start for them. next will be costa rica and based - start for them. next will be costa rica and based on - start for them. next will be | costa rica and based on the results last night i think japan will be confident heading into that game but costa rica were at the quarterfinals before, they are a tricky team, you cannot take any result for brunton but a win would clinch japan's spot in last 16. congratulations again, maybe we will speak to you again as this progresses. —— take any result for granted. on thursday, the final eight

teams play their first matches of the tournament. in group g it's switzerland against cameroon, and brazil against serbia. and in group h, uruguay take on south korea, while portugal face ghana. much more on the world cup on the special section of our website — just log on to bbc.com/news or download the bbc app. and finally, americans are getting ready to celebrate thanksgiving — which of course takes place on the fourth thursday in november. one of the biggest traditions takes place in new york — the macy's parade, with balloons floating above the streets of manhattan. getting them ready is a bit of a spectacle itself and laura trevelyan went to take a look. it's a bright, blue morning on the apple west side of manhattan and this unique american tradition is under way. the balloons are being inflated ahead of the macy's thanksgiving day parade. time for a bit of history here — there were no balloons in the very first parade back in 192a, and it was called the macy's christmas parade then, held on thanksgiving day with the idea of showcasing the department store and encouraging everyone to go

shopping ahead of christmas. the balloons made their parade debut in 1927, the brainchild of a puppeteer who worked at macy's. these balloons are basically gigantic upside—down puppets. the original ones were generic — birds and dragons — and they evolved into popular cartoon strip characters. and today, they're the stars of film and tv, used to really sell the parade to the public. a movie in i9a6 featuring scenes from the parade created a worldwide audience for the balloons and the floats, and every year, there are new characters. so, we have bluey, an australian puppy, and stewart the minion, as well as the old favourites — spongebob, snoopy and the smurf. coming to see the balloons being inflated is a new york ritual, especially if you grew up on this block. i've been coming to see the balloon inflation since i was a baby, and now i'm bringing my two kids to see it.

do you have a favourite balloon character that you're looking out for? yes, i do. and who's that? um, the minion. doesn't feel like thanksgiving unless we're here. the balloons are quintessentially american. each one is a celebrity in its own right, a spectacle, a symbol of popular culture which defines thanksgiving as much as turkey and family dinners. and, in a nation where we often find a lot to argue about, enjoying the balloons and the parade can even bring us together. in good news, the thanksgiving weather is looking sunny and clear in new york city with no high winds forecast, making the life of the balloon handler that much easier. laura trevelyan, bbc news, manhattan. and we will be looking at the cost of thanksgiving in our

business coverage. it will be a lot more this year because of inflation, it's soaring in the united states as it is in many countries around the world, and a big discussion about future energy supplies in europe. i will see you in a moment. hello. there is no doubt it has been a soggy november so far — some places have already seen twice the amount of rain they would normally expect in the whole month. wednesday really added to those totals with this band of wet weather pushing northwards and eastwards. lots of heavy, thundery showers with squally, gusty winds following on behind, and all of those weather elements also feature in thursday's forecast. another frontal system pushing in from the atlantic, more heavy rain, more squally winds already showing its hand in the western side of northern ireland first thing. most other areas starting the day dry, but this rain is on the move eastwards. it's moving pretty quickly, so it will be a short, sharp burst of torrential rain and strong winds for northern ireland, southwest scotland —

wind gusts widely a0—50 mph, maybe gusting up to 60—70mph in exposed spots. the bright colours showing up there across wales, the southwest of england — a really squally band of rain, so as it pushes through, you'll notice the torrential rain, the very gusty winds, but then it clears to a mix of sunshine and heavy, perhaps thundery showers. highs of 9—13 degrees. northeast scotland, eastern england staying dry untilafter dark, but the rain will eventually work its way through. and then overnight, into the start of friday, we will see further showers, particularly up towards the north and the west, but more in the way of dry weather, some clear spells. temperatures generally five, six, seven degrees — wouldn't surprise me at all if some places gotjust a little lower than that. but friday should be a somewhat drier day with some spells of sunshine. now, there will still be some showers around western coasts across northern ireland, northwest scotland. not many of those showers, though, getting across into the east of the uk. temperatures — nine degrees for aberdeen,

maybe ia there in cardiff, so quite mild for the time of year. that quieter friday is thanks to this ridge of high pressure, but this frontal system pushing in from the west will bring rain on saturday. eastern areas starting off dry and bright, but we'll see increasing amounts of cloud, and for the western side of the uk, outbreaks of rain splashing quite erratically northwards — perhaps some heavier rain into the southwest later on. but it will be mild — io—ia degrees — very mild on saturday night, and then that rain may take a while to clear eastwards on sunday, but it will leave behind it some spells of sunshine. bye for now.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. sterling surge — the pound jumps to its strongest since before liz truss became prime minister back in august. is the tide finally turning for britain's battered currency? power struggle — people will have to "take responsibility" for their energy bills, says the uk chancellor — and cut their usage — as the government winds down support. also coming up — happy holidays! the us prepares to celebrate — but as inflation soars and budgets are squeezed, will america's retailers have much to give thanks for? plus — beware the holiday swindlers. internet travel scams are becoming a "systemic

and global" problem, warns the un — costing people thousands of dollars. we'll have a special report